Sandrift: A Lin Hanna Mystery (17 page)

Lin rounded the
largest of the hollies that separated the two yards. She thought she saw
movement in the tall shrubs that surrounded the lower level of the house.
  
Increasing her speed to a jog, she
shouted “Whose there? What do you think you’re doing?”

A dark figure
emerged near the back of the house running toward the marshy verge of the
sound.
 
Whoever it was wore dark
clothing and a toboggan pulled down low.
 
Lin caught only a fleeting glimpse of the person splashing into the
marsh grass that separated the yard from the sound.
 
A few moments later she thought she
heard a small boat being pushed out from the shore scraping against the
leathery grass.
 
She scrambled up
the stairs to the porch and threw the light switch hoping to see the intruder,
but it was too late.
 
Evidently
whoever it was had a rowboat well hidden in the marsh.
 
It was growing too dark to see beyond
the edge of Kate’s yard even with all the lights on.

Lin heart was
beating rapidly by this time.
 
She
settled herself on the sofa in the glassed porch area.
 
Sparky followed her, no longer barking
but whimpering still as he leaned against her leg.
 
She pulled the dog up on the sofa beside
her, stroking him gently as he snuggled into her side.
 
“Thanks for warning me, Sparky,” she
murmured. “Otherwise I would have walked right up on that character. You’ve
saved the day again.”

She sat quietly
with the dog for several minutes.
 
Gradually, her heartbeat returned to normal and her thoughts began to
clear.
 
She decided to jot down a
few notes about the incident while it was fresh. What could she say about the
person she saw?
 
Tall, she thought, a
large person, most likely a man. She hadn’t had a clear view of a face at
all.
 
It was discouraging to think
that was all she could really say.
 
She heard the clock inside strike the half-hour and looked at her watch,
five-thirty. Neal should be on his way home, she hoped, and Ken Parker was
coming in a couple of hours.
 
She
saw no point in calling either of them; the intruder was long gone.
 
Ken could take the report this
evening.
 
She heard Neal pull into
the driveway as she went into the kitchen to check on her soup.

Lin turned to
greet Neal as he entered the kitchen, trying to hide her surprise when she
realized he was standing there stark naked.
 
“What happened to you?” she couldn’t
help but grin in spite of herself.

Neal shrugged
sheepishly, “This is dirty work and today was worse than yesterday.
 
One of the sites extends into the edge
of the sound and I’m afraid I slipped and fell—more than once
actually.
 
Got soaked to the skin.
 
I stripped everything off downstairs and
dumped it all in the washer.”
 

Lin playfully
popped the kitchen towel at his naked rear as he scampered quickly upstairs to
bathe.
 
“Don’t take too long,” she
called up after him. “Soups almost ready and I want to talk to you before Ken
comes by later.” The tale of the intruder was best left for a few minutes she
decided.

By the time Ken
Parker arrived that evening, the mood was much more serious.
  
Lin’s close encounter with the
intruder had made them both realize that whoever had issued the warning was
deadly serious.
 
The second attempt
at a break in had occurred even though Lin had not been anywhere outside of the
neighborhood; she hadn’t talked to anyone except Eloise all day.
 

“Did this
person have a weapon of any kind?
 
Were you directly threatened?” Neal asked anxiously as they worked to
clear away the dishes before Ken arrived.

“Not that I
could see,” Lin responded. “I think whoever it was had on a big, bulky
coat.
 
There might have been a weapon
hidden, but I didn’t see one. The intruder ran as soon as I called out.”

Neal put down
his load of dishes and took Lin into his arms planting a soft kiss on the top
of her head. “This scares me, Lin.
 
It really does.
 
I think
maybe we should leave, go to a hotel or something.”

“We can’t do that,”
Lin was insistent, “we can’t let whoever this is frighten us into
submission.”
 
She realized how angry
she really was. “I haven’t done anything that should threaten anyone,” she
continued, “and I won’t be intimidated.
 
Besides, I promised Kate to look after things, including Sparky, and we
have already made plans for the holidays with my kids.
 
We’ll just have to stand up to this, not
give in and run away.”
 
She realized
she was trembling as she spoke.

Neal tried to
soothe her, “Okay, Okay.
 
I see your
point, but I do think we should have some sort of alarm system installed
tomorrow.
 
I know you haven’t had a
chance to talk to Kate yet, but I feel sure she ‘d agree and I’ll pay for it.”
He stroked her hair as she finally gave in to tears.
 

A few moments
later, her tears under control, Lin pulled herself away and looked into Neal’s
eyes longingly. “I’m sorry for the crying,” she was still sniffling as she
spoke, “I’m actually more angry than afraid.
 
I just can’t believe my actions have
been threatening to anyone.
 
It’s ok
about the alarm system.
 
I’ll call
Kate tomorrow when the time is right.
 
I’m sure she’ll agree.
 
I
just didn’t want to worry her.”

Lin realized it
was already past time for Ken to have arrived so she hurried upstairs to
freshen up while Neal started the dishwasher and put on a pot of fresh coffee.

By the time Lin
returned, Sgt. Parker was there, and he and Neal were already seated at the
kitchen table with files open and papers spread around.
 
She poured herself a cup of coffee and
joined them.

Neal was
telling Ken about the intruder, but he turned to Lin to fill in the
details.
 
When the tale was ended,
Ken leaned forward his elbows on the table.
 
It was obvious he was in deep thought.

“We’re
installing a security system as soon as I can get someone over here,” Neal
added, “ but we need to get to the bottom of why this is happening.
 
Lin’s inquiries have been focused only
on finding out what Dorrie Johnson was doing here during her last days.
 
Any references to that old murder case
were entirely incidental and brought up by others.
 
Dorrie’s death was clearly an accident,
and her parents are just seeking some answers. I’m not sure I understand what’s
going on here.” He turned to Ken in exasperation.

Ken remained
silent for a few minutes, clearly trying to gather his thoughts.

“I’m not
entirely sure that I know what is going on yet either,” he began, “
but
 
clearly
something is.”

“ I’m not sure
where to start. I’ve spent the entire day working on Connie Frazier’s murder,
and I think we’re close to making an arrest.
 
It seems her death may be related to
Liz’s murder ten years ago so that opens up that whole scenario again.”

“But I thought
everyone was pretty much thinking that Dorrie Johnson committed that crime,”
Lin spoke up.

“Maybe she did,
maybe she didn’t,” Ken offered. “I’m not sure myself.
 
Our department will probably try to
reopen that case in connection with this current one.
 
I know it’s been in the hands of the Sheriff’s
department all these years, but the death did occur in our jurisdiction, and
with this most recent killing, we have grounds to take a second look I think.”

“But that still
doesn’t explain why someone is trying to threaten Lin,” weariness and concern
were evident as Neal spoke.

“Maybe Dorrie’s
‘accident’ wasn’t as clear cut as it originally appeared. I think we may start
an investigation into that as well.
 
I had another look at the ME report today. That was my first time actually
reading it.
 
Earlier, I‘d simply
spoken to someone at the Sheriff’s department about the findings as to cause of
death,” Ken was clearly serious about this.

“What do you
mean?” Lin was puzzled, “If she died of an allergic reaction to a bee sting,
how can that be murder?”

“No, no.
 
That’s not what I’m saying.
 
Dorrie did die accidentally, the
question becomes was there any negligence involved at any point.
 
Remember, she didn’t have her epipen,
and we never found any evidence of it.
 
How did she lose it? Where? Who was she with?
 
That’s really why I wanted to talk to
you again.
 
I need to know
everything you were told by the people you talked to regarding their contact
with Dorrie.
 
I agree with Neal;
there has to be a connection here somewhere, and I need to find it. I know
we’ve talked a little about this already, but I need all the details you can
remember.”

An hour later,
Lin had finished relating everything she had learned about Dorrie and her
movements during her visit, including her visit to Tim’s Bar and Grill on Wednesday,
her talks with Mrs. Frazier and Connie on Thursday afternoon, and her “date”
with Billy Thornton Thursday night.
 

“That’s all
that I learned,” Lin said when she finished, “maybe she went into Manteo to try
to find Liz’s old boyfriend on Friday or maybe not.
 
I haven’t yet found any way to confirm
that.”

“You need to
leave that to us,” Ken insisted, “you’ve already been a great
help—especially by linking Dorrie to Billy Thornton.”
 
He said nothing more but he rose to
leave.

“Can you tell
us how you think negligence might have played a role in Dorrie’s death?”
 
Lin couldn’t believe he was leaving
without revealing more information.

“Not yet,” he
insisted.
 
“We’re still
investigating everything.
 
Maybe
there’s nothing there, but I intend to find out.”

After Ken left,
Lin felt restless.
 
She couldn’t
stop thinking about all the possible connections and possible angles in these
events.
 
She sensed that Neal was
somewhat agitated also.
 
He kept
puttering around the kitchen when there was clearly nothing more to be
done.
 
Finally, Lin got up and
grabbed Sparky’s leash. “Let’s go for a walk,” she said, “it’ll be good for all
of us. We’ll be together and Sparky will be with us so everything should be
ok.”

Neal mumbled
his agreement and went upstairs to fetch their jackets.
 
They stuck to the neighborhood but
walked for almost an hour.
 
Gradually, they began to feel calmer.

“By the way,”
Neal said as they turned the corner to head back to the house, “We had so much
excitement I forgot to tell you that your field trip is still on for
tomorrow.
 
At least there’s a Plan
B.
 
If it’s raining, the group will
gather in the theater for a film and talk followed by refreshments as
usual.
 
If you don’t feel up to
going, I’m sure someone can fill in.”

“Oh, I’m fine,”
Lin
insisted, “I’ll be there.
 
What are your plans?”

“Well, I’ve
finished the gridding and the team doesn’t arrive until Thursday, but I have
some more Christmas shopping to do.
 
I thought I might drop you off at the park and then do my shopping in
Manteo.
 
We can have lunch at that
nice inn on the waterfront afterward.”

“Sounds great,”
Lin smiled as they reached the house.
 
It was after ten when they finished checking the house and decided to go
upstairs.

“That walk in
the cold air left me energized,” Lin confessed. “I napped this afternoon and
I’m not sure I’m ready to go to sleep.”

“Don’t worry,”
Neal winked as they entered the bedroom.
 
The rain that had been forecast seemed to be starting, and a gentle patter
could be heard above. “I’ll make sure you’re relaxed and ready to sleep
well.”
 
And he did just that.

The gentle rain
that had lulled them to sleep the night before had become a steady downpour by
morning.
 
“I think I’m going to be
grateful for Plan B,” Lin said as she dressed and gathered her materials.

“I’m glad I
finished the gridding yesterday,” Neal added.
 
“This stuff would be impossible to work
in.
 
I hope it clears by tomorrow
when the team arrives.”

Before they
left for Manteo, Neal was able to reach a security company and talk to someone
who agreed to come by later that morning if someone could let them in.
 
A quick call to Eloise took care of
that.
 
She had no plans to go out in
the rain; they dropped the key off at her place before they left.

The ride over
was quiet.
 
Lin spent the time
reviewing some of her notes for the presentation.
 

“I’ll be back
shortly before noon,” Neal said as he dropped her off at the entrance to the
visitor center.

In spite of not
being able to walk the grounds, the students seemed to enjoy their visit.
 
The staff had an excellent film to show
them, and they had assembled a touch table with various items the kids were
allowed to examine.
 
Lin took them
on a walk-through of the visitor center explaining the various exhibits and
answering questions. Of course, the refreshments were a hit, as always.

After the group
departed, Lin spent the rest of the morning helping the staff with some
filing.
 
The bad weather meant there
were few visitors so it was a good opportunity to handle some paperwork chores.

Neal arrived
shortly before noon as promised and in an ebullient mood.
 
Evidently his shopping trip had been a
success, but he wasn’t willing to share much with Lin.
 
“Oh, I picked up a couple of small items
for your grandkids, this and that, nothing major,” was all he said.

Lin took the
hint and changed the subject.
 
Evidently, he was shopping for me, she thought.

The
conversation turned a bit more serious over lunch.
 
While waiting for their meal, Lin
decided to call Kate in London.
 
It
would be late afternoon there so she hoped to catch her after her workday was
completed and before she might leave for the evening.
 
Kate was alarmed by what had happened
and readily agreed that the security system was a good idea.
 
She declined Neal’s offer to fund the
operation; she said that she had thought about doing something anyway, and she
would take care of the bill when she returned.

That taken care of, they relaxed and enjoyed delicious seafood
chowder and salads.
 
Lin
decided to probe further on the subject of Neal’s shopping asking him what
stores he visited for starters.

“I’m not falling
for any tricks like that,” he teased. “Santa Claus always keeps his secrets,
now tell me about your plans for the rest of the day.”

Actually, Lin
had no plans so they decided to simply go back to Kate’s and maybe check with
the security company about their survey of the property.
 

As they were
leaving the restaurant, Lin’s phone rang.
 
It was Matt Johnson.

“ I should have
called you this morning,” he said. “ I’m in Manteo right now.
 
I decided to come down and check on the
medical report first hand.
 
Sara is
doing much better so I felt I could leave her for a couple of days; in fact she
wanted me to come.
 
I called the
medical examiner’s office, and I have an appointment this afternoon to see the
report.
 
This will also give me a
chance to pick up Dorrie’s car.
 
The
police were ready to release it when we were down before, but Sara wasn’t up to
driving our car home.
 
I drove a
rental today. I was calling to see if maybe we could talk later after I talk to
the ME and take care of the car business.”

“Sure,” Lin
replied. “We’re heading home right now and have no plans for the
afternoon.”
 
She gave him directions
to Kate’s.
 
She was glad he was
coming because she welcomed the chance to learn more about the medical report
herself.

***

The rain had
stopped by the time they arrived at the house, although the sky still looked
threatening.
 
There was no sign of
the security company so Neal telephoned.
 
They had completed the survey, but because of the weather they couldn’t
begin work until the next day.

“I think I’ll
take Sparky for a walk while there’s a break in the rain,” Neal said gazing out
the window at the still heavy clouds,
 
“want to come?”

“I think I’ll
just rest and read a bit, if you don’t mind. I think all of the stresses of the
last few days are catching up with me.” Lin smiled, “Matt won’t be here until
four or later.”

“Good idea,”
Neal agreed, “maybe I’ll join you when I get back, come on Sparky, we might not
have long to get this walk in.”
 
He
grabbed the leash and left quickly.

Lin changed out
of the uniform and dressed in sweatpants and a loose long-sleeved tee.
 
She settled herself on the sofa in the
office upstairs, pulling a fleece afghan over her legs.
 
Although she took her book and started a
new chapter, she soon found her eyes closing.
 
I’ll never finish this book, she
thought.
 
Every time I start to read
I go to sleep.

Some time later
she woke with a start to the ringing of a telephone somewhere.
 
I must’ve left it in the bedroom she
thought.
 
Scrambling to her feet,
she dashed across the hallway, but the phone was silent by the time she found
it.
 
The caller was Ken Parker so
she returned the call immediately.

“Sorry Ken, I
was in the office and my phone was in the bedroom,” she explained when the
officer answered.

“That’s
OK.
 
I hope I didn’t disturb you,
but I wanted you to know that we’ve made an arrest in the Connie Frazier
case.
 
We just picked up Billy
Thornton, and he’ll be charged tomorrow.”

Lin tried to
swallow her shock.
 
She’d taken
Billy for a flirtatious ladies man but she wouldn’t have pegged him as a killer
by any means.
 
She found herself
speechless for the moment.

Ken continued,
“Apparently, he and Connie had a pretty loud argument late last Saturday at
Tim’s Bar, there were several witnesses.
 
Connie accused him of killing her sister and trying to pin it on Dorrie Johnson.
 
According to the witnesses she
threatened him, and he left in a rage.
 
It seems that Connie left the bar about ten minutes later.
 
Apparently, she was jumped and beaten
right after she left the bar.
 
She
was tossed into the dumpster, either dead or dying.”

Lin found her
voice, “Do you think Billy was our prowler?”

“Probably not
Billy, but we’re looking into the possibility that he might’ve hired someone to
intimidate you.
 
We still have a lot
of questions to answer, but if Connie was right about Billy where Liz was
concerned, he might’ve gotten nervous over your questions about Dorrie.
There’re a lot of those guys who hang out at Tim’s who wouldn’t mind earning a
buck or two doing that kind of dirty work.
 
We’ll find out who, but my guess is that will end now.”

“Well, I’m
surprised.
 
I didn’t take Billy for
that kind of person,” Lin said.

“You never know
what people will do if they feel threatened,” Ken offered, “ I think he might’ve
contributed in some way to Dorrie’s accident.
 
We’re reopening that investigation as
well.”

Lin told Ken
about Matt Johnson being in town and that he was coming out to see them later
in the afternoon.
 
“Matt’s at the
medical examiner’s office right now, I think, he’s looking at the report.”

“Do you mind if
I come by later myself?” Ken asked. “I’d like to talk to Mr. Johnson about the
report and why we’re reopening our investigation into Dorrie’s accident.”

“Please do,”
Lin responded. “I’m sure he’ll want to talk to you, and I have some more
questions myself.”

When she had
ended the conversation, Lin glanced at the clock and noticed it was already
three.
 
She’d been asleep for almost
two hours.
 
Where was Neal? She
realized that she hadn’t heard him return and there was no sign of Sparky
either.
 
The rain had resumed,
although not as heavily as before.
 
They should’ve returned by now.
 
She hurried downstairs but the house was empty.
 
Maybe, there’s a message, she
thought.
 
She reached into her
pocket to grab her cell phone.
 
Sure
enough, she hadn’t noticed that Neal had called, evidently when she’d been
sleeping so soundly it didn’t awaken her.
  
The message indicated that he and
Sparky had been caught by the rain down at the Wright Memorial and taken refuge
there to wait it out. “Please come pick us up when you get this message,” was
the final word.

Lin grabbed her
keys and had just reached her car when a park service truck pulled up with Neal
and a very wet Sparky ensconced on the front seat.

“I’m so sorry,”
Lin greeted them, grabbing a beach towel from the shelf and throwing it around
the wet dog.
 
“I fell asleep and
didn’t hear my phone.
 
Just found
your message.”
 
She rubbed Sparky
vigorously as Neal began to strip off his wet clothing.

“This seems to
be happening on a regular basis,” he grinned, now down to his boxers. “At
least, this time I’m not wet through to the skin.”

Stopping to put
Sparky on the enclosed porch so that he could dry more, Lin followed Neal
upstairs, catching him up on the news that Billy Thornton had been arrested and
Ken Parker was coming over to talk to Matt and to them later.

“I’d better
shower first,” Neal said. “I ‘d sure love to have something hot to drink when
I’m done.”

“I’ll put on
some coffee,” Lin said as she turned to go back downstairs.

While she
waited for the coffee to make and Neal to finish cleaning up, Lin checked the
grocery supply with dinner in mind.
 
Once again, the cupboard was almost bare.
 
Maybe they’d better plan to eat out and
perhaps Matt Johnson would like to join them.
 
She shared this idea with Neal as he
joined her in the kitchen.

“Fine,” he
said, “where do you want to go?”

“Well, Tim’s
Bar and Grill is supposed to serve excellent barbeque, and that’s one dish you
don’t want to miss on your visit; I think we should go try it.
 
In fact when I talked to Tim earlier I
told him I’d bring you.”

Neal rolled his
eyes and grinned at her, “And, by the way, you might have a chance to talk to
the proprietor again?”

Lin smiled,
“Maybe, we’ll see.”
 
She got more
mugs from the cabinet and put some cookies she had found on a plate.
 
They heard a car pull into the driveway
as their first visitor arrived.

Matt Johnson
shed his wet jacket before ascending the stairs to the main floor. “What a
day,” he remarked.
 
“I drove through
rain off and on all the way from Richmond.
 
It looks like it might be over now—sun’s trying to peek through.”

Lin welcomed
him and suggested that they sit on the porch.
 
Neal had turned on the gas logs to
dispel the chill.
 
The rain did seem
to be ending and the sun was trying to peek through the clouds to the west
promising a lovely sunset to come.

Matt welcomed
the hot coffee and took a handful of the cookies from the plate Lin had placed
on the coffee table. “ I didn’t stop for lunch,” he explained, “wanted to make
sure I was on time at the medical examiner’s office.”

“What did he
have to say?” Lin was eager to know.

Matt grimaced,
a somber expression on his face, “It disturbed me,” he admitted. “I’d sort of
assumed that Dorrie just decided to go for a walk, got stung and probably
slipped and fell into the water, but there was more to it than that.” He
hesitated reluctant to go on.

“Ken Parker
told us the local police were considering reopening the investigation,” Lin
spoke, breaking the silence. “ He thought there might be factors that
contributed to her accident, maybe negligence, in fact, he should be arriving
soon to talk to you.”

“I’m glad Sara
isn’t here to hear this,” Matt offered, “but the ME told me Dorrie had sex
within 24 hours or so of her death,” he swallowed hard, “there were drugs in
her system as well—pot and some sort of heavy-duty tranquilizers.
 
He said it was surprising that she was
able to take a walk anywhere, much less on a rough trail in the woods—she
would’ve been seriously hung over, definitely impaired.
 
Maybe that’s why she forgot or lost her
epipen. Apparently she drove herself to that trail in that condition.” There
was a catch in Matt’s voice and Lin saw that he was fighting back tears. “I
thought Dorrie had given up all that stuff.
 
Guess coming back into her old
environment got her in trouble again.”