Page 7 of Crossing Lines

“Where’s Chief Mason? In there? I have to talk to him,” a voice boomed from the reception area.

“Hey, you can’t just walk in there!” Reese yelled, but apparently the visitor wasn’t listening, because a man in an expensive suit appeared in the squad room. He was of medium build with a thick neck and a thick head of dark-brown hair, which was graying at the edges. Jo guessed him to be in his fifties. He didn’t seem very friendly.

Reese appeared behind him, looking exasperated.

Sam straightened from the map. “I’m Chief Mason.”

“Charles Bascomb.” The man thrust some papers at Sam. “Attorney for wrongly arrested Lucas Thorne. I’m going to see he goes free.”

Wrongly arrested? Jo wanted to give this Bascomb a piece of her mind, but it wasn’t her place. She glanced at Wyatt. The muscle tic in his jaw told her he felt the same.

Sam looked over the papers. “I see. What makes you say your client is innocent?”

Charles snorted. “Are you kidding? Everyone knows you’ve been after him for years. And those golf shoes… Yeah, you know the ones I mean—the pivotal evidence in the case? Big mistake.”

Sam raised a brow. “Really?”

“Yes, sir.” Charles looked at Wyatt then Jo. Jo didn’t like the malicious glint in his eye. “Better get ready, because after I prove you trumped up evidence, there’s going to be a lawsuit.”

The man turned and walked out, causing Reese to have to jump out of the way.

“What was that about?” Reese asked.

Sam looked down at the papers. “Not sure. He’s filed a case to get the charges on Thorne dropped.”

“Can he do that? Thorne hasn’t even been to trial yet.”

Sam shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Why was he going on about the golf shoes? That was solid evidence,” Jo said. The shoes tied Thorne to the crimes because the unusual cleat pattern matched holes found on the tarps the victims were buried in. Thorne had always denied they were his shoes, but Jo figured he was just blowing smoke. After all, they’d gotten them from his wife, Beryl. Was Beryl having second thoughts about locking her husband up? “Do you think Beryl has something to do with this?”

“Beryl?” Sam looked thoughtful. “Nah, I don’t think so. She wanted Thorne in jail. Why else give us the shoes? In fact, she recently made a trip to my house, thanking me for putting him away.”

Jo frowned. Beryl was at Sam’s house? Was that what she’d interrupted with her phone call about Maria Stillwell?

Maybe Sam’s seemingly odd behavior had less to do with her sister’s investigation and more to do with his relationship with Beryl Thorne. She couldn’t picture Sam and Beryl together, but it was none of her business. Except that she was Sam’s friend and wouldn’t want any friend to get mixed up with the likes of Beryl Thorne. Jo didn’t trust her.

“Who else would hire a lawyer to get him out? Thorne himself?” Wyatt asked.

“Must be. I suppose I could ask Beryl. It’s Thursday, and she’ll be at the owl sanctuary.”

“That might be a good idea. We can go ahead and get set up for the search, then you can join us.” Wyatt looked at Jo, and she nodded.

“This is the last thing we need right now with a missing teen. If you can find out more from Beryl about this Bascomb’s motivations, than it might help keep distractions down.” Jo petted Lucy then grabbed the keys to the Crown Vic and turned to Wyatt. “I’ll drive. We’ll see you there in a bit, Sam.”

Chapter Six

The owl sanctuary was deep in the woods on property owned by Jackson Pressler. Sam and Lucy drove down the dirt road that ran along the edge of Pressler’s property to the small parking lot just south of the sanctuary. He was surprised to see two cars there. He recognized the small blue Honda as Beryl’s, but who did the other one belong to?

“This might put a damper on our conversation. Can’t talk freely with someone listening in,” Sam said to Lucy as he opened the passenger door to let her out.

Lucy ran off and sniffed the shrubs at the head of the trail. She looked back at Sam, her expression questioning whether he actually wanted to go down the trail. Her keen sense of smell had probably already alerted her to the fact that Beryl was there, and Sam could tell Lucy didn’t like her.

About twenty feet into the trail, movement up ahead answered the question as to who owned the other car. Marnie Wilson. Marnie was running for mayor, a top choice of Sam’s friend and ex-chief of police Harry Woolston. Harry had been pressuring Sam to give her his support. Harry liked Marnie because she was an advocate for senior programs. Sam wasn’t so sure about her, though. And now that the current mayor, Henley Jamison, seemed to be coming around to Sam’s way of thinking, he wasn’t sure who he wanted to put his support behind.

“Fancy meeting you here.” Marnie was all smiles. Sam remembered that she knew Beryl and wondered if they had been meeting. Why out here? Maybe Marnie liked owls too.

“I didn’t know you were interested in the owls,” Sam said.

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