by Bill Hopkins
Chapter 36
Monday Afternoon
"Let's take a gander at the cave where you found the dead woman." Jim Bill picked up a couple of toothpicks on the way out of Mabel's. "We'd better take your?uh?car. I don't want anyone noticing an undercover cop car."
Jim Bill drove Rosswell to the mechanic's shop where, inexplicably, the Kia had been fixed and was ready at the time the grease monkey had promised. A fully decorated Christmas tree standing in the reception area led Rosswell to worry about the man's concept of time. Sofia shouldn't break down again anytime soon since the work was guaranteed. On the other hand, the phrase "tempting fate" came to mind. The towing and repairs hit his overburdened credit card to the tune of $600.00.
The overdraft problem had been resolved with a call to the bank president to transfer funds from Rosswell's money market account, supported by a claim that he was in the midst of a jury trial and couldn't do it in person. The bank president approved the transfer, subtly suggesting that he and she should discuss "certain options after hours one of these days." Rosswell assured her that he would keep it under consideration, although he silently hoped the newly widowed woman hadn't assumed that he'd given up looking for Tina.
Parking at a site where they could view the cave, Jim Bill said he'd picked a spot far enough away that Nathaniel wouldn't notice them in Sofia. "No one can see us here. And we can see them clearly."
"Don't count on it. Try my binoculars." He handed them to Jim Bill.
"You always carry binoculars?"
"And a camera." Rosswell reached in back, fetched the camera, and showed it to Jim Bill. "It's a beauty."
Jim Bill pinched his nose shut for emphasis. "This car stinks."
"I needed a car in a hurry. It was the only thing available."
"I agree that the car stinks as a car, but I mean it literally stinks."
"Oh. Right." Rosswell found the wrapped rodent corpse-after spending time in the hot car it felt mushier now-and threw it in the road ditch. "Don't arrest me for littering. It's all biodegradable."
"What was that?"
"A dead mouse."
Jim Bill, the veteran of many awful smells, appeared to fight back a smile. "You'll tell me the story of the deceased varmint wrapped in the front page of the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch?"
"One of these days."
Rosswell remained silent, listening to the tick of Sofia's cooling engine, wondering if she'd ever run again. Sure, she'd started once. But twice? Or more? All Rosswell could do was hope.
Jim Bill stuck the binoculars to his eyes and, for a long time, said nothing. After scanning the surrounding area time and time again, he lowered the glasses.
"Can you get to that cave by going through Nathaniel's house?"
"I don't know for sure because I didn't have enough time to explore it fully." Rosswell and Jim Bill then discussed in exhaustive detail the near fatal capture of Rosswell and Ollie in the cave.
After ostensibly considering all the details of the discussion, Jim Bill flicked a couple of pieces of tobacco from his bushy mustache before he continued. "The passageway from Jill's house goes up the hill into Nathaniel's house. Is that correct?"
Rosswell thought again that Jim Bill was a good cop. The fire marshal made sure he told the story consistently.
"I've been able to document only two tunnels going from one house to another in the whole county. Karyn and Jill each have a tunnel that connects to Nathaniel's house. When I explored Jill's tunnel, it rose up into a passageway in Nathaniel's house where I saw the delivery room I told you about."
"Tell me again what Maman Fribeau said to you."
" 'Cave of one eye have much treasure. Cave of blind eye, she holds a treasure but not what you seek.' "
"Where you found Ribs was the cave of blind eye?"
"That's what it looked like to me."
"How did Maman know about the caves?"
"It's pure speculation on my part, but I've been thinking about it. She's an old woman who lives on the river and pays attention to everything she sees and everything she hears. Her brother Lazar circulates around the county like a bumblebee on speed and hears rumors he can report to Maman. And, of course, the sheriff, his daughter Susannah, and son-in-law Frankie Joe Acorn are also part of Maman's network."
"Gustave Fribeau is dirty for sure?"
"I can't tell you. All I know for sure is he's stupid."
"Judge, getting back to Maman, that's where I'm a bit confused. A treasure is something valuable in terms of money. How was Ribs's body worth anything of value?"
"Ah, but wait. There's more. There's another definition of treasure. It can be a discovery of great importance. I'm thinking that the discovery of Ribs told me two things. First, that he was definitely hooked up to Nathaniel Dahlbert and, second, that Nathaniel intended for me to find the body, which means that Nathaniel and Maman Fribeau could be connected some way. That would be through Sheriff Gustave Fribeau, her nephew. Or great-nephew. Who knows? Maman could be Gustave's mother. No one seems to know for sure exactly how the old lady is related to the sheriff. But they're closely related. Maman Fribeau is news central around here."
Jim Bill fitted the glasses to his eyes and focused. "That's definitely a cave of one eye."
"There wasn't any treasure. All we found was the dead woman. I'm sure the woman was the one I saw tossed off the boat. When Ollie was in the alley with Charlie Heckle, he told Ollie that he and Ribs Freshwater found the corpse on the riverbank and carried her up to the cave. They were lying. She wasn't dead when she went in the water. She wasn't dead when she came out of the water. When we found her, she hadn't been dead very long."
"What about the snake? Was it poisonous?"
"Yes, but I don't think even Nathaniel can make a guided snake."
"Tell me exactly what the dead woman in the cave looked like."
"She looked dead."
"Besides that."
Rosswell punched buttons on his phone. "I just emailed you pictures of her."
"Thanks. But I want you to tell me what you saw."
The memory of her appearance lodged in Rosswell's brain, tucked in a side alley that would keep the thought from ever being lost. "Tall. Slender. Strawberry blonde hair. I already told you that her appearance was similar to Tina and Alessandra. Nathaniel or somebody had laid her out almost in a funeral home pose. She wore a hospital gown with-"
"Stop."
Rosswell kept his mouth shut.
Jim Bill never brought the binoculars down from his eyes. "When Charlie Heckle said that he and Ribs carried the woman to the cave, he was lying to Ollie?"
"Yes, I said that. I figured it out right quick. I can't understand why Charlie lied about it. Anyway, they carried her to Nathaniel's house."
"Someone's trying to distract you. That someone is Nathaniel. He wanted you in the cave of one eye so he could kill you. But, as you say, why?"
Rosswell's rapidly beating heart pumped a rush of blood to his head that blinded him when the answer exploded in his brain. "The treasure in that cave wasn't the dead woman. The treasure in that cave is Tina." Rosswell felt himself hurtling toward panic mode. Center! You're close to Tina now. I hope and pray I'm close to her. Center. "I need to tell you I have a gun." His vision returned.
Jim Bill reached behind Rosswell's back and patted the holster. "You may as well be wearing a sandwich board that says I'M ARMED."
"Then let's go get Tina. Right now!" Rosswell started to step out of Sofia.
Jim Bill grabbed Rosswell's arm. "We don't know she's in there. We have to know she's in there before we rescue her."
"Let's go now!"
Jim Bill tugged Rosswell back into the car. "Close the door." Rosswell did so. "Judge, when you were in that cave, why didn't you wait there till the cops came or do something besides run away?"
"I didn't know Tina was there."
"I already know that. Now tell me why you and Ollie ran off."
"We heard someone coming."
"Whe
re did those sounds you heard come from?"
"It sounded like it was from the back of the cave." Rosswell bowed his head and shook his hands. They'd gone numb and he needed blood circulating. "That means that what I suspected all along is true. There has to be an entrance to the house in that cave. I got into Nathaniel's house through a tunnel from Jill's house, but to get to that cave, all Nathaniel has to do is open a door somewhere in his house."
Jim Bill reached over to pull the necklace Maman Fribeau had bestowed on to Rosswell. "You've met Dina."
Rosswell knitted his brows. "That's what Maman called Tina."
"She wasn't talking about Tina. Dina's the woman who was kidnapped and raped. She was the daughter of Leah and Jacob in Genesis. Dina's brothers killed the bad guys."
"Jewish folktales."
"Maybe. Yet there's a kernel of eternal truth in it. Cruel men subjugate weaker men and vulnerable women. Sometimes evil women join with cruel men." He withdrew a necklace similar to Rosswell's from under his shirt. "We want to free the victims and keep them free. Or, I should say, they must stop thinking of themselves as victims so they can keep themselves free."
"Noble sentiments." The idea of a secret organization dedicated to freeing slaves sounded wonderful but impractical. "And what is it exactly that you do?"
"You'll learn more later. For now, you've given me an idea. There's one more piece of information I need to know to either prove or disprove that Tina is somewhere in Nathaniel's house."
"One more thing?"
"One more piece will solve the puzzle."
"What is it?"
"I don't want to tell you right now. Trust me, Judge Carew."
Rosswell's breathing slowed because he'd commanded it to slow. Knowing that Tina might possibly be within reach only made it harder to wait. "You're ordering me not to do anything until you figure out something? I'll try to control myself."
"One more piece of info. One more. Remember that Nathaniel wants Tina alive or she'd already be dead."
"I don't care what Nathaniel wants. I want Tina!"
"Judge, we do not know that she's in that house. Think about it. If we blasted in there right now and Tina is not there, then whoever has her will keep moving her around and you'll never find her. That's the way those bastards work."
"Where are you going to get this info?"
"Tonight when we eat one of those wonderful suppers you've been telling me about, I'll get it from Alessandra. With your help."
"What should I do?"
Jim Bill told him.