Chapter 39
We took turns napping. As big as I talked, it took only an hour of me holding down the fort while Renz slept before my head dropped to my chest. I woke him up and told him to take the next hour.
Daylight finally came, and we perked up.
People were arriving at the marina, likely to get out on the water early for a day of fishing.
The pleasure boaters, at least in Milwaukee, usually showed up at noon to have lunch on their luxury yacht then spend the afternoon floating around while waving to other passing luxury yachts.
We watched with more intent. Maybe James would show up that morning with hopes of blending in with the crowd.
On the earlier footage that had been watched by the Milwaukee detectives, he was seen wearing an Army green backpack.
That footage was from last Saturday night, when he slipped out on his boat at one forty-five in the morning.
We could only assume that the fishing was good at that hour or that, unfortunately, Beth was inside that backpack.
Her body and body parts had ended up in the lake somehow, and in my opinion, James Smith was one hundred percent responsible for that.
What James hadn’t expected was for Beth’s or Della’s body parts to wash ashore. Currents and storms did funny things, and even though Beth was likely dumped far north of Milwaukee, her leg had ended up at Atwater Park. A month earlier, Della’s arm was found in Two Rivers.
Without rhyme or reason, he drove his boat farther north of Manitowoc or farther south to dispose of the evidence. Maybe he was playing it safe so nobody would know where the body part came from or whose it was.
We noted every person who got out of a vehicle and walked to the dock gate, watching for a man wearing a green backpack. As soon as the office opened, we would tell the employees what we needed.
Eight o’clock finally came, and after watching every person who passed through the dock gate, we never saw anyone we could identify as James Smith.
“We should move the car over to the public parking lot before we go inside. I’m sure whoever’s parking spot we’re in will want it soon enough.”
Renz turned over the engine and moved the car to the public lot. From there, we crossed the asphalt and entered the office, which was open by then.
Since I was the one who’d insisted on staking out the marina all night and seeing James Smith’s boat that morning, it was on me to do all of the talking. I knew Renz expected it of me, and I would comply without a peep of resistance.
We entered the office, and I approached the lady at the first desk. She gave me a questioning smile.
“Can I help you?”
“I hope so. My partner and I are from the FBI, and we’d like to see a particular boat moored at one of your docks.”
I pulled my badge lanyard out from beneath my shirt and showed it to her since I knew that would be her next question. Renz walked up and flipped open his FBI wallet.
“I see. Do you know which dock and slip number it’s at?”
“No, but we do know the boat owner’s name.”
“Okay, that should work. Is there a particular reason you need to see the owner’s boat? Did he or she do something wrong?” The woman smiled again, which got under my skin.
“That much, we aren’t at liberty to discuss, ma’am.” I smiled back and held my ground. “His name is James Smith.”
“Interesting. This isn’t the first time his name has come up. A few days ago—”
“Yes, we’re aware that a couple of detectives stopped by and asked about him.”
We waited as she tapped her computer keys. I was sure she already knew where his boat was located given that she remembered the detectives who’d stopped by earlier in the week.
“I’ll have Bob take you down to Mr. Smith’s boat, but you can’t board it without the owner’s permission.”
“We’re well aware,” Renz said.
“Bob will meet you at the gate.”
I thanked her, and we walked out. We headed to the docks, where a young man wearing a blue polo shirt and khaki shorts was standing.
Once we reached him, I noticed the name tag on his shirt read Bob.
We introduced ourselves only by our first names and followed along once he opened the gate and led the way.
“This is the slip Mr. Smith rented. Looks like he’s already gone out for the morning.”
I blurted out that it was impossible.
Bob gave me a look like I’d lost my mind. “I assure you, this is his slip.”
Renz took over as I stood there in a blank stupor.
“Okay, thanks, Bob. We’ll try again another time. Let’s go, Jade.”
Renz led the way to the office.
Dumbfounded, I asked what we were doing.
“We need to know when he passed through the gate last. It’ll be recorded.”
We walked in and back to the same woman. That time, Renz took charge.
“Ma’am, we need to know what time Mr. Smith passed through the gate.”
“One moment.” She tapped the computer keys then looked up at Renz. “One forty-five a.m.”
“That’s impossible.”
She gave Renz a frown. “Excuse me?”
“One forty-five a.m. on what day?”
She huffed then looked at her computer again. “Last Sunday morning.”
“That’s the last time he was here?”
She shrugged. “According to his key card, yes.”
There was nothing else we could do. Somehow, some way, James Smith had disappeared. We had no idea where he could have taken Torrie or where he took his boat after one forty-five a.m. last Sunday morning.
We returned to the car and left Manitowoc. I felt like I’d wasted Renz’s time and my own, but telling Taft on Monday morning would be the worst. Without admitting that we had been there all night, I had to figure out how to say that James Smith hadn’t shown up.
Ten minutes into the drive, I found my voice. I couldn’t believe Renz hadn’t scolded me for the uncomfortable all-nighter we’d endured at my insistence. I appreciated his decency.
With a long sigh, I finally spoke up. “How do I tell Taft, Renz?”
“Depends on what you want to say. There could be two different stories that will create two different outcomes.”
“Go on.”
“You could say we stayed until two a.m., never caught sight of anyone, then left. Then she’ll tell us to get started on the Michael Lenstein cold case.”
I grunted. “Or?”
“Or you could say we stayed all night because we wanted to speak with the office personnel and have them show us his boat. Admit that you wanted to see the size of the vessel and get an idea of how long he could stay out on the lake and the distance he could cover. More or less how seaworthy it is. Make it sound like research.”
I chuckled. “Then what?”
“Then you’ll tell her the truth. We walked out onto the dock with an employee, and his boat was gone. He didn’t slip by us during the night, so we returned to the office, and the woman we had been speaking with said the last time he used his key card was when he dumped Beth.”
“Yeah, and that might give her a reason to keep us on. The plot thickens, so to speak. Or Taft will think that since James took off days ago, then it was somebody else who abducted Torrie.” I groaned. “And that’s a reason to take us off the case.”
“We won’t know anything until Monday when we talk to her. But right now, the only thing I want to do is get back to St. Francis, pick up my car, and go home to bed.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a pretty good idea.”