"So, what's next?"
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Pearl asked the Simon brothers over a cup of coffee at the breakfast table the following morning. They all felt rejuvenated after a good night's sleep.
"Are we heading out to First National and find out what's in the deposit box?"
The brothers shook their head simultaneously.
"No," said A.J. "It's one thing to sneak into the sheriff's office and misrepresent where we found the passbook and the key, but it's another to impersonate Roy Porter, a sheriff's deputy. For one, it's a felony, but most of all, it'll compromise the integrity of the evidence if we open the safe deposit box. It could be interpreted as tampering with evidence, and if so determined, the content of the box will be inadmissible in court if this case ever goes to trial."
"For now, let's say we have solid evidence for the killer's motive, and we can turn it in when we're ready to contact the authority." Rick paused briefly. "The problem is, we know why but not who. We need to somehow winnow out twenty-five of twenty-six on the list of suspects. And we gotta do it fast; we don't know how much longer he'll stick around."
"Didn't you say you could check other resorts to see anyone on the list is in the area?"
"We could," said A.J. "But it's labor intensive and time consuming. There may be a better and faster way."
"Like what?"
"Your brothers played football together with Roy and they still live in the same town. They might be able to shed some light on his private life: his friends, associates…"
"Any suspicious behavior," Rick put his two cents in. "This town is so small probably everybody knows what's happening in everybody else's life; who's dating who, whose dog had a litter recently, who's having what for dinner…"
"Do you want me to call my brothers?"
"Nah. It's always best to speak to someone face-to-face. Besides, we can talk to both of them together," said Rick.
"All right then. I'll call and let them know that we're coming over."
S&S S&S
The Bissers were doing some yard work when the Simons and Pearl arrived. Seeing Rick and A.J. walking behind their sister, one of the twins said something to the other nudging him on the side with his elbow. They started snickering.
Before her brothers could start picking on the Simons, Pearl announced, "I brought a couple of pies from the lodge's restaurant."
"What kind?" asked Pop, eagerly looking up from his chore.
"Pecan and sweet potato." She knew they were their favorites. "I'll put them in the oven. Just heat them up when you're ready to dig in."
"Go ahead and turn on the oven. We're gonna take a break real soon, praps in five, ten minutes," said Pop smacking his lips.
Keeping half an eye on Pearl, who was stepping inside the house, one of the twins—Vance, Rick guessed, as he seemed to be the dominant one—asked, "So, what do you wanna know about Roy?"
Rick wanted to say 'everything' but figured it was more efficient to ask pertinent questions. "I know you two played football with him in high school, but how well did you know him after he became the deputy? Did you have regular contact, like getting together for a drink a few times a week? Did you have the same circle of friends?"
Vance thought for a few moments. "He came back here after he got out of the army. Whenever we ran into each other in town, we talked, sure, but we weren't as close as we'd been in high school."
Vaughn nodded. "Yeah, he had a few army buddies that used to run in the same circles, but the last few years he mostly kept to himself."
"Can you name some of his army buddies?" asked A.J.
"Jimmy Pomeroy, Rich Georgescu, Art Benning…" Vance haltingly recited some names.
"Russ Wingate, Elwood… Jackson, or Johnson," Vaughn pitched in.
A.J. scanned the list of twenty-six names of ALI employees. He shook his head to let his brother know there was no match.
"Do any of them live here?" Rick asked.
The twins laughed humorlessly.
"Who'd want to live in a two-bit town like this if he had a choice?" said Vance. "Roy came back after the service only because he inherited his folks' property and later got a job at the sheriff's office."
Vaughn nodded. "And they weren't too keen on coming here to see him, so Roy had to travel to some other place to meet them most of the time."
"Do you think that's why he and his buddies drifted apart?" A.J. asked.
"Probably it's part of the reason," Vance shrugged. "But after a tour in Nam, he came back a changed man."
"Changed? How so?"
"He started drinking more. And he picked up gambling."
"Yeah," said Vaughn. "The rumor has it he was in debt and had to moonlight to make ends meet."
"Doing what?" asked Rick.
"Worked as a handyman, for instance. He was working for us to do some minor work and keep an eye on our place when we were away," said Vance. "He wasn't doing too good a job though—someone broke into our home while we were in Florida."
"How much debt are we talking about? Do you have any idea? Hundreds, thousands, more?"
Vance snorted at Rick's question. "How should I know? We're not…we were not his financial advisors."
"But we heard he'd been to Vegas more than a few times," Vaughn informed the Simons. "I don't think he ever broke even."
Pop stopped raking the leaves to join the conversation willingly. "He once asked me for a loan."
"Really? How big a loan?" asked Rick his eyes shining with excitement.
"Fifteen thousand."
The revelation stunned everyone, not just the Simons.
"Fifteen thousand? Did you give it to him?" asked Rick.
"No, it was a loan."
"Why'd you do that?" Vance asked resentfully. "You'd never loan us that kind of money."
"You'll get my money when I kick the bucket," Pop snapped at his sons then spoke to the Simons, "When my wife died, P.J. was still in high school. She tried her best to fill her Ma's shoes and take care of us, but she was just a kid. The Porters, Roy's folks, went above and beyond to look after us. Amelia used to stop by with casseroles an' baked goods an' sit for a spell to chat. Dean took care of the business end 'cause I couldn't deal with making payments an' all that kinda stuff at the time. I was so grateful I promised them I'd take good care of their only child if anything should happen to them."
Rick and A.J. realized that the death of Roy Porter had affected him more than his sons.
Treading lightly, A.J. asked, "How long ago was it when he borrowed fifteen thousand from you? Did he pay back any of it?"
"I loaned him the money four, five years ago. For the first few years, he paid whatever and whenever he could."
"After that?" Rick prodded him gently.
"About a year ago, he paid back in full," said Pop proudly.
The Simons instantly recalled the fact that Roy had opened a new bank account and rented a safe deposit box approximately nine months ago.
"Where did he get that kind of money? Did he tell you that?" asked Rick.
Pop shrugged. "Said he'd had a windfall, an' that was fine with me."
"But he continued to work for you doing minor chores and keeping an eye on your place. Why?"
"I told you, there'd been a lot of break-ins in the neighborhood. Our immediate neighbors on both sides of this property sold their places an' moved out. I'm the only holdout around here."
"When did they move out?"
"A year or so ago."
"A year ago? Don't you have new neighbors?"
"Not that I know of. The places are still vacant as far as I know."
Before he could ask another question, Rick felt his brother's hand on his arm.
"Rick. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"What exactly am I thinking?"
"That many of the past events Mr. Bisser just described took place almost concurrently: Roy's alleged windfall, his new bank account, neighbors moving out."
Rick thought about it for a moment and grinned. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking." He then asked Pop, "Are those vacant houses located on this street your place is on?"
"Yup." Pop nodded. "The old McNary's is about a mile west, the Osborne's is almost a mile and a half east."
"Are we going to take a look at those places now, Rick?"
Rick was a bit surprise to hear Pearl's voice behind him. She had sort of sneaked upon him.
"No," said he firmly turning around. "Me and A.J. are going to check them out. You, on the other hand, sit tight until we come back."
She started to object, but he didn't let her. "Remember what happened at Roy's place?"
"What did happen there?" Pop inquired sharply.
"There was a man lurking in the garage." A.J. did not want to alarm the old man unnecessarily.
"Was he the guy that tried to kidnap you, P.J.?" asked Pop.
Pearl did not know what to say; she had been too afraid to look up while lying on the ground.
"Most likely," Rick replied. "But we don't know for sure 'cause he was wearing a ski mask."
A.J. smiled at her. "It's safer for you to stay here. You can spot anyone approaching in the broad daylight. And we'll be back to pick you up as soon as we finish checking out the neighbors' houses."
Pearl did not want to be apart from the Simon brothers, but when her father ordered her to stay put, she reluctantly agreed to do so like an obedient little girl.
As she pushed open the front door, she turned around to see Rick's Power Wagon making a U-turn. A.J. was smiling cheerfully, waving good-bye. Nevertheless, she shivered sensing something terrible was about to happen.