The Edge

Chapter 51

Devine drove back to the inn. His phone buzzed as he opened the door to his cottage.

It was Campbell. He told Devine about his visit to Clare Robards the previous evening.

“So Jenny thought her parents hadn’t done enough to find whoever had attacked Alex?”

“Yes. And she wanted to make that point clear to her mother, and also let her know that she was going to solve the crime. By the way, Clare blames herself for Jenny’s death. She said if she and Curt had pushed harder Jenny wouldn’t have had to do what she did, and sacrifice her life in the process.”

Devine said, “That’s a lot of guilt to carry around. In addition to people feeling Clare abandoned her former husband during his hour of need.”

“She told me some things I didn’t know about that,” said Campbell quietly, a distinct level of chagrin in his voice.

“So are you second-guessing your opinion of Clare Robards, sir?”

“She devoted most of her life to him, Devine. Carried and raised three children. Fought every political battle with him side by side.” The former general paused. “I guess I don’t have the right to judge her, because I’ve never been in her circumstances. The bottom line is she’s a good person who did right by Curt for a long time. And he was not easy to get along with. Now, that is something I can opine on, having known him all those decades. He was as loyal a friend as you would ever want, but if you got on his bad side it was a battle to the death. And as a politician he was ruthlessly ambitious. Sometimes to an extent that it clouded his judgment. And the higher up he went in the political food chain, the more he was apparently willing to do in order to stay there. He and I had sharp words on the subject, but still maintained our friendship.”

“Sounds like the marine who never could take losing on the battlefield carried that same standard to running for office,” opined Devine.

“Yes. But if one compromises one’s principles in the bargain? You have victory without honor, at least in my opinion.”

“Yes sir.”

“So anything new to report?” asked Campbell.

“I met with Alex. I told her about Jenny using her government resources to find out who had raped her.”

“What did she say to that?” Campbell wanted to know.

“It’s not so much what she said as what she did.”

“I’m not following. What did she do?”

Devine explained about her collapsing. “At first I thought she had passed out. But when I went to help her she started screaming at me to leave her alone, to get off her. Then she started punching and kicking.”

“My God, was she having some sort of seizure? Did you make her understand that you were not attacking her?”

“The thing is, I don’t believe she was addressing me.”

“Who then?” asked a clearly confused Campbell.

“I think what I told her prompted her to have some sort of an unconscious memory episode. That’s the only way I can think of to describe it,” said Devine.

“Wait, do you mean your discussing the attack again made her, what, relive it?”

“Yes. I think she was defending herself against her attacker. When she finally came around she had no memory of any of it. I didn’t tell her what she said or did. I’m not a psychiatrist. I didn’t want to mess her up even more.”

“No, you did the right thing. Now, Devine, did she mention a name or give you any clue as to who it might have been?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“And you’re certain that whoever killed Jenny attacked Alex?” asked Campbell.

“Not only am I sure of that, but also, based on something else Alex told me, I’m pretty sure the person who attacked Alex and killed Jenny also murdered Alberta Palmer.”

Campbell blurted out, “How do you figure that?”

“Alex had an episode like she did with me today, with Bertie, two days before she was killed. Only I think Bertie got lucky where I didn’t.”

“You mean Alex named the person who attacked her?” said Campbell.

“Or at least gave enough information that allowed Bertie to figure it out.”

“You think she confronted the person?”

“I do. And if I’m right, we saw the person’s homicidal reaction,” noted Devine.

“Two murders tied to Alex’s rape. Which means you could be a target,” added Campbell.

“I’ve been a target ever since I stepped foot in this place. Okay, since you brought that up, anything new on the mole? Or the woman from Geneva?”

“Yes and no.” Campbell paused. “I blame myself.”

“What do you mean?” said Devine sharply.

“My admin assistant has vanished.”

“What’s her name and what happened?” asked Devine.

“Dawn Schuman. And we don’t know what happened to her. She didn’t show up for work yesterday. We called and then sent a team to her house. Her car was missing and it seems as though she had packed a bag. We have alerts out on her everywhere but so far nothing.”

“And why do you blame yourself?”

“Because I knew something was off and I did nothing about it. She’d gotten divorced and there was a custody dispute over her kids. And she was struggling financially. She had confided in me some of these personal issues. I should have followed up with our security folks to keep an eye on her but I didn’t.”

“Because her personal issues could have compromised her?”

“Yes, and now with her disappearance, I think she might well have been compromised.”

“And she knew about my movements?” said Devine.

“She arranged your travel while you were overseas, and also your itinerary for Maine.”

“But why run now?” asked Devine.

“They might have asked for something she was unwilling to give. Or she felt guilty, or scared that we would find out once we began our internal security audit. Ironically, her fleeing was what made us look at her.”

“They might have grabbed her and made it look like she left voluntarily.”

“Trust me, Devine, I had thought of that possibility. Should I send you reinforcements?”

“No. That’ll just spook our killer and then the guy goes even deeper underground.”

“Well, be careful.”

“I’m not sure that’s going to get it done, sir,” replied Devine before clicking off.