Page 65 of Hoodoo House
She stepped out of the office, and walked across the hall to a high-tech coffee maker. As she pressed a few buttons and the machine started to spew brown liquid into cups, Declan glanced at the paperwork spread over her desk. He saw a file labelled ‘Tull, Malcolm. Hoodoo House’.
“Maybe I should help her,” Charlie said, then left the office.
Declan turned to see Bowen trying to juggle three cups of hot coffee. He heard Charlie say, “Please. Let me help you with those.”
Atta boy.
As they came back into the office, Bowen said to Charlie, “I couldn’t live without this stuff. I’m sure my stomach must look like a sieve by now.”
Charlie laughed, then passed a cup to Declan.
“Thanks,” he said.
She edged her way around the desk and started, “So, before I ask you for the computer, I just want you to know why you’ve been called in here today. It appears we’ve both been looking into an incident that happened just under two weeks ago at Hoodoo House involving the suspicious death of a man named Malcolm Tull. I can’t give you details of the investigation, but one of the loose threads that we’ve been trying to track down is Tull’s missing computer. Last night, the house was broken into by someone who attacked the young boy who lives there. From what I understand, you’ve met the boy Henry?”
“We have,” Declan said.
“The assailant said he was looking for a computer. We’re working on the theory that this is the same computer that had been in the possession of Malcolm Tull. When we interviewed Henry last night, he said that there was a private detective who was also looking for the computer—that would be you—and apparently, you found it. Now, for obvious reasons, we’re interested in finding out what in the world was on it that would interest a person badly enough to cause him to break into a house and threaten the life of a child. So what can you tell me?”
“What you’ve said is about right,” Declan confirmed. “We were hired by Malcolm Tull’s editor Sinclair Yamada to locate the computer, which supposedly held Tull’s final manuscript on it. We found the computer yesterday.”
“Good. You’ve saved us a lot of time then. I need to see the computer so that we can look at the contents.”
“We’re more than willing to comply with your request except for one slight problem,” Declan said.
“Is this where you explain to me why you’ve brought me a car wheel instead of the laptop I requested?”
“Basically, yes,” Declan said.
Sergeant Bowen nodded. “Go ahead, I can’t wait to hear this one.”
Declan explained what had happened on their way to Drumheller, giving details of the highway ambush, being forced off the road at gunpoint, the direct threat to his and Charlie’s lives, and finally the shooting of the tire, everything as it actually happened.
Sergeant Bowen smiled. “That’s the most imaginative variation on ‘the dog ate my homework’ that I’ve heard in my entire career.”
Declan leaned forward and patted the tire. “Sergeant, I present to you evidence of our story. Inside this wheel I think you’ll find the bullet that was fired by the biker in order to prevent us from following them. That’s all I’ve got. Ballistics will find it, I’m sure. They may be able to even match it to a gun on record.”
“Or match it to your own gun, Mr Hunt? I know that you’re licensed to carry a firearm. You were issued it after you left the police force because of active threats to your life. It’s in our files.”
Charlie threw Declan a wide-eyed glance. “I didn’t know that.”
“Surprise!” Declan said.
“Did you use your weapon against your attackers today?” she asked.
“I use it only on rare occasions when I think someone’s life may be in danger. Otherwise, it sits in the safe at work, which is why I didn’t have it with me today.”
Sergeant Bowen stared at Declan. “If this crazy story is true—and it’s wild enough that it might be—is there any chance that one of the men on the bikes was a tall, burly guy with a dark bushy beard? Because that’s the way the boy described his attacker last night.”
“No,” Declan said. “The only one with a bushy beard was a blond. He seemed to be the one in charge. He had a helmet with a silver lightning bolt on it. But they may have been associated with the man you’re describing.”
Sergeant Bowen opened the Hoodoo House file and made some notes. Declan and Charlie sat quietly, sipping their coffees, glancing at each other.
“Okay, now, when the computer was in your possession, were you able to find what you were looking for?” she asked.
Declan decided it was easier at this point to lie. He shook his head. “The computer was password protected. Charlie was in the process of trying to get through the system’s security in order to locate the missing manuscript, but he wasn’t able to.”
Bowen looked at Charlie and asked, “Is that something you’re good at? Cracking passwords?”
