A Stranger on the Beach(82)

“The chief left? And Aidan left?”

“Yes, that’s what I said. And they left the alarm going, too. I couldn’t believe it. At least turn the alarm off.”

Jess and Mike looked at one another, openmouthed. Francine Eberhardt’s information, if it was true, amounted to Chief Callahan covering up a felony. They’d reviewed the official GPD logs for that night with great care, to match them up to Caroline’s testimony. After Caroline’s phone call to the police, the dispatcher radioed for any patrol officer in the vicinity to respond to the alarm at the Stark residence. According to the official record, nobody responded, presumably because they were too busy dealing with the storm. If Tommy Callahan had actually shown up, found his brother in the Starks’ house, and not reported it, that was a cover-up. It was also a crime. Jess could tell from Mike’s face that he was as shocked by this as she was.

Mike shook his head, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Aidan left? Did he come back at any point?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

“Yes, he came back,” Francine said. “I’m not sure when. I put in earplugs and went to bed. Hours later, I woke up to go to the bathroom, and I took the earplugs out. I don’t like to sleep with earplugs in, generally. I find them quite uncomfortable, but between that infernal alarm and the noise from the storm—”

“Please, Mrs. Eberhardt, what did you see?” Jess said.

“It was what I heard that made me sit up and take notice.”

“What did you hear?”

“Nothing. Dead quiet. It was as if the storm just left. The quiet was so strange that I went to the window and looked out, and then I realized, we were in the eye. The moon was out, and there was enough light to see clearly. Aidan’s truck was there. He’d left in it, hours before, and now it was back.”

“Did you see anything other than the truck?”

“Yes. There were two other vehicles. That big tacky SUV she has. That monster must get terrible gas mileage. And a fancy, foreign-looking car. I don’t know what brand. I saw the three vehicles, clear as day, as the eye passed. And then, within seconds, the storm was back, worse than ever, and I could barely see a thing. It was like staring into a whirlwind.”

“Huh. So, you never saw Aidan himself?”

“I saw three people. One of them was probably Aidan, but I can’t be sure.”

“What? Three people? When was this?”

“A couple of minutes after the eye passed. I was still at the window, only now, the rain was torrential. And I saw three people walking to Aidan’s truck. Well, two were walking. The third was being dragged.”

“What do you mean, being dragged?”

“The two upright ones had somebody in between them, and they were dragging him by the arms. The person in the middle couldn’t walk. His head was down, he was limp. He seemed to be unconscious.”

“You say he. It was a man?” Mike asked.

“Hmm. I could see their forms, their shapes. I have the impression it was a man, with a man and a woman dragging him. But I can’t be sure.”

“Do you have an impression of who they were?”

“That’s the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, isn’t it? The rain was so heavy, I couldn’t make them out. But if I was a betting woman, I’d put money on that being Aidan Callahan and Caroline Stark dragging her husband’s body. Wouldn’t you?”

“Why didn’t you tell anybody about this before now?” Jess asked.

“Who should I tell? The police? It’s the police chief’s brother we’re talking about. They already think I’m nuts down at the station. Except for Michael. Michael, I trust.”

“Thank you, ma’am. Much appreciated. I’ll be back here bright and early Saturday morning, as promised, to handle your yard work.”

Jess thanked Mrs. Eberhardt and said goodbye. She was lost in thought as they walked back to the car, pondering Francine’s account of seeing three people walking to Aidan’s truck. It didn’t add up with what Caroline had told them about the murder, that much was certain.

They got in the car. Troubled, Jess turned to Mike.

“She’s got to be wrong. She didn’t see what she thought she saw. She’s old. It was dark. The storm obscured her view.”

“You don’t like what you heard. I don’t like it either, but I don’t doubt her. She was very clear about what she saw. And when she didn’t see something or couldn’t answer, she admitted that. I think in your heart you believe her, but you’re worried about what it means for the case. I say let the chips fall where they may.”

“I’ll take you at your word on that. Because, you know, there’s another possibility for who the third person was.”

“What’s that?”

“Maybe Caroline Stark was pistol-whipped and unconscious inside the house, like she said. And maybe that was Tommy Callahan helping his brother dispose of Jason Stark’s body.”

Mike looked at her like she was crazy. “Where do you get that? She said the third person was a woman.”

“She said she couldn’t see.”

“She could see shapes. A woman has a different shape than a man.”

“Now you’re the one interpreting the facts the way you want. Which scenario is more likely? Think about it, Mike. Francine saw Tommy pull Aidan out of the house after burglarizing it. She saw him let Aidan go. He let Aidan go years ago, on that manslaughter. He’ll do anything to protect his kid brother.”