Page 81 of Backwater Justice
“Hi, Ellie. So sorry to call so late, but I’m in Salem, Oregon, and a young woman has gone missing.”
“That’s terrible.” Ellie was wide awake at that point.
“Do you think you could call your friend Marshal Gaines?”
“Yes, but why, if I may ask?” Ellie and Myra had met several years before, when Ellie first opened her art center in Asheville. Ellie was an avid animal lover and held several events to raise money for shelters, which was right up Myra’s alley. They had remained good pals since.
“The young woman disappeared from an inn owned by my friend Milton Spangler. She is of Native American heritage; local law enforcement doesn’t seem to be doing much, and her family wants to call the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I was hoping you could call the Marshal and see if he had some free time to come out here to assist. Unofficially, of course. And we would pay all his expenses, and for his time.”
Ellie fell silent for a moment. “Do you think she’s been kidnapped?”
“There haven’t been any ransom demands. We think she may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Chris used to work in the missing children division, so he has a lot of experience in that area. Let me call him and see if he’s available. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll call you back, or I’ll have Chris call you directly. Is that okay?”
“Yes. Thanks so much.” Myra was stroking her pearls as she returned to the table, where everyone was speculating who Bart was tailing. “Ellie is going to call Marshal Gaines and get back to me.”
“Brilliant. What’s next on the list?”
It was Annie’s turn. “Seems like our Oliver is in a financial bind. He needs two hundred grand.”
“Oi. What for?” Charles asked.
“Says it’s for his new car, but I think he’s got some kind of drug issue going on.”
“Well, that fits with what we found on the desk in the apartment,” Kat said.
“It could be tied into the pills and powder,” Isabelle added. “He may be running a counterfeit fentanyl operation.”
“And that may be why some of the local authorities have been laid-back in trying to find either of the girls,” Maggie suggested.
“Charles, did you find anything unusual in the deputy sheriff’s financials?” Annie asked.
“There are monthly deposits of two thousand dollars going into his account from an offshore shell company,” Fergus said.
“Another culprit to add to this mix.” Annie jotted down some notes. “That makes Dickie, Bart, Oliver, and Deputy Nelson.”
“What about the gas-station guy?” Maggie asked.
“That was probably a one-off to get him to change his story,” Charles said. “There’s been no other activity as far as we could tell.”
“Alright. We have a lot of work cut out for us.” Myra was stroking her pearls again.
“Has anyone heard from Eileen? Eyes on Dickie?” Annie asked.
Fergus chimed in. “They are heading north on I5. Been on the road for a couple of hours.”
“Do you suppose they’re going to Blaine?” Isabelle asked. “That’s where the last U.S. inn is located.”
“That’s a good guess,” Charles replied. “I’ll check in with Avery.” Charles disappeared from the screen for a couple of minutes.
“What’s next?” Myra asked.
Fergus looked down at a sheet of paper on his desk. “Lab results should be in tomorrow.”
“Wow. That was fast.”
“It helps to know a lad or two.” Fergus winked. “Did you ever find out what Milton was going to talk to his sons about?”