The Other Path
Chapter 33
"Orange County first?" Rick inquires.
"Any particular reason?" Kate asks.
"It would be a pilgrimage of sorts for a writer. Noah Webster lived there."
"And you want to worship at the home of the world's most famous word maven?" Kate teases.
"Merely pay due homage to the Father of American Scholarship and Education. But let's stay away from James Pattersons' House. He's probably not there, but I don't need another lecture about how I should be putting out more books instead of chasing around after murderers. I get enough of those from Gina."
"Considering that this is an official trip to question a possible suspect in a murder, we'll stay away from both. We'll interview Peter Hatch, and that will be it. He lives practically on the ocean, which would support your idea that the killer could have used a boat to reach Menkin's yacht."
"Then let us discover if Peter hatched a plan to attack by sea."
Kate groans. "That's bad even for you."
Hatch stares at Kate in surprise. "You want to know why I bought a spear? Actually, I bought twelve of them. I run charters for spearfishermen. Some of them are novices. Either they don't have their own equipment, or what they have is crap. I provide the best gear and whatever instruction they need. And they usually make out pretty well."
"So you're an expert with a spear?" Kate questions.
"Northeast champion three years in a row. Competing helps promote my business."
"Then you could, say, use a spear from a boat to hit something on another boat?" Rick prompts."
Hatch rolls his eyes. "I could, but why would I want to? Waste of time and equipment. Wait a minute! Isn't that how that asshole Menkin was killed? Do you think I did it?"
"Did you?" Rick asks.
"Where were you at 7 am two days ago?" Kate adds.
"I had a charter. We would have been casting off about that time. I can give you a list of the customers I took out. They'll not only tell you I was there. Most of them have pictures."
"All right, we'll check that out," Kate responds.
"But you aren't shedding any tears over Menkin," Rick notes.
"Are you kidding? " Hatch points toward the Atlantic. "If the oil companies put platforms out there, I'm out of business. And a leak could poison this whole part of the coast. The state's been working on banning offshore drilling. That sonofabitch Menkin was part of the whole political machine trying to block it. I didn't kill him, but whoever put that spear in him did me a favor."
"Off to Dutchess?" Rick asks as he and Kate return to her unit.
She sticks the key in the ignition. "Abraham Hayes is the only one left on the list."
Rick checks the address that Kate feeds into the GPS. "That's in the Taconics, isn't it? Alexis and I went camping around there a couple of times. There are a lot of private protected spaces. It wouldn't be difficult for someone to live off the grid. Obviously, Hayes doesn't if he ordered on the internet. But he could guard his privacy."
"Privacy doesn't excuse obstructing an investigation. Unless Hayes takes the 5th, he needs to cooperate," Kate declares.
Kate's unit bumps along an unpaved road to where it ends at the foot of a small mountain. "I don't see a building."
Rick gets out of the car and points up the hillside. I think there's a cabin or shack up there."
Kate joins him at the base of the mound and begins walking around the edge of the land's rise. "It looks like there's a path leading up to it."
Rick glances at Kate's high heels. "Not the easiest climb in your fabulous footwear."
"Not a problem." Kate walks back to her unit and pulls a pair of tactical boots out of the trunk. "These should work."
"I don't suppose you have climbing equipment in there to go with those?"
Kate closes the hatch. "We'll have to tough it out."
Rick scowls as he makes his way up the hill. "Rough going?" Kate asks.
"Alexis has put me through worse treks. But I don't think this trail is used much. I've seen paths people tromp regularly. The foliage on the side tends to be knocked back, and the earth gets packed down after a while. But this one looks practically unused. If Hayes is living in that shack, I don't think he gets in and out this way."
"You could be right," Kate acknowledges, "but we're almost halfway there. We should keep going."
"Just be careful," Rick advises. "I've got a bad feeling."
"And I don't suppose that had anything to do with the lizard that ran over your foot?"
"It didn't help."
As Kate gets closer to the cabin, she can see the small chinks between the weathered boards. At this altitude, it would be cold or at least chilly at night except for the hottest time of the summer. Yet she doesn't see a woodpile or any other means of heating the place. Heavy wooden shutters cover the one window, preventing her from looking in. "Babe, maybe it wasn't the lizard. There's something not right here." She knocks gently on the door, but it still creaks open a crack.
"A covered window but an unlocked door? That doesn't make sense. Watch out, Kate," Rick cautions.
Kate unconsciously retreats as a mouse skitters into the opening. A soft click sounds from inside. "Babe! Get back!"
The ground rocks and wood showers the couple as the shack goes up in flames. "You all right?" Rick shouts, his ears still ringing.
"I think so," Kate yells back. "You?"
"Yeah. But if we had gone in instead of that mouseā¦. I think we owe Algernon some flowers."
"You can memorialize our furry friend later. I'm going to put out a BOLO for Abraham Hayes."
"Are you sure Eckrich is a no-go?" Loch prods Leitch. "These little guys like to put on a big front. But when they realize they're in over their heads, they give in."
Leitch shakes his head. "I don't see that happening with Eckrich. And even if we can push him into a corner, it will be too late. The jerks on the other side are about to close down your pipeline. We need someone in there now."
"Any word on whom Lynch is appointing to take Menkin's seat?" Loch asks.
"The governor's officially keeping the lid on, supposedly out of respect until Menkin's in the ground. But I heard through a back channel that he was considering Menkin's wife until he found out they hadn't been together except for campaign appearances in years. Menkin was having a thing with one of his staffers, and Marion knew about it. And she has her own money from her family's real estate holdings. Some of that is coastal property in New York. Even if Lynch appointed her, your interests wouldn't align."
"So who's Lynch's second choice?" Loch queries.
"From what I picked up, Theobald Noyce."
"The guy who wants to bring three factories into the state to make wind turbines?"
"That would be him."
"What the hell does Lynch want with that geek?"
"Jobs, more than we can deliver. If he works with Noyce to put the guys from the closed mines back to work, he'll be a hero. He'll sail through re-election without help from us."
Loch grabs the silver scissor he uses to clip his cigar ends. "Then we need to change the game."
