Into the Light

by Bernard Burgess

  “I know,” he answered. “Is that just a coincidence? Or is there a connection between the two?”

  Bert leaned back on the chair and looked at Norah, where she stood near Missy and the window. Did they just stumble onto a second cold case? If there’s a connection, maybe her case could help them find Vicki. If only a coincidence, would that poor woman’s demise pull them away from the case they’re being paid to solve? Norah heard his thoughts and slowly nodded. They had to check it out further.

  Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the Nebraska City News-Press. A sweet little lady looking to be in her sixties offered to assist Bert in going through some of the old paper archives. She got him onto a computer, gave some basic instructions for searches, and turned him loose. With Norah looking over his shoulder, Bert began scanning the articles beginning with the year 2009 and going back in time.

  It wasn’t too long before he found an August article which talked about the still-missing woman, a woman named Janice Campbell. The reporter discussed how Campbell’s disappearance was still a mystery, two years after she vanished. It went on to say how her devastated husband had taken their son, twelve years old at the time of the article, and moved to Utah. Reportedly the boy was having serious psychological problems and the father hoped that a complete change would help the lad cope.

  Bert scrolled back in time to early September 2007. He found an article discussing a press conference by the Chief of Police at that time, asking for help from the public in finding Mrs. Campbell. Her car had been found at the Lake Ridge Golf Course, northwest of Nebraska City and near Beaver Lake. Her family were members of the Holy Mother Catholic Church. The church was hosting a fund-raising the next Saturday for the family.

  He scrolled to the more recent past. It didn’t take long to find an article in August 2012 about Nebraska City’s second missing woman, Vicki Sturdevant. Two women in the past five years had gone missing in the west part of the city and the crimes remained unsolved and their bodies were never found. Despite intense searches and investigations, both cases had gone cold.

  Bert closed the computer, scooted the chair back, and looked silently at Norah. They shared the same thought. This is not a coincidence.

  Back in the doghouse, Bert drove the ten minutes to the Buck Snort tavern. It was now after 11:00. Leaving Missy in the vehicle, he and Norah went inside. Bert first went to the men’s room. Then he ordered a small glass of a Nebraska beer and asked the bartender if he or anyone else there at the time had been working for a long time. The bartender said that one of the cooks had been with the establishment for nearly ten years. He called the cook, a woman named Betty, out to talk with Bert for a minute.

  He had noticed that there was no sign of a phone in the establishment, certainly none in the hallway leading to the bathrooms. He asked Betty if there had ever been a public phone in the tavern. She told him there was a phone on a small desk near the bathrooms when she first started work there. However, she said it was removed during her first couple of years there, because everyone had a cell phone. She thought that occurred in about 2008 or 2009.

  Bert finished sipping the small beer and sharing thoughts with Norah. She pointed out that if Vicki disappeared in 2010, then the phone would have been gone by then. He agreed and wondered if there was a way to exit the building to perhaps a phone on the street. He hadn’t seen a door leading to the street when he was back there. Norah agreed with him that he should go back and look specifically for an exit.

  He went back toward the bathrooms. At the end of the hallway, he paused to study the small storage closet at the end of the hall and after the door on the right to the men’s room. While it matched the rest of the hallway, he could see that the paint and trim looked to maybe be newer than the hallway and ceiling adjacent to it. It might have been built into the hallways in recent years. Perhaps someone on the staff would know.

  When he returned to his stool at the bar, he again asked the bartender if Betty might answer a question. The fellow walked to the kitchen and called for her.

  Bert thanked her profusely for taking another bit of her time for his question. She was nice about it and didn’t seem to mind. He asked if there had ever been a door at the end of the hallway leading to the street, before the closet was built. She nodded and said that there was a door there until about five years ago. The owner needed more storage space and was also concerned about undesired people coming in off the street out of view. Bert shook her hand and thanked her again for that information. He explained that he was a P.I. trying to solve a case, which seemed to have some connection with the bar. She was thrilled to have that bit of information and contribute, not to mention something to talk about back in the kitchen.

  He paid the bartender and left the tavern with Norah by his side. She knew they were going to the phone company office.

  Missy hopped around in the cargo area of the doghouse as they entered. Bert could see that she needed to get out again, but here on a main street was not the place. He put his cap and gloves aside and drove west on the street until they found a vacant lot. She had to stay next to him as they meandered around the lot, but she was still happy to be out of the car. When he put her back into the doghouse, she didn’t turn her back on him.

  They drove to the local office of the phone company. The clerk that morning was a plump little woman, probably in her thirties, named Genny. She was a pleasant sort, another redhead, with a helpful attitude. After Bert explained his reason for being there, she was more than willing to assist. She told him, though, that most of their records are discarded after seven years, so there might not be any that he sought. He said he understood and would just hope they got lucky.

  He watched as she searched for any record of a street-side phone outside of the tavern. They got lucky. There did used to be a pay phone booth just across the street from the Buck Snort bar adjacent to the old bathroom door. It had been removed as being obsolete in the spring of 2011. So far, so good. Call records were a different story.

  Genny tried to find the call registry records for that phone, but initially could not find them. Either they hadn’t been properly entered or they had already been purged. She needed to take her lunch break but told Bert she would look in a couple of other files when she returned. She promised to call him in either case and let him know.

  It was still a chilly day with a light wind blowing, although the temperature had climbed up to about 30 degrees. It was shortly after noon, at this time, and Missy hadn’t had a good walk in a while. Bert suggested that they go back to the motel, have lunch from the cooler, and he would take Missy out to the usual morning field. Norah knew that Bert was a little hungry and Missy needed some exercise. She agreed.

  Back at the motel, Norah chose to remain in the room while Bert took Missy out to the field where they’d been walking in the mornings. It was remote and expansive enough for her to have a good run, checking out all the sights, sounds, and smells. He strolled around in her general area, mostly thinking about the case and trying to figure out what they needed to do to solve it. He thought about calling Becky to see how she was doing on her case. Not wanting to give the impression that he didn’t trust her, he decided to just wait for her to call. After about thirty minutes, he called Missy back to the doghouse and they returned to the motel and Norah.

  Norah was happy to see them return. She caressed Missy’s coat softly and was pleased to notice Missy cocking her head from side to side with ears flicking forward and back. She gently wagged her tail. Missy could sense her presence.

  Then Norah turned her attention to Bert. “It felt like you were gone a long time, Honey,” she said, “I’m really glad you’re back.”

  He smiled that endearing smile that she loved. “I’m glad to be back with you, too. Have you got any ideas for proceeding from here?”

  She nodded. “Yes, besides waiting to find out about the phone records and continued glimpses of my previous visions, I’m beginning to channel the first missing woman, J
anice Campbell. I’m sensing a connection between her and Vicki. I don’t know what that connection is.”

  “Do you think they knew each other?” he asked. “Maybe there’s something they had in common which led to their disappearances.”

  “I’m not sure,” Norah said. “But the feeling keeps getting stronger that something ties them together. I think if we can find Janice, we will find Vicki, Bert.”

  “So, this has become about solving two cold cases in order to solve the one we’ve been hired to solve. Nothing too complicated about that is there.” He laughed. “Gotta love a challenge, huh.”

  “Yup, Darling,” she said, “if we find either of them, I have the feeling that we’ll find the other. Perhaps death is their connection.”

  “Then how do you think we should go about figuring this out, Sweetheart?” he asked.

  Norah mulled that over for a few seconds before answering. “Maybe Patty knew Janice as well. I think we need to get together with Patty again.”

  Bert replied, “Yes, and with Robert, too. We owe him an update today, I think. I wonder if we went by the Holy Mother Church if we’d be able to communicate with Janice.”

  “Might be worth a try,” said Norah. “I’m getting the impression, though, that she isn’t a communicative spirit. Dori can’t find out much from her, and she was getting away from us. Bert, it could be that she’s confused because she doesn’t know what happened to her. We may be her best hope of finding out.”

  “Why wouldn’t she know what happened to her, Honey,” Bert asked.

  “I think that if she was unconscious before she died,” Norah answered, “then she might not have any memory of how she died. She could just be one of those lost souls that we hear about.”

  “Oh, I see your point, Sweetheart,” he said. “So, trying to pry much out of her might be a poor use of our time, then.”

  “Yes, my Darling, I think we are better served to go around Janice’s spirit for now. I’m still seeing Patty holding the key, or at least a key, to figuring this out.”

  Bert knew there were now several tasks to be completed, if possible. Robert possibly held some knowledge that might be helpful, but he was such a troubled soul there was no telling if they could get it out of him or not. The lady at the phone company might have tracked down the records for that pay phone by now. There was no way to know if that would help. Did the teenage medium have any further information which might help? For now, he decided to first contact Robert, bring him up to date, and see if anything could be pried from his memories. After that, he’d set up another meeting with Patty. How do you get the key from someone when neither you nor they know what it is?

  It was now mid-afternoon and there wouldn’t be much daylight left. Bert called Robert, who said he’d be able to meet in about 45 minutes. He loaded Missy back into the doghouse, Norah took her usual place in the passenger seat, and they proceeded to Robert’s house. This would be their first look at where and how he lived.

  Robert’s house was a modest, one-level, three-bedroom, brick house in a nice neighborhood in northwest Nebraska City. It was well maintained outside. Knowing that Robert was left essentially wealthy by his mother, Bert and Norah were surprised by the simplicity inside. It could best be described as sterile. There were no dishes out and nothing seemed out of place. It almost looked as if nobody lived there. Except that Robert met them at the door and escorted Bert to the kitchen table. Norah remained near the wall opposite the main appliances.

  Bert declined Robert’s offer of a water and proceeded to brief him on the status of their investigation. After giving a brief rundown on what they’d learned so far, he asked Robert two central questions.

  First, he asked if Robert or his mother knew Janice Campbell. Robert had to think about it for a bit, but finally said that he’d heard of her but didn’t think he or his mother knew her. Janice had attended their church some years earlier, he remembered. He knew that she and her family had left a few years before his mother vanished.

  “Do you know what happened to Mrs. Campbell,” Bert asked.

  “No,” he said. “She left and a short time later her family left, from what I remember.”

  “So, you do remember something about them,” Bert said. “Did you know her son, Terry?”

  “Oh, yeah, I did kind of know Terry I guess. He was a few years older than me, so I didn’t know him very well. He became weird.”

  Bert thought about that statement. “So, you knew Terry well enough to know he was a bit strange. Is that why you didn’t get to know him very well?”

  “Yeah, I guess so. I just don’t remember much about the time before Mommy disappeared.” Robert seemed to be clamming up.

  “On a different note, you’re an eligible bachelor with a good income. Do you date a lot of the ladies around here?” Bert asked.

  He was quick to reply. “No, I don’t date anyone. I don’t feel comfortable around people very much. I have a hard time talking with girls.”

  “I don’t mean to get too personal,” Bert said, “but what kind of things do you like to do for enjoyment?”

  “Not much,” he answered. “I mostly stay at home. Sometimes, I do like to go to the Arbor Day farm and walk some of the hikes. I like that if there aren’t many people there. I like to listen to the birds.”

  “Another question we have concerns your mother’s car location, if you don’t mind, Robert. Do you have any idea why her car was parked at the golf course?”

  He answered, “No, I have no idea. The police must have asked me that a hundred times, but I just don’t know. All I know is that she did date a guy who golfed there.”

  “Did you like the golfer she dated,” Bert asked.

  “I think so,” Robert answered, “I just don’t remember much about all that time. What I can remember, I think he was okay.

  Robert seemed to be getting a little flustered with the questions, so Bert looked at Norah and noticed her nodding in agreement. He thanked Robert for his time, promised to continue keeping him informed of their progress, and said good-bye.

  As they drove away in the direction of their motel, Bert wanted to know what Norah thought of the time with their client.

  “You know, Bert, the thing I noticed is that he does seem to have some memories of the period that he originally told us he doesn’t remember. He told us a couple days ago that he didn’t remember much of anything prior to his mother’s disappearance. He remembers some things. What else might he remember?”

  “Yeah, Sweetheart, you’re right. He knew of Janice and her son, and that family had left the area by the time his mother vanished. He remembered that the boy, Terry, acted weirdly. It makes you wonder if he’s hiding something or selectively remembering.”

  Norah replied, “Robert was old enough to have had some influence on his mother’s disappearance, but he was probably too young to have anything to do with Janice’s. So, I don’t think we can go down that rabbit trail.”

  “Yes, and from all indications, he and his mother had a loving relationship. While it’s possible that he had something to do with his mother’s demise, I think it’s highly unlikely. We need to keep the possibility in the back of our minds, but not spend much time on it.”

  “What is strange, is Robert himself. Talk about acting a little weird,” Norah had observed. “He lives a very mundane and sad life, I think, Honey. How many twenty-something young men do you know who don’t date and are uncomfortable around girls their age?”

  “I found all that to be sad, too,” he said. “You know, Norah, it would be interesting to know what Robert was like before his mother vanished. I wonder who can shed light on that.”

  “I bet Patty might have some inputs to that question, Honey. Maybe we can locate one or two of his schoolteachers. They would know.”

  Bert contemplated everything. “Then I think we need to get on Patty’s calendar and see what else she might tell us about Janice Campbell, Terry Campbell, and Robert.”

  They ha
d arrived back at their motel room. Norah settled into a spot near the window and close to Missy. She wanted to just let her mind relax and see if she could channel anything more about the case. Bert called Patty. She was busy with a sewing group meeting soon but was very happy to meet the next day. They agreed to meet at Jonny’s Café on Central Avenue at 9 the next day, Tuesday.

  It was a good time for a nice walk with Missy. The sun was just dropping below the horizon and it would be dark soon. They drove to the nearby field, which had become their go-to place. Bert and Norah strolled side by side across the higher ground while Missy explored the low places and checked out the ravine and its tree line. Twilight had brought out a couple of mule deer from the farmland to the west, and it didn’t take Missy long to discover them. She took off after them. All three had crossed the ravine before Bert noticed the chase. He whistled for Missy before she got out of his range. It was with great reluctance that she grudgingly obeyed and gave up her pursuit. As she returned, she paused several times to watch her prey as they slowed, stopped on a knoll, and turned to watch her retreat. Bert couldn’t help but notice the irony of the prey taunting their tormentor. He and Norah both laughed.