The Lost Years

37

On Wednesday morning, Detectives Simon Benet and Rita Rodriguez were in their office reviewing the newest developments in the increasingly complex case of the murder of Professor Jonathan Lyons.

They had run a background check on the missing Rory Steiger. To their astonishment they learned that her real name was Victoria Parker and that she had served seven years in prison for stealing money from an elderly woman who had employed her as a caregiver.

“Well, our Rory is not only missing now but went missing from parole three years ago,” Rita said, a hint of satisfaction in her voice. “She was a crook when she worked as a caregiver before, and maybe she’s still a crook. She could easily have overheard Professor Lyons talking on the phone about the parchment. And she certainly knew how easy it would be to set up Kathleen as the killer.”

“Kathleen Lyons is not off the hook,” Simon said flatly. “I agree that Rory or Victoria, or whatever she wants to call herself, may very well have stolen the parchment. She certainly would be smart enough to know that we’d probably run a check on her as part of the whole investigation, and she was smart enough to take off.”

“She was also smart enough to ditch her cell phone,” Rita pointed out. “The telephone company reported that there’s no signal coming from it, so we can’t track it. That lady sure knows how to disappear. And if she did take the parchment, maybe she heard enough dinner conversation in that household to know about the underground market and how she could sell it.” She hesitated, then said, “Simon, I know you weren’t happy when I said it the other day. But particularly now, with this new information about Rory’s record and her taking off, I am very concerned that Kathleen Lyons may be innocent.”

For a moment Rita was afraid to look at Simon, half-expecting him to explode. But he didn’t. Instead he said, “Let’s look at it this way. If Rory took the parchment, she may already have found a buyer. Father Aiden said that Jonathan Lyons was upset because an expert he had consulted had only been interested in the monetary value of the parchment. I don’t believe for one minute that those four guys who were in his house last night don’t know anything more. I can’t wait to talk to each one of them separately this afternoon.”

“I think we should get an application in to the judge today to get their phone records for the last month,” Rita said. “Lillian’s convenient amnesia about the numbers of those prepaid phones means we can’t check those records. But, Simon, we have to consider another possibility. If Rory got paid by someone to steal that parchment, then delivered it to that person, she would not only have outlived her usefulness, but she would be a threat. Maybe whoever it was got rid of her. There were a lot of personal items in her apartment that she could have easily taken with her if she left on her own. And don’t forget that her car is still in the garage.”

Rita began to speak more rapidly. “And her friend Rose said that Rory had invited her to a celebration dinner but hadn’t said what it was about. Rory said she wanted to surprise her. Maybe Rory was going to celebrate that she’d been paid off for stealing the parchment. But I don’t think she’d ever admit that to Rose. She was probably planning to tell Rose something like she’d gotten a job offer somewhere else for a lot more money. My gut says Rose was on the level when she told us that she has no idea why Rory didn’t meet her.”

“Who knows? Maybe Rory realized she was in danger, got nervous, and just took off.” Simon drummed his fingers on his desk, always a sign that he was trying to make a decision. “I’m a long way from believing that Kathleen Lyons is innocent. Don’t forget, that last night at dinner she was ranting about her husband and his girlfriend, then a few hours later he was dead. And don’t forget that Kathleen knew how to use a gun. But I do think that we should meet with Prosecutor Jones and let him know about all this.”

Rita Rodriguez nodded, careful not to show her satisfaction that Simon was clearly retreating from his original position that Kathleen beyond any doubt had murdered her husband.