The Last Mile (Amos Decker, #2)(93)

Decker looked at her oddly. “That’s true.”

“That he knows lots of abandoned places to stay?”

“That he might know one abandoned place to stay.”

“You don’t mean my old house?” said Mars.

“Why not?”

“It’s too obvious, for one.”

“So obvious no one’s checked it?” said Decker.

“But you were there,” pointed out Jamison. “And we later went with you and Melvin.”

“But no one’s watching it all the time,” said Decker. “No one’s watching it right now. And if he wanted to hide the contents of that box?”

Oliver said, “You think it might be somewhere there?”

“There’s no guarantee, but it might be worth a look.” He glanced at Mars. “Can you think of any location there that might be a good hiding place?”

Oliver pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the screen. “This is about Melvin’s lawsuit.” She typed in a response and smiled at Mars. “Things are looking up, Melvin. I’ve got a friend in the state government. She just let me know that the state correctional system got my motion on your punitive claim and apparently the whole department is in an uproar, running around like chickens with their heads cut off. That means they know they’re vulnerable. And that also means they might come to the settlement table sooner rather than later.”

“Well ain’t that a miracle!” said Mars.

“I think public opinion is on your side now.”

Decker said, “That is good news but let’s not lose focus. Melvin, can you think of any place in the house it could be?”

Mars said, “I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. The house ain’t that big and I never had cause to hide anything.”

“How about in the garage?”

“Well, there was a loose board in the wall next to the door leading from the kitchen. I remember I looked in there once when I was a kid and saw an old coffee can. It didn’t mean anything to me. And I doubt my dad was hiding an old coffee can.”

“Well, it’s worth a look. Melvin and I can go check it out later tonight.”

Bogart said, “Todd can go with you, just in case. I’m expecting to get in some information on Montgomery shortly. Alex, Mary, and I can go over it while you guys are checking out the house.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Mars.





CHAPTER

53



MILLIGAN LED THE way through the mass of trees and bushes in the front of the property, with Decker and Mars close behind. The rain had stopped, at least for a bit, but the clouds were heavy with moisture and they all expected another dousing at any moment.

They reached the front porch and Milligan eased the door open, his hand on the butt of his gun. Decker was doing likewise.

They entered the front room and looked around. It was dark outside, but darker still in here. Milligan swept his flashlight beam around the space.

Decker led them into the kitchen with his flashlight and then to the door going into the attached single-car garage. He aimed his light around the space, while Milligan did likewise.

“It’s over there,” said Mars, pointing at a section of the wall near the side door leading to the outside. “You can see where the wood is uneven.”

They headed to that spot following Milligan’s flashlight beam.

Decker gripped the board and pulled on it. It came away easily enough. Revealed behind it was a small compartment, really just a space between the wall studs. It was six inches deep and about eighteen inches wide. The “floor” of the compartment was a crossbeam of wood connecting the studs.

It was empty.

“It could have been the hiding place,” pointed out Decker. “It’s probably large enough for whatever was in the safe deposit box.”

“But it’s not here,” said Milligan. “So that doesn’t help us.” He aimed his light around some more and then cast it on the floor. It was clean except for what looked to be fine dust and a small strip of wood. “Probably happened when you pulled the wood out,” he said.

“I checked the floor before I pulled the wood out. That pile of dust and woodchips was already there. And if you look at the board, it has a strip of wood out of it that corresponds to the one on the floor. When I pulled on it, it came out way too easily. Place like this, abandoned for decades with rot and moisture, I’d expected the wood to be far more difficult to get out. I think it was in that state and the wood strip broke off when it was forced out.”

“Which means that someone else was already here,” said Milligan.

Decker nodded. “And recently. Because we searched this place before and I don’t remember seeing the strip of wood. And I would have if it had been there.”

Mars said excitedly, “So you think my old man did hide the stuff in there?”

“I can’t say for sure either way,” replied Decker. “But someone checked it for some reason. Maybe him. Or someone else.” He looked around. “And by the way, the initials of your dad’s real name are A and C.”

“How the hell do you know that?”

“It’s carved in the closet and also matches the ones he used when he rented the car in Alabama. Arthur Crandall?”