Before I Wake

  “Relax, I’m not looking at you, Andy. We’re just trying to figure out where she went and what she was doing, who she saw.”

  The man relaxed but only a bit. “I don’t want pulled into this, Nathan. I’ve got a business such as it is and I don’t want my name showing up in newspapers and having a bunch of reporters out here bugging me.”

  “It’s not going to happen. We’ll chat with Nella and see if Peggy stopped by there Saturday night.”

  “Nella’s place was dark when I drove in that night; I figured she was out with Walter, it being a Saturday evening.”

  Nathan closed his notebook. “What’s on your schedule after you haul the wire?”

  “I’ve got a load of generators to haul back from Tennessee for a Chicago boatyard. I figure I’m back here long enough to read the mail and pay bills in between.”

  “I hope these runs are more profitable.”

  Andy leaned down to quiet one of his dogs. “I hope so. I’m no farmer. I figure I get some of this land sold and that will take one of those bigger tax bills off my plate and let me fix up the truck to run more than patched together. I’d hate to see moving away from this place entirely to work for one of those outfits who pay a salary but want a ton of paperwork and have you on a vacation schedule.”

  “I hear you,” Nathan agreed. “I’d miss having you around during quail-hunting season. If I don’t see you again before you head out, take care on that drive.”

  “Appreciate it, Nathan.” Andy turned back to finish cleaning his truck.

  * * *

  Nathan unlocked the squad car. He tore off the fax that had been sent while they spoke with Andy, scanned it, and passed it over to Rae. “Read while I drive.”

  “Where are we heading next?”

  “Prescott’s place. It’s on the way to Nella’s.”

  Rae drank her coffee and scanned the sheet of paper. “Karen Reese and her cousin’s itinerary since they arrived in Justice. They ate east of town at the steak house around 5 p.m., checked into the hotel before six, and spent a couple hours chatting at the poolside. Karen called it an evening first and went up to watch some TV. The cousin got a late-night call from her aunt; she went to tell Karen their O’Hare flight times were going to have to change and she found Karen dead in bed.”

  “They never left the hotel.”

  “They barely had time to be here. Vending machines, something she drank or ate, you’re not talking many options if it’s something other than a natural death.”

  “I don’t like coincidences.”

  “Neither do I, but I know from firsthand experience they do happen. You can assume she talked to other hotel guests and a few of the local townsfolk who work at the restaurant or the hotel, beyond that—it’s going to be hard to spot overlaps with Peggy. Different hotels and different restaurants as far as I can tell.”

  Rae folded the sheet of paper and slid it in Nathan’s logbook. She covered a yawn. “When will the coroner have preliminary results?”

  “Midmorning. Let’s hope they are definitive one way or another.” Nathan turned left onto another country road. “I appreciate the time, Rae. I know I cut your night pretty short.”

  “I’m glad you let me come along. It will let me wrap up the case for Peggy’s parents. Once they find out someone else died in their sleep, I’ll have a hard time convincing them Peggy’s was a natural death unless this one is locked down tighter than a steel drum.”

  Nathan slowed. “Here we are.”

  “That’s Prescott’s land.”

  “Yes.” Nathan parked on the side of the road where the two country roads met and a stop sign gave the right-of-way to the north-south road.

  “His land starts here and runs half a mile east and a mile and a half west. You can see the old church steeple there on the horizon; that’s the edge of the property. Prescott’s house is down by the river.

  “The bridge you cross to reach it gave way late in the fall to an old chestnut tree that came down and since no one else lives back that way it’s not been repaired yet. They’ll need to drive steel beams to come up to code and that’s a lot easier in the summer. You can get close through this pasture or from the other direction you can hike through woods to the house.”

  “Why hasn’t the land been sold?”

  “I think probate is just finishing up; it’s been slow to move along. The bank owns this property now and they’ll find a buyer eventually. Joe’s brother out east has a small parcel of property pretty much right in the middle of this land and the bank was hoping to work out an exchange so the section they put up for sale is contiguous.”

  Rae stepped out of the squad car. The land was snow covered in spots and melting and the ground covered with scraggly grass. “If she had his old address, Peggy would have come down here, probably getting into the brambles trying to walk back on that road.”

  Rae walked down the fence line to the gate entering the section of land. “The rust on the latch was recently broken away; you can still see the flakes on top of the snow.”

  “Open the gate up; we’ll drive back there a bit.”

  Rae worked the latch and swung open the gate. “Did he keep cattle in this pasture?”

  “Yep. I’d watch where you are stepping.”

  “Now you tell me.” She waited for him to pull through and then closed the gate behind them. She got back into the car. “I bet this is a pretty place in the summer.”

  “Secluded, and the woods fill out nicely.” Nathan drove them along the worn path of a road and toward the river. They came upon it suddenly, the banks high and dropping swiftly down to the water.

  He parked. Rae stepped from the car to walk closer through the underbrush. The water ran at a steady pace, clouded with picked-up dirt. “You’re right; there’s not much to see.”

  “Just a river. In the spring this river comes close to overflowing the banks. It’s why there are cattle here and not a field of corn.”

  “The bridge is down there?” She pointed toward the curve.

  “Yes. And the house just past it.”

  “I can see why Peggy got lost.” Rae walked back to the car, rubbing her forearm. “Do you have a drug problem in town, Nathan?”

  He shrugged, more resigned than bothered by the question. “It’s available. Mostly marijuana and small quantities of the harder drugs. We get a lead on meth production around here every few months. Most of it is coming around the town bound for bigger markets around Chicago. Better prices.”

  “Peggy’s questions make me suspect she thought that producer of those rave designer drugs was around here.”

  “The kid who sold the stuff at the party, and the guy they think sold the stuff to him, neither was from around here.” Nathan touched his radio transmitter. “55-J, 10-9.”

  The message was repeated. “55-J, 10-21 to Larry Sikes.”

  “10-4.” He opened the squad-car door. “There’s enough abandoned land and fallow acres around here that a clandestine lab is not going to surprise me. I’d like to know the names Peggy had in that orange-covered notebook of hers.”

  “I’d just like to find her notebook,” Rae replied. “You need to go?”

  “A return call request to Larry Sikes, the union’s number two—I’m betting things are about to take an unpleasant turn in town. We’ll need to stop and see Nella later.”

  “It’s no problem. I’ll go back through Peggy’s things and over to the hotel to check her room, see if that orange notebook is somewhere and I just missed it.”

  “Peggy’s rental car is still at the police lot; it’s getting picked up this evening. Check with my assistant; she can get you to the right person who can unlock it for you to search it again as well.”

  “This is going to turn out to be a coincidence, Nathan. I don’t see what the two ladies could have in common. They were never even on the same side of town. If these two are murders, they are like nothing I have ever seen before.”

  Nathan picked up the car radio, a
cknowledged a 10-87, meet officer request, at city hall. “It’s been a while since I worked a murder case. I’ve been hoping to keep it that way.”

  “Coincidences do happen. Trust me on that. These two deaths could both be natural causes.”

  21

  Nathan leaned back in his desk chair until it rocked onto two rollers and he could feel the fatigue taking over. “I’m reading through a fog, Will.” He dropped the fax back on his desk and looked at his deputy chief. “Give me the highlights.”

  “Twenty-nine strikebreakers being bused in from the north from a hotel outside Waukegan. They’ll come in at 6 a.m.; plant security will open the gate for the bus and lock the gates behind them.”

  “Which if the union guys have their act together means the plant staff will have to be prepared with a blowtorch to cut off chains from the gate. Officers are sitting in front of both front and back gates to prevent that?”

  “One at each gate and a third on foot patrol around the plant grounds keeping an eye on the plant security guards so they don’t get pelted with bottles or the like. I’ve got the officers on six-hour rotations throughout the night so we keep fresh eyes and ears out there.”

  Nathan thought about the size of the plant, tucked as it was abutting up to a residential neighborhood, and figured the manpower was stationed about as well as they could do it. The east side of the plant was facing undeveloped land still heavy with trees and underbrush, while the back of the plant was a road that hadn’t been paved in so long the trucks in and out by that direction threatened to break an axle. The union lines had pretty much kept to the front of the plant and the main gate where the road was traveled regularly by townsfolk. “Has the tile plant deployed free-roaming guard dogs as they threatened to do within the fenced grounds?”

  “No, and I think we have Chet to thank for that. He talked some sense into the security chief out there, about what would be happening to his own men if trouble erupted and they ended up facing down their own guard dogs while trying to respond.”

  “I’ll take any small favor we can get; I didn’t relish hearing our guys were having to watch for not only people but animals out there. What’s the mood like?”

  “The union picket lines have been thinning out; men are caucusing this evening about the strikebreakers coming in. It sounds like a pretty intense debate on what to do is already under way, but at least it’s bought us a couple hours of quiet.”

  Nathan nodded. “I got a message from Larry and a request from him for a couple more officers to keep things under control at the union hall. Chet’s going over this evening, along with two officers from the patrol group.”

  Nathan rubbed his eyes, thinking through options. “I need a list in hand for who we call in first if trouble breaks out. Let’s avoid the guys with anniversaries and birthdays and significant events happening tomorrow if we can. But it may have to be a pretty deep list of names.”

  “I’ll have it for you within the hour,” Will promised.

  “Thanks.”

  Will headed out.

  Nathan glanced at his watch. In about twelve hours he would have strikebreakers entering the tile plant. The hours of Thursday were rushing by and he could feel it inside. After he’d dropped Rae back off at her hotel to get some sleep, he’d come back to the office to see what else was heating up on him.

  The only thing he was certain about was the fact that tomorrow would unfold on them before they were really ready for it. At least he had good men working the problems. There were a few guys among the union membership he might wish he could proactively arrest and remove from the equation, but at this point all he could do was hope for the best and be prepared to react if trouble started.

  Nathan waved in the detective heading toward his office. “Come on in, Sillman. What’s the latest on Karen?”

  It was obvious from the way he was working on the coffee he held, that he was dragging for energy right now. Sillman had spent a long night at the hotel. He stopped inside the office and leaned against the wall. “You’re going to love this, Nathan. The coroner finished the autopsy half an hour ago and says death is consistent with a heart attack.”

  Gray set down his coffee on the bookshelf to free up his hand. He turned pages in his notes. “The preliminary blood work has faint traces of a painkiller, consistent with two over-the-counter tablets and a sedative, also in levels that fit over-the-counter medication.

  “The hotel confirms Karen stopped by the front desk to request,” he read his notes, “an ironing board, two more towels, a packet of aspirins, and a Band-Aid for a torn hangnail. The night receptionist remembers the details because Walter was over at the hotel having dinner with his dad, and he restocked the medical-supply box for them before he left the hotel.”

  “So it’s natural causes.”

  “I’m no doctor, Nathan. I’ve got a coroner telling me nothing so far looks off but he’ll keep checking, a cousin who can account for practically every minute of Karen’s time before she died, no sign of any kind suggesting foul play, and no witness to anyone coming or going from the room other than the cousin. And that lady is still in shock; there’s no way she killed Karen.”

  “Where are we at with testing on the items found at the scene?”

  “Karen was snacking heavily while watching TV. I’ve got everything from candy wrappers to potato chips to fruit-filled pies from the vending machine. All of it is now at the lab being tested, along with what we pulled from the vending machines. They are about half done with the initial tests; so far nothing looks off.”

  Nathan felt like he was having to play God, for justice was balancing on this resource decision. “Is there any sign someone else at either hotel was also getting sick? Reports of upset stomachs, headaches, flu—anything at all being reported by the other guests?”

  Sillman picked up his coffee and finished it, looking over at the coffeemaker Nathan kept on his credenza to see about a refill. “I thought of that while I watched the coroner move her body. I’ve asked managers at both hotels and there is no other guest feeling ill they can identify in the days before or since these deaths. I think we’ve got what we got—a lady who died in her sleep.”

  Nathan wished someone else was sitting in this chair having to make these decisions. “Okay. Push hard on the case until the coroner gets his final test results in. If you can’t find anything off at the hotel and the coroner is prepared to sign off on this as natural causes, then we close it. I need you backtracking those stolen handguns before some union guy decides to go buy one of them on the street and use it. Are you okay with that?”

  “As much as I don’t want to say natural causes, yes, I think we’ve got no choice but to go with the coroner’s verdict. I’m not finding anything at the scene so far to suggest it isn’t that. And I’m tired enough after chasing down even the dust bunnies under the bed to be pretty confident nothing in that hotel room was missed. There was no pill bottle, nor stray pill she dropped when she took a handful of something that killed her.”

  Sillman regretfully threw away his empty coffee cup. “Did you discover anything else about Peggy’s itinerary? Was there any overlap between the two ladies at all? Is there anything else we can work with?”

  “There’s nothing so far. Peggy went to see Andy Kirk Saturday night, asking questions that suggest she thought someone in this area had a hand in those designer drugs that killed Prescott’s grandson. She probably went to see Nella after that, and given how Nella can talk, that probably explains the time Peggy arrived back at the hotel. Nothing so far suggests Peggy ran into foul play or the like the night she died; she was just out asking questions. When is Noland Reed starting with the county narcotics task force?”

  Sillman had to look at the calendar to figure out what day it was today. “Two weeks, I think. He’s already got his desk cleared out and his shoes shined; eager doesn’t describe his interest.”

  Nathan smiled. “I remember days we were both so young a new assignment looked like that
to us as well. I’m so glad we got that slot. At best we can tell so far, this reporter heard a rumor about the designer drugs that killed Prescott’s grandson and came to ask questions. Odds are good the task force has heard the same rumors. Tell Noland to look at anything they have, even the most unlikely rumors, about who’s been manufacturing some of the more exotic stuff hitting the market around here.”

  “Do her notes suggest what it was she heard?”

  “Her own brand of shorthand isn’t readable, making the one notebook we have worthless. The other notebook she was seen carrying on Saturday night hasn’t turned up yet. Rae’s looking for it.”

  Nathan shook his head. “So far these two ladies have absolutely nothing in common but the fact they both died in one of our hotels, apparently of natural causes. Even if Peggy had a rumor to chase about designer drugs, all we’ve proven so far is how little she learned while she was in town. She didn’t even know Joe Prescott had died until late Saturday night. I just don’t see how she got herself in so much trouble after learning that news that she got herself killed that night. If the coroner says natural causes for both ladies, I’ve got to admit I can’t see evidence that says he’s wrong.”

  Sillman nodded. “I don’t like it, but that’s the way this is breaking.”

  Nathan waved in his assistant and accepted the stack of phone-call slips. “I’ll talk with the coroner again to see if there’s any way we’ve got a new designer drug going around that his tests can’t pick up, but the last conversation I had with him on the topic said it was ‘theoretically possible’ but highly unlikely.

  “I’ll also work the Peggy angle through the end of the day to see if I can nail down anything more about the story she was writing. But if you don’t find anything from the scene of Karen’s death which suggests foul play and the coroner is ready to sign off as natural causes, we’ll move on. We’ve got no choice.”

  “Will do.”

  Nathan flipped through the call slips and slid the lot into his pocket. “Track me down if you need me. I’ll be somewhere in town.”