Nothing happened for forty minutes. Then Martin heard a muffled footfall. Clouds suddenly moved across the moon and Martin could barely make out the person bent over the gym bag. He tried for a better look and dislodged a rock. In the stillness the tumbling stone sounded like a stack of bottles shattering in a supermarket aisle. The kidnapper turned and Martin went for his gun. While he was leveling the .45 he heard the crack of a gunshot and felt searing pain in his left shoulder. Martin staggered a few paces, then fell. His head struck the ground. Struggling to stay conscious, Martin fired a shot to discourage the kidnapper from coming over to finish him off.
Two more shots rang out and Martin crawled for cover. Something splashed in the water. Martin peered around the rock. Two muzzle flashes lit up a small raft as it floated rapidly downriver. Martin came up shooting, but the raft was around the bend in the river and out of sight. His shoulder felt like it was on fire. He became nauseated and his legs gave way. Adding to his misery was the knowledge that his incompetence may have cost Melissa Arnold her life.
Martin stumbled up the trail, which seemed impossibly steep and long. After what seemed like hours, he reached his car. He had to fight to stay conscious during the drive to Gene Arnold's house and he let himself collapse on the car horn as soon as he came to a stop in the front yard. Gene was at his side in moments, blanching at the extent of Martin's bleeding as he pulled his friend from the car. With a grunt, he slung Martin's good arm across his shoulder and supported him as they crossed the yard. When they were inside, Gene called the hospital. Then he called the sheriff.
9
"Feel up to talking, Martin?" Detective Norm Chisholm of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office asked as soon as he walked into Martin's hospital room.
"Sit down. I've been expecting you. Any word yet on Melissa?"
Norm shook his head.
"How's Gene doing?"
"Not good. You two weren't acting very smart."
"Don't make me feel any worse than I do already. Gene wouldn't let me call the police. He was terrified that the kidnapper would kill Melissa." Martin's features clouded and his voice caught. "The way the FBI handled Patty's stakeout really spooked him."
Chisholm had no comeback for that, so he asked Martin to tell him what had happened by the river. When Alvarez was through, Chisholm brought Martin up to date.
"We sent a forensic crew to the take-out point downriver from where you were shot. That's where the kidnapper left the river, but we don't have a clue to who he is."
"Nothing?"
Norm shook his head. "Martin, what kind of couple are they?"
"Melissa and Gene?"
The detective nodded.
"Gene worships her."
"And Melissa? She seem happy?"
"Desert Grove is a change from the big city, and there is the age difference," he answered after a pause. "Why do you ask?"
"Gene never said anything to you about marital problems?"
"No, he didn't, Norm. Where is this going?"
He shrugged. "Probably nowhere. I'm just ruminating."
When Norm left, Martin called Gene Arnold, who seemed inconsolable. The pain pills the doctor had given Martin dulled his senses, but not enough to banish the guilt he felt for failing his friend.
10
When Norm Chisholm walked into Ramon Quiroz's office two days later he looked excited. The detective sat across from the DA and handed him an affidavit signed by Aaron Flynn.
"I want you to write up an affidavit for a search warrant for Gene Arnold's house, his cabin near the Meander River, his car, and Melissa Arnold's car. You can use Aaron's affidavit to establish probable cause."
Quiroz looked puzzled. "What's going on?"
"You know that court reporters type a kind of shorthand onto a strip of paper in a stenograph machine while court is in session."
Quiroz nodded.
"Well, there's a computer disk in the machine that acts as a backup. When a lawyer needs a transcript, the court reporter puts the disk in her computer and uses a software program that translates the stenographic notes into English. Flynn needs to get started on Paul McCann's appeal. He called up Judge Schrieber to find out who's going to prepare the transcript of McCann's trial now that Melissa Arnold is missing. A couple of other lawyers had the same question about their cases because Melissa was their court reporter. The judge told Flynn that he'd arranged for another court reporter to prepare the transcripts, but she can't do it because they can't find the disks or Melissa Arnold's notes. They've checked her office at the courthouse and they called Gene. He says they're not in his house. The judge thinks they could be in Melissa's car, but the car is still missing. The notes are essential, right?"
"Sure. When you appeal a conviction the appeals court looks through the record to see if the judge made a mistake during the trial that could have affected the verdict. Without the record, there can't be an appeal."
"Okay. I want to search Gene's house and that little cabin he keeps by the Meander River for Melissa's notes. That will make the search legal because they're government property."
"Why don't you just ask Gene to let you look around?"
"I don't want to alert him. Gene's become a suspect."
"You're not serious."
"There's nothing concrete yet. The neighbors say that Gene and Melissa have been arguing pretty heavily recently. She may have been thinking of leaving him."
"You think he killed her and faked everything?" Quiroz asked incredulously. "Martin was there when he talked to the kidnappers on the phone."
"He was there when a call came in, but he didn't hear the other side of the conversation. Gene could have arranged for someone to call him, then he could have gone upriver to Angel Ford and rafted downriver to the drop."
Quiroz shook his head. "What if Martin had gone back to Gene's immediately, instead of waiting? Gene wouldn't have been there. It would have given the whole plot away."
"No. He'd just tell Martin that the kidnappers called, told him where to find Melissa, he drove there, and his wife wasn't where they said she would be, or something like that."
"So do you think that Gene was involved in the Alvarez kidnapping?"
Chisholm thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"No, that was Paul McCann, all the way. But Dobbs got everyone thinking that there was a third conspirator out there, and maybe that gave Gene the idea for his fake kidnapping."
"I don't buy it. I know Gene. He couldn't kill someone, and he worshiped Melissa."
"Ramon, you've been in this business long enough to know that anyone can kill under the right circumstances. Anyway, I'm not saying that Gene's guilty, but he is a suspect. Maybe this is a wild-goose chase, but I wouldn't bet on it."
11
Two days later, at nine in the evening, Martin Alvarez's phone rang. It was Gene. He sounded on the verge of hysteria.
"I'm in jail. They're saying I killed Melissa."
"Try to calm down, Gene. Is anyone with you who can hear what you're saying?"
"Ramon, Norm Chisholm. I know these guys. I can't believe they're doing this."
"I'm coming down now to see you. Be strong and do not say anything. If they try to talk to you ask for the Miranda rights. Do you understand?"
"Yes. Thank you, Martin."
"Put Ramon on."
A moment later the DA was on the phone.
"What the fuck are you doing, Ramon?"
"This is hard for me, too, Martin, but we've got evidence."
"That Gene murdered his wife?"
"Yes."
"Bullshit. Gene's the gentlest person I know. You fucked up."
"We searched Gene's cabin, the Meander River place. The clothes Melissa was wearing on the day she disappeared were stuffed into a dresser drawer. They were covered with blood. We haven't done a DNA test yet, but the lab's done some preliminary tests. It's Melissa's blood type. We also found her car parked behind the cabin."