The Archer [Book 13 of the Hawkman Series] (18 page)

Hawkman grinned. “I think I'll hire you as my assistant. That's a great observation, and you just might be correct.” He flipped on the recorder and listened again. “You're right, I hear it too. I'm heading back to my office to listen to the others.” He pocketed the recorder. “Same routine tomorrow. I'll see you on the road in the morning."

"Okay.” Laura walked him to the door.

Hawkman turned. “Have a good evening, Mr. and Mrs. King."

"Thank you,” they said in unison.

Heading down the road, Hawkman could see he'd underestimated the minds of youth. A voice changer had never entered his thoughts. He had to hand it to Laura; she might have hit the nail on the head.

When he reached his office, he booted up the computer, then took the disc from the safe on which he'd recorded the other messages, and slipped them into the slot drive. He listened intently and recognized the inflection in all, but the voice he thought he'd recognized earlier. Now he wasn't sure, as the changer could make a big difference. However, it could have been a recording off the web. He'd heard some of these voice-overs you could insert into a book or movie trailer. You could find about anything you wanted.

He picked up the receiver from the landline, punched in Laura's cell phone number and pushed speaker phone.

"Hello, Mr. Casey."

"Hi, Laura, hope I didn't catch you at dinner."

"Nope, it's not ready yet."

"Good, I need to ask you some questions."

"Sure."

"You told me you'd learned about voice changers in one of your classes at the college. What was the name of the class?"

"Speech Comprehension."

"Really."

"Yes, our professor made it more interesting by using a voice changer to talk to us in one of the classes. We studied this topic right at first; now we've gone into learning to speak with better inflection ourselves."

"Did you make recordings?"

"Oh, yeah. Many of them. Some were hilarious."

"Are you still in that class?"

"Yes."

"Who are some of the people attending?"

"Jason Calderidge, Blake Russell, Cindy Brown and even Joey Higgins, plus a bunch of others."

"Joey Higgins?"

"He told me his dad wanted him to learn how to speak up. I'm sure if you've ever talked to him, you know he mumbles something terrible."

"Yes, but I had no idea he attended college."

"I think he's planning to enroll full time as soon as he can. He really hates the farm. Right now, as far as I know, it's the only course he's taking."

"Thanks, Laura. I find that bit of information very interesting. See you in the morning."

After hanging up, Hawkman leaned back and rubbed his chin. A few more pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. He didn't like the picture, but felt he'd finally stepped on the right path. Now to catch the villain, and he felt it wouldn't be long before the person showed his hand.

He added the latest message to the disc, erased the new one on the recorder, then replaced it with the recording he questioned. Placing the CD into his briefcase, he slipped the recorder into his shirt pocket, rolled his chair back to the safe, closed it and spun the wheel. Giving the top a pat, he stood, stretched his arms above his head, and let out a long breath.

He hoped the plan he had in mind would work. Shrugging into his jacket, he adjusted his hat, grabbed the valise and left the office. He headed back on the road toward the Kings’ ranch. His mind drifted to Jennifer; he hoped she'd not had any bad experiences when she came into Medford. Fortunately, he hadn't received a call. Knowing his little spitfire of a wife, she'd first try to handle the incident herself. He prayed a situation hadn't presented itself.

Passing the Kings’ driveway, Hawkman drove toward the Higgins’ place. They probably weren't going to be very happy with him for dropping in at dinner time, but he felt it necessary. He turned up the dirt road leading to the house and the two dogs, Rags and Moby announced his arrival. A shrill whistle sounded as Joey jogged around the corner of the house.

"Go lay down, you silly dogs,” he called, clapping his hands.

Hawkman climbed out of the SUV. “Hi, Joey, you're just the man I want to see."

Joey looked surprised. “I didn't recognize your car."

"I borrowed my wife's today."

The young man walked around it. “Sweet."

"You like it?” “I'd love to have its twin.” He mumbled. Then he strolled up to Hawkman's side. “Why do you want to see me?"

Hawkman leaned against the fender. “I understand you're taking a class at the college."

"I guess Laura told you."

He nodded.

"Dad wanted me to take a particular course, so I'd learn to speak out. I guess I mumble a lot."

"It is hard to understand you at times. Do you think the course is helping?"

Joey shrugged. “I don't know. It's hard to speak in front of people."

"I understand you recorded your voice to see how you were doing."

"Yeah. I did a bad one. It didn't turn out very good."

"Did you write out your own speech?"

"No, I got help from a buddy who recorded it."

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Joey's eyes grew big and he slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Oh, my, where'd you get that?"

"Before I tell you, I need to know who recorded this message,” Hawkman said.

"Jason Calderidge, but he did it as a lark. We all got a big laugh out of it."

"Who else knew about this?"

"Probably every one in class.” He rubbed the back of his neck and shuffled his boots in the dirt. “This is not good. If you were able to find a copy, I wonder how many others have it?"

"Did you keep one?"

Joey shook his head. “No, I had no reason to listen to it again. I figured Jason probably erased it. Who'd want it after we all had our jollies?"

"Good question. I have a feeling you're not going to like how I acquired this one."

Furrowing his brow he stared at Hawkman. “Why?"

"My client saved the recording from her cell phone and gave it to me. Some one sent it to her about a week ago to give her a good scare."

The young man slammed one fist into the other. “Damn, damn! I should have known I couldn't trust Jason."

"Maybe he didn't do this deed. Someone in the class could have either made a recording of his own, or borrowed Jason's and copied it."

"I'll sure as hell find out.” He removed his cell phone from his pocket and punched a button, then put it to his ear. “Jason, this is Joey. Call me as soon as you can."

He closed the cell and looked at Hawkman. “He didn't answer. When I hear from him, I'll call you."

Hawkman handed him a business card. “I'd appreciate it."

Joey nodded. “I feel awful. I'd never hassle someone like that."

Putting his hand on the car door, Hawkman said, “I had a strange feeling I'd heard the voice on the recording, but couldn't place it. I'd only met you once, and you were hardly audible. Keep working on your voice projection. It will help as you go down life's road."

Hawkman watched Joey, his shoulders slumped as he walked toward the back of the house. The two dogs joined him, and ran around his feet wanting to play. He didn't appear to even have the heart or energy to toss a stick.

Driving down the road, Hawkman thought about the young lad. He didn't believe Joey had anything to do with using the tape as a tool to frighten Laura. The boy didn't appear to have the guts to pull off such a trick. Hawkman thought Joey seemed to have little self-esteem, probably one reason why he mumbled. His older twin brothers shone in the eyes of his father, and this younger son obviously felt like he could never compete.

The day passed rapidly and he decided to journey home. At least, he felt a little closer to solving this case, especially, if he could find out where the tape went. Cindy Brown looked like a prime suspect, but he couldn't be sure. The voice changer brought on a new aspect. The class could have taken turns with the instrument; and one of the students could have recorded different messages playing around, then used the tape to taunt Laura. He still couldn't figure a motive, as to why she was a victim of the harassing. Maybe once Joey talked to Jason, he'd know a little more.

Hawkman's thoughts drifted to Olly. If he didn't push this case to a conclusion, the old fellow's patience would wear thin very soon, especially if Laura received more calls or someone attempted to ram her on the road again. He might end up sending his daughter to her uncle, who lived out of state. Laura wanted nothing to do with that option, regardless of the circumstances.

Just as he turned off Interstate 5 toward Hornbrook, he felt the cell phone vibrate against his waist. Instead of risking getting a ticket for talking while driving, he pulled off the road. “I've got to invest in a hands free contraption,” he mumbled, removing the instrument from the pouch.

"Tom Casey speaking."

He frowned, as he listened to the caller.

"Thanks for letting me know, Joey. Don't let this upset you too much. Hopefully, we'll find the culprit soon."

Hawkman slid the phone back into the pouch and pulled onto the road. He soon arrived home and parked in the garage. When he went inside, Jennifer glanced over, got up from the computer, and approached him.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing. Why do you ask?"

"You're scowling."

"I've had better days."

"Tell me about it."

"First. Did you have any bad experience driving my vehicle?"

She shook her head. “No. Everything went smoothly."

He removed his hat, hung it in the Hawkman corner, ran his hand over his hair. “Good to hear. Let me get a beer and relax a moment, then I'll tell you the events of the day."

They went into the living room and settled in their matching chairs. Miss Marple hopped into Hawkman's lap and butted her head against his chin. “Good grief, I wish she'd find another way to show her love,” he complained

Jennifer laughed, and pivoted toward Hawkman. “She definitely gets your attention. Now, tell me about your day. I'm dying to hear what happened."

"The morning started out fine; no incidents with Laura going to school. Then when time came for her to get out, I get this call. She's in the parking lot with a flat. So, I drive to the school and fix the tire. However, while inspecting it, I discovered the cap and valve stem had been removed. Also a black pickup had been parked behind her before I got there, and she thought Cindy Brown had gotten into that truck with the Wallace brothers."

Jennifer raised a hand. “Wait, you're going too fast. What do you mean, ‘she thought’ it was Cindy?"

"Sorry, she knew it was Cindy, but wasn't sure about the Wallace brothers as she hadn't seen them in a long time. She said the guy who jumped out to let Cindy scoot in looked like the youngest one."

"Did they look over at Laura's car? Usually, if anyone has done some mischief, they like to watch their victim discover it."

"Laura said they didn't act like they even saw her."

"Continue."

"Once we got to the King's ranch, I listened to the latest call Laura received. She really got me to thinking when she asked if I thought the voice was male or female."

Hawkman continued the story about the class where the professor had introduced the voice changer. “Turns out Joey Higgins is also a student in the class and all the kids had made crazy recordings from the instrument."

"Wow, what a twist. So what'd you do next?"

"I went back to the office and listened to all the tapes and sure enough, I could hear the inflection in the voices that made Laura suspicious of them being female instead of male. However, this one recording definitely sounded like a guy."

Jennifer placed her elbow on the arm of the chair, put her chin in her hand, and stared at her husband with wide hazel eyes. “And?"

"Remember the one where I asked if you recognized the voice?"

"Yes."

"It finally dawned on me who it was, but I decided to test it out. So I drove to the Higgins’ place and talked with Joey. I wish you'd seen his face when I played the tape. Talk about someone turning white. I thought the boy would faint."

"Is he the culprit?"

Hawkman shook his head and told her about Jason Calderidge recording Joey. “He tried to contact Jason while I was there, but couldn't reach him. On my way home Joey called. He told me Jason said he'd lost the tape recorder or someone had stolen it. Joey didn't know who else had recorded that day, but several kids had their cell phones and were having fun."

"Do you believe him?"

"Yes, I think he happens to be the innocent victim in this situation. Someone's using him. I knew I'd heard that voice, but the day I met Joey, he mumbled so badly, I hardly understood what he said. Just like today when he called me about Jason. I had to ask him three times to repeat."

"What about Jason?"

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Jennifer frowned and looked into the face of her husband. “Why do you mistrust this girl?"

"Something about her; can't put my finger on it. One thing, she's awfully sure of herself to the point of conceit."

"Is she pretty?"

"Very much so. About five foot, five inches, slim, long natural blond hair, big blue eyes and...” He put his hands out in front of his chest, and winked at Jennifer. “Also very sexy."

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, one of those. You said Laura is attractive too. Is she also ‘sexy'?” she asked, mimicking Hawkman's gestures.

"Not like that, but in her own way."

"Wonder if there's a bit of jealousy brewing here?"

"I don't see how. They only talk on the phone or see each other in class. From what Cindy said, they don't socialize outside, as Laura's not the partying type."

"Hmm,” Jennifer said, tapping her chin. “What would make her say such a thing? How would she know if they'd never attended a function together?"

Hawkman shrugged. “Beats me. I don't understand the female mind. You explain it."

"I think she's just assuming. You say Laura's a natural beauty, wears little make-up, and has a mind of her own. This could make the prettiest girl very envious of someone with such a strong character."