Deadly Stillwater (32 page)

Mac immediately recognized how difficult the process would be. He immediately arranged for the Wi-Fi hookup and organized the operation as best he could. He had people work in teams, matching an attorney from Lyman’s firm with groups of the retired cops. The groups worked through the documents, the lawyers explaining where the parties, families, and witnesses could be found in the various legal documents. The cops would read through the information and determine what to enter into Hagen’s program.

Riley called Mac from Lyman’s office to report that nothing had turned up as of yet, not even a nibble. He was sounding skeptical. “I don’t know Mac, we’re not finding anything. How much you got left?”

“We’ve just started out here,” Mac answered. “We’re maybe fifteen to twenty percent into the files. It’ll take a while to get through it. There are hundreds of boxes in these three storage units. I mean, if you have a better idea I’m all ears.”

Riles sighed. “I don’t. It’s just that the clock is ticking.”

“I hear ya,” Mac answered as he looked out a window. The sun was now bright in the sky, and a look at his watch told him it was 9:56 AM. “We’ve got eight hours. Something will pop.” He didn’t know if that was confidence or hope, but he didn’t have a choice. They had started down this path, and they had to see it through. “What’s going on at HQ?”

“Nothing like what we’re doing,” Riles answered. “Burton seems focused on the ransom and preparing for the phone call. Although….”

“What?”

“He did ask Peters about what we were doing.”

“What did the captain say?”

“He covered. Said we were on the safe house still. Peters thought it might be a good idea for us to make an appearance.”

“I hate to break away from this.”

“It’s what cell phones are for. Burton has called a meeting for eleven thirty. Peters said we should be there. We keep doing what we’re doing, but….”

“We keep people from wondering where we are.”

* * * * *

While Shawn McRyan watched anxiously, Jupiter Jones opened a computer program he developed to get as much out of pictures as possible. He set it to enhance the best frame of the reflection in the van’s rear window. The program worked slowly, but soon a new window popped up on the screen.

“Is it done?” Shawn asked.

“Let’s look.” Jupiter scrolled over the part of the picture with the reflection. The enhancement revealed a white receipt. On the screen, the label ran lower right to upper left and you could make out three letters reflected backward in the glass.

“So we have an
H
, then a small
a
and
n
.” Shawn said.

“And part of another letter,” Jupe added, pointing to a straight vertical line. “What has a straight line, lower case letters?”

Shawn grabbed a scratch pad, quickly writing down the alphabet, “We got
b, h, k, l, or t
.”

“What about d?”

“I don’t think so,” Shawn replied shaking his head and pointing to the screen at the gap between the
n
and the next letter. “The gap between the
n
and the next letter isn’t wide enough for a
d
, so it has to be one of the other letters.”

“Okay, so we have the PVC pipe, which is manufactured by Ampipe,” Jupiter said. “Now we have part of a receipt that’s likely from the store where they bought it.”

“Maybe,” Shawn said. “They could have taken this out of the scrap heap for all we know.”

“I doubt it,” Jupe answered. “The pipe looks newer. There aren’t scratches and the white color is bright, not yellowed or dirty. And we have a receipt sticking out of it. That wouldn’t be the case if you pulled it out of the scrapheap.”

“You could be right,” Shawn remarked, putting his face closer to the screen.

“Well, one way to find out is to see if we can get a hold of someone at this manufacturer and see who sells this stuff in Minnesota,” Jupiter answered, printing off a copy of the picture. “I’ve taken it this far. We need Mac or someone else to get us to that manufacturer.”

Shawn sighed. “And today is a holiday.”

27

“
If I didn’t know any better I’d say he’s up to something.”

11:03 AM

Heather Foxx looked in her compact mirror, finishing a last bit of work on her eyelashes in the cool air conditioning of her television truck. She turned and looked through the windshield. Things were starting to percolate around the police department. In these times of a twenty-four-hour news cycle, the story had gone national quickly, especially since it was the Fourth of July. All the heavy hitters were hanging around – FOX, CNN, MSNBC, and the networks. Rather than simply doing puff pieces about parades and fireworks, there was hard news to cover.

Given the potential exposure, Heather went back to her compact to check her makeup again. She wanted things perfect. You never knew who might be watching. As she applied just a touch more lipstick, her thoughts turned back to last night. What had Burton been doing? It could have been an old friend, a late night beer and a chance to reconnect, but that didn’t feel right. The conversation hadn’t seemed confrontational, but it didn’t appear overly friendly either, not like two old buddies sharing a beer and swapping stores. It looked like a colder conversation, a business one. Could it be someone involved with the investigation? Perhaps, but then why meet up in Forest Lake? Why not at the hotel or somewhere closer in town? Why drive miles out to a far-flung suburb? It was odd.

And what exactly should she be doing with this information? She didn’t share it with anyone. What was there to share, after all? John Burton had a conversation in a bar with another man: alert the media.

She could ask Burton about it, although he’d proven a difficult person to reach, keeping himself in the background and allowing the local FBI office and St. Paul Police to be front-and-center. She’d thought of approaching him in the bar. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d done something like that. For some reason, she held back. Intuition, instinct, whatever it was, told her not to do it. The whole event was strange, but without any context, it didn’t seem to mean much. But it did give her an idea.

She pulled out her phone and dialed Gail Carlson, a veteran reporter who used to work the investigative beat, but now worked general reporting. She was at the station today, but not covering anything.

“Carlson.”

“Foxx. I need a favor.”

“What’s that?”

“Monitor the police band up in the Forest Lake area today.”

“Forest Lake, honey? Not exactly a hotbed of criminal activity.”

“I know, I know. But all the same, monitor the jurisdictions up there, Forest lake, Chisago, maybe Wyoming.”

“What am I listening for?”

Heather explained. She wanted Carlson listening for anything about the bureau or St. Paul Police poking around the area.

“Heather, what do you got?” Carlson asked, suspiciously.

“Just a hunch.”

Heather’s cameraman stuck his head inside the truck. “The scuttle-butt says there’s going to be a big powwow here soon: FBI, police, and so forth, and then a press briefing at noon.”

“We best get out there then,” Heather replied, quickly signing off with Carlson. She stepped outside into the blazing heat, already ninety-three degrees. She decided that her suit coat was a no-go and jettisoned it. Besides the collar of her white, v-neck silk blouse plunged just enough to give a tiny hint of cleavage, which she knew would draw the attention she wanted.

“What do you think they’ll be talking about in there?” the cameraman asked.

“Word is there’s a call coming later today on the ransom. I haven’t been able to find out if there is a set time, or if they’re just sitting around waiting for it,” Foxx answered as they joined the gathering horde of media at the front of the police department. “There doesn’t seem to be much going on from an investigative standpoint.

“You think that’s unusual?”

“I’m not a cop, but I do think so,” Foxx answered. She watched as Mac McRyan pulled into the lot in his Explorer. His partner wasn’t with him, which was a bit unusual. “I can’t imagine Mac McRyan sitting around and waiting,” she said. “That’s not his style.”

McRyan, rather than parking to the side and trying to avoid the media, approached the front of the building. This was rather peculiar as well, Heather thought. Despite his friendly little news tip on Wiskowski yesterday, McRyan loathed television reporters. He generally did everything he could to avoid them. Today he looked relaxed, almost cheerful. As he passed her he gave her a “Hiya, Heather,” and smiled. As he walked through the media crowd he was pleasant in saying, “No comment” and “I’m sure the department or bureau will have something to say shortly.”

“Now that’s odd,” Heather remarked out loud as the doors closed behind McRyan.

“What?” the cameraman asked.

“McRyan just now.”

“What about him?”

“He was friendly, casual, relaxed – as if he
wanted
to be on camera. Heck, he gave me a wink, a smile and a hello. That
never
happens.”

“Heather,” the cameraman answered, smiling, “
come on
. Any man smiling at you, even Mac McRyan, is not unusual.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she answered, waving him off, but then looked him in the eye. “But it is for Mac McRyan. He thinks most of us are parasites.”

The cameraman shrugged. “Okay. I’ll bite. What does it mean then?”

Heather bit her lip and thought for a minute. “Friendly, casual, relaxed,” she said, tapping her index finger on her lips. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say he’s up to something.”

* * * * *

Mac stepped inside the building and stopped, letting the refreshing blast of the air conditioning wash over him. He found Riley, Rock, and Lich drinking coffee and waiting, and they all slipped into an interview room and closed the door.

“Anything from down at the firm?” Mac asked.

“Nothing helpful yet,” Riles answered, and then smiled. “But Hagen has them all working their asses off.”

“And,” Lich added, “Whatever he’s doing works, I think. He’s got this program running, and whenever a name matches between the chief’s list and Lyman’s clients, it lets you know. At this point, what its finding is common last names like Johnson, Anderson, Peterson or Swanson. Now, a lot of them are eliminated because first names don’t ultimately match, or maybe a middle name eliminates them. In a couple of cases where there has been some sort of match, we’ve taken a look and eliminated them quickly. They weren’t even worth a phone call or interview. It was obvious there was nothing there.”

“So,” Mac said, “if there’s a connection to be found….”

“This program Hagen has running
should
find it.”

Peters knocked on the door and then entered. “Anything?”

“Not yet,” they replied in unison.

“Well, come with me. Burton’s about ready to start the show.”

They all started to file out, but Mac stopped them. “Scan the room,” he said quietly. “If we’re right, and somebody is working this from the inside, that person is likely in the room. I don’t know what to look for, but look.”

Everyone nodded and they walked down the hall and into the overflowing meeting room. Burton saw them walk in and immediately approached.

“Have you been back on the safe house?” he asked, looking at Mac and then to the others.

“Yup,” Mac answered neutrally. “They haven’t come back yet, obviously, but we think it’s still worth watching.”

Burton looked to the others, who nodded.

“All right then. Stay on it, at least for this afternoon. However, if they don’t come back to the house, we will need you guys when the ransom call comes in.”

The group agreed. Burton headed up to the front of the room. Mac and the others found space along a side wall and stood as Burton began to speak. Conspicuously seated at the front of the room, the chief and Lyman watched as Burton called the room to order. The chief in particular looked to Mac, giving a small nod that Mac returned.

Burton began with a recap of where the investigation stood, which was really nowhere, other than the safe house, which was looking deader by the minute.

“We have a crew sitting on the house right now. I’ve spoken with Detectives Riley and McRyan, and they are of the opinion that the house should remain under surveillance. I concur, and so we will continue to monitor that situation.”

“Has anything come of the video release?” a voice asked.

“No,” Burton replied. “I’m a little surprised frankly. It’s been played every half-hour since yesterday, and we’ve gotten nothing.”

“How about anything from the video itself? Anything to help us?”

“Again, we’ve found nothing,” Burton replied. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to pull anything off it that is useful.” Burton transitioned to the ransom. “As you know, the ransom demand is for five million.” Burton explained the details of the demand.