Page 10 of Crossing Lines

Beryl Thorne was disturbed by the finding at the owl sanctuary. When Sam had started to dig at the site Lucy had discovered, she’d been nervous. When he uncovered what looked like a human hand, he’d tried to shield her from it. But she knew what was under there. And the way he’d stopped so abruptly and then insisted she leave pretty much said it all.

The news that Charles Bascomb was trying to get Lucas out of jail was disturbing. Charles was her father’s brother, and Beryl had never liked him. He’d always seemed a bit pompous and overbearing, and he had that quality most lawyers had, where he acted as if he were sizing you up to put you on the witness stand.

Lucas had liked him, though. That should have been a clue that maybe she and Lucas weren’t exactly a match made in heaven. But could Charlie really get him out? The main thing keeping Lucas in was the murder charges, and the evidence mostly hinged on those shoes. Beryl knew better than anyone that that evidence could fall apart at any moment.

Now that Lucas was in jail, she had no intention of giving her life and business back to him. The drug charges wouldn’t keep him in there for long; he’d either rat out someone up the chain or find some way to get out on bail. And how had he gotten the money to pay for Charlie, or was Charlie doing this pro bono for a family member? Nah, Charlie had never been that altruistic.

There was one person who might be behind this. Someone who had been close to Lucas and Uncle Charlie and had the money to pay. In fact, that person had introduced her to Lucas—her brother Robert.

Beryl pulled up in front of her family home. The Summers estate was enormous. Her father had done well in real estate development, and the brick mansion situated on acres of manicured grounds behind big black iron fences was one of the biggest homes in White Rock.

Beryl found her brother in the sunny room off the kitchen that her mother always called the breakfast room.

He was sitting at the round table, eyes staring blankly out onto the back patio with its sparkling pool and flowered shrubs. Birds darted to and fro around the bird feeders just outside the window.

That was what he mostly did now since his breakdown. The doctors were working on sorting out his medication so he could get back to the level of function he’d been at before. Now, though, he didn’t leave the house. He hardly noticed much of anything that was going on around him. He couldn’t possibly have had anything to do with Charlie’s bid to get Lucas off on the charges. He didn’t seem capable.

Had Lucas gotten in touch and arranged things through Robert? Or maybe it was the other way around. Was it possible that Robert was more alert than he pretended?

“Hello, Robert.” Beryl took a seat next to him and put her hand over his. Despite all the heartache his mental illness had caused over the years, Beryl still loved him. And it hadn’t been all bad. The medicine had kept him stable and leading a normal life for decades until their father’s death had plunged him into a bipolar roller coaster, this one worse than the one he’d experienced as a teen. Beryl was used to that though. It ran in the family.

Robert turned to her and smiled. “Hey, sis. Beautiful morning, isn’t it?”

Beryl turned to the window. The sun streamed in, making a patch on the floral tablecloth. “Yes it is. Hey, I was wondering, have you been in contact with Lucas or Uncle Charlie?”

“Is Lucas okay?” Robert furrowed his brow, looking confused. Beryl wasn’t sure how much he knew about Lucas being arrested. She’d tried to keep it from him. Robert couldn’t be trusted to keep his mouth shut lately, and the less he knew, the less he could blurt out in front of the wrong person.

“He’s okay. Did you talk to him?”

Robert shook his head.

“What about Uncle Charlie?”

His eyes flicked away to the yard, where a cardinal had landed on a bird feeder. His frown deepened. “Uncle Charlie? No. Haven’t seen him in a while.”

Beryl sat there a few more minutes. Robert seemed to be lost in bird-watching, but she thought his formerly blank stare now had an unusual glint of awareness.

* * *

* * *

Notifying the family of the death of a loved one was the worst part of the job. After painstakingly uncovering the body and photographing every inch of the crime scene, John Dudley had taken Kirsten Stillwell to the morgue. There was no question it was Kirsten, but Sam sent off for her dental records anyway. He didn’t want the mother to have to identify her. It was late afternoon by the time the official notification could be made. Jo was supposed to pick up Bridget, but she texted her sister that she would be late so she could go with Sam. These things were easier with a trusted partner by your side.

At least she hoped Sam still thought of her as a trusted partner and the chilly vibes of disappointment she’d been getting from him were only temporary. It wasn’t like he’d never kept anything from her. Then again, she could sympathize with how he felt. Not long ago, he’d confessed one of his secrets to her, and she’d felt a tinge of betrayal. That had blown over quickly, and hopefully the same thing would happen here.

“That was awful.” Jo reached into the back seat and touched Lucy’s fur for comfort. They’d left Lucy inside the car while they’d given Maria Stillwell the bad news.

“Always is.” Sam turned in his seat and looked at her. Jo tensed, wondering if he was going to say more about her investigation and how she hadn’t filled him in. “I noticed you were inspecting the trees at the grave site. Is there some reason for that?”

Jo was relieved. His question presented the perfect opportunity for her to share some part of her sister’s investigation with him and bring them to the same level. Hopefully this would go a long way toward repairing any damage she might have done to their relationship.

“I was looking for beech trees. The information I dug up on Tammy pointed to a killer whose MO was to strip the bark of the low-hanging branches of beech trees near where he buried his victims.”

“There aren’t any beech trees where we found the body.”

“I know.” Jo had been only mildly disappointed. The person that took her sister would be older now and probably not active. It was more likely that person had been caught decades ago and never confessed to having taken her sister. It was highly unlikely they’d been running around killing people all this time and never gotten caught. “But I didn’t think it was my guy anyway. It’s just a habit to look. Besides, Kirsten was a teen, and I’m convinced the person who took my sister only took children.” Jo shivered at the thought.

“How did you get this beech tree lead?”

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