Ransom of the Heart

by Susan Page Davis

  Eddie checked the kitchen and stepped toward the living room while Harvey turned to check a bathroom off the kitchen and open the back door for Jimmy and Tony.

  Eddie saw a dark, wet patch on the tan living room rug. Definitely blood. The landlord wouldn’t like having to replace the carpeting.

  “In here, Harvey.” When Harvey came in, Eddie went to check the two bedrooms. Messy, but vacant, and no blood that he could see.

  Tony was coming out of the hall bath. “Clear.”

  When Eddie walked back into the living room, Harvey was bending over the stain.

  “All clear, unless there’s a cellar,” Eddie told him.

  “There is,” Jimmy said, coming from the kitchen. “The door’s locked on this side, but we checked it. Nobody down there.”

  Harvey frowned. “This is fresh, and it’s a lot of blood.”

  “What do you think happened?” Jimmy asked.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Was somebody besides us after McCafferty?” Tony asked.

  “Maybe there were three kidnappers,” Eddie suggested.

  Harvey shook his head. “More likely Talbot knew he and Holden botched up Ulrich’s execution. He probably sent out some runners to shut Mack up before we could get to him. Call for some crime scene techs, Jim. I want to know if this is Mack’s blood.”

  While Jimmy made the call, Eddie joined Tony in a more thorough search of the kitchen and the bedrooms. Their diligence was rewarded when they found some plastic bags of drugs behind a row of canned goods and a wad of cash in a trinket box. Eddie took the items and met Harvey in the living room.

  “Got some swag, Harv.” He held up the two bags of powder and one of pills. “Looks like heroin and a bunch of assorted prescription pills.”

  Harvey looked around at the three detectives. “All right, when the techs get here, make sure they know the drugs could belong to whoever’s name is on the lease for this place. I doubt Chad and Emma brought it with them, and if they had that bankroll, they wouldn’t be so desperate.”

  “I found it in the renter’s bedroom,” Eddie said.

  Tony raised his eyebrows. “We’d better look up the friend who lives here.”

  Harvey nodded. “Emma gave us her name and said she went to work this morning.”

  “I got it.” Eddie took out his notebook and flipped through to the information he’d written down before Harvey handed Emma Skerritt over to the patrol officers. “Her name is Stiles. Rose Stiles.”

  “Tony, you and Jimmy sit down and count that money together right now.”

  Eddie was glad Harvey had given the order. It would protect them all from another who-shorted-the-cash scandal, like the one they’d had last fall. Through the window, he caught sight of a black-and-white pulling into the driveway. “Back-up’s here.”

  “Okay,” Harvey said. “I’ll brief them, and then we’ve got places to go. You call Nate about the renter.”

  Harvey went outside, and Eddie relayed to Nate the information they wanted about the woman who rented this half of the duplex. When he wrapped up his conversation with Nate, he told Jimmy and Tony where to find the woman. They went out to where Harvey stood near his vehicle, talking on the phone. By the time he was done, Tony came to the truck to hand Harvey the bag of money.

  “Three thousand, seven hundred, on the nose. Jimbo’s talking to the neighbor in the other apartment. She says she was home all morning but didn’t hear anything until we got here.”

  “How could she not hear anything?” Eddie asked.

  Tony raised his shoulders. “I have my doubts. But, anyway, we found out where the renter on our side works.”

  “You and Jimmy go find her. Tell her what happened and what to expect when she comes home.”

  “You want us to bring her in?” Tony asked.

  Harvey gritted his teeth. “I’d have said no if she was just doing her friend a favor by letting the two of them spend the night, but those drugs. . .”

  “We’ll bring her in,” Tony said.

  “Yeah. Probably better. And let Nate know where you’re going. I’ll see you at the station.” Harvey climbed wearily into the passenger seat.

  Eddie went around and got in behind the wheel. “Think we’ll find Chad?”

  “I hope so,” Harvey said. “We’ll have to start calling around to hospitals and clinics. Whoever bled all over that apartment needs medical attention.”

  “If he’s not dead.”

  While Eddie maneuvered his way back to the police station, Harvey called Jennifer. “I doubt I’ll get home before suppertime, gorgeous,” he said. “Maybe not then. Looks like Eddie and I will be going out of town this afternoon. . . . Oh, just following up on a lead. And then I’ve got to talk to the press.”

  When they got to the station, Harvey went to the top floor to give the chief a quick update. Eddie had Nate send him some documents and printed out copies of the warrants that had been approved.

  Harvey came back looking alert and ready to move. “Warrants?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Eddie said. “We’re all set to go to Davey Talbot’s place in Cape Elizabeth. They’ll have several officers meet us there. And Cheryl sent an officer to the duplex owner with a hard copy of the warrant for that place, in case he wants to know what we’re up to.”

  Harvey’s face wrinkled. “Like he could keep us out with criminals hiding out in one of his apartments. I hope he doesn’t think we left the blood there.” He picked up his flak vest. “Let’s go.”

  Tony came in from the stairs.

  “Where’s the renter?” Harvey asked.

  “Jim’s got her down in booking,” Tony said. “She cops to the drugs.”

  “Okay. Work through it and get her out of here as soon as you can. We’re heading for Talbot’s place.”

  “Oh, Captain, I’ve got a ton of messages for you.” Paula hurried toward him with a handful of note slips.

  “Great.” Harvey took them with a scowl. “Look, if I want to get to Cape Elizabeth and back before the press conference, we’ve got to leave now.” He shuffled quickly through them. “Nate!”

  “Yeah?” Nate called from his desk.

  Harvey peeled off two of the messages. “You can handle these calls for me. Tony, run upstairs and give the chief an update.”

  “Yes, sir.” Tony looked inordinately happy with his assignment, and Harvey remembered the redhead.

  “Be quick about it. And as soon as you’re done, you two get Emma Skerritt up here and get a written statement from her. She says she doesn’t know anything about the kidnapping, but she may not realize what she knows.”

  “Okay,” Tony said. He was out the door before Harvey could put the rest of the messages back in Paula’s hand. “These will have to wait. If you need me urgently, call my cell.”

  “Will do,” Paula said cheerfully, and Eddie strode to the stairway door. If he was lucky, he could persuade Harvey to eat a burger on the fly.

  Chapter 13

  Peter sagged against the stained white sink in the bathroom. He’d managed to bump the nearest faucet with his head until it moved enough to deliver a trickle of water. Now he had a blinding headache from hitting it so many times, and he was sure he had deep contusions on his forehead.

  He was tempted to sink to the linoleum and lie there until he regained some strength, but if he did that, he might never get up. He stretched upward, pulling against the chain on his ankle. He still couldn’t quite reach the framed mirror.

  At least it wasn’t a solid medicine cabinet. It was just a flat mirror in a white nine-by-thirteen frame. If he only had one more inch of tether, he was sure he could knock the frame off its support, but with his most vigorous attempts he’d only brushed the nearest corner.

  He lifted his head and squinted in the darkness. Only a little light found its way in from the outer room’s small window, and he could barely make out his outline. Probably best that he couldn’t see himself clearly. He certainly wouldn’t want Abigail t
o see him in this state.

  At once he knew that wasn’t true. He would give anything to see her—or any other person—at that moment.

  Peter coiled his muscles and drove his head toward the mirror. It lifted and teetered. He prayed that it would not fall to the floor on the far side of the sink, where he couldn’t reach it. He drew back. It swayed a little on whatever device it hung from, but it didn’t leave the wall.

  One more time. He would soon be exhausted. This effort had to count. Peter stood on his right foot and stretched his chained left leg as far as he could. He bent his knees and launched himself again, slamming his forehead into the wall at the bottom of the wooden frame as the chain tore into his battered ankle, halting his momentum. The mirror tipped and fell on his head, then skittered down his shoulders and back. On the floor behind him, it shattered.

  Thank you, God!

  Sweat or blood trickled down into his left eye, and he blinked rapidly. Now he only had to find a suitable shard that he could pick up with his hands bound behind him, hold it in a position so it contacted the tape, and work it back and forth enough to cut through the filaments without slicing his wrists wide open.

  He sank to the floor and slumped against the wall, breathing deeply and thinking out how to do it.

  *****

  Tony tried to hurry Jimmy down the sidewalk. They’d booked Emma Skerritt’s friend, Rose Stiles, for drug possession, and talked Emma through her statement. He hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Laney on his trip up to Chief Browning’s office, and now it was quarter to one. He was in a hurry to get to the diner.

  “That Rose didn’t even try to blame it on McCafferty and Emma,” Jimmy noted.

  “No, she missed a good chance there.” Tony looked ahead and spotted Laney seated at a table with one of lab techs. By the time he and Jimmy got there, she had risen and was gathering up her trash.

  “Hey, Laney,” Tony said. “We got hung up.”

  “Oh, there you are.” She smiled uncertainly at him and Jimmy. “I figured you weren’t going to make it.”

  “Almost missed you,” Tony said. “This is Jimmy Cook. We work together.”

  “Hi,” Jimmy said, eyeing her with open speculation.

  “Well, listen, I’ve got to get back to the office,” Laney said.

  Tony tried not to let his disappointment show. “Okay. Did you think about it?”

  “Yeah. I guess it will be all right. We can talk again sometime about the details.”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay, then. ’Bye.” She included Jimmy in her parting smile.

  Tony exhaled.

  “So, you got a date with her, or what?” Jimmy asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “The chief’s new secretary.”

  “Yeah.” Tony scowled at him. “What’s wrong with that?”

  Jimmy held up both hands. “Nothing.”

  They found a table and put in their orders. After the waitress brought their sodas, Jimmy ripped the end off his straw’s paper covering and blew the wrapper at Tony. It hit him between the eyes and bounced off onto the table.

  “Watch it,” Tony snarled.

  Jimmy laughed. “So, where are you taking her?”

  “My cousin’s wedding.”

  “A safe first date, or what?”

  Tony shrugged. “I have to go, and I figured I had a better chance inviting her to that than for a drink or something.”

  “Really? And would this cousin happen to be on Uncle Bill’s side of the family?”

  “Yeah. His daughter, Amy.”

  Jimmy nodded sagely.

  “What?” Tony asked.

  “Where’s the wedding?”

  “At the Blaine House.”

  “And of course, Laney knows this.”

  “Well, I . . .” Tony lifted his paper cup and took a swig of Moxie.

  Jimmy’s jaw dropped. “Does she even know about the family connection?”

  “We didn’t get around to it yet.”

  “Oh, I see.” Jimmy picked up the straw wrapper and crumpled it. “So, when were you planning to tell her that this wedding will take place inside the governor’s mansion?”

  Tony cleared his throat. “We were supposed to talk about it at lunch, but you saw. We were late, and she had to get back to the office.”

  “Right.”

  “Maybe someone told her,” Tony protested. “You know the office gossip.”

  “Yeah.”

  Mercifully, the waitress arrived with their lunch plates.

  “I will tell her,” Tony said when she’d left them.

  “You’d better.” Jimmy picked up his burger and took a big chomp. After he’d chewed and swallowed, he looked over at Tony. “And why did you think this would be a good first date?”

  “Oh, come on.” Tony wasn’t hungry anymore. “I needed a plus-one, okay?”

  “Yes, and you’ve been salivating over that girl all week. I can just see the two of you alone in that Mustang for an hour, tooling up the interstate, and you let drop that the father of the bride is Governor Johnson.”

  “I’ll tell her before that.”

  “Make it soon,” Jimmy said darkly. “Women need time to prepare for stuff like that.”

  “Yeah, point taken.”

  Jimmy nodded and poised for another bite of his burger. “Oh, and don’t be surprised if she changes her mind about going.”

  “She wouldn’t.”

  “I would if a girl did that to me.”

  Tony felt like flinging his fries at him. Jimmy was a married old fuddy-duddy past thirty, that was all. It must have been at least ten years since he’d had his last date.

  *****

  Eddie was a little nervous as he and Harvey were ushered into Davey Talbot’s house. The man who showed them in didn’t exactly look like a butler. More like a bouncer from a bar down on the waterfront. But Harvey didn’t hesitate to follow him into the big stone mansion, so Eddie tagged along. The back of his neck prickled, and he turned around to look. Nobody was behind him, but he did spot a camera above the decorative transom window over the door frame.

  Talbot was seated in a lavishly furnished living room on a fancy, old-fashioned wing chair. He looked about sixty, with brown hair going silver and baggy brown eyes. Nice suit, though. In one hand he held a rocks glass half full of amber liquid, and in the other he held the business card Harvey had sent in ahead of them.

  “Come in, gentlemen.” He didn’t get up, but waved toward the sofa opposite him. Antique, Eddie thought. Harvey could probably name the style and maker. The painting over the fireplace would probably impress people who liked that sort of thing. It reminded Eddie of a landscape they’d recovered in an art theft case, except this one looked kind of blurry. His homework for that case surfaced, and his brain popped out “Impressionism.” That was the style.

  “May I offer you a drink?” Talbot raised his glass slightly. If he started drinking hard liquor this early in the day, how did he keep his head clear enough to run the Falcon’s empire?

  “No, thanks,” Harvey said easily. “We’re here on business.”

  “Of course.” Talbot took a sip and set the glass on the end table. “How may I help you, Captain. . .” He flicked a glance at the card. “Larson.”

  Instead of sitting down, Harvey took a couple of photos from his pocket and walked over to him.

  “I wondered if you know this man.”

  Talbot made a show of focusing for a moment on the picture Harvey had gotten from the DMV.

  “Hmm.”

  “Maybe you’d recognize him in this one.” Harvey held out a picture of Holden taken by a crime scene investigator right before they moved Holden’s body off the street.

  “I say.”

  “Yes, it’s a bit graphic,” Harvey said. “Did you know him?”

  “Holden.”

  “That’s right. Was he working for you?”

  Talbot drew in a deep breath and exhaled with a weary air. “I think he ma
y have run a few errands for me from time to time.”

  “Huh.” Harvey took the pictures back. “What errand was he running on Wednesday?”

  “Wednesday, Wednesday.” Talbot picked up his glass, as if another sip would help his memory. He sipped his drink and shook his head.

  Harvey held out another picture. “How about this man?”

  Talbot frowned. “He looks somewhat familiar. Can’t place him, though.”

  “And this one?” The last picture was of Carter Ulrich. They’d gotten it from his apartment.

  Talbot’s eyes narrowed. He rubbed his chin.

  “Was he Holden’s errand on Wednesday?” Harvey asked.

  “I believe I saw that man’s picture in the Press Herald.”

  “Yeah,” Harvey said. “In the obits. But unlike your errand boy, he wasn’t hit by a truck. He was shot in the showroom at Hobart Chevrolet on Wednesday evening.”

  “Shot? By whom?”

  “I’m asking the questions,” Harvey said. “Did you know him?”

  “I was aware of him, yes. His name’s Ulrich.”

  “That’s right,” Harvey said. “Bonus question: How did you know him?”

  “Please, Captain, it would be much more congenial if you sat down.”

  “Funny, I was thinking it would be much more efficient if you came to the station with us.”

  Talbot arched his eyebrows. “But your precinct is in Portland, is it not?”

  “I’m sure they’d loan us an interview room here in Cape Elizabeth. We’re here under their auspices. I’ve got warrants for your arrest and a search of this place. Captain Hillman and his men are on the way to assist us.”

  Talbot sat still for a moment then drained his glass and set it aside. “All right, stand up if you want. Ulrich did some business with us.”

  “Us?” Harvey asked.

  “Please. I have a rather large array of business dealings.”

  “You and Falcon Prewitt.”

  “I couldn’t speak for him.”

  “I’m sure you do, and often. He owns this house.”

  Talbot waved a dismissive hand. “Ulrich was a gambler. He came to one of my employees for money. Several times.”

  “I see,” Harvey said. “How much did he owe you as of Wednesday?”