by J A Whiting
“Well. I wasn’t expecting that.” Jenna leaned back in her chair.
“So we do need to be on guard.” Courtney nodded. “I knew it.”
Mr. Finch spoke. “But, is the danger from Mrs. Connors herself or is she in danger from an outside source?”
“That’s a good question.” Angie’s brow furrowed in worry and confusion as she pushed a strand of her honey-blonde hair out of her eyes.
Courtney’s blue eyes brightened. “She could be a fugitive, or what about a witness to an event, or maybe someone is after something she has in her possession. This is getting interesting.” Courtney thrived on mystery and adventure and loved that the family members all had special “skills” that often helped the police figure out cases. “Does anyone sense something in particular?”
“Not exactly.” Angie sighed. “I feel like things are off and need to be realigned.”
“How cryptic.” Jenna gave her twin sister a smile. The two girls were fraternal twins, and although they bore a resemblance, they were very different in appearance. Jenna was taller with long dark hair and Angie’s hair was the same shade of dark blonde as Courtney’s.
Mr. Finch shifted in his seat. “As I told Miss Angie earlier, I feel a sense of loss and sadness over something that is no more.”
“Cora does seem to have a sense of sadness about her.” Angie thought about the woman. “She seems frail … emotionally, but not really physically.”
“So she probably isn’t the danger itself,” Jenna considered. “The danger has to be something she’s concerned about. Maybe she feels threatened by something.”
“I wonder why she would seek out Jack.” Mr. Finch thought about the young lawyer from Sweet Cove. “Her desire to speak with Jack could be a clue to what’s going on.”
“Good thinking, Mr. Finch.” Courtney looked at her sisters. “What are Jack’s specialties?”
“Financial stuff, right?” Angie glanced around for confirmation. “Trusts, incorporating businesses, wealth management, things like that.”
“He does wills and estate planning, too,” Jenna added.
Finch brought up something else. “I believe Jack is also well-versed in identity theft.”
“Huh.” Angie frowned. “Identity theft. Considering the appearance of the two licenses in Orla O’Brien’s wallet, identity theft might be something she’s involved with, not Cora.”
Mr. Finch adjusted his glasses. “An interesting thought.”
“Let’s keep our focus on Cora right now,” Jenna said. “We can get to Orla later.”
Angie looked at Courtney. “Did you notice when Cora filled out the form what she wrote down as her permanent residence?”
Courtney stood up. “Back in a second.” In less than a minute, the youngest Roseland sister returned to the room carrying Cora’s registration form. “It says her place of residence is Mill City, Massachusetts.”
“That’s in central Massachusetts, about an hour away.” Jenna nodded. “That city was an important textile center in the 1800s.” She took her phone out and tapped Cora’s name and city into the search engine. “I’m looking her up.”
“I doubt Cora’s current problems will come up in a list on the internet.” Courtney sat down again.
Jenna’s eyes widened. “What in the world?” She squinted at the phone screen for a half minute, reading, and then she lifted her face to the others. “Listen to this.” Jenna read the information from the article out loud, paraphrasing most of it. “Cora’s husband, Richard, was a self-employed real estate appraiser and inspector. Early last September, he disappeared.”
“What happened to the man?” Finch’s eyebrows scrunched together so they looked like one long furry caterpillar sitting over his eyes.
Jenna read some more. “No one knows.”
“What were the circumstances?” Angie asked.
“It was a Sunday. Richard Connors went to the town donut shop around 7am, and then returned to his home. He and his twenty-two-year-old son had breakfast together, Richard spent some time answering emails in his office, and then around 11am he went outside to mow the lawn. He stopped mowing to say goodbye to his son who was going out for a few hours. When the son came home, his father wasn’t there. That evening, Richard’s wife, Cora, returned home from a three-day vacation with her best friend to find that Richard was still not at home. She called the police to report her husband missing.” Jenna looked up. “It seems the man was never found. No trace of him. He vanished.”
“How very odd.” Angie’s forehead was lined with concern. “Poor Cora, to never know what happened to her husband. That’s awful.”
“Maybe the son killed his father,” Courtney speculated. “He was the last person to see Richard.”
“Does the article say anything else?” Mr. Finch asked.
“It says that the clothes the father was wearing when he mowed the lawn were in the laundry. Also, Richard only wore tan deck shoes. Those were the only kind of shoes he ever wore. His shoes were sitting on the floor of the mud room closet of the house, like Richard removed them after mowing the lawn. Cora and her son noticed that the four pairs of Richard’s deck shoes were still in the house, none were missing. Cora is quoted as saying how strange it would be for someone to deliberately take off for somewhere in bare feet.” Jenna stopped reading and looked up from her phone to see someone crossing the foyer towards them. Her eyes widened and her face flushed.
Cora Connors stood on the threshold to the dining room, her hands clasped together in front of her.
When Angie followed Jenna’s gaze and saw Cora, she stood up abruptly. “Oh.”
Cora shuffled a few steps into the room. “Attorney Ford suggested that I talk to you.”
“Us?” Courtney sputtered.
Cora nodded. “He said you might be able to help me.”
The sisters and Mr. Finch looked at one another with surprised expressions, each one wondering why Jack would suggest such a thing.
Angie gestured to one of the chairs inviting Cora to join them. “What do you need help with?”
Cora sank into the seat and rested her arms on the tabletop. Sadness and worry seemed to press down on her. She lifted her weary eyes to the people sitting around the table. “Everything.”
5
Stunned to be asked for help and baffled that Jack told Cora to talk to them, no one said anything for a few moments. Even the cats were silent on their perch on the top of the dining room cabinet.
“Why don’t I get some tea for all of us and then we can talk.” Jenna headed for the kitchen.
“I’m sorry to be a bother.” Cora’s brown eyes flicked from person to person.
“You’re not a bother at all.” As soon as the words were spoken, Angie considered that Cora might very well become a bother very soon. She couldn’t imagine what circumstances had brought the woman to Sweet Cove and necessitated a meeting with Jack.
“We all need some help from time to time.” Mr. Finch reassured her.
“Why did Jack suggest you talk to us?” Courtney asked the question that everyone was thinking.
“Attorney Ford said that you have experience helping the police solve difficult cases.” Cora twirled the white gold band on her left ring finger.
Courtney’s eyebrows went up and she looked at Finch and Angie with wide eyes. None of them had suspected that Jack knew they often were called in by Police Chief Martin to advise and assist him with certain aspects of investigations. “Huh. I thought we’d hid that fact fairly well from Jack.” Courtney gave a weak grin. “I guess not.”
Cora’s forehead crinkled in confusion, but before she could ask a question, Jenna came in carrying a tray with tea pots, China cups, cream, sugar, linen napkins, and silver spoons.
Once the tea was poured and cups were passed around, Angie spoke. “Would you like to tell us what’s troubling you?” she asked with a gentle tone.
Everyone knew that Cora’s worries must involve her missing husband … if he was s
till missing. Jenna only had time to read one article about the man’s disappearance before Cora showed up in the dining room. For all they knew, the man had been found … one way or another.
“I heard you talking about my husband.” Cora picked up her cup.
“We….” Angie started to explain.
“It’s okay.” Cora nodded. “I understand. You wanted to know why I needed to meet with a lawyer. Anyone would be curious.” She sipped from her teacup. “I think I should start with my husband’s disappearance.” Cora seemed to straighten up and push her shoulders back, steeling herself to relive the awful thing that happened only a few months ago.
She began the story. “As you must have read, Richard had a normal Sunday morning that day. Our son, Karl, had recently moved back home. That morning, Richard and Karl had breakfast together, they read the news, talked. Richard had his own appraisal business so he spent some time answering emails and setting up appointments for the coming week. Karl told me that he’d watched a little TV and then took a shower. He was going out to see a friend. On his way to his car, Karl stopped to say goodbye to Richard. Richard was mowing the lawn when Karl left. When Karl came home, his dad wasn’t there. Richard’s car was in the garage and his wallet and phone were on the kitchen table so Karl assumed his dad went out for a run or a walk.”
Jenna asked, “The house was in order? No sign of a struggle?”
Cora moved her head slowly back and forth from side to side. “Everything was the way it always was. Nothing indicated a struggle of any kind.”
“Was your husband having trouble with anyone?” Angie questioned. “Had an appraisal gone wrong? Did someone have a grudge or a vendetta against Richard?”
“He never mentioned any such thing.” A frown made the skin around the woman’s eyes sag. “The police wondered that, as well, if someone was angry with Richard, but they never uncovered anything like that.”
“Had your husband ever gone off like this prior to that day?” Finch wondered if this might be a recurring problem.
“Never,” Cora said firmly.
Courtney asked, “Did Richard have any trouble with depression or anxiety?”
“No. Richard was easy-going. Most things didn’t bother him at all. Even when his work seemed stressful, he would step away from it for an hour to go for a run or read or make a cup of coffee. Richard always said you had to roll with the punches. He wanted to enjoy his life and he was able to manage stress well.” Cora looked down at her cup. “Richard was a pleasant person, nice to be around.”
“You were on a short vacation with a friend right before Richard went missing?” Angie asked.
“My best friend, Jill, and I went on a long weekend trip every year. We’d been doing that since right after college. We’d go to an inn in a nice little town, walk around, shop, eat out, get a manicure. It was a great time to do girl things together. I always returned home relaxed.” Cora hesitated, and then added in a small voice. “Except that one time.”
“What about your son?” Jenna set her teacup down. “Was anyone angry with him? Could someone have come to the house to find Karl and ended up having an argument with Richard?”
Cora shook her head. “No one was angry with Karl.”
Something pinged in Angie’s stomach and she took a quick glance at Courtney who ever so slightly raised an eyebrow.
Euclid stood up on the cabinet, arched his back, and let out a low hiss.
Courtney decided to pursue the angle. “You mentioned that Karl had recently moved back with you and your husband. Had he been in school?”
“Yes. Karl graduated in the spring last year. He did some contract work for a while, but it dried up and he moved home to save some money.”
“Is the young man still living at home?” Mr. Finch poured more tea into his cup.
“He is. He just started a part time position. Karl hopes it will lead to full time work eventually.”
“What does he do?” Jenna asked.
“Marketing.”
“Do you have other children?” Angie leaned forward.
“Richard and I have two sons. Karl is the youngest. Roman is twenty-five.” Cora anticipated the next question. “Roman doesn’t live at home. He works full-time. He wasn’t living at home when Richard went missing.”
“Does Roman live in the area?” Mr. Finch held his cane by his side and rubbed the top of it.
“Roman has an apartment in Mill City not far from our house.”
Jenna speculated. “The police must have looked into the boys’ friends and acquaintances to see if anyone bore a grudge towards any of them?”
“The police checked that out.” Cora sighed. “That’s part of the puzzling aspects of this case. Richard and the boys got along well with people. They’re all nice, friendly men. We can’t think of a single person who would wish harm on any of them.”
“And your friends and acquaintances?” Finch tilted his head slightly. “No one bears you any ill-will either?”
Cora wrung her hands. “No. No one.”
Angie shifted in her seat. Something about the conversation bothered her, but she didn’t know what it was. “Did the police find any clues about your husband’s movements that day? A bit of clothing? Did anyone spot him somewhere, however briefly? Anything like that?”
“Richard disappeared into thin air.” Cora bit her lower lip. “It’s as if he was here one minute and then the next minute, he disappeared into the atmosphere like a puff of smoke.”
“I’m clutching at anything I can think of,” Jenna said. “Did your husband possibly get some bad news that made him run away? Had he recently been to the doctor? Maybe he heard some health news that he couldn’t handle?”
“The police brought that up and paid a visit to Richard’s doctor.” Cora fiddled with her empty teacup. “Richard was as healthy as a horse.”
“What about finances? Could bills or money troubles have upset him?” Courtney questioned.
“We didn’t have any money issues. We have the usual bills, mortgage, car loan, some school loans for our boys. Nothing we couldn’t manage.”
“Did your husband have brothers or sisters?” Finch asked. “Are his parents alive?”
“Richard was an only child. He didn’t know his father. His mother passed away when he was a young man.”
Courtney noticed Cora’s empty cup and poured more tea for her. “What about friends of your husband? None of them were contacted by him after he went missing? No one has an idea about what might have happened to him?”
Cora slowly shook her head.
“Forgive me for asking this.” Mr. Finch’s face was serious. “But how was your relationship with your husband, Mrs. Connors? Did you have disagreements? Was this a particularly stressful time for any reason? Were the two of you not getting along?”
Cora’s cheeks flushed. “We’d been married for twenty-four years when Richard went missing. We got married when I was twenty and Richard was twenty-one. We had times when we had quite a few disagreements, but we stayed together. This wasn’t one of those times.”
“How did you meet your husband?” Angie smiled at Cora.
“We met in college. We were practically inseparable.” A little smile played over the woman’s lips. “We got married right before my junior year and his senior year. We got an off-campus apartment.”
“What did you both study?” Jenna asked.
“I studied to be a teacher. Richard studied business.”
“You’ve had a career as a teacher then?” Finch questioned.
“I worked even when our boys were little. I teach math. I have over twenty years in.”
“Are you planning to retire soon?” Angie wondered if the woman was having any financial problems since she no longer had her husband’s income.
Cora shook her head. “I enjoy my work. It’s also a distraction. I like getting out of the house and talking with my colleagues. Going to work kept me from losing my mind after Richard went missing.”
Angie made eye contact with Cora. “I know that some of our questions are very personal, but if you want our help finding your husband, it’s necessary for us to ask.”
Cora gave the slightest nod.
Angie brought up the question of money again. “Now that you’re husband is missing and you no longer have his income, are you struggling financially?”
“I’m okay. Of course, I miss the other income, but I’m able to handle our bills, so I’m doing okay.”
Angie followed-up with another question. “Did your husband access any of your bank accounts after he went missing?”
“Nothing, no.” Cora’s lip trembled. She started to speak and then stopped. She took a swig of her tea and set the cup down on the saucer before sucking in a breath. “After Richard went missing, my friend suggested that I should hire a private investigator to look into my husband’s disappearance. I don’t know why I didn’t do it, but I held off. Maybe I was still too shell-shocked by the whole thing. Two weeks ago, my friend showed me an old article about you people helping to solve a case.”
Angie wanted to roll her eyes. That danged article. This wasn’t the first time someone called on the Roselands and Mr. Finch to help them after reading that old news article.
“Richard’s been missing for four months now.” Cora’s eyes were moist and she wiped at them with her hand.
“You feel that now is the time to bring in some outside help?” Jenna asked.
“No … well, yes. It’s not only that time has passed and it’s been a long time without any new information and without any breaks or leads in the case.” A tear rolled down the woman’s cheek and she batted at it. “Something happened recently.”
Everyone around the table sat straighter. Euclid and Circe perked up and stared at Cora waiting to hear what she had to say.
“One of Richard’s credit cards.” Cora sucked in a deep breath and pushed at her bangs. “There’s been activity on one of Richard’s credit cards.”