The Travelling Detective: Boxed Set

by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

  "Sometimes the abused victim doesn’t know they were being abused," Elizabeth read over Sally’s shoulder. "That sounds like John’s situation. He doesn’t know it’s happening to him."

  "We’ve got to do something," Sally said, shutting down her computer. "We can’t leave him to suffer at her hands."

  "Yeah, let’s get him away from her so we can prove that he killed a woman," Elizabeth said grimly, as they walked to the living room.

  Chapter 20

  "So nothing has changed.” Elizabeth was sitting in one of the stuffed chairs. “We have Kat Mac who may have stolen Sylvia’s manuscript so she could get a book published after seven years of nothing. Then we have Michael who may have killed her because he liked her story idea and wanted very badly to get published. Each of them would then have killed Bonnie because she found out the truth.” She looked at Sally.

  “And then there’s John who may have killed Sylvia because she resisted his advances,” Sally took up the conjecture. “If he did murder Sylvia then why would he kill Bonnie? As far as I know she never met him."

  "Maybe she figured it out and talked with him. He hit her with something as they were walking down the street."

  "But Wendy hardly lets him out of her sight," Sally pointed out.

  "She may have helped him knowing that Bonnie could expose him as a killer. That could be why she gives him those so-called vitamins that make him black out. To keep control of him."

  "So what do we do?" Sally asked, in exasperation. "Try to get him away from the daughter who is abusing him or from the daughter who is protecting him?"

  "Let’s have something to eat and figure out what to do," Elizabeth suggested.

  "We’ll have to go shopping first. There isn’t anything left here except Chevy’s food."

  "Okay, but we have to walk Chevy first, then we’ll go to one of the restaurants in the village."

  "Works for me," Sally said getting up.

  Chevy wasn’t impressed with his short walk, just down to the end of the block and back.

  "Sorry, Bud," Elizabeth said, rubbing his ears. "But we don’t feel safe going on one of the trails in the bush."

  They drove to the village and found an empty table at a café. After ordering they looked around. "I wonder if we should be checking to see if anyone is following us," Sally said.

  "The two of us being together is probably keeping anyone at bay," Elizabeth said. "I just wish there were more clues or that I could arrange the clues we have into some sort of pattern."

  "Yes, because we are leaving early Saturday morning," Sally said.

  "You’re not staying for the dress-up party?"

  "No," Sally said. "I don’t have a costume and I really can’t get into the party mood. I think I just want to go home and relax a couple of days before going back to work."

  "Yeah, I just have to do the WildPlay Elements Park and I’m finished."

  "Do you want to do it tomorrow after I get out of class?"

  "Sure. Then my article will actually be done before I leave here."

  "That will be a first," Sally smiled.

  After a few moments silence Elizabeth said. "I was thinking today that maybe Cynthia brought us that note."

  Sally thought about it. "She could have. But why?"

  "Maybe just hiring a private detective wasn’t enough of a thrill for her."

  "Do you want to go ask Cynthia about it?”

  “I think we should. But first let’s stop in and confront Wendy about the abuse." Elizabeth said.

  Sally hesitated. "I’m not sure if I want to be in their house if either one of them is a murderer like you suggested." She looked at Elizabeth. "How have you done this so many times? Haven’t you ever felt scared?"

  "Not as much as I’ve been here. Maybe the other killers felt safe when I was investigating, like they felt I couldn’t do anything against them. No one ever sent me a threatening note like what happened here. We could always ask John and Wendy to come outside and talk."

  "It won’t hurt to try."

  They paid the bill and got in the Tracker. When they reached the house, the lights were out and Wendy’s van was gone.

  “Well, that settles that,” Elizabeth said, as she drove to the bed and breakfast. With Chevy at their side they went across the street and rang the bell.

  "Come in," Cynthia said, when she saw them. "We don’t want Alison and Rick to see you here."

  "Uh, no," Elizabeth said. "We’d rather talk outside."

  "Okay," Cynthia said, puzzled. She stepped out onto the porch and led them over to a table and chairs. "Have you come to report?" she whispered.

  "We’ve come to show you this," Elizabeth handed her the note and watched her reaction.

  "You received this?" Cynthia asked, excitement in her eyes. "Did you take it to the police? Did they check it for fingerprints?"

  Elizabeth hesitated then said. "There were no prints on it."

  Cynthia nodded. "The person must have used gloves. Did they try for a DNA sample on the glue?"

  "The envelope wasn’t sealed. The flap was just tucked in."

  "Smart," Cynthia said. She held onto the note. "I would think Rick and Alison sent it to you."

  "Why would they have done that?"

  "Maybe they found out about me hiring you. They might be trying to scare you off."

  Elizabeth couldn’t think of a way to ask Cynthia if she herself had pushed it under their door. "That could be but someone else could have done it, too."

  "Who? Is there someone else involved? Did you learn something in Vancouver?"

  "Did you know the woman who was killed here last week?" Elizabeth asked.

  "The one that the police had originally thought was run over?" Cynthia asked.

  "Yes."

  "I know she was staying at the Snowbound Bed and Breakfast and going to the writer’s retreat." Cynthia said. "But I never met her. Why do you ask?"

  "We’re just wondering if her death and the body being found in the demolished house are related." Elizabeth ignored Sally’s look of amazement.

  "Do the police think they are?" Cynthia asked,

  "I don’t know but it seems strange that there would be two bodies found in the same town within a week of each other."

  "Yes, you are right," Cynthia said. "I never thought about it that way.

  "So that’s why we showed you the note," Elizabeth said, taking the envelope from Cynthia. "You’ve lived here a long time. We were hoping you could give us an idea as to how the two bodies and the note might be related." Elizabeth stood. "We don’t need an answer right now. We just want you to think about it."

  "Why did you say that?" Sally asked, as soon as they were out of Cynthia’s earshot.

  "I couldn’t answer her questions so I had to throw that in to keep her occupied."

  "Well, I think it worked," Sally laughed.

  * * *

  "We have breaking news," the anchor of the twenty-four hour news channel announced.

  "The police have busted an alleged baby ring in Vancouver that paid unwed mothers to put their babies up for adoption and then charged the adoptive parents thousands of dollars for the child. They rented three houses in Whistler. The demolished house in Whistler where the body of a young woman was found last week was one such house.

  "The police have charged a man, who told the adoptive couples that he was a lawyer, with being part of the alleged gang. Our reporter, Les Hargrave, was outside the downtown Vancouver police station when the man was released on bail."

  The picture switched to the front of a police station where Les Hargrave was one of a number of reporters surrounding a man and holding their microphones in front of his face.

  "Is it true that you drew up the adoption papers for the baby ring?" one of the reporters asked.

  "No comment."

  "Do you know anything about the body found in the demolished house? Was she one of the unwed mothers?"

  The man kept walking, ignoring the group.
<
br />   "How did you recruit the mothers? How did you find the prospective parents?"

  The man reached his car and climbed in. The cameraman kept the camera on the car until it turned a corner and disappeared.

  "Looks like you’re out of a job," Sally said.

  "The police now say that the body found in the demolished house is not that of Leslie Brown, but it is that of Penny Smallwood," the anchor continued. "Even though the necklace found belonged to Ms Brown the police are speculating that she either lost or forgot the necklace when she left the house after her baby was born. It could have been that Ms Smallwood found it and was wearing it when she died. The killer may have busted it while burying her and just tossed it aside. That would explain why it wasn’t found near the body."

  The picture cut away to show a woman sitting waiting to be interviewed.

  “We now have Nancy Williams, author of the book titled Babies for Sale,” the anchor woman continued. “Thank you, Ms. Williams for speaking with us. You did a lot of research about children who have been sold by family members. Now can you tell us some of the reasons why babies or children have been sold?”

  Nancy Williams smiled at the camera. “Well, one stripper mom sold her twins for two glasses of beer. There was a fortune teller sold her six year old grandson for nine thousand dollars and a dad sold his son for five thousand dollars so he could buy a truck.”

  “Those are shocking stories. Did you find anything out about any baby rings such as was busted in Vancouver?”

  “There was one baby ring similar to this discovered in 1984 in Naples, Italy. They ran an abortion clinic and when the unwed mothers came in for an abortion they were told it was too late, the baby was too big. They were then offered one thousand dollars for their baby when it was born. Many were poor and needed the money so they accepted. The prospective mother was alerted and she immediately began to wear a pillow under her clothes, telling everyone she was pregnant. When the baby was due both the unwed mother and adoptive mother entered the clinic at the same time. After a week, they both left but only one had a child.”

  “Maybe the people who ran that ring started this one,” the anchor said, in closing.

  "I wonder how Alison and Rick fit into the picture," Elizabeth said. "Or if they fit into the picture at all."

  "What if Cynthia was part of the baby ring,” Sally said. “What if Cynthia was surprised when Penny showed up again and began to ask questions. Maybe she told Cynthia that she was going to go to the police about how she was approached about selling her baby, that she didn’t know how else to find her son."

  "Then why did Cynthia want to hire me?"

  "That’s a question only Cynthia can answer."

  “Penny’s mother, Jessica, is staying here,” Elizabeth said. “I talked with her by the pool. At the time she still didn’t know if the body was Penny’s. I wonder how she feels now. Maybe I should go see her.”

  “Which room is she in?”

  “Bonnie’s room.”

  “Oh.” Sally stood. “I’ll go with you.”

  Elizabeth knocked on Jessica’s door. No answer. Elizabeth was about to knock again when the door opened. Jessica swayed slightly, a glass in her hand.

  “What?” Jessica asked.

  “I met you this morning at the pool,“ Elizabeth said. “This is my friend Sally Matthews. We just heard about Penny on the news and we’ve come to offer our condolences.”

  Jessica stood back. “Come in,” she said, sweeping her hand into the room.

  The weird feeling Elizabeth had expected as she stepped into the room that Bonnie had occupied just last week didn’t materialize. That was mainly because of the clothes strewn on the bed and on the two chairs and the almost empty bottle of vodka beside the pizza carton on the small table.

  “Move some clothes and sit down,” Jessica pointed to the chairs. It was obvious she was on her way to getting drunk.

  Elizabeth and Sally picked up the slacks and blouses from the chairs and set them on the bed.

  “When did you find out?” Elizabeth asked, as they sat down. She felt sorry for Jessica. She seemed to be taking the news hard.

  “The police told me this morning,” Jessica said. “I’ve been hiding here from the reporters ever since.”

  “Yes, they can be quite pushy,” Elizabeth said. “Do the police think that someone from the baby ring killed her?”

  “I don’t know what the police think.” Jessica stopped prowling around the room and took a healthy drink from her glass. “And I really don’t care.”

  That was strange but then again, she had just received a shock. She’d be thinking clearer later. “Are you going to look for her son?”

  “No.” Jessica looked surprised. “Why should I do that?”

  “Uh,” Elizabeth was the one caught off guard this time. “I just thought that you might carry on with what Penny was doing when she died.”

  “That was Penny’s desire, not mine,” Jessica said, topping up her glass. “I don’t want to raise a kid at my age. The little guy is better off where he is.”

  “What are you going to do now?” Sally asked.

  Jessica looked down at her glass and a tear rolled down her cheek. “Plan my daughter’s funeral.”

  * * *

  The next morning Elizabeth took Sally to the retreat, both checking John’s yard to see if he was out.

  "I doubt she will let him out of the house until the retreat is over," Sally said, when they saw the yard was empty.

  Elizabeth dropped Sally off then went and bought some groceries. She also picked up a Vancouver Sun newspaper before going back to the bed and breakfast. They may have more in there about the baby ring. She was putting the groceries away when there was a knock at their door.

  Elizabeth looked at the polka-dotted pitcher that was sitting on the table. She decided against it and went to the door. No one would try to kill her here.

  “I saw the news last night," Cynthia said, as she entered the room. "I knew it was Penny who had been killed."

  "Yes, you were right," Elizabeth said, motioning Cynthia to sit down. "So you’ve come to discuss the ending of our agreement."

  "Oh, no. You still have to find out how Rick and Alison are associated with it."

  "Maybe they aren’t part of it. Maybe there is a different explanation for their change of names."

  "I have thought of that and I’ve been trying to figure out what it could be. So far nothing reasonable has come to mind."

  "Do you want to go over there and ask them outright?"

  "Oh, I’ve been tempted to many times but I never had the guts to do it. I’ve been watching their house, though, for any suspicious actions."

  "Have you seen any?"

  "Actually the only thing that is suspicious is that they’ve been keeping to themselves recently. They leave the house, go to their vehicle and when they return they go straight into the house. They don’t sit outside anymore, almost as if they are hiding."

  "Have the police been to see them?"

  "Not that I’ve seen since that first visit when the body was discovered. Which, to me, means that they are not suspects. So it’s up to you to get the evidence to convict them."

  Cynthia’s throwing out of police terms was wearing thin on Elizabeth. "Well, I’m still checking a few leads," Elizabeth said, standing. She was lying but it was for a good cause. "In fact, I was just going to the library to look up some old newspapers articles."

  "Good," Cynthia said, rising and heading for the door. "Let me know what you learn."

  "Will do."

  Elizabeth turned on the television and finished putting the groceries away. There was mention of wars and earthquakes and then an interview with a lawyer who drew up the paperwork for legal adoptions came on.

  "We would like to make it clear that Mr. Bendix is not part of the baby ring," the news anchor said. "We have asked him to comment on what is involved in the adoption of a child."

  "It can cost up to $15,000
to adopt privately in British Columbia," the lawyer said. "There is also a long wait as few newborns are being placed for adoption. To go through a public adoption agency the cost is minimal but they have older children, some with special needs and sometimes there are siblings."

  "Are you saying that most couples want babies rather than older children?" the anchor asked.

  "Yes, that way it feels like your own child. You don’t have to undo learned behaviours as you would in a child who is older."

  "So, how do you think this ring would have operated?"

  "This is just hypothetical,” Mr Bendix said. “It may not have had anything to do with this particular baby ring, but from what I have read about the group there probably were at least three partners, maybe four. One would have worked in the abortion clinic. One could have met couples through her job at an adoption agency who were looking for a newborn baby. She would put both the prospective parents and the mother in contact with a lawyer who would draw up the necessary papers. Then just before the baby is due they would send the pregnant mother to stay at one of the houses they rented for this purpose. They may even have rented out a second house to the prospective parents. This way the parents could be in the hospital when the child was born. The attending doctor would probably have also been involved. After the birth the new parents would return to their own home and after a few days recuperating at the rental house the mother would also leave."

  "Isn’t it illegal for a lawyer to do that?"

  "Chances are he wasn’t a real lawyer. He probably just rented office space in Vancouver as he needed it and put up a few degrees on the wall.”

  "How much would they have charged for their services?"

  "Fifty to 100,000 dollars."

  "And people paid that amount?" the news anchor was astonished.

  "Yes."

  "Why?"

  "Either because they had been turned down through regular channels or because they didn’t want to wait. They may even have been given their preference of a boy or girl. Each mother could have gone through an ultrasound to determine the sex of the baby."