Murder Mysteries

by Waggoner, Robert C.

  -Seven-

  As they pulled into the North Bend office, Stacy's phone went off. It was Dave Edwards Jr. calling as he promised. He came right to the point. "My father, as you readily know, took the loss and the subsequent loss of my mother hard. Yes, I think Shirley had an affair with Glen Levers, but that ended at the trial. One person that comes to mind is Rolf Peters. He claimed no attachment to Glen, but I still wonder about that relationship. The other man, Phil Winters did the dirty work for Glen. He's a sneaky guy and in my opinion, dangerous. If kidnapping and murder are on the front line, behind the scene lurks Phil. Lastly, is the snake in the grass lawyer Bruce Livingstone. He has a vacation house overlooking the ocean somewhere but I'm not sure where. Anything else detective," asked Dave Junior.

  "Not at the moment and thanks for the call. I'll tell your father you were a big help," said Stacy ending the call.

  Inside the office, all three detectives were worn out from a hard day's work. Rory wanted a shower and change of clothes; Ben wanted to go home and play with his wife and kids; Stacy wanted to interview Shirley again, but decided to wait a day or two. An assistant came in with a hand full of the World newspaper of Coos Bay. Across the front was the picture of Anna smiling looking very cute. The story asked for the whereabouts of the girl and the offer of a huge reward was directed at the kidnappers. Now all they could do was wait for a call. The phone was set up to record and a policewoman was on duty.

  Stacy decided to go home. She said, "Call me if anything turns up. Let's make a plan for tomorrow in the morning. See you later." Rory watched her go out the door and then he followed going home for a shower and a relax.

  -Eight-

  It was almost dark when Stacy arrived at her house. Father as always, had the lights on for her. It made her feel warm inside. Lots of people wondered why she wasn't back east working for the giant bureaucracy laying the foundation for advancement. If those people saw what she had just seen: a warm inviting house with a love one inside preparing an evening of food and conversation.

  As she sailed through the house saying hello and back in a minute, father grunted that he knew what she was doing. However, she was back in a flash without taking a shower. He surmised correctly that no salt air had attacked her today. "What's for dinner my dear dad," she asked sitting down at the table with the newspaper from Coos Bay on the table.

  "I thought we'd have a ham and macaroni casserole. I went a little over the top with the cheddar, but the Tillamook folks will be happy." She could tell he was still bitter about the parent company of Tillamook Cheese buying out the famous Bandon Cheese Factory. Hands down, Bandon cheese was the best in the west. She wasn't sure, but she thought the Bandon Cheese Factory was one of the first businesses in town beginning around the turn of the 20th century.

  "I've had an interesting day father of mine." She went on to tell him about the haunted house with Phil Winters; up to Sara Tweet in Coquille, to Ben's report on Rolf Levers and finally their trip to the cabin at Lakeside.

  She gave him time to think about it as she set the table. He'd taken the casserole out to let it sit for few minutes. Right behind it went the French bread sprinkled with garlic butter and Parmesan cheese. Soon all was ready to eat and eat they did. He said, "Be careful of Phil Winters as he's been known to blow his stack once in awhile. I agree that he probably did some dirty work for Glen Levers. I don't know much about Sara Tweet. A friend told me she had a thing for Glen, but wasn't positive. I think Glen kept his women behind the curtain.

  Rolf floats on the meandering river keeping the raft ahead in sight, but keeping his distance. He's tighter than the bark on a tree. Lord knows how many live in housekeepers he's been through. All say he's a skinflint. If he's still in the arena, he'd keep clear of any murder or kidnapping.

  I called Portland about that lawyer guy named Bruce Livingstone. He's low class but lives high class. Yes, he does have a small beach house I'm told, but where is a good question. What's your next move my ace detective," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

  "Somebody is holding a little girl against her will. I need to find her and when I do; we'll find the person who murdered the judge. I'd like to interview Shirley Burger one on one. Rory is trying to find out if letters were exchanged between them from Salem. It was rumored he dumped Shirley after the trial, but who knows but those two. I'd say he's still using her to his advantage. Men like that should be neutered and women like her should have a brain transplant. Men are so transparent and women are so gullible.

  How sick is it when a man who scammed innocent victims out of their money, gets caught, goes to trial, found guilty, sentenced and then comes back to the judge, who is only doing his job, murders him and kidnaps a mentally retarded child. We really live in a sick society I think sometimes," said Stacy.

  "Find that lawyers beach house my daughter the detective. I think that will shed some light on a dark case. That little girl is not far away. She's in this county, probably unharmed watching TV. It takes a really sick person to kill a helpless child. But it's happening all the time. Okay, we need a new movie. I'd like to see a John Wayne cowboy movie to relax with," said her father.

  "Let me hook up to the pay for view channel and I'll dial you in. I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

  -Nine-

  Stacy woke to bright sunlight pouring into her bedroom. Her clock said not quite eight am. She was running a little late, but she'd been reading the trial transcripts until after midnight. After her shower, she dressed in conservative casual clothes for the day. Father was still in the kitchen making an omelet.

  This breakfast was one of her favorites. He used lean hamburger, mushrooms, a hint of onions and cheese with farm fresh eggs a friend delivered once a week. "Morning father. You're spoiling me, you know?"

  "I've no one else to spoil so enjoy while it's coming your way. I'm thinking about some exercise with summer coming soon. Like today it's nice out. I'm thinking walking the beach. City folks walk the shopping malls. God save me from that experience. Here you go Stacy—eat up—be happy there are two out there who love you to death," he said smiling with a twinkle in his grey eyes.

  "Two? Who besides you-----come on dad----you holding out on me?"

  "Here's a hint," as he handed her a plate of omelet and a side of toast, "he's tall, sort of dark, and handsome and from what I hear, eats like a horse."

  "Oh, you mean Rory. Yes, he does like me a lot. He's nice these days. However, the first time we met, he showed his true redneck colors. I'm still not convinced he's not a sexist man in disguise." As her father ate his omelet, she noticed he was still grinning. Men—she thought!

  At the station, Flo handed Stacy a note telling her to call Rory or Ben when she had time. Stacy walked into her office, sat her bag down, called Rory. He said, "Morning Stacy. We got a line on the lawyer's beach house. It's off 7 Devils Road. There's a gate across the road. Ben and I decided the best way would be a search warrant. I think a judge would grant us one because of the kidnapping; which by the way, no calls came in last night to the house. It's early yet and I'm confident they'll get in touch."

  "I can't think of a better way. But you know that Glen Levers is a smart man. He'd think we'd, after a cursory search, find the connection. My hunch or feeling is that Phil Winters is in the mix up to his scary eye balls. What's difficult is to put a tail on him or have someone watch his house. He'd know in a hot second if someone was following him. It would take some real clever method to see where he goes at any given time. Now what we could do is put a homing device on his pickup. But that would have to be done off his property or the damn dog would bark its fool head off. By the way do you have such a thing in your stash of inventory," asked Stacy.

  "As a matter of fact we do. I'll bring two just in case. Ben is up at Lakeside as he wasn't satisfied with my search. When I told him it was too brushy to go around where the cabin over looked the lake, he frowned at me. He's a friend with a boat up there and it's a nice day for a boat ride. Wha
t's your plan detective," asked Rory.

  "I want to pin down Shirley Burger about her relationship to Glen after the trial."

  "Hey, sorry, Ben told me that indeed letters from Coquille to Glen in Salem came and went on a regular basis. There were two distinct different styles of handwriting, but both feminine. I'd say both Sara Tweet and Shirley were on the string."

  "Come on down with the tracking device and we'll go see Dave Edwards again. I'll call on some pretext to find out where his caretaker is."

  "I'll be there shortly," he said.

  Dave Edwards said he'd be home all day long. His answer about Shirley was she usually showed up at lunch time. He'd heard nothing to the contrary so she would be there at noon. Stacy told him they'd be there around one pm so as not to arrive at his lunch time.

  She asked Flo to have Dan come by the station in about thirty minutes if he was in the area. Like Rory, Officer Dan Swollow had a crush on Stacy. He didn't even try to hide it anymore. Of course the staff teased him, but he only grinned like a big farm boy who caught the greased pig.

  Meanwhile, Stacy was not happy because she couldn't find the judge's daughter. The notion she could be anywhere in the county was very real. However, as the word had went out by TV and newspapers about murder of Judge Guy and the subsequent kidnapping of his daughter, every citizen was on the lookout for anything related or unusual activity going on. She felt sure that Anna was being held in Glen Lever's circle of friends.

  If he were at the beach house, there was no escape open to him. If he were in Fairview, that would be a better option. Lakeside cabin again would be no escaping from. Moving from place to place seemed likely to Stacy. Or a place Phil Winters had that not a person knew about. There was an outside chance county records would be a place to search for ownership of Phil Winters.

  Stacy called the court house in Coquille. She asked a big favor from records, which are public for anyone to inspect. The nice lady was very helpful. She told Stacy she'd call her back in a few minutes.

  She'd just hung up when Rory came in looking dashing as a knight on a coal black stallion. He said, "Here you are detective. My hero was James Bond at your service. You just pull off the cover and stick it on the plastic."

  "Very convenient," said Stacy.

  "Yes, the old ones were magnetic, but plastic rules today."

  Dan came in and Rory could see the drool running off his chin as he looked at the treasure in front of him. He took the device and said he'd take care of it. He knew where Phil hung out once in awhile. Stacy gave him a nice smile that melted the poor man.

  "How about that search warrant Rory," asked Stacy.

  "No till later, I'm told. Maybe late this afternoon," said Rory.

  "Alright, let's stop and see Sara Tweet and see what she has to say about writing letters back and forth from Salem to Coquille. You drive today. I hate to drive and think at the same time," said Stacy.

  The twenty minute drive to Coquille on a winding road, on a lovely spring day, was pleasant. Few cars travel the road. Most are locals and most are farmers.

  As they pulled up to Sara Tweet's house she was just coming out in the same outfit that she had on the other day. Apparently she was out for a walk. She stopped when she saw the Oregon State Police car. When Stacy opened the door, Sara turned to go back in her house. She didn't appear happy about seeing the police again. Stacy felt the chill and decided to slam her in the ribs with some powerful words. It was time to get at the truth and not beat around the bush.

  Once inside, Sara said, "What now detectives?"

  "Well, Ms Tweet, you can start by telling us why you were writing letters to Dave Levers in prison," said Stacy looking directly at Sara to see her reaction.

  "Well, evidence does reveal facts, I guess. It's true we wrote each other. I guess we were both lonely. At least I was. I'd sell my house and move, but finding a buyer for a house in Coquille is not easy. There's nothing here but the courthouse."

  "Did you know that Shirley Burger and Glen were an item; and maybe still are," asked Stacy.

  Now there was a slight rise of the fake eyebrows indicating she didn't know this. "I've no idea about that news. I remember back he had a short fling with her, but then he told me he broke it off. Like some men, they feed us women what we want to hear."

  "Now realize that we're investigating a murder and kidnapping. Be careful not to lie to us. If you fail to tell the truth Ms. Tweet, then you can held as an accessory to the crime. Now having said that, do you know or have you heard from Dave Levers since his release from prison?"

  Again, Stacy and Rory both watched closely for a reaction to the questions. Sara Tweet sucked in a lung full and said, "Yes, he called me the day he was released. He told me to stick around that he'd see me in a few weeks time. He told me it was time to visit his friends in Chile, South America. I've heard nothing since then."

  "No further questions at this time, but if he contacts you, the smart thing to do would be to contact me or Detective Caltex. I gave you my card and now we'll leave you with both cards," said Stacy.

  While they drove off, Stacy wondered if Ms. Tweet would be on the phone to Glen Levers. Middle or late age single women have a hard time finding a man to have a decent relationship with. She sympathized with that situation. What she didn't like was the fact a good man and father was brutally murdered; along with the snatching of his mentally retarded daughter. No acceptable in anybody's book.

  Rory noted the time and said, "My stomach is growling Stacy. What say we go back to that nice deli we ate at one time before?"

  "Let's go. Their German potato salad was good. That and a corn beef on sourdough with a dill pickle sounds yummy," she said.

  It was approaching one pm as they crossed the dike to Fat Elk Road. With the windows down, the green grass growing in the fields, made a nice drive in the country side. As they turned into the weed infested gravel driveway of Dave Edwards's residence, Shirley Burger's car sat out front. Stacy thought she'd give Shirley a chance to talk in private if she wanted to. If not, then, it was an open conversation. Rory had agreed as they climbed the sagging steps to the raised house. A sharp rap on the door brought a smiling Dave to the door. He gave them a warm greeting. This time all went to the living room where old, but still nice furniture made the room feel warm and comfortable. A portable electric heater sat in the old fireplace to keep the chill off Dave's old bones. Family pictures lined the mantel.

  Shirley was still in the kitchen cleaning up after lunch. She came around asking who would like tea or coffee. Both Stacy and Rory declined. Stacy told Dave Edwards Senior that she'd talked to his son from Portland. "He was very helpful Mr. Edwards. You're fortunate to have such a caring son."

  "Thanks Stacy. I hope we can discover who murdered the judge soon. The paper has the little girl on the front page. So sad there're such vicious people in this world we live in."

  Shirley came in and sat down in an overstuffed chair that faced both Dave and the sofa where the detectives sat. Stacy went for the throat. "Ms. Burger, have you been corresponding with Glen Levers while he was in prison?"

  Rory saw the flinch as did everybody in the room. She fought hard to calm herself. Stacy could see she was struggling with the truth. "Let me help you out here Ms. Burger. Withholding information pertaining to a crime makes you an accessory along with aiding and abetting a convicted felon."

  "Yes, we wrote back and forth occasionally. It was just a friendly thing on my part. He seemed so lonely."

  "Ms. Burger," said Rory, "that man in a sense murdered your sister and raped the citizens of this county of countless thousands of dollars. And you say he was lonely?"

  "Have you heard from him since his release," asked Stacy.

  "He called me a couple weeks ago. He told me after he took care of some business and retrieved some traveling money, we'd do some South America sightseeing. It's true we had something going a long time ago, but now I'm quits of him. I've very happy with Dave and our life together. I
f he calls again, I'll try to make an appointment with him and then call you."

  "Tell us everything you know or have heard about Rolf Peters," asked Stacy.

  "Rolf is devious and probably more cunning than Glen. I think Glen admired Rolf. Even though it's common knowledge he inherited his wealth, he's a frugal manager. I've pretty good ears Stacy. One day I heard both of them talking about a safe house Rolf owned down near Sixes River. I'd forgotten about it until a day or so ago. The person who is downright scary is Phil Winters."

  "That's all for now. Call me if you hear of something. We thank you for your time," said Stacy as they got up to leave.

  Driving back to the road to Bandon, Stacy asked, "Well, partner, what do you think about all of what you heard this fine spring day?"

  Rory opened his mouth when the cell phone in his pocket went off. "Just a minute Stacy," as he pulled his phone out, looked at the caller and said, "Hi Ben, what's cookin on your end?"

  "A call came in to the judge's house. The little girl is still alive. They've dropped the dollar amount to a hundred grand. The dead line is three days and then, they'll send a photo of the little girl in pain. I'd say we caught a break. Gerri said the voice was the same: deep and menacing."

  "I'd say we've a stay of execution at the moment. We’re on our way to Bandon now. We've got a lead on a safe house of Glen's or Rolf's down at Sixes River. See if the search warrant is ready from Judge Greg on 7 Devils Road. Call me if it's ready. If not, wait for it, said Rory.

  "Oh, Stacy I forgot to tell you that Ben on his boat trip couldn't see much of the cabin. I still think it was empty," said Rory. Later they would discover evidence to the contrary. Stacy would never forget that mistake again.