Page 39 of The Last Straw

Within minutes Wayne responded with the name, Allen Carson, as well as his cell number, and a message that he was emailing the list of residents to her.

Wyrick then did a quick search of Allen Carson before she called him, just so she’d know who she was talking to.

A picture popped up of a fifty-something man who looked a little bit like Robert De Niro. According to the info, he was a self-made multimillionaire, twice divorced, three grown kids and no black marks against his credit or his business practices. It was enough to start with, so she made the call.

Allen Carson was winding up a business lunch at the Dallas Country Club when his cell phone rang. He saw Dodge Security and Investigations come up on caller ID and frowned. He’d never met Charlie Dodge, but the man’s reputation preceded him, and so he stood.

“Excuse me, gentlemen. I need to take this,” he said and stepped out of the dining area. “Hello. Allen Carson speaking.”

“Mr. Carson, my name is Wyrick. I’m calling on behalf of Dodge Investigations in the hopes that you might be able to assist us on a case that happened on one of your properties.”

Allen took a deep breath. He couldn’t believe he was actually speaking to the Jade Wyrick, and had to make himself focus.

“Um... I don’t understand,” he said.

“Oh, of course. I just assumed... Let me start over. A woman named Rachel Dean has gone missing, and she lives in one of the apartments in Detter House.”

“Oh...that, yes, I’m sorry. My manager did notify me of that happening. But what—”

“She went missing from her apartment. There’s video of her going in, and then she just disappears. The police have no leads. There are no witnesses to anything, and she has no history of trouble with anyone. Her sister hired us to assist the police in finding her. Charlie and I did a walk-through of the apartment this morning without discovering anything.”

Now Allen was beginning to sense the problems he’d feared were arising. The family had called in help beyond the Dallas PD.

“That’s terrible. Her family must be terrified. How can I help?” he asked.

“We know the structure is old. And then you bought it a little over twenty years ago and renovated it into apartments. By any chance, did you change any of the structural aspects of it during renovations?”

“Well, of course I took down walls and added other walls to create separate dwellings, but only to the interior aspects of the house. The original structure of the building was never altered. Is that what you mean?”

“Yes, and no. What I need to know is if, during renovation, there would have been spaces left between the new walls and the old. Spaces large enough for people to pass through?”

Allen gasped. “No! I would never have okayed anything like that...and in fact, there would not have been a need to make the floor space smaller. The draw for rental property is always where to get the most space for the money.”

“Understood,” Wyrick said. “Now, I have one more question. By any chance when you purchased the mansion...did you ever have an occasion to see the original blueprints for Detter House?”

The skin crawled on the back of Allen’s neck. All of a sudden, he knew where this was going. They were talking about secret passages here. Oh, God. That would end the trust factor of ever renting property there again.

“Actually, we found the original blueprints in the main library during renovation,” Allen said. “Before I became a builder, I was an architect. I’ve drawn hundreds of blueprints for clients, and collecting blueprints of historic buildings is a hobby of mine. So I have them, as well as the blueprints for the renovation.”

Wyrick’s heart skipped a beat. What a score!

“Would it be possible for us to borrow them for a time? It’s crucial that we rule out even the most random possibilities that might explain how Rachel disappeared.”

“Yes, of course,” Allen said and glanced at his watch. “It’s probably too late for me to messenger them to you today, and I’m not at home. By the time I could get there—”

Wyrick interrupted, “If you’d be agreeable, Charlie or I would gladly come get them this evening. As I said, time is not on our side.”

“Yes, of course,” Allen said. “I’ll be home by six. I live in University Park. I’ll text you my address. Just ring the doorbell. My housekeeper will have them for you.”

“Thank you for your cooperation,” Wyrick said. “We’ll take good care of them and get them back to you as soon as we’re through.”

“Just let me know, and I’ll send someone to your office to pick them up, and save you the trip,” he said.

“Will do. Thank you again,” Wyrick said and hung up, then went to tell Charlie, pausing at the coffee bar on the way to get a sweet roll.

Charlie glanced up as she walked in carrying a cherry Danish.

“Is that for me?” he asked.

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