A Roux of Revenge (8 page)

Joe looked around the table, sure he had piqued the interest of his listeners. “The intruder had a weapon and ordered the two guards to transfer a shipment of cash to the armored truck
out in the lot. They didn’t have much choice, so they followed his orders. Once the cash was loaded, the guy with the gun grabs the keys to the truck and orders the two guards back into the building. It’s early in the day, and there’s no one else around, no other guards on duty. At first, we thought the young guard foolishly decided to be a hero and got shot for his trouble.” Joe shook his head.
“After that happened, the man with the weapon took off in the armored truck.”

“Was it the other guard who was the inside guy? Who turned off the alarm?” Lucky asked.

“I believe so. He claimed complete innocence. Said he didn’t know what was happening, but he didn’t turn off the alarm. He said the other guard must have been in on it and was shot by his cohort . . . The more the police sniffed
around, the more his story didn’t hold water. He was questioned a few more times, and eventually his version of events didn’t make sense. Sadly, no one thought to do a test for gunpowder on his hands.

“The detectives finally came to the conclusion that the guard who was still alive had to be the inside man. He had turned off the alarm, left the door unlocked and shot his coworker. Possibly
the man who broke in with the weapon didn’t shoot at all, maybe because he was never attacked. Maybe . . . and this is just speculation . . . maybe the young guy realized that the other guard had to be in on it. Maybe he said something, maybe he indicated suspicion, who knows? And the inside guy decided to get rid of him. Why leave a witness alive? So, to answer your question, we never found out
who the man that drove away with the armored truck was, although I had some ideas.”

“The guard you believed was guilty, did he ever give up the name of his partner?”

“He never did. Initially, with all the commotion, no one checked the remaining guard thoroughly enough. When they finally got suspicious and started to question him, he took off. Disappeared. They later discovered his identity
was false. The company wasn’t large, and they were a little sloppy with their due diligence, and this guy was slick. The police later matched his photo to a guy who was wanted in another state for armed robbery.”

“So, if either one of them is found or picked up for some reason, they could still be prosecuted, right?”

“Not unless that happens within the next month.”

“What do you mean?”
Jack asked.

“Statute of limitations. There’s a seven-year statute of limitations for robbery in our state. And in another month, it’ll be seven years.”

“But surely not for murder?” Lucky asked.

“That’s right. Not for murder.” Joe nodded.

“Quite a story,” Jack said.

“My company had to pay off on the loss. I know it’s not my job anymore, but I sure would love to see those guys
apprehended. You see . . . the young guard who died . . . he was the son of one of my neighbors. So I guess you could say I have a personal interest.”

“That’s why Joe stopped in to see me,” Nate said. “He suspects the man we found on the road might be one of the two responsible for that armored truck heist.”

Jack whistled. “What makes you think that?”

“Long story, but as I mentioned,
the guard who disappeared had a record. Getting that job under a false identity was a lot easier to do even just a few years back. So the police started looking at his known associates, looking hard, but nothing led back to any of his partners in crime. They picked up the people who had been involved with him in the past and grilled them, but they never got a thing. It led the police to think that
none of them knew anything about this robbery. They never even got a clue where to start looking. Nothing.

“However,” Joe smiled, remembering his glory days, “there was a carnival in town at the time, and I have always suspected we might have found our guy there. Oh, I almost forgot. The armored truck was eventually found in the woods a few months later, and the lab found sawdust and animal
hairs. That just confirmed my suspicion. These people move around a lot—travelers I guess you’d call them. Impossible to trace. By the time the police were ready to start questioning some of those men, they had moved on.” Joe shrugged. “I have a lot of time on my hands these days, and I like to drive around. So I always try to stop at some of these festivals and carnivals around the state in the
summer months. I heard about this festival, that’s what brought me to Snowflake. I thought maybe there’d be a chance some of the same people might be working out there at the kiddie rides or the farmers’ market. I’ve always suspected our guy was someone who just wasn’t on the radar in any real way.”

Nate listened silently as Joe talked.

“Nate can’t get a bead on who that guy was they discovered
on the road, and Nate thinks . . .” Joe hesitated, looking to Nate for permission to speak further.

“Go right ahead. We’re among friends here,” Nate replied.

“Nate thinks there’s something hinky about that driver’s license. This guy could very well be a traveler—a gypsy.”

“Even if he is, why would you think he was the same man involved in that robbery years ago?” Lucky asked.

Joe Conrad shrugged. “No solid reason. It’s just a hunch. When I heard about a dead man with a bullet wound that nobody knew, my ears went up. Just thought I’d check it out as much as I could. And even if by some long shot the dead man is the same guy, I don’t know what good that would do. Oh, one thing I forgot to mention—there was a witness to what happened, although she was pretty shook up. She
was going through an intersection on a green light when the armored truck barreled through. Almost wiped her out. She hit the brakes and managed to avoid the accident. She was in a bit of shock, but she did get a close look as the guy pulled off his ski mask. Eventually she was able to give the police artist enough for a sketch. Here, I’ll show you.”

Joe pulled a well-worn piece of paper out
of his inside jacket pocket. A wanted poster showing a black-and-white sketch of a man with a long face, high cheekbones and receding hairline. “How accurate this is, I can’t say, but it was the best we could do at the time. I’ve shown this to Nate.” Joe passed the poster across the table to Jack.

Nate spoke. “It’s real hard to be certain. His face was pretty messed up, and I wasn’t about
to move the body till the techs could get there. Besides,” Nate shrugged, “I don’t know what good it’ll do anybody if this guy turns out to be involved. He’s dead, the other guy’s disappeared, and I’m sure the money’s long gone.”

“How much did they get away with?” Jack asked.

“Pretty good sum as these things go. Eight hundred and some odd thousand.”

“That’s huge,” Lucky remarked.

“You can say that again.”

“I’m gonna take Joe over to Lincoln Falls to have a better look at this guy,” Nate said. “If his driver’s license and van registration don’t check out, he could very well be a traveler—we get ’em through every so often. Some of ’em come down from Canada. As long as they don’t cause any trouble, I have no objection. Wouldn’t be my choice of a lifestyle, but I guess
it suits them.”

“What was this guy driving?” Jack asked.

“An old customized van, pretty beat up though. It’s at the impound lot in Lincoln Falls for now.” Lucky heard the bell over the door ring. She twisted in her chair and saw Miriam standing on the threshold. Miriam stepped into the restaurant and headed to the counter where Janie was working. She leaned across and spoke softly to Janie.
Janie’s cheeks suddenly flushed. She flung a dish towel down on the counter and ran through the door to the corridor. Miriam followed.

Lucky excused herself from the group at the table. So far, the small drama hadn’t caught anyone’s attention. She hurried down the hallway and found Miriam at the rear door, crying. Janie’s car tires squealed as she pulled out of the lot behind the restaurant.

Chapter 13

J
ANIE SAT HUDDLED
at one end of the sofa. Lucky placed a mug of tea on the table in front of her and curled up at the other end of the sofa. Janie finally mumbled her thanks and picked up
the tea.

“Look, Janie, I don’t want to pry into your business, but from where I’m sitting, your mother hardly seems like a monster.”

“You think I’m crazy, don’t you.” It was a statement not a question.

“I don’t think any such thing. I just don’t know what’s going on. You and your mother . . . well, you two have always been so close. I don’t understand.”

Janie looked on the verge
of tears. She clamped her jaw shut in an effort to control her feelings. “You’d never understand. You’d never get it.”

“Try me.” Lucky’s heart was torn just looking at Janie’s face. It was obvious she was suffering terribly. Earlier that day, Meg had done her best to offer comfort to Janie and had been rebuffed.

“You remember a couple of days ago when you saw me looking out the window
at the Spoonful?”

Lucky nodded but didn’t say a word. She was afraid to interrupt Janie’s narrative now that she was willing to talk.

“When I went home that night, I mentioned it to my mother. I thought it was kinda creepy, ’cause I remembered seeing the same man in the market and the same man walking down my street, outside my house.”

“I remember.”

“I told you my mom had a real
weird reaction. I could understand if she were concerned some stalker was around, but it wasn’t that at all. She started yelling, like she was blaming me for something. Like I caused it. That’s the best way I can put it. I was mad at her after that, so I just hid out in my room.” Janie took a sip of her tea. “Later, my mother came to the door and said she was sorry, she didn’t mean to get so upset,
but she just had a lot on her mind. I was still kinda mad at her, so I pretended to be asleep.”

Janie took a deep shaky breath. “The next evening, my mom was at a neighbor’s for a little bit.” Janie looked over the edge of her mug at Lucky. Her expression seemed slightly sheepish. “There was something about him—the man I mean. Something like . . . like I’d seen him before, before all this,
or . . . something about him seemed familiar, I guess. I opened my mom’s jewelry box. It has a secret compartment. She didn’t know I knew about it, but I’ve seen her open it before and take out an old photograph. I never let on I knew. So . . .” Janie took another sip of tea.

Lucky was silent, listening. This was the best thing that could happen. Janie was finally ready to open up.

“I
pulled out the old photo she kept in there.” Janie took a deep shaky breath. “Lucky, it was the same man! A lot younger, but I’m
sure
it was the same man. Then I heard my mom come home. The front door slammed, and I heard her coming up the stairs. I should have just put the photograph back in the secret slot, but I didn’t. I wanted to know what was going on.

“She came into the room, and she
saw me holding the old photo. Her face turned all white. I thought she was going to faint. But I was still mad at her from the night before. I held it out, and I . . . I was yelling. I didn’t mean to, but I was so . . . confused, I guess, upset and all.” Janie fell silent for so long Lucky wondered if she would continue. “That’s when she told me.”

“What did she say?” Lucky whispered.

“That man is my father. My real father,” Janie wailed. Her hands started to shake so badly, Lucky reached over and took the mug from her, placing it safely on the table. Janie burst into angry tears. “I started screaming at her. ‘You’re a liar!
I have a father. You’re a liar,’ I said.”

Lucky could imagine the shock Janie must have felt. She couldn’t think what to say to calm the girl. She had
been so attached to her father—the man she knew to be her father. His death had been very hard on her and surely difficult for her mother. But to learn that the man she loved was not truly her father . . . Lucky shook her head in disbelief.

“She tried to explain, but I guess I was yelling at her. She said this man was someone she had loved when she was young, but they were torn apart. At least
I think that’s what she was trying to say. She was crying by then, and I was yelling at her, and it was just awful. I freaked out. She was trying to tell me stuff, but I just covered my ears and ran out of the house.” Janie reached over for a tissue, wiped her nose and eyes, and looked over at Lucky. “What does this mean? Was I an accident, Lucky? Was I an illegitimate child? What?” Janie demanded.

Lucky reached over and held Janie’s hand. “I don’t know. Obviously, there’s a lot more to this story you just weren’t ready to hear. It doesn’t sound like you were an accident or illegitimate, whatever that means. It sounds like you were conceived because two people were very much in love. The fact that something happened to them, that they couldn’t be together . . . well, that must have been
out of their control. Stuff happens in life, Janie. Things people can’t control. Lovers go off to war and never come back. But certainly, you were loved. You’re the most important person in your mother’s life. She’s a lovely woman, no matter what happened to her when she was younger, and she’s done her very best for you.”