by Lynn Story
In front of Kay’s house there was a faded gray Malibu with local government tags. I assumed the local police had already arrived. I presumed the man standing on Kay’s porch was Eddie.
“Eddie?” I showed my badge.
“Yes, sir. You Ethan?” He, too, was clearly shaken.
“I am.” We shook hands. “Eddie, did you touch anything in the house?”
“Only a few doors,” he said.
“Okay, do you remember which ones?” I asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Okay, good.” I let my hand fall of his shoulder trying to be comforting. Kay had told me how much Eddie cared for her as if she were one of his own children. “Are the local police inside?”
“Yes.” He nodded towards the street as a marked police car pulled up. The officer took note of the Malibu and walked up on the porch.
“Is the detective here?”
I looked to Eddie.
“Yes.”
“Did you call it in?” The officer asked Eddie while taking out a small notebook and pen.
“No, Ms. Dandridge’s secretary called the police after she had me come over to check on Ms. Dandridge and I found she wasn’t here.”
“And what about you?” The officer directed his attention to me.
I pulled out my badge. “Agent Craddock.”
“What’s your interest in this?” he inquired.
I thought about my response. I had no jurisdiction here and I didn’t want to ruin the chance of being involved if there was something to investigate.
“Ms. Dandridge has information she shares with the FBI.”
“So, she’s a witness for you?”
“No, not exactly.” I hedged.
“And informant, then?” he pursued.
“Something like that.” I didn’t want to outright lie, and I wanted my options open.
The officer looked frustrated. “So how did you find out about Ms. Dandridge this morning?”
“I got a phone call from her secretary as well,” I told him.
The officer nodded and made notes. Before he could ask any more questions and I dug myself into a hole that I couldn’t get out of, the detective stepped out onto the porch.
“Well, it seems like Ms. Dandridge was popular.”
I didn’t like his attitude.
“Ms. Dandridge is important to a lot of people, Detective.”
“Oh, I see. Does that mean the FBI is taking over this investigation? If you are, good luck. I have other things to do today.” He started for the steps.
“Where are you going? Aren’t you going to do something to find Kay?” Eddie demanded.
“You’ve got a hot shot FBI agent here, what do you need me for?” The detective asked.
I pulled my cell phone from my pocket. I didn’t want to make this call, but I was angry. While I punched the speed dial number for Chief Corey, Eddie followed the detective down the steps.
The officer who had been all business before now looked apologetic. I walked down the steps and held out the phone. It was on speaker.
“This is Chief Corey, which of my detectives am I talking to?”
“This is Detective O’Reilly, Chief.” The detective looked decidedly pale.
“I understand you just handed a case over to the FBI because you are too busy?” Chief Corey was fuming. “Did you just tell Agent Craddock if he wanted the case he could have it and good luck.”
“Well, I…” he stammered.
“Be in my office in half an hour and bring Agent Craddock with you,” the Chief ordered.
“Yes, sir. Agent Craddock is in charge of the investigation until further notice.”
“Yes, sir.” O’Reilly gave me a contemptuous look.
“I’ll see you soon Chief.” I said taking the phone off speaker. I clicked off the call and put the phone back in my pocket.
“Officer…?” I searched for his name tag on this uniform.
“Officer Spivey, sir.”
“Office Spivey, can you please secure the scene until I return. No one goes in or out. Got it?” I demanded.
“Yes, sir.” He acknowledged.
I turned back to Eddie. “Go back to the office and stay with Sherry.”
“Okay.” Eddie was reluctant but he walked to his car and left.
I turned back to the Detective, “Shall we?” I glared.
He mumbled something and headed for his car.
I climbed into the SUV and drove to police headquarters.
The chief called us in one at a time. I went first.
“Ethan, you want to explain to me what is going on?” He asked trying to get a handle on the situation.
“I got a call from Ms. Dandridge’s secretary telling me she was missing and that she hadn’t shown up for work and couldn’t be reached by text or phone call.”
“And why would she call you?” This was going to be a problem.
“Maybe she thought the FBI investigated kidnappings?” I hedged.
“It’s possible but that isn’t the reason is it?” He saw right through it.
“Probably not.” I admitted.
“You going to tell me the reason?” he pressed.
I thought about that answer carefully before answering. “Jim, we’ve been friends a long time and that has earned you the right to hear the truth.”
“I would hope so,” he agreed.
“Kay and I are friends,” I began.
“Close friends?”
“Not as close as I’d like to be, but yeah, I guess you could say close friends.” I was honest.
“You know the FBI doesn’t have jurisdiction on this case, at least not yet,” he clarified.
“I know that.”
“Still Detective O’Reilly was out of line and our friendship affords you some latitude.”
“Thank you.” I was feeling a little better, I had hoped Jim wouldn’t toss me off the case outright, which he had every right to do.
“I’ll assign another detective and tell him this is a joint investigation. Please understand that I will recommend that you back off if there is no FBI jurisdiction and you cross the lines of our friendship. Understood?”
“Thank you.” I said and shook his hand.
“Send that idiot O’Reilly in here, would you?”
I nodded on my way out.
I could hear Jim’s voice on my way out into the hallway.
I drove back to Kay’s house. Some of the neighbors were starting to gather on the sidewalk. The garden district was an old historic neighborhood that had once been home to the captains of local industry and companies like the shipyard, Sunray Bank, the Point Herald newspaper. The architecture of the homes reflected the heyday of a bygone era. Some of the homes were still owned by family members like Kay’s. Everyone who lived in the garden district even if they lived in the smaller carriage houses took pride in the history here. The streets were beautifully maintained by the garden club as well as the parks and the cemetery which was also on the historic registry. The homes were well maintained, and it was a quiet area where the neighbors knew each other and watched out for each other.
I climbed out of the SUV and walked over to the small crowd and introduced myself. “Your neighbor Kay Dandridge is missing, and we believe she disappeared sometime last night. Did anyone see or hear anything?” There were several heads shaking with people talking among themselves.
“Does anyone here live next door?” I asked.
An elderly lady stepped forward. “I do.”
“Thank you,” I smiled at her warmly. “Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”
“No, I suppose not.”
I led her away from the small group. “Have you lived here long?”
“My whole life. I was born in a house three streets over.”
I smiled. “Then you are the exact person I need to talk to.” I smiled again. “Would you care to sit down?”
“I love to but not in that thing.” She pointed to the SUV. �
�Why don’t you come inside?”
I nodded and followed her down the sidewalk to the house on the west side of Kay’s property.
Kay’s property was so large that the houses were not close together and I suspected there was little chance that this woman could have seen Kay’s house through the row of evergreen trees that provided privacy between the two lots.
“Let me see your ID again.” She said before we ascended the steps up to her porch.
I smiled and showed her my badge and the photo ID that went with it.
She nodded approvingly. “You care for some tea?”
“That would be nice.” I smiled again. “I’ll just wait here on the porch.” I indicated the chairs and the swing.
She nodded and went inside.
I sat down and looked out at the property. Even on the porch she likely didn’t have a good view of anything over at Kay’s house.
She returned with a tray that held a pitcher and two glasses. “Here let me help you.” I stood up and took the tray.
“Oh, thank you, you’re such a gentleman.”
I smiled. I learned a long time ago, if you treat people like they are your own neighbor they will tell you things they wouldn’t if you try throwing your badge around.
She poured iced tea into each of the glasses.
“Hmm, that is excellent.” I said enjoying the sweet tea.
She nodded.
“Now Ms., uh” I realized I didn’t know her name.
“Ms. Fowler,” she provided.
“Ms. Fowler, do you know Kay Dandridge?” I asked gently.
“Oh yes, I’ve known her family since before she was born.” She smiled.
“Do you talk to Kay regularly?” I went on.
“Oh yes, absolutely. She comes over a couple of times a week to check on me. She is such a sweet thing. She takes me shopping sometimes on the weekend. I can’t drive anymore, and I have most things delivered these days. I still like to get out and Kay takes me anywhere I want to go.”
I smiled. I was surprised not by the fact that Kay was kind. I knew she was a good person with a good heart, but it was surprising to me how little I knew about her when I felt like I knew her my whole life.
“Have you spoken to her recently?”
“On Wednesday she called me in the afternoon, and she said she would be working late but wanted to know if I needed anything.” Ms. Fowler shook her head. “She is such a sweet person, young people aren’t like that these days, she had good home training.” Ms. Fowler nodded.
“Do you know of anyone that would want to harm her?”
“I can’t think of a soul. She takes care of everyone, not just me and she helps whoever she can. One of the young families a few streets over in one of the carriages houses fell on hard times. The husband died young of cancer and left his wife with two little boys.”
“What did Kay do for them?” I asked.
“Well, the mom had been a stay at home mom and needed a job. So, Kay got her a job at her company with flexible hours so she could get the boys to and from school and then Kay set up a college fund for each of them,” she told me.
“Have you seen anything odd lately, anyone hanging around that looked out of place?”
“Besides you?”
I stared at her dumbfounded for a moment.
“Oh yes, I saw you parked across the street.” She laughed. It was the laugh of a young woman and it belied her age.
I felt a little embarrassed. “I assure you I mean no harm to Kay.”
“Oh, I know. I mentioned it to Kay, and she explained it all to me.” She gave me a sly wink.
I was tongued tied.
“Now that you mention it. I thought I saw someone standing in the path between here and Kay’s house.”
“The path?” I was curious. I had never noticed a path between the houses.
“Yes, there is a garden path that Kay put in so that we can get to one another’s house more easily than we can from the street.”
“Can you show me?”
“Of course, follow me.” She led me through the house, which was as big as Kay’s if not bigger and out the back door and into the garden. There was a place where one of the trees had been removed and a little gate installed. The path was paved and level. No chance of footprints.
“It used to be oyster shells, but Kay was afraid I’d fall and break a hip or something, so she had it paved.”
I laughed. “That sounds like her.” “Okay, Ms. Fowler you stay here.” I instructed and I walked down the back steps to see if anyone had stepped off the path and left a footprint. I walked slowly examining the area looking for any signs at all. I didn’t see any, but I would let the forensics unit check the area just to be sure.
I walked back to the back porch.
“Anything?” Ms. Fowler asked.
“No, I’m afraid not,” I told her
“Damn,” she said.
Her words surprised me, and I smiled. “Do you have cameras?” I asked looking up at the house.
“Oh yes, I forget about those things, come this way.” She suddenly became very animated.
She nearly danced with excitement and I followed her back into the house.
“Kay installed these things and she checks them when she comes over. She says it won’t stop anyone from breaking in, but it might help catch the people if they do break in.”
“She’s right. Do you have many break-ins over here?”
“No, she said you can’t be too careful. I asked her if I should have a gun, but she said no.” Ms. Fowler looked disappointed.
“That is probably for the best.” I reassured her. “Do you know if Kay has a gun?”
“Well, I’ve never seen it, but I would suspect she would.”
I wondered why she thought that but didn’t ask. That could wait. “Anything else you can think of that seemed out of place this week?”
She looked at the floor in thought. “No, I can’t think of anything.”
“Okay, I’m going to have some people from the local police department come over and look at your cameras, is that okay?”
“Anything to help Kay.” She was very concerned for Kay’s wellbeing.
“Thank you. And if you ever need anything just call me. I live over in the carriage section.”
“Oh, I knew you were a good boy.” She beamed when I told her I lived over in the section of the garden district that had once been where the higher paid blue-collar workers of the shipyard and some of the middle management types had lived back in the twenties and thirties. My house had once belonged to one of the apprentice school instructors. Like I said, we all take pride in our section of the city.
I used the front sidewalk to walk back over to Kay’s house. By now the forensic unit had shown up and a new detective seemed to be in charge. I approached him slowly and held up my badge.
“Ah, Agent Craddock, I was told to expect you.” He held out his hand. He was much younger than O’Reilly, close to Jared’s age mid to late twenties.
“I’m Detective Charlie Cavanaugh.”
“Have you been inside yet?” he asked
“No, not yet.”
“Come on in.” He waved and led the way.
“You can call me Ethan.” I said as I walked around the first floor inspecting every room looking for signs of an intruder. “Was the security system active when you came in?”
“No.” Detective Cavanaugh shook his head.
I inspected the control panel by the door and then proceeded upstairs. There were no signs of a struggle and the only thing that looked out of place was the empty scotch bottle. I bagged that and the empty glass.
“I assume your forensic team is going through everything,” I said.
“Yes, I’ve been instructed to make sure your team is included in the findings,” he reassured me.
“Do you mind if I have one of my team members join you? She has a lot of experience with missing persons cases,” I asked, hoping I could get Andria
on this case.
“We’d appreciate the help. We’re stretched a little thin right now,” he told me.
“Okay. Thank you.” I took the evidence out to the car and then pulled out my cell phone.
“Forensic Unit.”
“This is Agent Craddock, is Andria there?” I waited until I heard the phone click.
“Ethan?”
“Andria, I need you over at 9 Westover Street with a full kit,” I told her.
“What? I thought you were out in Nelson County with the rest of the team.” She as surprised.
“I got pulled back for another case. This one is urgent, a possible missing person. Can you meet me here?” I hoped.
“On my way,” she said.
It took Andria thirty minutes to get to Kay’s house.
“Okay,” she said upon entering the living room. “What are we looking for?”
“Well the occupant of the house lives alone and didn’t show up for work today.” I said trying to not let my anger and stress show.
“We don’t know if she left of her own accord or not, but we do know she is not answering her cell phone and she didn’t let anyone know she wouldn’t be at work today.”
“Okay, got it.” Andria went to work introducing herself to the team that was already there and began helping them search for clues as to what happened to Kay.
I was certain the house was in good hands, so I left go to Kay’s office and talk to Sherry.
***
The headquarters for Port City Industries was impressive, and I took the elevator up to Kay’s office.
An attractive woman about Kay’s age was sitting at a reception desk. Her eyes were red from crying.
“Excuse me. I’m looking for Sherry?” I offered.
“I’m Sherry,” she said with a frightened look on her face.
“I’m Ethan, we spoke on the phone.”
“Oh!” She looked relieved and got up and walked around the desk.
“I’m so sorry to have bothered you, I just didn’t know who else to call. This isn’t like Kay, even if she needed a day off, she would have told me.”
“I’m sure she would have.” I said in a comforting voice, at least I hope I sounded comforting. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”