Authors: Rita Mae Brown
“But he stayed in school?” Rick glanced up from his notes.
“Where else could they put him? There were no other relatives, and the executor of his parents’ estate was a New York banker with a law degree who barely knew the boy. He got through the year and then I heard that summer of ’75 that he started to come out of his shell, working back at Kincaid, Foster and Kincaid with Tommy. They were inseparable, those two. Then there was the accident, of course. I never heard of any trouble at Princeton but Fitz and I weren’t that close, and anything I did hear would have been through the grapevine, since we’d all gone off to different colleges. He was a good kid, though, and we all felt so terrible for what happened to him. I look forward to seeing him.”
They thanked Orlando, and Blair, too, for waiting. Then Cynthia got on the horn and called Kincaid, Foster and Kincaid. Leonard Imbry still ran personnel and he sounded two years older than God.
Yes, he remembered both boys. Hard to forget after what happened to Fitz. They were hard workers. Fitz was unstable but a good boy. He lost track of both of them when they went off to college. He thought Fitz went to Princeton and Tommy to City College.
Cynthia hung up the phone. “Chief.”
“What?”
“When are Little Marilyn and Fitz returning from the Homestead?”
“What am I, social director of Crozet? Call Herself.”
Herself
was Rick’s term for Big Marilyn Sanburne.
This Cynthia did. The Hamiltons would be back tonight. She hung up the phone. “Don’t you find it odd that Orlando recognized the photograph, if it is Tommy Norton, and Fitz-Gilbert didn’t?”
“I’m one step ahead of you. We’ll meet them at their door. In the meantime, Coop, get New York to see if anyone in the police department, registrar, anyone, has records on Tommy Norton or Fitz-Gilbert Hamilton. Don’t forget City College.”
“Where are you going?” she asked as he took his coat off the rack.
“Hunting.”
60
In just a few days at the Homestead, Little Marilyn knew she’d gained five pounds. The waffles at breakfast, those large burnished golden squares, could put a pound on even the most dedicated dieter. Then there were the eggs, the rolls, the sweet rolls, the crisp Virginia bacon. And that was only breakfast.
When the telephone rang, Little Marilyn, languid and stuffed, lifted the receiver and said in a relaxed voice, “Hello.”
“Baby.”
“Mother.” Little Marilyn’s shoulder blades tensed.
“Are you having a good time?”
“Eating like piggies.”
“You’ll never guess what’s happened here.”
Little Marilyn tensed again. “Not another murder?”
“No, no, but Orlando Heguay—he knows Fitz from prep school—recognized the unidentified murdered man. He said it was someone called Tommy Norton. I hope this is the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for, but Sheriff Shaw, as usual, appears neither hopeful nor unhopeful.”
The daughter smiled, and although her mother couldn’t see it, it was a false smile, a knee-jerk social response. “Thank you for telling me. I know Fitz will be relieved when I tell him.” She paused. “Why did Rick Shaw tell you who the victim was?”
“He didn’t. You know him. He keeps his cards close to his chest.”
“How did you find out?”
“I have my sources.”
“Oh, come on, Mother. That’s not fair. Tell me.”
“This Orlando fellow walked into the post office and identified the photograph. Right there in front of Harry and Miranda. Not that anyone is one hundred percent sure that’s the victim’s true identity, but well, he seems to think it is.”
“The whole town must know by now,” Little Marilyn half-snorted. “Mrs. Hogendobber is not one to keep things to herself.”
“She can when she has to, but no one instructed her not to tell and I expect that anyone would do the same in her place. Anyway, I think Rick Shaw went over there, slipping and sliding in the snow, and had a sit-down with both of them. I gave him the key to Fitz’s office. Rick said he needed to get back in there too. He thought the fingerprint people might have missed something.”
“Here comes Fitz back from his swim. I’ll let you tell him everything.” She handed the phone to her husband and mouthed the word “Mother.”
He grimaced and took the phone. As Mim spun her story his face whitened. By the time he hung up, his hand was shaking.
“Darling, what’s wrong?”
“They think that body was Tommy Norton. I
knew
Tommy Norton. I didn’t think that photo looked like Tommy. Your mother wants me to come home and talk to Rick Shaw immediately. She says it doesn’t look good for the family that I knew Tommy Norton.”
Little Marilyn hugged him. “How awful for you.”
He recovered himself. “Well, I hope there’s been a mistake. Really. I’d hate to think that was . . . him.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“I think it was 1976.”
“People’s appearances change a lot in those years.”
“I ought to recognize him though. I didn’t think that composite resembled him. Never crossed my mind.
“He had a prominent chin. I remember that. He was very good to me and then we lost track when we went to separate colleges. Anyway, I don’t think boys are good at keeping up with one another the way girls are. You write letters to your sorority sisters. You’re on the phone. Women are better at relationships. Anyway, I always wondered what happened to Tom. Listen, you stay here and enjoy yourself. I’ll drive back to Crozet, if for no other reason than to calm Mother and look at the drawing with new eyes. I’ll fetch you tomorrow. The major roads are plowed. I’ll have no trouble getting through.”
“I don’t want to be here without you, and you shouldn’t have to endure a blast from Mother alone. God forbid she should think our social position is compromised the tiniest bit—the eensiest.”
He kissed her on the cheek. “You stay put, sweetie. I’ll be back in no time. Eat a big dinner for me.”
Little Marilyn knew she wouldn’t change his mind. “I think I’ve already eaten enough.”
“You look gorgeous.”
He changed his clothes and kissed her goodbye. Before he could reach the door the phone rang. Little Marilyn picked up the receiver. Her eyes bugged out of her head.
“Yes, yes, he’s right here.” Little Marilyn, in a state of disbelief, handed the phone to Fitz.
“Hello.” Fitz froze upon hearing Cabell Hall’s voice. “Are you all right? Where are you?”
Little Marilyn started for the suite’s other phone. Fitz grabbed her by the wrist and whispered, “If he hears the click he might hang up.” He returned to Cabell. “Yes, the weather has been bad.” He paused. “In a cabin in the George Washington National Forest? You must be frozen.” Another pause. “Well, if you go through Rockfish Gap I could pick you up on the road there.” Fitz waited. “Yes, it would be frigid to wait, I agree. You say it’s warm in the cabin, plenty of firewood? What if I hiked up to the cabin?” He paused again. “You don’t want to tell me where it is. Cabell, this is ridiculous. Your wife is worried to death. I’ll come and get you and take you home.” He held the receiver away from his ear. “He hung up. Damn!”
“What’s he doing in the George Washington National Forest?” Marilyn asked.
“Says he’d been taking groceries up there for a week before he left. He’s got plenty of food. Went up there because he wanted to think. About what I don’t know. Sounds like his elevator doesn’t go to the top anymore.”
“I’ll call Rick Shaw,” she volunteered.
“No need. I’ll see him after I visit Taxi. She needs to know Cabby’s physically well, if not mentally.”
“Do you know exactly where he is?”
“No. In a cabin not far from Crabtree Falls. The state police can find him though. You stay here. I’ll take care of everything.”
He kissed her again and left.
61
Sheriff Shaw had investigated the theft at Fitz-Gilbert’s office when it was first reported. Now, alone in the office, he sat at the desk. He hoped for a false-bottomed drawer but there wasn’t one. The drawers were filled with beautiful stationery, investment brochures, and company year-end reports. He also found a stack of
Playboy
magazines. He fought the urge to thumb through them.
Then he got down on his hands and knees. The rug, scrupulously clean, yielded nothing.
The kitchen, however, yielded a bottle of expensive port, wine and scotch, crackers, cheese, and sodas. The coffee maker appeared brand-new.
He again got down on his hands and knees, once he opened the closet door. Again it was clean, except for a tuft of blond hair stuck in the corner on the floor.
Rick placed the hair in a small envelope and slipped it into his jacket pocket.
As he closed the door to the office he knew more than when he walked in, but he still didn’t know enough.
He needed to be methodical and cautious before some high-ticket lawyer smashed his case. Those guys could get Sherman’s March reduced to trespassing.
62
Cynthia Cooper discovered that Tommy Norton had never matriculated at City College of New York. By two in the afternoon her ear hurt, she’d been on the phone so long. Finally she hit pay dirt. In the summer of 1976, a Thomas Norton was committed to Central Islip, one of the state’s mental institutions. He was diagnosed as a hebephrenic schizophrenic. Unfortunately, the file was incomplete and the woman on the other end of the phone couldn’t find the name of his next of kin. She didn’t know who admitted him.
Cynthia was then transferred to one of the doctors, who remembered the patient. He was schizophrenic but with the help of drugs had made progress toward limited self-sufficiency in the last five years. Recently he was remitted to a halfway house and given employment as a clerical worker. He was quite bright but often disoriented. The doctor gave a full physical description of the man and also faxed one for Cynthia.
When the photo rolled out of the office fax she knew they’d found Tommy Norton.
She then called the halfway house and discovered that Tommy Norton had been missing since October. The staff had reported this to the police but in a city of nine million people Tommy Norton had simply disappeared.
She roused Rick on his radio. He was very interested in everything she knew. He told her to meet him at Fitz-Gilbert Hamilton’s house with a search warrant.
63
The pale-orange sun set, plunging the temperature into the low twenties. As Venus rose over the horizon she seemed larger than ever in the biting night air. A violent orange outline ran across the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains, transforming the deep snows into golden waves. So deep was the snow that even the broomstraw was engulfed. A thin crust of ice covered the snow.
Giving Orlando the full tour of Crozet wasn’t possible because many of the side roads remained snowed under. Blair asked his friend’s indulgence as he turned down Harry’s driveway at 5:10
P
.
M
. He’d picked up a round black de-icer for her to try in the water trough and he thought tonight would be a good test. If it didn’t work, Paul Summers at Southern States said he could bring it back and get his money refunded.
“I don’t remember you being the country type.” Orlando reached for a hand strap as the vehicle slowly rocked down the driveway. “In fact, I don’t remember you getting up before eleven.”
“Times change and people change with them.” Blair smiled.
Orlando laughed. “Couldn’t have anything to do with the postmistress.”
“Hmmn” was Blair’s comment.
Orlando, serious for a moment, said, “It’s none of my business but she seems like a good person and she’s easy on the eyes. Fresh-looking. Anyway, after what you’ve been through you deserve all the happiness you can find.”
“I loved Robin but I could keep a distance from her. You know, if we’d gotten married I don’t think it would have lasted. We lived a pretty superficial life.”
Orlando sighed. “I guess I do too. But look at the business I’m in. If you want the clients with deep pockets, you shmooze with them. I envy you.”
“Why?”
“Because you had the guts to get out.”
“I’ll still go on shoots from time to time until I get too wrinkled or they don’t want me anymore. See, you were smarter than I was. You picked a career where age is irrelevant.”
Orlando smiled when the clapboard house and barn came into view. “Clean lines.”
“She has little sense of decoration, so tread lightly, okay? I mean, she’s not a blistering idiot but she hasn’t a penny, really, so she can’t do much.”
“I read you loud and clear.”
They pulled up in front of the barn and the two men got out. Harry was mucking the stalls. Her winter boots bore testament to the task. The doors to the stalls hung open as the used shavings were tossed into the wheelbarrow. At the end of the aisle another wheelbarrow, filled with sweet-smelling shavings, stood. The door to the tack room was open also. Tucker greeted everyone and Mrs. Murphy stuck her head out of the loft opening. An errant sliver of hay dangled on her whisker. When Harry saw the two men she waved and called out, “Hola!” This amused Orlando.
“Who is it?”
Simon asked.
“Blair and his friend Orlando.”
“She won’t bring them up here, will she?”
The possum nervously paced.
“She brought Susan up once and I didn’t think that was right.”
“Because of the earring. That was a special case. They won’t climb up the ladder. The one guy’s too well-dressed, anyway.”
“Shut up down there.”
The owl ruffled her feathers, turned around, and settled down while expanding on everyone’s deficiencies.
Down below Orlando admired the barn and the beautiful construction work. The barn had been built in the late 1880’s, the massive square beams prepared to bear weight for centuries to come.
Tucker barked,
“Someone’s coming.”
A white Range Rover pulled up next to Blair’s Explorer. Fitz-Gilbert Hamilton opened the door and hurried into the barn.
“Orlando, I’ve been looking at Blair’s for you, and then thought you might be here.”