“How about pants and shoes? We think he was wearing only underwear when he arrived and it was December.”
Ron shrugged. “I guess I haven’t noticed any missing, but there’s lots of cast off shoes, slippers and wool pants too. If my boys were up deer hunting that year they may have left something that later disappeared, but I don’t recall anyone asking about missing boots or pants.”
“The girl said she used a K-Bar knife to open the window latch. You know the kind, with a long blade and saw teeth on the backside. Did you find one of them lying around the next spring?”
“Now that,” Ron said, “I would remember! They cost thirty bucks at the outlet store. Sad news is that wasn’t left here.” He thought for a second and shook his head. “On the other hand, the cabin was unlocked all winter after they broke in and if they left it here it might’ve been stolen. It was probably the most valuable thing here.” He thought for a second, then added, “You might want to check the garage where the ATV was stolen. I suppose he might’ve used the knife to pry open the hasp on their garage door.”
Floyd finished his coffee. “When you talk to your sons, please ask them if they’re missing any hunting clothes.”
“I sure will,” Ron said as he walked Floyd to the door, “but I doubt any of them care. That’s ancient history and their waists are probably too big to fit in any pants that disappeared that long ago.”
Floyd looked at the lake where the rain had slowed to sporadic drops. Each raindrop was making its own little ring on the surface as it struck. “The lake’s sure pretty. How’s the fishing?”
“Slow. The grandkids get a few pan fish but we go over to Sturgeon Lake to catch walleye and bigger crappies.”
“Thanks for the coffee.”
“I appreciate the company. Coffee’s a cheap way to make sure visitors know they’re always welcome. The pot is always on. Stop anytime. You don’t have to wait until you have questions.”
Kathy Tucker’s car was alone in the muddy gravel lot at the garden center. Pam parked and stepped around the puddles even through her dress and shoes were already soggy and mud-spattered. A bell tinkled above the door when she stepped in.
Kathy was sitting on a stool stocking the bottom shelf with weed killer. Her shoes were muddy and her calves were splattered with mud halfway to her knees.
“Got time for one more question?” Pam asked.
Kathy looked up with sad eyes. “Can’t you guys write them down and come once a week with a whole list of questions?” Kathy stood, her full height towering over Pam by nearly a foot. “What is it this time?”
Pam followed her to the cash register counter. “The knife you used to break into the cabin on Passenger Lake. What happened to it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you leave it at the cabin, or did you take it when you left?”
“I don’t remember. What difference does it make after all these years?”
“If you left it at the cabin, it wasn’t there after Aaron disappeared.”
“I didn’t take it with me. I must’ve left it on the table where I cut up the Spam.”
“You’re absolutely sure you don’t have it?”
“Absolutely.”
Pam hesitated. “I’m really sorry about your HIV situation. I wish we could get through this investigation without dredging up things like that.”
“I’m really sorry you dredged that up too. Being the ‘Amazon woman’ in this little town is hard enough without everyone avoiding me because I’ll be coming down with AIDS someday.”
“We don’t need to publicize that discovery. It’s part of our private notes and it doesn’t need to come out unless it’s germane to the prosecution of a crime and I can’t imagine any scenario where it would be.”
“I’ve lived in this little town my whole life and there are no secrets. You let a word slip to one person some night over a beer and the next day I lose a customer who overheard you say it. Hinckley is the definition of a small town. Everyone knows everyone else’s business and secrets are scarce.”
“Tell me about Walt,” Pam said.
“I’m sure you’ve already run a background check on him,” Kathy said curtly. “He’s a former addict who used to steal to support his habit. So, yes, I know about him and his problems — no need to warn me off, if that’s what you had in mind.”
“I don’t like to see people get hurt.”
“Yeah, right. Like finding out about Walt’s criminal record would’ve been more painful than the discussion we had this afternoon at my house.”
“I’m sorry, but we need to know the truth and you’ve been less than candid.”
“Well, I had my reasons, and the dredging you’ve done isn’t going to bring Aaron back. I doubt it’ll yield anything but more pain for those of us who’ve been trying to forget it for years.”
CHAPTER 33
Sandy Maki met Barb during his supper break. When he arrived at the Rock Creek Café, Barb was sitting at the counter talking to the waitress. He took the stool next to her and pecked her on the cheek as every person in the restaurant looked up to check out the cop coming in to eat.
“Hi, babe. How was the party?”
“I was telling Sharon how great it was. Everyone was really nice and I got a pile of gifts.”
Sandy smiled. He’d rarely seen Barb get excited about anything, and certainly not about a gathering of women. “So, tell me what was best.” He said, picking up a plastic laminated menu that was wedged between the sugar and napkin dispensers.
“What was best? I mean it was all great. We ate fancy sandwiches without crusts that Mary spent all day preparing. Then we all sat down and played silly games, then everyone gave me gifts. I mean we got some really neat stuff, like new towels and flowered pillowcases.” Barb’s usual slow speech rattled off at a speed that was nearly normal for most people.
Sandy ordered a cheeseburger with fries and asked the question again. “That all sounds great, but what was really special?”
“This sounds corny even to me, but just having the party. Mary invited all these women who I’d met, but didn’t really know. They all hugged me and were really nice. We got to know each other and I thought they’d all be stuffy and act like they were too good. But none of that happened. They were nice and asked about my job and what I did for fun. They really cared and treated me like a friend. It was so much more than I expected. I didn’t think I could ever be friends with a woman and I was wrong.”
“That’s fantastic. I heard you and Pam found a wedding dress, too.”
“I was looking at some I thought were pretty, but Pam steered me to some that were more…conservative. I tried them on and she had me stand in front of the mirror with the saleswoman. They told me the secret was to buy a dress every woman would remember and every man would forget.”
“I guess Pam’s pretty smart. If you bought one every man would remember, every woman would hate you.”
“She didn’t say it like that, but that’s what she meant. The sales lady agreed with her and we found one that we all liked. Then I had to buy some special underwear that goes with the dress. It…”
“I really don’t need to know any more than that. Surprise me.”
“Everyone asked what we’re doing for our honeymoon. Have you made any plans?”
The waitress set Sandy’s order on the counter and asked, “Yeah, have you made any plans, big spender?”
“I take it the honeymoon’s been discussed beyond the shower.”
A retired farmer sitting two stools down from Barb set his newspaper aside and leaned over Barb’s shoulder. “Barb had us take a vote on Alaska or the Canadian Rockies. I think Alaska won.”
“Alaska? I was thinking we’d go to the North Shore of Lake Superior. There’s a lodge in Grand Marias with hot tub rooms that look out over the lake.”
An old man and his wife brought their check to the cash register a few feet down the counter from Sandy. The man paid the bill and the woman tapped Sandy on the shoulder. “You know,” the woman said, “you’re both in your 30s and neither of you have been married. I think you should try an Alaskan cruise to celebrate finding the right person this late in your life.”
“I can’t believe this! You really did take a vote,” Sandy said as he looked around at the patrons who were all smiling at him.
“Oh, settle down,” the old woman said. “She’s happy and she’s sharing it with us. We all had fun. You know, she’s really proud of you, too. You’re the nicest guy she’s ever dated.”
Sandy started to laugh. “You really told all these people all that?”
“Yes,” Barb said. “I’m really excited. Is that bad?”
Sandy took her face in his hands and kissed her. “It’s okay.”
“So, we’re going to Alaska?”
“I’ll see if I can make arrangements Monday, but this is really short notice. If I can’t arrange Alaska right now, will Grand Marais be acceptable until we can plan a cruise at our leisure?”
“I haven’t been to either place, so they’re both okay.”
Someone behind Sandy uttered, “Cheapskate,” just loud enough for Sandy to hear.