Hostage to Fortune

by J A Whiting

  “Lisa knew Jackson was married to Cheryl. Was Lisa under the impression that Jackson was going to divorce Cheryl?”

  “I don’t know what Jackson might have said to Lisa about his own marriage. I never asked.”

  “From what you’ve said, it seems Lisa was pretty determined to marry Jackson,” Ian said.

  “I’d agree with that.”

  “How was the situation right before Cheryl’s disappearance?” Claire asked. “Were you and Lisa beginning divorce proceedings?”

  “Not then, no. I suggested we wait a while. I thought Lisa would come to her senses and give up on Jackson. Lisa stayed with her sister once in a while and I spent quite a few weekends up at our cabin by a lake. It was peaceful there, and I was trying to give Lisa some space.”

  “You divorced not long after Cheryl disappeared?” Ian asked.

  “It took a while for everything to get settled, but we decided there was no point in dragging things out.”

  “Lisa quit her job working for Journey?”

  “Very soon after Cheryl went missing,” Derrick told them. “Lisa told me she couldn’t stand the sad and miserable atmosphere at the company. She gave her notice and left. I thought it was very abrupt. I wondered if something had happened between Lisa and Jackson. Lisa never gave me any details, but I heard through the grapevine that she was no longer seeing him.”

  “Where was Lisa on the night Cheryl disappeared?” Ian asked. “She wasn’t here with you, was she?”

  “No, she wasn’t. Lisa was staying at her sister’s apartment. She’d been there for about a week.”

  “Did you talk to Lisa after the news about Cheryl was reported?”

  “Lisa showed up at our place early in the morning the day after Cheryl and Jackson fought. I had just gotten out of bed to shower when she came in. She’d heard that something bad had happened to Cheryl and she was very upset about it.” Derrick rolled his eyes. “Lisa was going to take a few days off from work and was going up to the cabin we owned. She told me she needed to think and she needed some time alone. She grabbed some clothes and left. I think Lisa was more upset about what was going to happen between her and Jackson than she was about Cheryl being missing.”

  “Did you hear from Lisa while she was away?” Ian asked.

  “No, I didn’t. She called about a week later and said she wanted to go forward with a divorce. By that time, I’d had enough and was happy to move toward ending the marriage. I thought Lisa and Jackson were probably going to get together, but that wasn’t the case at all. I learned later that Lisa had quit her job and was starting her own business.”

  “And you haven’t talked much since then?” Ian asked.

  Derrick said, “We met a few times in court and to sign papers. After that, we were done. I wasn’t sorry at that point. I did wonder about my ability to know a person. I wondered why I had made such a poor decision to marry Lisa. I was afraid to trust my instincts. I attended counseling and did a lot of reflection, and came to see that I had dismissed things about Lisa. Things I didn’t like, I ignored, hoping she’d change. I realized that I’d imposed my own hopes and ideas about us onto the relationship without really looking at it for what it was.”

  “I think a lot of people do that,” Claire said. “You’ve thought very deeply about relationships and how they’re formed.”

  “I spent a lot of time trying to know myself better. When I first met my wife, Roberta, I was very hesitant. She drew me out and made me believe in what we had together.”

  Ian asked, “What were the characteristics you didn’t care for in Lisa?”

  Derrick hesitated. “Lisa was very self-absorbed. She wasn’t that kind or considerate. I confused that with ambition. I thought she was hard-driving and determined. She was all of those things, but she was never a partner. She wanted what she wanted, and that was it. I don’t think she ever really cared about me.”

  “Did you hear any rumors from Lisa or from anyone else about what might have happened to Cheryl?” Claire asked. “Did people discuss suspects?”

  “Lisa didn’t discuss anything about it. Whenever it came up, she got very upset. When it happened, people talked about it. Some thought it was a random person Cheryl ran into, others thought it could be Jackson, and other people thought Cheryl was seeing someone and that person killed her. It was all idle speculation with no basis in anything except rumor and imagination.”

  The conversation began to wind down and other topics were brought up like where Derrick and his family lived, how old his kids were, and what his wife did for work.

  Ian asked, “Do you still have your lake cabin?”

  Derrick shook his head. “Lisa got the lake cabin when we divorced. Roberta and I have a second home by the sea in Maine. We love that place. We’ve had a great deal of fun there with our children.” Derrick smiled. “We hope to have even more fun when grandchildren arrive someday.”

  Claire and Ian chatted with Derrick for a few more minutes before thanking him for his time and heading out of the building.

  “Any impressions?” Ian asked Claire.

  “Derrick’s breakup with Lisa seemed to truly wound him. He seems thoughtful and kind. I’m glad he found happiness with someone else,” Claire said. “On the other hand, Lisa comes across as selfish and uncaring about other people’s feelings.”

  “Maybe she learned something about herself and that’s the reason she never remarried,” Ian suggested. “Maybe she figured out that she can’t sustain a relationship with one person and would rather be free to connect with different men whenever she feels like it.”

  “It’s a good thing if she learned that about herself,” Claire said. “It’s better to know you can’t be faithful than to break someone’s heart.”

  18

  The chocolate shop had closed for the day and Claire, Nicole, and Robby were in the backroom working on cakes and candies when a knock was heard on the front door.

  “Why do some people think that a ‘Closed’ sign is meant for other customers, but not them?” Robby wiped his hands on a dishtowel and headed for the door. When he reached the doorway, he paused. “There are two men at the door. One looks a little sketchy.”

  Claire came up behind Robby and noticed Pastor Michael waving to her from the sidewalk.

  Unlocking the door, Claire invited the Pastor and his companion to come inside.

  “I knew you were closed for the day,” Pastor Michael said, “and that’s why we came. I thought you might have a few minutes to talk.”

  “Sure. Of course.” Claire gestured to a table by the windows.

  When they’d settled in the seats around the café table, Claire asked, “Is everything okay?”

  Pastor Michael introduced his companion. “This is Fred Gannon.”

  Fred looked to be in his mid-sixties, was very thin, a couple of teeth were missing, and he had tattooed arms. The man’s gray hair was thin and stringy and had been combed over the top of his head. He gave the impression he’d had a hard life.

  “Nice to meet you,” Fred said to Claire.

  The Pastor said, “Fred came to talk with me the other day. I thought you should hear what he has to say. It has to do with Cheryl Wilby’s case.”

  Claire’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh. Maybe Fred should speak with Ian.”

  The Pastor shook his head and lowered his voice. “Fred’s had some run-ins with the law and isn’t that keen on speaking to them.”

  Claire looked across the table at the skinny man. “Okay. How can I help?”

  Fred cleared his throat. “I hope I can help you.”

  Robby carried over a tray with cups of coffee and a plate of cookies and he set everything on the table. Claire knew her friend was lingering in order to eavesdrop on the conversation.

  Fred wrapped his hand around one of the mugs and drank gratefully.

  “Back in the day, I worked on cars at an old garage on the other side of town.” Fred looked to the pastor. “I did other stuff, too
. Some petty stuff … stole cars, broke into a few houses, fenced some stuff.”

  Claire nodded and waited.

  “I got in trouble with the cops. I did a little time.”

  Clutching her hands under the table, Claire wondered where this was going and feared the man had something criminal to confess about Cheryl.

  “Anyway, a guy came to me and asked me to strip a car and get rid of the parts.”

  “When was this?” Claire asked.

  “The night after that woman went missing.”

  Claire’s heart jumped into her throat. “What kind of a car was it?”

  Fred told her the make, model, year, and color of the car. It matched the vehicle Cheryl drove.

  “What did you do when the man asked you to strip it?”

  “I said how much.” Fred ran his hand over his face. “The price was right so I took the job. The guy said I had to do it right then and there. No waiting around. I caught his meaning. The car was either stolen or involved in something.”

  “Were you able to get rid of it that night?” Claire asked.

  “Yeah. I got my brother to help out.”

  “Did you know the man who asked you to get rid of the car?”

  “I never saw him before.”

  “Do you remember what he looked like?”

  Fred sighed. “I drank a lot back then, took some drugs. The guy looked like any other guy. Medium height and weight, brown hair, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt.”

  “How old?” Claire questioned.

  “Thirties?”

  “Could you pick him out of a few pictures?”

  “Nah.” Fred shook his head. “I don’t remember him good enough.” He took a quick swallow of his coffee. “Look. I don’t know nothing about the woman. I didn’t know it was her car. The guy asked me to get rid of it and he paid me good. I needed the money so I did it. I don’t remember nothing in the car. There was no blood or nothing like that. No windows were broken. Didn’t make me think there was a fight. Maybe it wasn’t the woman’s car, but….”

  “But what?” Claire asked, leaning forward.

  “But after, I wondered if it was hers.”

  “You didn’t go to the police to tell them?”

  Fred sat up straight. “No way. They’d try to pin it all on me. The cops wouldn’t believe a word I said. I was scared. No way I’d tell them.”

  Claire’s head tilted to the side. “Why come forward now?”

  “I saw the news about the son suing his father. The guy must’a done something to his wife, don’t you think? The son won that lawsuit. The guy must be guilty.”

  “Did you see photos of Jackson Wilby?”

  “Who?”

  “The guy who lost the lawsuit to his son,” Claire clarified.

  “I saw his picture, yeah, but I’m guessing he don’t look like he did back twenty-five years ago. Anyway, I can’t remember what the guy looked like who asked me to get rid of the car.”

  “If I showed you a picture of Jackson Wilby from twenty-five years ago, do you think you’d recognize him if you’d seen him before?”

  “Doubt it. Sorry. Look, an important guy wanting to dump a car wouldn’t come up and ask me to do that. He’d have somebody else ask. He wouldn’t want to get recognized. So it doesn’t really matter that I don’t remember the guy who came to the shop. It wasn’t the person who did the crime.”

  “So you decided to come forward now because you saw the news about the lawsuit?” Claire asked.

  “I been feeling guilty for a long time. That woman is still missing, isn’t she? Nobody found her, right? She had a couple of kids. I thought if I told about the car, maybe it could help find the woman.”

  Claire was picking up conflicting sensations from Fred. He seemed sincere in his fear of the police and his tale of serving time in jail, but there was something dishonest flowing off of him and Claire wasn’t sure if it had to do with the man in general or if it related to what he was saying about Cheryl’s car.

  “Is there any other reason you’ve decided to come forward?” Claire questioned.

  Fred gave a little shake of his head.

  “Did someone tell you to talk to Pastor Michael about it?”

  “Nobody told me to talk to him,” Fred blinked.

  “Have you brought it up with anyone besides the pastor?”

  “My brother knew about the car ‘cuz he helped me take it apart, but he died a few years ago.”

  “You know I can’t follow-up on this because I’m not a member of law enforcement,” Claire explained. “For your information to do any good, you’ll have to talk to a detective.”

  “I don’t want to do that,” Fred said.

  Claire noticed Robby lift his phone and take a quick picture of Fred. Robby glanced over to the table and when only Claire was facing him, he mouthed the word Ian.

  Robby was going to text the photo of Fred to Ian and tell him what Fred was reporting to Claire.

  Claire stood up. “Let me get a fresh pot of coffee.”

  Standing behind the counter where Robby was pretending to clean out the glass pastry cases, Claire reached for the coffee pot.

  “I don’t trust this guy,” Robby whispered. “If he really stripped Cheryl’s car, someone would have leaked the information before this.”

  Claire went back to the table, refreshed everyone’s cups of coffee, and sat down.

  “Do you know what losing the civil suit his son brought against him means for Cheryl’s husband?” Claire asked.

  “He’s guilty?” Fred asked.

  “Not exactly.” Claire explained what wrongful death meant.

  “So he isn’t guilty?”

  “Jackson Wilby wasn’t charged in his wife’s death because there isn’t the necessary evidence to bring him to trial.”

  Fred’s face screwed up in confusion. “Will I get the reward anyway?”

  Bingo. Fred was after the reward John Wilby set up after he’d won the civil suit against his father hoping to drum up interest in Cheryl’s case. Fred didn’t have a crisis of conscience over the missing woman. He wanted the money from the reward.

  Claire leaned forward. “Did you really strip a car that night?”

  “I did. I swear.”

  “Was it really the make, model, and color of Cheryl Wilby’s car?”

  “I think so.” Fred squirmed in his seat. “Am I going to get some of the reward money?”

  “You’ll have to speak to a police officer to be considered for it, and the information you give them will have to lead to a suspect,” Claire told him.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know if I can talk to a cop.”

  Claire smiled. “Why don’t you give it some thought. If you decide you want to speak with an officer, Pastor Michael will help you.”

  “Okay.”

  Pastor Michael stood up and thanked Claire for her time. As they walked to the door, he leaned close. “I see what Fred is after. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

  Claire gave the man a friendly pat on the shoulder.

  When they were gone and the door was locked, Robby showed Claire Ian’s text.

  Fred Gannon is a known liar and thief. Tell Claire he’s just after the reward.

  With a disappointed sigh, Claire said, “And to think I believed him when he first told me his tale.”

  “Don’t feel bad,” Robby said with an encouraging smile. “He was pretty convincing. Anyway, there’s somebody out there who knows something and any minute now, he’s going to slip up in front of Clairvoyant Claire.”

  19

  Thirty minutes later, there was another knock on the door of the chocolate shop and Claire came out from the backroom thinking it might be Pastor Michael and Fred come back again. Instead, she saw a tall woman with beautiful red hair falling around her shoulders.

  “Sorry, we’re closed for the day,” Claire told the woman.

  “Are you Claire? I hoped to speak with you, if you have some time.”

&n
bsp; When Claire hesitated, the woman said, “I’m Maryann Milton. It’s about Cheryl Wilby.”

  “Come in.” As Claire locked the door and led Maryann to a table, she recalled the woman’s name from speaking with one of the people they interviewed about the missing woman.

  “You worked at Journey with Cheryl and Jackson?”

  “That’s right.” Maryann looked surprised that Claire had heard her name. “I’m working in California now. I’m Chief Information Officer for a tech firm in Silicon Valley. I’ve been working out there for almost twenty-five years. I moved away right after Cheryl’s disappearance.”

  “You and Cheryl were friends?” Claire asked.

  “We were. She was a wonderful person. I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t think of her.” Maryann shook her head sadly. “When I applied for the tech job at Journey, I didn’t have a ton of experience and Jackson didn’t want to hire me, but Cheryl gave me a chance. I’ll always be grateful to her for that.”

  “What brings you to talk to me?”

  Maryann’s posture sagged. “I heard in the news that Cheryl’s son, John, filed a civil suit against his father and he’d won. My brain flooded with all the old emotions from the time Cheryl went missing. I couldn’t shake the feelings of sorrow and rage and bewilderment. Why did it happen? How did it happen? Who is responsible? I can’t stop thinking about the injustice of Cheryl losing her life and never being found, about the person responsible for hurting Cheryl just living his life as if nothing happened. It churns inside of me. I decided I had to come back here and talk to someone.”

  “Have you been to see the police?” Claire asked.

  “I haven’t. I wanted to talk to you first.”

  “Why me?”

  “I still keep in touch with people back here,” Maryann said. “I heard Cheryl’s case was reopened and that two detectives and a police consultant were doing interviews. My friend told me you were nice and I should try to speak with you.”

  “Who is your friend?”

  “She used to run a daycare place here years ago. Her name is Sally Lane.”