The Tamarack Murders

by Patrick F. McManus

  Tully studied the mess. “I suppose,” he said. “I’d much rather take a look at where you keep the good stuff.”

  Tully glanced at Sil. She hadn’t reacted. She had seen it all before. He looked back at Shanks. The man showed no signs of rage, anger, or even annoyance. “So tell me, where do you keep the good ones, Grid?”

  Shanks stared silently at him for a moment and then laughed. “In the bedroom. I do have a seven-millimeter in there. I suppose you want to take it.”

  “Correct. Since there’s no point in owning two seven- millimeters, I assume you have only one in the bedroom. Nevertheless I should check for myself.”

  Shanks showed Tully into the bedroom. As he expected, the double bed was neatly made and beautifully covered with a patchwork quilt. The room was in perfect order. Tully studied the rifles carefully. “Well, I’ll be darned. You have two seven- millimeter rifles in here, Grid. I’m afraid I’ll have to pencil in a two on the search warrant, if you don’t mind.”

  Grid said, “You can do that?”

  “Search warrants can change. Hey, what’s this? A forty- five automatic and a revolver.”

  Grid frowned. “I suppose you’re going to pencil them in on your search warrant.”

  “Naw, that wouldn’t be legal, Grid. I’ll have Judge Patterson add them to my list later.”

  “Yeah, go ahead and take them. I haven’t killed more than half a dozen men with those pieces.”

  Tully smiled. “I doubt that, Grid, but I will take them, with your permission. Just put your signature next to my note about taking your forty-five and the revolver, to show I had your permission.” Shanks shook his head as if in disbelief, but then signed his name.

  “Now, if you don’t mind,” Tully said, “I’d like to have a little chat with you out in my car.” He put a handgun under each arm and carried the two rifles out to the Explorer. “Mind opening the hatch door, Grid?”

  Shanks opened the door. Tully put the guns in the cargo area.

  Shanks said, “You want me in the front seat or the back, Bo?”

  “Front seat will be fine, at least for now. I want to run a theory by you.”

  They got in the car. Tully started it and turned up the heater. He reminded Shanks about how he had given permission for two men to hunt his property, men he had just met. The flagging tape with Shanks’s partial print had been right where the getaway car was parked. One of the hunters had shown up there four hours before he claimed to be there. In other words, something very strange was going on with Gridley Shanks.

  The suspect showed not the slightest reaction to Tully’s theory. “You done?” Shanks asked.

  “That’s basically the picture, Grid. It’s why you keep showing up on my radar”

  “No offense, Bo, but you and I are both the victims of converging incidentals.”

  “Converging incidentals?”

  “Yes. Let’s start with the flagging tape. I have no idea how only a partial fingerprint of mind ended up on the tape. Except for that, you would never have gotten me involved. Then there are the two so-called hunters, Dance and Beeker, which are the reason I put up the tape in the first place. I wasn’t aware Dance and Beeker didn’t know the slightest thing about hunting, only that they were looking for a place to hunt. I had just met them. They both talked elk like old pros. They knew the language and . . .”

  Tully interrupted. “I suspected they knew nothing about hunting when Beeker seemed to mistake a herd of elk for a herd of deer. Turned out he did see a herd of deer, because the deer came through during the snow shower, which lasted between six and six-thirty. He didn’t see the herd of elk, because by the time they came through, he had stationed himself in the woods, waiting for Vergil to show up.”

  “Could be,” Shanks said. “You think Beeker shot Vergil?”

  “Yes, I do. One other thing, Grid, the other night I drove down the alley behind Danielle Stone’s house and saw the tail fins of a bright red Cadillac sticking out of her garage.”

  A flash of anger crossed Grid’s face. He sat in silence for several seconds. “Okay, you got me there. I didn’t expect you to go snooping around in the middle of the night, so I didn’t tell you everything. I can explain it, but I don’t want Sil to know about this. Danielle is my daughter. Vergil was such a fool, I didn’t even like talking to him. I’d been giving Danielle money all along. As a matter of fact, I own their house and let them live there for free. I don’t know if Vergil knew about the money I gave Danielle, but that’s how they survived. I also paid for Danielle’s tuition at the community college, along with her books. Vergil was such a wimp! I couldn’t believe he had enough guts to get involved in a bank robbery. It was a step up for him. He worked for the bank a while back, but got laid off. Since then he worked a couple of nothing jobs. But when I heard Vergil had been killed, I couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t a bad guy, just a wimp.”

  Tully said, “Suppose you had set up the robbery, Grid. How would you have done it?”

  “Probably just the way it was done.”

  “And how was that?”

  “I’ve given some thought to it, from what I’ve read in the paper. First, I’d find a desperate loser like Vergil, one who knew the bank routine but was mad at the bank for laying him off. Then I’d talk him into robbing the bank, because he had worked there and knew the schedules and timing and everything. I never expected Vergil actually to get involved in a bank robbery. He would turn to jelly right in the middle of it, maybe even before. I’m sure he was used only to supply inside information. The other robbers would know he was a weak link. The cops would break him in seconds. The only safe thing to do was use him as a decoy and take him out after the robbery. Plus they could divide up his share of the loot.”

  Tully tugged the droopy corner of his mustache. “So Vergil gives Beeker and Dance the inside information, and they use him as a decoy, the driver of the getaway car.” He sighed. “Only one guy robbed the bank. Which one do you think?”

  “The little I know about them, I’d say Dance.”

  “Where’s Beeker?”

  “I don’t know. You seem to think he was on the mountain waiting to shoot Vergil. I’m guessing everything, Bo. I doubt Vergil would even have thought of running out on Beeker and Dance.”

  Shanks thought for a moment. “Vergil probably was desperate enough to go along with the robbery, as long as he didn’t actually have to hold a gun on anybody. I don’t think they had to worry about him taking off. Someone like Vergil wouldn’t have the nerve to run out on guys like Dance and Beeker.”

  “Now for the big question, Grid. Where’s the loot?”

  Shanks shook his head. “I don’t have a clue. I can tell you this, if I was in on a bank robbery, I’d keep an eye on the loot no matter what. I wouldn’t let it out of my sight. You’re taking a big risk, robbing a bank. You have to be aware your associates are crooks, and that any one of them will take off with the whole caboodle if given half a chance.”

  Tully said, “You think Vergil was the kind of person to take part in a robbery?”

  Shanks thought a moment. “He was desperate. Desperate people do desperate things. But to tell you the truth, Bo, I can’t imagine Vergil holding a gun on anybody.”

  Tully said, “So you think Vergil was just the driver.”

  “Must have been.”

  “So what happened to the guy that robbed the bank?” Tully asked. “Say Dance was the robber. What’s Beeker doing?”

  Shanks thought for a moment. “Maybe it’s like you said. He’s the one who shot Vergil. Maybe that’s why he arrived at the mountain early enough to see the deer.”

  Tully tapped his fingers up and down on the steering wheel. After a moment he said, “Or maybe there’s a fourth guy, in addition to Beeker, Dance, and Vergil. Maybe he’s the shooter.”

  “A fourth guy? Could be. I’ve never seen anyone else with Beeker and Dance, though.”

  Tully had. One Gridley Shanks. A person who owned an ATV, and who was a
lso an excellent shot.

  Shanks said, “I tell you, Bo, you got all these converging circumstances pointing at me, and that’s all they are, irrelevant lines of suspicion. You haven’t found a single fact tying me to the robbery or murder, and that’s because there isn’t any to find.”

  Tully shook his head. “I’m sorry, Grid. You’re right, I don’t have a single fact tying you to the murder or robbery. And it would make me extremely unhappy if I did. It’s just that every time I pick up a fact, it seems to point to you.”

  “That’s all right, Bo. I know you’re just doing your job. No hard feelings. But do me a favor. Don’t ever mention Danielle to Sil. If a wife finds out you’ve been even slightly involved with another woman, it kills something inside of her. The rest of her life she has this little dead spot in there, and the dead spot’s got your initials on it. Sil and I were young and just married when that stupid affair happened. I don’t have many secrets from Sil, but that’s one I’d like to keep.”

  “Sil won’t find out about Danielle from me, Grid. I’ll have Lurch return the guns as soon as he’s checked them out.”

  Chapter 9

  Tully went back to the office and dropped Shanks’s rifles and handguns off for Lurch to check their bullets against the one that killed Vergil. Then he drove over to the bank. The FBI agents were packing up to leave and head to the airport. Angie was seated in the bank manager’s office. She was writing something in her notebook when Tully walked in. She smiled, stood up, shook hands with the manager. Tully exchanged pleasantries with Estes and then walked outside with Angie.

  He asked, “You think Estes is involved in the robbery?”

  “Always a possibility, but I don’t think so.”

  “Any leads?”

  Angie shook her head. “No, we’re wrapping things up here. The lone robber shoved a gun in the manager’s ribs when he arrived for work. Forced him to unlock the door. The manager is about six feet tall and he says the robber was a bit shorter, maybe five eight. He had an accomplice waiting for him in the getaway car, but no one saw him clearly enough to get a description. Several employees saw the car and described it to police, and the police broadcast the description of the car on police radio. I guess that’s where you came in, Bo.”

  “Yeah, we were practically on top of the car, but I’m afraid about all we have are some casts of tracks and a wild theory or two. We haven’t turned up one dollar of the loot. Your massive resources help you find out anything on a Horace Beeker or Edward Dance?

  “Both of them have done time for robbery.”

  Tully nodded. “That’s what my CSI Unit tells me. Oddly, Fish and Game probably has license information on them. It could be phony, but probably not. Maybe they were here to hunt elk. It would be risky to try that with phony licenses. If they were stopped by a game warden, the whole plan could fall apart. Even pretending to hunt, they needed licenses. Or maybe they simply would have shot any game warden who checked them. He would have been a minor nuisance. These could be really bad guys, but I interviewed both of them the night after the killing of Vergil Stone, and if one of them murdered him they are pretty cold customers.”

  Tully gave her the spelling of the names and the vehicle license number. She wrote them down in her notebook. She said, “Any idea where these two characters might be now?”

  “Not much. One of them said something about a cabin somewhere around Famine.”

  “Famine? That’s where Dave lives.”

  “Yeah, it’s a little town about thirty miles west of here. I have some contacts over there besides Dave and will try to find out if anyone knows any Beekers or Dances in the area.”

  Angie wrote furiously in her notebook. “Remember this is an FBI case, Bo.”

  “The FBI can have the bank robbery,” he said. “The murder is mine. There’s no proof yet the victim was connected to the robbery, except he appeared to be fleeing in a vehicle matching the description of the getaway car.”

  She gave him a hard look. “I hope the Blight way isn’t kicking in here.”

  “The Blight way?” he said. “What’s that?”

  “You know darn good and well what it is. It’s the Blight County system of law enforcement that’s a little weak on the law part.”

  “There you go again, hurting my feelings, Angie.”

  “I hope so. Just for once, Bo, I’d like you to play by the rules.”

  “I always play by the rules.”

  “Yeah, your rules.”

  “My rules or not, Angie, right now our suspects could be halfway to Portland, Seattle, or San Francisco. And those are only our suspects. Hard to tell where the guys are who actually robbed the bank.”

  He walked Angie out to her rental car. “I think it’s pretty clear right now that we know who the driver of the getaway car was. It was a young fellow by the name of Vergil Stone. He was employed by the bank up until a few months ago and gave the two heavies the routine at the bank. That’s how the robber timed his entrance to the vault’s still being open.”

  Angie shook her head. “How do you find out all this stuff anyway?”

  “Crime detection.”

  “And the Blight way?”

  “That too. By the way, how much did these guys score?”

  “The manager thinks a huge amount. They’ll have a more accurate figure tomorrow.”

  Tully tugged on his mustache. “Any chance you can get away from the robbery for a day. I have a tiny lead taking us over to Famine tomorrow. You’re welcome to come along. The guys we’re after could be the bank robbers. If not, they might do in a pinch.”

  Angie shook her head and smiled, her hand on the handle of the car door. “Hmm. I’ll see what the other agents say. Are you by any chance meeting up with Dave?”

  “Perkins? Yeah. As a matter of fact we are, because I may need a tracker. You interested in our fake Indian?”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “Just your basic detection. I seem to recall you spent quite a bit of time with him your last case over here.”

  Angie smiled, got in her car and drove off. Tully drove to the office. The troops appeared hard at work. They must have heard the heels of his boots klocking down the marble-chip floor of the courthouse. He walked over to Lurch’s corner. The Unit was tapping madly away on his computer.

  Tully stood there until Lurch looked up.

  “Geez, boss! You scared me!”

  “I was just wondering if, between computer games, you have time to check out the bullet that murdered young Vergil Stone against the seven-millimeter rifles and handguns I have stashed in my car.” He handed the Unit the keys to his Explorer.

  “I’ll get on them this minute, boss. You turn up any possible leads?”

  “No. I have a couple of fragile clues. I want you to use that computer of yours for something other than games to see if you can find a record of any Beekers or Dances living in Blight County. I doubt if any of them had anything to do with robbing the bank, but they may have some idea who pulled it off.”

  Tully walked back toward his office and stopped at Daisy’s desk, bending over to whisper in her ear. “What do you have planned for my breakfast tomorrow?”

  “Don’t you wish,” she said. “I’m afraid you’ll be back to your Egg McMuffin for tomorrow, Sheriff, because I happen to have a date tonight. I do have a life, you know.”

  “A date? With whom, may I ask?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but Clyde Fisk invited me to dinner at Crabbs.”

  “Fisk! He walks into a crowded room, he lowers the average IQ by twenty points!”

  “This is Blight City, Bo. A girl takes what’s available. And believe me, what’s available is a pretty sorry mess. No offense.”

  “None taken. Listen, sweetheart, you’re coming down with a bad case of the flu. Fisk will understand. Get over it about the time I get back from Famine.”

  “Is that a proposal?”

  “Close as I can come at the moment. W
hat do you say?”

  Daisy thought for a moment. Then she put her hand over her mouth and pretended to cough.

  Tully smiled. He went into his office and slid into his chair. After spinning around and contemplating Lake Blight for a few moments, he punched a number into his phone.

  A female voice answered. “Dave’s House of Fry. How may I help you?”

  “The boss around, Mavis? Tell him Sheriff Tully wants to speak to him.”

  “One second, Bo. He’s in the kitchen. I’ll go fetch him.”

  Fetch. Not often you hear that word anymore. Maybe old words survive only in tiny isolated places like Famine.

  Mavis came back on. “Dave will be here in a sec. I haven’t seen you over this way in a while, Bo.”

  “You miss me, Mavis?”

  “Sure. But not all that much.”

  “You still hanging out with that vacuous boyfriend of yours?”

  “Roy isn’t all that vacuous anymore, Bo.”

  “How vacuous is he?”

  “I don’t know. I think Doc Millbank gave him some pills for that. They just haven’t kicked in yet, as far as I can tell.”

  “He ever find work, Mavis?”

  “Sometimes. The pickings over here in Famine are pretty thin, Bo. At least Roy works some of the time. Right now he’s pulling off the green chain at the mill.”

  “The green chain! Marry him right away, Mavis. Men drop dead pulling off the green chain.”

  “And your point is?”

  “Insurance, Mavis, insurance. You can’t be dumb.”

  “Next time you’re over, Sheriff, we’ll have to discuss this a little more. Here’s Dave.”

  Dave came on. “You trying to pick up my best waitress, Bo? First your old man runs off with my most beautiful waitress, and now the son is zeroing in on Mavis. A man can hardly stay in business with the Tullys around.”

  “Don’t get excited, Dave. I have more women problems at the moment than I can shake a stick at. I just can’t help flirting with them. It’s in my nature.”

  “Must be nice, having more women than you can shake a stick at.”