Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery (17 page)

Neal greeted
Sue with a warm hug. “How’s my second-favorite park volunteer doing these
days?” he asked.

“Great,” Sue
responded, “and happy to see you here in North Carolina.
 
Have you guys been out to the house
yet?”

“Not yet,” Lin
responded. “With the bad weather yesterday, we didn’t get any sightseeing done
so we thought we’d make a couple of stops today on our way.”

“Yesterday, was
rather nasty,” Sue smiled, “but I feel sure that wasn’t really a problem for
you two.”
 
Lin gave her a hard look,
but Neal simply grinned from ear to ear. “Indeed it was not.
 
We had a lovely day.”
 
He gave Lin a knowing pat on her
backside.

“Well, today is
nice,” Sue redirected the conversation, “and I’m off in another hour.
 
What do you say we hang out in Blowing
Rock for a while, take in some of the shops and galleries, and have dinner at
one of the local places?
 
You’ll
have plenty of time to unpack later.
 
Nice sunny days here are not to be wasted.”

“Sounds great,”
Lin said, recovering her composure after being teased. “Why don’t we take a
walk around the grounds while we wait for you to finish up here.”

“Stop on the
porch first,” Sue said, “check out the flute maker.”

They did just
that, watching the craftsman who was working to carve beautiful instruments out
of lovely woods.
 
“These are like
the Native American flutes you see in the southwest,” Neal remarked.
 
Lin especially admired a wide double
flute that the craftsman demonstrated.
 
Its tonal counterpoint was sweet and clear.

They walked the
figure eight trail beside the house, admiring the many summer wildflowers
blooming there and then walked down by the stables, continuing along the
carriage road that led back under the parkway.
 
The hour they had to wait for Sue passed
quickly.

 
The three of them passed a very pleasant
couple of hours browsing in the many shops and galleries that graced the main
street of this lovely small village.
 
Blowing Rock was well known for shopping and for its many good places to
eat.
 
They wound up at the Town
Tavern, sitting on the patio and enjoying delicious burgers.
 
Lin and Sue had glasses of red wine and
Neal ordered a dark draft beer.

“This is a
great spot to relax,” Neal commented. “I enjoyed the shops but I’m more than
ready to get off my feet for awhile.
 
What have you been up to the past few days Sue?
 
Did you work all weekend at the Cone
house?”

“I’m afraid the
answer to that is yes, the weather was great, and we stayed packed with
visitors.
 
I was off Monday and
Tuesday though, and I got some more research done for my book.
 
Sue brought Neal up to date on her
discoveries regarding the unsolved crimes on the Parkway emphasizing the
similarities she saw among them.

“ I’m not
totally convinced that the unwelcomed visitor we had the other night was
reacting to our involvement with Ellie Clark in any way.
 
If it had been Kovich that might be true,
but apparently it wasn’t.
 
I think
word may have gotten out that I’ve been asking questions about unsolved
murders.
 
I’m not at all sure what’s
going on here, but I intend to learn more.”

Neal sat back
thoughtfully.
 
His eyes met Lin’s
across the table.
 
She thought for a
moment he was going to say something about her staying out of all this.
 
She knew he was always worried about her
getting involved in such situations.
 
This time though he didn’t say anything.
 
He did reach for her hand under the
table, squeezing it gently.

Sue continued,
“I only work half a day tomorrow, so I plan to go visit the mother of one of
the victims whose murderer has never been found.
 
I learned that she still lives nearby in
Valle Crucis.”
 
She was referring to
the young pregnant girl whose body had been found in 2009.
 

Lin looked at
Neal seeking to communicate her thoughts. He seemed to understand what she was
thinking and nodded almost imperceptibly.
 
“Why don’t we go with you?” Lin said.
 
“I’m sure we’d both enjoy the ride, and
we could stop at that old country store while we’re out there.
 
You know, the one we visited that first
weekend we were here.”

“If you’re sure
it won’t interfere with whatever you’ve planned to do, I’d love for you to join
me,” Sue responded.

This time Neal
spoke up, “We don’t really have any plans other than to explore and enjoy this
area so going with you will certainly be no problem.”
 
Lin was grateful because she really
didn’t want Sue going out to visit unknown families alone, and she had promised
to help her learn more about those cases.
 

By the time
they’d returned to the house and Neal had unpacked and put away his belongings,
it was quite late and they were all tired.
 
Lin was more than ready to call it a day as she and Neal went upstairs
to bed.
 
She heard Sue follow
shortly after.

“It’s been a
long day, but a good one,” Neal said. “I enjoyed all the things we saw and did
and I’m looking forward to exploring more tomorrow.”

Lin snuggled
down beside him, her head cradled against his shoulder. “Thank you for agreeing
to go with Sue tomorrow afternoon.
 
She’s really learned some interesting things about these cases and we
both think what happened to Ellie Clark and Peter Dunne might be related
somehow.
 
I’d told her earlier I’d
help her try to find out more, and I really think it might be better if she
didn’t visit these folks alone.
 
One
can’t always be sure how some of these mountain families might react to a
stranger coming to their home.
 
Some
of them are sort of standoffish; they keep to themselves and don’t always trust
outsiders.”

“I’d say that’s
true of lots of folks in lots of places,” Neal said. He was quiet for a moment,
obviously weighing his thoughts about the situation. “I think you know how I
feel, Lin.
 
My first instinct is to
be concerned for your safety and wellbeing.
 
If it was only up to me, I’d probably
tell you to stay out of all this and leave these cases alone, but I know you,
that’s not going to happen is it?”

Lin sat up,
leaned over, and kissed Neal lovingly. “I do know how you feel and I love you
for caring and wanting to protect me, but neither Sue nor I asked to get
involved in what happened to Ellie and Peter.
 
We couldn’t very well leave her lying
beside the road to bleed to death, and, when it turned out she was a former
student, I couldn’t ignore her situation.
 
Stefan Kovich did threaten Ellie, and originally we thought he’d
threatened us, but he’s now in jail awaiting transfer to Charlotte for an
immigration hearing.
 
His visa has
been lifted, and he’s likely to be deported; that situation is resolved, at
least for now.
 
We have no idea who
might’ve threatened us and shot at our door the other night, but the sheriff’s
department is investigating.”

“Sue has found
some very interesting information, and I think she may be on to something with
these unsolved murders, but I can assure you that any information she might
uncover, with or without our help, will be turned over to the proper
authorities.
 
She’s not going off on
some dangerous tangent and neither am I.”

“I know,” Neal
said. “Everything you said makes sense, but I can’t stop worrying; if I’m going
to help you and try to deal with this situation, you’ll just have to be patient
with me.”

“That’s not a
problem,” Lin smiled. “If I expect you to accept me and love me just as I am, I
owe you the same, and I do love you.”
 
She reached to turn off the light and slipped down into the warmth of
his embrace.
 
They were both asleep
almost immediately.

The next
morning they woke to beautiful blue skies and only a few puffy white clouds in
the distance.
 
Sue was already
dressed for work when Lin and Neal appeared in the kitchen.

“Enjoy your
morning,” she told them, “it should be pretty all day according to Ray’s
Weather.
 
Tonight might be a
different story though; a cool front is coming through, so no promises for
tomorrow it seems.”

“In other
words, play outside while you can,” Lin smiled, “typical mountain weather.”

They made plans
to meet Sue back at the house shortly after noon. “Don’t eat lunch,” Sue
instructed. “I have an idea for that.”

After Sue left
for work, Lin toasted a couple of bagels for breakfast.
 
Sue had already made a fresh pot of
coffee.
 
Lin and Neal decided to
take their breakfast outside on the front porch to enjoy the beautiful
morning.
 
Neal was struck by the
damage to the front door.

“That’s
scary.
 
What if you’d come to the
door, opened it when you heard something,” Neal shook his head in dismay.

“True,” Lin
replied, “it was scary, but, after receiving threats earlier, neither of us is
likely to open that door unless we are absolutely sure of who’s on the other
side.
 
I think Sue’s lined someone
up to repair the damage; of course we’ll replace the pottery that was broken
also.”

“Dangerous
tenants,” Neal grinned. “I’d evict you, I think.”

They enjoyed
their breakfast but didn’t linger.
 
The morning was too lovely to waste.
 
Soon they were on their way, entering
the Parkway at the small entrance near the house and deciding to head north.

“This may sound
strange,” Neal said, “but I’d like to see the place where the two of you found
Ellie Clark.
 
You’ve told me what
happened, but I’d like to see the actual ‘scene of the crime.’ ”

“It’s not far,”
Lin replied.
 
“After that we can
take a nice short hike at the Cascades.
 
I can show you the locations where some of those unsolved crimes Sue’s
been researching occurred, if you’d like.
 
They’re all within a fairly compact area.”

“OK then, a
crime scene tour,” Neal teased, “everyone’s favorite vacation.”

Lin slapped at
him playfully, “Only if you’re interested.
 
We might not have time to do them all this morning.
 
Actually, the route is very scenic so
there’s a lot more to see along the way.”

“I’m teasing,”
Neal said, “actually, I’m really interested in what Sue has
learned—seriously.
 
She’s a
smart person with good insights, and I would give her opinions fair
consideration if I were an investigator.”

“I agree,” Lin
said. “Sue does her homework and doesn’t jump to conclusions without some good
evidence.”

They proceeded
on their way and stopped at the overlook near Deep Gap where Ellie and Pete had
been shot.
 
Lin walked Neal around
the area, pointing out where the drop off was, where Ellie had been found, all
of the elements of the scene.
 
She
noted with interest that there was no crime scene tape visible.
 
Evidently the sheriff’s department was finished
with their investigation of this place.
 
Lin made a mental note to call Dave Winkler sometime during the
week.
 
She wanted to be kept up to
date with what was going on.
 
Besides, Winkler hadn’t yet shared the results of his contact with the
Hinsons following the most recent incident at their house.

Their next stop
was Jeffress Park where Lin pointed out the place where the park ranger had
been shot a couple of years ago.
 
Neal couldn’t believe that no one had been able to identify the shooter.

“I guess he’s
sort of like a ghost,” Lin said. “Now you see him, now you don’t.
 
Evidently no one got a really good look
at him.”

It was much
drier today on the trail leading to the falls.
 
Neal loved the solitude they found on
their walk.
 
As luck would have it,
no one else was on the trail this early in the day.
 
They meandered along, stopping to look
at wildflowers and listen to the sounds of the water in the distance.
 
They took in both the higher and lower
views of the rushing water.
 
Neal
had brought a small camera so they snapped pictures of each other with the
water spraying in the background.
 
When they’d climbed back up both sets of steps, Neal pointed to a log
bench beside the trail. “Put here for a good reason,” he announced as he sat
down. “I really need to do more hiking.
  
I’ve been tied up with work so
long, I’ve almost forgotten how much I enjoy hiking for pleasure and exercise.”

Lin nestled in
beside him.
 
He put his arm around
her and gently kissed the top of her head. “A beautiful spot and a beautiful
woman, can’t beat that.”

“There are lots
of good hiking trails all along the Parkway,” Lin informed him. “You should look
for one of those books that locate and describe them.
 
We sell them at the visitor center, but
I’m sure other stores do also.
 
Once
I go back to a regular work schedule, you’ll need something to do.
 
You could do some hiking then.”

“I just might
do that,” Neal remarked.
 
They
rested for a few moments listening to the sounds of the woods around them
before resuming their walk back up to the parking lot.

From there, Lin
stopped near the marker that told the story of Tom Dula and his killing of his
pregnant girl friend after the Civil War.
 
“So that song tells a real story,” Neal remarked, “but that crime wasn’t
unsolved.”

“No, but the
body of the girl whose mother we’re going to visit this afternoon was found
near here.
 
She was also pregnant,
and no one has ever been arrested in that case.
 
Sue was struck by the similarity to the
Dula story,” Lin explained. “That, in fact, was the first crime she was
investigating.
 
She discovered the
other unsolved cases in the course of doing research for that one.”

“I can see why
she’s so interested,” Neal said. “It should make for good reading, a great
book—if she can find some answers.”

Lin noticed
that their time was growing short, and she was really thankful.
 
The next nearby scene was the place
where she and Sue had encountered Eustace Hinson.
 
It was the only part of their
experiences she hadn’t yet shared with Neal in their phone conversations.
 
She wasn’t yet ready to discuss her
panic attack, and she certainly didn’t want to revisit the place where it had
occurred, not yet anyway.

“We’d better
head back home,” she said. “Sue may even beat us there.”

As they drove
back to meet Sue, Neal and Lin talked about plans for the time they had
available before Lin returned to work on the weekend.

“The weather
may be nasty tomorrow,” Lin noted, “but if it’s not too bad we could take a
longer drive, perhaps up to Virginia or south to Mt. Mitchell?”

“Either would
be great, and don’t forget, I’ll be staying for awhile, and what we don’t do
now we can plan for another of your days off.
 
As for it raining tomorrow, that’s not a
problem at all—I have lots of good ideas for just such an occasion,” Neal
reached over and squeezed her thigh, a playful grin on his face.

Sue was already
home and was upstairs changing when they arrived.
 
Lin decided to switch to different shoes
so she went upstairs also.
 
“How was
your morning?” Sue called from her bedroom.

“Really good,”
Lin replied. “Neal was interested, so we did the ‘crime scene’ tour, except not
the last place—we didn’t have time.”
 
Sue stood at the door and looked at Lin with understanding. “Not yet
ready to see that place again?”

Lin nodded,
“Not yet, I’ve not told Neal about how I felt that day, but I’m happy to report
that it hasn’t happened again.
 
I
thought it might recur when our intruder shot at the door. I felt some of the
same symptoms begin, but that time I was able to keep them at bay.
 
I was scared alright but not paralyzed.”

“I know,” Sue
responded, “I could tell.
 
I think
the yoga is helping you to relax and cope with your normal stresses.
 
Hopefully, it will never happen to you
again.”

“My sentiments
exactly,” Lin replied, “ and I want to go back to that place sometime soon, but
I didn’t feel quite ready today—besides we really didn’t have time…”

“…and you
really don’t want to talk to Neal about this do you?”

“Not yet, not
yet,” Lin was definitely not ready for that.

Just then they
heard him call upstairs, “I’m getting hungry so you two need to hurry up and
get down here.”

“On our way,”
Lin called back as she grabbed her bag.

***

The house they
were seeking was a small, neat white frame farmhouse nestled down in the woods
not far from the banks of the Watauga River.
 
There was a large vegetable garden on
one side and beds of colorful flowers all around the house.
 

“The mother’s
name is Mildred Fletcher,” Sue told them as she pulled into the graveled
parking area in front of the home.
 
“Her
daughter, the victim in this case, was called Sara.
 
She was only 17 when she died.”

Lin and Neal
waited in the car while Sue went to the door.
 
A small gray-haired woman in a neat
old-fashioned print housedress opened it.
 
They couldn’t tell what Sue was saying, but in a few moments, they saw Ms.
Fletcher nod and open the door wider.
 
Sue signaled them to follow her inside.

The living room
reminded Lin of childhood visits to her grandmother’s rural home.
 
The room was small and seemed fairly
bursting with furniture.
 
The backs
of the chairs and the sofa were covered with white crocheted doilies stiffly
starched.
 
Similar lace-like doilies
covered each table top and were, in turn, covered with various
“what-nots”—small porcelain figurines and pill boxes, framed pictures
depicting family members, and so on.
 
Lin’s gaze fell on one table in particular that held several framed
pictures of a lovely dark-haired girl at various ages.
 
That must be Sara she mused, thinking
how sad Ms. Fletcher must still feel.

Their hostess
was most cordial, not at all standoffish as Lin had thought she might be.
 
She asked them to be seated while she
went back to the kitchen, emerging later with a pitcher of sweet iced tea and
four glasses. Although Lin really was not overly fond of that traditional
southern drink, she accepted the glass graciously when it was offered.
 
Neal and Sue did the same.

“So you’re here
to talk about Sara,” Mildred Fletcher said as she sat down and placed her own
glass of tea on the table beside her.

“I’m looking
into some old unsolved cases around here.
 
I may write a book about some of them,” Sue said honestly.
 
“Sara’s case caught my interest because
of where she was found and…”

“The fact that
she was with child when she was kilt,” Mildred Fletcher spoke solemnly but
matter-of-factly without a trace of tears. “Just like that poor girl Tom Dula
kilt more’n a hunert year ago.”

Sue nodded her
agreement, “It seems a strange coincidence to me, the place, her condition, but
it’s different too.
 
Her killer is
still free.
 
Can you tell me what
might’ve happened, from your point of view that is?”

“Dunna know
what happened, no one does fur shor,” Mildred continued, “sheriff was pretty shor
her boyfriend did it, but Sara tole me they’s gettin’ married jus’ the week
fore they found her body up there.
 
I never did believe Luke done it.
 
He was a sweet boy.
 
I think
he loved Sara and wanted to marry her, but his family wouldn’t hear of it.
 
They tried to keep him away, but he kept
comin’ back.
 
He couldn’t ‘ave done
it.
 
Not him.
 
No way.”

“Could you tell
me Luke’s last name, Ms. Fletcher,” Sue pressed on, “does he still live around
here?”

“Luke Taylor,
that’s his name.
 
Still lives here
so’fur as I know. Hain’t seen him since Sara was kilt though.
 
Luke, he’s an orphan—course he
growed up now—his Daddy run off right after he’s born and his mother died
when he’s ‘bout ten. His Granpappy raised him.
 
Guess he still lives with’em.
 
Least-wise he was the last I heard ‘bout
him.”

“Do you know
how I might find him?” Sue asked. “I’d like to hear his side of this story.”

Mildred
Fletcher sat silent for a few moments before speaking.
 
She turned to Sue, “I’d steer clear of
those folks if I’se you. Luke’s
 
Granpappy can get pretty mean and his
folks don’t much like outsiders.
 
I
guess he’s still with ‘em over by Meat Camp. Still livin’ with old Eustace.
 
Eustace Hinson. Like I said.
 
He’s a mean’un.
 
Stay ‘way from him.”