by Diane Roads
"Well, sir, she is lying down right now. She is so upset that I called Dr. Freeman to see if he would come over. He's an old friend of the Twilliger's, and I know he's retired and all but I'm sure he would want me to call," stated Carl.
"Yes, I'm sure he would. Did Mrs. Twilliger say anything about what she saw?"
"Why, yes, she said he.........."
"That's okay, Carl; I'll talk with the Sheriff,” Mrs. Twilliger said as she walked into the living room. “Thank you Carl, I'll be just fine.” She turned to face Jasper, “This is all so upsetting, and Rollo has still been acting so strangely, and he still hasn't chewed on his bone. I asked Carl and his son George to see if they could calm him down some, but George was afraid to even open the gate Rollo was so hyper. He knows something is wrong with Thomas"
"Oh, I wish Thomas was here, he is so good with Rollo and so is Carl usually. I just don't understand, Rollo is such a smart dog. What's gotten into him? Things are so bad Carl suggested we send him to the veterinarian. I do hope Connie can find out what's wrong with him."
"I am sure she will; you know, Connie is very good with animals. Can you tell me what you saw this morning?"
"Well, I was going into the kitchen. I hadn't turned on the light yet, but there was a man at the door. He was rather tall, had dark hair. I don't know how old he was but he didn't seem like a kid. I remember he was dressed all in black. I screamed, and Carl woke up calling my name."
"Did he take anything?"
"No, I don't think so. He did have three paintings in his hands. They were Bruskeys, and I guess we surprised him when we yelled, because he dropped them when he was trying to put them in a bag. There must have been too many for him to carry in a hurry."
Jasper's knowledge of art was very limited. The paintings were done in pastel and he didn't know anything more than that. They didn't look very valuable to him, so he asked, "Are they very valuable?"
"Oh, no, not really. You see the set is not complete. There is a fourth one somewhere. Thomas has been trying to find it for me for years. The set, as a whole, is maybe worth fifteen thousand dollars, but each picture is maybe worth two, or three thousand. We have another one that is worth forty thousand. It just doesn't make a lot of sense, but then, a lot of things haven't been making a lot of sense lately."
"Anything else you can tell me?"
"No, I don't think so," said Mrs. Twilliger.
"Okay, thank you, Mrs. Twilliger, that’s all I need. Carl, I'm going to put some police tape on the door. I'll have Mark McMillan come over later today and get some fingerprints on the door and the pictures. Would you close off this area for me? Make sure that no one comes around."
"Sure thing, Sheriff. To think, he was right in the room with me, and I never heard him. I could have caught him if I had been awake. Then he could have told us what he did with Mr. Tom."
"Don't go blaming yourself. You can't stay awake until he comes back. This probably doesn't mean anything, but I would like to know if either of you know a Helen Brolin?"
Mrs. Twilliger nodded her head. "I haven't thought of her in 10 or 15 years. It's probably been that long since I have seen her. Thomas one time bought her a coat."
Carl said, "I remember that. Why? Did she have something to do with Mr. Tom being missing?"
"No, I don't think so. She called me before I left the station last night. She had some wild story, and I have Doc Lewis checking her out. He doesn't think she is anything to worry about."
"Did she say anything about my Thomas?"
"Now, now, Mrs. Twilliger, I think I said more than I should have. I don't know the validity of this lady. She could be a kook for all we know. Let me check into her a little bit more before I start spouting off things that may not be true. The only thing I can say is that I do believe she is harmless. Let me check her out some more."
"Okay Sheriff. Oh, and George saw that guy again a little while ago when he was out for a jog."
"What time was that?"
"Sometime after 4:00 a.m. He offered him his coat, and he didn't want it back. Said he already got a new one," said Carl.
"Where did he see him? Did he say what he was doing out there at that hour?"
"I don't know what he was doing, but it couldn't have been far because George doesn't jog too far from here."
"Thanks for the information, Carl."
Jasper headed out the door to the car. As he drove back to the station, there were a lot of questions floating around in his head. First of all, if it had been Mr. Twilliger in the grave, why didn't he just walk back into town? Was he running from something? And why was Carl Carter so protective of Mrs. Twilliger? Was he really sleeping on the couch? And wasn't it convenient that Rollo was not there this morning? Who was that man that George knew in prison? And what was he doing out at this hour? How did Helen Brolin fit into all of this? He had a lot more questions as he pulled up to the station house, but got distracted as he looked to find Jim was already there. It was still very early in the morning.
"Hi Jim, how’re you doing this morning?"
"Okay. I heard the fires down south have spread to Guatemala. So I suppose I'll be wearing Mexico and Guatemala today. Oh, and I picked up Smokey on the way over."
"I'm glad you remembered. With all that has been going on this morning I plumb forgot to bring him down. I left in such a hurry. It seems the Twilliger's house was broken into early this morning. Someone tried to steal some pastels by Bruskey."
"Never heard of him," Jim said.
"Neither had I. Mrs. Twilliger said they were worth only two to three thousand apiece."
"Well, that doesn't sound like much compared to how rich they are. Say, what's this sudden interest in art lately? Everyone wants to steal artwork."
"I don't know, but something tells me I had better look into it some more. I'm wondering if it might have something to do with where, or why, Mr. Twilliger is missing. I have a lot of questions I need answers for. I was here late last night trying to get some of those answers when the computer went haywire on me. Luckily Pete was available."
"You're not going to believe this one. Last night after Pete left, I got a call from a Helen Brolin."
"Hey I’ve heard of her before. Mark was telling me about something she did last summer when he came into town. She is kind of weird, if you ask me," said Jim.
"Maybe… I have Doc Lewis checking her out today. If he says she is okay, then I will bring her in for questioning. I have got to get in there and pull up some information on that man that is over at Millie's."
"I left that knife that we found in lockup. It's kind of different, looks like what they call Scrimshaw on it. Wasn't Carl Carter saying he had lost a knife like that?"
"Yes, he was. I'll take it over later on and see if it is his. In the meantime, let's see what else we can find out about Carl Carter. There are too many things that are happening that are just too convenient. For one thing, the dog was not at the Twilliger's when the house was broken into this morning. Ask Mitchell at the lawn and garden store what he can tell you about Carl Carter on your way out this morning and maybe Fred at the hardware store. Maybe they will know something about George also."
"Okay! You might ask Sally. She may know something. You know everyone talks to their waitress."
"You might just have something there. Maybe I'll run over there for lunch, if I get time, at least for a coffee break at some point and time today. You won't believe this, but the Looney family has about five cops in the family. I had a talk with them last night, and had a chance to hear another one of those famous Looney stories. Several of them should be showing up to help in the search,” told Jasper.
"We can use all the help we can get. Those woods run for miles along the river. The rain probably washed away any scent from yesterday or before, but we still have a chance to find him if he has done any walking since it stopped raining."
“Oh! I got to go! The phone is ringing, and with the way things are going lately, I never know
what's next, so I had better catch this."
"Jasper! Jasper!" shouted Harry into the phone at the other end, "You've got to see her! She is beautiful! She's all pink and pretty, she's wonderful. Man, it was so late, or I would have called you back sooner. I didn't think she would ever have her. Talk about taking her time."
"Well, that's just great Harry! What are you going to call her?"
"I don't know yet. We're still playing around with some names. She has ten toes and ten fingers. She is perfect. Oh, I almost forgot. You know that John Doe that's up here? When I was pacing the floor last night, I walked by his room. I've seen him somewhere before. I just can't place him, he looks so familiar, but different somehow. I was hoping that maybe you would come up for a look. See if you recognize him."
"Okay, I was planning on it, in fact, I was going to call you and have you check on him. Helen Brolin told me to look for the dark haired man. She said it was Thomas Twilliger. I don't think so, but I'll come up and see your John Doe. Figured I'd come up, and see the baby while I was at it."
"Okay, great! Oh, I got to go! It's feeding time and I don't want to miss that. See you later, bye."
That was Harry, always working, even when he wasn't working. The men from the Big City were getting ready to go back out on the search. Jasper went to the break room to talk to Rego Berto and see how the progress was going. "Hi Rego, how much more do you have to search?"
"I want to do a search of the river area one more time," answered Rego.
"Sounds good, but if you get to the point where you think you have looked everywhere then give it up until I call you back out. We have some extra help coming out today. Oh, here they come pulling in now."
Three SUVs full of people pulled up to the station. Mavis was the first to get out. "Sheriff, I hope you have good news for us that you’ve found him."
"Mavis, I wish I did. The truth is, the woods stretch for miles. It has just been too much ground for us to cover. We appreciate any help we can get. Come on in the station, and we will get set up on where to start looking.
The search team came in first before Jasper and Rego. Jim came out of the supply room as everyone walked in. He slowed to a stop and just smiled. Then said, "May I help you?"
Mavis stepped in with "No, but we can help you."
Jasper walked in and said. "Jim this is part of the P. U. Loony family. They have offered to help in the search of the woods for Thomas Twilliger. I told them we could use all the help we can get."
"You got that right. Those woods are just too big. Come on in the conference room and I will get you set up on where to start looking. Rego, show us where you have looked."
Jim had taken charge of the search, so Jasper went back into his office. He got to thinking of reasons someone would want Mr. Twilliger gone. Jasper knew that Mr. Twilliger had a lot of money. Was he spending too much of it? Was he spending it in the wrong places? And what did he spend it on? He decided to make a call to Sally.
"Sally, have you heard anything about what Mr. Twilliger might have donated money to recently?"
"Sure Jasper. You know all that talk about the Kids Center getting a new library. It is believed that the money for all of that will come from Mr. Twilliger. You know how people talk. I think, the year before last, he donated the playground equipment for the nursing home. Then when the residents have grandkids that come to visit them, they have something fun to do with the kids."
"Pastor Michaels said that he donated 200 blankets for the homeless last Christmas," added Jasper.
"Why are you asking Jas?"
"I am just trying to find a motive for why someone would want him out of the way. Who would benefit?" answered Jasper.
"What does 'what he donates' have to do with him missing?" Sally asked.
"Probably nothing, but just to be safe I wanted to check. I was reminded today of the desperate things people do for money. From what little bit I have heard about Mrs. Twilliger, she really doesn't sound desperate. I just hope she doesn't prove me wrong."
"Trust me Jas, what I know of Henrietta, she won't prove you wrong. I have known her for years. She usually comes in here in the morning time. She is a special lady. You know that I am not a bad judge of character. You can't be, not in this business."
"I just wish I had known them better before all of this happened. Pastor Michaels knew them, and they have lived in this town for over 20 years. I wonder if they were regular churchgoers before all of this. I have seen them a time or two at our church,” pondered Jasper.
"Yes they were. They had been going to a church in the Big City where they were married. They had recently been thinking about moving to a church closer to home. In fact, our church. The drive to the Big City was no longer appealing. She had said that they were going to meet us at church this Sunday. They were planning on changing membership. They had come to our church off and on over the past few years. Henrietta said they were thinking of staying," reported Sally.
"That is interesting to know, but does it have anything to do with why he is gone? As they say, the plot thickens. Well, back to work. I'll touch base with you later," and with that Jasper hung up the phone.
Just then Mark McMillan walked into Jasper’s office.
"Hi, Jasper, I know you wanted this information ASAP, so I put a rush on it. We have a surprising match. It seems as though one of the prints I lifted this morning belong to an Earl Scooter who’s got a rap sheet a mile long. He spent some time at a Nebraska prison. He was mostly into stealing art."
"Art, as in pictures and paintings?"
"Yes, but only the expensive ones. Half a million or more," replied Mark.
"This doesn't make sense or maybe it is starting to, I don't know which, but someone broke into the Twilliger's early this morning and they tried to steal some pastels by Bruskey. Mrs. Twilliger said they were only worth about two or three thousand apiece. Why would Mr. Scooter be interested in these paintings, unless it wasn't him, but someone else who tried to steal them?”
"I don't know. I am also trying to get an idea of what the Twilliger's were like. Did you know them very well? "
"Yes, as I said, they went to my church for as long as I can remember. They always acted like newlyweds, but I think they had been married longer than dirt had been around," Mark said.
"Did he seem to throw a lot of money around?" questioned Jasper.
"Not that you would know. I mean he gave money to different causes. It was never said where the money came from, didn't matter, we knew."
"Do you think that the fact that he was planning on changing churches and taking all of his money with him… Well, do you think it would make anyone mad enough to do something to him?"
"No! Just because he was changing churches, which has nothing to do with where the loyalty of his money lies, he wouldn’t have changed how he invested, or where he donated his money. I know him too well to think other wise."
“Say, what can you tell me about Helen Brolin?"
"Just about everything; she grew up next to my great aunt, she has been a member of the First Baptist Church, but hasn't gone there in probably 20 years, she always used to get feelings about stuff. The only things that ever panned out on her feelings were the ones about the weather. She used to think she knew about stuff, like, when things were going to happen, or what was going to happen, but she never was right.
"So, you think she is a fake?"
"Sure, how did you hear about her?" questioned Mark.
"She called me last night. She said to look for the dark haired man, and that we were looking in the wrong place. I don't have a clue of what she is talking about."
"Man I haven't thought of her in years. I lost touch with her several years' back when my Aunt died. She would see something in the newspaper, and all of a sudden get a feeling about it. Then she would just out of the blue call my Aunt up and tell her all about it."
"She did, late last night with me."
There was some noise
in the lobby as Jasper’s phone rang yet again. "Hello Sheriff, This is Helen again. I hope you’ns gave some thought to what I said last night. I get this strong feelin’ that he is real close, the man you is lookin’ for."
"Ms. Brolin, I have given it some thought. In fact someone you know is sitting in my office right now. You would be surprise to hear that he is a police officer for the Big City. Would you like to talk with Mark McMillan?"
"No, I don't need t’ talk to little Markey. This is important stuff not for little boys playin’ police. Now are you doin’ anythin’ about my talkin’ to you last night?"
"Yes, Ms. Brolin, I am. I am going to the Big City hospital today to see if someone might fit who you are talking about, and I will be talking to you soon."
"Melissa will be just fine. Humph!" The phone went dead.
"That was weird. I wonder if whomever she is talking about is the John Doe in the Big City hospital. You don't really think that that could be him?"
"Hey, I am game for anything at this point."
"She said that, 'Melissa would be just fine.' What in the world does that mean?"
Mark shook his head.
Jim stuck his head in the door, "Hi Mark. Sheriff, we are heading back out. If these guys are as good as I think they are, we should be able to find him today if he is out there. Since you have been in here, two more SUVs full of people have showed up."