Murder by Artifact (Five Star Mystery Series) by Barbara Graham Read Free Book Online Page B

of paper on his desk. An index card, seemingly identical to the first one, fell onto his desk along with a larger newspaper clipping. This clipping had yellowed until it was almost chocolate brown. The worn seam and edges made it look like it had been folded and carried in a wallet for a while, but not continuously, for twenty years. Ignoring the clipping for the moment, he read the message on the card out loud. “ ‘I know where she is. Do you?’ ”

    Tony glanced up and saw all eyes focused on the bit of newspaper. “Those seven words are all that’s written on the card.” He used the point of the opener to push the card into a plastic bag.

    Armed with a paperclip and letter opener, Tony unfolded the newspaper clipping and maneuvered it into a separate bag. At the top of the article was a photograph of an attractive young woman. It was a Knoxville newspaper and the headline read, “Local woman missing in national park.” It was dated some twenty years previous.

    Tony cleared his throat, preparing to read the clipping to the three deputies and to Ruth Ann, who stood in the doorway not even blowing on her fingernails. The silence almost unnerved him. He began. “ ‘Mrs. Annabelle Garrison was last seen at the Sugarlands Visitor Center in Gatlinburg. On an outing to the national park with her husband and two children, Mrs. Garrison reportedly had gone to the restroom and failed to return. The family and authorities request anyone with information contact either the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office or the national park authorities.’ ”

    “Aw, man, twenty years ago. In the national park?” Tony waved the clipping. “I do remember this now. Harvey talked about it earlier, and it didn’t ring a bell. I was in high school and it was just before graduation. It was big news at the time. What have we got to do with it?”

    “We must be the gravesite.” Mike frowned. “Why here? We must be thirty miles from the visitor center.”

    “Why and when?” Sheila leaned forward to study the newspaper photograph. “Those bones were not out there for twenty years.”

    “That’s true.” Tony massaged the back of his neck. “Don’t forget, Theo found a male skeleton. If this woman’s here, we haven’t found her yet.”

    “Why the sudden onslaught of clippings?” asked Wade. He moved to look at Tony’s big wall calendar. On it were notations about shifts, phases of the moon and vacation time. He turned back to the others. “The moon’s not full, so it isn’t crazy time. It sounds like someone got away with murder. After all these years, why bring it up?”

    Mike tapped the piece of newspaper with his pen. “Do you remember if there was any suggestion of foul play? Could the woman have just run off?”

    “I’ll call the FBI and check into it,” said Tony. “As far as I remember from the news, she just vanished. She could have been abducted by aliens for all anybody told the media.” He reached for the telephone on his desk and changed his mind. He rustled in the stuff packed into his pencil drawer and found some sticky notes. “I left days after graduation. They could have found her twenty years ago.” He doubted it. If she had been found, he would bet it was her corpse.

    He scribbled the woman’s name and the date on a notepad and handed it to Ruth Ann. “Do your thing.”

C HAPTER E IGHT
----
    Tony called the FBI. They gave him little information.
     
    So, he called Max, his former partner in Chicago. Max joined the FBI right after Tony left. He probably wouldn’t know nearly as much as the Knoxville office. Still, it was a good excuse to talk to his friend.

    In spite of the serious nature of his inquiry, Tony found himself laughing. Max hadn’t changed a bit. Although he morphed into a suit, his irreverent sense of humor went with him. As soon as he recognized Tony’s voice on the phone, his former partner started in on him.

    “So how’s the local yokel? People ever find out you’re