MacMillan Wharf

MacMillan Wharf: Chapter Twenty-Four

MacMillan Wharf: Chapter Twenty-Four

by Richard Gifford

The ringing phone on his desk startled Chief Souza as he combed through the details of Linda Hanscomb’s autopsy report.

“Chief Souza,” he answered gruffly.

“Hi Bill, it’s Mark O’Neil. I’ve been talking to Mary Ellen Johnson, she says she’ll cooperate with the investigation.”

“That’s good news. Did you get anything out of her?”

“A little. She said that Bruce Waters isn’t the baby’s father. Linda went to a clinic in Boston and had an anonymous donor. She was on her way to tell him the night she was killed.”

“Interesting. There’s something about that guy that doesn’t feel right.” “Interesting. There’s something about that guy that doesn’t feel right.”

“You’ve talked to him?”

“Yeah, last night I stopped by the Whale Center to look for some leads.  I bumped into him. It was pretty late. He was cooperative, but I get the feeling he’s hiding something. After we talked, I saw him go straight back to his house across the street.  Not a minute later he was on the phone to someone and watching me from his window.”

“Does he have access to a boat?”

Chief Souza could tell where the DA was going with this theory. He was heading in the same direction himself. “Sure. He has that old Coast Guard speedboat and a couple of Zodiacs.”

“Well, let’s see, ex-wife leaves him for a woman, then tells him she’s pregnant. Guy goes into a rage, since he wasn’t able to have kids with her himself, slams her head into the wall and strangles her, then dumps the body out at sea. You’ve got both motive and opportunity.”

“Who told you that he couldn’t have kids with her?”

“Mary Ellen. Said the guy was basically shooting blanks. I think you’ve got yourself a suspect there, Chief.”

“Maybe so. I definitely want to talk to him. What’s Mary Ellen’s status?”

“She’ll be OK. Two broken ribs, but it could have been worse.”

“Good. Do you think she’s a hazard to herself?”

“I think she’s more of a hazard to whoever killed her girlfriend. She told me about what happened in Florida. She killed a man in cold blood to protect her family, with no regrets. I could only imagine what her revenge fantasies must be like. The hospital wants to keep her at the Psych Center for forty-eight hours to evaluate if she’s a further danger. After that, who knows? They’ll either release her or ship her up to the psychiatric hospital in Brockton for a couple of weeks. Either way, she’s not going anywhere until at least Monday morning.”

“All right, thanks for everything. I feel like we’re starting to get somewhere. I’ll talk to you later.”

“OK, Chief.”

As he hung up the phone, Dispatcher Carla Thompson knocked on the Chief’s door.

“Come in. Hi, Carla.”

“Hi, Chief. FYI, about thirty minutes ago there was a fight at the Below Decks lounge. Some guy pulled a knife and held it against another patron’s neck. He took on three big men and left them all on the floor. No serious injuries, though one guy had a broken foot.”

Chief Souza immediately had a hunch. “Was he English?”

Carla looked impressed. “Actually, the witnesses said he was Scottish, how’d you know?”

“Right, we’ve got a good description, so I’ll let all patrols know who we’re looking for.” “I saw that guy earlier today, with his knife. He was hanging around the Whale Center watching the State Troopers collect evidence. We’ve got to find him, ASAP.”

“Right, we’ve got a good description, so I’ll let all patrols know who we’re looking for.”

“Tell everybody to be very careful. This guy’s armed and dangerous. If he took on three men by himself, he’s probably got some kind of military or martial arts training. If anyone spots him, they’re not to engage without backup. Is that clear?”

“Roger that, Chief. I’ll put out an APB right now.”

“Thanks, Carla.”

Chief Souza closed his eyes and breathed out a heavy sigh as soon as she shut his office door. Half of his summertime police force were college students with little training. They were fine for traffic duties and giving tourists directions, but the idea of one of them trying to subdue an armed suspect with hand-to-hand combat experience made him shudder. I need to find this guy myself, he thought, if this damn phone would ever stop ringing.

“Chief Souza.”

“Hi, Chief, It’s Annie Macalister.”

“Annie, I’m glad you called. I’ve wanted to talk to you.”

“Me, too. About this morning, I thought Mary Ellen killed herself, but I heard that you shot her with a beanbag or something? Is she hurt?”

“You did a great job this morning, Annie. Thanks to you, she’ll be fine. I just spoke with someone who talked to her at Cape Cod Hospital.”

“She’s not a suspect in Linda’s murder, is she?” “She’s not a suspect in Linda’s murder, is she?”

“I can’t say that anyone is not a suspect right now. We just don’t know enough about what happened yet, but there are some other leads that we’re investigating.”

“Chief, I really want to talk to you was about Linda’s research.”

“Her research? Wait a minute, I hear a lot of noise on your end of the phone. Where are you?”

“I’m at the Post Office Café. My cell phone battery went dead this morning when I was talking to Mary Ellen. A friend of mine who’s a waiter here is letting me use his phone. Hold on, let me step outside. Is that better?”

“Yes, much better. What about Linda’s research?”

“Well, all summer I was her research assistant. We were compiling this big report for the EPA to put the entire Gulf of Maine off limits to oil drilling. It’s possible that whoever killed Linda was trying to stop that report from becoming public.”

“That would explain why they trashed her office and smashed the computer. So, you know everything that’s in that report right?”

“Yeah, Linda and I spent all summer working on it.”

Chief Souza felt another hunch coming on, “By any chance have you met a guy with a Scottish accent in the past few days? Somewhere between 50 and 60 years old?”

Annie was stunned. “You mean Tom? The guy who helped me when I fell this afternoon? What about him?”

Chief Souza pulled a silver Cross pen from his pocket and started to make notes on a pad of paper in front of him. “What did you say his name was?”

“Tom Lawrence.”

“I think he might know something about Linda’s murder. Do you have any idea where he is right now?”

“Are you kidding? He’s on the Explorer. I just saw him less than an hour ago. He seemed so nice to me. He couldn’t have killed Linda, anyway he said that he just came into Provincetown on this morning’s ferry.”

“I don’t know if he killed Linda or not, but he’s very dangerous. He assaulted three guys in a bar about an hour ago. The good thing is, we know where he is, and he can’t get away. I’ll call Billy on the Explorer right now, and we can have officers arrest him when they return. I think you’re right, Annie, someone might be after that report.”

“Do you think I’m in danger from Tom?” Annie said nervously.

“Tom Lawrence is a danger to everyone until we bring him in which we’ll do soon. Will you help us identify him when the Explorer comes in?”

“Sure. Are you going to have them come back early?”

“No. I don’t want to raise any suspicions. Just meet me at the dock around 7:30. Until then, just lay low. Anyway, I thought you were with Shane all day?”

“I was this morning, but after the whole Mary Ellen thing I came back to town. He went back out to pull lobster traps, then I ended up on a whale rescue with Bruce and Juicy.”

Chief Souza paused. “Are you with Bruce Waters now, at the Post Office Café?”

“Yes, we came back about half an hour ago. We’re having something to eat.”

“Do me a favor, Annie. Keep him there a little while longer. I’m on my way downtown, and I’d like to talk to you together.”

Annie thought this was a little weird. “Um, OK. Hold on, I’m looking inside. I don’t see him. He must have gone to the men’s room or something.”

“I’m on my way.” He hung up the phone and quickly left his office to avoid answering another call.

On his way out the door, he poked his head into the dispatch room and said, “Carla, put out an APB for Bruce Waters. He was just seen at the Post Office Café. Tell the patrols that if he doesn’t come in voluntarily for questioning, arrest him.”

“Roger that, Chief.”

Read it from the beginning:
Table of Contents