Chapter 18

18

"Mulaney, any thoughts on those cards you pulled from Burke Lumber?" Chief Foster asked after the morning's roll call.

Still standing in the station's all-purpose room, Ryan shook his head as he gathered his notes and half-drunk cup of coffee. "Not really, sir. Most of the cards Peggy collected have little information. It all seems pretty run of the mill too. You know, the employees' birthdays, addresses, spouses' and kids' names. It's the kind of stuff that would usually be in an HR file. There's only about ten that have more notations."

His expression sharpened. "And what do those notes say? Do they have anything in common?"

As much as Ryan wanted to have something useful to report, he had to be honest. "I'm not sure. At first, I thought the cards with more notations were the longtime employees." He shrugged. "You know, like maybe the more Peggy Conway knew about them, the more she wrote. But then I realized that two of the employees have only been working at Burke for less than a year."

"What do those cards say?"

Ryan barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "They all sounded like personal problems Peggy had with folks. You know, like someone didn't listen to her advice or looked at her—or her son—strangely."

"Her son?"

Ryan rubbed the back of his neck. "I need to dig a little deeper into that, though I hate to waste time following a lead that has nothing to do with anything." He shrugged again. "It could be that those notecards are nothing more than a personal assistant on a power trip with an ax to grind." Thinking of some of the cases he'd worked on in the past, he added, "It wouldn't be the first time."

The chief nodded. "Good point. How private were these cards? Do you think Walker Burkholder knows about them?"

"I don't know. My gut says no, but I could be wrong. Again, it could simply be Peggy's way of recordkeeping. Maybe Mr. Burkholder likes to send birthday cards to employees or something."

"Yeah, or he wants to have a way to remember someone's wife or kids without digging into the personnel file." Chief Foster nodded as if he liked the sound of that. "Sounds like it's time for a private conversation with him, then, Mulaney."

"Yes, sir. But if you don't mind, I want to check one more thing. Peggy told us about the two cards that were missing, but I'm starting to wonder if more are missing and she didn't want me to know."

"What possible reason could she have for that?"

"There's no telling. But it's not like she has a good reason for using her time at work to write down gossip and snarky comments either."

"Point taken."

"Has the fire inspector told you anything more?"

"Yeah. It was set on purpose. They found the accelerant. A bottle of bourbon."

"Whoa."

"Right? Whoever set it could've chosen any number of things that would be hard to trace. This bottle of bourbon might be a good clue."

"Well, we are in Kentucky." There seemed to be at least one distillery in every county in the state.

The chief grinned. "This is the bourbon capital of the world, but it's not like there are a lot of drinkers working at Burke's. Over a third of the workers are Amish and they don't drink." He tapped the clipboard in his hand. "I think I'll visit Walker Burkholder myself. We've got a good relationship."

Relieved that he wasn't tasked with asking one of the most prominent citizens in the area about his personal business, Ryan said, "I'll continue working on those cards and visit with a couple of the employees."

"Sounds good. Thanks." He paused before turning away. "Are you still escorting Candace Evans around this afternoon?"

"Yes, sir." He lifted his chin. He understood the importance of the fire and robbery at Burke's, but he was emotionally invested in Candace. He didn't want to be told to stop escorting her.

The chief frowned. "Those photos that were left at the food court were no joke. I'm surprised she didn't want to cancel her appearances."

"I was too, but I think she's afraid if she doesn't make herself available in public, he's going to start seeking her out otherwise."

"Maybe. But I wouldn't be surprised if he's already doing both."

"I agree."

The chief nodded. "We need to figure out who this guy is. Are you sure she has no idea who he could be?"

"She says she doesn't. Candace says he changes his appearance each time she's seen him. She might not have ever gotten a real good look at him."

"Let's keep digging. If he's taken pictures of her for years, he's not a stranger to this town. Someone knows him."

"I agree." Figuring he needed to be honest about their plan he added, "I told Candace that I'd like to give the appearance of there being something between us."

"Of you two being in a relationship?"

Ryan could tell the chief was wondering just how emotionally involved he was with Candace, but he chose not to address it. "Sometimes that's all it takes for a stalker to lose interest."

After a slight pause, he nodded. "Or it might set him off, Ryan. Be careful."

"Yes, sir."

"You know I'm not just talking about the stalker here, right?"

It felt as if the chief was reading his mind. The truth was that as much as he wanted to keep things strictly professional between the two of them, his feelings were getting involved. "Yes, sir."

"All right then."

Finally dismissed, Ryan went to his cubicle and pulled out the cards again. Then, he pulled out two lists—one of all current employees, the other of employees who'd left within the last two years.

After an hour he'd gone through every current employee. This time he realized that another card was missing—Wayne Evans's.

It took him a minute, then he realized this was Candace's father. Why would his card have been removed?

He wrote that down to check, then moved on to the list ing of ex-employees. He'd just settled in, prepared to spend hours researching the names, when his phone dinged.

It was Candace.

Hey. Are you still good with taking me today?

Yep. We'll leave at 2. OK?

The coordinator of the first appearance asked if I could arrive 30 to 40 minutes early. There's a little girl in the hospital who wants to meet me and try on the crown.

He glanced at the time.

So we need to leave within the hour.

Yeah. Sorry. I couldn't say no.

Of course you couldn't. I'll be there in 30.

You sure?

Yep. Don't worry. I'll be there.

Thanks.

Ryan didn't bother replying because he didn't need her thanks. He was simply glad she was reaching out to him. He didn't want anyone else looking out for her or keeping her safe. As far as he was concerned, he wanted to take on that job.

He knew his heart was in danger, but what could he do?

It was yet another thing in his life that seemed out of his control.