Chapter 41

FORTY-ONE

An hour after we open the grisly package, Sergeant Lucas is sitting at the kitchen table with coffee and a pack of cookies. Whatcom County Sheriff crime scene techs have come and gone with the evidence. I sanitized the table from the bloodstains. Jack is still staring into the void. I might have to slap him out of his trance. I want to but I resist. He's their dad. I won't hurt him in front of them.

"Are you sure the finger is Mom's?" Rebecca asks, but Jack doesn't answer.

"It's Mom's," Ronnie says. "Whose else could it be?" Ronnie says this a little too sharply, and Rebecca starts crying.

"Sorry, sis. Maybe you're right. It doesn't?—"

Rebecca interrupts her. "No. You're right. I'm just…" Her words trail off and she dabs at her eyes with a napkin.

I know Ronnie has seen worse things in our career but this is her mom. She surprises me. Her police mind has kicked in and I can see the wheels turning.

Lucas, being the uncompassionate jerk he is, says, "Why didn't you tell us about the ransom demand, Jack? This changes everything."

Jack's cheeks redden but that pulls him out of his fugue. He faces Lucas and says, "They called and told me they would kill her if I told anyone. They already wanted Rebecca to stop. They were angry she'd called the police, and then Ronnie and her friend show up. I was getting the money together, but I don't have two million dollars in my back pocket. I told them I would pay and needed more time to get the money. They just hung up on me. It was stupid. I know that. They hurt her and that's all my fault. I can't live without her. She means everything to me. You have to believe me. I thought I could get her back and then I would tell all of you. I…"

Lucas interrupts Jack. "And you didn't have the gate camera recorder on?" It's more of an accusation than a question. But I get it. I'd wondered the same thing.

"I told you, Detective. I didn't know the cameras weren't recording. We mostly use them to identify who is at the gate so we can let them in. We don't record everyone. We've never needed to."

"Well, you know better now," Lucas says.

I want Jack to stand up to him. Lucas is bullying Jack. I don't like Jack but I like Lucas even less. Jack is paralyzed with guilt and fear that he's gotten his wife killed. Lucas is unfeeling. Even more than me.

In Jack's defense, I say, "What good would video have been? We don't know when it was left. It could have been left by a kid on a bicycle for all we know."

Jack looks at me and I can tell he's grateful even though he'd never say it. But in fact, the recording would have helped. For one thing it would have given us a time the envelope was left. Also some small description of who left it. I'm not done with Lucas yet.

"The kidnappers could at least have left you a return address, Lucas. That's how police work is done."

Now Lucas focuses his attention on me. That's good. I don't care what he thinks. "Sarcasm won't help, Carpenter."

"Detective Carpenter. Or Megan, if you like. Let's not make this ugly."

"Right," Lucas says, and finishes his coffee. "Well, that's that."

He gets up and straightens his tie. It has cookie crumbs on it. He's a slob.

"What do you mean, that's that ? What are you going to do now?" Rebecca asks.

Ronnie and I know what he's going to do. Nothing. He'll wait for the kidnappers to turn themselves in. Now more than ever I wish we could have brought our own crime scene team with us.

"Mr. Marsh had pictures of his wife delivered to the same mailbox by the kidnappers yesterday and didn't inform any of us. A recording of the delivery would have helped, don't you think? You don't have to answer that. But I'm going to tell you all again. If you have any other information, you need to tell me now. And"—he holds a finger up like he's scolding children—"anything in the future will be run past me before you do anything. This is my case. If it goes badly, I'll blame myself and I'll blame all of you. Shame on you for being so stubborn. This isn't a competition."

Ronnie speaks up. "The same goes for you, Sergeant Lucas. It's your reputation but she's our mom. This isn't a competition, like you said, but you saw the pictures for yourself. And now they've hurt her. Cut her finger off. Believe me, we'll keep in touch but you have to recognize our value and accept our help."

Lucas answers, "Yeah. I get it. Well, there's nothing you can do tonight but get some sleep. We'll go over this again in the morning. I wish you'd let my crime scene techs take the pictures. They may be able to do something to identify where she's being held. Actually, I insist you turn them over."

I hate to admit it, but Lucas has a point. He knows the people and the area. We're playing catch-up.

Jack had let us examine the photos but he has handled them several times. His fingerprints will be all over them. They were taken with an old-fashioned Polaroid camera. I didn't think those existed anymore. Jack has the Polaroid photos in his top pocket and he's kept touching the pocket like he's afraid the photos will disappear. I put my hand out and he reluctantly gives me the photos and I turn them over to Lucas.

Lucas goes to the kitchen doorway and turns to Jack. "You should turn the recorder on. Better late than never."

Jack just nods. He's glued to his chair and touches his empty shirt pocket. He's still in la-la land. Rebecca gets up and turns the recorders on. I'm ashamed I didn't ask about the recording and that makes me dislike Lucas even more.

The silence in the kitchen is awkward but there's not much to say. Jack looks at his empty hands maybe thinking they can do something to fix this. He disturbs the silence. "I don't trust him."

Rebecca stands and puts her arms around Jack. "Why didn't you tell us about the photos or the ransom?"

Jack looks around the table. "I couldn't. I didn't want any of you to get hurt. I was afraid you'd interfere and get yourself killed. This is my responsibility. I'm your father."

Ronnie blinks and I suddenly have a bad feeling. I imagine it's how a vulcanologist feels right before he witnesses an eruption.

"Your responsibility?" she yells. "That wasn't your call to make! This is what I do for a living, Dad. It didn't occur to you that I might be able to help? That I needed all the information?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Jack says, and looks like he's on the verge of tears. His voice cracked a little on the last word. Ronnie stares at him and when she speaks again, her voice has returned to its normal calmness.

"No more secrets," Ronnie says, and he quietly nods.

I hate to interrupt a tender moment but I have a question. "You said you don't trust Lucas. Why is that?"

Jack's mouth tightens into a straight line. He knows something else he hasn't told us. I can't wait to hear it.

"Spit it out, Jack. No more secrets," I say.

"Lucas knew about the ransom demand. I called him about the call and the pics. He's the one that told me my daughters would be in danger. He said Megan was messing things up and that he could get Vic back."

Ronnie is on her feet, both hands on the table. "That lying son of a…"

"Language," Rebecca says.

She doesn't have to worry about language. Ronnie wouldn't say "shit" if she was standing in a pile.

Jack says, "I trust you now. All of you. Whatever you decide I'll support you. I'll deal with Lucas later. Sheriff Longbow is a longtime friend."