Dead Silver

52

I drove back to Helena as fast as I could make it, ripped up between adrenaline about Lon Jessup and worry about Darcy.

Finding the SUV was far from conclusive, but it fit in well. The immediate surmise was that Lon had seen Renee and me come chasing after the SUV, and he'd hidden it because he knew that connecting that vehicle to him would be enough to start investigators looking harder. He was already worried on other counts. Although the cache we'd found in the study was wiped clean of fingerprints, forensic technology now was so sophisticated that a single hair from head or body, a fleck of skin, or a bit of dried saliva could identify him. And this time he wasn't dealing with backwoods sheriffs who weren't interested in pressing the case-he'd have Gary Varna on his ass, along with shrewd, determined Renee.

Madbird was pacing in front of the courthouse when I arrived.

"Is Gary here?" I said.

"Yeah, him and his people are talking to Fraker."

"They getting anywhere?"

"I ain't heard much yet, but no surprises. He swears the last time he saw Darce was when they had that fight a couple nights ago. Says the drowning story's bullshit, he was just trying to scare her." Madbird's eyes narrowed into his scrutinizing gaze. "What's going on? You look all amped up."

I felt almost ashamed for intruding on the concern about Darcy, but there was nothing else to be done.

"I've got news," I said. "Come on, I'll tell you both."

We went inside and I managed to convince Faith, the kindly but tough lady desk sergeant, to pull Gary from the interrogation.

"I wish there was a better time to tell you this," I said when he came out. "It's about Astrid. Did anybody ever look at Lon Jessup?"

Gary frowned. "Lon Jessup. I know who he is, but I don't recall him ever being in trouble. And no, his name never came up in any of the case records I saw."

"I got a wild hair," I said. "Started putting things together and drove out to his place. I found that SUV, covered up with brush."

Gary's jaw tightened so hard it looked like he was going to break teeth. I assumed he was pissed because I'd overstepped my bounds by going out on my own.

But what he said was "Well now, that changes everything, don't it?"

At the same time, Madbird's eyes widened in sudden comprehension. Then they turned to slits.

"Guess we're looking at the wrong motherfucker," he said. "I already figured Fraker's a dead end," Gary said. "He's babbling as fast as his mouth will move. The kicker is, we asked to search his truck and he shoved the keys at us. There was a clump of long black hair and a scrap of cloth caught on a door hinge-nylon and elastic, like it was torn from a woman's underwear. Right there in front of God and everybody."

I blinked in surprise. "That's the kicker that he's innocent? How do you figure?"

"He ain't that stupid. If he'd struggled with her, he'd know it would leave traces, and he'd have stalled us."

"Maybe he was just running too scared to notice it," I said.

Both men skewered me with impatient glares.

"What?" I said, bewildered.

"You brung us the mail, Hugh-now read it," Madbird growled. "Jessup gets spooked enough to hide his rig, Darcy goes missing right after. It's a smoke screen, that's how he operates."

I stood there, stunned, as his meaning filtered in. It was Lon Jessup who had abducted Darcy. He'd planted the hair and nylon in Fraker's truck, just like he had planted the photos we'd found in Professor Callister's study, and for the same reason-to frame another suspect and head the police away from himself.

He'd have known via Evvie's gossip mill that Fraker was seeing Darcy and had a rep for being rough with women. An adulterous public figure whose girlfriend disappeared was a scandal that would suck up law enforcement resources and sideline the Callister murder case indefinitely, giving Lon time to make his next move.

But the really chilling implication was that he couldn't afford to let Darcy return and tell the truth.

We were dealing with a man capable of committing murder purely as a ruse.

Gary was already issuing orders to Faith, the desk sergeant. "Call Jessup Real Estate and get Evvie Jessup. Tell her not to move from where she is or touch a phone, I'm coming over to talk to her. Start running a background check on her husband, Lon. Then get ready to mobilize all available personnel, on duty and off-surrounding counties, state troopers, Fish and Wildlife, including air support. Jessup's a big bearded guy about fifty. He may have a young Indian female with him. I'll give you the go-ahead or abort as soon as I know more."

He swung back around to us. "If we go with it, it's a risk, Madbird. I hope you're okay with that."

It was a risk for Gary, too. As soon as Lon became aware of search planes and helicopters, he would know. Crafty and dangerous as he was, he might succeed in escaping.

"There ain't any choice from my end," Madbird said.

"Mine, either," Gary said.