Page 26 of Hidden Hero

Ed had been the police chief for Baytown years before. He had taken over for his father, and now Ed’s son, Mitch, had taken over for him. Jeremy and Pete were friends with Mitch, but they wanted to talk to Ed since they hoped he might know more about older American Legion members.

Ed welcomed them into the living room, and a group was already waiting for them—men who had grown up on the shore and were now retired. Their children were taking multiple jobs on the Eastern Shore, too. Ed’s brother, Steve, walked over to shake their hands. Toby Wilder, Eric McFarlane, David Bayles, and Thomas Ward warmly greeted them.

They smiled as Ed’s wife, Nancy, walked in with glasses of iced tea. She headed back to the kitchen, leaving them ready to ask questions.

“We wanted to ask you about Robert Stewart and Henry Miller, who died recently. I know they’re quite a bit older than you, but they had been members of the American Legion. Neither Pete nor I met them, and we were hoping you might have some information.”

“I know who you’re talking about.” Ed nodded as his brow furrowed. “I know there might not be a lot you can tell me, but it would help if I knew if there was something specific you wanted to know.”

“We’re looking into suspicious deaths. By now, you’ve probably heard of the accident that claimed Fred Rudolph, another older man in the county. I think the write-up was in the newspaper.”

The other men nodded, several murmuring that they had read the article.

Jeremy continued. “It appeared that Fred had not been taking his medication and suffered a heart failure that caused the accident.”

Thomas shook his head slowly. “My wife and I knew Mrs. Adams, who was killed in that accident. Not well, mind you, but she belonged to the auxiliary, and we had worked a bake sale with her once.”

“Tragic,” Eric said, also shaking his head.

Pete nodded his agreement. “We’re looking for a connection besides just two men being part of the American Legion. We’re looking to see how well they might’ve known each other. Did they have a close relationship or relationships with others? We don’t have any suspicions about the American Legion, but these two men are tied into two deaths that also are suspicious.”

Ed rubbed his chin. “I’ve had a few conversations with them, but not alone. Sometimes our older members cannot attend many of our activities other than a meeting, and I like to ensure they still feel a part of the community.”

Toby said, “I ran into Henry at the grocery store several months ago. He was having car trouble, so I called Jason’s place to have him towed so they could work on his car. Besides that, I’m afraid I’ve had no reason to talk to him or Fred.”

Thomas shook his head. “I feel like we’re not giving you anything, but I can’t say I’ve had a conversation with either of them.”

Jeremy and Pete shared a look, both nodding. “It was a long shot,” Pete said. “We’ve got four elderly people who have similar suspicious deaths, and we’re looking for any tie between the four. So far, we’re coming up with very little. Helen McCarthy was the fourth one.”

“What all have you looked at?” Ed asked. He immediately blushed and shook his head. “I’m sorry. It’s the law enforcer in me. Always asking the next question.”

Jeremy chuckled. “No offense taken. Believe me, we’re willing to take any information we can get.”

Pete continued, “We’ve looked at any connection. Two of them went to the same church, but when we talked to the minister, they had minimal overlap. Two of them had their prescriptions filled at the same pharmacy, but that was their only overlap. Two belong to the American Legion.”

“It would just help to find something that connected all four,” Jeremy said. “Then we could trace that back and have a better idea of what was happening with their prescription drugs.”

Steve’s brows raised. “Now I understand why the drug task force is on this case.”

Jeremy nodded. “Yeah, for some reason, these four people were not taking their prescriptions, but neither were the medications found in their homes when they died.”

“Damn,” Ed said. He rubbed his chin again. “I offered to pick them up and bring them to some activities they might want. Now, mind you, I didn’t speak only to them, but it was an offer made to any of our older members who could no longer drive at night and might not have someone who could bring them to activities.”

“We heard the same thing from the minister. Do you know if Henry and Fred ever took anyone up on that?”

“They didn’t take me up on my offer, but I know they showed up at the last holiday bazaar we hosted. It never dawned on me to find out who brought them, but I remember telling Fred I was glad he could come but didn’t see Henry after they first walked in. As you remember, we had a lot of people wanting to buy baked goods and Christmas gifts as part of our fundraiser.”

Steve leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees. “Would you like us to make some calls? We could check with some of our members to see who might have offered rides to them.”

Again, Jeremy and Pete looked at each other and nodded. “You can give us names once you find out. We’d appreciate any help you can offer.”

“It’s not a problem,” Steve said. He looked at his brother, Ed, and said, “It shouldn’t take us long to go through the roster, and we can just check to see who the drivers were.”

They stood to leave, and Nancy walked back in from the kitchen. She blushed, then offered a smile toward Ed. “Perhaps it’s because I was the daughter-in-law of a police chief, the wife of a police chief, and now the mother of a police chief,” she began, “but I overheard the last part of what you were saying. I don’t know about the man, but I can tell you that Helen came to a few American Legion auxiliary meetings. She decided not to become a member officially, but I talked with her. She said she was interested, but her eyesight was going, and driving was tricky. I told her members would happily pick her up and bring her. She never returned to one of our meetings, but I saw her several times at bingo.”

At that word, Jeremy and Pete both jerked slightly. “Bingo?” they said simultaneously.

“I believe it was at the firehouse. This is embarrassing because I don’t play bingo very often, but a group of us will go to a few churches, fire stations, and organizations and play about once a month. I’m almost positive I saw her at the fire station.” She winced and added, “My memory isn’t as good as it used to be.”

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