“I think she’s Methodist, Glenn. We don’t do prayer candles.”
“Cover all the bases, Floyd. I wouldn’t refuse a Rabbi right now.”
CHAPTER 37
Pam Ryan beat the Tuckers to the hospital. Floyd was standing at the window staring at the shrubbery across the back of the hospital when she rushed into the emergency room waiting area.
“The Tuckers will be here momentarily,” she said. “How’s Kathy doing?”
“Doc Bergstrom called a surgeon in,” Floyd said. When he turned Pam could see the bags under his eyes and the weariness in his face. “They couldn’t get her stabilized enough to transport her. Doc Bergstrom said her only chance was immediate surgery to stop her blood loss.”
“Kerm found Walt Flaherty, Kathy’s friend. Kerm said Walt hadn’t been out of his apartment all night. He was very upset that something bad happened to Kathy.”
“We should talk to Walt again later,” Floyd said, “just to make sure he wasn’t putting on an act for Kerm.”
“I don’t think it was Walt,” Pam said quietly. “Mark Roberts made bail last night. He called one of his buddies, who showed up with a check. He was released about eight o’clock.”
“Is Sue still at the shelter?”
Pam nodded. “Yes. That was the first call I made when I heard he was out. She was still in bed. I asked the coordinator to dial 911 if he showed up there.”
A blue pickup with the garden center logo on the doors pulled into a visitor’s spot next to the emergency entrance and the Tuckers walked quickly across the parking area. Ginny Tucker wore a wrinkled windbreaker over jeans. Her brown hair was gathered into a ponytail with stray hairs sticking out around her face so it appeared she had a halo in the early morning sun. Brian Tucker wore a Minnesota Twins T-shirt over jeans. His hair looked like it hadn’t seen a comb and his face was covered with gray whiskers and looked like it had aged a decade.
“Floyd, how is she?” Brian Tucker asked. “Can we see her?”
“She’s in surgery right now.”
Ginny broke into tears and buried her face into Ed’s shoulder. Tears welled in his eyes as he patted her back. “How…how bad is it?” he asked.
“She’s badly injured with several broken bones and some internal bleeding,” Floyd replied. He decided it wasn’t his place to tell the Tuckers that her injuries were so bad she couldn’t be transported to a trauma center.
“Can we talk to Doctor Bergstrom?” Brian asked.
“He’s assisting the surgeon. They’ll be down as soon as they can.”
“What happened?” Ginny asked, wiping her eyes with a tissue. “Deputy Ryan said Kathy had been assaulted. Who would hurt her?”
“We don’t know who attacked her. She was in her bedroom and someone entered the house while she was apparently asleep.”
“It must’ve been that creepy Walt,” Ginny said to Brian.
Floyd said. “We’ve already talked with him and he was home all night. Can you think of any other likely suspects? Is there someone who had a beef with Kathy at the nursery? Have you fired anyone lately?”
“There isn’t much for people to get upset about at a nursery,” Brian replied. “If someone buys something that doesn’t grow, we replace it. The three of us are the only employees. I can’t think of one person who would want to harm Kathy.”
“You don’t think it was a stranger?” Ginny asked.
“That’d be really unusual,” Pam replied. “We sometimes see an assault when someone surprises a burglar, but nothing seems to be missing. The rest of the house looks fine.”
“Was she…?” Ginny couldn’t bring herself to form the words.
“Doc Bergstrom said there was no evidence of sexual penetration.”
“I just can’t believe this is happening.” Ginny broke into tears again and buried her face in Ed’s shoulder.
“Doc Bergstrom will be down when they know something more,” Floyd said. “You folks wait here and tell the admissions clerk if you have to go anywhere. Pam and I have to meet with the sheriff.”
“We’re meeting with the sheriff?” Pam asked as they walked out of the hospital.
“I think he’ll want to meet us at Roberts’ house when we go to question Mark.”
“You think Mark will be sitting there waiting for us?”
“I don’t think he’s smart enough to realize that we might suspect him of the attack.” Floyd opened the car door and asked the dispatcher to have the sheriff call his cellphone.
“What army are you going to call in to arrest Mark Roberts?” Pam asked. “Last time didn’t go all that well if you recall.”
“It’s shift change, we may be able to catch Tom and Kerm going off shift. With the day-shift deputies, Dan Williams, and the sheriff, that should give us about seven people.”
“Don’t let Sandy help,” Pam said. “He’s getting married in four days and facial bruises would make for some pretty ugly wedding pictures.”
“He’s on afternoon shift. He’s probably asleep.”
Floyd’s cellphone rang. “John, I need a warrant to search Mark Roberts’ house. We’re looking for shoes and clothing with bloodstains and a blunt instrument like a baseball bat. I want to search the house, the vehicles, and the outbuildings.”
Floyd listened for a few moments. “Okay, we’ll meet you there in half an hour. You’d better grab Tom and Kerm before they finish up reports. We’re probably going to need some beef for this arrest.”
“I’ll meet you in Pine City,” Pam said.
“Hey, aren’t you the maid of honor?” Floyd asked.
“Yeah.”
“I guess we should worry about bruising you, too. It wouldn’t look good for the maid of honor to be black and blue in the wedding photos.”
“Are you serious? I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”
The police cars parked along a cattail filled ditch on a gravel crossroad a half-mile from Roberts’ house. With one highway patrolman, who happened to be at the café having coffee with the deputies, there were seven uniformed officers plus Dan Williams, all swatting mosquitoes in the sultry morning heat. The sheriff’s car approached, and despite the recent rains it raised a plume of dust. He stopped at the end of the line of cars, the dust drifting across the ditch in the light breeze.
“I’ve got a search warrant. We all know that Mark Roberts can be a royal pain and this probably isn’t going to go down easy, so I want a volunteer to run the video camera so there’s no question about who did what to whom when this is all over.”
“Pam’s running the camera,” Floyd said. “We can’t have her bruised for Sandy’s wedding pictures.”
A collective groan ran through the male officers and Pam turned bright red. “Bullshit!” Pam said. “Let Floyd run the camera. He’s too old and might get broken in a fight.”
“Ooh, let me,” said Kerm. He weighed in at nearly three hundred pounds and loved few things as much as wading into a bar fight. “I might soil my uniform.”
“Enough!” Sepanen said. “Roberts has a problem with women, and I want Pam on the recorder for all of our safety. I don’t want the situation to get out of hand just because Pam’s in the mix.” Once he was sure everyone was clear on Pam’s role he went on. “I want Dan and the trooper on the front door. Kerm, Floyd, and I will serve the warrant. The rest of you can search outside the house once we’re sure Roberts is controlled. If that’s clear to everyone, let’s do it!”
The cars rushed down the driveway single-file, raising a huge cloud of dust in their wake. There was no sign of activity outside the house and the drapes were drawn in all the windows. Floyd stopped near the door in an area strewn with beer cans. The deputies bailed out of their cars and rushed to their assigned positions as Pam climbed atop the hood of the car nearest the back door with the video camera in her hand.