S is for Silence (Kinsey Millhone 19)

Steve crossed the road. Schaefer was standing in a small knot of men. During the course of their conversation, the flatbed truck arrived. Tom Padgett had followed in his car, and he supervised the off-loading of the compact John Deere excavator, after which the equipment operator was the only one allowed in the magic circle. Padgett was relegated to the sidelines in the same way we were, which seemed to annoy him no end. For the next hour, we watched in amazement as the operator maneuvered his equipment with the delicacy of a surgeon. He was directed by whistles and hand signals, his skill such that he could scrape as little as an inch or as much as a foot of dirt from the hole on command.

Ken Rice found a ride home while Schaefer remained. He stood sipping coffee from a styrofoam cup someone managed to provide. Even retired, he was drawn to the drama unfolding before our eyes. Jake Ottweiler pulled up and parked his car down the road. His son walked out to meet him and the two returned to Tim Schaefer’s side. Having worked for the sheriff’s department for thirty-some-odd years, he was the reigning civilian expert. I noticed BW McPhee was on hand, having appeared at some point. I also caught a glimpse of Winston, but didn’t have a chance to make eye contact before he disappeared again. A local TV station sent a crew, and Detective Nichols gave a brief, uninformative statement, essentially referring the reporter to the sheriff for further comment.

At 5:45 Daisy arrived. Tannie and I got out of the car and waved her over. She joined us, looking pale and subdued. She was still in her work clothes, navy slacks, a cotton sweater, and sensible low-heeled shoes. She was chewing on her thumbnail again but lowered her hand self-consciously when she caught sight of me. She tucked her fingers out of sight and shifted from foot to foot as though to warm herself. She hadn’t heard about my tires being slashed, so we talked about that just to get her mind off what was going on. “I don’t like the sound of it.”

“It’s a bit melodramatic, but I took it as a good sign,” I said.

“What are your plans for tonight?”

“I was expecting to head home, but now I think I’ll hang out until we know what we’ve got down there.”

“You can’t go back to the Sun Bonnet.”

“No, but there are other motels.”

“Spend the night at my place. Tannie leaves first thing tomorrow morning. You’ll survive one night on the couch. I’ve done it before myself. Meanwhile, we can lock your car in my garage and get it off the street in case the son of a bitch comes looking for it.”

“If I stay, I’ll either need to do laundry or borrow some underwear.”

“We’ll do both.”

“This is such guy stuff. I love it,” Tannie remarked, taking in the various gatherings of men.

Detective Nichols joined Tim Schaefer on the far side of the road, introducing himself to Jake and Steve Ottweiler. After a few more minutes of conversation, Nichols returned to us. He knew by then that the Ottweilers owned the property and that Daisy was the only child of the missing Violet Sullivan. He introduced himself to Daisy, and I could see her taking him in-glasses, clean-shaven, nice smile. There was a shift in her posture. Clearly she found him attractive.

He glanced at the clusters of onlookers out by the road. Even with their limited line of sight, there was something compelling about the work. “I’m about to have the deputies clear these people out of here. This is not a spectator sport. If we need to bring in additional equipment or manpower, I don’t want to have to work around all the looky- loos and parked cars. I’m going to have you give the deputy contact numbers in case I need to get in touch. I’d appreciate your keeping quiet about anything you’ve seen or heard. We don’t want details getting out. The less information we have in circulation, the better.”

“It’s all right if we stay?” Daisy asked.

“As long as you do what you’re told and keep out of the way.”

“How long will it take? I know you can’t say exactly…”

“I’m guessing two days. No point being hasty and damaging the car beyond what nature’s already done.”

“But you haven’t found anything?”

“Not so far. I understand your concern about your mother and I’ll keep you informed. As soon as we free the car, we’ll take it to the impound lot. We’ve got a storage facility, where we can warehouse the vehicle while we go over it. Right now we have no idea what evidence we’ll find, if any, after all this time. What about your father; have you talked to him?”

Daisy shook her head. “I came right from work. I assume somebody’s called him by now, but maybe not. I’m sure he’d be here if he knew.”