By the next Monday morning Collin had determined that Doctor Holt did not have a BMW registered under his name. It turned out that he drove a Jaguar. Missus Holt had a Mercedes registered to her. Collin was relieved to see that they didn’t drive a BMW since it was a BMW that shoved Missus Holt’s lover into the median on the beltway and killed him. Collin’s friend on the Virginia State Police force told him the witnesses explained that the BMW intentionally ran the Camaro into the median and then drove off. They were investigating the event as a vehicular homicide and not an accident. The word had been put out to all auto repair shops in the Northern Virginia, Washington D.C. and Maryland area to report any BMW’s that came in needing repairs to the front driver’s side.
Collin was on his way to report his progress to the Maxwells. He was now on route 270 outside Frederick running the facts of the case through his mind and also the fact that Gene Search and HGL were connected in some way. The Gene Search SUV that had come to his home with a tall gaunt man and a petite lady named, Terrie, had ended their travels at HGL after visiting Missus Keller and the country compound where Collin had found another laboratory and a security force that made him wonder what else was located in the compound.
Collin wasn’t sure what he was going to tell the Maxwells about their niece. After all, Collin had not found the girl yet. It was only a guess that she might be staying at the compound. He wanted to ask them if they had any connection to HGL. He wanted to do it in person so he could watch for their reactions. So far he had been lied to by Doctor Holt’s secretary and Missus Holt’s lover had been murdered right after Collin had identified him. He wanted to watch for subtle signs that the Maxwells might know more about these events than they had said so far. He turned onto route 70 and continued on toward Hagerstown to ask the Maxwells right out if they had any connections to HGL.
Collin pulled into the Maxwell farm. He passed the same open garages with the two BMW’s in them that he saw when he had visited them before. He couldn’t see the front end of the cars from the driveway. He pulled up to the house and parked his car. Marvin and Maggie Maxwell were waiting for him on the porch. It was a beautiful day and ten degrees warmer than the last time Collin had been there. Collin walked up to the porch.
“Welcome.” Marvin shook Collin’s hand.
Collin sat in a chair near the swing where Maggie was sitting.
“Hello Missus Maxwell.”
“I so glad you came. No one has heard from Shelby this week. Do you have any news for us,” Maggie whispered.
“I haven’t found her yet. But I have a lead. There is a place in Rockville that I’ll be visiting soon to see if she is there. It appears to be a compound related to Gene Search but I don’t have conclusive facts at this point.”
Collin continued, “I need to ask you both if you have any connection to Holt Genetics Laboratory?”
Maggie and Marvin glanced at each other. Marvin said, “Why do you ask?”
Collin told a white lie, “I followed a Gene Search vehicle to the Holt Genetics Laboratory. I’m trying to determine how Gene Search and HGL are related.”
Marvin patted his wife on her knee then answered, “I explained to you when you were here before that my wife has a degenerative larynx. It is a genetic condition and the reason we don’t have children. HGL is the laboratory that our doctor used to diagnose Maggie’s condition.”
“So you don’t actually know Doctor Holt?”
“Well, I didn’t before our doctor told us to get the genetic tests. At that time I made it a priority to understand the testing and I met and have become friends with George Holt.”
“Yes, we have become good friends with George and Amy,” Maggie whispered.
“Do either of you drive the Virginia side of the Washington beltway frequently?”
Marvin responded, “I work in Frederick and Maggie always has our driver take her out if she needs to go anywhere. It would be unusual for either of us to be on the beltway especially not the Virginia side. Why do you ask?”
“No reason. You hadn’t heard of Gene Search before your niece ran away did you?”
“No.”
“No.” (a whisper)
“Could you ask your sister if Shelby calls to please describe the place where she is staying? Ask her which building she is in and see if she will confirm that there is a security force watching the compound. This will help me to confirm that the Rockville compound is the right place. Then call me right away.”
Maggie and Marvin agreed to tell Shelby’s mother but she wouldn’t help before and they weren’t sure she would now. Collin walked to his car. He wanted to stop and look at the BMWs but the garage was in sight of the house and he didn’t want the Maxwells to see him snooping. So he drove on past the garage on his way off the farm. It was time to check the GPS transmitter. He hadn’t checked it since his trip to the Rockville country compound.
Collin listened to the radio on his way from the Maxwell farm to his office. After Lily had given him the Gene Search phone number he had started listening to the radio station where she heard the announcement. He wanted to hear the Gene Search advertisement for himself. It was a rock station on the FM dial. He usually listened to talk radio or maybe some Jazz on his satellite radio. There weren’t any commercials – a big reason to get satellite radio. He was pleased to hear the Gene Search advertisement just as he was passing the exit for the National Geographic Institute. They urged anyone between the ages of eighteen to thirty to call and see if they could qualify for up to a million dollars in payment for having the right DNA. They gave the same phone number he had already called. It was a quick and uninformative advertisement.
Collin stopped by the Feldstein deli and picked up lunch. He didn’t notice a man outside the deli open his cell phone and make a call as Collin walked past him. Collin walked toward his office. He saw a man coming out of his office that quickly turned and walked away from him.
“Hey! You! What were you doing in my office?”
The man started running as soon as Collin yelled. Collin ran after him but he got delayed by a group of well developed young women exiting the gym. The man had disappeared by the time Collin had gotten past the girls. Collin returned to his office. The lock on the door had been broken. He didn’t think anyone else would still be inside but he carefully pushed the door open and peaked around the door jamb. Nobody was in the outer office. He slowly, quietly entered and walked over to his inner office. He slowly pushed the door open. Nothing was out of place. Unlike the lock on the outer office door that was part of the building, Collin had better locks on his file cabinet and desk. There was also the electronic lock on the inner office door but he hadn’t locked it Thursday when he left. He habitually left it unlocked unless he was not planning on being in the office for an extended period.
Collin put down the lunch sack he was carrying from the deli. He sat down at his desk and looked at the papers he had left on it. There was a copy of the GPS transmitter summary and some scribbled notes about the accident/murder on the beltway that he had written down on his phone message pad while he was talking to Donnie. The same phone pad also had other notes on it if you looked back through the pages. He had written the Gene Search number there when he was talking to Lily and Marvin Maxwell’s name and number from when he was talking to the service. He realized that he should lock the pad and anything else he had on his desk into the desk any time he left from now on. He was also going to start locking the inner door.
Collin started eating his lunch. He started to turn on his computer. He discovered it was already on and someone had logged on as him. Collin was very upset with himself. He always logged off and shut down the computer when he left but the passwords were on the back inside cover of the telephone message pad. The intruder must have found the passwords and logged on and had been reading his write up of the Holt case. Collin had no idea how long the guy had been in his office or what other files he might have accessed. Collin’s sandwich stuck in his throat. He was going to have t
o be much more careful as he continued investigating Gene Search. He had seen the security at the compound and now they or someone had followed him here.
The phone rang and brought Collin out of his daze.
“Collin Carter here.”
“Mister Carter. It’s Barbara Keller.”
“Hello, Missus Keller. Has your daughter come back?”
“No. But she called last Thursday night. I called your office on Friday but I guess you were out. She says she is all right and would have called me sooner but the place she is at won’t let the girls use the phone without filling out a request.”
“How was she able to call?”
“She said something was happening on the campus where her dorm is. All the security people went running out of the building and so she snuck out and used the phone. She knew I’d be worried because she hadn’t come in and said good bye when she left.”
“Last Thursday night?” Barbara Keller’s daughter must be at the Gene Search compound.
“Yes.”
“Was she able to tell you where she is?”
“She doesn’t know exactly. She says it is a nice place. She thinks it was once a farm. Now the research people use it.”
“What does she say she is doing there? Did she give the name of the research place?”
“She says she and the other girls are there to help cure childhood genetic disease. She is very excited about being able to help such a worthy cause but she couldn’t tell me any more because the research is so vital the security is very tight.”
“Did she say anything else?”
“Only that she loves me and I shouldn’t worry.”
“Thank you for calling Missus Keller. It is good to know that she is all right. Will you let me know if she calls again?”
“Yes. If she calls again, I’ll let you know. Mister Carter, do you think she is really all right?”
“I’m still looking into the other girl that ran away. I haven’t found out anything bad yet. Though such strong security does suggest there might be reason to make sure everything is copasetic. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”
“Thank you Mister Carter. Good bye.”
Collin finished his lunch. He needed to think of a way to get back on the Rockville compound. Meanwhile he accessed the GPS transmitter that he had dropped into the duffle bag Terrie and No name had taken his samples away in. The computer showed that the locator was currently at the Holt Genetic Laboratory. He clicked on the history button. The locator had not moved from HGL since the night Gene Search had come to visit him. Maybe he could visit HGL and find the locator. He wanted to know why it wasn’t moving. He knew nobody would be at HGL on Sunday. Doctor Holt had mentioned the hours of operation when he had first met Collin and given him the tour. He also knew that the building was only accessible by badge above the first floor. He was going to have to get himself a badge.
Collin had seen the front desk issue a temporary badge to an employee who forgot their badge while he was waiting for Doctor Holt to come and get him during his investigation of his wife. If he could get into the building he might be able to get a badge from the front desk. How he was going to get into the building was another matter. He had seen security cameras and motion detectors in the lobby. It wouldn’t be easy. Of course the building was open Monday through Friday from eight a.m. to six p.m. but the front desk was manned during those hours. If he could enter during the hours the building was open maybe he could cause some kind of a distraction that would take the front desk people away from their station just long enough to steal a badge. Short of burning the building down he wasn’t sure what he could do.
Chapter Ten
Gene Search: A Collin Carter Mystery Page 9