Death's Door Read online

  “What’s the matter, Sarah?” I asked. I made sure not to look at Rosie.

  “I shouldn’t have said her name. Please don’t tell Mrs. Peters I told you. Mothers’ and clients’ names are confidential. She’d fire me.” She looked scared.

  Rosie patted her arm again. “Don’t worry, Sarah. We’d never say anything. To tell you the truth, we’re not very fond of Mrs. Peters.”

  She let out a long breath and looked relieved. A little smile replaced the fear. “To tell you the truth, I’m not either.”

  We all laughed.

  “Do you know any more about it?” Rosie asked.

  “I just overheard yelling. Normally I can’t hear what goes on in Mrs. Peters’ office… she usually keeps the door closed. But Vic…” she looked at both of us.

  “It’s okay, Sarah,” said Rosie.

  She nodded. “I could hear because Victoria was yelling. She wanted to know who had her baby. They’re not supposed to know that.”

  “Of course not,” Rosie said. “Did you hear anything else?”

  “No. A few minutes later Victoria left. She didn’t look at me. Mrs. Peters came out and told me there had been a misunderstanding and Victoria should not be allowed in if she came back and not to make any appointments with her. She told me we were going to keep the doors locked for a few days.”

  “She didn’t call the police and report it?”

  She shook her head. “No. I suggested that, but she didn’t want to. She said she just needed to blow off some steam and that was probably the end of it.”

  “And did she ever come back?”

  “No, but I was pretty scared. But I felt better with the doors locked.”

  I was beginning to think she had come back, and was hoping I’d get to thank her some day for the bump on my head.

  “There’s something else about Victoria,” Sarah said. “The agency owns a house that we let mothers live in if they need help while going through the process. Victoria lives there.”

  “Okay, Sarah, thanks. One more question. We heard there was a break-in a few days ago. Were there any others?”

  She looked puzzled. “Not that were reported.”

  “What does that mean?” Rosie asked.

  “About six months ago Mrs. Peters asked me if I had been in the office after hours. I told her I hadn’t and asked why. She said a file drawer was slightly open. Why do you ask?”

  “No special reason,” I said. “It just seems that odd things are happening there.”

  When Sarah didn’t continue, I said, “We’re very concerned about using your agency. We’re leaning toward looking somewhere else.”

  She looked worried. “I hope I didn’t—”

  Rosie reassured her. “No, we had concerns after the first time we talked with Mrs. Peters. You’ve just confirmed what we already thought.”

  It was time to change the subject. “Do you go back home, Sarah?”

  She immediately brightened up. “I go back on the weekends. I don’t think I’d be able to stand it if I didn’t.”

  “What do you miss about it the most?” Rosie asked. “I mean besides your family.”

  Sarah looked wistful and smiled slightly. “Hootie,” she said softly.

  “Hootie?” I asked.

  She nodded. “When I go to bed, I listen to the crickets. It’s so peaceful… no traffic noise or radios. And we have a barn owl. He says goodnight to me every night.” She frowned a bit. “I know that sounds silly, but I miss that.”

  “Not silly at all,” said Rosie. “You’re lucky.”

  She looked uncomfortable.

  “Is there something else, Sarah?” Rosie asked.

  She folded her hands on the table top and looked down at them. “I’ve never told anyone this.”

  We waited.

  “I think the owl is…”

  After some silence, Rosie said, “It’s okay, Sarah. You don’t have to tell us if it’s hard for you.”

  I had no idea what she was trying to say, but it seemed like Rosie did.

  She looked up at Rosie. “No, I’d like to. I’ve never told anyone.” After some more silence and a glance at me she continued. “I think the owl is me. I seem to know what he’s thinking. Sometimes I think he’s me in a past life.” She let out a long sigh, like she had just gotten something off her chest. She glanced briefly at me and then looked back at Rosie. “You probably think I’m crazy, but no matter what happened during the day I went to sleep happy.”

  Rosie shook her head. “No, not at all. I’ve read some about that. I think there are things that we just don’t know about… that there are no good explanations for. I think it’s very special that you have that relationship with your owl… no matter what the explanation is.”

  Sarah looked relieved.

  The waiter started clearing the table and asked if we wanted dessert. We all ordered pie. Sarah was hesitant about spending our money, but Rosie reassured her dinner included dessert. I wanted to tell her it also included beer, but…

  Sarah thanked us profusely for dinner as she guided us to her apartment building. It was four units on a block of buildings that were all alike. They were nicely kept up, but I could imagine she missed the farm every time she came home. She waved after she unlocked the door.

  As soon as we were back in the car I said, “An owl in a previous life?”

  “Come on, Spencer. There are lots of stories about things that there are no explanations for.”

  “Like ghosts?”

  “Sure, like ghosts… and near-death experiences where people see their loved ones in a bright light, smiling and beckoning to them. There are things beyond simple explanations.”

  “Well, none of that has ever happened to me.”

  “No? Maybe not those specifically, but what about all your feelings about cases based on just gut feelings and no evidence?”

  “That’s different. That’s real life.”

  She shook her head. “The situations are real, but your assumptions are based on something other than reality most of the time. And you’re always right.”

  I smiled. “That’s because I’m good at what I do.”

  “Not saying you’re not. But something is guiding you, and you can’t give me a good explanation for it.”

  I thought about that and pulled away from the curb. I had read a book about ghosts and spirits, but I didn’t know what to believe. We had driven about a block when Rosie said, “So Victoria wasn’t only an employee.”

  “Right. Interesting. She was also a birth mother, and I’m betting we’ve found the mystery person who clobbered me.”

  “And we know why she was there. She was trying to find out who had adopted her baby.”

  “Maybe.”

  I turned and headed north.

  “Maybe?”

  “Still trying to fit the pieces together, Rosie. If that was her, who was there two months ago? And we know something Sarah doesn’t.”

  “Right. Victoria wasn’t only a mother, she was an employee.”

  “And a mother who wants her baby back.”

  “And isn’t getting it.”

  I stopped a bit suddenly as a light turned yellow. “Mrs. Peters told Sarah Victoria was just blowing off steam. I wonder if the pot is still boiling.”

  “And how much steam is still blowing?” Rosie said.

  “Enough to kill someone?”

  “We’ve both seen enough to know it doesn’t take much steam to kill someone, Spencer. All it takes is one heated conversation, and this is a lot more than that.”

  “Snark said there weren’t any signs of forced entry on the door. Employees have keys. Maybe both times were Victoria.”

  “And you think they didn’t change the locks after the first incident?”

  “It’s possible,” I said. “Sarah would know.”

  “I bet they’re changed now.”

  “I bet they are.”

  “Sarah would know that too.”

  “She’d als
o know why there were multiple names on the folders.”

  “Yes, but you’d have to explain how you know that. Unless you can come up with something, you’ll have to tell her you were the one who broke in.”

  “Well, technically—”

  She waved her hand. “Yeah, yeah. I know, you didn’t break in.”

  I drove another block. “I’d really like to know.” I pulled into an alley and turned around.

  “You’ve got fifteen minutes to think of something,” said Rosie.

  “I’ll try and do that while you enjoy the scenery.”

  She laughed.

  Chapter 16

  I hadn’t thought of anything. I rang the doorbell, and a minute later Sarah moved a curtain and looked out the window. She let us in with a puzzled look.

  “We’re sorry to bother you, Sarah, but we have a couple more questions.”

  “Okay, please sit down.” She pointed to the couch. There wasn’t a lot of furniture. My guess was the place came furnished. There were a few homey touches, like a picture of her family on the table, but there weren’t many decorations. Sarah wasn’t making this home.

  “Can I get you anything to drink?” Sarah asked.

  We declined.

  “Sarah, there are a few more things we’d like to ask you about.” I took a deep breath and looked at Rosie. She just raised her eyebrows and shrugged just enough for me to notice. She hadn’t thought of anything either.

  I decided I had to level with her. “We haven’t been quite truthful with you, Sarah.”

  Her look turned from puzzled to a bit wary and maybe afraid. I quickly explained.

  “We are from Chicago, but we’re not looking for a baby. Rosie is a police detective, and I’m a private detective. We’re looking into something that may involve your adoption agency.” I showed her my license and Rosie showed her badge. I wouldn’t have blamed Sarah if she asked us to leave, but she seemed to calm down and the puzzled look was back.

  She asked what we were looking into, and we told her we weren’t totally sure yet so couldn’t say any more. She asked what else we wanted to know.

  Rosie told her we were wondering if the locks had been changed after the suspected break-in.

  “No. Mrs. Peters said they were going to, but they didn’t. But they did on Monday after the break-in over the weekend. I have new keys.”

  “Okay, that’s good.” I didn’t mention that the new locks would stop Victoria but not me. “The other thing we’d like to know is why there are several names on the file folders.”

  She started to answer and then, suddenly, the puzzled look was back. “How do you know about the file folders?”

  Of course. I decided the truth was sometimes the best answer.

  “Because I was the one who was in the office Saturday night.”

  “You were? You broke in?”

  I nodded. “I was, but I didn’t break in.”

  “Then how did you get in?”

  “The door was already unlocked, and somebody was already inside. And that somebody hit me on the head and knocked me out.”

  “Who do you think that was?”

  The truth wasn’t always the best answer. “I don’t know.” I may have had the truth, and I may not have. “Someone obviously looking for something. I saw two folders with multiple names on them. There was one name on the tab and then three other names. Under that was the name Victoria Petrace. Do you know anything about that?”

  It took a minute for her to process all the information, and I still wasn’t sure she wouldn’t ask us to leave. She finally answered.

  “Yes, when I was learning the job, Mrs. Peters told me the names were the possible adopting families. I was responsible for the filing. Not all the files had multiple names. Some only had one.”

  “And how would you know who the adopting family was?”

  “That would be the name on the top tab. If for some reason that didn’t work out, we’d call the next person.”

  I looked at Rosie. She was watching Sarah.

  “Sarah, were there adoptions that didn’t work out?” asked Rosie.

  She sat up in her chair. “Sure. Once in a while.”

  “And do you know anything about the adopting families being asked to pay to help support the mother?”

  By the look on her face, she didn’t. “Pardon? I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

  “Well, we’ve met a couple families who didn’t get the baby who were told the mother wanted the baby back, but she had no money. The families were asked if they would be willing to donate money to the mother.”

  Sarah vehemently shook her head. “I don’t know anything about that. I can’t imagine… is that what you’re looking into?”

  I said it was, and she seemed satisfied. At the moment, I decided telling her about the murders would only needlessly scare her and asked if she had ever heard of Single Mother Outreach. She hadn’t.

  She grasped her hands in her lap. “With all these break-ins, do you think I’m in any danger?”

  I didn’t think so, even with the part we hadn’t told her. Victoria wouldn’t show up during business hours.

  “No, I don’t think so. I think whatever was going on is over, but if you ever feel uncomfortable, call the police… and us.” I wrote down our numbers and explained about my car phone. “And we’re looking for Victoria, so call if you see her.”

  She seemed satisfied.

  “Sarah, would you give us a description of Victoria?”

  She did... short, short brown hair, and a round face.

  I asked if she had any questions. She didn’t. But she did say she missed life on the farm. I would have too.

  ***

  When we got in the car I asked Rosie to get my notebook and the map out of the glove compartment.

  “Victoria?”

  “Yes. Her address is in the notebook. There’s a list of the streets on the back of the map.”

  Rosie found it, and we headed west.

  “So Victoria isn’t getting in anymore,” she said. “Either she has the information she needs or she’s still looking and won’t get it from the agency.”

  “I’m wondering why she broke in twice.”

  “Maybe she was interrupted the first time before she found what she wanted. Maybe she just found a couple of names.”

  “Yeah, Powolski and Maxwell. And she hasn’t found her baby yet.”

  “And if she hasn’t found her baby, maybe the steam still has a bullet in it.”

  Rosie hesitated before saying “maybe.”

  “And if she found the other names this time…”

  “We need to make some phone calls.”

  ***

  We found Victoria’s address and parked on the street across from it, in front of a house that had a for rent sign in the window. The whole neighborhood was depressed, but her house was the worst. It was a small, wood frame house that needed a lot of work. The agency wasn’t putting a lot of effort into being a landlord. A shutter was hanging at an angle, it badly needed a paint job, trees and bushes were overgrown, the yard was full of weeds, and there were three newspapers on the walk leading up to the house. The house was dark.

  Rosie used my car phone to call Detective Springer and Chief Werth at their home numbers to tell them about Victoria. They said they’d talk to Mr. Maxwell and the Freys and get them some protection.

  When Rosie disconnected from Chief Werth, she asked me about the other couple. The Bells lived in Green Bay.

  “I guess we need to call Snark,” I said.

  “And tell him how we know all this?”

  “I’d rather he not have anything that’s going to end up with me in jail.”

  “If it was me,” Rosie said, “I’d be willing to overlook that for what we’re giving him.”

  “But it’s not you. He’s not a member of my fan club.”

  A car pulled into a spot on the other side of the street, and two people entered the house next to Victoria’s.


  “So maybe I contact him and tell him I uncovered this information along with a case I’ve been working on in Chicago,” she said.

  “Maybe. We need to do something about the Bells. Call him.”

  She called the Green Bay police and was told they would try and get ahold of the chief, but he was at a banquet so it might be a while. More than likely he would call in the morning. Rosie tried to convince the person on the other end of the line that this was a matter of some urgency. When I heard Rosie say “No, it’s not an emergency” I knew we weren’t going to get through to Snark. But I knew they could get ahold of the chief if they wanted to.

  “Sounded like that didn’t go too well,” I said.

  “I tried.”

  We sat for another ten minutes and decided, especially given the papers, that Victoria wasn’t coming home tonight. But I suggested I check with the neighbor. Rosie agreed. I rang the bell and only had to wait a few seconds before a man answered. I explained that I was a friend of Victoria’s and was concerned because I hadn’t been able to get ahold of her.

  The man seemed surprised that Victoria had any friends. He had never seen anyone at her house and had rarely seen her. I asked when the last time was. He said he wasn’t sure of the day, but it had been early this week. I thanked him and headed back to the car.

  “What next?” Rosie asked.

  “Back to the hotel. It’s been a long day.”

  She reviewed as I drove.

  “We know Victoria hasn’t been home for at least three days. So she’s obviously somewhere else… but where? And we know she’s looking for her baby.”

  “And probably knows the names on the folder.”

  “And perhaps has already killed two of them.”

  “Yeah, there’s a lot of anger there.”

  “A mother looking for her baby. I can’t imagine.”

  My car phone rang as we were pulling into the parking garage at the hotel. It was Aunt Rose inviting us for dinner tomorrow. Rosie left to get a shower while I chatted for a few minutes. She repeated what Maxine had told me about business and needing another person. As I was walking to the elevator, I thought back to the day I had driven Maxine up to Door County and introduced her to Aunt Rose. That had certainly worked out well for both of them. As I was reaching for the button, I remembered this was the last night of our reservation. I stopped at the front desk and extended it a week, hoping we wouldn’t have to use all of that time.