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"I won’t take up a lot of your time, but I think I should report something just as a heads-up," I said. "Besides, Daniel made me promise I would tell you."
"At least you've got him to keep you in line with your detective work," said Chief Hayes. He smiled in a fatherly sort of way. "What else has happened?"
After I told him about the prank calls, he furrowed his brows. "I’m sorry to tell you there isn’t much I can do on that. Do you have any idea on who it could be?"
I shook my head. "I thought at first that it was just some kids who randomly got my cell number. You know, like they thought up numbers and landed on one that worked. But when it kept happening, I started to get a little worried."
"I'm afraid that all I can tell you is to be careful, and let me know if it continues. And change your number if it does."
"I'll do that." Then, before the time was up, I wanted to bring up another subject. "Do you know a woman named Linda Henson?" I asked.
He nodded, watching me carefully.
"She called me out of the blue and wanted to meet with me."
I filled him in on what Linda had told me. He just shrugged. "It doesn’t sound as if she gave you any solid information about Ronald Larch. Did she say he actually admitted to having something to do with John’s death?"
"No. She didn't. When I tried to pin her down on that, she took it all back. I’m not sure what her motive is for telling this stuff to me instead of to you." I took a deep breath and stood up. "In fact, I don’t know why I’m taking up your time with it in the first place."
The chief smiled, and he stood up, too. "That's all right. But my best advice to you is to keep out of that downtown area. I can promise you I’ll look into Homeless John’s death a little more. You could be on to something, but matters like this get too dangerous for someone not in law enforcement."
He rearranged a couple of papers on the desk in front of him. "If Linda tells you anything factual, I’ll have a talk with her myself. Unless there's more evidence, I just don't see Ronald Larch as someone who would break the law so easily. He has too much to lose as Calvin Carpenter’s campaign manager."
"Well, it's true that I've got nothing concrete on Larch. He always seems real uncomfortable around me, but I guess that doesn't prove he broke the law."
"Very true, Laila."
I held out my right hand, and he shook it. "Chief Hayes, thanks for your time. And please let me know if Ricky Thomas’s name comes up in the arrest file."
"All right."
On the way out, I asked one more question. "If Thomas was arrested – where would he be?"
"Well, the main jail for this area, including downtown, is right next door. He would be in a cell right here until a judge heard his case."
"Okay. Thanks again."
# # #
Back in my car, I thought once again that I should leave all of this to the cops. Homeless people, drug addicts and murderers were their expertise, not mine.
I wish I knew what to do. The problem was that I had nowhere to turn at this point. Ricky Thomas was in hiding, Steven in prison, John was dead and I didn’t have a background in law enforcement.
I had no way of proving any of the things that I believed had happened.
Chapter Twenty Two
Though all reason told me to leave drug problems and the hom
eless to the law, I found I just couldn’t do that. The memories I had of John wouldn't let me. My gut feeling was stronger than ever that he did not die at his own hands.
I was also convinced that Ricky Thomas knew more than he'd told me – probably a lot more. Once I found out where he was, I could get some answers. I knew I just couldn’t walk away from this. I kept seeing John smiling up at me as I gave him his coffee each morning, grateful for such a small kindness.
When I got to work the next day, Jacob was standing at the counter looking at the headline of the morning newspaper. "Brace yourself, Laila," he said. "It looks like they've found the body of another homeless man."
I grabbed the paper from Jacob and stared at the front page. The story was short, but to the point. The homeless man had been identified by someone on the street as Ricky Thomas, a drug dealer.
What?! I don't get it. Was Ricky released and then died, or had he not been arrested after all. The last paragraph of the brief article explained that he was found in an alleyway in the old part of downtown West River.
