Chapter 22

TWENTY-TWO

MONDAY

I sleep like a log for a change, probably all that sea air. I wake just after dawn, dress, and go downstairs, following the smell of coffee.

Kitchens are the most used room in a house. The Marsh kitchen is the exception. It's completely decked out with all the newest appliances but Ronnie tells me they barely know how to use the espresso machine. Rebecca said Jack gave the house staff the next couple of days off. I don't know if he's just being a nice guy or if he doesn't want us talking to them. The walls have ears type of thinking. Jack is sitting at the head of the table with Rebecca and Ronnie on one side, me on the other.

"Have you shown your dad the note?" I ask.

Jack answers, "I've seen the note. Roger made a copy and texted it to me. It could be from anyone. It could mean anything or nothing at all."

Rebecca says, "Yesterday we talked to Missy, the night manager that found the note."

He gives Rebecca a stern look. "You started talking to people without my permission."

"That's right," I say. "The police haven't been there and they haven't formally taken a missing person report. You can't find a missing person if you don't look."

With a self-important look Jack says, "I know Sheriff Longbow personally. He assured me his best detective has been assigned. Sergeant Lucas has already started an informal investigation."

I assume by "best" and "informal" he means it will be low key and eyes only, which means slow and casual and most of all "quietly".

"Some detectives I've known are satisfied to wait and see if the missing person shows up. They feel justified because over ninety percent of missing person cases are family drama related—the spouse decides to leave, the child runs away and is staying down the street with a friend. In ninety percent of the cases, the missing person either comes home or makes some kind of contact within a few days or weeks."

"And the other ten percent?" he asks.

"I won't lie to you. Some are never found. Some are found too late."

"You mean dead."

"Mr. Marsh, your wife has been missing for almost three days and she hasn't made contact. An informal investigation is not what you need. More is at stake than your reputation or hurt feelings. Let us work on this. The worst that can happen is that we find her and she doesn't want to come home. We apologize but at least we know what happened."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he says.

"Look, Ronnie is better at finding missing persons than I am." I don't mind telling a lie in this case. "You are in a unique position to help us know your wife's mindset. Her relationship with your daughters. Her best friends. Extended family members. All marriages have ups and downs. We need to hear all of it. Don't hold anything back. The one tiny thing you don't tell us, no matter how personal or embarrassing it may be, might make a difference in finding her quickly."

He's a lawyer so his expression is unreadable. If he won't talk to me, maybe he'll talk to his daughters. However, if this starts looking more like an abduction than a wife leaving her husband, I'll have to advise Ronnie and Rebecca to push Sergeant Lucas to take off the kid gloves.

Ronnie puts a hand over his. "Dad, if one of us were missing, you would do anything to find us. I know you would. You love us. We love you. I know you and Mom don't always get along and sometimes she gets on your last nerve. But you've been together through hard times. I remember you telling us stories about your own childhood and your own dad and how you all struggled. It wasn't easy then, and it's not going to be easy now. Please don't wait until it's too late. Megan's right about me being good at this. I know you don't approve of my life choices but I love my job. If something happens to Mom, you'll never forgive yourself."

And Ronnie will never forgive you. The stiffness of his posture tells me she's gotten through.

He surprises everyone and says, "I would prefer to talk to Megan alone."

Ronnie and Rebecca exchange a look, get up, and both put a hand on his shoulder as they leave the room. This family is not as broken as I first thought. They're just pigheaded. I've never been that way myself.

Jack makes us coffee and puts the cup in front of me, waiting for me to speak first.

I oblige him and start with, "Did your wife leave you?"

Jack sputters a mouthful of coffee back into his cup. "You don't pull your punches, do you, Megan?" He dabs at his mouth with a table napkin. "I respect that. I'll admit things haven't been good for a while now. We sort of—grew apart. We married right out of college. She became involved with charities. First a little. Later it was all-consuming. I didn't think it was appropriate and it was sometimes dangerous being around those types of people. But it's what she had always wanted to do and I finally had no say in that matter."

Boy, this is sounding so familiar. I wonder if he sees the parallels to what he's been doing to Ronnie?

"That's the long answer to your question. Has she left me? The answer is no. Through it all, we still have an active sex life."

Eww! TMI. My fault. People my age don't like to hear about people his age doing it , but I told him not to hold anything back.

"Are either of you having…seeing other people?"

"I'm not and I'm sure Vicki's not."

"Does anyone hold a grudge against you or your wife?"

"I'm a lawyer. So yes, take your pick. But Vicki. No. She's kind to everyone."

"Anyone in particular have something against you?"

"I've thought about it. I've made enemies. But no one comes to mind that would do anything to her or my family just to get at me. I don't deal with those types." He looks uncomfortable. "But I think I know who the note is from."

And you didn't think that was important enough to tell me?

"I should have told you up front. But the person who wrote it isn't likely to harm her. She's had nothing to do with him for years."

"Maybe you should tell me and let me determine if he's a problem."

Jack never loses eye contact. The man is a professional. "Her brother, Vinnie. VinnieLombardi. The note is signed Dinky, and Vinnie used to call her Dinky when they were kids. He's an alcoholic, drug addict and has a gambling addiction."

I guess this is what he meant by Victoria having baggage. "Why would Vinnie leave the note? What did she promise?"

"He's most likely in over his head gambling, or he owes his dope dealer. Any of a dozen other things. Take your pick. In the past I bailed him out but I decided to be done with him. If he was going to ruin his life it wasn't going to be at the expense of this family's reputation. He knows I won't agree to any more handouts. Vicki knows I won't agree. Even if that's what the note is about, I can't see him doing anything like this. He's an idiot but this would be a new low, even for him. I'm guessing I'll hear from her soon asking for money for Vinnie."

"That's why you don't think she could have been taken?"

He doesn't hesitate. "No. Absolutely not. There hasn't been a ransom demand. I have money. It's been two days. Why wouldn't they contact me if she'd been…taken?"

I could tell him about our last case where the abduction wasn't for money. There are a lot of motives for taking someone against their will. Love, rejection, shame, vengeance, sometimes murder. The cases Ronnie and I worked shared all of these. The obvious suspect is not always the right one. Even now I have to look at what Jack is telling me with a jaundiced eye. Jack could be my guy. He's admitted they were having problems. In most missing person cases that end in murder, the spouse or significant other is always the first suspect.

"Could your wife have her own money to give her brother?"

"I give her an allowance and house money. I've set up an account for her charity work. I give her everything she needs. She has no large amount of money to give anyone."

"Has she given her brother money in the past and hid it from you?"

"She did a few years ago. Like I said, I put a stop to it."

"I need a list of her family members. Names, addresses, phone numbers, where they work, children, anything you know about them. Ronnie and I will find Vinnie. It may be nothing but at least we can talk to him."

"It will be a short list," Jack says.

"Okay. So it should be easy putting it together."

Ronnie sticks her head in the door. "Megan, we need to talk. In private."