EYEWITNESS 3

by Timms, Marc

  Eyewitness

  BOOK 3

  By

  Marc Timms

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  Copyright Notice

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2020 by Mark Timms – All rights reserved

  All rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with or sponsored by the trademark.

  Table of Contents

  Books By Marc Timms

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  About The Author

  Books By Marc Timms

  Books by Marc Timms

  SHOCK SERIES

  SHOCK

  SHOCK – The Truth

  SHOCK – The Chase

  SHOCK – The Chaos

  SHOCK – The Capture

  FORGOTTEN SERIES

  FORGOTTEN – The Return

  FORGOTTEN – THE Quest

  FORGOTTEN – The Revelations

  FORGOTTEN – The Reveal

  FORGOTTEN – The Unveil

  book 3

  Chapter 1

  Johanna Cole couldn’t believe her ears. Penny was gone, kidnapped, and being held for ransom.

  Carolyn got in the car beside her. “Don’t just sit there. We need to get moving,” the woman commanded.

  Carolyn had been a great deal of help so far in this investigation. Still, Johanna felt like she needed a focused approach to solving this next piece of the puzzle. There had been so many bodies—at least three so far—and more people injured. She felt she was floundering, at this juncture. Johanna needed to have a plan before moving ahead.

  “So why are you so sure that it’s Arthur?” Johanna asked finally.

  “It has to be,” Carolyn said. “It’s just like his MO.”

  Johanna took a deep breath before proceeding. She had to admit that she was a part of this investigation. As a result, she was partially responsible for what happened to Penny. The dog would likely have been safe at home if Johanna hadn’t been the one asking so many pointed questions—especially to Thomas, whose father Carolyn now suspected.

  “Let’s back up a step,” Johanna said, making it something of a plea. “Penny is the heir to the estate, and it’s a rather large one. Lilly will get the funds to dole out to Penny for her life, right?”

  Carolyn looked less frustrated and more understanding of what Johanna was driving at. “That’s correct. She has an annuity for the life of the dog.”

  “So why do you think that none of the family got Penny?” Johanna was going to go through this, step by step, if it killed her. She knew that time was limited with the kidnapping, but she had a feeling that they were not on the right track. She had to get this situation right the first time, or the dog would be in danger.

  “You’ve met one of them and seen the works of another. The family is out for themselves. They would have put Penny in a crate for the day and gone out shopping.”

  “Even Henry?” Johanna had met the cousin at the hospital. She had seemed no-nonsense but not cruel.

  “Henry wouldn’t have locked the dog up, but she would likely have foisted all the care onto someone else. Jessica didn’t want that to happen to Penny either.”

  “I’ve met two branches of the family tree. What about the other cousin? Should we be looking for him—or her?” Johanna was curious about the other members of the family. From what she’d seen so far, none of them deserved the money.

  “There’s a mother and twins: a boy and a girl. It’s been years since I’ve seen them, but I’m assuming that they’re all alive and well. The kids were spoiled beyond belief, and the mother was looking for money in any way she could.”

  “So they’d be potential candidates for stealing a dog?”

  “In a heartbeat, but I don’t think they’d actually steal it. Those three would hire it out. Then Deanna’s hands wouldn’t be dirty. They could claim innocence and believe they were telling the truth.”

  Johanna did not like the sound of that. She didn’t need more amoral people who wanted their share of a fortune. “I need to meet them,” she said at last.

  “Easy enough. I was thinking of calling Deanna and the kids anyway to let them know that Thomas is in the hospital. I’m not sure that they know we’re divorced, so that could work in my favor.”

  Johanna thought about the divorce and what Thomas hadn’t told her. She wondered how she would feel if—when—Thomas woke up and talked to her. Would she still believe that he was part of this entire scheme, or would he still be the same person she’d enjoyed having lunch with?

  “What happens to the money when Penny is gone? Couldn’t they just wait?” Johanna was getting to the meat of the issue. Who got the money in this situation?

  “Well, that’s the odd part. If Jessica died, and thirty days have gone by, then the latest will goes into effect. The lawyer told me that after thirty days, Penny would get the annuity, and when she passed, the remaining money would go to a variety of charities for dogs.”

  “Why thirty days?” Johanna asked.

  “It’s an old legal thing that used to be written into a will. It ensures that the dead person’s wishes are fulfilled. If the heir dies right after the will, then the estate can go to someone else.”

  “So what happens in the case that Penny was to die within the first thirty days after Jessica’s death?” Johanna had a premonition that she wasn’t going to like the answer.

  “Then the old will goes into effect, which was written before Penny. Henry gets most of the estate, including the house and such, but the rest of the cousins get a piece of the estate, which the lawyer put at about $200,000 each.” Carolyn raised an eyebrow at the number. Johanna wondered if Carolyn would be entitled to any of that inheritance, and if so, how much? It might make sense for her to get involved if a sizable piece of that went to her.

  “So the plan is most likely that Penny isn’t going to make it?” Johanna said. She could hear the bitter tone in her voice.

  “Not at all. I asked the lawyer, and he said that he’d told no one about this provision in the will. So I’m really hoping that the kidnapper doesn’t know anything about that. She could still come back safe and sound.”

  Back at Johanna’s apartment, Carolyn picked up her phone and dialed a number. Johanna could hear the ring, and then a voice answered.

  “Deanna darling,” Carolyn said, with far more enthusiasm than she appeared to have. “How are you?”

  She paused and listened for a full three minutes before she could get another word in. “Listen, I’m calling because I’m in town. I don’t know if you heard, but Tho
mas is in the hospital?”

  She listened again for quite some time before speaking. “Yes, I know. I’d heard that, but the police haven’t asked me any questions about Jessica. They’ve asked quite a few things about Thomas and me,” she said, with a giddy laugh.

  The pause was even longer this time, as both women waited on this end of the phone. Finally, Carolyn said, “Well, we need to get together while I’m in town. Yes, that would be marvelous. You are? Perhaps I’ll see you there.”

  With that, she disconnected the call and looked at Johanna.

  “I think our best shot is to head over to the hospital. Deanna and the kids are going over later today to see Thomas. I’m not sure what’s going on there, but I don’t trust them. She acted as though they were best of friends, but Thomas told me some of the things that she’d said about him over the years. They weren’t pleasant comments. So something is going on. I just don’t know what. If Thomas was awake, he could answer those questions, but we’ll have to fly blind since he’s not.”

  Chapter 2

  The trip to the hospital was not what Johanna had expected. She’d planned to sit in the room with Thomas and wait for the others to show. However, since she and Carolyn were not family, they had to stay in a dimly lit waiting room with a dearth of any amusement. Even the magazines were old. Johanna did some work while she waited, answering emails and queries, quickly and efficiently. `

  Carolyn didn’t appear to have anything to do, so she turned on the television to a volume far higher than was comfortable for Johanna. She had to ask the woman to turn it down twice to concentrate on the task at hand.

  After the second time of visiting the cafeteria for something to drink and a restroom break, Johanna was more than ready to be done. However, she had barely sat down when Carolyn gave her a jab in the ribs. She jerked her head to the door, and Johanna saw an older woman and two younger adults walking down the hallway.

  “The gang’s all here,” Carolyn said. “They have to be up to something. I’ve never known them to be this concerned about a relative. I just can’t figure out why.”

  Carolyn began to clock the time on her watch, waiting for some amount of time before pouncing. After a few minutes, she nodded, and the two women followed the others down the hall. Johanna wasn’t sure if they’d all be allowed in the room or not, granted that Deanna was a relative, but not a close one.

  Johanna thought perhaps that their luck had changed. She and Carolyn hurried to a nook in the hall just outside of Thomas’s room. No nurses were visible, and the hall was quiet. Johanna could hear the woman talking inside the room, but at first, she had trouble making sense of what was being said.

  After a few minutes, she was able to discern the different voices. The older woman had a deeper voice, where the younger woman sounded more like a bird with a higher pitched chirp. The young man didn’t say much except an occasional word of agreement.

  The older woman had suggested that this was all a hoax, but the younger woman had checked the chart and agreed with the diagnosis for Thomas. Johanna wasn’t sure if she was relieved by that or not.

  “They said he was attacked,” the young man said. His voice was bland and flat, as though he was talking about a news story rather than an attack on a relative, who might be in danger due to the will of a mutual relative.

  Johanna was curious about this young man. He was not at all what she’d expected, and he didn’t seem as though he was very interested in being here.

  “Run over by a car—by his girlfriend,” the young woman added.

  Johanna wanted to tell them all that they were wrong. Still, between holding her hand over her mouth not to laugh, Carolyn restrained Johanna from clearing her name.

  “Then why did that infernal woman call us and chide us to come over and see the poor mutt? Either she’s approving of the job that the mistress did, or she’s trying to get something out of us.”

  Johanna was livid at this point. She was not a mistress, and these people were behaving odiously in front of a hospitalized man. She looked over at Thomas, whose face was half-covered by the bandages while the rest was swollen and starting to bloom into yellow and purple bruises.

  Carolyn put her hand on Johanna’s arm. She leaned closer to Johanna’s ear and whispered. “Not yet. I want to hear what they have to say. So far, it’s just all been gossip.”

  Johanna tried to keep her temper, even though it was difficult. She wanted to tell off these people, given their sarcastic, skeptical attitudes. Their cattiness was hard to bear.

  When she focused on the conversations again, they had changed to talking about Penny. Johanna wanted to listen to every word to ensure she didn’t miss a thing. She wanted to share everything that these people said with the detective.

  “Do you really think that she gave all that money to that dog?” It was the daughter speaking, and the disgust in her voice was apparent, even from here.

  “Of course, she did. She loved that dog, no matter what we think.” Deanna was speaking now, and her voice held a commanding tone. Johanna knew that if there was a plot in this family, their mother had approved the entire thing.

  “Or how much we need it,” said the son.

  “Our best bet, at this point, is to make nice with Penny. She’s the heir, and if we don’t want Lilly to hold the purse strings, we need to step in and show everyone how much we love that stupid dog.” Deanna had started talking again, and from the sound of her voice, they didn’t know that the dog had been abducted. If they had taken her, there would be no reason to plan out how to get custody later.

  Carolyn nodded and pointed to the door. She stood up as straight as she could and marched toward the door. “Deanna, children, how lovely to see you. I know that Thomas will be happy to know that you’ve come to visit him.”

  The woman narrowed her eyes and stared at Carolyn. She was obviously trying to determine how much Carolyn had heard and how damning that conversation could be.

  “It’s good to see you too,” Denna said, stepping forward and putting her arms around Carolyn. “You must be distraught by all of this.”

  Carolyn shrugged. “We’ve been divorced for years now. He wasn’t the man for me.” She made a broad gesture to Johanna. “This is Thomas’s girlfriend.”

  Johanna wished that she had a sweater now, as the air in the hospital room grew frosty. “Nice to meet you all,” she said, giving them a smile that she didn’t mean.

  The three strangers gave murmured greetings in return. None of them made eye contact. Johanna couldn’t determine if they genuinely hated her that much, or if they also wondered what she had heard.

  “You all live in town?” Johanna asked, trying to make small talk that might help her determine who had Penny.

  “Yes,” Deanna said, “though not in the same neighborhood as Jessica had.”

  Johanna gave them an understanding smile. “Few people do.” She now realized that Deanna knew where Jessica lived, so she—or her two children—could have taken the dog, if they wanted to. The ideal solution would be to get into Deanna’s house and see if there were signs of a dog.

  The only other options would be boarding Penny at a local kennel or having her stay with a friend of the family. The former seemed riskier. They would need to forge papers showing that Penny was up-to-date on her shots and vet appointments. While they could probably manage most of the documents, the rabies tag and a few other details would be more challenging to reproduce.

  Staying with friends might work. They would only need to be convinced that the dog required a short-term place to stay. However, the chance of finding the dog at a friend’s home was far more time consuming. Johanna had no idea who would be considered a friend of the family, and she had no idea how to uncover that information.

  “You’ll have to come over and have drinks one day with me,” Johanna said, trying to be polite. She doubted that the family would want tea. That seemed too blasé for this group.

  “We’d love that,” said the daug
hter. “I’m Zoe, by the way. And you are?”

  “Johanna,” she replied, glad to now have some names.

  “I’m Steven,” the young man said. He held out his hand, and they shook. Johanna was surprised at how soft the man’s hands were. He was definitely not a tradesperson.

  Carolyn looked at her watch. “Why don’t we make it at 4:00 p.m. today?” she said. “We really have to be running.”

  “We?” Deanna asked.

  “I’m staying with Johanna while I’m in town. It seemed far easier than finding a hotel and car while I’m here.” She gave the family a smile. Johanna knew that it was far cheaper than finding a hotel.

  “Well, we’ll see you at 4:00 p.m. then.”

  Carolyn moved toward the door, and Johanna took her cue from the other woman. They didn’t speak until they were in the car again.

  “What was that about?” Carolyn said. “Drinks at 4:00 p.m.? We have work to do.”

  “We’ll be working. I’m going to have Marnie go over to their house and see if she can find a dog there. It seems like a decent opportunity to find Penny and bring her to safety.”

  Carolyn shook her head. “I don’t think they’re the ones. The way that it sounded, they were envious of whomever had their hands on Penny. I doubt they would have talked that way if they had taken her.”

  “They still seemed suspicious—the look they gave you when you first came in.”

  Carolyn laughed. “They looked like they had their hands in the cookie jar, that’s for sure.”

  “So if not them, it’s back to Arthur?” Johanna said, feeling down about the prospects.

  “That’s my first guess, yes. It’s too bad Thomas isn’t awake. He could give us some ideas of where that old reprobate is hiding out.”

  Johanna contacted Marnie immediately upon arriving at home and explained the situation to her. She was all for helping out, as long as she wasn’t going to actually break and enter the home. Johanna remembered enough about the dog to know that Penny would bark as soon as she saw someone outside the house.