resources unofficially. However, she believed it was too late for manpower. Too late to have police fan out through neighborhoods interviewing people who might have noticed a girl on a blue bicycle. Too much time had passed.
“Where are you now, Sandy?”
“I’m in Martin Bronner’s office.”
“Well, why are you there? I’m really worried,” he couldn’t speak without his voice cracking. “If Toby kidnapped her, he had to stash her someplace. Now he’s dead and it’s possible no one knows where he took her. Could be Jamie’s dead as well.”
“She’s not dead. I don’t think Toby would kill her.”
“Not unless the bastard attacked my baby and everything went terribly wrong. Jamie’s a little tiger when she gets pushed. She’d fight to the death.”
“Don’t even think about that. Even though they didn’t get along, it’s possible Toby left Jamie with his mother. She has that new expensive TV which might indicate her involvement. Even if she did know of the blackmail, it might not have any connection to the kidnapping. I searched around her house some, but not every crevice and couldn’t look in the garage at all.”
“Will someone please explain to me why a search warrant for that house is out of the question?”
“I already asked about that, the sheriff’s not willing to stick his neck out. Says there’s no probable cause for a search since there’s no reported kidnapping.”
Kevin said, “The police just aren’t connecting the dots. Maddening.”
“Because they don’t connect the two situations. The sheriff is investigating the murder of Toby, but not the unreported kidnapping. You know, maybe I’ve been approaching this wrong.”
“Something we’ve overlooked?”
“How about this? We stop asking the sheriff to search Toby’s house because of a missing girl, and start telling him to search Toby’s house because of their murder investigation.”
“And if they do search because of the murder, they might find Jamie. Why aren’t they routinely searching the house anyway if they’re trying to find his murderer?”
“Of course, they’d search a suspect’s house. But Toby was the victim, not the murderer. Let’s pursue this. Hold on.” She called Triney and asked him why they hadn’t searched for clues in the house where the murder victim lived.
“We’ve tried that. Ruth Towalski won’t permit a voluntary search of her house. A warrant must name a specific item to be searched for,” he explained. “You can’t go on a witch hunt. The judge said searching the victim’s house for just any kind of possible evidence that might lead to his killer isn’t permitted. You need probable cause.”
Talking with Triney on this subject, and hearing the sound of his voice gave her a strange feeling of having this identical conversation with him before. Had they already talked about searching for evidence of who had shot Toby? Had they talked about the shooting of him before?
“Triney, this is going to sound strange.”
“Oh, oh. Here comes the soft soap. Go ahead, get on with it, Sugar.”
That had to stop, it was just encouraging him. “Before I get on with it. Could I ask you to please not to call me Sugar? It sounds very nice coming from you, but I had a disastrous relationship with a man who called me that. It brings back bad memories.” That was a total lie.
“Of course, I’m sorry Sandy. I didn’t intend to sound familiar.”
She knew exactly his intention. “Thank you. Sorry I had to mention that. Okay here’s what I need. Could I look at the file on the Toby Towalski shooting?”
“No way. You’re really a troublemaker. You’ve too much time on your hands? You going to solve that murder too?”
“Okay, don’t show me the file. If I come out there, will you thumb through it and just talk out loud? Come on. I was threatened with a knife and ended up scared to death with blood all over me. You owe me something.”
“Okay, but I have somewhere to go in an hour. Get yourself out here now.”
She relayed the message to Kevin; they’d meet at the sheriff’s office. She said goodbye to Martin.
“Will you be at liberty for cocktails later?” Martin asked as she was at the door.
“You’ve got work to do.”
Within twenty minutes, she and Kevin were sitting across the desk from Triney. He had just opened up the casebook on the Toby Towalski murder when his phone rang.
“Yes sir. Yes, Sheriff, I know. Of course I know who she is. Yes, I’ll take full responsibility.” He hung up. “The sheriff ordered you out of the building as soon as possible. He says trouble follows you around and he doesn’t want deputies seen talking to you. So make it quick. What do you want to know?”
“The sheriff will feel differently after I solve a murder for him.” She pointed to the casebook. “I had a deja vu feeling about something...something you told me about the case. Do you remember speaking to me? Telling me something?”
“Yeah, I think I did. I told you the bullet lodged in his back.”
“That wasn’t it.”
“Oh, yeah. I said Toby’s killer used a revolver as we found no casing.”
“Something like that. Keep talking.”
“Let me look here...yeah, the county lab tech says it’s an old .32 long, an obsolete caliber for a revolver.”
She was so excited she jumped up. “Bingo, Triney. Bingo. That’s it. How about this? You say the slug that killed Toby was obsolete. It wouldn’t fit a modern revolver. Now I remember...Ruth told me her husband collects antique firearms. You see where I’m going with this, Sherlock?”
“You just made that up, didn’t you? You are a sneaky one. I must admit it’s a good try. In fact an excellent try.”
“I swear she did tell me. It’s true. So, an obsolete bullet might have come from an obsolete gun. There’s your probable cause to search Toby’s house.”
“You’re not kidding, are you? Okay, it’s damn good. Moran will go for it because the warrant will state we’re specifically searching for an antique revolver.”
She thought, and the specific item you might find is a 10-year-old girl, however they don’t need to know that just now. Aloud she said, “Go get that search warrant of Towalski’s house. Remember I told you I’d make things up to you. Well, I’ll give you another tip because I know where that gun is hidden. It’s in the garage. Be sure to look in the garage first.”
“I remember what happened to Detective Pomar when he took your advice. You’re up to something. What’s this business with the garage? How do you know the gun’s in the garage?”
“Absolutely, certain. Look first in the garage. And Triney, if you have a Juvenile Officer on duty, take her with you. Will you call me when you’re on the way over there?”
“Hotshot, I wouldn’t make a move without you.”
She and Kevin left the building and were walking across the parking lot when she stopped. “The question is why would the murder weapon be hidden in the victim’s house? The answer is just beginning to sink in. If the old slug they took out of Toby’s back, matches an old firearm in Ruth’s house, then I’ve solved another murder.”
“You mean Ruth Towalski used an old gun? She murdered her own son?”
“Stepson, I believe. I’ll be damned. I thought it was Abby who shot him to get him out of the blackmail scheme.”
He said, “So, it was his stepmother. Why on earth would she kill him?”
“You’re right. Doesn’t make sense.”
* * * *
Three hours later, in response to Triney’s phone call, Sandy and Kevin rushed out to Ruth Towalski’s house. Five sheriff’s vehicles with flashing lights were parked at various angles: in the driveway, on the grass, and in the street.
Jamie came out the front door holding hands with a sheriff’s juvenile officer. She saw Sandy, jumped off the porch, and ran to her. After a long hug, Sandy held Jamie out at arm’s length. She was excited but appeared all right.
