Murder on the Mainline: another Mike Claymore Mystery Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
7TH THURSDAY

Mike sleeps in and wakes around nine. He comes downstairs in his robe and pours himself coffee. He looks outside and sees the station wagon is gone. He finishes his coffee and goes up to get dressed. Coming back down he looks out and there is still no car. He goes to the office and gets his briefcase, throws it in the car and heads for POCO.

At twelve thirty he’s waiting for Nina. She comes out and climbs into the car, out of the rain. He pulls away and says, “You look down today. Just want to go for lunch?”

“No, please take me to the river. I need you to hold me and tell me everything will be alright.”

He respects her silence and drives without a word. When he has parked he slides over from under the wheel so he can hold her closer. She doesn’t seek his lips so he just holds her. She whispers, “It’s all going too fast. I gave my notice today.”

“I saw the ‘Sold’ sign on your house. When are you to be out?”

“End of the month. They want to take possession by July second. Oh Mike, that only leaves me a couple of weeks.”

“Where are you going to stay until you go back east? You could stay at our place. We have the spare room.”

“Jeff is going down to Toronto next week to find us a place. They want him to start down there on the second of July.”

“You mean you will be moving in two weeks. Wow! That is fast.”

“We don’t even have a moving company lined up.”

“Don’t worry about that. CPX does cross country moving and I’ll haul it for you, myself. I’d enjoy a long haul to Toronto. You just give me the date as soon as you can.”

“Oh, I will. That’s enough of this feeling sorry for myself. Why isn’t this thing hard yet? Do you need some help? Oh oh, I spoke too soon. It’s growing fast now. Kiss me!”

When he drops her back at the detachment, Lindross is waiting for him. He gestures for Mike to come in.

When they are seated in the Staff Sergeant’s office, he says to Mike, “Have you been able to come up with anything new on the Hanson case?”

“You’re asking me, not telling me?”

“Look Mike, I don’t have the resources to keep track of you everyday. We have other priorities, other cases. If you’ve got anything then let’s put our heads together and work on it.”

“What I’ve got is a lot of circumstantial evidence, hunches and denials. I’ve narrowed it down to two suspects and I think I know who did it. Of the other suspect, I’m not sure of her involvement. I do know you are going ahead with the trial of the wrong man.”

“We’re going ahead with what we’ve got. Give us another case and we’ll drop the least compelling. Who do you think did it and what’s their motive?”

“There you go, jumping the gun. I don’t have a motive and probably won’t until I confront him. Key elements, like physical evidence are missing. If I had a clear piece of physical evidence, I’d drop it on your desk and say, sic him. How many people you got working on this case now?”

“What’s that got to do with it? Quit stalling and tell me who you suspect and why?”

“Hey, I’m not a suspect! I don’t think you have anyone detailed to the case. I think you’ve shelved it. Listed it as an unsolved case, something for a rainy day. You know your not going to go anywhere with it in the courts. Ray is going to be let off. Oh, maybe you’ll be able to get him on a morals charge, the tapes, but the murder will remain unsolved. Why don’t you go after the murderer and clear my friend’s name?”

“Why should I? You’re doing that for us, aren’t you? That’s what you’re telling me.”

“That right; and I better get back at it. Good day.” Mike gets up and walks out of the office; never looking back at the other man who sits glaring at his back. Nina and he exchange glances and a wave as he leaves the detachment.

He drives out to the CPX yard and checks with dispatch. They don’t have anything for him. He cleans up the truck and checks with the shops. They say they’ll give it a lube job. He outlines a dozen small faults they should check into and lists them.

When he leaves he drives back towards Mission and Abbotsford. He spots a nondescript gray car keeping tabs on him. Between the two towns he calls his mechanic, while keeping his eyes in the mirror on his shadow. The mechanic has the fender in for him and says to bring the car around whenever he likes, but not today.

Next he calls Trudy. “Well love, what have we got in the mail? Any new work?”

“Money. I got cheques for skip tracing. A local firm has a Workman’s Compensation case for us. Guy claims back injuries, WCB doesn’t believe him. Wants us to check it out.”

“Local case?”

“POCO and Chilliwack. He lives in POCO but works at the York Farms packing plant in Chilliwack. I said we’d take it because we’re in POCO so much anyway. Okay?”

“Hmmmm, alright. Just a lot of legwork. It’ll require surveillance. Maybe we’ll check it out in the morning. You busy then?”

“The other reason I took it is because it came in direct, not through ABC Security. We get the whole commission on this one.”

“Good thinking. I’ll call you later. I’m just turning in home. Take care, love.” He checks all around but the shadow is gone. Mike glances at the ‘Sold’ sign, shakes his head and goes to the side door. He pulls off his boots just inside the door. He calls, “Hi, anybody home?”

A clear little voice calls back, “Daddy’s home. Daddy!” Janet comes running out of the front room to meet him. He scoops her up and sees Richard in the living room door. “Where’s your mom, Rick?”

“I’m baby-sitting. She had to take Shelly to the hospital. She had a bump on her head. Some other girl hit her with a swing in the playground.”

Mike’s cell phone beeps. He answers it.

“Mike, when are you going to be home?”

“I just came in. How’s Shelly?”

“She got quite a thump on the head in the playground. No bleeding but a lot of swelling. I’m at MSA Hospital with her. They want to keep her in overnight for observation. I think it would be a good idea. Do you want to bring the kids and we’ll go to a restaurant for supper?”

“Okay. Do you want me to come over to MSA? Is Shelly upset about staying there overnight?”

“She doesn’t seem to be. Can you bring her pajamas and her favorite doll? You know, the one you got her in Calgary, the teddy bear doll.”

Mike gets Shelly’s things and loads the kids in the car. He drives around the block to MSA Hospital. He could have walked faster, by the time he finds a parking place. He locks the car and asks Richard to look after his sister while he’s inside.

In about ten minutes Marlene and Mike return to the car. Mike says, “She’s really acting grown up. No tears, no fuss, no problem whatsoever. What did the doctor mean when he said check with him before we come over in the morning? You seemed to know what he was talking about.”

“He says these bumps can prove to be more of a problem than they at first appear. Unless there is a drastic reduction in the swelling, he may want to keep her in another day. That’s all he told me.”

“When I talked to him he sounded quite confident that she would be alright by morning. When did he tell you that?”

“When he examined her.”

“Damn! I wish I’d asked him a lot more questions. He seemed so sure that it was no big deal. Damn!”

“Let’s just go for supper. We can come back and visit with her later this evening.”

They go to a local restaurant and order supper. Janet says, “Where’s Shelly? Is she coming, too?”

Marlene: “Hush now. Eat your supper.”

Mike says, “Shelly is staying at another house tonight. You know, like when she stays over at Tina’s. She’ll be home in the morning. Now dig in those chips or I’ll finish mine and gobble yours all up, too.”

Janet: “Oh daddy.”

When they get home Mike tells Marlene to walk over and tell her goodnight. He says he’ll go over when she gets back. He stays with the kids and helps Richard with some homework, while Janet colors with crayons.

Marlene comes in and tells him, “She’s a little apprehensive now. She’s really looking forward to you coming over to tuck her in. You better go right over.”

“I’m on my way. How’s her bump look? Is it bothering her?”

“She didn’t even mention it.”

“See you later.”

Mike walks past Jeff’s and around the block to the hospital.