Murder Never Sleeps by Douglas Hall

Author:Douglas Hall [Hall, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781528935517
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: 2020-04-23T23:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

PROCTOR WAS NOWHERE to be seen. When West asked Brockhurst if he and King should wait for him to arrive before starting, she dismissed the question with, “He won’t be attending. He is in his study preparing his sermon for Sunday’s service and can’t be disturbed.”

The housekeeping, dining room and maintenance staff were clustered nervously in the dining room, and Mandy was not in attendance. Brockhurst reasoned that since she would not know anything pertaining to staff past or present, she was not included and was assigned to cover the front desk. Conversations were hushed and expressions questioning until Brockhurst explained that they would be shown a picture of a young girl and asked if they had ever seen her at Sammy Pines. Brockhurst’s tone of voice indicated that they should respond in the negative.

West and King were purposely not introduced by their professional titles, at Brockhurst’s insistence, to avoid upsetting anyone for whatever reason. Brunson acknowledged West and King with a curt nod of the head and took a seat at the side of the room where he could observe.

Brockhurst had an envelope with the requested list of employee signatures past and present which she handed to West. “These are the only signatures we have on file.”

West took the floor and explained that a young girl, by the name of Cindy Madison, had gone missing over two years ago. Her father hired him and King to try and find her. He made no reference to his profession or King’s police connection. All the staff had to do was look at a photograph and tell him or King if they had ever seen her, or a girl looking like her, at Sammy Pines.

A beefy man in work clothes asked, “What makes you think we would know anything about her?” His tone was belligerent and his body language aggressive.

“When her father posted a missing person report, a number of leads were followed by the police until it became what they call a cold case,” West explained, “that’s where my friend and I entered the picture at her father’s request. We have spent some time following up leads and one was Sammy Pines.”

“Care to explain?” the man asked in a belligerent tone.

“I am not in a position to answer that question at this time.”

“Are you suggesting that Sammy Pines is involved in the disappearance of a missing girl?”

“I am not suggesting anything,” West paused in mid-sentence, “and just who are you, sir?”

Rising to his full height the man replied, “My name is Arnold Gould. I am the property and maintenance manager. I started with Pastor Paul when he first had the idea to build Sammy Pines, and we have been with him ever since.”

“You say we?”

Gould reached back and grabbed the arm of a young man, in equally scruffy work clothes, who was standing behind him, and yanked him forward, “This is my son Orville.”

King had his notebook out and was writing as the exchange continued.

“We tend the grounds and keep the buildings in good order.

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