Chapter Thirty-Eight

I hated thiswaiting.

Preparing the Five for me to anchor and the Ten for Leona didn't offer much distraction.

It was a slow news day. I gladly apportioned more time to Sports, with college basketball at its hottest, and tried not to grimace over a wire piece on happy daffodils across swaths of the country.

Nala Choi and I prepped two pieces, one for each broadcast, with background on Keefer Dobey's murder that could be topped with the breaking news of an arrest... if that happened.

It didn't.

Which brought me back to waiting.

And thinking.

If Randall Kenyon killed Keefer Dobey, the biggest question was answered.

That was a black and white question.

My questions were better suited to answers with lots of gray in them, maybe some paisley or plaid.

Yes, there remained the question of why. But that might require therapy, rather than an interview — law enforcement or journalistic.

Also questions surrounding his heavy-handed attempt to throw suspicion on Wendy Barlow.

Not that heavy-handed surprised me terribly in connection to Randall. He was the bull accustomed to getting what he wanted by threatening to enter the china shop.

I did a little reading on his history of buying out companies.

Then I placed a phone call.

The first one went to voice mail and I told Wardell Yardley to call me back, nothing urgent. He was a stretch anyway. Business was not his area of expertise — though he'd never admit that.

Matt Lester answered at home.

"Hey, Elizabeth, the whole family's here, so I—"

"Of course, of course. You go. Give my love to everyone—"

"Wait. Tell me what you called for."

"More of your thoughts, this time on Randall Kenyon."

"He's involved in the mess out there that connects with the Barlows?"

"Maybe. If it's confirmed, I'll give you a heads-up."

"Thanks. What do you want to know?"

"The business world's take on him."

He was silent a moment, putting together his thoughts.

"Generally admiring. Divided on how smart he is, including whether he was smart enough or lucky enough to hire really smart people. Want to start those shark types drooling, ask about Randall Kenyon's staff. Despite many efforts, only a few have been poached, because he's definitely smart enough to pay them so much they don't look elsewhere."

"Is he known for being impulsive? Making rash moves?"

"No. Good timing's one of the things he's credited with, even by those who think the staff carries him. I'll send you a link to a profile a friend did a couple years ago. That was before Kenyon's wife died and there has been talk that's deeply rattled him, but it will give you a good grounding. Anything else?"

"Depends on your time."

He chuckled. "I'm getting out of potato-peeling duty. Go ahead."

****

I posed thequestion of whether he knew any recently unemployed newspaper editors who might serve the needs of KWMT.

He laughed without humor and rattled off names.

"Wait. Stop. What about those who might be willing to move to Sherman, Wyoming."

"That narrows the list."

"And can make the transition to TV news."

He snorted. "They could all do that. Whether they're willing to...?"

He gave me three names and said he had more in mind, but wanted to check. Then he reported for potato-peeling duty.

****

Matt undersold RandallKenyon's reputation for timing in the business world according to the profile.

He rushed things. He stumbled around like Godzilla in his death throes. Because he was unsure of his daughter.

The man with the perfect timing for business deals rushed himself right into a mess.

But did that mess include murder?

****

Jennifer sent messagesasking for a group call ASAP.

We had to slot it in between Mike's broadcasts and after the Five.

I was home, had let out and fed both dogs, and had fifteen minutes to spare when attachments started coming in from Jennifer.

It took a while to sort them, then decide printing out would help with comprehension.

When the call came in, I had the eight-by-ten sheets spread out on the counter, some of them sideways because it wasn't big enough.

"Jennifer! You did it!" I'd like to think I said it, but it probably qualified as a squeal.

"I only got to look at a couple, but, is this what I think it is?" Mike asked.

"It is," Diana said firmly. "Amazing."

Jennifer tried not to grin.

She had blown up the individual photos we'd taken of the newspaper article Keefe found and enhanced it so we could read two-thirds of the words.

"It's got to be the article that secondary source cited, don't you think?" she asked. "The one with the guy who'd been in the posse chasing Oscar Virtanen years before."

"Definitely," Diana said. "And in case you didn't see it, Mike, among the reasons the old guy said he felt so sorry for the mourning widow, even though she'd been reputed to be involved in robberies, was because she was heavy with child."

"You guys were right," he said. "That's why Oscar did the robbery solo. She was too pregnant to join him. And probably his motive — to grab enough money to get far away, settle down, and have their family."

"And," I said, "the guy being interviewed said he heard later that she had the baby. If so, that makes Keefe being Oscar and Pearl's descendent possible, since they actually had a descendent."

"My question is why she didn't remain where she was in Montana? Because it says she started traveling south before the robbery, much less hearing Oscar was shot and being chased," Diana said. "Had they prearranged a meeting place?"

"Which could indicate they'd also prearranged a drop spot for the loot if necessary," Mike said. "And if this guy's right, she could have had the baby, waited a bit, then collected the money never to be heard from again."

"That never to be heard from again agrees with the dissertation by Mrs. P's mentor, though no mention of a baby, drop spot, or retrieval of the loot."

"This makes it less likely the treasure's out there waiting to be picked up," Mike noted. "You two going to tell Sam McCracken?"

I looked at Diana on the screen. "Feels like we're all on hold, pending whether Randall's charged with murder or not. Once that's settled..."

"I say we tell him. After we know about Randall," Diana said.

"That's the thing about this article," Jennifer said. "Even if it's one-hundred-percent accurate, it doesn't advance us on the murder, does it."

The answer to her non-question was No.

We fought back from that downer realization to celebrate her achievement in making this find mostly readable to the extent it deserved before wrapping up.