Tony couldn’t help recalling the straw-yellow hair he’d glimpsed inside the garage wall.
“Bethie?” Perplexity had her father looking from his daughter to Tony. “Who’s this?”
Tony stepped into a comfortable family room with aging carpet and furnishings. Floor-to-ceiling, built-in bookcases covered one wall.
“Mr. Marshall? I’m Detective Navarro with the Frenchman Lake Police Department.”
“Police department? Are you a friend of Beth’s?”
“I’m afraid not, sir. I need to talk to you about something your son and daughters found in the garage. Perhaps we could sit down.”
Appearing bewildered, he sank onto a well-worn recliner that faced a television. “Certainly, but… I don’t understand.”
“Dad, we found something upsetting—”
Tony laid a hand on her arm, silencing her with a shake of his head. “Ms. Marshall, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to speak to your father alone.”
Alarm flashed in her hazel eyes, but she subdued it enough to nod and say, “I understand.”
Her father watched her go outside with a concerned expression he transferred to Tony. “Is something wrong?”
How was it possible that not one of his three adult children had gone into the house to say, Hey, Dad, we found something strange? Especially given that this was his house. His garage.
Tony went for blunt. “We’ve found what appears to be a human body behind wallboard in your garage.”
John Marshall only stared at him. “Did you say a body?”
“Yes, sir.”
“But…who found it? How?”
“There was an old hole in one sheet of wallboard. Beth took a look in it and called us. I agree that it does appear to be human remains. Crime scene investigators will be here shortly.” Undoubtedly as thrilled as he was to lose their Sunday off. “In the meantime, I need to ask you some questions.”
“I don’t understand. Nobody has gone into the garage in years. How could someone have gotten in, or—” Even he boggled at the unlikelihood of a killer getting around decades’ worth of accumulated belongings to stash a body.
“I suspect the remains have been there for many years, Mr. Marshall. The body appears to be at least partially mummified, which can happen under some circumstances in a dry climate like ours.” Insect-free circumstances, as this would have been until the damage opened the hole, likely much later. He paused. “Because you reported your wife missing, I need to ask about her.”
Obviously perturbed, Marshall said, “The police were convinced she’d left on her own.”
“I understand you found a note.”
“Yes, when I sat down at the computer that evening and moved the mouse, I found that Word was open to a document she must have created. It was brief.”
“Do you still have it?”
He shook his head. “We’ve replaced that computer several times since. I’m sure I printed it for that police officer, but I didn’t need to for myself.” Old pain parted the curtain of vagueness. “I could tell you what it said word for word.”
Tony preferred to locate the printout in a file at the station. On an investigation, he rarely trusted anyone.
“Did the police fingerprint the computer mouse?” he asked.
“It was only one officer, and he didn’t suggest anything like that. He really wasn’t here very long.”
Tony understood. People went missing all the time. Law enforcement response was quite different when a child disappeared, but adults most often did turn up later.
“We thought she’d call.”
“Had you quarreled right before she disappeared?”
“Right before?” he said in apparent surprise. “Well, I don’t know. That was a long time ago. She’d been annoyed with me, but I hoped whatever was bothering her would pass.”
Tony barely refrained from shaking his head. How could this guy fail to grasp the implications here? Well, sure, she and I weren’t getting along. Save the note on the computer? Why would I do that?
“Did you hear from her?” It was conceivable he wouldn’t have told his kids, depending on what was said. Or that he’d choose to lie now.