CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

C HAPTER E IGHTEEN

Later That Evening

T he five o’clock whistle blew, signaling for the day shift to end. Isabelle thought it was quaint. She hadn’t heard one in a very long time. She took her jacket from the back of her chair and said good night to Jessica and George. “Thanks again for making me feel welcome.”

“Sure thing. Have a good night. See you in the A.M.”

George nodded. The man might have said six words all day.

Isabelle walked over to the transportation area and met up with Kat. “I guess we should grab some dinner and then bring our stuff here.”

Kat nodded. “Oliver gave me a set of keys for the outside door.”

“Not the inside?”

“Nope. That gets locked at five.”

“What if you need to work?”

“There’s a computer upstairs in the alcove. That’s where I’d log in.”

“Right. I remember seeing it now.”

The two walked through the cubicles, saying good night to their new colleagues. When they approached the parking lot, Kat mentioned there was a small office in the mill itself. That was for any overnight work that had to be done.

“Is there always someone on site?”

“If there isn’t a load in or load out, it’s supervised by two security guards. The mill doesn’t always run twenty-four-seven. And the other two divisions don’t require use of the mill.”

“You did your homework today.” Isabelle patted her on the back.

“And you?” Kat grinned.

Isabelle waited until there was no one in sight. “There seems to be an anti-Dickie, and don’t-like-Oliver consensus.”

“Yeah. I got the same chilly reaction.”

“I wonder, has it always been that way?” Isabelle pondered.

“We’ll have to do a little more digging.”

“I have to say, Jessica was rather forthcoming. I mean, she didn’t seem to be censoring anything she said, although I didn’t get too specific.” Isabelle pulled the flash drive from her pocket. “But I did manage to download some information about the Eugene location, including the blueprints.”

“As Charles would say, ‘Brilliant!’”

They got in their respective automobiles and drove back to The Grand Hotel. They had a lot to cover and got the meeting started right away.

“We Are Family” began to play on everyone’s laptop. Greetings and salutations were followed by a salute to Lady Liberty.

“First thing,” Charles began. “We found a lab in Portland that can do all the tests we need. Poisonous substances and fingerprint DNA. I’ll text you the details and contact person.”

“Excellent. It’s about an hour from here. I can run the evidence up in the morning,” Annie offered. She looked at the group. “I am the fastest driver.” No one disagreed. “I’m going to need a sample of Milton’s fingerprints.”

Myra handed Annie a newspaper. “Way ahead of you. I took it from his hospital room this morning.” She paused. “There may be several different people’s fingerprints on the paper, but there should be only two, or three tops, on the glass.”

“Who’s next?” Annie asked.

Kathryn raised her hand. “Transportation area seems tight and well-organized. The only thing that was curious was a slight attitude about Dickie and Oliver. More so about Dickie.”

Isabelle went next. “There’s a very chatty woman in the Cascade Inn division. Been with the company for twenty years. Likes her job. Adores the Spanglers, but, like Kathryn, I got a strange vibe when it came to Oliver. Kathryn and I were speculating on how long this uneasiness about the two men has been going on. I’ll try to get more info from Jessica tomorrow. Meanwhile, I was able to swipe the files, at least the ones I had access to. The Spanglers are the only ones who can access the entire database.”

Fergus chuckled. “For the moment.” Everyone else reacted the same.

“I have the blueprints,” Isabelle added. “I am going to try to get down to Eugene tomorrow or the day after. I’d like to get more info from Jessica. What do you think?” she asked the group.

“The family said they were going to bring in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but that could squash whatever we’re trying to accomplish. We really don’t want the Feds sniffing around,” Charles added.

“I spoke to Mrs. George today. I told her I would cover her daughter’s missing-person story. Make sure it stayed top of mind. Maybe we can stall their going to the Bureau.”

“What about Ellie’s friend? The U.S. Marshal? Doesn’t he work with missing children?” Isabelle asked.

“He did, but from what Ellie told me, he’s been promoted to Witness Protection. Management position, I believe,” Myra added. “I don’t know if he could be of any help.”

“He may have a new job, but he still has years of experience,” Charles said.

“Good point. But again, I doubt he could help unless it’s off the books,” Myra said.

“Let’s keep him in mind. We may have to call on him for some advice,” Charles said. “We need to find that girl.”

“So, I take it that I should go to Eugene tomorrow.” Isabelle jotted down a few notes.

“Yes,” Annie replied.

Myra was next. “Sasha and Eileen are due here first thing tomorrow. Sasha will tail Bart, and Eileen will tail Dickie. I am going to have lunch with Danielle.”

“And when I get back from Portland, Oliver is going to take me to a few car dealerships.”

Fergus blinked several times into the camera.

“What?” Annie asked. “I’m undercover.”

“Hardly,” Fergus said.

“You know what I mean. I phoned him earlier and said I was looking into buying a new sports car for my birthday, and would he accompany me.”

“Didn’t he think it odd that you would go car shopping in Oregon?” Maggie, the inquisitive reporter asked.

“No. Because I told him I wanted to drive it back home. Take to the open road.” She shook her head and grimaced. “Give me a little credit for coming up with a good story.”

Myra laughed. “You always have a good story.” She looked at Maggie. “What time are you meeting with the George family?”

“Eleven. They both took time off work to try to unravel this mystery.”

“I think Benjamin should accompany you there. Show them the huge effort the family and the media are taking, regardless of local law enforcement.” Myra made a note to contact Benjamin as soon as they were finished.

“Speaking of which, I know the deputy sheriff told the George family and the employees at Spangler that the family had to wait twenty-four hours.”

“We know that’s rubbish,” Charles huffed.

“Yes, I disabused Jessica of that notion.”

“So why do you suppose the local officials are holding back?” Kat asked.

“Good question,” Annie answered. “There are too many intersecting situations here, and we know that powerful families can have far-reaching influence on anyone, including the law. Maybe not everyone, but it only takes one or two for a cover-up.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Annie continued. “Kathryn and Izzie will be sharing the apartment at the main office.”

“Did anyone think that odd?” Fergus asked.

Kat chuckled. “I said we could braid each other’s hair.”

Fergus and Charles rolled their eyes. “Whatever it takes.”

Everyone echoed in unison: “Whatever it takes!”

“Let’s run this down again.” Annie went through the list:

1. Maggie interviews George family. Benjamin goes with her.

2. Izzie goes to Eugene.

3. Kat sniffs around office.

4. I go to Portland lab and then meet up with Oliver.

5. Sasha and Eileen scope out Bart and Dickie.

6. Fergus and Charles keep digging for more financials, also whatever certificates or permits may not be compliant.

Everyone was vigorously jotting notes and typing. “Milton is going to be released from the hospital tomorrow,” Annie added. “They are hiring a nurse who will come twice a day to take his vitals. He’ll be on a heart monitor, as well.”

“Glad to hear he’s going home. Seems like such a nice man,” Isabelle said.

Annie glanced over at Myra. Myra gave her a dagger stare in return. Annie giggled. Charles did not look pleased.

“Right. We shall reconvene tomorrow evening. Say, seven?” Charles asked.

“You got it!”

“Sure thing!”

And a few more voices chimed in.

Fergus ended the call with his usual, “Mind as you go.”

“Steady on,” Charles said. Then he looked at Myra. “And you and I shall have a little chat later, love.” His camera went black, and all that was left was the statue of Lady Liberty, waiting for her salutation.

When the meeting was over, Annie ordered dinner for everyone. Chicken, salmon, pasta, salad. The works.

“I’ll drop my things off at the apartment tomorrow and check in with Jessica. See if I can glean a little more insight before I head to Eugene,” Isabelle said.

“You going to spend the night there?” Kathryn asked.

“It will depend on what I find out. I may want to get the full picture. Day and night activity.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Myra said.

“Do you think it’s safe for Isabelle to go down there alone? I mean, we have no idea what she might be walking into.” Again, Maggie with the inquisitive and calculating mind.

“Maybe there will be a last-minute short-run?” Kathryn suggested.

“How do we pull that off?” Isabelle queried.

“I will simply place an order that needs to be delivered the same day,” Annie said. “I shall do it first thing.”

“Okay, but where is it going to be delivered?” Kathryn asked.

Annie typed something into her computer. She scrolled down a bit. “Bingo. There is a house being built for a veteran near Eugene. I am sure they can use some extra materials.”

“How did you find that?” Kathryn asked.

“I remembered a story about a disabled veteran who was evicted because of Eminent Domain. A big developer came in and had the land condemned, leaving the man without a place to live. A local church donated a piece of property and got some group funding.”

“Wow. That would make a great story,” Maggie said.

“It was. And you did,” Annie reminded her.

“Oh my gosh, you’re right. It was part of a bigger story about organizations helping displaced veterans who weren’t getting help from the V.A.”

“You sure helped give them a black eye,” Annie said.

“Well, they deserved it. Remember when my Aunt Sophie applied for spousal support after my Uncle Richard passed away? The V.A. dragged it on for a year and a half. We filled out almost thirty pages of paperwork and certificates, they confirmed receipt, but then every month, they said they were missing page whatever.”

“Did they call you to tell you?” Kathryn asked.

“No. I kept calling every month to ask for updates, and that’s when they would tell me they needed something else. This went on for months. No joke. I finally wrote to her congressman and got a phone call that same day from his aide. She asked me to fax her a couple of the pages, and within six weeks, we had a year and a half’s worth of spousal support.” Maggie took a breath. “It was retroactive.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“That’s when Maggie came to me and asked if she could do a story about the V.A. and interview some of the men and women who fought for our country and were now being ignored.”

“You should have gotten a Pulitzer for that piece,” Myra said.

Maggie almost gagged from laughing. “It was a good piece, but it wasn’t earth-shattering. Others have exposed worse conditions. That’s what the Goldsmith Prize is for: exposing poor government. Besides, I had an ax to grind.”

“Well, good on you for covering it,” Isabelle said. “But you really didn’t remember?”

“It was several years ago. Before this.” She made a circle with her finger, pointing to everyone. “Lots of stuff has happened since.”

“And more to come,” Annie said at a knock on the door.

“Food!” Maggie yelped.

“Maybe that’s why she didn’t remember. She’s ravenous,” Kathryn teased.

“She’s always ravenous,” Isabelle chimed in.

“Ah, but look.” Maggie held up her hands. “See? I’m not chewing on my nails anymore.”

“Ew. Gross.” Isabelle grimaced.

“Well, I didn’t eat them! Give me credit for trying to eliminate some of my perceived bad habits.”

“Perceived? That is to laugh!” And everyone did. Once again, Maggie, the junk-food junkie, sometimes nail-biting firecracker, was the brunt of the joke.