“Until you’re notified otherwise, keep going. Who knows, you might solve this thing before too long.” Jake punched his friend’s shoulder and walked away.
At his desk, Robert picked up some reports and stared at the words. Through the glass that divided his office from the next room, he could see some of the officers talking with Sam. They turned their chairs away from his view, or they fiddled with papers. He could tell that whatever Sam told them was heard by each of them. There were a few comments made by the other officers, then they all nodded. Sam fingered the strap on his holster and walked out the door. Something was up.
David knocked on the door and stood just one step inside Robert’s office. “Sir, I traded with Mack on Tuesday. I have to take my wife to the doctor.”
Robert nodded.
Later that afternoon, another officer took David’s place. “Sir, I’ve been assigned to Stan’s team for the rest of the week.”
“Sir, we got orders to help Stan too. It seems there’s going to be a search closer to Cascade Locks. There’s some talk the family might have driven over the edge and into the water.” The other officers were standing at his door
Robert said nothing for a moment, then looked around the room, “Have any of the rest of you been reassigned?” One other hand raised, the rest shook their heads. “Okay, we’ll do what we can with what we have.”
Robert was frustrated, every time he made a report or suggestion based on his findings, his men ended up assigned to other jobs. It wasn’t a new procedure, and it happened now and then. It just seemed to be happening every time he wanted to investigate a theory or some evidence. With only a little information and some cooperation from his superiors, he was confident he could prove foul play was involved.
He walked out into the parking lot. He needed some fresh air. It was cold and partly cloudy. Bits of sun rays warmed his face. His stomach growled. He looked at his watch. It was a quarter to two. He drove out of the parking lot and went to Yaw’s Drive-In for a burger.
When he returned to his office, he found Nate standing next to his desk, looking through the papers. “See anything interesting?” Robert stood in the doorway.
Nate didn’t bother to look embarrassed at being caught. “You sure have a lot of leads. They don’t seem to be leading to the same conclusion that the chief and Stan have.” He looked up at Robert expecting an answer.
“You seem to be right,” was all that Robert said and walked to his desk, forcing Nate to either step back toward the chair or move past him to the doorway.
Nate chose the latter but turned to Robert and pointed to a letter propped against the phone. “You might want to tell the sender that personal mail isn’t supposed to be delivered to the station.” He raised his eyebrows, then spun on his heels, his hands resting on his weapon, and walked out the door. His taps sounded more irritating than usual.
Robert looked at the envelope. There was no return address and no stamp; someone had hand-delivered it to the station. That meant any number of people would have touched it. He opened the envelope; his name handwritten and the word “PERSONAL” scrawled in the bottom, left corner.
Using a pen, he pulled the white sheet of paper from the envelope, and with another pen, he unfolded it. About three-quarters of the way down he read:
“It would be in your best interest to give up any further investigation of The Dalles area. If you don’t pull off your crew, your partner might find himself in the same position you were IN a few years ago. You have three days to stop your investigation.”
Anger heated his blood. It ran hot from his forehead to his toes. Adrenaline pumped blood at racing speeds through his arteries. It was too much. Now he had proof that not only was the mob involved with this disappearance, but he was getting close and someone was getting worried. The phone rang, interrupting his thoughts.
“Collins here.” There was silence, and he repeated his name.
A muffled voice spoke, “You might want to check with The Dalles police. A man came in with a gun he found, covered in blood. He said he found it near the same place they found an abandoned white car. A car like the one the ex-cons drove.”
“What gun? What car?”
The phone went dead.
“What’s going on here? Aren’t we all working to solve the same crime?” Robert roared at the receiver, but no one answered. He slammed it back into the cradle.
Robert called the switchboard and asked the operator to get a call through to The Dalles Police Department. He didn’t even have the phone number. On his Rolodex, he made a card for the number of the department when the operator relayed it. When he talked to an officer over there, he was getting names and numbers.
The operator connected him to The Dalles Police Department. After being transferred around, he was able to speak to the sergeant in charge of the Stevens investigation.
“Detective Collins, I’ve heard you’re doing a fine job there in Portland with the Stevens case.” His tone was just above insolent.
“I’m sure you have, Janeway. I want to know what you found on that abandoned car.”
“When did you hear about an abandoned car?”
“I have my sources.”
“I’ll send you our report, but there were two sets of fingerprints. They belonged to two cons recently released from prison. A Frank Nelson and a John Lutz. The only thing found in the car, other than trash, was a piece of paper with the words, The Palace, and below that the name of John Lutz. That’s it. Why would you be interested in an abandoned car?”
“Where’d you find it?” Robert made notes as Janeway spoke.
Janeway described the area. “I don’t think this car has a connection with any investigation.” Robert could sense the arrogance in Janeway’s deep voice.
“You don’t think it strange that an abandoned car, a gun covered with blood, and a family all missing in the same area isn’t odd?” Robert accused.
“Why should I? We have strange things happen all the time. It is just a coincidence,” Janeway defended. “How’d you hear about the gun?”
“A call from a concerned citizen who thought we all should be working together on this case. What were the results from the lab on that gun?” Robert slipped in.
A long silence passed at the other end of the phone. “As soon as we have something definite, I’ll let you know.” Janeway rang off before Robert could respond.
Angry, Robert slammed his fist on the desk. He didn’t let his emotions show very often. This time frustration zinged along every nerve. He dialed Jake’s extension. “Can you come in here?”
Jake walked in and closed the door behind him. “I heard a loud bang in here, but I was on the phone.”
“I am sorry, but I need to blow some steam.”
“What’s going on?” Jake sat down while Robert paced behind his desk.
“I just found out, from Janeway at The Dalles Police Department, that a bloody gun and a note were discovered in an abandoned car not far from where I think the family disappeared.” He went on to tell about the two ex-cons and the note in the car. “No one else believes they’re out there. The rest of the bureau is out on some wild goose chase. The Dalles police are doing their investigation and not sharing any information. Why do we all work as if we aren’t after the same thing? Only the media gets paid on who breaks a story first.” He took a breath. “That reminds me, did you read Anne Sullivan’s article in the paper? She’s given a detailed account of our operation. Where’s she getting all this inside information? That worries me.”