Unearthed

CHAPTER FIVE

“THE SHOOTER STOOD HERE, Inspector, and he had a clear view of the hospital.”

Michael didn’t recognize the serious middle-aged man in the Blackpool Police uniform. He assumed he was one of the temporary officers that were helping out during the remodel of the marina. With all the new people in town, as well as the supplies and equipment, extra security had been necessary.

The officer looked earnest and neat as a pin. His short-cropped hair was barely longer than the stubble Michael wore. Creases showed in the corners of his eyes and lightly on his forehead. His tan was deep, burned into his flesh by years of working in the sun.

“Tell me your name.”

“Watts, Inspector. Trevor Watts.”

“Ah, yes.” Paddington nodded in satisfaction. “You’re the lad with exotic military training.”

“Yes, sir. I did a bit with the Special Air Service. Mustered out honorably with injuries a few years back.”

Michael was impressed. The SAS was England’s foremost special-forces unit. The team had seen action around the globe and were noted for their thoroughness and precision.

“SAS, eh?” Paddington gazed out the bedroom window of the second-floor flat they were in across from the hospital. Other than a few trees, the view was clear. “Then I’d assume you know something of shooting like this.”

“Yes, sir. I was extremely proficient.”

Paddington pointed his pipe at the spot where the dead man had gone down. “How far away would you say the target was?”

“Seven hundred seventy-eight yards, sir.”

“That’s awfully exact, Officer.”

Watts reached into a small bag on his belt and took out micro-size binoculars. “Opti-Logic Sabre II laser rangefinder. Good out to a thousand yards. After I saw that shot, I thought I might need this, so I got it out of my car.”

Michael’s curiosity was piqued. “What about the shot told you that you might need that device?”

“The round hit the man, correct, Mr. Graham?”

Michael nodded.

“Seven hundred and seventy-eight yards, though I didn’t know the exact measurement at the time, plus the fact that the bullet ripped through the victim’s apricot tipped me to the fact that we were probably dealing with an experienced sniper. That’s why I started scouting the buildings that fit the trajectory and the field of fire.”

“‘Apricot’?”

“Yes, sir. The medulla oblongata. Located at the base of the skull. Controls involuntary movement. Ensures an instant kill. You put a bullet through that, or the second cervical vertebra, and whomever you shoot is checked out of the festivities.”

“You make the shooter sound like he was really good.”

“He was, sir. No doubt about it. To pop a man like that, while he’s on the run? Bloody good, sir, and that’s the bottom line.”

Michael watched the man and wondered what he did when he wasn’t hanging about Blackpool, helping with security. He suspected it was generally something a lot more demanding, and they were lucky to have him.

Only then did Michael realize that Paddington had been carefully watching him throughout the exchange. Michael let out a breath and shook his head. “You knew the shooter could have killed me, too.”

“The thought crossed my mind simply because the shot that killed that poor devil was so accurately placed and you emerged without a scratch.” Paddington glanced around the bedroom. “I felt you should know what you were truly facing today.”

Michael’s knees were suddenly weak. “Do you mind if I take a seat?”

Watts pointed to a chair at a small computer desk. “There. Please stay out of the way. And if you’re going to be sick, please do so in the bin there.” He pointed to the small metal rectangle under the desk.

In order to forestall the sick pulsing in his stomach, Michael focused on the room. Judging from the pictures tucked into the bulletin board on the wall, the flat’s renter was a young woman interested in music. Stills of Lady Gaga were displayed prominently. “Where’s the room’s occupant?”

“At Coffey’s Garage where she works.”

“She was there during the shooting?”

“Her employer confirmed that the young woman has been at work since eight this morning. Constantly in his sight.”

Trying to forget about the sniping incident, Michael examined the pictures of a young woman on the bulletin board. He assumed that the flat was hers. “Does she have a boyfriend?”

“One whose hobby includes sniper rifles?” Paddington smiled. “It’s not going to be that easy. There is a young man, but he’s in London at the moment, applying for a job.”

“I suppose you’ve confirmed that?”

“Talked to him myself, and to his potential employer.” Paddington surveyed the hardwood floor.

Watts was down on his hands and knees, shining a torch under the bed. “I’ve checked, Inspector, but I can’t find the man’s brass anywhere.”

“Policed up after himself?”

Watts resumed standing and seemed put off by the development. “Yes, sir. The man was very thorough. And he got out of here without being seen, according to the residents I’ve chatted up.”

Those residents stood out in the hall, talking to themselves. Michael heard the constant buzz of conversation splashing around the room. If they knew anything, they would tell.

He studied the lock on the door. It was intact and apparently unmarked. So how had the sniper gotten into the room?

“WE’VE GOT A NAME for the dead man.” Paddington closed his mobile and slipped it into his jacket pocket as he trotted down the stairs inside the small building. Crime-scene investigators were still going over the flat.

Michael trailed after the inspector, knowing Paddington wouldn’t tell him anything till he was ready to. Over the past few months, the inspector had come to see the Grahams as annoyances. At least, that was the way Michael felt. Paddington tended to be closed off about his work, and Michael respected that. Unfortunately, he and Molly hadn’t had much choice about becoming involved.

More gawkers stood outside on the lawn of the building, while another crowd was kept at bay from the corpse in the parking lot by yellow crime-scene tape. The coroner was there, as well, now.

“Grady Dunkirk.” At the bottom of the stairs, Paddington looked back up at Michael.

“I’ve never heard of him.”

“Evidently he was quite a friend of Rohan Wallace.”

“If he was, I didn’t know about it. Wait, why did you say ‘a name’?” The inflection and choice of words made Michael curious.

Paddington was silent for a moment, and Michael didn’t think he was going to get an answer.

“I say ‘a name’ because the one he gave was false. Krebs initiated a background check on the man and the trace ended pretty quickly. He worked on one of the renovation jobs down at the marina, but his paperwork was thin. It would never have held up under a real examination.” A rueful look pinched Paddington’s broad face. “Unfortunately, with all the remodeling Mrs. Graham has got started at the marina, jobs have been plentiful and there hasn’t been time to see who’s who.”

Michael bridled at that. Molly’s vision for Blackpool was brilliant, and other people in town thought so, too, or none of her ideas would have gotten off the ground. “Inspector, with all due respect, I don’t think Molly is in any way—”

Paddington waved him off. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist. That was just an observation.”

“Sounded like more than that.”

The inspector sighed and wiped his lower face with a handkerchief. “This used to be a comfortable little town, Mr. Graham, before you and your wife moved here. You can take that as you will.”

Choosing to ignore the jibe for the moment, Michael asked, “Have you been able to trace the dead man’s real identity?”

“We’re working on it.” The inspector glanced at Michael and lifted an eyebrow. “You’re a very good amateur detective, Mr. Graham, and I don’t mean to encourage you in any way.”

“Believe me, Inspector, if it were up to me, Molly and I would have stayed out of every investigation we’ve been involved with. What we’ve experienced—what we’ve all experienced—is just a bit of bad luck at being part of these situations at all.”

“Do you think so?”

“Yes.”

“Then what was that business with Mr. Crowe earlier?”

Michael shoved his hands in his pockets and met the inspector’s gaze full on. “I don’t like the man.”

“Mr. Crowe does seem to fancy Mrs. Graham’s company more than yours.”

“Trying to stir up trouble?”

“Jealousy can be a bothersome thing, that’s all.”

“I’m not jealous of Aleister Crowe’s attentiveness to Molly. If there’s one thing that’s a constant in our world, it’s my relationship with my wife.” Michael smiled. “The sun will set in the east, Inspector, before I ever doubt Molly.”

“You’re a lucky man, Mr. Graham.” Paddington echoed Michael’s smile a little. “I’ve seen that for myself, and I’m quite certain Mrs. Graham would say the same. But you are not so trusting of Crowe.”

Michael shrugged. “I didn’t like him before he shot Rohan.”

“Rohan Wallace was guilty of breaking and entering into the man’s house.”

“Rohan wasn’t armed.”

“As you’ve seen yourself over these past few months, it doesn’t take an armed man to kill a person. Just a very determined one. But you’re missing the point, Mr. Graham. A few points, actually.”

“Care to enlighten me?”

Paddington smiled. “Thought you’d never ask.” He cleared his throat. “Nothing in Mr. Wallace’s background suggests that he had the necessary skills to circumvent the state-of-the-art security around Crowe’s Nest.”

Michael was actually glad to hear the inspector say that.

“I hadn’t missed that little fact, Mr. Graham. You and your missus’s meddling aside, the Blackpool police department got along quite well before you decided to try your hand at investigatory work.”

“I never said you didn’t, Inspector.”

“So do you know what I’ve been looking for since Mr. Wallace was shot?”

Michael realized the answer almost immediately. “Someone who could help Rohan break into Crowe’s Nest.”

“Exactly.” Paddington nodded at the group gathered around the body. “Now I have a man, a desperate man by your account, that wished to speak to Mr. Wallace. He’s not in the hospital more than a few minutes and he manages to get himself shot. By an expert marksman.”

Immediately the pieces fell together in Michael’s mind and he chided himself for not seeing it earlier. “An expert marksman. And Rohan needed an expert cracksman to get into Crowe’s Nest. You think that once you find out who the dead man truly is, it’ll lead you to who the marksman is.”

Paddington touched his nose and smiled. “At least, Mr. Graham, I’ll have an idea of where to look. Experts tend to know each other.”

“If they were friends, why did the shooter kill Grady Dunkirk, or whatever his name turns out to be?”

“You should be able to figure that one out.”

“To keep Dunkirk from spilling what he knew?” Paddington nodded.

“But what?”

“Who he was working for.” Paddington shrugged. “Maybe something went missing that night and we haven’t heard about it. Maybe someone decided the pie shouldn’t be split so many ways. From the sounds of things, you were going to catch Dunkirk. Somebody didn’t want him caught.”

“Then why allow him to talk to Rohan?”

“Maybe his pallies didn’t. Or maybe they made him talk to Rohan. Either way, Dunkirk is dead because of his friends.”

“Awfully cold-blooded, don’t you think?”

“I do. But that’s the kind of work they were in. I have to ask myself, though, how did Rohan Wallace know men such as this?” Paddington looked at Michael. “That was the grandmother with Mrs. Graham, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“I think I’d like to have a word with her.”

CHAPTER SIX

MOLLY SAT IN THE CORNER of Rohan Wallace’s hospital room and watched Nanny Myrie softly stroke her grandson’s forehead. Rohan didn’t respond; the machines kept beeping. Molly hated the helpless feeling that filled her. She also felt intrusive, so she turned her attention to the window.

That wasn’t much better. The police cars and the crime-scene tape instantly claimed her attention. She sighed and looked down at the cell phone in her hands. Michael, where are you?

“Do you know my grandson well, Molly?”

“Not terribly. He was more Michael’s friend than mine. They did all sorts of things together.”

“Like what?”

“Sports, mostly. Hiking. Bicycling. Some fishing. Sailing. Those aren’t my types of activities. I join Michael occasionally, but he’s a much more devoted participant than I am. Rohan gave—gives—him someone to hang with.”

“I’m certain he does. Sounds like your man hasn’t quite lost touch with the boy he was.”

“No, and I don’t think he ever will.”

“Men should never completely step away from being boys. When they do, they lose the capacity to dream dreams that can change their worlds and the worlds of all those around them.” Nanny finally took the seat beside the bed. She laced her fingers through Rohan’s without disturbing the medical equipment.

“If they at least learned to pick up after themselves, it would be an improvement.”

Despite the heavy emotions trapped in the room, Nanny chuckled. “Ah, but that is part of what we must put up with in order to keep them as they are. If they were perfect, we’d have nothing to do.”

For a moment, the silence stretched. “What was Rohan like as a child, Nanny?”

The old woman shook her head. “Oh, he was quite a handful, this one was. Always into something. I ended up raising him.”

“He mentioned that several times. He loves you very much.”

“I know. That didn’t stop him from walking his own way, though. Too much of his mother in him for that.” Nanny smiled. “That’s partly my fault, of course. I was never quite the stay-at-home mother my daughter wanted.”

“I can see how flying floatplanes and helicopters could have gotten in the way of that.”

“They did. And there were any number of other adventures. I took her with me on several of them, and I think that was the root of the wanderlust that made her leave us and go out to see the world. She was a Peace Corps volunteer. Worked with Doctors Without Borders. You’ve heard of them.”

“Yes. Medical experts that work in impoverished regions.”

“Those people see a lot of bad things in the world. Sickness. War. Famine. Evil things. I lost her in West Africa. A fever took her. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. She was just…gone.”

“I’m sorry.”

Tears glittered in the old woman’s eyes. “That’s something you just never get used to. Losing someone.” She took a breath and looked at Rohan. “Rohan was only fourteen years old when she died, though he barely knew his mother after she became a doctor and went off to see the world. She never spoke of his father. My daughter never told anyone his name. I think maybe he was a married man. There was talk of a professor at her university. These things happen to young women. In her own way, I’m not sure she ever recovered from that, either.”

Molly sat quietly and listened. Outside, people talked and the world went on as usual, but inside, the past was alive again.

“Rohan missed his mother, but they’d never been close. Not close enough.”

“But he had you.”

Nanny nodded proudly. “He did have me. And I taught him to throw baseballs and fish and even to fight.”

“Fight?” That surprised Molly.

Nanny looked up at her and laughed. “I know. It seems far-fetched. Someone as small as me. But I learned how to fight because I grew up in a household with seven sisters and four brothers. You learn to scuffle in a large family.”

Molly smiled.

“Should have maybe been my husband teaching Rohan.” Nanny turned back to her grandson. “Would have been if Mose had lived. I lost him in a shipwreck during a storm. He worked with the coast guard.”

So much misery. Molly didn’t know what to say.

“Me and this one, we were always close. Always together. I made him grow up straight and tall as I could, but boys tend to have minds of their own.”

“What is he doing in Blackpool? You mentioned that he didn’t just end up here.”

“He didn’t. Something special brought him to this place.”

“What?”

Nanny smoothed Rohan’s forehead. “I don’t know for sure yet. We’ll have to figure that out. But I’m sure it had to do with the legend.”

“The one about Charles Crowe and his hidden treasure?”

“That might be part of it, but there’s more to it. You see, when Rohan was a child, I told him stories of the heritage we lost in West Africa during the slaving years. So many families got torn apart, and so much was lost. People were displaced, Molly, but heritage and culture?” Nanny shook her head. “That was all scattered and forgotten. I told Rohan that it was a wish of mine to see something of our family revealed. Our history. That was what he was doing here. And if he went to Aleister Crowe’s home, it was because he believed that family has some of that history.”

AFTER HE’D CONVINCED Paddington to talk with Nanny Myrie later, Michael left the inspector and went back into the hospital. He found Molly sitting with Nanny Myrie and Rohan. The old woman sat at her grandson’s side and softly hummed to herself. Before he could enter, Molly waved him off.

Molly got up. “Nanny?”

The old woman looked up at her.

“I’m going to step outside for a cup of tea. Would you like anything?”

“Water would be fine.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Nanny returned her attention to Rohan.

Outside the room, Molly took Michael by the arm. He kissed her forehead. “I guess I’m buying you a cup of tea.”

“You are.”

AT THE TEA SERVICE IN the waiting room, Molly looked at Michael. “You’re certain you’re all right?” She pulled at his shirt where the dead man’s blood—and his own, though he’d never tell her—had dried.

“I’m fine.” Michael poured tea and handed her a cup. “So what are we doing out here? I would have been glad to bring you a cup of tea.”

“I wanted to talk to you away from Nanny. That poor woman is already carrying enough of a burden without hearing about everything that happened out there.”

Michael sighed. “She’s going to end up hearing about it, anyway.”

“Why?”

“Because Dunkirk was visiting Rohan shortly before he was shot. I chased him out of the building.” Michael quickly related the story and brought Molly up to speed.

“This man, Dunkirk—”

“Or whatever his name actually proves to be.”

“—was working at the marina?”

“Yes.”

“On one of the restoration projects that I brought to Blackpool?”

“It appears so.”

Molly withdrew and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Hey.” Michael took her hand in his. “That man didn’t come to Blackpool to work on the marina. He came to break into Crowe’s Nest. If he hadn’t had the renovation to use as a cover, he’d have found something else. This isn’t any fault of yours.”

“Doesn’t feel that way.”

“If Rohan hadn’t gone to Crowe’s Nest, probably with this man, and Nanny Myrie wasn’t sitting in that hospital room right now, would you feel this way?”

Molly let out a slow breath. “No. She’s a good woman, Michael. She’s been through a lot.”

“I understand. I like Rohan.” Michael shrugged and smiled. “We’re not going to give up on them. We’re going to help them. But we can’t do that by dwelling on the past.”

“The past seems to be where all this started. You said you never knew why Rohan came here?”

Michael shook his head. “When we first met he told me he was just passing through. Looking for work.”

“But he spent a lot of time with you.”

“Blame my magnetic personality.”

“Oh, I blame you for many things, Michael Graham. And you can, under the right conditions, have an inflated view of yourself.”

“Ouch. Did I tell you I was very nearly shot today?”

“You said the sniper deliberately missed you.” Molly fisted his shirt and pulled him close. She kissed him and the chemistry that bound them sizzled anew inside Michael’s body. She pulled away entirely too soon. “For which I’m eternally grateful. What I want you to focus on is that Rohan made sure he was with you, and the two of you were always working on those models of the town buildings.”

Michael thought about that, remembering how Rohan had been interested in his extracurricular project practically from the moment he’d heard about it. “Funny, I never noticed that before.”

“Because you were so caught up in figuring out how the model fit together. You become quite distracted when you’re trying to figure something out.”

“Possibly.”

“Definitely. The point is, you were blind to Rohan’s interest.”

Michael looked at her and realized there was something she wasn’t telling him. “You know why Rohan is here.”

“Nanny Myrie says that Rohan came here searching for possible artifacts that were taken during the slave trade. She thinks Rohan connected the artifacts to the Crowe family.”