Jane Carter Investigates: Episode Seventy-Six
Jack parked the car at the curb
and sprang out. I watched him walk over to the men, introduce himself, and show
his press credentials. I was too far away to hear the conversation. In a few
minutes, Jack returned to the car looking none too elated.
“You didn’t learn anything, did
you?” I asked as we drove on again.
“Not very much. Government men
never will talk. But they did admit they were here trying to locate James
Furstenberg.”
“Then they think he is in the
area.”
“They had an idea he would show
up at his daughter’s wedding, but it didn’t turn out that way.”
“Did you say anything to them
about Thomas Atwood’s disappearance?”
“Yes, but they wouldn’t discuss
it. They said they had nothing to do with the case.”
I lapsed into silence as the car
went on toward Andover. I sorted over the evidence which I had gathered that
day, trying to fit it into a definite pattern.
“Jack,” I said at last.
“Yes?”
“You’ll probably laugh at this,
but I have a theory about Thomas Atwood’s disappearance.”
“Go ahead, spill it.”
“Yesterday, when Shep and I were waiting
at the drawbridge, we saw a motorboat cruise down the river. It was driven by a
burly-looking fellow who paid no heed when we tried to hail him.”
“You’re not suggesting that the
man may have had something to do with Atwood’s disappearance?”
Jack seemed amused by my theory.
“I knew you would laugh.”
“Your theory sounds pretty
far-fetched to me, I’ll admit. It happens there are any number of burly,
tough-looking boatmen on the Grassy. You can’t arrest a man for a crime just
because of his appearance.”
“All the same, there is
supporting evidence. Mrs. Latch told me that Atwood’s note had been handed to
her by a boy who in turn received it from someone in a boat.”
“Boats are rather common, too.
Your theory is interesting, but that’s all I can say for it.”
“All right,” I said. “I was about
to tell you another idea of mine. Now I won’t do it.”
No amount of coaxing from Jack
could induce me to reveal my thoughts, and he soon gave up. We made the
remainder of the drive to Andover in silence. It was well after five-thirty
when we finally drew up in front of the City Club.
I was not surprised to find the
doors locked and no sign of Florence or Mrs. Radcliff.
“I thought they would go home
without me,” I said to Jack. “I only wanted to make certain. On to Greenville,
now, I suppose.”
The road led through pleasant
countryside and then swung back toward the Grassy River. The sun had dropped
below the horizon by the time we reached the town of Claxton.
“Thirty miles still to go,” Jack
sighed. “I’m getting hungry.”
“Two souls with but a single
thought,” I said.
Directly ahead was a roadside
gasoline station with an adjoining restaurant. Jack eased on the brake.
“How about it, Jane? Shall we
invest a few nickels?”
“I could do with a sandwich.
Several, in fact.”
Not until Jack had parked the car
did I notice the dilapidated condition of the building. It stood fifty yards
back from the main road, its rear porch fronting on the Grassy.
“Strange how one is always
running into the river,” I said. “It seems to twist itself over half the
state.”
Jack seemed not to hear me. He
was gazing at the restaurant with disapproval.
“This place doesn’t look so good,
Jane. Say the word, and we’ll drive on.”
“Oh, I’d brave anything for a
beef barbecue,” I said.
Through the screen door, I caught
a discouraging glimpse of the cafe’s interior—dingy walls, cigarette smoke, and
a group of rough-looking men seated on stools at the counter. On the threshold
I hesitated, losing courage.
“Let’s not go in,” Jack said in
an undertone. “They’ll probably serve cockroaches in the sandwiches.”
I half turned away from the door,
only to stop short. My attention focused on two men who were sitting at the far
end of the cafe drinking coffee from heavy mugs. In the indistinct light I
could not be certain, but I thought that the heavy-set fellow in shirt sleeves
was the same boatman I had seen near the Furstenberg estate.
I resisted Jack’s tugging on my
arm as he sought to lead me back to the car.
“This place isn’t half bad,” I
insisted. “Let’s try it and see what happens.”
I reached for the knob of the screen door, and without waiting for Jack, entered the cafe.
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