The Owl Knows by Roy Owenby

Author:Roy Owenby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ammons Communications
Published: 2013-04-19T00:00:00+00:00

WAITING GAME

Friday morning, April 18. Bass Martin and Regina Oakwood stood at their observation post across from Tom Clark’s house. As two of Sheriff Rogers’ newest deputies, they took their jobs seriously. They maintained a constant vigil from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. For the present, Johny and Myra had decided to maintain a twenty-four vigil on Clark’s home.

They had erected a camouflage-colored tent twenty yards into the woods directly across from Tom Clark’s driveway. The observation team had cleared a place for the tent and carefully cut away tree limbs and leaves until they had a perfect view of the house and driveway. They had a tripod mounted 35-mm camera and a good quality camcorder to assist their observations.

To date, they were batting zero. So far today, Bass and Regina had observed a cleaning woman, two paperboys and three delivery trucks. The daily deliveries created interest for the investigation, but did not, of themselves, prove any criminal activity. On three occasions, they had observed Marvin Dunlop drive quickly down the straightaway and turn into Tom Clark’s driveway.

On the second occasion, another car rounded the curve and entered the straightaway just before Dunlop started to turn into Clark’s driveway. Interestingly, he sped up slightly, and continued down the road. Almost an hour passed before he made the third attempt. This time, he turned into Clark’s driveway without incident.

Myra Morgan’s only undercover officer watched Marvin Dunlop’s house part-time, primarily to corroborate the observations of Tom Clark’s house. He coordinated with Bass and Regina by cell phone, and they confirmed a pattern between Dunlop’s leaving his own house and arriving at Clark’s house. For example, they learned that Dunlop always drove somewhere else first. In a word, Dunlop’s elaborate attempts to avoid suspicion actually caused suspicion.

Johny and Myra understood they must be careful and patient. It could take weeks or even months before they learned what the two men were doing, if anything. They didn’t want to go charging in only to find Clark and Dunlop engaged in some type of legitimate business. Judge Cocheran had resisted a search warrant quite simply because there wasn’t enough evidence to justify one. Still, Johny and Myra watched and waited and hoped for a break in the case.

* * * * * * * * * *

On a Sunday night in mid-May, a full moon rose majestically over Macon County. By 2:00 a.m., it stood high in the heavens, bathing everything in a saturnine, luminescent glow. Portentous nimbus clouds formed in the western sky and a slight breeze added chill to an April morning. The rim of the surrounding mountains reflected the moonlight like a giant mirror and filtered it into the sleeping valleys below.

The mournful howl of dogs reverberated in the distance, and the babbling noise of a nearby stream reminded the walker of childhood memories. Off to the right, a picturesque barn stood in the moonlight, surrounded by cattle and a few horses. An owl sat in a tall white pine and eyed the passing stranger suspiciously but gave no warning hoot that might reveal his presence.

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