Chapter 22
Lee and Amanda pulled up next to Francine's car at Jonathan's townhouse. As they all climbed out of their vehicles, Francine couldn't help but laugh. "Nice loaner. Looks like Leatherneck really came through for you."
Lee slammed the door of the bright orange Pinto station wagon. "Oh yeah, he came through all right. It was the only one he thought would be big enough for the car seats except he didn't think about the fact it's only two doors. I can tell you with certainty, Amanda and I will not be buying one of these. No sir-ree."
"Sounds like you've already started the grand Stetson car search then. Any thoughts on what you want to get?" Francine teased.
Amanda glanced over at Lee before stating, "Well, Lee and I talked about it last night and I think we've narrowed it down to a minivan."
Lee inhaled as he nodded. "That's right. It will be big enough for everyone to ride together. The newer ones have a lot of safety features now and most of them get pretty good gas mileage."
Francine puckered her lips playfully. "Scarecrow… in a minivan? My, how times have changed." She chuckled softly before inquiring, "Have you decided which make and model yet?"
"I think so." Lee tugged on the sleeve of his suit coat, smoothing it.
"Well?" Francine raised her eyebrows and waited.
"We've talked about the newest ones available which have some of the best safety ratings. We are going to take some time this weekend but I think we are looking at the Plymouth Voyager, Dodge Caravan, Toyota LiteAce, and the Chrysler Town and Country," Amanda rattled off.
"Ohh, Town and Country… that sounds so… un-suburban," Francine snarked.
Lee groaned and rolled his eyes. "Honestly, that one seemed to look the nicest in the magazines. The Toyota was rated the safest but boy, it sure is ugly."
"Worse than that?" Francine pointed at the bright orange station wagon beside them.
"Picture the Vigilant, only smaller," Lee stated.
Francine grimaced. "Complete with wood paneling?"
"Not the one we saw in the paper. No, this one was all silver, I think." Lee shook his head.
"But you're going to get a new car with paneling?" Francine asked while trying to suppress a grin.
"No, no wood paneling," Amanda laughed. "Although I might miss it."
Lee slipped his hand behind her back to guide her toward the front door. "I think we need to find something that fits our family, and wood paneling just isn't on my checklist."
The trio were met at the door by the same officer from a few days before. "Oh, it's you again. Let me guess, you didn't find what you were looking for the first time, so now you're back to go over the room again?" he barked.
"Hello again," Amanda chirped happily. "Actually, we are looking for a few other things because we found some new clues the last time we were here."
The officer took a long drag on his cigarette and stared at her. "And who are you? Nancy Drew?" He grunted once and added, "Eh, what do I care? I don't get paid enough for this crap. Go on in." He turned away from them and stormed over to lean on the side of his car.
Francine glared at the officer but held her tongue as Lee opened the door and waited for her to enter. "Maybe when this is over, we can get him fired. What do you think?"
"I think him and his attitude are not our problem." Lee stopped in the entrance way and looked around. "Where do you want to start searching for the recorder or whatever it is?"
"Peters said it was a wireless remote so it can't be too far away. Let's start in the study and work our way out from there," Francine stated.
Amanda blinked, her eyes wide. "What exactly are we looking for?"
Lee tipped his head. "We're not really sure. I guess we should keep searching until we find some kind of recording device."
"Like a camera or an audio device?" Amanda questioned.
"Exactly, something like that." Lee opened the study door and scanned the room. "Nothing looks obvious from here."
They entered the room and immediately separated. Francine started opening drawers and cabinets while Lee checked the closet. Amanda stood in the center of the room where the chair impressions were. She slowly moved in a small circle, sweeping her eyes around, until they settled on the light fixture directly above.
"Lee, what about up here?" Amanda pointed.
"Good thinking." Lee climbed onto the desk and lifted his chin to see over the lip of the glass shade. "I can see something up against the ceiling. Find me something I can stand on to get closer."
"I think Jonathan keeps a step ladder in the utility closet in the kitchen," Francine offered.
Lee nodded. "That'll work."
Francine left the room and returned a minute later, carrying the small ladder. Lee opened the A-frame ladder and climbed up. Amanda moved behind him and placed her hand on the back of his leg. Lee glanced down at his wife and laughed. "I'm not going to fall, if that's what you're worried about."
"You can't be too careful. Besides, you might need me or Francine to take something from you," Amanda retorted.
"Francine, hit the light switch for me," Lee requested.
Francine flicked the switch down, turning the light off.
With a smile, Lee turned back to his task of removing the glass shade. He spun the small, ornate finial holding the shade in place until it came off. He carefully removed the decorative glass cover and handed it to Amanda.
"See?" she responded as she placed the light cover on the desk.
Lee shook his head without a word and studied the wiring above him. "What do we have here?" He reached up and tugged on one black wire. "Looks like Jonathan had the room wired for sound, but where does this go?" He pulled a little harder but there was no slack in the line. "Francine, what room is above this one?"
"The master bedroom," she stated without hesitation.
Lee climbed down, moved into the hallway, and ascended the winding stairs. He looked down the hallway and tried to orient where he was.
Francine walked swiftly past him to the first open door on the right. "In here."
The trio entered the room and Lee immediately moved to the window. "This room is bigger than the study, so about where would you say the light fixture is?"
Francine pointed to the nightstand beside the bed. "Over there." She stopped when she noticed the picture propped up on the matching table, facing the door.
"I guess Jonathan didn't want to let things go, did he?" Amanda suggested softly as she studied the picture of Francine.
"Impossible. He dated after we broke up. We both knew it wasn't going to work." Francine leaned against the edge of the unmade bed. She toyed with the bunched-up bedspread and laughed. "Some things never changed. Jonathan wouldn't pull up the covers until just before he got into bed at night. Said the bed needed to breathe and making it would stifle that."
Lee moved closer to the nightstand while Amanda and Francine talked. He knelt on one knee and ran his hand behind the bedside table. He found four wires and followed them to the top. One wire connected to the lamp. The second wire connected to a telephone. The third and forth wires connected to an answering machine. "I'm impressed."
Francine lifted her chin and shook her head. "Impressed by your everyday bedroom setup?"
Lee rolled his eyes at her. "Amanda, come over here and tell me what you see."Lee moved so Amanda could look closer.
"That answering machine isn't a real answering machine," she observed. "It's not connected to the phone."
"Well done, Amanda," Lee complimented his wife.
Amanda hit the rewind button for a few seconds, then hit play.
"Who are you?" Jonathan's panicked voice sounded from the speaker. Amanda's head shot up and her eyes met Francine's.
"You know who we are, Stone, now stop struggling!" a deeper voice commanded.
Several long seconds of muffled sounds filled the room. Amanda reached to hit the stop button but Francine lifted her hand. "Wait."
Jonathan spoke again, "I don't understand. Why are you here? Why are you doing this to me?"
"Come on, Stone. We know you know more than you're telling us. Where the hell are they keeping Brody? Just tell us what we want to know and we'll walk right out that door and leave you alone," a second voice stated.
Francine looked at Lee and mouthed, "Brody," just as Jonathan responded. "I told you. I don't know anything. I haven't seen Brody since… since…"
"I bet your little girlfriend will know," the first voice insisted.
"What girlfriend?" Jonathan asked.
"Blondie with the big mouth," the first voice stated.
"Blondie? You mean Francine –"
Amanda leaned over and clicked the stop button. Francine glared at her. "Amanda, what are you doing?"
"This isn't the place for us to listen to this whole thing, Francine. Let's get it back to the Agency and get the whole thing transcribed."
"But, Amanda–" Francine whined but Lee cut her off. "No, Amanda's right. And because this is about Jonathan… and you… I think she should be the one to transcribe it. She's done it in the past so we both know she'll do it right."