What had Anne Sullivan written today in the Oregonian? He pulled the paper out from under the stacked documents and sighed in relief at the lack of MISSING and STEVENS FAMILY on the lead line. He continued flipping through the newspaper pages. A single article with a number of the leads he’d filed in his no file appeared. He leaned over and pulled the drawer open. The file in question was stuck and rubbed against the top of the drawer. H remembered that the drawer was full, and he’d had difficulty getting the file back in. He hadn’t left it sticking out that far. Someone had pulled the folder out and used what was in it to leak to Anne Sullivan.
The fact that they were leads that he’d checked out as false or even ridiculous didn’t matter. Who would come in and take the file? From the looks of Anne Sullivan’s article, it had been written straight from this file. Nate. Something clicked. When Nate had walked in and said there was an extra copy of the paper in the break room, he hadn’t thought much about it at the time. Thinking back to this morning, Nate had a smirk on his face. It wasn’t unusual, but there had been a look when he’d set the paper down in the middle of his desk and walked away. Had he been taunting Robert?
Jake stuck he head around the doorjamb and cleared his throat. “I just got back from the Lutz’s house. They are all dumb as posts and blind as bats.” He moved to sit across from Robert. “None of then saw or heard anything. When I asked them about the car that was found abandoned, they shrugged and had no idea their brother or son was in town. They were sure John wouldn’t even look at a gun if it meant violating parole.” Jake gave a dry laugh.
“No kidding. Those two, John and Frank Nelson, are bad all the way to the bone. I think the rest of the family is too.” Robert sighed.
“I got something else that might interest you. What are you doing tomorrow morning?”
Robert opened his palms and moved them across the cluttered desktop as an answer.
“Lorene showed me this in the paper.” He handed him the newspaper, folded in thirds, and pointed at a red-marker-circled square.
“I’m guessing you’d like to take a look at things now that they’re open to the public?” Jake folded his arms, his shoulder against the doorjamb and his foot crossed over his ankle.
“Yes, I would. I don’t want to make it obvious, so do you think Lorene would go too? I’d also like to look at who shows up. Maybe one or two of our perps might show up to have a look around.” Robert continued to look at the ad.
“She would, but she already has something going on tomorrow. How about Babs?”
Robert looked up, his eyes narrowed. “You are pushing this relationship a little too hard. Is there a pool going on in the office?”
Jake’s ears turned a little too red. “Why would you think that?”
“Maybe because you keep asking about her and me, and your ears are red, a sure sign something’s going on.”
“I just want to know if you want to go,” Jake persisted.
“Yes, and I think I will ask Barbara to go along; officially, of course.”
Jake grinned and stood straight. He adjusted his holster. “Right you are.” He saluted his partner and walked away.
“This guy is going to be the death of me yet,” Robert muttered, but none too harshly.
Robert picked up Barbara and then picked up Jake at his house. Robert drove to 47th Avenue, turned north to Halsey Street, then to 56th Avenue.
“You’d think someone famous lived here.” Barbara leaned forward, resting her arm on the dash of the car.
Cars lined both sides of the street. “I don’t see anywhere to park.”
“Go down another block and make a U-ee.” Jake ordered. He turned to look through the back window down the street.
“What’s up?” Robert asked as he followed Jake’s directions.
“We passed a car sitting at the end of the street. There’s a man slouched in the seat on the driver’s side. It looks like James.” Jake turned back to face the front.
Robert drove around the block and came back, driving down the cross street behind the car.
“Stop here.” Jake ordered.
Robert pulled over, put the car in park, and cut the engine. “Why don’t you two go on ahead, and I’ll catch up with you.” He got out and walked behind James’ car. He knocked on the glass. James jumped and stared into Robert’s face, then relaxed and rolled down the window.
“Officer Collins,” he sneered.
“Detective Collins, to you. What are you doing here? Is this where you waited for Kelly?”
James’ smirk disappeared, and he looked away. He didn’t answer.
“I can have you picked up for loitering.” Robert continued.
“I’m waiting for a closer parking place, so I can go to the sale.”
“I’ll be more than happy to have one of the officers hold a spot for you.” He started to walk toward the Stevens’ house.
“Wait! Never mind. I don’t want to go.” James started the car and turned out into the street.
Robert met up with Barbara and Jake walking to the Stevens’ house. A couple of officers directed traffic and nodded to the three as they made their way up the driveway.
He recounted his conversation with James to the others. “I guess, he didn’t want all these police around him.”
People milled around in a quasi-line, waiting to get into the house. Tom walked down the driveway from the back of the house and met them. “You don’t have to wait in line. Follow me.” He turned and walked ahead of them. “I’m a little surprised you’re here. You don’t seem to be scavengers like the rest.”
“No, I wanted to see what was going on. This is Barbara, she works with us.” He introduced her to Tom and Maggie when they reached the back door.
“It’s a zoo in there. We finally had to limit the number of people coming in. We’ve sold a lot, but there appears to be more gawkers than buyers.”
Maggie kept her eyes on the movement of people, making sure everyone stopped at the cashier to pay for their items.
“I know we’ve been through here before, but you’ve taken everything out for sale. Do you mind if we do a run-through quickly?”
“Be my guest, if you can fight your way through this crowd.” Tom shrugged, holding his hands up.
The three looked around the living room, then pushed their way up the stairs to Calvin’s room. The room had no visitors, and they took their time looking at what had been put out for sale. School books were displayed. A few airplane models sat on a dresser, the strings they were originally hung from in disarray. They were well made and painted with precision.
“Calvin must have a bit of artistic ability,” Jake remarked. They found nothing interesting and headed to Kelly’s room. It was crowded. People carried Kelly’s books along with the bedspread, sheets, and pillows.
“Bizarre,” whispered Barbara. “I’ve heard about this but to see it gives me the willies.”
When the last of the group left the room, Robert shut the door and put his foot against it. “Now, look around, Barbara. Is there any place in here where a girl might hide something that she doesn’t want anyone to see? Not even her sisters.”
Barbara looked at the shelves, checked the bed and the frame. She pulled out the drawers of the nightstand and the bureau. She shook her head. Then she stood back and stared at the desk. She folded her arm across her waist and rested her elbow on it tapping her cheek with her finger. “I used to have a desk like this. It looks like it might have been repainted.” Her eyes narrowed “I wonder.” She moved to the desk and knelt on the floor.