Chapter 20 Puzzle Pieces Falling into Place #3
“If that’s all?” As far as dismissals went, this one was almost civil.
Andi followed George to the door, giving the chief a barely there nod.
The man didn’t deserve more, and by the way he, too, moved his head only an inch, the feeling was mutual.
As soon as they were back in the Escalade, George dialed Luke’s number. The coward answered on the third ring.
“George, how nice to hear from you.”
“Cut it out, Luke. We’ve just informed Chief Savalle and Agent DeCapristo about our findings.
We’re reasonably sure it was one killer, utilizing arthropods to get rid of Suzie Monahan, Isabelle Hopper, Jagger Thomasin, Judge Dunhill, and Trevor Asten.
As far as connections go, we’re still looking into it.
At the moment, it all seems to revolve around a nursing home, Paradise Home, though how, we can’t say yet.
DeCapristo is desperate to make some arrests while Savalle is moderately placated because we absolved his detectives. ”
“All in all, not too bad?” Luke tried and failed to inject some cheer into his voice.
“Depends on your definition of not too bad.” George was navigating the car out of the parking lot. “This whole being from a secret agency thing isn’t nearly as easy as you made it out to be.”
“If I said I’m sorry, would you believe me?” Luke sounded meek enough for Andi to believe he was being serious.
“No. Though we might be more inclined if there were a pay raise in the near future.” George sighed.
“We just wanted to keep you updated. We’re going back to the hotel to write the preliminary report, and then we’re waiting on Shireen to hopefully find something else connecting the victims. We’ll keep you informed.
” Without a goodbye, George pressed the button on his steering wheel to end the call.
Andi just wanted to make a comment on the report when his own phone vibrated in his back pocket.
He fished it out with minimal squirming and found a link Shireen had sent him via mail with the words Read this.
Could be useful. He clicked on it and was taken to a blog about Spartanburg city life.
The blogger, a woman named HappyCitizen26, wrote about daily life in the city.
She had to be decent because her following was in the five digits.
The blog Shireen wanted him to read was about public transportation. Andi furrowed his brow.
“What is it?” George glanced at him before he looked back at the street where traffic was thick.
“A blog. Shireen sent me the link.” Andi scanned it but nothing stood out. “It’s not long, so I’m going to read it.” He cleared his throat.
“Today, I witnessed another reason why public transportation in this city has to change on all levels. It’s not just the appalling lack of connections throughout the city, the abysmal condition of the trains and buses, and the constant delays due to poor planning and a shortage of staff.
It’s the staff itself as well. What we have on our hands is a solid crisis that needs our focus if we ever want to achieve at least a semblance of solid public transportation.
As you all know, I take one day a week to do an arbitrary round through the city based on the needs of people from different demographics to get a clear picture as to who is affected by our public transportation system.”
“Wow, she seems dedicated.” George whistled.
“Seems so.” Andi shrugged. Since George had come into his life, transportation was no longer a problem for him. Blessed be the deity who had arranged this for him.
“This day’s route started in Hillcrest, from there I went to Hampton Heights, then to the Northside and from there to Westview.
It’s a long route, and as expected, it took me several hours to reach my individual destinations.
For all the statistics complete with tracking, click on this link.
” Without thinking, Andi clicked, and a page with a map of Spartanburg in which the blogger’s route was highlighted in red came into view.
“Oh, I see why Shireen wanted us to read this.”
“Huh?” George had his eyes firmly on the road.
“Her final destination was Paradise Home for the Elderly. And she took the bus.”
“Oh, when was that?”
Andi quickly checked the date of the blog. “A week before Isabelle Hopper died.”
“Read on. I want to know how this ends.” George set the blinker to change lanes. They were nearing the hotel.
“The worst part, however, was the bus ride to the nursing home at the end of my route. A passenger wanted to enter the bus a few stops before Paradise Home, but the bus driver wouldn’t let them on because they’d forgotten their ticket.
Now several of the regular passengers spoke up for that passenger, saying they had a monthly ticket and reminded the bus driver that she knew them, but the woman was adamant and didn’t let the passenger in, explaining she could get in trouble for transporting people without a valid ticket.
The passenger was in tears, saying they just wanted to visit a relative at the nursing home.
Before things got too heated, I paid for the ticket.
This situation highlights the multilayered problems Spartanburg has regarding public transportation.
At first glance—” Andi looked up. “I think we can skip the rest. Do you want to bet that the bus driver was Isabelle Hopper?”
“I don’t take sure bets.” George was now on the road to the hotel. “Shireen wouldn’t have sent us the link if she hadn’t verified the identity of the bus driver. We should contact the blogger. Perhaps she’ll remember something from that day or about Isabelle that can help us.”
Andi started typing. “Good idea.” After he sent the blogger an email via her contact asking if she would be willing to answer some questions about the incident she had described in her blog, he looked at George. “What are we going to do now?”
George parked the Escalade in the parking lot next to the hotel. He smiled. “We’re going to get rid of the bags under your eyes. You look as if you’re going to keel over any minute.”