The Fallen (Amos Decker #4)(76)
“So, what did he say?”
“Something about following his dream.”
“What kind of dream?”
“I didn’t push it and he didn’t elaborate.”
“Did he know Baron?”
“I know you believe that he did, but not that I know of. I don’t think John has much use for banks.”
“But he has a mortgage on his home with that bank.”
“Does he?” she said innocently.
“Yeah, he does. But he failed to mention that to me.”
Decker pulled the photo of Baron and the Little League team from his pocket and held it up. “You ever see this in Costa’s condo?”
She took it and looked at it. “Yeah, it was on a shelf with a bunch of others.”
“Baron was the coach.”
“I can see, Decker,” she said sharply. “He led the team to the state championship and then got canned by the powers that be.”
“He told us that. Do you know why?”
“I think it made him look too good and they couldn’t stand that.”
She caught the writing on the back. “Stanley Nottingham. Who’s that?”
“I don’t know. You ever heard of him?”
She shook her head. “It’s funny, though.”
“What is?”
She handed the photo back. “I only know this because John mentioned it to me once. Even showed me a picture.”
“Of what?”
“No, of whom.”
“Stanley Nottingham?” said Decker, looking perplexed.
“No.” She took a moment to search her memory. “Not Stanley. Yeah, it was Nigel. Can you believe that? Nigel?”
“You’ve lost me.”
“John showed me a photo of Nigel Nottingham. That’s why I remembered it. Don’t hear those two names much anymore. I mean, can you get any more British than that? But I guess it fit.”
“You’ve still lost me,” groused Decker.
“Nigel Nottingham was Baron’s butler.”
“John’s butler?”
“No! John can’t afford a butler. I’m talking about the original John Baron. He apparently wanted a full-fledged British butler, and Nigel Nottingham fit the bill.”
Decker jumped up from his seat. “I gotta go, thanks.”
He was out the front door of the condo before Cindi even got to her feet.
“But, Decker, I drove you over here,” she called after him as the door slammed shut.
Chapter 44
WHAT IN THE world are you doing? Why are you packing?”
Jamison was standing in the doorway of Decker’s bedroom as he stuffed some clothes and his toiletry bag into his duffel.
“I gotta go somewhere.”
“Go where? Back to D.C.?”
“No, New Jersey.”
She gaped. “New Jersey? Why?”
“I’ve got a lead. A good one. Just happened a bit ago. From Cindi Riley.”
She looked at him incredulously. “Decker, Frank’s funeral is the day after tomorrow. And you’re leaving? There’s so much to do.”
“I’ll be back in time. I’m leaving now. I’ll get there early in the morning, do my thing, and be back late tomorrow.”
“But my sisters are here now. And Frank’s parents and siblings will be here in the morning. I thought you could pick his parents up from the bus station. And one of his sisters too, she’s coming in by train. The others are driving directly here.”
Decker stopped his packing. “I’m sure your sisters will help out. And just so you know, I have to take the rental.”
“Wait a minute, you’re driving to New Jersey?”
“Only way, really. I looked at flights. First one out of Pittsburgh is ten o’clock tomorrow morning, and it isn’t even direct. I have to connect through freaking Charlotte, if you can believe that. And there’s no train schedule that works and no bus service that does either. The quickest way is to drive it. I can be there in under seven hours.”
“Okay, but you do realize what time it is? When exactly do you plan to sleep?”
“I’m good. The adrenaline is pumping and I’ll get some shut-eye when I get there.”
“Decker, this is not smart.”
“I’ve got to go, Alex. I found out something tonight that I need to check out.”
She sat down on the bed. “You said you had a lead from Cindi Riley. What is it?”
He told her about Stanley and Nigel Nottingham and finding the name and address on the back of the photo in Costa’s condo.
He handed the photo to her and she looked it over.
“So let me get this straight—this Nigel Nottingham was Baron the First’s butler?”
“Yeah. And I’m betting Stanley is his, I don’t know, great-grandson or something. That’s why Todd didn’t find a connection to Baronville. He only went back as far as Stanley Nottingham’s parents. He lived in the same building as Bradley Costa in New York. They were neighbors.”
She handed back the photo. “So, what exactly is your theory?”
“That Stanley Nottingham told Costa something about Baron and this town that made him pull up his roots in Manhattan and come here. Riley told me that Costa told her he came to Baronville to follow his dream, which struck me as really curious. Well, I’m hoping that Nottingham can tell me what that dream was.”