Chapter 13
Bennet Estate
Hamilton County, New York
“This might have been our best dinner since we’ve been in Essex Falls,” Viktor said as he leaned back contentedly in his high-topped chair.
They were eating at the island in the kitchen for convenience’s sake.
Occasionally when they’d made one of their special meals, like the dinner they’d just had, they used the formal dining room.
But on this particular night with Alexei and Dmitry slotted to head out on their quest to find and bring back Ethan Jameson’s body, they opted for the efficiency of eating in the kitchen.
“Your Stroganoff was superb,” Nikolai agreed, causing Alexei and Dmitry to exchange a knowing glance. Nikolai was such an ingratiating sycophant.
“I know,” Viktor said unabashedly, with a contented smile. “Your borscht was first class as well.”
“Thanks to my mother,” Nikolai said.
“I just had an idea,” Dmitry said, interrupting Viktor and Nikolai’s self-congratulating exchange.
“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Viktor said, looking over at Dmitry and garnering a guffaw from Nikolai. “Let’s hear it.”
Dmitry held himself in check before saying: “I think I have a better idea of what to do with Ethan Jameson’s body than putting it into the icehouse.
We don’t know whether any of the maintenance people go in it or not, which could be a disaster.
What’s in the icehouse? Does anybody know? I’ve never even looked in there.”
“Not much,” Viktor said. “I looked inside back when we first got here. It’s mostly just empty shelving on one side with some dusty old cardboard boxes.
On the other side are mostly a bunch of old, louvered outdoor shutters.
There are no gardening tools or anything like that.
But you are correct. We don’t know for certain whether anyone goes in there. What’s your better idea?”
“To take advantage of the lake,” Dmitry said. “I don’t know about any of you, but when I’ve used the diving board, I’ve been amazed at the difference between the water temperature near the surface and just a meter or two down, where it feels like the Baltic Sea.”
“So, what’s your idea?” Viktor questioned.
“There’s rope in the barn and there are those old building blocks in the back of the house,” Dmitry said.
“With one of the building blocks as an anchor, we can just toss the body off the diving board. Hell, it’s plenty deep enough, and I can imagine its darn near freezing at the bottom.
Besides, the fish will love it. They’ll probably have the corpse down to bare bone in no time. ”
For a moment, Viktor stared at Dmitry before nodding and saying: “Brilliant. I like it.”
“Thanks,” Dmitry said.
“All right,” Viktor said. He pushed back and stood up.
“Here’s the plan: Nikolai and I will take charge of the cleanup tonight for a change while you boys do your run into town to get the damn body.
I like this new idea, I like it a lot, and the sooner we get it out there in the lake to feed the fishes the better.
And needless to say, don’t get caught. Am I clear? ”
Both Alexei and Dmitry said yes in unison but then rolled their eyes for each other’s benefit.
Twenty minutes later with Alexei behind the wheel of the Dodge Ram and Dmitry riding shotgun, they turned left from the Bennet Estate driveway onto the Indian River Road and headed toward Essex Falls.
The only thing they’d brought with them were several small flashlights they’d found in the kitchen miscellaneous drawer.
“Is it just me or are you getting tired of how Viktor and Nikolai are treating us?” Dmitry asked. He and Alexei had both been caught up in their own thoughts since they’d gotten into the truck.
“To be honest, I haven’t liked their condescension from day one,” Alexei said with obvious emotion.
Dmitry cast a quick glance over at Alexei. Alexei had surprised him because in his presence Alexei had always been nothing but strictly respectful to the superiors. “We need to get out of here and back to Russia,” Dmitry added as a statement of fact.
“We should have left Monday,” Alexei agreed. “Staying here to do another harvest is a stupid idea, taking a huge risk for no benefit.”
“Is there any way you can speed up the theta prion harvest?” Dmitry asked.
“I wish,” Alexei responded. “At this point all we can do is keep the galactose concentration at a specific level, same with the temperature, acidity, and oxygen, all of which is being done.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Dmitry said. “All that microbiological recombinant technology is beyond me.”
“What do you think our chances are that we’re even going to find Ethan Jameson’s body, much less get it back to the Bennet Estate?
” Alexei asked, changing the subject. “It irks me that Viktor and Nikolai are so cavalier about it, as if we can just waltz into the Bennet Clinic building and walk out with it. You and I have had no training for something like this.”
“I’m with you. It was my immediate concern as well.”
“Jack, the forensic pathologist, merely said they were going to do the autopsy in the local doctor’s office. He didn’t say anything about where the body was.”
“For whatever it’s worth, it does make sense the body would be where they will do the procedure.”
“But if there is no cooler, it can’t be there. If it’s not, I’m worried it might be in the funeral home on the other side of town near the police department. They have to have a cooler to store bodies before they embalm them.”
“Without doubt,” Dmitry agreed. “But let’s think positive since we don’t have a lot of choice.
We have to find that body and make it disappear.
Let’s just concentrate on the first step, getting into the Bennet Clinic building to see what we can find.
At least the building is in a commercial part of town, so at this time of night there shouldn’t be any witnesses. ”
“Okay, I’m with you,” Alexei said in a forced, spirited fashion to buoy his own spirits.
They entered the western end of Main Street.
As they expected, at nearly ten o’clock at night, it was almost deserted.
There were a few people doing the final cleaning at Ted’s Diner, and the only bar in town, the Ale House on the opposite side of the street, was moderately busy with a half dozen trucks parked in the immediate vicinity.
Beyond the school and library, there was almost no activity at all, and by the time they got to the end of Main Street where it abutted the old Bennet factory building, the town appeared deserted.
Alexei turned right and pulled into the parking area, which was completely empty, and immediately doused the headlights. With a gibbous moon high in the sky, they could see fine as they drove along the side of the building heading back to the freight dock.
“What do you think we should do with the truck?” Alexei asked, pulling to a stop. “It’s an issue I hadn’t thought about until this second. Being the only vehicle in the parking lot, it’s going to stand out if the police happen to drive by.”
“Why would they?” Dmitry asked.
Alexei shrugged. “Just making rounds, I suppose. I don’t know whether the Essex Falls police do that or not on a regular basis. The police certainly did in Staraya Russa, where I grew up.”
“They did it in Ryazan, too. Okay, let’s not take any chances by leaving it here to attract attention. I saw some vans parked down the street toward Roaring Fork River where there are a few other commercial buildings. Let’s leave it there.”
“Good idea,” Alexei said. He did a U-turn and then drove back out to the street and made a left. He didn’t bother using the headlights with the moon providing more than enough light.
Five minutes later, they were back at the clinic building. Approaching the double front door, Dmitry tried it. It was locked as they expected. Alexei had his flashlight out, and shielding its beam, he illuminated the door’s lock.
“How are you at picking a lock?” Alexei asked.
“With no tools, terrible. With tools I’m not too bad. I had some experience as a teenager.”
“I’ve no experience whatsoever,” Alexei admitted. “I’m beginning to think we should have planned this a bit more. What were we thinking?”
“We weren’t thinking. We were following orders.”
Alexei laughed but without humor. “Let’s try the freight dock.”
Walking quickly, they rounded the building, staying within its shadow as best they could.
Reassuringly, they saw and heard no one.
At the freight dock, they mounted the five steps despite the overhead light illuminating the platform.
While Alexei quickly tried the large overhead door, Dmitry tried the side door.
Both were locked. Rapidly they fled the lighted area, but then held up when they got back into the shadows.
“I just got a new worry,” Dmitry said. “We’re trying to break into a doctor’s office where there are undoubtedly drugs. We’ve not even thought about there being an alarm system. What are we going to do if there is?”
“Good God,” Alexei murmured. It was true; as isolated as the town was, he hadn’t given the idea of an alarm system any consideration. “You’re the electronics guy. Can we somehow tell if there is an alarm system using our phones?”
“No, that’s not going to work. We’d need a frequency scanner. Phones don’t do that.”
“So, what do you suggest?”
“I think we just have to hope for the best,” Dmitry said.
“On the positive side, I haven’t seen anything at any of the doors we’ve tried suggesting an alarm or camera or any security whatsoever.
Ultimately, I’m afraid we’ll have to just break in somehow, probably through a window, if we can find one unlocked, and see what happens.
If there is an alarm, we’ll get the hell away from here and give up on finding the body. ”
“Agreed! All right, let’s check the windows.”