False Cast: a small town murder mystery (Frank Bennett Adirondack Mountain Mystery Series Book 5)

by S. W. Hubbard

  Edwin looked pained by the memory. “That was Lucy’s idea. We went to the only therapist we could find locally, but none of us liked her. Olivia would clam up and refuse to talk. We all like Trudy better, but she’s juggling a lot of cases. She did as much as she could to help, and we just muddled through.”

  Frank felt paralyzed by the complexity of the situation. How thick-headed he’d been! Olivia had started to improve so quickly after going to live with Edwin and Lucy that he’d never bothered to inquire if the transition had been harder than it looked. He himself couldn’t imagine missing Anita; he’d foolishly assumed Olivia didn’t miss her either. But a parental bond—even a bad one—wasn’t that easy to break.

  Edwin backed up to give another shopper a path to the broccoli. “Even though Olivia’s always called us Edwin and Lucy, sometimes I overhear her say to her friends, ‘Let me ask my parents,’ or ‘My dad can take us.’ But she never refers to Lucy as her mom, not even indirectly like that.”

  Penny put her hand on Edwin’s. “So you were afraid if you started the adoption proceeding, Olivia might resist?”

  “Maybe not resist, but…well, it seemed safer not to stir up Olivia’s emotions. Trudy told us if we started the proceeding, Anita would have a chance to come to court and challenge us. Olivia would see her mother again after three years apart. It seemed like poking a hornet’s nest with a stick. We figured as long as Anita wasn’t getting out of jail for another ten years, it was best to just leave our foster parent arrangement as it was.” Edwin removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “How wrong we were!”

  “You made the best decision with the information you had at the time,” Frank said. “Let’s focus on the present. Tell me about the hearing in Family Court.”

  Edwin brightened. “Can you two be character witnesses at the hearing? Pastor Bob and Olivia’s teachers are also coming.”

  That would be Edwin and Lucy’s strong point. They had all the leading citizens of Trout Run to vouch for what good parents they were, how they’d transformed Olivia from a malnourished pariah to a stellar student with a wholesome circle of friends.

  And who would stand for Anita? There was still a lot of prejudice in town against the Veeches. People had long memories when it came to Pap Veech and his threatening signs and vicious dogs and filthy houses.

  But testifying for Edwin and Lucy was something he could do to be useful, to stem the terrible sense of powerlessness that had oppressed him since he’d heard the news. “Of course I’ll testify for you. I can talk about what Olivia was like when I first encountered her. I was really concerned for her safety, surviving like some third-world orphan in those shacks where the Veeches lived.”

  Edwin’s face registered no reaction. Frank thought he must’ve made the wrong offer. He tried again. “I could talk about how I recognized from the get-go that Olivia was very bright, and how you and Lucy have helped her do well in school and fit in with the other kids.”

  “Thank you. You’re very kind.” Edwin leaned his forearms on his cart handle. “There’s no question that Olivia is materially better off with me and Lucy. But that’s not what we have to prove, because that’s not what the judge is supposed to consider. The question is whether Anita is a fit mother, morally and emotionally fit. The case for abandonment rests on that.”

  “What has Olivia said about her life before?” Penny asked. “Was there anything—”?

  “That we could use against Anita? Believe me, I’ve thought about it. I know her uncle and grandfather would hit her sometimes, but she’s never said that Anita did. I suspect Anita was not at all affectionate, though. Olivia was very unresponsive to being hugged or held for a long time. Then it seemed like a dam broke and she couldn’t get enough. She’d sit on our laps and hold our hands and demand to be tucked into bed at night.”

  “That’s something you could use, isn’t it?” Penny insisted.

  “Maybe if she were still seven or eight. Now that she’s a ‘tween, she acts like she’s too old for that.” Edwin bit his lower lip. “But as she’s gotten older, Olivia has drawn closer to Lucy. She needs Lucy to help her through all that middle school girl drama. She just got her period. She’s not a little kid anymore. This is such a vulnerable time for her.”

  Penny bit her lip and her head bobbed in agreement. “You tell the judge that. Anita doesn’t even know Olivia anymore.”

  “But Olivia herself is old enough to have some say in where she wants to live. Won’t the judge listen to her wishes?”

  “Trudy says Olivia will have a Court Appointed Special Advocate—someone who’s neutral, who will talk to Olivia in private and represent her best interests. But who is that going to be? How can some stranger just talk to a kid for half an hour and know what’s best for her?”

  Frank gouged a hole in the plastic binding his paper towel bundle. Could he testify under oath that he knew Anita was unfit? “I don’t know what I can say about Anita now, but when I arrested her five years ago, she was certainly unfit.”

  “That’s the problem,” Edwin said. “I don’t know how we can prove that she’s not fit now. In fact, I’m not entirely sure it’s a good idea to try.”

  “Why not?”

  “There’s a part of me and Lucy that wants to go after Anita tooth and claw. But what if that backfires? We get custody of Olivia and she hates us for it. We could win the battle and lose the war.”

  Chapter 14

  The next day started off on a positive note. Frank found Reid Burlingame in the office talking to Earl when he arrived. They both looked up with smiles on their faces.

  “I’m just telling Earl about the plan for you two to take over policing Verona. With Ronnie on the loose and all this nonsense about some people cheering him on, Mayor Abernathy thinks your plan is a good idea. But he wants to do it on a trial basis for three months before they commit to adding so much money to the yearly budget.”

  “Are you okay with that?” Frank asked Earl. “You don’t want to miss out on a sure thing in Saranac or Placid while Abernathy waits to make up his mind.”

  Earl nodded. “I understand. I was just telling Reid, I’m not going to withdraw my applications there. If I get another offer, then we’ll have to decide. But I’d rather stay here in Trout Run.”

  “Very sensible.” Reid rose and shook Earl’s hand, then Frank’s. “I’m hopeful this will work out to everyone’s benefit. In the meantime, make yourself invaluable to the citizens of Verona.”

  After Reid left, Earl turned to Frank. “Thanks for going to bat for me. How come you didn’t mention this before now?”

  “Didn’t want to get your hopes up.” He smiled. “Or mine. Let’s try to look brilliant.” Frank showed Earl the list of vacation homes that Ronnie might have worked at.

  “It’s not much, but it’s a place to start. Better than searching for a needle in a haystack.”

  “Won’t we get in trouble with Lt. Meyerson if we go out looking for Ronnie?”

  “Absolutely. That’s why we’re doing welfare checks on houses within our jurisdiction instead.”

  Earl grinned and took the list. “Great. I’ll take the first five. Be back after lunch.”

  Frank blocked his exit. “No, we’ll do them all together.”

  “If we divide it, we can check out all the houses by tomorrow and never leave the office uncovered.”

  “Too risky. Ronnie is unstable and desperate. I don’t want either one of us to encounter Ronnie when we’re alone.”

  “We can’t afford to both focus on Ronnie at the same time now that we have Verona to look after. If something happens there while we’re both occupied far away, I’ll lose my shot at this promotion.”

  “You can’t get promoted if you’re dead.”

  Earl’s eyes narrowed. “Frank, I can handle it. What, do you think I’ll march right into Ronnie’s arms and let him clobber me?”

  “That’s not—”

  “You don’t trust me to do the job I was trained for.”
/>
  Training! As if anything you learned in a police academy classroom truly prepared you to deal with lunatics. Earl had shown skill in the hostage situation, but he’d also been incredibly lucky. They couldn’t count on their luck holding. “Ronnie could be armed now. We don’t know where he’s been or what he’s picked up along the way. We need to cover each other. It’ll take longer, but it’s the best approach.”

  “We have new responsibilities in Verona. I don’t want to screw that up,” Earl protested.

  Frank turned and headed for the door. “I’m not negotiating. We’re doing this together. That’s an order.”

  Earl studied the list as Frank pulled out of the town office parking lot in his own truck. Hardly undercover, but at least it wouldn’t announce their arrival like the patrol car. They did not have to discuss who would drive and who would navigate. Frank would have had to sit down with a map and plot out a route of the houses, but Earl could do it in his head.

  “The house Ronnie was in yesterday is awfully close to town,” Earl said. “His next move might be to head north, away from the most populated areas. This camp on Sunfish Pond is pretty remote. Ronnie could hike there in a day if he kept up a steady pace, but there would be a lot of bushwhacking.”

  “That’s one strategy. On the other hand, he might just want to get inside again as quickly as possible. What’s the house closest to the one he just left?”

  “There are two about an equal distance, but in different directions. This one on Blue Heron Road is about three miles east of the Mallard Pond house, and the one on Giant View is about the same distance west.”

  “Let’s start by checking those two, then head north.”

  Earl was subdued. Frank knew if he could get Earl chatting about something else, their little display of power would be forgotten. Earl was never one to hold a grudge.

  “Penny and I were supposed to drive down to Westchester to visit Caroline and the kids this week, but now we’re not going.” Frank made his peace offering.

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, Caroline texted me and said something came up at Eric’s office and now it’s not a good time to visit.” Frank sighed. “Just because Eric is busy doesn’t mean we couldn’t have had fun with her and the boys, but I couldn’t say that.”

  “Why not? Seems reasonable.”

  “Because Caroline thinks I don’t like Eric. When they had that trouble in their marriage last year, I jumped to the conclusion that he was cheating on her or hitting her or something, and ever since then, I think she’s held it against me.”

  “Has she said so?”

  “No, but…but I know something’s wrong.”

  “She seemed real happy at your wedding.” Despite himself, Earl was taking an interest in the story. Frank knew he loved a good soap opera.

  “I don’t know. She swore she was happy for Penny and me, but maybe in her heart she can’t forgive me for getting married again.”

  Earl twisted to look at him. “That’s crazy. How could anyone not like Penny?”

  “I think she does like Penny. It’s me she’s mad at, but I don’t know why. And when I call her, she never picks up. Then she texts me and explains that I called at a bad time. But there’s never a good time. I wish texting had never been invented.”

  Earl smiled. “My mom doesn’t have a cell phone. When she’s mad at someone in the family, she drives over to their house and yells at ‘em face-to-face.”

  “Good for her. That’s why I wanted to go down to Caroline’s. Just to see her and look her in the eye and figure out what’s going on. But I was disinvited.”

  “You should go anyway. Get it settled. You’ll feel better.”

  Or maybe worse. “Maybe next week. It’s probably best I stick around now with Ronnie on the loose.”

  “Right at the corner,” Earl announced without warning, and they careened onto Blue Heron Road.

  Although the first house on their list had a mailbox on Blue Heron, a through-street that people used to get to the lumberyard, it had a long twisting driveway. The house itself was barely visible from the road.

  “This looks promising,” Frank said as the truck jolted down the drive. But when they got close to the house, they saw a Subaru Outback parked out front, and the main door to the house wide open.

  “I sure hope that means the homeowner is up for the week,” Frank said.

  Before they were even a few steps away from the truck, an older man appeared in the doorway, waving cheerfully. Definitely not a hostage.

  “Hi, there! You must be here searching for the escaped prisoner. Rollie at the hardware store told me you might be coming.”

  Frank took a deep breath. He had specifically told Rollie not to broadcast his vacation home strategy to the whole town. There was a distinct possibility that someone was helping Ronnie stay on the lam. If it got out that the vacation homes were being checked, Ronnie would avoid them.

  “Rollie called you to give you a heads-up?”

  “Nah. I just happened to be up there this morning. He pulled me aside and told me on the down low. Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul. But I’m pretty sure ol’ Ronnie won’t come to my house.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “He knows I’ve been in and out of here regularly. He’s been helping me get it ready for when my wife and I move up here permanently. We just last month sold our house in Schenectady. We’re bringing the stuff we need up here one load at a time. Selling all the rest. Finally retired! I’m ready to live the dream.”

  The guy made sense, so Frank and Earl moved on. The next house was bigger but far more open than the pondside cottage and the house they’d just left. It sat on a hill with a commanding view of the Jay Range. It also sat in full view of the house across the street, which was positioned to take advantage of the same view.

  “Ronnie can’t hide out here,” Earl said. “Right out in the open. And look at those big windows. Let’s head north.”

  “Probably right. But the people across the street are home. Let’s talk to them first.”

  Frank had the sense Earl was tolerating his whims, as one might tolerate Grandma’s desire to double-check that she’d turned the iron off. They parked on the road and waved to a woman sweeping her deck.

  She pulled herself to attention and set aside the broom. “I bet I know why you’re here. You’re searching for that escaped convict, aren’t you?”

  Frank could detect the avid gleam in her eye even at this distance. “Yes, that’s right.” He didn’t bother to correct her impression that Ronnie had been convicted of a crime. “Escaped” and “convict” were words that went together like sugar and cream.

  “I think these signs that have been popping up around town are ridiculous,” she said, once Frank and Earl were seated on the deck. “If that man shows up here, you better believe I’ll be on the phone to you right away.”

  “Good. Have you noticed any activity at the house across the street?”

  “No, but it’s been so cold and damp. Today is the first time all week I’ve been outside.” She glanced across at her neighbor’s house. “The folks that own that place haven’t been up since ski season ended. Then they’ll be back in the summer and fall. You should check on their place. I know they’d want you to.”

  “Do you have their phone number?”

  She gazed heavenward. “Hmm. I’m sure I do somewhere. Let me see if I can find it.”

  Anticipating a long fruitless search, Frank rose. “You let me know if you find it. I think we’ll stroll over and take a look around.”

  Frank and Earl crossed the street. Despite the rain, there were no footprints near the house. But the driveway was paved and the grass thick, so footprints might not be obvious. Nevertheless, they circled around checking all the doors and windows. The house was built on a sloping lot, so the back had a walk-out basement.

  “No sign of forcible entry,” Earl said.

  Frank stood next to the above ground basement door and stared at a pl
astic box that contained a garden hose reel. “How much you wanna bet I open that up and find a house key hidden inside?”

  Earl grinned and flipped up the lid. A shiny brass Schlage key on a plastic Venable’s Hardware key chain sat on a ledge inside the box.

  Frank shook his head. “No matter how many times I warn people not to do that, there’s always someone leaving their house key in the mailbox or under the doormat.”

  “I wonder if the homeowners told Ronnie where he could find the key if he needed to get in to do work?” Earl said. “You think he could’ve come and gone?”

  Frank picked up the key. “Only one way to find out.”

  “Isn’t this an illegal search?” Earl asked as Frank unlocked the back door.

  “Technically, yes. So don’t touch anything. If we see any sign that Ronnie’s been here, we’ll back out and make the neighbor find the number and we’ll get permission to enter. If he hasn’t been here, we can cross this place off our list and move on. No harm, no foul.”

  “But really, we shouldn’t…”

  “Look, Earl, if people don’t want strangers to enter their house, they shouldn’t leave the key in such a freakin’ obvious place. Don’t be so squeamish.”

  Earl pursed his lips, their earlier truce evaporated.

  They entered the basement, which was full of fishing and camping gear. A large chest freezer stood in the corner. Frank pulled on a latex glove and opened it up. There were many packages of neatly wrapped and labeled meat. Venison steaks, ground venison, venison roast. “The guy’s a hunter. Can’t tell if Ronnie helped himself to any of this.”

  They climbed the stairs to the first floor. The basement door opened into the kitchen. It was immaculate. No signs of cooking, no dirty dishes.

  “I guess Ronnie hasn’t been here. Let’s go.” Earl looked over his shoulder as if he expected either the homeowners or a representative of the ACLU to catch them in the act of trespassing.

  Frank ignored him and ventured into the dining room. Also very neat, with no signs of recent occupation.

  “C’mon Frank. I don’t like this.”