The Innocent (Will Robie 1)

kitchen staring at each other.

They’d grabbed some burgers and fries on the way back and had eaten in the car. But while their bellies were full, their heads were still empty of any promising leads.

“Okay, let’s go through it again,” said Robie.

“Do we have to?” said Julie. “It seems like a waste of time.”

“Most of investigative work can be a waste of time. But you have to do it to get to the parts that actually mean anything,” shot back Vance.

Robie looked at Vance. “Your turn.”

Vance said, “Okay, we’ve gone down some scenarios that petered out. Let’s retool and start by ruling out some people. From what you said about Van Beuren I don’t see how she can be involved in any of this. She’s been in hospice for months. She’s got a machine breathing for her. Her husband and daughter are just watching her die, basically.”

Robie nodded. “And Siegel seems to be just as clueless. He’s more concerned about losing his job. And he seemed genuinely surprised when I told him why I wanted to talk to him.”

“So maybe you were wrong, Robie,” remarked Vance. “You said it was what Julie mentioned, about the other squad members, that caused them to try and kill her. It just doesn’t appear to be the case.”

Robie said, “But what about Cassidy?”

“What about him?”

“He knew the Gettys. I don’t personally buy the fact that he couldn’t find them. Or that he didn’t know that any of his other squad members were around. The guy has cash, and cash gets you results. And while he seemed genuinely surprised that Curtis and Sara were dead, it just seems pretty odd.”

Julie said, “My mom and dad never mentioned him. That’s pretty odd too, considering how close he said they were. I mean, why didn’t they answer his letters?”

“It doesn’t make sense,” agreed Robie.

Vance was about to say something when her phone buzzed. She looked at the number.

“Don’t know that one. But the area code is northern Virginia.”

“Better answer it,” said Robie.

“Hello?” said Vance into the phone. The person on the other end of the line started speaking fast.

“Wait a minute, slow down.” Vance clamped her phone against her ear with her shoulder, pulled out a notepad and pen, and started scribbling.

“Okay, okay, I’ll be right over.”

She clicked off and looked up at Robie.

“Who was it?” he asked.

“Maybe you were right after all,” said Vance.

“About what?”

“That was Gabriel Siegel’s wife. I left my contact info with her.”

“Why was she calling?”

“Her husband got a phone call just after you left him. He walked out of the bank right afterwards and never came back. He missed a meeting with a client and a luncheon the bank was holding. He’s just disappeared.”

CHAPTER

86

THEY DIDN’T DRIVE to the bank but instead went straight to Gabriel Siegel’s house. His wife was waiting at the door as they pulled into the driveway. Robie led them up to the front porch. The woman looked at him strangely until she saw Vance behind him.

“We’re partners,” Vance said curtly. “Robie, this is Alice Siegel.”

“Mrs. Siegel, we’re here to help find your husband.”

Alice Siegel nodded, her eyes brimming with tears. When she caught sight of Julie she once more looked confused. “Who is she?”

Robie said, “It’s not something we can go into right now, ma’am. Can we go inside?”

Alice stepped back and let them pass through into the house. They settled in chairs around the living room.

Robie looked around. The interior had been done mostly on the cheap. But it was neat and clean and functional. The Siegels were clearly frugal. The bank probably didn’t pay that much. But the Siegels obviously stretched dwindling dollars as far as they could go, just like millions of other families were doing right now.

Vance opened the conversation. “So you said he received a phone call and then walked out. Any idea who called him?”

“No one at the bank knows. I was hoping the call could be traced.”

“Did it come to his line at the bank or his cell phone?”

“His office line. That’s how they knew he had gotten the call.”

“But if it came to the office didn’t someone at the bank ask who was calling your husband?”

“I think they just put the calls through. It’s a business, after all. I guess the person who answered just assumed Gabe would want the call. They don’t have a formal receptionist or anything. Banks don’t really do that anymore. They’ve scaled back.”

“So your husband told me,” said Robie. “Did the person at the bank say it was a man or a woman?”

“A man. Are you going to go there? I mean, isn’t the trail getting cold?”

“We’ll cover that end, Mrs. Siegel,” said Vance. “But no crime has been committed. And your husband isn’t technically missing. He went off apparently of his own free will.”

“But he didn’t come back. He just walked out. That’s not normal.”

“Could he have had an accident?”

“His car is still in the parking lot.”

“So he might have walked off,” said Robie. “Or gotten a ride from whoever called him. Have you tried calling his cell phone?”

“Twenty times. I texted him too. Nothing back. I’m very worried.”

Robie eyed her closely. “Is there a reason why he would have just walked off like that?”

“The phone call. It must be.”

Vance added, “But we don’t know that the two events are connected. He might have been planning to walk off anyway. The timing of the call might just be a coincidence.”

“But why?”

Robie said, “He mentioned to me that you were both worried he might lose his job at the bank.”

“Well, walking out like that is a pretty good way to ensure that he will lose his job,” snapped Alice.

“And you’re sure he didn’t try to contact you? On your cell? Maybe on your hard line?”

“We don’t have a hard line. We cut that out when Gabe’s pay was reduced last year.”

“Can you think of any reason why your husband would just up and walk off like that?”

She eyed him suspiciously. “Well, you came to talk to him. And then he disappeared. Maybe you can tell me the reason.”

That was fair enough, thought Robie.

“Your husband was in the Army during Gulf One,” he began.

“Is that what this is about? But he’s been out of the military for years.”

“He was a member of a squad,” continued Robie. “We were interested in that squad.”

“Why?”

Robie hesitated and glanced at Vance. She said, “We were just interested, Mrs. Siegel. We wanted to ask your husband if he’d been in touch with anyone from his old squad.”

“I know that he knew Elizabeth Claire Van Beuren. They had kept in touch.”

“We know about her.”

“She’s dying.”