"Oberhurst is hired by Lisa Darius, then he's tortured and his body ends up in the pit at Darius's construction site," Barrow said.
"Why did Lisa Darius hire him?"
Barrow looked through the door at the open filing cabinet.
"I wonder if that was what Darius was looking for his wife's file."
"Hold it, Ross. We don't know Darius did this."
"Randy, say Darius found out what was in his wife's file and it was something that could hurt him. I mean, if he did this, tortured Oberhurst, cut off his fingers and dick, it was because that file had something in it that was dynamite. Maybe something that could prove Darius is the rose killer."
"What are you getting… Oh, shit. Lisa Darius.
He couldn't get at her before, because he's been in jail since we discovered the bodies."
Barrow grabbed the phone and started dialing.
The Oregon Supreme Court sits in Salem, the state capital, fifty miles south of Portland. The hour commute was the only thing Victor Ryder disliked about being a Supreme Court justice. After -all the years of seven-day work weeks and sixteen-hour days he had spent in private practice, the more leisurely pace of work at the court was a relief justice Ryder was a widower who lived alone behind a high evergreen hedge in a three-story, brown and white Tudor house in the Portland Heights section of the West Hills. The view of Portland and Mount Hood from the brick patio in the rear of the house was spectacular.
Ryder unlocked the front door and called out for Lisa. The heat was on in the house. So were the lights.
He heard voices coming from the living room. He -called out to Lisa again, but she did not answer. The voices he heard came from the television, but no one was watching it. Ryder switched off the set.
At the bottom of the stairs, Ryder called out again.
There was still no answer. If Lisa had gone out, why was the set on? He headed down the hall to the kitchen. Lisa knew her father always snacked as soon as he got in the door, so she left notes on the refrigerator.
The refrigerator door was covered with recipes and cartoons, affixed to the smooth surface with magnets, but there was no note.
There were two coffee cups on the kitchen table, and the remains of a piece of coffee cake on a cake dish.
"Must have gone off with a friend," he said to himself, but he was still bothered by the TV. He cut a piece of coffee cake and took a bite, then he walked to Lisa's room. There was nothing out of place, nothing that aroused his suspicion. Still, justice Ryder felt very uneasy. He was about to go to his room to change when he heard the doorbell. Two men were huddled under an umbrella on the front steps.
"justice Ryder? I'm Randy Highsmith with the Multnomah County district attorney's office. This is Detective Ross Barrow, Portland Police. is your daughter in?"
"Is this about Martin?"
"Yes, sir."
"Lisa's been staying with me, but she's not here now."
"When did you see her last?"
"At breakfast. Why?"
"We have some questions we wanted to ask her. Do you know where she can be reached?"
"I'm afraid not. She didn't leave a note and I just got in."
"Could she be with a friend?" Highsmith asked casually, so Ryder would not see his concern.
"I really don't know."
Ryder remembered the TV and frowned.
"Is something wrong, sir?" Barrow asked, keeping his tone neutral.
"No. Not really. it's just that there were two coffee cups on the kitchen table, so I thought she was entertaining a friend. They'd been eating a piece of coffee cake, too. But the TV was on."
"I don't understand," Barrow said.
"It was on when I came home. I couldn't figure out why she'd leave it running if she was talking with a friend in the kitchen or leaving the house."
"Is it normal for her to go out without leaving a note?" Barrow asked.
"She hasn't lived at home for some time and she's been staying in the house at night since Martin got out.
But she knows I worry about her."
"Is there something you're not telling us, sir?" justice Ryder hesitated.
"Lisa's been very frightened since Martin was re leased. She talked about leaving the state until he's back behind bars."
"Wouldn't she have told you where she was going?"
"I assume so." Ryder paused, as if he just remembered something. "Martin called Lisa the night he was released. He said there was nowhere in Portland she would be safe. Maybe he called again and she panicked."
"Was he threatening her?" Barrow asked.
"I thought so, but Lisa wasn't certain. It was an odd conversation. I only heard Lisa's end of it and what she told me he said."
Highsmith handed the judge his business card.
"Please ask Mrs. Darius to give me a ring the minute you hear from her.
It's important."
"Certainly."
Barrow and Highsmith shook hands with the judge and left.
"I don't like this," Barrow said as soon as the front door closed. "It's too much like the other crime scenes.
Especially the TV. She'd have turned that off if she was going out with a friend."
"There was no note or rose."
"Yeah, but Darius isn't stupid. If he's got his wife, he's not going to broadcast the fact. He could have changed his m.o. to put us off the track. Any suggestions?"
"None at all, unless you think we've got enough to pick up Darius."
"We don't."
"Then we wait, and hope Lisa Darius is out with a friend."
Part Seven.
GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.
Chapter Twenty-three.
Betsy heard a car pull into the carport and looked out the kitchen window.
"It's Daddy!" Kathy yelled. She had been waiting in the living room all afternoon, giving only half-hearted attention to the television, since Betsy told her she was going to Rick's for the weekend.
"Get your things," Betsy told Kathy as she opened the door.
"They're all here, Mom," Kathy said, pointing to her backpack, book bag, small valise and Oliver, the stuffed skunk.
The door opened and Kathy jumped into Rick's arms.
"How you doin', Tiger?" Rick asked with a laugh.
"I packed myself," Kathy said, pointing at her things.
"Did you pack your toothbrush?" Betsy asked suddenly.
"uh oh," Kathy said.
"I thought so. Run and get it right now, young lady."
Rick put Kathy down and she raced down the hall for the bathroom.
"She's very excited," Betsy told Rick. He looked uncomfortable.
"I thought I'd take her to the Spaghetti Factory."
"She likes that."
They stood without talking for a moment.
"You look good, Bets."
"You should see how I look when I haven't had to spend the day in judge Spencer's court," Betsy joked self-consciously, sidestepping the compliment. Rick started to say something, but Kathy was back with her toothbrush and the moment passed.
"See you Monday," Betsy said, giving Kathy a big hug and kiss. Rick gathered up everything but Oliver.
Betsy watched from the doorway until they drove away.
Alan Page looked up from his desk. Randy Highsmith and Ross Barrow were standing in the doorway. He glanced at his watch. It was six twenty-five.
"I just got off the phone with justice Ryder. She's still missing," Ross said.
Page put down his pen.
"WHAT can we do? There's not a shred of evidence pointing toward Darius," Page said. He looked pale and sounded exhausted and defeated.
"We have a motive, Al," Barrow said. "Lisa Darius is the only person who can connect Martin to Sam Oberhurst. He couldn't get to her when he was in jail. I say we have at least probable cause. No sooner is he out than she's missing."
And there was that phone call," Highsmith added.
"Ryder can't be certain there was a threat. The call can even be interpreted as a warning to Lisa to be careful of someone else." Page shook his head. "I'm not making the same mistake twice. Unless I'm certain we have probable cause, I'm not asking for a search warrant."
"Don't get gun-shy, Al," Highsmith warned. "We're talking about a life here."