Death Waits in the Dark by Julia Buckley

Author:Julia Buckley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2019-04-01T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

• • •

WE SAT AT Camilla’s table in the sunroom, cooled by air-conditioning but warmed by bright sunbeams. Camilla had made a big pitcher of lemonade and Adam had brought a sandwich tray from Wheat Grass. I took a hearty gulp from my glass and watched Doug and Sam eat as though they’d both gone without for a while. There were five of us at the table: Doug, Sam, Adam, Camilla, and me. Doug finished a sandwich, glanced at his watch, and cleared his throat.

“I guess I’d better get started. We went to the homes of every person on Camilla’s list, including our police chief,” he said. “We asked to see their cars, all of which were intact. No sign of an impact to the front end of any of the vehicles.”

“What about the people who live out of town?” I asked.

Doug nodded. “We sent Chip to Bluefield to look at the Fieldses’ vehicles. That’s Karina’s married name—Fields. They have several cars, and they all passed the test. Ken actually enjoyed showing Chip around. A guy who knows his cars, Chip says.”

I poked at my sandwich with one hand. “That’s disappointing, sort of. I mean, I’m glad none of them did it, but—”

“No one is off the hook yet,” Camilla said crisply.

Sam leaned toward Doug. “What about the child? Carrie’s child?”

“Yes.” Doug took out a folder and consulted a form. “As Jane’s old friends suggested, Carrie Wyland moved to Chicago in August of 1971. We found her name in an old phone directory and then traced other documents to her address. From there we were able to get some more information, including the fact that she did give birth to a child, a boy named William, in April of 1972.”

“So she got pregnant in July,” I said. “In Blue Lake.”

“It would seem so,” said Doug, avoiding Camilla’s gaze.

“Can we contact this William?” Camilla asked.

Doug took a sip of his lemonade, then met her clear eyes. “We are looking for him. His last known address was the one he shared with his mother, but neighbors we tracked down said that William moved out long ago, in the ’90s. They weren’t sure where he went. It looks like Carrie supported them both by working as a secretary to a local businessman. It’s possible she ended up dating him, perhaps even marrying him. We’re looking for a record of that, and we’re trying to find the boy, as well. He’s forty-seven years old, if he’s alive.”

“This is a good start,” Camilla said, nodding. “I spoke to Rusty Baxter, who told me much of what Doug just told us. And the fact that he had liked Carrie Wyland—a tidbit which we already knew. He said she was the one girl he had never flirted with because he thought there was something sweet and vulnerable about her. He claims he was a bit brokenhearted when she left town.”

It was quiet for a moment; a cardinal pipped on Camilla’s bird feeder as we contemplated the lost life of a woman who, as a girl, had for a brief time lived in this house.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.