Chapter 19 #3
“We most certainly are. What a strange episode and what a disappointment not to have autopsy results. Without exaggeration this might be the weirdest thing that’s happened in this town since I joined the force as a rookie.”
“Have you made any progress in your investigation?”
“I’m sorry to say, but no we haven’t,” Bill confessed. “But I can assure you it’s not for lack of trying. It’s all we’ve been doing all day, both me and my duty officer. But despite all our efforts, it’s as much of a mystery now as it was when Bob first called me to report it.”
“I assume you visited the clinic in your investigation.”
“Absolutely. It was the first thing we did.”
“Did you find any evidence of a forced entry?” Jack asked.
“No. Not at all, although we did find a window in the back was missing part of its lock. That could have been the point of entry. We mentioned it to Bob, and he’s going to have it rectified immediately.
But if that was how the body snatchers got in, fixing it is the real-life equivalent of locking the barn after the horse was stolen. ”
“Did you find any evidence of an intrusion?” Jack asked.
“We didn’t, which is the other major mystery. At first I had trouble believing Bob when he said there had been no warning that anything was amiss in the building before stumbling on the fact that the body had disappeared from the cooler.”
“I can attest to that,” Jack said. “Laurie and I were right there when it happened. I assume Bob has some kind of cleaning service for the building and my guess would be they come in frequently. Have you checked with them?”
“We have. It’s a local business whose proprietor I know well.
His people clean Wednesday and Friday afternoons and claim not to have access, meaning on their designated days, they show up while Melanie is still there, and she stays to lock up after they are finished.
With drugs on-site, Bob’s been reluctant to give out keys. ”
“Stands to reason,” Jack said. “What about your police rounds last night? Do your duty officers make a regular check at the clinic?”
“Absolutely,” Bill said, as if he felt challenged. “The three to eleven shift makes evening rounds around ten p.m. and the eleven to seven does the same around three a.m.”
“And I’m assuming that the clinic building was checked.”
“Absolutely,” Bill said confidently. “On both shifts and duly logged.”
“Okay,” Jack said with a slight shake of his head. “It’s certainly a mystery, and I’m sorry we weren’t able to provide you with any information about Ethan’s death. I know you were counting on it.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Bill responded. “And luckily there haven’t been any additional deaths involving the other four pest control employees who live in town, which is what I was worried about.”
“If you are wondering why I’m asking these questions, it’s because I take it personally when a body that I’m about to autopsy vanishes.
I feel that it is denying the dead to tell his or her story, which frequently can help the living.
On my way here I stopped in at the Jamesons’ home to try to get a feel of whether they could have been involved. ”
Bill gave a short laugh of derision. “I could have disabused you of that notion.”
“They disabused me of it just fine,” Jack said with a short laugh of his own. “There’s one other person I’d like to get a feel for: Janet Huber. Has she been involved in your investigation?”
“Of course,” Bill said. “I did speak with her, and she seemed legitimately shocked to hear what had happened. After talking with her, I sincerely doubt she was involved in any way with the body’s disappearance, especially because the town’s grapevine has it that her relationship with Ethan was not going well.
But that’s not to say she wouldn’t be capable.
She’s certainly more than smart enough. But I’ve known her and her family for most of her life, and she’s never been self-indulgent, self-centered, or overly religious like I imagine someone would have to be to pull off something like this, especially covering their tracks so well.
It’s as if whoever did it is thumbing their nose at us authority figures. ”
“Or wanted us authority figures not to know something that might have been revealed during the autopsy.”
“How do you mean?”
“Maybe the body thief had something to do with his passing.”
For a few beats Bill stared at Jack, and Jack held his tongue.
“Are you suggesting this might have been a homicide?” Bill asked, staring at Jack with his head cocked to the side and his brow furrowed.
“Before we do an autopsy, we try to have an open mind about all possibilities,” Jack said. “It’s why autopsies are important.”
“But Bob told me he was ninety-nine percent certain Ethan died of one of those powerful pesticides he worked with. I forget what he called them.”
“Organophosphates,” Jack offered.
“That’s it, organophosphates. Are you suggesting someone at the American Pest Control Company might have had a hand in his passing?”
“I’m not suggesting anything, just trying to keep an open mind. Have you been out to speak to the people at the pesticide company?”
“I did speak with the owner, of course, and I asked about Ethan’s recent behavior, but I didn’t ask specifically about any ongoing feuds or the like.
The owner did offer that Ethan and the technician supervisor did occasionally have words but nothing serious on either side.
But I’ll definitely be speaking with him again. ”
“Since you seem to know so much about what is going on in town, did Ethan have any potentially violent interactions with anyone, particularly any of his fellow Diehard Patriots?”
“Not that I am aware of,” Bill said. “I did speak with John Daniels this morning for that very reason. He knew Ethan as well as anyone since they were both the Diehard Patriots’ founders, and he didn’t mention any conflicts other than reminding me about Ethan being irritated at the two Netherlander commanders. ”
“Oh?” Jack questioned.
“Ethan was upset that only the lower-ranked two were showing up for their nighttime activities. He felt strongly that the commander and his lieutenant should be participating as well instead of attending to their brewery and had been saying so for some time.”
“Okay, now I remember,” Jack said. “I do remember now Bob telling Laurie and me about that right after we arrived. Bob said you’d learned it when you talked with Miss Huber Monday, the day Ethan died.”
“Correct! Right after his death, she was the main person I wanted to talk to besides Bob and Melanie. I knew Janet and Ethan were living together, and that if anyone knew or might be able to guess how Ethan had managed to poison himself, it would be her.”
“Did her mentioning that Ethan was irritated at the Netherlanders make you want to go back out to the Bennet Estate and have another chat with them?”
“Well, of course it passed through my mind,” Bill said.
“But since Bob had told me about Ethan’s symptoms and Bob’s utterly strong impression that he’d been poisoned by some kind of pesticide, I didn’t think it was necessary and even might be misinterpreted as intrusive by the Netherlanders.
To be honest, I’ve become very much appreciative of their presence. ”
“That’s equally interesting to hear,” Jack said. It was his time to wrinkle his brows questioningly. “What’s making you appreciative?”
“For the time that they have been here, which is now going on six weeks, there’s been a significant uptick in the Diehard Patriots’ nighttime maneuvers as they call them.
Despite that and despite my serious concerns, there’s been no major accident like fatal shootings, which I’ve been fearing for years.
My inclination is to credit the Netherlanders; after all, they are supposedly professionals.
I’d heard that not only are they supervising the Diehard Patriots’ nighttime activities, I understand they’ve also been giving a series of lectures on proper weapon handling and the like.
It’s my strong opinion they’ve been a great benefit to our community. I’m actually thankful.”
“I can see your point,” Jack said, and he could.
The idea of seventeen disaffected, marginally employed, young men afire with extremist ideology running around at night drinking beer and shooting off AR-15 rifles and not getting hurt in the process seemed an impossibility.
The Netherlanders had to be responsible.
“I’ve not ruled out another visit out to the Bennet Estate,” Bill said. “It’s just not a high priority.”
“Understood,” Jack said. He glanced at his watch and grimaced. “Uh-oh, time’s marching on. I’ve got to run to get to the game, but I do want to at least meet Janet Huber. Melanie says she’ll be at the convenience store.”
“I’d say that was correct until the Margery Malone Elementary is back in session. During the summer, she’s always been the dutiful daughter and helped out.”
“I appreciate your time, Bill,” Jack said.
“And one last thing. We’ve some friends visiting from the Big Apple who brought a bunch of steaks, and we’re having another barbecue out at the Hiram House tonight.
If you and Grace would like to join, we’d love to have you.
Bob and Carol are coming. Sorry about the short notice, but our friends just got here this afternoon. ”
“That’s generous of you. Thank you. I’ll give her a call right away. I’m sure she’ll be happy to accept.”
“Terrific,” Jack said. “Around eight if that works for you. See you then.”
Without another word, Jack spun around and dashed out of Bill’s office.
He merely nodded a cursory greeting to the duty officer before rescuing his bike.
A minute later he was on it, heading south across town as Huber Convenience Store was on the opposite side of Main Street, close to the Roaring Fork River.