woods and pretty much kept to themselves. The old
man was one of those survivalists and kept his kids close. He owned a recycling
place on his property, a real junkyard. Anyway, both his boys worked for him.
His youngest boy, crap, what’s his name, Shane, yeah, Shane and the old man
would get into some really explosive disputes and we were called out a few
times to intercede. Last year the old man went too far and beat the kid up for
mouthing off. Kid, well, not a kid, he’s a grown man now, I think he’s in his
late twenties, well anyway, the guy fell and slammed his head against a toolbox
and got a concussion.” He paused, probably out of breath.
“To make a long story short, this kid had finally had enough
of his father’s bullying him and decided to press charges, and the old man was
given a date to appear in court. Well, the old man, Archie, never showed up for
court, so we issued a warrant for his arrest. We thought the boys really knew
where he was, but for some reason they were covering it up. Even Shane seemed
to have changed his mind about pressing charges. So we were about to let it go,
but a few months later a construction crew was prepping an area for a strip
mall and uncovered the remains of a young woman. We matched her dental records,
and she was positively identified as the missing Scottish girl, Donna Barrie
aka M’leigh Blakey. When the girl’s body showed up close to his home, well, I
was very interested in talking to the old man again; so I went back to the
Blakey place to tell Troy that we found his wife’s remains, and again ask if
they had any idea where I could find their father, but they claimed ignorance. But
I got different vibes this time. Something was not kosher about the whole
thing, so later I went back to interview them again, but the boys were gone. Crazy,
huh?”
He took another deep breath, and then without waiting for Marty’s
answer, continued.
“And if that’s not enough for you, while we were
investigating these guys, we turned up something really interesting. According
to the social security records, Troy and his brother Shane are as dead as Archie
and the girl. All four of them had stolen names and social security numbers. When
we did a search in the system, we found a shitload of court documents; one of
them a birth certificate for the kid, Tristan. According to the birth
certificate, he was born October seventh, two thousand and five. That’s about
three years before this Donna Barrie disappeared for the second time. Mother’s
name on the birth certificate is recorded as M’leigh Blakey, father Troy Blakey.
According to social security records, they are both deceased. We know who
M’leigh is; she’s really that kid, Donna Barrie, from Scotland. What we don’t
know is who the hell Archie and Troy Blakey really are, or for that matter, the
kid’s uncle, Shane Blakey, or for that matter, the little boy. Although he
probably is the only one who is exactly who they say he is. I suppose if we can
find out who these guys really are, we may be able to get some answers. You
follow all that?”
“I think so.” Marty told him, his ear burning from keeping
the phone against the side of his head all this time.
“Anyway, if I can find the money in our budget, I would like
to come out there and have a talk with Troy about the Barrie case. I mean,
that’s if he survives.”
“Sure, no problem, Lieutenant. Just let me know your plans
and I will make arrangements.”
He promised to fax over the file, and as Marty disconnected
the call, he swore he heard the Lieutenant muttering, “What a tangled web we
weave.”
While Marty was on the phone, Jean and Frank took the opportunity to watch the video.
Within seconds, Jean felt bile rise up into her throat, and her face turned a
pasty white. She wanted to scream, “Turn it off!” but she knew whatever
discomfort she was feeling, it needed to take a backseat to the fact there
might be some evidence hidden in the video
man was one of those survivalists and kept his kids close. He owned a recycling
place on his property, a real junkyard. Anyway, both his boys worked for him.
His youngest boy, crap, what’s his name, Shane, yeah, Shane and the old man
would get into some really explosive disputes and we were called out a few
times to intercede. Last year the old man went too far and beat the kid up for
mouthing off. Kid, well, not a kid, he’s a grown man now, I think he’s in his
late twenties, well anyway, the guy fell and slammed his head against a toolbox
and got a concussion.” He paused, probably out of breath.
“To make a long story short, this kid had finally had enough
of his father’s bullying him and decided to press charges, and the old man was
given a date to appear in court. Well, the old man, Archie, never showed up for
court, so we issued a warrant for his arrest. We thought the boys really knew
where he was, but for some reason they were covering it up. Even Shane seemed
to have changed his mind about pressing charges. So we were about to let it go,
but a few months later a construction crew was prepping an area for a strip
mall and uncovered the remains of a young woman. We matched her dental records,
and she was positively identified as the missing Scottish girl, Donna Barrie
aka M’leigh Blakey. When the girl’s body showed up close to his home, well, I
was very interested in talking to the old man again; so I went back to the
Blakey place to tell Troy that we found his wife’s remains, and again ask if
they had any idea where I could find their father, but they claimed ignorance. But
I got different vibes this time. Something was not kosher about the whole
thing, so later I went back to interview them again, but the boys were gone. Crazy,
huh?”
He took another deep breath, and then without waiting for Marty’s
answer, continued.
“And if that’s not enough for you, while we were
investigating these guys, we turned up something really interesting. According
to the social security records, Troy and his brother Shane are as dead as Archie
and the girl. All four of them had stolen names and social security numbers. When
we did a search in the system, we found a shitload of court documents; one of
them a birth certificate for the kid, Tristan. According to the birth
certificate, he was born October seventh, two thousand and five. That’s about
three years before this Donna Barrie disappeared for the second time. Mother’s
name on the birth certificate is recorded as M’leigh Blakey, father Troy Blakey.
According to social security records, they are both deceased. We know who
M’leigh is; she’s really that kid, Donna Barrie, from Scotland. What we don’t
know is who the hell Archie and Troy Blakey really are, or for that matter, the
kid’s uncle, Shane Blakey, or for that matter, the little boy. Although he
probably is the only one who is exactly who they say he is. I suppose if we can
find out who these guys really are, we may be able to get some answers. You
follow all that?”
“I think so.” Marty told him, his ear burning from keeping
the phone against the side of his head all this time.
“Anyway, if I can find the money in our budget, I would like
to come out there and have a talk with Troy about the Barrie case. I mean,
that’s if he survives.”
“Sure, no problem, Lieutenant. Just let me know your plans
and I will make arrangements.”
He promised to fax over the file, and as Marty disconnected
the call, he swore he heard the Lieutenant muttering, “What a tangled web we
weave.”
While Marty was on the phone, Jean and Frank took the opportunity to watch the video.
Within seconds, Jean felt bile rise up into her throat, and her face turned a
pasty white. She wanted to scream, “Turn it off!” but she knew whatever
discomfort she was feeling, it needed to take a backseat to the fact there
might be some evidence hidden in the video
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