Sound of Darkness

“If we find any evidence against this man, we’ll make sure his picture goes out, suggesting we got the sketch another way. Not to worry,” Mark assured him.

“Okay, thanks. I want to help in any way, I just don’t want to become a target—or I mean, have Dierdre wind up as a target again,” Boynton said.

Maisie took her sketch and kept working for a minute, adding pencil strokes that gave her rendering even greater life.

She held up the sketch for them all to see.

“That’s him. That’s him to a T,” Boynton said.

“And we will be discreet,” Colleen promised him. “We certainly don’t want Dierdre to be targeted again—or you!”

She gave him her sweetest smile.

“Well, I’m done here, right? They’ve allowed me to be in the hospital with Dierdre. Those hospital chairs are ridiculous, but, right now, I’d sleep on a bed of nails to be near her.”

“You’re free to go with our most sincere thanks,” Mark told him.

Boynton nodded, thanked the three of them, and left the conference room.

“That’s amazing, Maisie,” Colleen said.

“Thanks. I draw what I hear. I hope it’s accurate,” Maisie said.

“Did anything about him suggest he was making up a person?” Mark asked her.

“No. In fact, he sounded as if he was trying to see back with his mind’s eye, so I do believe you will find this guy exists.”

“Thanks so much,” Mark told her. “Hang on a minute. I’m going to snap a picture and then I’ll have you get it into our system. Just ours, for now. We don’t know if this guy is guilty of anything, and we’ll look into it first.”

“Sure thing.”

Maisie waited while Mark took a picture and then scooped up her artwork to enter into the Krewe files.

She headed out, saying, “Have a nice night, you guys.”

“Thank you! Same to you,” Colleen told her.

Maisie left, but then came back in. “I know you,” she told Mark. “Do you want to leave Red with me for a bit while you try to find this guy? I’m staying on with the late shift, and I sure do love his company...”

Mark grinned. “Sure, thanks, Maisie. Red can certainly hang with you for a while.”

“Cool! Red, come along!” Maisie said.

The dog looked at Mark. “Yep, it’s okay, Red. I’ll be back for you.”

Maisie and Red left together. Mark turned to Colleen.

“It’s been a long day. I’ll get you home if you want. Your sister is coming, right?”

“She has a key. I’m a partner on this—not a nine-to-fiver,” Colleen said.

“Well, we can get dinner out of it anyway. But I’ll just be asking about the man in the sketch, so if you’d rather—”

“My sister is great. She’ll make herself at home and be fine. She’s competent and knows how to find something in my fridge or order herself some dinner.”

“Okay, then. Next stop—what was the name of the restaurant?”

Colleen glanced at the notes in her phone.

“Petunia Pete’s. It’s a strange name. It’s supposed to be on the high end of eateries, and I believe it’s well rated.”

“Gary Boynton would take his love to no less a place—especially if he was planning on putting her in a pine box later.”

Colleen smiled. “You really don’t like him, do you?”

He shrugged. “There’s just something about him. That stuff with his car...”

“I get the same feeling, though honestly, buffing his car wasn’t that terrible a thing to be doing,” Colleen said. “I know my dad was sick once, and I was really scared because it was his heart. He was in the hospital and we couldn’t see him. All I wanted to do was play a game on my phone. It got me through.”

Mark grimaced and nodded.

“Okay, I’ll give him the car buffing. Because you’re right. During the pandemic, I had a friend who couldn’t be in the hospital with her husband. She went crazy on phone gambling.”

“I probably would have gambled if I’d been old enough,” Colleen told him. “In times of stress, well, I guess we do whatever we need to do.”

They arrived at the restaurant. There was no parking in front.

“I’ll drop you off if you want to go ahead and get a seat.”

“I actually walk quite well. I’m fine. Let’s find a parking space.”