"Ms. Jameson?" returned Frank, straightening up. He had been leaning against the door of his rental for over ten minutes.
"That's right," Sarah replied. "Can I see some identification, please?" she requested, her brown eyes watching him warily.
"Of course," agreed Frank at once. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Removing his driver's license, he handed it to her.
"Thanks," Sarah said, handing it back to Frank a minute later. "You do favor your father but it's been awhile since I've seen him and I had to be sure."
"I understand," said Frank.
"Okay," Sarah said. "Just follow me."
"Will do," Frank promised the freckled redhead and climbed back into his car.
Frank followed the burgundy Subaru out of town. Before too long it turned onto a paved side road and then another and less than a mile later Sarah led him onto yet another road. This last road led right to the Blue Ridge Parkway. They drove for five miles heading south before making another turn and heading east. By the time the Subaru came to a stop in the drive of a rustic looking cabin they had driven thirty miles and made so many turns that Frank was almost afraid he would forget his way back.
"How do you get out of here in the snow?" Frank demanded incredulously, getting out of the car and walking over to meet her.
"Some days, we can't," Sarah admitted with a grin. "But mostly, we just park at the foot of the hill and walk up. The D.O.T. is pretty good about doing the state roads."
Frank looked back. The foot of the hill was a good mile away. "Come on in," Sarah invited him. "Ben's already home."
"Ben?"
"My husband," Sarah answered. "He works at the university."
"Hi, Babe," a man with short graying hair greeted Sarah as she entered the house. "And who have we here?" he asked, seeing the young man who accompanied his wife.
"Ben, this is Frank Hardy," Sarah introduced the two. "He wants to ask me some questions about Ralph Tandem."
"Why?" demanded Ben, his brown eyes hardening as they bored into Frank. "That association ended a long time ago."
"He's back," Sarah informed her husband. "And he's kidnapped a boy."
"To experiment on?" Ben asked in horror.
"My brother," Frank put in, causing Ben to look at him with pity.
"Come on into the living room," Sarah said. "We'll talk where we can be comfortable," she added, kicking off her shoes by the doorway.
Ben caught Frank's eye and grinned. He shook his head and followed Sarah from the room still wearing his shoes. Once they had been seated, Frank leaned forward and looked Sarah in the eyes. "I need to know everything you can remember about Tandem."
"He was a charming man," Sarah informed Frank. "Tall with wavy black hair and green eyes that sparkled when he talked about things that interested him. You could always tell when his mind was elsewhere because his eyes were a bit dimmer and the crease between his eyes at his nose would get deeper."
"You remember him well," Ben commented with a frown.
"He's hard to forget," Sarah told him with a pained expression. "Especially after he went crazy."
"You mean his wanting to experiment on people?" Frank asked for clarification.
"Actually, he started getting weird before that," Sarah replied with a shake of her head. "For that matter, he may always have been off. See, he never liked any blond-headed teens that I can remember," she explained. "Ken and Charlie were Dr. Dillman's sons and they came by the lab frequently."
"Dr. Dillman?" Frank couldn't recall his father mentioning the name.
"He wasn't in our research area but the boys were interested in genetics and that's why they kept coming around," Sarah informed him. "Anyway, Ralph refused to answer any of their questions and was out and out rude to them. He always looked at them with disgust."
"Maybe he just didn't like Dillman," suggested Ben.
"That wasn't it," Sarah denied. "Occasionally, we would all have dinner together. He had the same look on his face every time he saw a good-looking blond headed teen. Paul, Dr. Michaels, once said he bet Ralph had been picked on by some blond jocks when he was in high school."
"As sensitive as you've told me he was, that hypothesis does have some merit," Ben put in thoughtfully. He had been privy to more than a few words on the man through the years.
"That could be why he chose to make blond teens his victims," agreed Frank. "What else do you remember about him? Did he have any hobbies? Did you meet any of his friends? Was there someone special in his life?"
"He was pretty much a loner," Sarah replied thoughtfully. "His only interest seemed to be the project, so no, I'd say he didn't have any hobbies. Addictions, maybe."
"Oh?" queried Frank with interest.
"He always had a small bag filled with peanuts," Sarah said. "He refused to eat them unless he shelled them himself."
"Do you think he will try and contact Sarah?" Ben asked Frank.
"It's a possibility," Frank concurred. "But since she testified against him..."
"She could be in danger," Ben finished for him. "That's it," Ben stated decisively, glaring at his wife as if defying her to argue. "We're going on that vacation now. I'll call the dean and tell him I need a replacement and you can call your boss."
"All right," Sarah agreed. She had no desire to meet Tandem again.
"We'll be gone for three weeks," Ben told Frank. "I sure as heck hope you can find Tandem before we have to return."
"So do I," Frank agreed with the man.
