* * *
Later that night, Luke, Missy and I were seated on the back deck of the resort enjoying the clear summer night when my phone rang. I looked at the display and sighed. "Merrifield."
"I wanted to give you a professional 'well done', Ms. Merrifield. You tied him up nicely for us. By the time we got him into a cell, he'd about spilled his guts about everything. Of course the lawyer is going to try and get everything thrown out. But what else can you expect from a defense attorney?" O'Brien stated.
"Did he give his reasoning?" I asked.
"He felt that he was cheated out of money when Moreno flipped the old family farm. He'd demanded money immediately, even tried suing for it, but that wasn't going anywhere either. He was determined to make Moreno pay."
"Did you have any luck tracking down where he got the C-4 from? I don't expect that you can just walk into the hardware store and buy it off the shelf?"
"Not here you can't. But it seems that he had a contact in a demolition crew that was willing to part with a small quantity for a reasonable compensation. Of course, he's cooling his heels in an adjoining cell right now as well."
"Thanks for keeping me informed, Chief."
"Oh, and if you could let your brother know, we recovered the missing pick and hammer in Campbell's suitcase. Guess he thought they might be worth something in the antiques market."
"I can do that," I said with a light laugh.
"You enjoy the rest of your vacation, and if you ever think about giving up that idea of writing, I'd be willing to put you on my force."
"Is that a threat, Chief?" I asked with a laugh. "Thanks, but no. I think I'll just write this story. No one's going to believe it anyway."