Shelf Ice (6 page)

“You need to take a call?” Sue asked, glancing over at the phone.

“I’ll get back to them,” Ray said. “Maybe the assailant was going through computer files.”

“Why would you spend the time; just take it with you or figure out a way to destroy it.” Sue paused briefly. “Maybe the TV-CSI guys have convinced the public that everything is recoverable. And he probably didn’t think there was any reason to hurry.”

“True. Was there a laptop?”

“No. I didn’t see one.”

“How about a charger for a laptop?”

“Ray, the whole computer issue was something that I was going to come back to. We’ve never had a crime scene destroyed before. I did photograph everything in detail. Maybe we can find a charger or cord.”

Ray’s cell phone beeped.

“You’ve got voicemail,” said Sue.

“So when you’re texting, you get a beep like that when you get a message?”

“Yes.”

“So try this out. The assailant is doing whatever. Then he notices the phone beeping. He looks at the messages, sees something like ‘help’s on the way.’ Suddenly he’s in a panic.”

“And when you guys come up the road, he’s meeting and greeting.”

“Yes. So we need to start with the truck and Richard Kinver. He reported it stolen. We need to start with him and then move to anyone who had access to the vehicle. This is not just a plow from anywhere. This is the truck that kept her road open.”

“Okay, let’s work on developing the rest of the list,” suggested Sue.

9.

Ray was in the passenger seat of Sue’s jeep. “Why are you going this way?” he asked.

“How would you go?” she responded.

“Straight down 22, then across.”

“Why?”

“That’s the way I have always gone,” Ray responded.

“My way is faster. Instead of watching my driving, why don’t you do something. Don’t you have some phone calls to return?”

Ray took the hint. He retrieved his phone from an upper left-hand pocket and opened his voicemail. There was only one message. He listened to Sarah’s voice asking how he was. He touched the pointer on the right side of the screen activating a return call, and brought the phone to his ear. After five rings the line switched to voice mail. Ray listened to Sarah’s message, and said, “Just returning your call. Will I see you this weekend?” He switched off the display and dropped the phone back into his pocket.

The sun broke through the clouds and reflected off the glistening blanket of snow.

“What’s that yellow ball in the sky?” asked Sue, fishing for sunglasses with her right hand.

“It’s been awhile,” said Ray, squinting at the glare coming off the snow. “Do you know where we’re going?”

“The general area, yes, and I’ve keyed the address into the GPS. I figured when we got close you would guide us in if the lady in the machine got confused. Tell me about Richard Kinver, some history.”

“The family has been in the county for decades. I think his great-grandparents were among the early settlers who came in and cleared the land for farming after the lumber had been cut. And if their history is like a history of so many farmers from that time, they grew crops that quickly depleted the fragile soil, things like potatoes. Eventually they learned what crops worked and what didn’t. Cherries and apples replaced potatoes. Somehow the Kinvers got into the sand and gravel business. And with time they expanded into trucking, bulldozing, and road building. When I was in high school, they were a very prosperous family. Richard’s father and grandfather were into local politics.” Ray interrupted his history to give Sue some directions. “You are going to want to make a left, there’s a road just beyond that blue mailbox.”

“That’s not what the GPS is telling me.”

“Trust me on this. The machine wants you to stay on main roads. This is faster. You will be turning right again in about a half mile; I think it’s the prettiest little piece of road in the county.”

“Still prosperous?” Sue asked.

“I don’t think so. I’ve heard that Richard has run the business into the ground.” Ray paused, “You’re going to need to slow down so we don’t miss the turn. It’s just up there.” He pointed with his right hand.

“Sure we can get through?” Sue asked. “Doesn’t look like it’s been plowed recently.”

“You will be okay. Put it in four-wheel drive.”

As they started winding up the road through deep snow and heavy drifts, Ray said, “I always wondered what the glaciers were doing when they formed this area. Look at these wonderful steep hills. It’s only a couple of square miles, and there’s no other place quite like this in the whole county.”

“And it’s clearly faster than following the main roads,” said Sue as she struggled to control the Jeep on the twisting, deeply rutted, snow-covered road. Just before they intersected with a highway, the landscape started to flatten.

“Turn left, and there will be an entry just ahead on the right.”

“That’s what the lady is saying,” said Sue, talking over the female voice emitted by the GPS.

Sue followed a plowed drive into a large open area, bordered on three sides by hardwood forests. On the fourth side was a huge crater from where sand and gravel had been quarried by the Kinver family for generations.
 

Sue parked at the side of a rusting pickup in front of a large steel building; the land surrounding the structure was littered with snow-covered carcasses of rusting and derelict equipment: bulldozers, dump trucks, backhoes, loaders, and assorted pickups.

As they climbed out and approached the building she observed, “They don’t bury their dead, do they?”

Ray pounded on a steel entry door next to the main overhead door. After knocking a second time, he pushed the door open and yelled, “Anyone here?” as they entered, their eyes struggling to adjust to the dimly lit interior. Eventually a figure emerged from the back of a front loader at the far end of the building.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you,” said the elderly man as he approached, wiping the grease from his hands with a soiled rag. “I don’t bother to put my hearing aids in when I’m working on these diesels. You’re going to have to shout at me.”

“Dell, what are you doing here?” asked Ray.

“I gotta be somewhere. You think I died?”

“I thought you had finally retired.”

“I did retire after the kids insisted that I sell off the garage. But after the Missus passed, there wasn’t nothing to do but look at four walls. Richard asked if I could give him a lift on some of the heavy equipment.”

Ray introduced Sue and said, “We actually came by to talk to Richard.”

“Ain’t seen him yet. S’pose you wanna talk about that plow.”

“Yes, as a matter of fact”…

“A real piece of junk. Twenty, twenty-five years ago when it was new that would have been a good rig, big old Oshkosh. High-dollar, too. But Ray, it was just used up.”

“Where did it come from?”

“He got it at an auction in Wisconsin, gave ten grand for it. Bragged to me how he stole it. Hell, it might be worth a thousand in scrap. Tires are bald, most of the hydraulics are gone, tranny is shot, and the engine don’t have much left.”

“How did he get it home?” Ray asked.

Dell just chuckled.

“Did you hear my question?”

“I still got a license. You wanna see it?”

“I’m sure you do, Dell.”

“Yeah, I drove that piece of shit from central Wisconsin, across the U.P. and down to here. ‘Cept for the bridge, and I came across that round four in the morning to be sure there wasn’t anyone around, I stayed on secondary roads, didn’t want no hassles.”

“So I imagine you had a lot of repair work on the truck to get it in shape. I know how much you like to put things in perfect working order.”

“Yeah, I do. But hell, Ray, Richard is the cheapest SOB I’ve ever known. I did fix a lot of stuff. Got all the lights working. The wiring harness was rotted, and I had to wire around it to get juice to some of the lights. The air brakes had to be sorted, most of the lines replaced. Engine all but worn out, but I did get it runnin’ as good as it’s gonna run. But it was all done with spit and bailing wire. Cannibalized what I could from things around here. Most else was used parts, didn’t spend much. But I wasn’t going to drive that piece of shit if I didn’t think it was safe and legal.”

 
“Drive? I thought you were doing mechanical work.”

“I was. But Richard doesn’t know how to handle that truck, doesn’t like to fuss with the hydraulics. And he was only using it on a couple of jobs. Just those long access roads.”

“Why this truck? I don’t understand.”

“Remember how much snow we had last winter? Richard uses a pickup for plowing. And that works okay for most customers. But that Manton woman and one other couple that had a place way off the road, after awhile big banks build up and the plow can’t throw the snow over. Before the winter was over, Richard had to go in with an end loader and clean things out so he could get his plow through. He was only charging them ‘bout fifty bucks an hour for the loader, but it took lots of time and the customers weren’t happy. That’s where he got the idea of getting a really big unit.”

“So who’s working for Richard now?”

“It’s just the two of us. Ain’t got no construction work this winter. He does the regular plowing, and I keep things running and drive the big truck. He laid everyone else off more than a year ago. Ronnie Toole was the last to go. I think he moved to Florida with his girlfriend.”

“The big truck, the Oshkosh. When did it go missing?”

“The other morning. I came in ‘bout five-thirty. Thought I’d take care of those roads ‘fore there was much traffic. Truck was gone. Thought Richard musta taken it, which didn’t quite make sense, ‘cause he told me he’d be down in Lansing for a meeting, but you never know about him. And it looked like maybe he took it.”

“How’s that?” asked Ray.

“Well, I had it plugged in, a block heater, only way you could start that old engine in cold weather. Truck was driven away without unplugging it. Extension cord was snapped, fuse blown. It just looked like something Richard would do, so I didn’t think anything about it ‘til he showed up and asked where the truck was.”

“When did Richard show up?”

Dell considered the question for a long moment. “Can’t rightly say. Late morning, afternoon. Something like that.”

“How about an ignition key?” Sue asked.

“Key,” Dell chuckled. “We never got one. It was just jury-rigged, lots of loose wiring. I put in a new ignition switch and starter button. Hell, no one comes in here. It’s never been a problem.”

“So you plowed the road into Brenda Manton’s. When were you last in there?” Ray asked.

“I think it was the weekend, maybe Monday. Ray, I just lose track.”

“Did you know her?” asked Sue.

“Nice lady. She invited me in a couple of times. Give me some coffee. I talked to the dog. Don’t know why anyone would want to hurt her.”

“Was there ever anyone else there?”

“No, just her and the dog. She parked that little Honda SUV near the front. I had to clear that whole area out so I could get the rig turned around.”

“Dell, if I didn’t know about trucks, could I have started that truck and driven it?”

Dell reflected on the question. “You wouldn’t need to be no Wernher von Braun, it was just a big, old truck. And that 9-speed tranny is a bitch, but if you had any mechanical sense, you might figure it out.”

“Any chance Richard took the truck?” Sue asked.

“Never know about Richard. Acted like he didn’t.”

Ray looked around the shop, “This used to be a thriving business.”

“It was. I did lotsa work for Richard’s dad and granddad, both good men. Hard workers, lived carefully, they really built something. Didn’t take Richard long to go through it all,” Dell said with a chuckle. “Big house on the water, living high on the hog. Soon as the house was in default, that cute little wife of his was gone. Rumor has it she took off with some summer person, old guy with big bucks.”

Ray heard the sound of a truck door being slammed, then a long column of light appeared as the door was pushed open.

“Sheriff, you’re a hard man to find,” said Richard Kinver, joining the group. “I’m glad you’re here. I need to get this truck thing resolved so I can get the insurance people in here.” He turned toward Dell, “Man, you better get hopping on that loader. We’re going to really need it now that we don’t have the truck.”

“Good to see you Ray, and you, Miss,” said Dell, as he ambled off toward the far end of the building.

Richard waited until he was out of earshot. “Yeah, Dell is a good old boy, but these days he’d rather talk than work, so I have to keep after him. Like I was saying, I need to get the insurance adjuster involved. I still can’t believe that someone stole my truck. I spent a fortune on that rig and a second one having Dell rebuild it. He brought it right back to the original specs. Dell damn near bankrupt me with all the new parts he put in it.”

“Who had access to the truck?” asked Ray.