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  “It’s the last piece in the puzzle, Chief. We’ll meet you in the parking lot.”

  I told Rosie about the bullets as we looked for a place to have lunch.

  Chapter 39

  Chief Snark was glad to see his buddy, but his smile disappeared when Rosie and I walked into his office.

  “Blindsided is bad enough… but by a friend?”

  “Couldn’t be helped,” said Iverson. “Would you have agreed if you had known?”

  “Probably not.” He waved to chairs. “Okay, this better be good.”

  “I think it is,” said Iverson.

  An hour later Chief Snark had agreed to a meeting at four. He’d have Mrs. Peters and Detective Dunsley attend.

  ***

  They were already in the conference room when we arrived. We didn’t get a warm greeting. Dunsley looked disgusted and said, “Haven’t we had enough of you?” To say Mrs. Peters looked surprised was an understatement.

  “What are the Blaines doing here?” she asked.

  Snark looked at us and made the introductions. “This is Detective Lonnigan with the Chicago police and Mr. Manning, a private detective from Chicago.” He pointed at Iverson. “That’s Chief Iverson from Door.”

  I wish I had a picture of Peters’ face... I would have hung it in my office. There was no hint of a smile.

  Snark nodded at me. “Your show.”

  I sat next to Dunsley.

  “Wait a minute,” said Dunsley. “His show? Since when do you let an outsider run things around here? I’m not staying for this.” He stood.

  “Sit down, Dunsley.”

  He slowly sat with a look of amazement.

  “Go ahead, Mr. Manning.”

  “This all started with Lieutenant Powolski, my friend and Detective Lonnigan’s boss, being shot in Chicago. We let it be believed that he had been killed. By chance, I happened upon his history with your agency, Mrs. Peters, and the payments he had been making to support a struggling mother.”

  “Wait a minute,” Peters said. “If that’s what this is about, I don’t—”

  I held up my hand. “Don’t worry, that’s not what this is about.”

  The smile was back. “Good, because I assure you that all is—”

  I stopped her again. “I don’t need any more of your assurances.” The smile disappeared.

  “As we kept looking into your agency, I discovered the relationship between the Powolskis and the Maxwells and the Freys and the Bells.”

  She sat straight up in her chair, belligerently. “That’s just not true. I don’t know how—”

  “Mrs. Peters, this will go a lot better if you stop interrupting.”

  She sat back, but she was fuming.

  “No, you don’t know how. I’ll tell you. There was a break-in at your office a few weeks ago. Someone was found unconscious on the floor. That was me.”

  She jumped up. “I want him arrested! He just confessed. Arrest him now!”

  Snark didn’t move.

  “Detective Dunsley, do something!”

  Dunsley opened his mouth, but it quickly closed. She sat back down.

  “I found a file with all of those names on it, along with Victoria Petrace, and I found an employee file for Victoria. With a little more looking we figured out that Victoria had been an employee and a birth mother… and a birth mother who wanted her baby back.” I let that sink in. “You really should change your locks when you fire someone. She was already in your office when I went in. The door was unlocked.”

  “What was she doing in there?”

  “Looking for her baby, just like she was when you had that argument in your office. She found the file with the names and started going after them. When she didn’t find her baby she shot them.”

  “That’s just absurd,” she said. “Her baby is now ten years old. She wasn’t looking for a baby.”

  “Yes, she was. In her mind, it was still a baby. You need to be more careful in your screening process. We kept looking and discovered that Mrs. Maxwell had been murdered. The Frey’s garage was burned down last week, and Mrs. Bell was kidnapped and killed. All of the names on the file had been dealt with, two of them killed.”

  Dunsley found his courage. “That’s all too bad, but what does it have to do with us? Victoria confessed to the murders and ballistics shows that the bullets match her gun.” He smiled. “You can’t disagree with that—the test was done in your lab!” He was pretty confident and looking full of himself.

  “That’s all true, but Victoria didn’t kill Mrs. Bell.”

  “What the hell do you mean? Of course she did.”

  I slowly shook my head. “No, she didn’t.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Your friendly maggots,” I said with a smile. I explained the insect evidence.

  He wasn’t going to accept my explanation. “That’s all a lot of crap. But for the moment, let’s assume it’s true. Why are we sitting in here? We should be out looking for whoever did that.”

  “I think we’re done looking,” I said. “Here’s what someone did. They kidnapped Mrs. Bell Thursday night and either killed her then or sometime before Sunday. Then they brought her to the sanctuary and dropped her in the bushes where the hiker found her. Because of the insect evidence, we know she was moved by someone after she was killed, probably the same someone who killed her.” I stared at Dunsley. “I think the someone was you.”

  He laughed and slapped the table with his palm. “That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. It was Petrace. You probably haven’t heard, Manning, but we found a gun in her car. There’s a match. The bullets that killed Bell came from her gun.”

  I shrugged. “I’ll give you all that, except she didn’t fire the gun.”

  “You’re crazy. Her prints were on it. Chief, are you going to continue with this witch hunt?”

  “Let him finish.”

  “I’ll give you that too,” I said. “But I think the only time she touched that gun was after she was dead.”

  “Yeah? How the hell did she do that?”

  “She had a little help.” I let that hang in the quiet room. “After I suggested that you didn’t have to break down the door, the officers went to search the house. You told them when they were done with that to come back and do the car. The paramedics were out in the street. And Rosie and I walked back to my car, leaving you alone with the body. You could easily have put her prints on the gun and planted it in the car. And someone had to get Mrs. Bell in and out of a trunk and carry her into the woods. Victoria couldn’t have done that. Even you would have trouble… but you could.”

  He huffed. “What kind of dream world do you live in, Manning? That’s all a nice story, but you have no evidence. I don’t know how you do things in Chicago, but up here we need evidence.”

  “When you stood up, I noticed you had a green stain on your pants. Where did you get that?”

  “How the hell would I know? Just about anywhere.”

  “Like the sanctuary?”

  “Yeah, like that. When I found those damned maggots… I probably kneeled down in the leaves.”

  “You probably did. Mind if we check your pant cuffs?”

  “What?”

  “I’d like to check your cuffs. Lots of interesting things get stuck in there when you’re say… out in the woods.”

  “Yes, I mind. What difference does it make? You know I was out in the woods.”

  “Humor me.”

  He laughed. “I’m not going to humor you or anyone else.”

  “Then we’ll do it the hard way,” said Snark. He opened the folder in front of him and held up an envelope. “Search warrant for your person.”

  “Are you kidding me! What the hell is this?”

  Snark started to get up to hand the warrant to Dunsley.

  “Okay, okay, what do I care?” He stood.

  I asked Chiefs Snark and Iverson to come over and be witnesses. I slowly unfolded his left cuff. There were pieces of
dead leaves and lint. The right one had the same and also something that looked like a small twig.

  Dunsley was watching intently. “Okay, satisfied? I suppose you’re going to tell me you can prove I was at the sanctuary by looking at those. Well, I’ll help you out… I was there, and I have you three as witnesses.” There was a big smile on his face.

  I held up the twig and looked at it closely. “This is very interesting.”

  No one spoke.

  “Dunsley, you didn’t notice because Chief Iverson was keeping you busy, but after you walked away from the body I went over and took a close look. There was a dead grasshopper next to Mrs. Bell… looked like it had been squashed when her body was dropped.”

  He shrugged. “So what?”

  “So, I picked it up and saved it. That grasshopper has a missing leg. Looks like we’ve found it.” I handed it to Snark.

  Dunsley’s mouth dropped open. “This is all about a dead grasshopper? You’re insane! I got that when I was looking at the maggots.”

  I shook my head. “No, that grasshopper died a violent death when the body was dropped. It had been dead several days by the time I picked it up.”

  “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  It sounded kind of crazy to me too.

  I glanced at Chief Snark. He looked skeptical, but let me continue. Dunsley sat back down, looking smug. “If we’re done here…”

  “Not quite,” I said. “The file I saw in your office, Mrs. Peters, is missing. I saw it but I didn’t take it.”

  She looked confused. “Then who did?”

  “Victoria. She was the one who knocked me out. She had the file and had the names of all the people who were targeted. But that file wasn’t in her house or her car. Or at least it wasn’t found by the search team.”

  “Well, then where is it?”

  “Good question. Where is it, Dunsley?”

  He laughed again. “Man, you’re just not going to come down to earth.”

  “I think it was either in her house or her car. And now it’s in yours, unless you got rid of it, which would have been the wise thing to do.”

  “Yeah, good luck with that.”

  “And if we search your house? Are we going to find it?”

  He looked worried for just a second, but recovered quickly. “You’d need a warrant.”

  Snark opened his folder again and held up the next envelope.

  Dunsley didn’t look worried. He probably had gotten rid of it. He waved his hand. “Be my guest. Can we go now?”

  “Not quite,” I said. “Mrs. Bell was killed anywhere from three to five days before she was dropped in the sanctuary. During that time she had to be somewhere isolated because the wounds had time to close over before the flies found her. Since she had to be transported to the sanctuary, I’m guessing that spot was a trunk… and I don’t care how careful someone is, you can’t get someone who’s been shot in and out of a trunk without leaving blood evidence.”

  He laughed again. “I suppose you have a warrant for my car too.”

  Chief pulled out another envelope and handed it to me.

  Dunsley waved his hand in the air. “Knock yourselves out.” He looked very smug.

  “I didn’t think you’d be dumb enough to use your own car.” I turned to Mrs. Peters. “Which is why this warrant is for your car.” I handed it to her.

  She started to cry. “He blackmailed me. He said he knew something was going on and he wanted in on it. I told him about—”

  “Shut up you idiot! They don’t have anything!”

  “Quiet, Dunsley,” said Snark. “Please continue, Mrs. Peters.”

  She took a handkerchief out of her purse and wiped her eyes. She was sobbing as she continued. “I told him about the trouble the Bells were causing and I’d cut him in if he’d help. He came up with the plan. He said we could blame it all on Victoria.”

  Dunsley got up and reached for Peters. I pushed him back down in the chair and took all the air out of him.

  Chief Snark looked almost as deflated as Dunsley as he reached for the phone and punched a button. A minute later two officers came into the room. “Gentry, read these two their rights and book them for murder.”

  Gentry looked confused. “Um, which two, Chief?”

  “The woman and Dunsley.”

  “Dunsley?”

  Snark took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and nodded.

  On his way out, I said, “You really should change your pants once in a while, Dunsley.”

  When they were gone, Snark turned to us and said, “I guess an apology is in order.”

  I smiled. “No need, Chief. Glad to help.”

  We shook hands and Iverson told me I had earned some time off. I told him I was trying to do that but he kept calling me. He asked when we were leaving, and I refused to answer on the grounds that he might think of something else. We all laughed and said goodbye.

  Rosie said she wanted me to take the fastest way back to the cottage, but I had to disappoint her. I had one stop to make.

  When we got in the car she asked, “So, where’s the grasshopper?”

  I started the car. “What grasshopper?”

  “That wasn’t a grasshopper leg?”

  “Yes, I think it was. But I have no idea where the rest of it is.”

  She shook her head, laughing. “I should have known.”

  Chapter 40

  You coming in?” I asked.

  “Sure! Sounds like fun.”

  We walked across the street, and I held the door for her. Sarah was surprised to see us and greeted us with a smile.

  “What are you guys doing here?”

  “We’re here to take you for a ride,” I said.

  “That sounds like fun, but Mrs. Peters wouldn’t like it. She’s not here, but I can’t leave before five.”

  “I don’t think she’ll mind,” I said with a smile.

  She laughed. “You don’t know her… she’d mind. And I need this job.”

  “That’s the last thing on her mind, Sarah. She’s been arrested.”

  “What? Arrested! What for?”

  “Murder.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope. So why don’t you lock up and we’ll tell you about it on the way.”

  She agreed and asked where we were going. I told her it was a surprise.

  ***

  We told her the story on the way to Aunt Rose’s. The only thing we left out was why we were going to Rose’s. As we drove she raved about the scenery, and we were surprised to learn she had never been up here. As I pulled into the drive of the inn, she remarked about how lovely it was.

  We found Aunt Rose in the dining room, dusting.

  “Spencer, Rosie! I didn’t know you were coming. I look awful, and you have company.”

  We both laughed.

  “You look great, Rose,” said Rosie.

  “And who is this?” Rose asked.

  Rosie held out her hand. “This is Sarah Leek, the newest client of the Spencer Manning Employment Agency.”

  Sarah looked confused.

  “Let’s go out on the porch and I’ll explain,” I said.

  I did, and Sarah acted like she just was hit with a surprise party.

  “What do you think, Sarah?” I asked.

  “I don’t know what to think.”

  Aunt Rose stood and said, “Let me show you around, and we’ll chat some more.”

  Rosie and I rocked until Sarah got back and sat next to Rosie.

  “Now what do you think?” I asked.

  “I think it’s wonderful. It pays more than I’m making now! And Aunt Rose is a sweetheart. But it’s a long drive from Green Bay, and I don’t have a car.”

  Amelie jumped up in her lap and got comfortable.

  “Meet Amelie,” I said. “You have her approval.”

  We all laughed as Sarah stroked Amelie’s back.

  “How about if the drive was fifteen minutes?” I asked.

>   She laughed. “I’m beginning to think you’re a miracle worker, but not even you can do that.”

  “I can, and I will. I own a cottage on the other side of the peninsula, and I’m looking for a renter.”

  “I can’t believe it,” she said. “But I still don’t have a car.”

  “How did you get home on weekends?” Rosie asked.

  “I took the bus to Appleton and Dad picked me up.”

  “Well, I happen to know where there will soon be a couple of cars for sale pretty cheap.”

  She looked sad and shook her head. “I don’t have money to buy a car, Spencer, even if it’s cheap. I send every spare dollar home.”

  “I’ll help you out. How much is your rent?”

  “Five hundred a month.”

  “Wow, that works out great! The rent at the cottage is four hundred. I’ll buy the car and you can make payments and still be money ahead.”

  She shook her head, like she was trying to wake from a dream. “Is this all real?”

  “It is. Would you like to see the cottage?”

  “Sure!”

  “Okay, we’ll come back here for dinner, and you can meet Maxine.”

  “Who’s Maxine?”

  “Let’s go. We’ll talk while we drive.” I found Aunt Rose and invited ourselves to dinner.

  “Do you think she’ll take the job, Spencer?”

  “It’s a done deal, Aunt Rose.”

  She gave me a hug. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “That goes both ways.”

  ***

  Sarah loved the cottage and the bay, and we assured her that the current occupant would be leaving. As we walked back to the car, Rosie warned her about the neighbor.

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  Acknowledgements

  This book would not exist without the help and support of several special people. To my first readers and friends, Mike Polad, Carol Deleskiewicz, Gary Lindberg, Ellen Tullar Purviance, and John Zelman. Thanks for your edits and input. Any remaining errors are the property of the author. And, as before, to all my friends and readers who have asked for more Spencer, my undying thanks.