Flashback (26 page)

Shot crashed into the branches over my head and I heard Ms Tracy scream. Then the car roared back towards me and past, the driver's door open with the driver craning up over the roof. He fired again, too high and I fired back, emptying my pistol at the tyres, but he wheeled back and slammed the door as he raced off up the side-road, back towards the highway.
 

I shouted 'Fight' at Sam and he bounded to the step where Ms Tracy was still screaming, his barking blending with her voice.

'Guard,' I shouted and he fell silent, crouching in front of her, baring his teeth as I sprinted for the scout car.

I was almost a minute behind them but I roared after them, staying in second gear, siren blaring, hoping one of my good citizens would hear and phone the OPP. There was no sign of the car ahead but I drove flat out, pushing the car to the limit of my skill. Back I raced, to the north side of the bridge opposite Main Street, alone in the darkness. And then, far ahead at the edge of the highway, I caught the flash of their headlights in the trees as they slowed there before turning north. I followed, driving one-handed now, frantically adjusting the wavelength on my radio to the OPP frequency . It was hard at the limit of the car's speed, watching for oncoming traffic, trying to catch a smaller, faster car screaming down the middle of the road, but at last I got close and bellowed into the microphone.
 

'Bennett, proceeding north from Murphy's Harbour. Hot pursuit of a blue Mercedes. Shots fired. Do you read?'

There was a squawk, broken up. I was far enough off frequency to be unreadable, I guessed, and gave the knob a tiny flick. I repeated my message three times, flicking the frequency each way, bracketing the OPP wavelength the best I could. Then I came over a hill to look down at a mile-long slope on the highway ahead and saw no car. I'd lost them.
 

I kept on, adjusting the set again until finally the OPP man answered. 'Bennett, location please? Location, over.'

'Seven kilometres north of the Harbour. No sign of the car ahead. Car may have pulled off into Honey Harbour or along side-road 513. Have my dog holding Ms Tracy at her house. Send a PW down for the interrogation. Will proceed as far as Wildhaven Lodge and then return to the Harbour.'
 

'Roger, hold, Bennett.' The dispatcher said anxiously. 'Here's the inspector.'

It was Dupuy. I briefed him in two sentences and he told me to return and hold Tracy at her house. A policewoman would join me in twenty minutes.
 

So I killed the siren and turned back, taking time now to check a few hundred yards into the Honey Harbour exit from the highway, finding it as peaceful as my own community was, on good nights. No Mercedes. Then I sped back to the Tracy house.
 

She was standing on the porch, motionless, Sam in front of her. I shone my flashlight over her and saw the terror in her eyes. I told Sam, 'Easy boy. Good boy,' and made a fuss of him before telling her. 'Sit down, Ms Tracy. I have a policewoman coming and then we'll take you to the station. You're under arrest.'
 

I hadn't worked out what the charges would be and she didn't cut me any slack. 'What for, for God's sake? I get a ride home from Parry Sound with some people and you come out of the bushes shooting at them. What's going on? Tell me that.'
 

'Who were they?'

'I never saw them before.' Her voice was clear and confident. She was going to lie. I gritted my teeth and hoped the OPP would trace the other car. She was only a minor part of the mystery. She hadn't done any of the killings and it was the killers I wanted.
 

'Make yourself comfortable. We have about ten minutes to wait,' I said.

'I need to use the bathroom, you bastard.'

'Ten minutes,' I repeated.

'I can't wait that long. I was terrorized by your goddamn dog.'

'Then step down into the side somewhere. He'll come with you. I'll wait here.'

She swore angrily and sat down, her back against the door with its padlock still in place. I ignored her, reloading my revolver and glancing around. There were maybe half a dozen places within a couple of hundred yards each way but there were no lights showing. People were asleep or didn't want to get involved, which was good.
 

'Who was in the car with you?' I asked.

'How would I know?' she said angrily. 'I got out of the hospital and as I was walking down the street in Parry Sound they gave me a lift.'
 

It was too early to lean on her. I needed a woman there to remove any chance of her claiming I'd molested her. Tough as she was, she would do it automatically to discredit me and any evidence I got from her. But maybe I could trap her into something. 'How many people were in the car?'
 

She thought that was innocent. 'Three. Besides me.'

'Two men and a woman?' That had been my reading, although I hadn't had time to concentrate on the others once I saw the driver had a gun.
 

'They didn't talk, I don't know.'

'You're lying,' I said. 'That was your own car.'

She didn't answer for a moment, then sneered. 'I thought it seemed familiar. Small world, isn't it?'

'Either you help us or you're going to be in jail for aiding and abetting an escaped prisoner in the commission of a murder,' I told her. 'Now you sit there and think about that for a few minutes until my partner arrives.'
 

'I've got nothing to say, now or later. This is all ridiculous,' she said but there was fear in her voice. I said nothing, just stood and waited for ten long minutes until I heard a car coming.
 

It was an OPP cruiser and Elaine Harper got out and walked up to us. I did everything formally. 'Officer Harper, this is Ms Tracy. She is under arrest for aiding and abetting an escaped prisoner in the commission of a homicide.'
 

'Sounds like you're in a whole lot of trouble, ma'am,' Elaine said cheerfully. 'Where d'you want to do this, Chief, here or at your office?'
 

'At the station, please. Will you take Ms Tracy in your car?' Thank the Lord they're allowing women into the OPP. There would be no chance for our prisoner to allege misconduct.
 

'Fine. Come with me, please.' Elaine made an 'up' gesture with her finger and Ms Tracy stood slowly. 'Do you have any cigarettes?' she asked.
 

'Don't use 'em,' Elaine said.

'Then may I open my house and get some?'

'What do you think, Chief?' Elaine turned to me.

'If we go in there I'm going to conduct a search for drugs,' I said. 'Do you still want to open your house, ma'am?'

'Where's your warrant?' Ms Tracy demanded. Her voice was strong but it had a nervous tremor.

'I'm going to apply for one as soon as we reach the station. It will be issued while you're in the cells. This way I save time. What would save more time is for you to admit that you have drugs in there, if you do, and I won't have to turn my dog loose.'
 

In the starlight I could see the policewoman looking at me strangely. She hadn't heard about what the suitcase contained. She thought this was a fishing trip.
 

Ms Tracy said nothing for about half a minute. Then as Elaine reached out to bring her along she spoke. 'The hell with it, I need a smoke. Do you have the key for this padlock?'
 

I undid the padlock and she produced the front door key. 'Where did that come from? You had nothing with you when you left here?'
 

'It was under the mat,' she said angrily. 'Even with your dog after me I picked it up.'

Not an honest answer, but credible. We followed her through the verandah and she unlocked the inner door with the same key. 'I have to use the bathroom,' she said, switching on the light.
 

'I'll have to come with you,' Elaine said. I watched the tension between them. Elaine was smaller, only around five-six and slight, with the bulk of her gun incongruous on her slim waist. Ms Tracy was taller and older and her contempt was enormous.
 

'Afraid I'll hurt myself?' she sneered.

'Maybe. Or flush your dope down the john,' Elaine said. 'Let's go.'

They went into the bathroom and I looked around, wondering where drugs would be hidden if she had any. There were a thousand hiding-places but I knew Sam would find anything so I relaxed and waited.
 

When they came out again I asked Tracy, 'Do you have any drugs here, ma'am?'

'It's not ma'am. It's Ms,' she hissed. 'And no. I don't have any goddamn drugs. But I have friends who use this place from time to time. Maybe one of them has put something somewhere that I don't know about.'
 

I smiled. 'There. Now you're golden. I'll get my dog to check.' I bent to fondle Sam, holding his head between both hands to get his attention. Then I told him Mei Kong and stood up.
 

The women watched, fascinated, as he stiffened and turned his head slowly, sniffing the air. Then he sniffed the couch and one of the chairs, growling softly. Someone had used dope in this room, sitting there. And at last he went over to the bookcase and sniffed up high, then stood on his back legs to claw at a shelf of books about four feet off the ground.
 

'Easy,' I told him and lifted the books down. There was nothing behind them but his head sank to one of the books and he barked again, scratching at its cover with one foot. I picked it up. It was old, red leather bound.
Supreme Court of Ontario Decisions 1899.
I read and opened it up. The centre of the pages had been hollowed out and there was a plastic bag of white powder inside.
 

'Is this your book?' I held it up to Ms Tracy.

'That belongs to John Waites. He left it here. Said he might have to consult it occasionally,' she said. 'Happy now?'

'Happier,' I admitted. 'Take your cigarettes and let's go.'

Elaine took her arm and we left, me carrying the book with its white cargo. It might prove something, I thought. She would get off a charge of possession by blaming Waites, but if the chemists could prove it was identical to the contents of his suitcase we might be able to find out more about its source. And the find put more pressure on her. Now, she might volunteer some help.
 

I watched Elaine put her in the cage of the patrol car and then whistled Sam and checked the driveway where the man with the shotgun had been standing. I couldn't see any evidence that I'd hit him but I found his shotgun shell, and then, lower down the driveway, where he had fired as he backed out, I found two more. I picked them up on the end of my fingers and put them into the windshield of the cruiser. Once we found the gun I could have ballistics check the cases and see if they matched. Then I'd have attempted murder to add to the charges. Good additional material if it got down to a plea bargaining situation.
 

Wearily now I drove around and over the bridge to the police station. All I could think of was that I should have shot out the back tyre before I challenged the gunman. That way I would have stopped the car. Dammit, Bennett, you're getting slow, I told myself.
 

Elaine was waiting at the station and when I unlocked the back door she got Ms Tracy out and led her inside. We booked her formally, Elaine charging her and reading her rights. Then I stepped out into my office while Elaine searched her. She opened the door a couple of minutes later. 'She's clean. Nothing but some cash and her cigarettes.'
 

'OK. Let's call the inspector, see if he can join us and we'll talk to her,' I said. 'And I'll put some coffee on. I can hardly stay awake.'
 

'Getting old.' She grinned. 'Let's put her in a cell and do it.'

We went back out to the cells and Elaine ushered Ms Tracy into the cell farthest from the door, the most isolated and therefore the most frightening. She said nothing and we left her there and came out to the telephone. Elaine phoned Parry Sound and the dispatcher told us that Inspector Dupuy was out, supervising the search for the Mercedes. He would try to raise him on the radio.
 

Elaine took over the coffee-making chores, laughing that she had tasted my coffee and wasn't going to set me loose with a pot ever again. It took a while to perc and we had some and offered a cup to Ms Tracy. 'Ready to talk yet?' Elaine asked.
 

'I want a lawyer,' she said. 'I get a phone call, don't I?'

'Sure. You said "no" earlier. Have you changed your mind?' They might have been college buddies, kidding, from Elaine's tone, no threat, no tension.
 

'I want to call,' Ms Tracy said and Elaine led her through to the office. I went with them and watched as Ms Tracy dialled, wondering how many people around know their lawyer's phone number without looking it up. She waited for about ten seconds, then said, 'This is Marcia Tracy. I've been arrested at Murphy's Harbour. It's now—' she glanced up at the clock—'four-fifty, Saturday morning. Can you help?'
 

She hung up and we led her back to her cell where she sat on the wooden board bunk and sipped her coffee. 'You haven't got long to plea bargain,' Elaine said quietly. 'Did you think of that? We're going to find that car, come daylight. And when we do, your help won't be worth spit. Act now and we might be able to bargain with the Crown Attorney.'
 

Ms Tracy set down her coffee cup and lit a cigarette from the little pile beside her. 'This has been the worst day of my life. I've been raped, beaten up, knocked unconscious, terrorized by a slavering dog and arrested. What can I say?'
 

'You lied about the rape,' I said. 'We found Waites' suitcase. It contained some interesting things, including your production file.'
 

'What's that got to do with my being raped?' She flung the question at me furiously.

'You told me this morning that Hanson did it when you turned him down for the part in your movie. But you've got him inked in.'