Dead Past dffi-4

by Beverly Connor

  “His boys, Martin and Owen, was living with him. They thought the land was their inheritance and now they had nothing. It was kind of sad for Owen. He had a family.”

  “Do you know what happened to his family?” asked Diane.

  “They lived around Glendale-Marsh for a while. Every now and again you’d hear about one of them getting into trouble. Owen’s boy was in trouble a lot. He got some girl pregnant and had to get married. I don’t know how long that lasted. In the end, ol’ Luther died and the two boys drifted away. We were glad to see them go. They were a mean bunch. They were always coming around and stealing stuff from us, like they was entitled.”

  “Did they ever look for the treasure?” asked Diane.

  “I’m sure they did. Martin tried to contact Leontine one time, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with them.” Elnora started laughing. “That treasure was like a curse from Leo, too. Luther was always running treasure hunters off his land. I believe he had more potholes dug on his property than we had in the entire state of Florida.”

  “What do you think of the treasure story?” asked Diane.

  “I don’t know. Leo was a smart boy. I’m sort of thinking he had something buried somewhere. Too bad he went missing. A lot of boys went missing in the war. That was a sad time.”

  “Have you ever heard of a Llewellyn family?” asked Diane.

  “Well sure, everybody knows them. James Llewellyn founded the town of Glendale-Marsh. Their house is on the historic registry. It’s a ruin-the house was built of shells and cement. What do they call that?”

  “Coquina,” said Diane.

  “That’s it. Coquina and tabby. I guess being from a museum you’d know about that stuff,” said Elnora.

  “We have a display of coquina and tabby with our shell collection,” said Diane.

  “All that’s left standing of the old house is some of the walls. I visited it once. You can still walk inside the old ruins. The rooms were tiny. I think the people must have been smaller back then. I know lots more about Glendale-Marsh, but you was asking about the Parrishes. Was I any help to you?”

  “A tremendous help,” said Diane.

  “I’m glad to do it. It’s nice that someone is interested in the family for a change and not the treasure.”

  “Have you ever heard of a family called Sebestyen?” asked Diane.

  “Sebestyen, that’s an odd name, isn’t it? Why does that sound familiar to me?” She paused for several moments. “I know why-that was Leontine’s daughter’s married name. Do you know them?”

  “I’ve just heard of them,” said Diane.

  “I think maybe I talked to their son once a long time ago. What was his name? Glen, or something like that? Let me think.”

  She paused for a long time. For a moment Diane thought they had been disconnected.

  “His name was Quinn. That was it. He was here. I think he was looking for the treasure. He was asking about the Llewellyn’s, too. His wife taught history, he said, and they wanted to take some pictures of the house and the graveyard. I remember thinking at the time that he looked a lot like Leo. I don’t know when was the last time I thought about that.”

  “Do you remember how long ago that might have been?” asked Diane.

  “Oh, I don’t know, fifteen or twenty years maybe? That’s a guess. It was quite a while ago,” she said.

  “I’ve kept you long enough. Thank you again, Elnora,” said Diane.

  “I was glad to do it. It’s so nice that Ruby’s visiting Juliet. She’s missed her so. That child has had a hard time. I guess you know.”

  “Yes,” said Diane. “I know.”

  “Did you find out what you need to know?” asked Ruby when Diane hung up the phone.

  “I found out a lot. I’m not sure it will lead to who’s doing this, but I have some ideas. I’m making progress.”

  Diane could see that Ruby was dying to know what her friend Elnora said, so she gave her a rundown of the conversation.

  “Well, what does Leo’s relatives and the Llewellyns have to do with Juliet’s kidnapping?”

  Diane realized that Ruby and Juliet didn’t know anything about the investigation so far, and the story was much too long and complicated to go into now. Besides, she had to get back before Frank found her missing. The last thing she wanted was to listen to him lecture her on taking care of herself.

  “I promise, I’ll tell you all about it when I can. Right now, just sit tight and you and Juliet enjoy pay-per-view,” said Diane.

  She opened the door and almost ran into Juliet and the security guard. When museum Security picked Juliet up to take her to work in the morning and brought her home again in the evening, it was also shift changing time for them. The new guard went to the adjoining room and the old guard was leaving.

  “You want me to walk you to your car, Dr. Fallon?” he asked.

  “That would be nice. Thanks.” She wasn’t expecting trouble, but as long as he was here, she might as well make use of him.

  “Dr. Fallon,” said Juliet, “How are you? All we talked about at the museum today was the attack on you in your office.”

  “Attack?” said Ruby. “What attack?”

  Diane gave them a short version.

  “It was nothing, really. Just a few stitches.”

  “You had to stay all night in the hospital,” said Juliet.

  “Just a precaution,” said Diane. She was inching out the doorway, trying to make a clean escape.

  “You mean you got something else stolen from you?” said Ruby. “It sounds to me like that museum is a dangerous place to work.”

  “Oh, no, it’s not, really. I can’t go into any of the details of what happened right now. You and Juliet have a good evening. I’ll talk with you tomorrow.”

  Diane didn’t want to talk about the code with them, either. She wanted to go home. When she finally got away, the security guard walked her down to the parking deck and to her car. She was glad to have him for an escort. She had an aversion to parking decks. They were always dark and usually devoid of people-a place with few witnesses. She was relieved to get in her car and drive home.

  Unfortunately, when she got to her apartment, Frank’s car was there. He had beaten her home. OK, this isn’t going to be fun, she thought as she got out of her car.

  Chapter 53

  Frank opened the door when Diane knocked. She expected a scowl. Instead, his expression was one of amusement.

  “You know, I bet myself that you’d be gone when I came back, and damn if I didn’t win a bunch of money,” he said.

  “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t get Ruby Torkel on the phone and I thought it would be quicker if I just went to her hotel,” said Diane.

  She came in and crawled back in her space on the couch.

  “Can you stay the night?” she asked.

  “Sure. Someone’s got to try to keep track of you. Are you in for the evening?”

  “Yes. I’m here. I won’t be going out again.”

  “Good. Tell me what you found out,” he said.

  Diane gave him a history of the Glendale-Marsh Parrishes.

  “They sound like a pretty bad bunch,” she said. “I’m thinking that you were right. The disappearance of the Sebestyen family is connected with their Parrish relatives. Martin Parrish, of the Glendale-Marsh Parrishes, contacted Leo’s twin sister, Leontine, in New York and asked her about the treasure. They expected that she had information on where her brother hid it. Descendants in both branches of the Parrish family knew about the legend of the buried treasure and the secret instructions for finding it. The Glendale-Marsh Parrishes probably believed that their New York relatives had the secret information. When Quinn, a direct descendant of Leontine, came to Florida to look, it alerted his relatives there and they ended up killing him and his family to find the secret. I think young Juliet stumbled upon the aftermath.”

  Diane grabbed up the phone and called Jin.

  “What did you find out from the author
ities in Indiana?” she asked when he answered.

  “Hello, Boss,” said Jin. “How you feeling?”

  “I’m fine, just hungry for information.”

  “They were very interested in what we have,” he said. “They weren’t quite as forthcoming with their info. I didn’t know how much you wanted me to tell them, so I kind of played it close to the vest.”

  “What did you find out?” she asked again.

  “If you believe what they told me, they don’t know anything beyond what was reported on TV and in the papers. They had completely hit the wall. When they learned that there might be a witness, they got excited. I told them she was a little girl at the time. I didn’t give them her name. They’re coming down to talk with us. I handed them off to Garnett, so I guess you’d better give him a heads-up so he’ll know what the heck these guys from Indiana are talking about.”

  “I’ll call him tomorrow. I think he has his hands full right now with Councilman Adler missing.”

  “So I guess everything is at a standstill again,” said Jin.

  “Until tomorrow,” said Diane. “All of you go home and get some rest.”

  She hung up the phone and turned to Frank. “At least we’ve made the Indiana cold case squad happy,” she said.

  “I’ll bet,” said Frank. “It’s early. Why don’t we have a quiet several hours of rest, maybe a little TV, and who knows what else? Maybe a little cold pizza.”

  “That sounds good to me,” she said, grinning at him.

  As soon as the words were out, the phone rang. “Don’t answer it,” he said.

  “I’d like not to, but…” She picked it up.

  “Diane, this is Cindy. I’m sorry to bother you. Is Frank there?”

  “Yes, Cindy. He’s right here,” said Diane.

  “Your ex,” she mouthed to Frank.

  He frowned and took the phone.

  “Is Kevin all right?” he asked. As he listened, his frown deepened. Finally he said, “I’ll be right there.”

  He hung up and turned to Diane.

  “It’s Kevin. He got his collarbone and arm broken playing hockey and he’s in the hospital. They have to operate on the arm. I have to go.”

  “Of course. I’m fine here. I’m going to sleep and won’t wake till morning,” she said.

  He kissed her. He smelled like aftershave-the kind that smelled so sexy to her and she could never remember its name. She wished he could stay. A day off for him was such an unexpected gift. She wished she had been here when he got home.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “Don’t be. I understand,” she answered. “I’m sorry Kevin’s hurt. Give him my best.”

  He kissed her again and left. Diane watched as he walked down the hallway and down the stairs. She sighed, locked her door, turned off the lights, and went to bed.

  Sometime during the night she awoke. She didn’t know what had awakened her but she had an uneasy feeling. She looked at the picture of the chambered nautilus on the wall. No reflection of fire. That was a relief. What then? A dream? She got up for a drink of water and looked out the window. The reflection of the streetlights sparkled off every surface. Ice. It had been sleeting again. Maybe that’s what it had been, the sound of limbs breaking under the weight of the freezing rain. Maybe, but something else tugged at her mind. Something she was forgetting, that was just now making its way to the surface.

  In the distance through the barren trees a spot of light shined brightly at her and then was gone. As she watched, the light flickered bright again, and again, moving back and forth in some pattern of activity. She was certain it came from the direction of the burned-out house. Her stomach knotted. Who could be at the crime scene in the middle of the night, and what were they doing?

  She dressed quickly in warm clothes and boots and left her apartment building. She considered taking her car but decided not to. Sleet was falling, icing over the streets. She walked across the street, past the darkened houses and into the small copse of trees. Except for her, there was no one about. She stopped just before coming out of the woods and looked across the next street at the charred rubble of the meth house. She could now see moving shadows cast against the surrounding trees by a light shining up from the blackened hole in the ground that used to be the basement. How perfectly odd.

  She took her phone from her pocket and called the police station. She told them who she was and what she saw. They said they would send someone to investigate. She would stay here and wait.

  In the darkness, as she looked at the sad rubble of so many lives, a realization flashed through her mind like someone flipping pictures. She understood what the evidence meant-the evidence she and her team had overlooked because they didn’t understand it. The silver charm and the blond hair. They were planted on the bodies of Blake Stanton and Eric McNair as memorials to one of the victims killed in the explosion and fire. She knew who murdered Stanton and McNair, and why-and she knew where Adler was. She took her phone again and tried to dial out. This time she had no battery. She had forgotten to plug in the charger.

  Diane looked around for anything to use as a weapon. She found a broken branch. Perhaps not heavy enough, but it would have to do. She walked across the street to the blackened house site. The charred wood creaked as she knelt down and looked inside the burned-out basement. She saw Adler tied to a chair, his mouth bound with duct tape. In front of him someone had lined up photographs leaning against a log of charred wood. She knew who they were-not a name, but she had seen them before.

  Diane took a step back, but she was jerked backward. She fell; the back of her stitched and tender head hit the snow-covered ground. She was dazed. She tried to get up, but was pushed back down. Her weapon was gone. Diane tried to focus her eyes. When the momentary blur went away she was staring down the barrel of a gun.

  The sad-faced woman looking for her daughter held it, the woman who had appealed to her in the coffee tent and showed her pictures of her daughter-the same pictures now in front of Adler. The woman she saw walking to her car alone from the Student Learning Center when they were looking for Star.

  “You aren’t going to take this away from me,” she said. “This is all I have left.”

  “Catherine, don’t do this. Dr. Fallon’s not the bad guy here.” It was Archie Donahue.

  “Archie,” said Diane, “I was so hoping you weren’t part of this.”

  “I know you were. I came to see you today to explain,” he said. “Catherine’s my sister. Kimberlyn was her daughter, my niece. She was the girl who was pregnant. We didn’t know, but the baby would have been Catherine’s only grandchild.” He stopped and almost cried from the pain. “That was her hair you looked at. That was our Kimberlyn’s hair.”

  “I am so sorry,” said Diane.

  “Catherine, let’s get out of the cold. Let’s talk,” said Archie. “Please.”

  “Get up,” Catherine said.

  “The police are coming,” said Diane.

  “No, they aren’t,” said Archie. “I knew you’d call for back up. I used my partner’s car number and cancelled it. They’ll figure it out sooner or later, but it’ll be too late.”

  Too late for what, wondered Diane. Archie helped her up off the ground and led her toward the adjacent house, the one that was empty because of renovations from the fire damage. So, this was where they had been hiding out.

  Inside the house was barely warmer than the outside. The only lights were from the glow of lanterns. Catherine pushed Diane down in a chair.

  “It’s not too late to stop this,” said Diane.

  “I don’t want to stop it,” said Catherine. “I want that son of a bitch to know what he’s done. I want him to sit down in that burned-out shell that my baby died in and know what he did to her.”

  “You think he was involved in the meth lab?” said Diane.

  “I know he was,” said Archie. “McNair and his cousin Eric were up to their necks in the business. His wife doesn’t have money. Cat
herine lives next door to them. She knows the wife,” said Archie. “McNair was in Adler’s pocket. Adler isn’t clean. Why do you think he gutted the drug unit?”

  “I know this is hard…,” said Diane.

  Catherine slapped Diane across the face. “You don’t know anything,” she spat at her. “You don’t know anything.”

  “Catherine!” said Archie.

  Diane looked into her hate-filled eyes. “I know exactly. Someone worse than Adler and McNair killed my daughter, so don’t you dare tell me that I don’t know.”

  Catherine was taken aback. She stared at Diane, stunned. For a moment Diane saw the humanity come back into her face.

  “Then how can you try to stop me?” she whispered.

  “You can’t let yourself become like them,” said Diane.

  “I’m not like them. How can you compare what I’m doing with what they did? I’m just getting rid of what you people can’t. Archie told me what you people talked about. How you can only pick up the pieces.”

  “Blake Stanton wasn’t a part of the meth lab,” said Diane.

  “I tried to tell her,” said Archie. Diane could see tears in his eyes. “I tried to tell her.”

  “Why did he try to hijack your car? I heard about that.” Catherine’s gaze darted toward Archie.

  “Because he was stealing from my museum and he thought I knew about it. Like your daughter, he just happened to be at the party. He was completely innocent of the meth lab crimes. And he has a mother just like you who is in unbearable pain because someone killed her baby,” said Diane.