“OK.” Ted said, looking to see if Sue would agree. She did, not even reluctantly, but only after Ted agreed to help with the dishes first. When they got up from the table, Sue helped Lin to go upstairs.
“You’re sure you’ll be OK—do you need anything before we go?” Sue inquired.
Lin looked askance, “Be serious. I’m fine. I’m going to get ready for bed and then call my sweetheart—maybe even indulge in a little telephone sex—meanwhile, my friend, don’t waste the evening. That’s a very handsome man down there and he’s obviously quite interested in you.”
This time Lin was sure that Sue was definitely blushing as she headed back downstairs. Lin shed her clothes and got into a soft knit nightshirt before settling herself into bed propped up against the pillows with her foot and ankle elevated once more. She reached for her cell phone and dialed Neal’s number. The next hour was spent catching each other up on the weekend’s activities and, more importantly, indulging in a serious discussion of what they planned for their upcoming reunion.
“I’m counting the days and hours,” Lin murmured as the conversation drew to a close.
“No more than I am,” Neal replied, “I can’t wait to get my arms around you, and I really don’t want to have to leave you again…Lin, do you suppose you might come back with me next month went I start work on the dig? You’ll have completed almost three months with this volunteer assignment by then, and we’d both be heading back after a couple of weeks for the wedding. Do you think…”
This time, Lin’s sense of longing for her man was really working on her, “Let me think about it,” she replied, “let me check with the folks at the Parkway and talk it over with Sue. I’ll also need to make sure all the wedding plans are locked down but, if you can help with some of that, it might be a good possibility.”
“Just make me a list—I’ll knock out all those wedding plans in a heartbeat,” Lin could hear the smile in Neal’s voice.
“I love you,” she said, “I’ll call you tomorrow after I see the doctor.”
“Me too,” Neal responded. “Be sure to call on the cell phone. They’re taking out my landline tomorrow. The rest of the moving will be done by Friday—I’m still spending my lonely nights at the Holiday Inn until that’s all done—I’m too old to sleep on the floor.” He sounded as if he were seeking sympathy.
“Just see that you stay lonely,” Lin teased. “See you Saturday.” She ended the conversation, replacing the cell phone on her nightstand and reaching for her book. She tried reading for a short time but sleep was beginning to overtake her so she turned out the light about eleven. She didn’t hear when Sue returned.
***
It was less than an hour until closing when Ted and Sue arrived at Galileo’s. They’d taken a chance that Olivia Lee would be working and were happy to see her waiting on the few customers who were still there on a Sunday evening. They seated themselves in a back corner—having seen her waiting on another couple seated in that part of the dining room. They hoped that she’d have their table also. Fortunately, they were right.
Olivia recognized Sue and smiled as she approached. “Hello, Ms. Gray. Good to see you again—do you want a menu?”
“Please, call me Sue. I think I’ll just have something to drink,” Sue responded.
“Me too,” Ted spoke up. “Do you have a dark beer on tap?”
Olivia responded in the affirmative and they both ordered that.
As she headed off to get their beers, Sue observed that the other couple seated near them was getting up to leave. The place was almost empty. Perhaps Olivia would have time to talk. When she returned with the beers and a basket of chips, Sue decided to simply be direct. “Olivia, this is Ted Whitley. He works for the Mountain Country Gazette and he’s going to do a series of articles on some of the unsolved murder cases around here. We hope that might generate some interest on the part of the public and maybe bring some pressure to bear on the local authorities to reopen their investigations. We were hoping you might have a few minutes to talk to us.
Olivia seemed a little nervous, but she didn’t leave or say no immediately. Rather, she was quiet for a moment and looked back over her shoulder toward the bar area. “I really shouldn’t talk to you right now—we’re still open for another half hour and then I should help with closing. Don’t misunderstand, I’m willing to talk to you but just not this minute,” she looked at Sue, evidently remembering when they’d talked before. “I hate to ask, but could we meet somewhere later, after I leave here? I know it’s late but…”
“We understand perfectly,” Ted gave her a winning smile. “We can certainly wait until you’re off work.” He looked at Sue who nodded her agreement. “What would be a good time—and place?”
Olivia looked at Sue, “I believe you know where I live; my neighbor said you came by. I have a sitter with my son tonight, and I need to get home. Could you meet me there, say in about an hour from now?”
“We’ll be there,” Sue said, “and thanks for taking the time to see us.”
“It’s important,” Olivia seemed serious. “I need to know why Bryan died. I want some answers.” She left them then and returned to her duties.
Ted sipped on his beer and smiled at Sue. “Hopefully, she’ll know whether or not Bryan kept papers or files at home and, if he did, perhaps she’ll let us look at them. Meanwhile we have a few more minutes before this place shuts down—tell me more about Sue Gray. I’d like to get to know you better.”
The two of them sat there until Galileo’s closed talking and enjoying their beer. After that they returned to Ted’s car where they continued their conversation, waiting for Olivia to finish her work and leave for home. Sue realized that she was really having a good time. She and Ted had a lot in common. Not only did they share similar professional experiences, but she discovered that Ted was an avid skier, as was she.
“I usually get out to Colorado at least once during the season,” he said. “I belong to a local ski club and we try to travel when we can—sometimes we get up to New England, and, during the season here, you’ll find me on the slopes at least once or twice a week. Now that I’m more or less semi-retired, I try to ski during the week when it’s less crowded.”
“I thought you were still a full time worker,” Sue said, “not a retired one, like me.”
“Actually, I’m really only considered part-time, but sometimes I feel like it’s full time; I no longer work regularly on our print edition. I’m responsible for the on-line edition and a lot of that I can do from anywhere—even when I’m traveling. All I need is my laptop and the Internet. I spend a lot of time at my home office. When I try to do something big—like this series on the unsolved murders for instance—then Ben runs the stories in the print edition as well as online. For me it’s a perfect set up. I still feel useful and involved, but I have more time to enjoy myself too.”
“Sounds like you have a great setup,” Sue replied. “The main reason I retired was to have time to do some writing and to travel more—volunteering here is part of that plan also. I like to be home in Colorado for most of the winter though—I’m just a short drive from some of the best ski slopes around.”
“You wouldn’t be trying to entice a poor North Carolina skier to come west for a visit now would you?” Ted teased.
Sue realized she’d opened herself up for that one, but she had a quick response. “I often have friends camping out all over my place on weekends in the winter—Colorado skiers are famous for their hospitality.”
“I’ll make a note of that,” Ted winked. “Now, I think I just saw Olivia drive out, presumably heading for home. It’s time for you to show me where she lives.”
They were at Olivia’s just after she’d arrived; they passed the babysitter on her way out. Olivia invited them to make themselves at home in her small living room while she went upstairs to check on her son and change out of her work uniform, “ There’s beer in the frig if you’d like another,” she said.
; “Thanks, but I’ve had enough for one evening,” Sue responded. Ted also declined. Olivia returned shortly and seated herself in the easy chair opposite their seat on her sofa. “I’m really glad that you’re interested in calling attention to these murders. It’s been tough since Bryan died, in lots of ways, but the worst has been not having answers—not knowing who killed him or why he died?”
“I’m sure it’s been hard,” Sue responded, “I have a feeling that at least some of these murders are related and something is going on here that needs to be uncovered. Hopefully, Ted’s series will lead to more questions being asked.”
Olivia nodded her agreement, “What can I do? What do you want or need from me? I don’t know anything, but I’m willing to help in any way that I can.”
Ted spoke up, “ Sue tells me that you mentioned Bryan was concerned about some things that were going on, things he may have been looking into shortly before he died.”
“Yes, he did seem worried and he told me he thought something illegal was going on and he was looking into it, but he never told me what it was—in fact, when I asked, he quit talking about it and said he didn’t want me to worry. He said it wasn’t anything big enough to concern me, but it was—whatever it was got Bryan killed,” Olivia’s eyes were wet with tears.
“Did Bryan have an office or desk at home? Did he ever work on things here or keep any files around?” Ted asked.
“Yes, he did at the other place. It was bigger. I had to move here after Bryan died—couldn’t afford the rent over there on just his benefits and what I could earn.” Frankly, I was so broken up at that time that I couldn’t even face packing up his things. My sister helped me with all that. We sold his desk and some of the other office furniture, but I think she packed up all his papers in boxes. I think they’re downstairs in the storeroom here. I told her to throw them away, but she said I should go through them first to make sure there wasn’t anything important in there—stuff I should keep, you know.” She shook her head, still fighting back tears, “I guess I’ve just never been able to face doing that. I keep putting it off—I know I should but—I just can’t yet.”
Sue gave Olivia a moment to collect herself before she spoke, “Would you be willing to let Ted and me look at some of these things. We might find some information about what he was working on when he died, information that might help to solve his case. Of course, the authorities may have kept anything relevant when they looked through his things during the initial investigation…”
Olivia cut her off, “No one but my sister has ever looked at those things—and she didn’t really look, she only packed them up for me to do later—the sheriff’s men never asked about them. I’d be glad if you’d take them and look through them—use anything you find that might help solve Bryan’s murder. Maybe, if you find any personal papers, you could save them for me.”
Ted and Sue looked at each other in disbelief. They couldn’t comprehend the fact that no one had looked into Bryan Lee’s personal papers while investigating his death. Finally, Ted spoke, “With your permission, Olivia, we’ll be glad to take the papers and review them. We’ll certainly separate any personal things and save them for you. If we find anything related to his work, to whatever he might’ve been concerned about, we’ll let you know and get your permission before using the information in any stories or sharing it with any law enforcement folks.”
Sue explained to Olivia that federal officers were showing an interest in looking into the cases. “I know that Mark Scott, a law enforcement ranger on the Parkway, has looked at Bryan’s files from work and he’s shared them with someone from the FBI. I personally think they’re more likely to uncover something than the local authorities are.”
“That’s good news to me,” Olivia almost smiled. “You know how I feel—no one from the sheriff’s office ever seemed interested in reopening this case when I tried to talk to them. They said, they’d already done everything they could do and there was no point in reopening the case, unless I had more evidence to share with them…” she suddenly halted, realizing what she had just said, “…maybe if I’d looked at his papers, maybe…”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Sue said, “they should’ve asked for his papers when the investigation first started. You had no way of knowing about that—it’s not your fault. Ted and I will go through them and let you know if there is anything helpful there.”
Olivia led them downstairs to her storage area and located the boxes that contained the papers. There were only two. They took them to Ted’s car and then left. Olivia seemed happy to know that someone, at least, cared enough to do this.
Ted and Sue were both quiet as they drove back to the house. Finally, as they pulled into the driveway, Ted spoke. “ Where and when do you want to start looking through these things? We could work at my place or…”
“ There’s plenty of room here also,” Sue explained. “I’ve set up an office in the basement, and I already have a lot of notes about these cases—as I’m sure you do also…”
“All of my work is on my laptop,” Ted smiled. “I can work anywhere. Why don’t we take these things down to your office, and when we decide on a time to work, I can bring my laptop over, and we’ll have all of our information together. That way your friend Lin can help too. I gather she has more than a passing interest in these cases.”
Sue chuckled, “Indeed, she does. Lin has insatiable curiosity and a dogged persistence when she’s determined to solve a problem. She’s been involved in more than one such situation and, I might add, she generally gets to the bottom of things. We definitely want her to stay involved with this—not that she would let us leave her out.”
Ted helped Sue to carry the boxes to the basement and they agreed that he’d come over the following evening and they’d get to work sorting the papers. “This time please don’t try to cook anything. I’ll bring dinner for the three of us,” he smiled.
Sue walked him to the door as he prepared to leave. “We enjoyed having you this evening and thanks for the nightcap. I’m glad you had the idea of trying to see Olivia right away. It really paid off, hopefully these papers will reveal something of interest.”
“I hope so too,” Ted agreed. He turned to Sue with a smile, “and I hope this evening revealed something more of interest to the two of us—I really enjoyed your company Sue. I’m excited about our working on this together, but I’d also like to spend more time with you—socially that is.”
Sue couldn’t hide her smile, “I’d like that too,” she replied. Ted leaned down and gently kissed her lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow—about six.” Then he was gone.
***
As soon as she got up the next morning, Lin knew that Sue’s evening had been a success. She could hear her humming a tune as she moved about the kitchen preparing breakfast. Lin grabbed her crutches and made her way to the top of the stairs.
“Are you alone down there,” she yelled, “or did Ted spend the night?”
“Not on your life! We haven’t even had a real date yet. What kind of girl do you think I am?” Sue feigned irritation as she came upstairs to assist Lin in coming down. Lin could tell from the sparkle in Sue’s eye that the evening had been a success in more ways than one.
“I’ll bet you’ll have a real date soon enough,” Lin teased, “you can’t fool me—you really like that guy.”
“I can’t deny that,” Sue said, “but let’s take things one step at a time.” She helped Lin to sit down at the table and placed her crutches against the wall. “Let me get us both some coffee and I’ll catch you up on what we got from Olivia Lee.”
She joined Lin at the table and told her about the boxes of papers they’d obtained and the very interesting fact that no one had asked to see them in the initial investigation into Bryan’s death.
“That just adds more evidence to support our feeling that the local authorities just haven’t given their full effort to solving these murders—I can’t believe they are that inept,” Lin remarked.<
br />
“Or that determined to leave them unsolved,” Sue added. “I’m not sure what I believe anymore. In any case, Ted will be here tonight, so the three of us can get started on these papers. Now, you need to get ready for your appointment; I have to go to work this afternoon after we see the doc so I need to get a move on also.”
“I hope I’ll be going in with you,” Lin added, “provided I can get rid of these crutches.”
“We’ll see,” Sue responded, “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”
Chapter 23
The doctor’s visit took a bit longer than they’d anticipated. After examining Lin’s foot and pronouncing it much better, he’d insisted that she stop by the imaging center for another x-ray before he’d decide about taking her off the crutches.
“Go by there and tell them to send the image directly to me, as soon as it’s read.” He instructed. “Then come back here and I’ll make a decision.”
Lin felt frustrated by all the delay, but she wanted to get back to her job as soon as possible so she realized she had to comply. Finally, after more than an hour at the imaging center, she and Sue were once again seated in the doctor’s private office waiting for him to look at the x-rays and make a decision.
“Good news,” he smiled as he came in the door. “ The pictures confirm the earlier determination that no bones were cracked, and it appears that the joint is properly aligned. I don’t think there are any torn ligaments—they’re just stretched. I’m going to put you in a boot. You should be able to put weight on your foot and walk without the crutches, but, I must warn you, this does not mean you should walk long distances or be on your feet all day. You can go to your volunteer job for half days, so long as you elevate your foot as much as possible during your off hours. If you start experiencing a lot of swelling again, it may mean you’re back on the crutches.”
Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery Page 29