Black Ice by Linda Hall

Author:Linda Hall [Hall, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-55049-1
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2012-04-04T00:00:00+00:00

38

When Jake got back to the office, May had emptied all the desk drawers onto the floor. Stacks of paper littered the tables, and Jana was in the process of going through the contents of their recycling box.

“I’ve lost my notes,” May said.

“Hi, Dad,” Jana said, putting down a heap of recycled newspapers.

“Hey, kid.”

“My notebook,” May said. “All of my written stuff.” May kept meticulous shorthand notes of all phone conversations and research in small spiral books, a separate one for each case. She carried them with her everywhere. “Do you have it, Jake? Do you think you might’ve put it in your backpack by mistake?”

“I’m certain I don’t, but I’ll check.” He dumped the contents of his backpack, found his own notebook, but not May’s.

“What’s that on the table?” he asked.

“That’s a new one. I’ve had to start a new one.” He opened it up to the first page. There were notes from a telephone conversation there.

“So, you called Barrhead?”

“Yeah. I’ve lost all my notes, every one.”

“What about your computer notes?” Jake asked.

“You know me, Jake. I save e-mails, sure, but I always write everything else down.”

“It’s got to be around. When’s the last time you had it?” he asked.

“I can’t remember not having it. It goes with me everywhere when I’m on a case.” She sat down and squared the edges of a stack of paper in her lap. “I searched my entire house. All night. It’s not at my house. Anywhere. So, I thought I must’ve left it here. I’m always so careful, Jake.”

Jake opened the cupboard that contained their paper, ink cartridges, and office supplies.

“Don’t bother looking in there. I’ve been through it a hundred times.”

“Is it in your SUV?”

“Checked. Looked under the seats. No. It’s not there.”

“Is this it?” Jana said, holding up a duotang folder from the recycle bin.

“Afraid not,” May said. “What I had was a spiral notebook.”

“Oh.” Jana put it back.

“So tell me,” Jake said. “What did you find out about the Shenks?”

May sat. “Okay, maybe I need a break from all this looking. Yeah, sit down and I’ll fill you in. I got a hold of the managing editor of the Barrhead Leader, someone named”—she reached for her new notebook—“Tom Grasion.”

“And?”

“And he knows the Shenk family. Big family, he told me. Lots of Shenks all over the place. I already knew that and told him so. It seems everyone in the whole town has a Shenk in their family tree. The mayor of the town is even a Shenk.”

“Did you find Tolita Shenk? Talk to her?”

“The editor at the paper didn’t know her. Knew of her, but not her. So I consulted a Web site for the town. Sure enough, there is a Shenk who’s a real estate broker. Bob Shenk Realty. So I called him. He’s one of those garrulous salesmen. I finally was able to ask if he knew who Tolita was.” May consulted her new notebook. “And then he’s real quiet. So I repeat my question, ‘Do you

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