Page 40

Chapter Forty

Before we piled into Alan’s SUV, I texted Lydia to tell her I might be late returning from our work on the case. I knew she wouldn’t mind calling Kareen for help if she needed it.

As Alan turned onto the country route, he explained to Clare what we had surmised thus far, though we couldn’t be certain about any of it. She seemed pleased that we’d eliminated Jane Windsor and Jim Withers as suspects because she liked both of them.

“By the way,” she said, “Sophie and I checked on Jane this morning. I made her drink one of the protein shakes I bought her the other day—in my presence—and she seemed more chipper already.”

“How’d Sophie react in her house?” I asked.

“Fine,” she replied. “I thought you took Jane off your list.”

“We did, but I wanted to triangulate.”

Alan laughed. “How’d you come up with that word?”

“I’ve been studying investigative principles,” I boasted. “ We can better verify a hypothesis by using multiple points of study. In other words, we felt Jane was too old and feeble to have caused any trouble for Liz. However, if Sophie had sensed Liz’s presence in Jane’s house, we might question our theory.”

“She’s not trained as a sniffer,” Alan said, as if he hadn’t reiterated it enough.

I ignored him. “Sophie didn’t react to Jim Withers at River Mill either, so I hypothesize that he’s also innocent.”

Alan gave me a quick glance. “You triangulated him, too?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, so what’s our next step?” Alan pressed.

“We try to get inside Damien Sterling’s house and barn.”

Alan frowned. “We’re not breaking and entering, Sue.”

“Of course not. We’ll knock on the door and ask to come in. I’ll make up some story or something.”

“All right,” Alan said. “Are you a police officer or my wife?”

I turned to explain to Clare what he meant, then replied to Alan. “You can be off-duty, but we should be honest about me because Janice may have told him about us.”

Clare interjected. “Why not tell him that I hired you both to find my sister. That’s the truth.”

Alan glanced at her in the rear-view mirror. “That sounds good to me.”

I thought about telling her we’d introduced ourselves to Damien as off-duty police officers, but I decided it didn’t really matter. I just wanted to get inside his house and search for Liz.

^^ ^

Alan pulled into the driveway next to the old Sterling farmhouse and honked our arrival. We heard a bark from inside, but Damien didn’t come to the door. I looked around the yard and down the lane, expecting to see the unkempt man with his rifle, yet didn’t.

“That’s weird,” Alan remarked in a low tone. “Stay in the car while I look around.”

I felt a sense of dread. “Do you have your weapon?”

“In the glove compartment.” He reached in front of me to retrieve it, then checked it for ammunition. “The safety’s on,” he assured me as he opened the car door.

“Take Sophie,” I insisted.

He didn’t reply. Rather, he slowly made his way toward the porch, carefully watching and listening.

I thought we could make faster progress by involving our dog, which I told Clare. She looked hesitant, reminding me that Alan asked us to remain where we were.

From the porch, Alan gazed through the front windows, then turned to us, shaking his head. He raised his left hand, not the one holding his gun, to indicate that he’d head around back.

I took that as a signal to follow him.

“What are you doing?” Clare whispered.

“Alan needs backup,” I said, exiting my side and opening the back door. I grabbed Sophie’s leash and let her direct me.

She sniffed the ground, found several spots which needed her markings, then went to the porch, which apparently had many interesting scents. Clare followed us, then pulled open the rickety screen door .

“We need to wait for Alan,” I advised. Sophie’s tail wagged before she sat whimpering. “What are you telling us, girl?”

“Maybe Liz is inside,” Clare said, turning the knob and pushing open the door. “It’s not locked,” she explained.

I grabbed her arm. “We can’t go in without Alan.”

She reacted quickly with the sound of ferocious barking by closing the screen door and trying to calm Damien’s dog, as well as mine who barked in response. Alan came running.

“Cheese and crackers!” he exclaimed. “What’s going on?”

“I think my sister’s in there,” Clare muttered.

Alan pulled out his phone and pressed 9-1-1. He asked for emergency backup on Sterling Lane, raising his voice to talk above two barking dogs. Disconnecting, he took Sophie’s leash from me. “We’ll all wait in the car until the police arrive.”

I knew by his tone and volume that he was upset. Still, we saw no sign of Damien, and that triggered my own distress. Clare helped settle Sophie, which gave her a focus on something other than her sister, although that couldn’t have been easy for her.

“I asked you to stay in the car,” Alan murmured.

“I thought you signaled for us to come,” I said.

He slowly shook his head as if he couldn’t believe my explanation.

“Something’s happened to Damien,” I continued. “I don’t know where he is, but that racket should have alerted him.”

“I agree,” Alan said tersely.

“There’s an odor of injury in the house,” Clare stated. She had wrapped her arms around Sophie .

We sat in silence for at least five minutes before two county police vehicles arrived. Alan went to meet the four officers.

I watched as they first worked to carefully remove the dog who tried to protect his owner. Once they had him safely confined to the rear of the van, they worked in tandem to enter the front and back of the house. Alan stayed to watch for interference on the porch, while Clare and I kept our eyes on the yard and field.

There was still no sign of Damien.

Within minutes, one of the officers came out to the porch. I heard him radio to the dispatcher that he needed an ambulance, and I caught Alan’s eye.

Clare gasped, bolting from the car. Sophie followed before I could grab her leash, so I ran after them. The officer failed to stop Clare or our dog, but I stood by Alan. “Did she die?” I asked.

“Who?” the officer questioned.

“Liz Spaulding, the missing lady.”

“We didn’t see any woman, although the other officers are searching for more victims. A man’s on the floor in the dining room with a gunshot wound, and he’s not in good shape.”

Relief poured over me, and I prayed that they wouldn’t find Liz. “The woman who went in is a physician assistant, so she can give help until the ambulance arrives.”

“Good to know,” the officer said. “Alan, I’d appreciate it if you continue to stand watch out here, then direct the emergency personnel to the victim. Ma’am, you need to stay clear.”

Alan nodded his understanding. As for the second part, he probably figured I wouldn’t comply, but I did. I decided to serve as backup for my husband.