Page 36 of Her Final Hours (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #3)

“ F or the last time, I have nothing to say!” Caleb Mitchell screamed over the intercom.

The conversation with the next person of interest was like night and day compared to the Lucas Blackwood interview.

Caleb wanted nothing to do with the police.

The fact that they had managed to track him down after he’d upped and left his previous two addresses must have been a big enough shock.

Add to that their request to talk about a two-decade-old case, and they were right to expect the cold shoulder from him.

The former taxi driver in High Peaks had fallen under scrutiny at the time for two reasons — his likeness to the composite released after Payton Scott went missing, and an alleged sexual assault not long after followed by accusations close to home.

Callie was on the phone with Rishi, getting an update on the NCIC offline search, when McKenzie pressed the Nest doorbell.

The house was a modern, prefabricated abode nestled amidst the breathtaking landscape of Au Sable Forks.

Despite the heavy snowfall, the house stood out, firm and inviting, its architecture harmonizing with the surrounding beauty.

The two-story structure boasted clean lines and a minimalist design, yet with a touch of rustic charm.

The exterior was clad in rich cedar paneling with warm hues.

The roof of the house sloped gently, allowing the snow to slide off its surface gracefully.

Some of which had fallen on McKenzie on the way, causing an outburst of profanity that only a Scotsman would approve. Still, it garnered a smile from Callie.

McKenzie leaned forward, speaking into the hidden microphone and doing his best to convince the man that he wasn’t in trouble. He’d been pressing him to give them a moment of his time for the past five minutes.

“I just don’t see what the problem is here.”

“Law enforcement has done nothing but hound me. I want to be left alone.”

“We are more than willing to do that, but we just had a few questions.”

“I answered them all twenty-five years ago.”

“I can appreciate that,” McKenzie said. “However, there has been a development, and we just want to rule you out. If you were cleared of all wrongdoing back then, you have nothing to worry about now.”

“What part of go away do you not understand?”

McKenzie turned and cursed a few times as he passed her. “Come on. We’re wasting our time.”

Callie, who had been in the background throughout the fiasco, glanced at the door and pressed the doorbell, to McKenzie’s annoyance.

“Mr. Mitchell. On behalf of the Adirondack Sheriff’s Office, I sincerely apologize for how you were treated in the past. We won’t bother you any further. Thank you for your time. ”

She turned to leave.

As she did, the door automatically unlocked.

“Five minutes. That’s all you get,” he said.

McKenzie looked stunned. “Oh, I see how it is. Maybe if I put on a wig and pair of heels, I would get in the door.”

Callie smiled, saying the one thing that would wind him up. “It’s psychology.”

“Oh, it is? I think you’ve been staring far too long into those big thick books of your mother’s. It’s much simpler. It’s called being a lass and him being a dirty bastard.”

“Alleged.” She raised a finger. “Alleged, McKenzie,” she said in a hushed voice as they entered, brushing the snowflakes from their coats.

The warm air greeted them, and Callie was immediately struck by the inviting aroma of freshly brewed coffee mingling with a hint of cinnamon. The hallway extended into the main living area, where they found Caleb Mitchell, a man now in his mid-fifties, standing with an air of annoyance.

He was average height, with graying hair that was neatly combed back.

Deep lines etched his face, a testament to the weight of the accusations that had plagued his life.

He wore a plaid flannel shirt, its sleeves rolled up to reveal weathered hands and tattooed arms. His faded jeans hinted at a simpler, more practical lifestyle.

Despite his casual attire, there was an underlying defiance about him.

“Thank you for inviting us in,” Callie said, extending a hand.

He shook it while eyeballing McKenzie. It was clear from his expression that he had disdain for the detective.

However, there was a flicker of curiosity and perceptive openness when he looked at her.

His gaze softened momentarily, hinting at a willingness to engage in conversation.

“Yeah. Well. Let’s get this over with,” he muttered. “And I want you to make a note after. I don’t want any further contact with police.”

“Aye, we will,” McKenzie muttered as he gazed at the minimalistic elegance.

The open-concept design emphasized spaciousness, with clean white walls and gleaming hardwood floors.

There were large windows that allowed natural light to flood the room.

Callie sat on the leather sofa in front of a glass coffee table.

She soaked in the room, making judgments and assumptions.

The walls were adorned with a few family photographs, capturing moments of joy and togetherness from the past. Yet it was noticeable that none were from the present.

Each one was a time capsule. Old vehicles, dated homes, and businesses that no longer existed in High Peaks.

All of which hinted at a sense of loss and solitude that Caleb now faced.

“Coffee or do you prefer arsenic!” he said, his gaze shifting to McKenzie.

McKenzie took the jab in stride, leaning forward with a smile. “Ah, I see what you did there. Touché.”

Caleb, on the other hand, didn’t look amused.

“Maybe later; we don’t want to take up much of your time,” Callie said.

The conversation began hesitantly, with Caleb expressing his weariness over the accusation that had tarnished his reputation and torn apart his family life.

“Twenty-five years I have lived in the shadow of a false accusation that forced me into a limelight that I didn’t want. I lost everything, so much that I had to leave High Peaks and move here.”

“Still close, though,” Callie said.

“I needed to be near my family.”

For the first time, McKenzie seemed content to let her take the helm on this one.

If she wasn’t mistaken, he looked uncomfortable.

Callie glanced down at the tablet, her notes, and questions.

She knew she had to delicately broach the subject, offering empathy and understanding while at the same time seeking to uncover anything that hadn’t made it into the reports.

It wasn’t so much a process of elimination as it was understanding Caleb’s perspective.

“Tell us about that time?” Callie said. “From what the reports say, you were brought in after someone accused you of sexual assault.”

“Falsely.”

“Of course,” she was quick to say. “You were cleared of all charges.”

He shook his head, glancing out the window at the harsh Adirondack winter.

“Back then, I was a taxi driver for Peaks Taxi. I had just dropped someone off when I picked up this seventeen-year-old. She looked older. It was after one in the morning. It wasn’t far from High Peaks Resort.

She said she’d been drinking and had lost her friends and cell phone.

She asked how much it would cost; I told her eighteen dollars based on the miles.

She only had ten, so we stopped at a bank where she took out another ten.

I took her to her house, dropped her off, and she gave me twenty.

The following day based on CCTV footage at the bank, they tracked me down and arrested me on the accusation that I had sexually assaulted this girl in the back of my taxi. ”

“Right, which they eventually ruled out because your taxi was fitted with a tracking device that recorded all the movements of your vehicle.”

He nodded and continued. “Yeah, but not before they took a DNA sample from me to confirm that I hadn’t…

touched her.” Callie nodded as he continued.

“They spoke with the company that manufactures the tracking device, and they confirmed that no one except them could change the data, and if I had gone in a different direction like what was alleged, it would have recorded it . Instead, it shows me stopping at the location I said, going to the bank with her, then on to her home, then leaving.”

“That’s what we have in the files.” She swiped the screen. “From what I heard, your problems didn’t end there.”

“No. One of my stepdaughters leaked a photo to the press. People started saying I looked like the composite and had previously owned a blue truck.”

Callie looked down. “That wasn’t in the files.”

“Of course it wasn’t. It was a rumor. False.

I never owned a blue truck. I never even had a truck.

I drove a white Toyota sedan back then. Anyway, the cops managed to trace back the source from the media to my then-wife’s daughters.

They didn’t like me from the moment I moved in.

The whole abduction of that girl and my likeness to the composite just set it all in motion.

I’m saying I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But people didn’t see it that way. Folks paid more attention to the newspaper article about me being accused of sexual assault and having a likeness to the person seen at the Scott abduction site than to the article that followed, clearing me of all charges. ”

“So the admitted you didn’t do it?” McKenzie asked.

“Oh no. She still thought she had been assaulted. I have no idea why. I mean, maybe I do know. What with all the lack of attention she was getting at home. However, she couldn’t argue with the evidence.

No proof could corroborate the timeline or location of where the alleged assault occurred.

I mean, look, I wasn’t the only one that was pulled in.

There were two other taxi drivers out that night.

They were then pulled in to be sure because the girl had been drinking.

” He frowned. “But you should have all of this information already?”

Callie continued, “We do. I mean, some of it.”

“Huh,” he muttered. “Let me guess, the accusing evidence mysteriously disappeared.”

“There was a flood. ”

“Ah, mother nature. There is always someone else to blame with the cops, isn’t it?”

“It was a long time ago.”

“For you. Not for me. I’m still living in the aftermath. And anyway, what is this all about? Have they finally gotten a lead about the missing Scott girl? And why are you on my doorstep?”

“Like we said, we just needed to fill in a few blanks.”

“As long as those blanks don’t involve targeting me, I’m fine with that,” he said. “Excuse me while I get some coffee,” he added, rising and leaving the room. As soon as he was gone, McKenzie was all over her.

“Fill in a few blanks?” he said in a hushed voice. “I thought you said that Sutherland was eyeing this guy as a potential person of interest for the Jane Doe case. What’s all this talk about filling in the blanks?”

“McKenzie, I don’t know how evidence from old cases is held down in the Big Apple, but this county has had multiple sheriffs, and the last one, who was convicted of corruption, tossed out a lot of case files and evidence in storage.

What little we have from the missing girl cases is a mishmash of what State kept hold of and what we’ve been able to dig up.

Visiting previous persons of interest is us giving this case our due diligence. ”

“And by we , you mean you and Sutherland?”

Her eyebrows rose, a smile tugging at her lips.

McKenzie leaned toward her and, in a calm voice, said, “I saw a young deputy bleed to death. This isn’t a game; you aren’t the lead detective, and I don’t appreciate being kept out of the loop.

” With that said, he got up and charged out.

Callie sat there momentarily before rising; she almost bumped into Mitchell on the way out.

“You’re leaving?”

“We’ll have to continue this another time. Something has come up. We’ll be in touch. Thank you,” she said as she exited, closing the door that McKenzie had left wide open. Callie heard Mitchell say there wouldn’t be another time.

“McKenzie! Hey!” Callie hollered in the wind. “Hold up.”

He turned, giving her an icy glare.

“What are you doing? We’re not done.”

“I am.”

She shifted from one foot to the next, the cold biting her cheeks.

“Listen, I’m sorry. I should have told you. I thought he already had.”

She expected some sarcastic remark, but he just got in the passenger side as she slipped behind the cruiser’s wheel. “You know, the office has a psychologist on hand. If you need to talk to someone about what you saw.”

He scoffed. “Don’t patronize me, Thorne. Now let’s go!” he said, not taking his eyes off the house. Callie stuck the gear stick in drive and eased into the dangerous whiteout.