Weaving The Web: A Cold Hollow Mystery (Cold Hollow Mysteries Book 2) (15 page)

Becky, Sarah, and Myrna sat in her office at the town hall and awaited the chief and Robert Collins. Neither girl understood why he was coming, but were somewhat relieved by it. Doctor Tom Gillette had come in to see the girls and had them each take a small pill for their nerves, and after much deliberation, they took them at Myrna’s insistence. The doctor excused himself because he had rounds at the hospital, but promised the girls he would be at their disposal.

Myrna’s phone rang, and she jumped but snatched up the receiver to hear the doctor from the hospital who was treating Warren Measly ask for her permission to take a wax mold of his left ear. She found the request odd, so as soon as the chief walked in with Robert and Hercules, she handed the receiver to the chief. She listened as he replied to the request. “Damn straight! Take the mold and get it to the coroner!” He hung up the phone and turned to the girls as he leaned his backside against Myrna’s desk. Hercules had instinctively gone to Becky and Sarah as Robert got two more chairs from the adjoining office. The girls petted the dog, and Becky eyed the chief. “Why is Hercules out of Warren’s sight? He never leaves Warren’s side.”

The chief tugged at a chair Robert pushed at him and sat down. He rubbed his hands over his face and answered, “Hercules is no longer Warren’s dog.”

“Why?”

The chief made a snap judgment call and cut to the chase. “He’s the one who killed your mother. Robert chased him down and caught him.”

The girls’ eyes filled and went wide as they both turned to gawk at Robert. Robert took over and explained exactly what had happened. He calmly answered their questions. Myrna was more than relieved to know should Robert lose it in her office; Tom had left a few extra pills for the girls. She noticed Robert’s knuckles were bloody and the skin had peeled back. He was clenching and unclenching his fists. She wouldn’t hesitate to plop a pill in Robert’s mouth if he broke down. There was another shock coming their way they wouldn’t see coming. Myrna wasn’t telling them, but the chief would.

When Robert was done, Becky asked all the questions. Sarah remained silent, and Myrna watched tears slide down her face as she heard the answers to all of Becky’s questions. Myrna held out a box of tissues and watched Becky snatch them and place them on Sarah’s lap.

Becky asked, “Where is Warren now?”

The chief took over. “He’s in the hospital under guard.”

She replied, “I want to see him.”

The chief shook his head. “No. I need to interrogate him as soon as possible. I don’t want you to worry. He’ll be sent to trial in the next town over, but you’ll get to say your piece to him before he leaves town. I’ll see to it.”

Becky sat back and rubbed Hercules’s back. She stared at the dog. “I want Hercules. He’s not the bad guy here, and I can’t blame an innocent dog for something his disgusting master did.”

The chief smiled. “It’s a good way to look at it, honey.”

She then asked, “Can we see our mom one last time?”

The chief shook his head. “I don’t think you’ll want to. You need to remember her from when you last saw her. Think of a special time when she was laughing and smiling.”

Sarah whispered, “The last time she was happy and laughing was when we had the water fight at the nursery.” She turned to Robert and asked, “Right?”

Robert’s eyes filled. “It was a terrific day.”

Becky asked, “Can we at least have a memorial service?”

The chief nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Where is she now?”

“She is with the coroner. He needs to gather the evidence we need to make this a solid case. Becky, you’ll need to sign off to have her remains cremated. Myrna or Robert will help you pick out a gorgeous urn.”

“Where will we live? I mean, I’m old enough to live on my own, but Sarah is still a minor.”

The chief held up his hand and said, “Hold on one minute. I need to tell you something else.” He directed his eyes toward Robert and once again, he was so abrupt with his delivery, he sent them all into shock, even Myrna. “Robert, you are Becky’s real father.”

CHAPTER 18

Robert slammed back into his chair so hard it almost flipped over. His mouth hung open as his head slowly turned to Becky. She was staring at him too, and one could almost see and hear the gears in her head grinding. Sarah just kept wiping the tears from her eyes.

Myrna muttered, “Jesus, Chief! Way to go!” She glanced at Robert, who seemed to be stunned, and softly said, “Robert, could you come here please and stand beside me?” He lifted himself from his chair but kept staring at Becky. He shuffled over to Myrna’s side, and she handed him a pill and a bottle of water. He took it without asking and stood there as she pulled his file out of the safe. She flipped through some pages and found the evidence she was looking for. He leaned over, read it, and swallowed, hard. “Robert, we know you changed your name. It used to be Bartholomew Sanders. Carla ended up marrying the arresting officer eighteen years ago. He took her, child and all, and married her. His last name was Macy. When the chief and I discovered this, we didn’t want to alarm Carla but got you at a safe distance from the nursery.” He nodded slowly and somewhat staggered back to his chair.

Myrna’s eyes roamed over to Becky, who had not stopped staring at Robert. Myrna tapped her hands on the desk, and Becky flinched and turned to her. “Honey, he is your real father. If you want the hospital to do a paternity test, we can arrange it.”

Becky nodded her head. “Okay, but only if Robert agrees to it. I always felt so comfortable around him. I always knew there was something different about me when I was growing up, although my mom and dad treated us the same.” She turned back to Robert and asked, “So it was my mom you wronged long ago, but you didn’t recognize her?”

He shook his head and stared at the floor. “I was blind with liquor and rage the night it happened. I only remembered her first name. I couldn’t even remember her facial features.”

Becky turned serious. “You raped her.”

Robert lifted his head and nodded. “I did, and I’m sorry. When I look at you now, I realize that you are the best result of one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made. You turned out to be such a great kid.” Tears slowly rolled down his cheeks.

Sarah whispered, “Dad always treated you good too, same as me.”

Becky tapped her hand. “I know, Sarah. I loved him dearly.”

Sarah turned to Robert. “Are you going to take care of us?”

Robert’s mouth dropped open and snapped shut. He turned to Myrna and said, “We’ll do the paternity test for legal purposes. I’ll hire someone to finish the basement at my cabin so all of us have a bedroom. The girls like it there, but Becky is completely capable of running the nursery and can check on the house there whenever she wants. Becky can also drive Sarah to and from school in the fall and to and from work at your place.”

Sarah whispered, “She only has a learner’s permit.”

Becky whacked her arm. “Would you stop bringing it up!”

The chief chuckled and said, “I’ll take you on a road test, and we’ll get you a license in no time, Becky.”

Becky wanted to stick her tongue out at Sarah, but held it in check. She leaned into her instead and whispered in her ear, “You shared your real dad with me all my life. Now if we find out Robert’s my real dad, I’ll share him with you too.”

Sarah’s lower lip quivered and she nodded. “But we don’t have Mom anymore.”

Becky whispered again, “No one can replace Mom, but Robert’s handsome. After a year or so, we’ll work on getting a nice stepmom. Maybe someone just like Mom?” She was trying to soothe her younger sister by giving her something else to focus on.

Robert shouted, “Hold on! Just hold on one minute! This is all happening too fast. I came to this town single. Now I have two kids and a dog?” He shook his finger at Myrna after pointing at Hercules. “You do realize Hercules is a Great Dane, right?” His eyes were bulging out of his face, and he had so many furrows on his forehead, the panic he felt was evident.

Myrna pursed her lips together to withhold a belly laugh and shook her head. She was so glad she had given him the pill. His facial expressions were priceless. She knew they were all in shock and not quite acting rationally, but at least he wasn’t becoming violent. She noticed the chief had his head down and was just rubbing his face. Becky now had her arm around Sarah’s shoulder and pulled her into her side. She continued asking questions. “When does Warren get released from the hospital?”

The chief raised his head and answered, “Should be tomorrow morning. After I interrogate him, I’ll call you so you can come and say whatever you want to him before I transport him to the next town over.”

She turned to Robert. “We need to go home and get a picture of our mom from our house. We also need more clothes. We didn’t bring enough before, because we didn’t plan to stay with you for long. Can you take us? I’m woozy from the pill Dr. Tom gave me, and I don’t think I should drive.”

The chief intervened. “I’ll take you while Robert settles things here with the mayor and hires someone to finish off your new bedroom suite in his basement.”

Becky looked at Robert. “We better get to pick the colors of our new rooms.” She pointed her forefinger at him. “And the name of your restaurant stays the same in honor of our mother!”

Robert’s mouth hung open again as his head slowly turned toward Myrna. He noticed she was staring at the ceiling as the chief escorted the girls and Hercules out of the office.

***

Warren lay in his hospital bed in a daze as a doctor came in and took a wax mold of his left ear. The man was rough as he ripped the dressing off the wound and flattened Warren’s ear out for the impressions. The wound had throbbed to begin with; now it was screaming. When the doctor finished, he sent a nurse in to clean and redress the wound. Warren cringed throughout the process. He knew it would sting, but he could do nothing. The police officer guarding him did not take his eyes off him for a minute. He also knew the dental impressions from the bite would match Carla Macy’s and the town had an airtight case against him, but it was okay. He’d be incarcerated again and could dive right back into the courses and books he loved.

***

Robert hung a sign on the restaurant door stating they were closed due to a family emergency and were reopening the following day. After he called his staff, he went home to the girls.
The girls
. He could hardly believe he was a father. He drove home and entered the back door to hear the television running. The girls were in the new matching leather recliners, and he plopped on the couch. Hercules was napping between the chairs in his dog bed. Becky got up, went to the kitchen, and returned with a glass of ice tea for him. She left the room and returned with a large photo album. She placed it onto the sofa cushion beside him and pointed at it. “You missed eighteen years of my life, so catch up! I also put our birthdays on your calendar in the kitchen.”

He rubbed his hands over his face, sipped some tea, and pulled the photo album onto his lap. He opened the first page and smiled. It was filled with pictures of Becky as an infant. Carla was holding her tight in her arms. He stopped turning pages when he heard noise in the basement. He lifted his head and stared at Becky. “Who’s in the basement?”

“The chief. He’s trying to figure out if we can have our own bathroom downstairs between our bedrooms. He’s already outlined our bedroom suite.”

Robert chuckled and asked, “Does anyone in this town believe in making plans and doing projects slowly, or do they rush headlong into things?”

Becky smiled. “Headlong, I guess.”

Sarah said, “We’re pretty sure the paternity test will be proof positive, so why waste time?”

Robert sat back, relaxed, and said, “Well, all right then.” He was sure the pill Doctor Tom had given the girls was still at play in their systems. They were just too calm and not in the least hysterical over their mother’s death. It wasn’t normal. His pill had already worn off. He continued to turn the pages of the album and burst out in hearty laughter when he saw Sarah and Becky soaking wet while standing inside of a kiddie pool. The next picture showed them in a mud pie battle. He became saddened he had not been there to see any of this, but when he glanced up, the girls were smiling at him, and he figured he would make use of whatever time he had with them and make his own memories.

“Thanks for this, girls. It helps me feel better to know you were so loved and so well cared for.”

“While you were locked up, you mean?”

He nodded. “Yep, while I was in the can.”

Sarah giggled at the reference, and Becky reached out and slapped her hand, which only made her giggle harder. Robert liked the sound of it.

He heard the chief climbing the basement stairs and leaned forward over the album. When the chief entered the room, he was wiping his hands on a rag and said, “Yep, need some plumbing work and more insulation down there, but I think the girls will each have a good-sized bedroom, closet and an adjoining bathroom between them. The drywall job needs to be done over, but I like it.”

Robert sat back and said, “Well, so long as you like it, Chief. That’s all that matters.”

The chief threw some paint swatches from the hardware store at the girls and said, “Have a ball, girls.”

They screeched, and Robert winced as the chief laughed and left the home. Robert grinned when he realized he had the last laugh on the chief. He had closed the restaurant, and the man would be forced to eat his wife’s cooking for supper.

***

Chief Hanover received the coroner’s report on Carla Macy. He read it and discovered the silk didn’t match that used in the previous victim’s murder. Myrna had taught him about the wild silk. However, Carla too had been kept in a basement. The wax mold of the bite mark on Warren’s ear matched Carla’s dental impression. The small bottle he had found in the torture room was chloroform. So far, the case was solid. He just needed Warren to confess. He continued reading the report when an officer knocked on his office door. He looked up and asked, “What is it?”

“The prisoner is in his cell and ready for interrogation.”

The chief pushed himself out of his office chair, grabbed a handheld recorder, and made his way out of the office and down the hall to the first cell. He dragged a folding chair behind him, set it up, and sat staring at Warren Measly after he turned the recording device on.

“Why did you kill Bernadette Carlisle and Carla Macy?”

Warren sat on his cot, his legs crossed, and his hands clasped before him. “I am not familiar with this Bernadette Carlisle you speak of, but Carla Macy offended me.”

“So you tortured and killed this poor woman because she offended you? What did she do?”

“She publically embarrassed me about my friendship with her daughter, Becky. This took place in front of my boss and a few customers. I can assure you, Chief. I am not a child molester.” He pushed his new glasses up the bridge of his nose and stared at the chief.

“No, you’re just a sick and twisted little hobbit who gets off torturing women when they hurt your delicate feelings.” He took a few deep breaths and asked, “If you didn’t kill Bernadette Carlisle, who did?”

Warren didn’t answer; he just shrugged, so the chief grinned and said, “You seem to be a little too competitive for your own good, Warren. You know who killed Bernadette Carlisle and figured you could do a better job at it. However, you ended up being nothing but a cheap imitation, a copycat! You failed, Warren!”

Warren’s eyes grew wide behind his lenses and he slammed his right hand down upon the cot mattress. “I did not fail! I achieved the desired results!”

The chief leaned back and let out a soft whistle. “You’re an evil little man who does evil little things, but you just don’t do them well enough, Warren.” He leaned forward once more with his elbows resting on his knees and his recorder in his right hand. “We have an airtight case against you in the murder of Carla Macy. I hope you’re ready for the repercussions.”

Warren tilted his head. “It is of little consequence to me, Chief. I will simply pick up where I left off at the rehabilitation facility.”

The chief threw his head back and guffawed. When he lowered his head, he was smiling at Warren. “You demented little fart, you’re not going back there. This time, you’ll be going to the pen and put in general population. If you didn’t care for the beating Robert Collins gave you, just wait for what’s in store for you there. Your past deeds are going to hunt you down and reveal what you are. There’s no doubt it’s going to come out.” He chuckled again. “For someone who doesn’t like to be publically humiliated, you’re in for one hell of a good time.”

Warren grasped at the edge of his cot, and his jaw clenched. He realized how he must have appeared and squirmed to change his expression and position. He cleared his throat and said, “I will simply make a plea to the judge to be put in a private cell in solitary.”

Chief Hanover could not wipe the smile off his face as he responded, “Too bad you just told me. I’ll inform the judge.” He waggled the recording device in the air before him and decided to get back to questioning Warren. “You once told the parole officer you only had one friend in town. Who is it?”