seeing one die would be like. I had lost an aunt I was close to, and I missed her every day. Geez, if I wasn’t careful, she would have me crying in no time.
“So what happened?” I sniffed, trying not to think of Alice and her part in all of this. I was here because of what Mariel’s sister had done to my aunt, apparently for a large sum of money from an unknown source. Linda, most likely, had been responsible for her own fate.
I handed her a tissue from the box on the nightstand.
“She was killed before I ever found out. I heard from her a few times, but nothing that explained what was going on with her.”
“And then her family moved?” I was still hoping for some answers.
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that was downright peculiar. I can call them. I have a phone number that I can use to make contact, but her husband—who was always a jerk—won’t give me their new address. It’s like he’s decided that it’s all top secret. They were a couple of suburban middle-class workers, not someone in the witness protection program. I don’t know why I can’t talk to my nieces and nephews.”
“So you can call a number, but you can’t visit?” I was getting ideas from this. Perhaps they’d gone into some kind of hiding where they didn’t want anyone to find them. They had a number, likely a cell phone, so Mariel could maintain contact, but nothing else. What exactly had Linda Zoz been doing? It was beginning to seem like whatever she had been doing was very dangerous and still was.
I thought of the woman who had died in the government square, and I had to agree. It was still very dangerous. Someone was interested in hushing things up.
“Yes, so it’s rather distressing. I don’t know what is going on with that family. First I get an odd letter from Linda the day before she died, and then the family disappears. Now I get attacked in my own home.”
“Could I get the phone number for the family?” I asked. If I could talk to them, I might be able to find out why Linda had been killed.
She frowned, and her face showed indecision. “Andy, that’s Linda’s husband, he told me not to give the number to anyone. I had to memorize it, and not store it in my contacts. That’s how paranoid he was about it.”
I had an idea. “Did the number start with 829?” I asked, thinking of the man I’d talked to last night. It could have been Linda’s husband.
“I don’t think I’m betraying anything by telling you that it’s not,” she said. “But I won’t play a guessing game until you get it.” She fluffed her hair.
“What about 385?” I asked, thinking of the other possible phone number. I wasn’t even going to ask about the 101 number, since I knew it couldn’t be a phone number due to the exchange. “That’s the only other phone number I know associated with the case,” I said truthfully.
She caught her breath, and her face turned whiter. I had obviously hit a nerve with that piece of information. The bad thing was that I didn’t have the full number for the 385 exchange. I only had four digits. That would mean that I had 1000 numbers to dial if I was going to try to contact Mr. Zoz. That seemed like too much work for me. I would have to try something less time and energy intensive. I just wasn’t sure what that would be.
The guard looked in on us. I figured that I only had a few minutes with Mariel before the guard would inform a certain police detective that I was paying a visit. Then it would just be a very short time before the police would want to know why I was visiting. Though I’d already made up my mind to tell them that I felt guilty for Mariel’s attack and wanted to check on her, I knew that Danvers wouldn’t buy that for a minute. He’d want to know everything we’d talked about, and he’d get it either from Mariel or me.
“What was the letter about?” I asked. Something odd might make sense in the right hands.
“Just a rambling. It was poorly constructed, and I
“So what happened?” I sniffed, trying not to think of Alice and her part in all of this. I was here because of what Mariel’s sister had done to my aunt, apparently for a large sum of money from an unknown source. Linda, most likely, had been responsible for her own fate.
I handed her a tissue from the box on the nightstand.
“She was killed before I ever found out. I heard from her a few times, but nothing that explained what was going on with her.”
“And then her family moved?” I was still hoping for some answers.
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that was downright peculiar. I can call them. I have a phone number that I can use to make contact, but her husband—who was always a jerk—won’t give me their new address. It’s like he’s decided that it’s all top secret. They were a couple of suburban middle-class workers, not someone in the witness protection program. I don’t know why I can’t talk to my nieces and nephews.”
“So you can call a number, but you can’t visit?” I was getting ideas from this. Perhaps they’d gone into some kind of hiding where they didn’t want anyone to find them. They had a number, likely a cell phone, so Mariel could maintain contact, but nothing else. What exactly had Linda Zoz been doing? It was beginning to seem like whatever she had been doing was very dangerous and still was.
I thought of the woman who had died in the government square, and I had to agree. It was still very dangerous. Someone was interested in hushing things up.
“Yes, so it’s rather distressing. I don’t know what is going on with that family. First I get an odd letter from Linda the day before she died, and then the family disappears. Now I get attacked in my own home.”
“Could I get the phone number for the family?” I asked. If I could talk to them, I might be able to find out why Linda had been killed.
She frowned, and her face showed indecision. “Andy, that’s Linda’s husband, he told me not to give the number to anyone. I had to memorize it, and not store it in my contacts. That’s how paranoid he was about it.”
I had an idea. “Did the number start with 829?” I asked, thinking of the man I’d talked to last night. It could have been Linda’s husband.
“I don’t think I’m betraying anything by telling you that it’s not,” she said. “But I won’t play a guessing game until you get it.” She fluffed her hair.
“What about 385?” I asked, thinking of the other possible phone number. I wasn’t even going to ask about the 101 number, since I knew it couldn’t be a phone number due to the exchange. “That’s the only other phone number I know associated with the case,” I said truthfully.
She caught her breath, and her face turned whiter. I had obviously hit a nerve with that piece of information. The bad thing was that I didn’t have the full number for the 385 exchange. I only had four digits. That would mean that I had 1000 numbers to dial if I was going to try to contact Mr. Zoz. That seemed like too much work for me. I would have to try something less time and energy intensive. I just wasn’t sure what that would be.
The guard looked in on us. I figured that I only had a few minutes with Mariel before the guard would inform a certain police detective that I was paying a visit. Then it would just be a very short time before the police would want to know why I was visiting. Though I’d already made up my mind to tell them that I felt guilty for Mariel’s attack and wanted to check on her, I knew that Danvers wouldn’t buy that for a minute. He’d want to know everything we’d talked about, and he’d get it either from Mariel or me.
“What was the letter about?” I asked. Something odd might make sense in the right hands.
“Just a rambling. It was poorly constructed, and I
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