Chapter 48
Forty-Eight
“ A re you sure I can’t run it with my software?” Asher frowned at Stroud as he and Edie crowded together in front of the detective’s desk.
Stroud shot them a quick glare, then turned back to his computer. “Yes. Normal methods will work just fine for this.” He logged into his computer, then pulled up a database, adding Tyson Oliver’s name and phone number.
“Well?” Asher leaned forward.
“It’s processing.”
Edie tugged on Asher’s sleeve. “Relax. My laptop isn’t any faster.”
With a short huff, Asher sat back. A moment later, Stroud picked up a pen.
Several seconds went by as he wrote.
Impatience got the best of Asher. He sat forward again, trying to read the man’s handwriting upside down. “Stroud, I swear…”
The detective gave him a quick glance. “I found where he works and his address. He’s got a couple of priors as well.”
“For what?” Edie asked.
“Drug possession, like Vanessa.”
“Did he do time?” she asked.
“No. It was marijuana, and the amounts were well below what they’d put him in jail for. He paid some fines.” Stroud put his pen down and picked up the phone. He paused with the receiver near his face and arched an eyebrow at Asher. “Do you think you can keep your mouth shut this time if I put it on speaker?”
“No guarantees. But I’ll do my best.”
The detective’s jaw worked, but he dialed, then hit the speaker button. The line rang five times, then rolled to voicemail. Stroud hung up and tried again. When it rolled to voicemail a second time, he did the same thing. On the third try, a man answered.
“Hello?”
“Is this Tyson Oliver?”
“Who’s asking?”
“First, let me start off by saying you’re not in trouble. Second, my name is J.D. Stroud. I’m a detective with the Heron Ridge Police Department in Oregon.” He paused. “You still there?”
“Yeah. What do you want? I’ve never been to Oregon.”
“You sold a car at the beginning of this year for a friend. Vanessa Burnwell?”
“What about it?”
“Who did you sell it to?”
“That was on the up and up. He gave me a cashier’s check, and I gave him the title. Vanessa signed it in front of a notary her lawyer brought to the jail.”
“Who bought the car?”
“Some guy I worked with. His name’s Barry.”
Asher, Stroud, and Edie shared a look. And the wording Tyson used caught Asher’s attention. He grabbed the pad of sticky notes and a pen and wrote out his thought before shoving it toward Stroud.
The detective read it and nodded. “What do you mean, ‘worked?’” he asked Tyson, voicing Asher’s question.
“I haven’t seen him in a while. The boss said he quit a few months back.”
“So, you haven’t seen him at all since he quit? Not even at a party?”
“No. I mean, he used to come to things we invited him to, but after he quit, it was like he just disappeared.”
Asher scribbled another note, asking Stroud to text the man a picture of Lennox.
Stroud nodded. “Mr. Oliver, is the number I called you on for a cellphone?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to text you a picture. I’d like it if you could confirm if it’s your friend, Barry.”
“All right.”
The detective picked up his cell and snapped a picture of Lennox from what they’d pulled from Vanessa’s social media. He attached it to a message and hit send.
“Okay, I sent it.”
“Hang on.” Rustling came over the line, then a few moments later, “Yeah, that’s him.”
“He’s the man you sold the car to?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me more about him. What did he do for the company you both worked for? Do you know where he lives?”
“It was just basic construction, man. And I don’t know where he lives. What does this have to do with Vanessa’s car? Wait, did something happen to Barry?”
“He’s fine, as far as I know. Do you have contact information for your friend?”
“I did, but the number doesn’t work anymore. I told you, he disappeared.”
“Okay. If you hear from him, would you call me? I need to speak to him.”
“Um, sure?”
“Great, thank you.” Stroud hung up before Tyson could ask more questions.
“Well, at least we know how he got Miss Burnwell’s car and why it’s still registered to her. He never bothered to go get new registration for it.”
“Probably on purpose,” Edie said.
“Agreed. But the question now is, where did he go?” Stroud tapped his pen on his notepad.
“I think he’s still around here.” Asher propped his ankle atop his knee, wiggling his foot as he thought.
Stroud frowned. “What makes you say that?”
“It sounds like he planned this. He bought a car no one would think to check on the registration for, he quit his job with little notice, and he changed all of his contact information and completely disappeared from his old life. His plan was to make a new life with Leah and Esther. I don’t think he has a backup.”
“That doesn’t help us figure out where he is, though.” Stroud sighed.
“No. But I don’t think we need to. I think he’ll show up again.” Asher looked at Edie. “We just need to be ready.”