The Dog Who Ate The Flintlock

by Edward Coburn

  “No. She actually prefers Mary Beth. She and Richard are getting along famously. I call her every night to see how she’s doing and, of course, to see how Richard is holding up.”

  “How is he doing? I’ve been wondering.” Worrying would be more like it, Adam thought.

  “He’s certainly not any better but, fortunately, not a lot worse. He says the treatments are really getting him down and they don’t seem to be doing anything positive for him. He’s thinking of telling the doctors to stop the treatments. Mary Beth and I have been telling him to continue but, ultimately, it’s his decision, and we’ll both abide by what he decides.”

  Adam knew exactly what Richard meant and what might be driving his decision to stop his treatments. “I’m sure I mentioned that my mother died of cancer. Her treatments helped her the first time, but when her cancer came back, she refused the treatments because she felt so miserable the first time. My sister and I understood because the doctors warned her and us the treatments probably wouldn’t do any good anyway. We, my sister and I, thought she should be allowed to die with as much dignity and as little pain as possible. So I certainly understand Richard’s point of view. But, I’m glad we were able to locate Mary Beth so she could be with him for as long as he lasts. And I’m glad they’re getting along.”

  “Yes, it’s great. And Mary Beth has been checking on schools in the area so she can continue her studies. I think she’s going to come up here to go to WVU.”

  “That would be great. Then you will able to be with her a lot. I’m glad everything is working out for her and you but that isn’t why I called.”

  “I was beginning to wonder.”

  “You remember you showed me the picture of Harold Morgan and that he was a suspect in the murder of your wife and the kidnapping of Mary Beth?”

  “Sure. And you mentioned Phillip’s secretary showed you the same picture. You also read through the whole file about the event while we were on the plane to Salem. Have you found out something about Morgan?” Robert suddenly grew excited. “Tell me you have.” He knew Adam couldn’t have discovered anything new about Morgan himself because he was dead, but maybe Adam discovered some connection Morgan had to someone else that might lead to whoever killed Molly.

  “Actually I have found some additional information about Morgan. I’m sure you remember the kidnapping of the baby in California and that I found the kidnapper in a restaurant when I took my sister’s kids out of supper.

  “I remember. You had me talk to the detectives. Why?”

  “I managed to get her arrested with your helping to convince the detectives.” Adam almost blurted out the rest of it but thought he’d better warn Robert that the whole thing was still a big secret. “Before I tell you the rest of it you have to promise you’ll keep it under your hat. The FBI doesn’t want any of this getting out yet.”

  “I understand. It won’t go any farther than me.”

  “Good. It turns out the kidnapping in California wasn’t an ordinary kidnapping—if any kidnapping is ordinary. Actually, the kidnapper, the lady I found in the restaurant,” Adam smiled at Jenny when he said lady, “named Jenny, was working with the FBI in California and the whole kidnapping was a huge sting operation.”

  “How so?”

  “The FBI has been trying to close down a huge trafficking operation in California for years but haven’t had much luck. So when Jenny was approached by this guy named Ronald Wilkerson to kidnap a baby, she initially said no and would have continued to say no except the FBI wanted her to do it. After she took the baby, Jenny placed a tracking device in the baby’s clothes so the FBI could track the baby to the dealer in New York.”

  “This is all very interesting, but what’s it got to do with Harold Morgan? You did say you had some information about him.”

  Adam explained how he got a vision of Jenny cleaning off the makeup Ronald used to cover up the birthmark and tattoo that made Harold into Ronald.

  “So you’re saying you recognized this Ronald Wilkerson as Harold Morgan?”

  “That’s what I’m saying.”

  “But…but I don’t understand. Harold Morgan is dead.”

  “Apparently not.”

  “But the body they found had Morgan’s ID, and they had his DNA tested. It was from Morgan.”

  “I’m sorry, but the body wasn’t Morgan. He’s still alive.”

  “Are you absolutely certain about what you saw?”

  “Of course I am. My visions are unpredictable and sometimes hard to interpret, but they’re never wrong.”

  “So I guess I’ll have to conclude Morgan is alive.”

  “I guess so. I imagine we can get the FBI to pick him up especially since he is actually the one responsible for the kidnapping and Jenny gave him the baby after she took the baby from the hospital. From that point on, it was all Morgan and whoever he passed the baby to.”

  “Okay,” Robert said. “I guess I don’t have any option except to believe you. I’ll do some checking on my end and see what I can find out about the screw-up with the DNA test. If Morgan was declared dead because the DNA test result was wrong, somebody obviously screwed up.”

  “I’d say that is a safe bet,” Adam said, “See you in Morgantown or Charleston when I get back.”

  Captain Riddley came into the conference with a rather grim looking man who wore a three-piece dark gray suit. Adam thought how his face was almost as gray as his suit. His bright green tie stood out in bold contrast to the rest of his dress. To Adam’s surprise, he smiled when Riddley introduced him as Thadius Brood. “Call me Thad,” he said.

  “I hear you,” he pointed at Jenny, “are the woman who stole the baby from the California hospital.”

  “Under the FBI’s orders,” Jenny didn’t want him to miss that significant part of the whole ugly incident.

  “Yes…yes of course. And you,” he pointed at Adam, “are the one who discovered her in the restaurant.”

  “Yes, sir, I did.”

  “And what made you think it was her.”

  “I’d rather not say right now.”

  “Okay,” Thad said. “I can respect that.”

  “Well I’m not sure I can,” Riddley said. “I want to know how he knew.”

  “As I said, I’d rather not say, and I don’t believe I’m under any obligation to do so.”

  “You’re not. But may I ask why you don’t want to tell me?” Riddley asked.

  “Answering that would involve answering how and, as I said, I don’t want to.”

  Riddley gave up. “Okay. Keep your secret.”

  “Thank you,” Adam said, “I think I will.”

  Riddley left the room without another word. Adam could tell he wasn’t pleased. Adam had to hope Detective Carbo and Detective Jordan would be able to keep his secret from their captain. Riddley might not realize the two detectives know how Adam recognized Jenny in the restaurant, but there was no guarantee of that. But there was nothing Adam could do about that now.

  “Are you two ready to go?” Thad asked.

  Adam turned to Jenny and then answered for both of them. “We are.”

  Thad glanced at Jenny who nodded. “Okay, then, just follow me.”

  They followed the agent out of the police station, and they all got in his almost formulaic black sedan.

  Once on their way to Boston Thad turned to Adam. “Are you ready to tell me now?”

  Adam knew what Thad was asking and immediately launched into his story, telling the agent how he knew about Jenny, how he’d found Mary Beth, about other cases he’d solved in the past, a little about his life in Canary Corners, and why he’d been unwilling to explain to Riddley. Thad stopped him to ask a question now and again, and Jenny asked for clarity on one of the cases Adam had solved in his past. Adam even mentioned two cases he helped with when he’d worked with the FBI. The case of the Nightmare Murderer was resolved with his help, but the case of a different serial killer still remained unsolved even though Adam found the killer
’s burial ground where they unearthed fifteen of his victims. Ten were women with blonde hair with a medium build. They had always been between twenty and thirty when they were reported missing. The other five victims turned out to be the husbands of the slain women. The killing had gone on at least seven years. After Adam’s find, no other burial ground was ever found, so the hope was something happened to the killer, or he had stopped killing.

  “I heard about that case,” Thad said. “I was working for the FBI at the time but, as I recall, the killings all took place in Arizona, so I wasn’t part of the investigation. Isn’t that the killer the press dubbed the Marriage Counselor?”

  “That’s right. As I understand it three of the women victims were seeing marriage counselors and one of their husbands was a victim as well. Some reporter dug up that connection and gave the killer that moniker,” Adam said. “As for the other part, it’s true the killer buried his victims in Arizona, and many of his victims were from Arizona, but a few were from surrounding states.”

  “That’s right. I forgot that part. I think the current theory is he stopped killing because you uncovered his burial ground and disrupted his pattern. At least there haven’t been any more missing women of the type he favored that we haven’t been able to track down in some way or other. Or, at least, none that have been reported to us. Naturally, there are always cases of domestic killings and runaway spouses but none that fit his profile. We keep track of that sort of thing at the FBI. Of course, it’s always possible he is now using a new burial site, and he changed his type. Though changing types is unusual, it’s not unheard of. His type of killer is generally driven by some kind of compulsion to kill people of a certain type. Maybe the women he killed resembled his mother, or they looked like some woman who spurned him. There could be hundreds of reasons he would choose the type of women he did, and it was thought that the husbands were only collateral damage. Unless he’s caught, we may never know what drove him, and even then he may not tell us. It’s always possible he doesn’t know himself.”

  “I certainly hope he hasn’t simply changed types or burial grounds and instead gave up his compulsion, whatever it is, or hopefully was,” Jenny said with a shiver. “It gives me the chills even thinking about it.” She wrapped her arms around herself for emphasis.

  They were quiet for a time before Thad spoke again with a bit of a non-sequitur. “I can certainly understand why you swore the two detectives to secrecy and why you didn’t want to tell Riddley. I can see how, if your secret leaked to the press, your life in Canary Corners would be forever compromised.”

  “Yes. I’d really hate to pull up stakes and move somewhere else. I like my life in Canary Corners. I still try to help the police there when I can do it behind the scenes and the sheriff is the only one who knows my secret aside from my girlfriend. I didn’t tell her right away but, eventually, I got tired of lying to her, and every time I helped the cops, it became ever more difficult to hide the truth.”

  “I’m sure the people in Canary Corners would be heartsick to see you go.”

  “Yes, but mostly they’d miss the foundation and the good works it has been able to accomplish there and in the surrounding area.”

  “I’m sure they’d miss your money but, based on what you’ve said, they would miss you and your articles in the Tweet even more. Nice name by the way.”

  “You can’t blame that one on me. And Larry, the owner of the paper and my friend since grade school, didn’t give it that name either. It’s been called the Tweet since its founding sometime in the eighteen-hundreds. The people would probably lynch Larry if he changed it.”

  “Probably,” Thad agreed.

  Chapter 48

  Thad introduced Adam and Jenny to Special Agent in Charge Ken Jackson, and Thad made sure Agent Jackson knew who Adam was before he left. Ken already knew a few things about how Adam had helped the FBI in the past. “So,” Ken said, “you’re the one who helped find the Nightmare Murderer.”

  “Yes, sir, I did. I’m glad he was stopped.”

  “We all are. But what, if I may ask, do you have to do with this case?”

  “Well, I’m the one who ran across Jenny working in the pizza restaurant.”

  “I see.” Ken turned to Jenny. “Let me be sure I understand this. You went to the agent in California, and they wanted you to carry out the kidnapping? Is that right,” Ken asked.

  Jenny nodded. “That’s right. I really didn’t want to do it but they convinced me if I didn’t it might be a long time before they would get another opportunity to shut down the trafficking ring they knew had been operating in California for many years. They said every time they got close to a break in the case something always happened to ruin their advantage. When they were able to make arrests the witnesses got cold feet or ended up dead.”

  “I certainly know how that can happen,” Ken said. “We have been trying to take down a guy named Carlo Donati for years, and my predecessors had been after his father Alphonso for many years before that. Alphonso is now dead.”

  “How did he die?” Adam asked.

  “I wish I could say it was good police work that brought him down, but the story I’ve heard is it was ALS that finally stopped him. He gave control of his empire to his son Carlo several years before he finally bought it.”

  “I heard about Carlo Donati when I was on the streets,” Jenny said, “And Ronald threatened me with his name when I complained that I didn’t think ten thousand was enough for my part in kidnapping the baby. And, speaking of the baby, I’ve got a couple of questions.”

  “All right,” Ken said. “What do you want to know?”

  “First of all, is the baby safe?”

  “He is. The tracking device you put on his clothes led us right to the adoption lawyer and the people he sold the baby to. Agents are working right now to track down other purchasers and the babies they bought. We’re hoping to reunite at least some the babies with their birth parents.”

  “Do you think you’ll be able to manage that?”

  “We hope to. Naturally, the lawyer didn’t keep complete records of the adoptions in case he was ever discovered, so our agents are desperately trying to piece together the bits and pieces they have found. They’re even tracking tax records for those families that listed a new dependent in any year. They’re checking those family’s tax records against birth records. That, as you might imagine, is a monumental task. Any discrepancies they find are investigated. Naturally, most adoptions are legitimate, but we’re hoping we can find some that are not, legitimate, that is, and get the babies back where they belong. At least we can rest assured that the New York lawyer won’t be selling any more babies. We have also been able to shut down the lawyer’s pipeline to California and other places. A number of people are in custody including a couple of other adoption lawyers. However, no one has given us any names of those in charge. It’s always possible the people we have in custody don’t know where their orders came from.”

  Jenny thought for a minute trying to remember the last name of the baby she took from the hospital. At the time, she couldn’t imagine ever forgetting the name, but with all that had happened, it had faded from her memory. Finally, she was able to dredge it up. “Do the Nelson’s have their baby back yet?”

  Ken shook his head. “Not yet. He’s still in New York. That’s where the lawyer who sold him had his business. It was also where the couple we now have in custody lived. The baby’s safe, but there’s a lot of paperwork and police work to be done before he can be taken back to California to be reunited with his parents.”

  Jenny glared at Ken before sadly shaking her head and dropping her hands into her lap in resignation. “His parents must be frantic.”

  “They are. I received a call from the agent in charge of the entire operation in Washington who said he received a call from the California agent in charge, a guy named Donald Smithers.”

  “I know Agent Smithers,” Jenny said. “He’s the one who convinced me to go
ahead with Ronald’s plan.”

  “Anyway,” Ken said, “Smithers said he had to put the parents in protective custody because after it was disclosed the whole thing was actually an elaborate sting and they couldn’t have the baby back until the paperwork was finished the father blew his stack and threatened to go to the press.”

  “So they’re not in ‘protective custody’ so much as under arrest to prevent them from going to the press,” Jenny said pounding her clenched fists on the top of the desk. She really wished she could hit someone. It was probably a good thing Ken was out of reach. It would be almost worth some jail time to vent some of her frustration. If she had known the baby was going to be kept from his parents for so long, she’d have refused to do her part in this sting even if it had cost her life.

  “I guess you can look at it that way. But we prefer the term ‘protective custody,’” Ken said.

  “A rose by any other name,” Jenny irritably hissed. Her face was red, and her lips were clenched betraying her frustration. “I wish I had never started this whole thing. I swear I’m going to kill Ronald if I ever see him again.”

  Nobody said anything for a while until Jenny broke the silence. “If the FBI in California is going to hold the Nelson’s in ‘protective custody’ anyway,” she said the word with a distinctly sarcastic lilt, “why couldn’t they be in ‘protective custody’ with their son?”

  “You mean to return their son to them and keep them all under wraps until this thing is finally over.”

  “Of course I do. What would be wrong with that?”

  “I don’t suppose there would be anything wrong with it.”

  Jenny regarded him incredulously. “Are you trying to tell me nobody has thought of that?”

  Ken shrugged. “To be honest, no. But in our defense, the ‘protective custody’ thing only came into being today. Apparently, the Nelsons barged into the California FBI field office yelling about seeing whoever was in charge of the kidnapping case. They hadn’t been able to get any satisfactory answers from their local police officers and the staff at the hospital you took the baby from. Some officer must have mentioned that perhaps they should talk to the FBI who is usually in charge of kidnapping cases. The agent in charge could think of nothing else to do but put the Nelson’s in ‘protective custody’ when Mr. Nelson began threatening to go to the press after they were informed their baby was currently in New York.”