“I know that,” Linda said, taken aback. “I was talking in general.”
Jean turned to Julia, flushed with anger. “You’re not from here. You don’t know Chief Glushenko. He’s done more for Buckley than you ever will.”
Uh-oh.“Jean, I’m sorry if I offended you.”
Paul nodded. “We only wanted—”
“I know what you want. You want trouble. I’ll have no parts of it.” Jean returned pointedly to her sewing.
An awkward moment passed, and Kimberly touched Julia’s arm. “We have records that can help you, upstairs. If you want to look.”
“Sure, thanks,” Julia answered, glad to escape.
“Follow me.”
Julia and Paul trailed Kimberly upstairs and into a cramped room lined with old file cabinets of all shapes and sizes. Each drawer was labeled, and there were accordion files stacked haphazardly on top of the cabinets. An old-fashioned glass fixture hung from the ceiling with a curly yellowed flypaper.
Kimberly gestured at the file cabinets. “I know this looks messy but there’s a method to our madness. These aren’t just regiment records. They belong to the gardening club and the quilters’ league, from a long time ago. We don’t have those clubs anymore, but the files are still here.”
“Okay.” Julia felt encouraged. “Where are the files for the regiment?”
“Right here, only one cabinet, and I helped organize it.” Kimberly crossed the room to a brown file cabinet with three drawers and pulled out the top drawer, which held manila folders stuffed with papers. “The top drawer is general info. The second is waivers. The third is miscellaneous, mostly photos and programs. It’s in rough chronological order, most recent in front. I don’t know who keeps up with the filing these days. I sure don’t, so there’s that.”
“But we’re looking for papers before 1999.”
“So you might be in good shape, but the records only go back to 1990. That’s when the lawyer came in, I forget his name. That’s when we started keeping official records, like for real. Before that, some of the members were pack rats, but we didn’t have our act together.”
Julia understood, except for one thing. “What are the waivers for?”
“Anybody who participates in a reenactment has to sign a waiver, whether they’re a member of the regiment or not. That lawyer made us do it in case somebody hurts themselves. We used to be better aboutit, but now, whatever. We still have those waivers. We just never throw anything out.” Kimberly shrugged. “So you can see the names of anyone who was at McGlinchey’s back then.”
McGlinchey’s?Julia knew she’d heard that somewhere. “What’s McGlinchey’s?”
“McGlinchey’s Plateau is where the regiment practices, since we started. They’ll be there tomorrow afternoon.”
Julia remembered it was Alex who’d mentioned McGlinchey’s. She felt her heartbeat quicken. “Isn’t McGlinchey’s where Shenandoah Preservation had a clean-up last weekend?”
Paul looked over, perking up.
“I don’t know about Shenandoah Preservation, but that’s where the boys practice.”
“Okay, thanks.” Julia felt like they were finally onto something.
“Good luck. Stay as long as you like.” Kimberly leaned closer. “By the way, watch what you say downstairs, with Jean. We call her Mean Jean. Her husband is friends with Chief Glushenko.”
38
Julia started going through the top drawer. “Let’s work backward from McKenna’s disappearance in 1999 and try to find out when he first joined the regiment and when or if Shoemaker shows up. I don’t know how long Shoemaker was in the picture or whether he lived in Buckley. Plus we don’t know how long they knew each other.”
“Okay, let’s split the job. You take 1999 and work back to 1995. I’ll take 1994 and work back to 1990. That’s efficient, don’t you think?”
“Yes.” Julia grabbed the front half of the folders, Paul grabbed the back half, and they sat down on the floor with their respective piles and got busy.
Julia opened the 1999 file and went through flyers, programs, and various bills relating to tacticals and reenactments in Luzerne, Pike, and other area counties, drawing conclusions on the fly. “It looks like the regiment does an event, either a reenactment or a tactical, every month starting in springtime.”
“Yes, I see that, too.”
Julia stopped at a list titled “Officers and Positions, 1999.” She skimmed down and struck gold. The top line read “Bill McKenna, Corporal.” “I got him.” She thought a minute. “I wonder what event they held that month, since it’s the year Shoemaker was killed.”
