Read Online Lia Farrell - Mae December 02 - Two Dogs Lie Sleeping by Lia Farrell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lia Farrell
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Miranda looked utterly miserable. She took a tissue from her sleeve and blew her nose. “Sorry, it was just horrible news.”
“So, he left Rosedale when he was twenty? And returned recently?” Deputy Fuller asked. They knew this already, but they wanted Miranda’s confirmation.
“Yes. My husband and I looked for him for a long time. We even hired two private detectives, one when he first disappeared, and one about two years ago. Neither of them came up with much. Our family attorney, Evangeline Bontemps, has always been able to reach him, but she wouldn’t tell me anything about where he was. I guess he insisted on that.” She threw the tissue into a small brass trashcan near her feet.
“How was your relationship with him when you were younger?” Detective Nichols was getting to the significant questions now.
“Good. I have so many happy memories of Tommy as a kid. I used to take him for rides on the handlebars of my bike, and he would come into my bed at night if there was a thunderstorm,” she trailed off and tears came into her eyes. “I remember holding his hand when our parents were married. He was so happy to have a big sister.”
“I’m sorry for your loss .” Wayne handed her another tissue. “Did you know he was back in Rosedale?”
“ On the morning of August second, I got a call from Bethany Cooper. She told me Tommy was in town. I was shocked and hurt that I hadn’t heard from him. She said she’d seen him at the mansion, but I never got a chance to speak to him. And now I never will.” Tears flooded her eyes.
“What did the private detectives find, do you remember? I need their names, if you still have them. Were they able to tell you what he’d been doing all those years?”
“The first detective, his name was Marc Whitney, did locate him. It was about two years after Tommy disappeared. He traced him to a ski resort in Utah. He met with him and asked Tommy to call me. Tommy said he would not. No, that’s not right; he said he could not speak with me.”
“He wouldn’t or couldn’t speak with you? Why was that?”
“He told the detective he needed time to recover from the death of our parents and that he would call me or write when he could.”
“And the second detective? Did he find anything?”
“No . Apparently Tommy left that town and he found no further trace of him.” Detective Nichols met Deputy Fuller’s eyes for a moment, knowing Ferris had been working in Colorado.
“I understand that your parents died in an auto accident around the time your step-brother disappeared. When was that exactly?” Detective Nichols asked.
“It happened just t wo days after Tommy returned to college for his sophomore year from Christmas break. We got the news that my father and his mother had been killed in an auto accident. I called the housemother at his fraternity to tell him, but she hadn’t seen him since January third.”
“So, it was at that point that your brother disappeared?”
“Yes, in fact when I called her again a few days later to ask Tommy to come home for the funeral, she said nobody had seen him since January third. I called the registrar and they said he hadn’t completed registration. The registrar was able to tell me that Tommy was in good standing academically, because I was his only relative at that point, but the school had no knowledge of his whereabouts. The funeral and the reading of the will took place without him.”
Detective Nichols was quiet, running through the scenario again. Why would a young man with apparently no academic or financial problems not register for the winter semester? Something happened during Christmas break that made it impossible for Tom Ferris to return to the university, and it wasn’t the death of his parents. What could have been worse than that?
Miranda was looking at him with a little frown.
“I’m sorry. I was just thinking. You said there was a will?” Detective Nichols asked.
“Yes, and Tommy got the
“So, he left Rosedale when he was twenty? And returned recently?” Deputy Fuller asked. They knew this already, but they wanted Miranda’s confirmation.
“Yes. My husband and I looked for him for a long time. We even hired two private detectives, one when he first disappeared, and one about two years ago. Neither of them came up with much. Our family attorney, Evangeline Bontemps, has always been able to reach him, but she wouldn’t tell me anything about where he was. I guess he insisted on that.” She threw the tissue into a small brass trashcan near her feet.
“How was your relationship with him when you were younger?” Detective Nichols was getting to the significant questions now.
“Good. I have so many happy memories of Tommy as a kid. I used to take him for rides on the handlebars of my bike, and he would come into my bed at night if there was a thunderstorm,” she trailed off and tears came into her eyes. “I remember holding his hand when our parents were married. He was so happy to have a big sister.”
“I’m sorry for your loss .” Wayne handed her another tissue. “Did you know he was back in Rosedale?”
“ On the morning of August second, I got a call from Bethany Cooper. She told me Tommy was in town. I was shocked and hurt that I hadn’t heard from him. She said she’d seen him at the mansion, but I never got a chance to speak to him. And now I never will.” Tears flooded her eyes.
“What did the private detectives find, do you remember? I need their names, if you still have them. Were they able to tell you what he’d been doing all those years?”
“The first detective, his name was Marc Whitney, did locate him. It was about two years after Tommy disappeared. He traced him to a ski resort in Utah. He met with him and asked Tommy to call me. Tommy said he would not. No, that’s not right; he said he could not speak with me.”
“He wouldn’t or couldn’t speak with you? Why was that?”
“He told the detective he needed time to recover from the death of our parents and that he would call me or write when he could.”
“And the second detective? Did he find anything?”
“No . Apparently Tommy left that town and he found no further trace of him.” Detective Nichols met Deputy Fuller’s eyes for a moment, knowing Ferris had been working in Colorado.
“I understand that your parents died in an auto accident around the time your step-brother disappeared. When was that exactly?” Detective Nichols asked.
“It happened just t wo days after Tommy returned to college for his sophomore year from Christmas break. We got the news that my father and his mother had been killed in an auto accident. I called the housemother at his fraternity to tell him, but she hadn’t seen him since January third.”
“So, it was at that point that your brother disappeared?”
“Yes, in fact when I called her again a few days later to ask Tommy to come home for the funeral, she said nobody had seen him since January third. I called the registrar and they said he hadn’t completed registration. The registrar was able to tell me that Tommy was in good standing academically, because I was his only relative at that point, but the school had no knowledge of his whereabouts. The funeral and the reading of the will took place without him.”
Detective Nichols was quiet, running through the scenario again. Why would a young man with apparently no academic or financial problems not register for the winter semester? Something happened during Christmas break that made it impossible for Tom Ferris to return to the university, and it wasn’t the death of his parents. What could have been worse than that?
Miranda was looking at him with a little frown.
“I’m sorry. I was just thinking. You said there was a will?” Detective Nichols asked.
“Yes, and Tommy got the
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