“Coffee time.” Robert joked, “You can tell by the mood.”
The lab found a laundry ticket pinned to the sleeping bag. Jake and Robert followed the lead, questioning all the cleaners in the area near the Stevens’ home. Jake checked out those who specialized in cleaning larger items, like quilts and rugs. They found that the manufacturer of the bad sold to a five-state region, including Oregon. It came to about a thousand stores.
“That kind of man hours could not justify the lead to be followed on a whim,” Robert told Jake.
They elected to have some of the rookies do the follow-up.
Robert held a report out to Jake. “Read this. It is from a close friend of Mrs. Stevens.”
The card read,
Officer: “Did you notice any unusual behavior by any of the family recently?”
Mrs. Smith: “I don’t know that it is of any consequence, but just before Thanksgiving, our women’s league was planning a dinner. Debra was to serve. On the afternoon of the dinner, she called and said that she had a migraine headache and couldn’t come. Then later that week I called to see how she was, and she said that she still wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be able to teach her Sunday School class that Sunday. One of the other ladies took her family a casserole. She said that Karl answered the door and didn’t invite her in. He only thanked her and said that Debra would talk to her later. The next week she seemed very quiet and didn’t volunteer for any of the activities, which is very unusual for Debra.”
Officer: “Did anyone try to talk to her?”
Mrs. Smith: “Yes, a couple of us who are close friends tried to find out what was going on, but Maggie said it was a family problem and she just needed some time to herself.”
“It kind of corroborates the server’s story. Something was going on in that family, and it was affecting everyone.” Jake tacked this card just under Helen’s card.
“We need to find out who Kelly’s friends were and if they noticed her with a boyfriend at school.”
Chapter 7
When Tom Borman got home and opened the door that evening, instinctively, he knew something was wrong. The lights were off, which was unusual, as the sun was set by five o’clock, it was now half past.
“Maggie?” he called as he walked through the living room, turning a light on to avoid running into furniture, then into the kitchen. He found her sitting at the table, in semi-darkness, illuminated by the single bulb from over the sink.
“What’s wrong?” he massaged her shoulders and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“Tom, right out of the blue, Detective Collins called and asked if I knew or thought Kelly might be pregnant. I was shocked he even asked that question. Why would the detective suspect that of a fourteen-year-old girl? Where would he have heard something like that?” her impassioned plea ended in the silence that surrounded them like a cocoon.
“Honey, they have their ways. That’s why they’re detectives. If they weren’t any good at their job, they wouldn’t have a job. What did you tell him?”
“Nothing. I didn’t give him a direct answer. We don’t know for sure. Debra never took her to their regular doctor. She went to one in Washington and didn’t give their real name. The doctor said he would call after the test came back. When I asked Debra about it, she wouldn’t answer me. She said they were going to take Kelly to another doctor and now they’re gone.”
Tom didn’t answer. He sat next to her and held her trembling hand.
“Do you think he had something to do with their disappearance?” she whispered.
“Don’t even think like that, much less say it out loud. You don’t want to ask questions that could get us murdered,” Tom shot back.
“Then you’ve thought about it too.” She stood and faced him, trembling.
“Shh, it’s none of our business. Let the police do the questioning. Why don’t you start some dinner?” Tom held her close for a moment. She remained in his arms for a time, then gently pushed away.
Maggie lit the gas oven. But going about the ritual of preparing dinner did nothing to alleviate the anger and fear she had about her brother and his missing family. There were some things better left alone, she thought.
As time went on and leads in the Stevens case became sparse, some of the officers were reassigned to other cases.
Robert went to the break room to get his morning cup of coffee. The men’s conversation abruptly stopped. No one spoke as he filled his cup, then added cream and sugar to at least make it tolerable. He knew the men at the table were working at the Bonneville Dam site.
“Any new leads at the dam?” He leaned against the counter and took a sip from the cup.
Two of the men looked at the third, who answered, “Not yet. We’re going to send down a diver. I’m sure the car’s probably lodged against the doors of the locks.”
Robert nodded, “If that happens, everyone will be glad. Well, not glad but relieved to have some closure to the situation.”
One of the other men spoke up. “Why do you think the family is up by The Dalles?”
“The same reason you think they’re at Cascade Locks. I have a theory and some evidence, just like you do. Each of us could be right. I think I have stronger evidence they were driven into the river there. I have to find more proof.”
“I think you’re nuts. It’s a waste of taxpayer money for you to take men and run around up there. There is nothing there.” The first man leaned forward, his hands spread on the table.
Robert remained calm and spoke quietly, “I’m curious, it’s my nature. Who came up with tangible evidence that a car was even near the dam? As far as I’ve read, ‘someone’ made a suggestion and everyone’s standing in line to back the theory as if it were gospel truth. I wonder who has that much influence on the bureau. Who would gain from making a massive search stay there instead of somewhere else?”
Robert pushed away from the counter and left the room. He heard no conversation as the door swung closed behind him. He wished he could be a fly on the wall listening to what they said next.
He pinned the duty roster on the board. Jake stood beside him and nodded at the list.
Another officer stopped to read the list. “You know, Robert, you aren’t ever going to find them.”
Robert whirled to face the officer. “Sam, what are you talking about?”
The man shrugged his blue uniformed shoulders. “You don’t get it, do you? When someone’s missing this long, they either don’t want to be found, or someone doesn’t want them found.”
“What’s wrong with you? Just because the leads are cold right now doesn’t mean that we can’t find them.” Robert’s voice became a low growl.
Jake stepped between the two and faced Sam. “I think you either tell what you know or move on.”
“I don’t have anything to say. Just forget it.” Sam backed away, waving his hand in the air. “Just forget it.”
“I’m not going to forget it,” Robert muttered to Jake. The room behind them had been quiet except for phone conversations. “Sam’s been on my watch list for a while. I’ve heard he’s been hanging out with some of the officers who had been asked to leave when the chief did the cleanup.”
“He’s all right. If he’s tight with them, there wasn’t anything found to connect him to any dirty money.”
“I say he’s either very good at hiding things or he was left here as a mole. I’m still going to watch him.”
They walked through the room toward their respective offices. When they reached Robert’s doorway, he stopped.
“Jake, I’m sick of it. We beat the streets following clues. We chase down every lead and then the newspaper writes it up to make us look like idiots. Now I get informed that someone has an agenda here that doesn’t include me.”