expect to stay in our house?”
“I have a doctor’s appointment this morning. Jacquie’s taking me. Still not allowed to drive.”
“That’s very nice of you, Jacquie .” I couldn’t resist trying to get a rise out of my mother, but she just munched on her toast.
When we finished breakfast, I glanced at the digital clock on the stove. I wanted to deliver Cabe’s employment application to Binder and Flynn before work. I excused myself, went to our home phone, and called Pammie to make sure she’d be at the ticket kiosk.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Twenty-four hour bug.”
I walked the block and a half to Busman’s Harbor’s ugly, brick, fire-department-town-offices-police complex. Inside, the building was quiet. I crossed behind the empty police reception desk and looked into the community room the state police had used the last time they were in town. Binder and Flynn sat at one of the room’s central tables, heads bowed, deep in conversation. Around the perimeter of the room were a whiteboard with notes scrawled on it in thick black marker, two computer workstations, and dozens and dozens of cardboard boxes.
“Knock, knock.”
“Julia Snowden!” Binder seemed delighted to see me, ready to stop whatever they were doing. Flynn, as always, seemed much less so.
“Come in. Sit down,” Binder said.
Ignoring Flynn’s scowl, I did. “What is all this? I asked, indicating the scores of moving boxes.
“ This has to do with the identity of your friend, Stevie Noyes.”
“His identity? You mean you found his next of kin?”
“No. We found out who Stevie Noyes actually was.”
Actually was? “He wasn’t Stevie Noyes?”
“Not always. The dental records you so helpfully pointed us toward got a hit at a federal pen in Pennsylvania. Stevie Noyes used to be T.V. Noyes, big-time stock swindler. He did a federal bill of ten years for a stock con he ran in the early nineties. These boxes contain the trial transcripts, witness lists, and so on. There was a civil suit against him, too, an attempt to recover damages. We’re still waiting on that stuff.”
“I can’t believe it. Stevie Noyes was the nicest person in the world.”
“So everyone has told us. He did his time. Apparently, he was a model prisoner. Taught computer classes to inmates. After he got out, he inherited some money from an uncle and bought the RV park. Hasn’t had so much as a parking ticket since.”
“But that doesn’t mean the people he swindled don’t still feel wronged.” I started to feel hopeful. Maybe Stevie’s past would take the focus off Cabe. “Have you found Stevie’s family and notified his next of kin?”
“Working on it,” Binder answered. “The family situation’s a little screwy. We’ll release his identity to the press today, regardless.”
“A stock swindle, time in prison, and a screwy family. There could be a lot of people who might be interested in killing Stevie Noyes. Maybe finding Cabe isn’t so important,” I suggested.
“Actually, as the investigation’s moved forward, we’ve become more interested in young Mr. Stone, not less,” Binder said.
“He may be in more trouble than ever,” Flynn added.
I couldn’t imagine why that would be. “How can you say that? You’ve just told me you have a boatload of possible suspects from Stevie’s past.”
Flynn folded his hands in front of him and gave me his full attention. “We think you know where Cabe Stone is.”
“What! Why would you ever think that?”
“The kid has no resources. He’s on his own. Someone’s helping him stay out of sight.”
“You can’t know that. And even if someone is, why me?” I looked at Binder. Are you going to sit there and let him accuse me? But Binder said nothing to stop Flynn or defend me.
“Your brother-in-law obviously knows more than he’s telling. I’d suspect him, but he lives out on that island with limited mobility and means of communication. We know the kid’s not
“I have a doctor’s appointment this morning. Jacquie’s taking me. Still not allowed to drive.”
“That’s very nice of you, Jacquie .” I couldn’t resist trying to get a rise out of my mother, but she just munched on her toast.
When we finished breakfast, I glanced at the digital clock on the stove. I wanted to deliver Cabe’s employment application to Binder and Flynn before work. I excused myself, went to our home phone, and called Pammie to make sure she’d be at the ticket kiosk.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Twenty-four hour bug.”
I walked the block and a half to Busman’s Harbor’s ugly, brick, fire-department-town-offices-police complex. Inside, the building was quiet. I crossed behind the empty police reception desk and looked into the community room the state police had used the last time they were in town. Binder and Flynn sat at one of the room’s central tables, heads bowed, deep in conversation. Around the perimeter of the room were a whiteboard with notes scrawled on it in thick black marker, two computer workstations, and dozens and dozens of cardboard boxes.
“Knock, knock.”
“Julia Snowden!” Binder seemed delighted to see me, ready to stop whatever they were doing. Flynn, as always, seemed much less so.
“Come in. Sit down,” Binder said.
Ignoring Flynn’s scowl, I did. “What is all this? I asked, indicating the scores of moving boxes.
“ This has to do with the identity of your friend, Stevie Noyes.”
“His identity? You mean you found his next of kin?”
“No. We found out who Stevie Noyes actually was.”
Actually was? “He wasn’t Stevie Noyes?”
“Not always. The dental records you so helpfully pointed us toward got a hit at a federal pen in Pennsylvania. Stevie Noyes used to be T.V. Noyes, big-time stock swindler. He did a federal bill of ten years for a stock con he ran in the early nineties. These boxes contain the trial transcripts, witness lists, and so on. There was a civil suit against him, too, an attempt to recover damages. We’re still waiting on that stuff.”
“I can’t believe it. Stevie Noyes was the nicest person in the world.”
“So everyone has told us. He did his time. Apparently, he was a model prisoner. Taught computer classes to inmates. After he got out, he inherited some money from an uncle and bought the RV park. Hasn’t had so much as a parking ticket since.”
“But that doesn’t mean the people he swindled don’t still feel wronged.” I started to feel hopeful. Maybe Stevie’s past would take the focus off Cabe. “Have you found Stevie’s family and notified his next of kin?”
“Working on it,” Binder answered. “The family situation’s a little screwy. We’ll release his identity to the press today, regardless.”
“A stock swindle, time in prison, and a screwy family. There could be a lot of people who might be interested in killing Stevie Noyes. Maybe finding Cabe isn’t so important,” I suggested.
“Actually, as the investigation’s moved forward, we’ve become more interested in young Mr. Stone, not less,” Binder said.
“He may be in more trouble than ever,” Flynn added.
I couldn’t imagine why that would be. “How can you say that? You’ve just told me you have a boatload of possible suspects from Stevie’s past.”
Flynn folded his hands in front of him and gave me his full attention. “We think you know where Cabe Stone is.”
“What! Why would you ever think that?”
“The kid has no resources. He’s on his own. Someone’s helping him stay out of sight.”
“You can’t know that. And even if someone is, why me?” I looked at Binder. Are you going to sit there and let him accuse me? But Binder said nothing to stop Flynn or defend me.
“Your brother-in-law obviously knows more than he’s telling. I’d suspect him, but he lives out on that island with limited mobility and means of communication. We know the kid’s not
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