“Can I help you?”

“We’d like to speak with Mickey Forbes,” Beck told him.

“I’m sorry, he’s not in this afternoon. He owns the car place down the road, Bay Motors? Would you like me to call and see if he’s there?”

“Was he in this morning?”

“Well, earlier, for about an hour, but…”

“How about a policewoman, in uniform?” Beck asked curtly. “Was she in?”

“This morning, she was asking…”

“Who’d she talk to? You? Or Mr. Forbes?”

“Both of us.” The young man looked confused. “She asked us both about one of the women who got killed, wanted to know if we remembered her. I didn’t. Mr. Forbes, he said he didn’t, either, but he’d have someone check to see if there were any credit card sales to her and he’d give her a call if he found anything.”

“And the officer left the store?”

The sales clerk nodded.

“And Mr. Forbes? How long after did he leave?”

“I don’t know, a few minutes, I guess.”

“Thanks. Make that call for us now, please.” Beck pointed toward the phone.

The clerk did as he was told.

“He isn’t there,” he told Beck, his hand over the receiver. “Do you want to leave a message for him to call you?”

“Yes. Chief Beck. St. Dennis P.D. He knows how to find me.”

Beck turned and left the store.

“Thanks for your help,” Mia called to the clerk as she caught the swinging door.

“Now what?” She caught up with Beck at her car.

“Now we track down Mickey Forbes and see what else he knows that he hasn’t told us.”

21

“Vanessa, any chance you might have seen Mickey Forbes today?” Beck had dialed her shop as soon as he got into the car. He leaned back against the headrest and exhaled loudly. “When was that?”

“Where did you go?”

“What time did he leave…?”

From the driver’s side, Mia could hear Vanessa’s protest.

“Because I need to talk to him, that’s why. Where did he go when he…Thanks. And Ness? Stay clear of him for a while, okay?”

Mia figured his ears were still ringing after he hung up the phone.

He caught her glancing in his direction, and said, “What? You think I was a little heavy handed? She’s my sister, and he’s…” He paused.

“He’s what? A guy who’s interested in her?” She stopped at the light. “It’s obvious from your conversation that she was with Mickey this morning.”

“They had lunch at Lola’s.” Beck rubbed his chin. “She said he got there around noon and left about an hour and a half ago. Went back to the car dealership.”

“So which way?” she asked. “Should I make a U-turn or go straight? I’m assuming you still want to talk to Mickey.”

“Yeah. Take a right at the next light…”

Mickey Forbes was front and center in the showroom when they arrived.

“Hey, Beck. I just got the message you called. Let me guess…you’re in the market for something to replace that old Jeep of yours. I just got a really nice Saab in on Friday, guy traded it in for a Jag. It’s right over…”

“I’m not looking for a car, Mickey.” Beck lowered his voice. “Is there someplace where we can talk?”

“Sure. Right on in here.” Mickey pointed toward an open door. “How’s it going, Agent Shields? Nice wheels you have there, Lexus is a fine car…”

Mickey ushered the pair into his office and closed the door.

“What’s going on, Beck?” Mickey sat on the edge of his desk.

“I understand that Mindy Kenneher, one of the victims, was a customer of yours,” Beck said. “How come I had to hear that from Steve at The Coffee Counter, and not you?”

“I wasn’t aware of it myself.” Mickey shrugged. “I just heard about that this morning, from Lisa. She said Steve told her about that girl coming in one day with a bag with our name on it. I told Lisa I’d have the store manager go through all the sales slips starting back in April so we could see who waited on her.”

“You can tell that?” Mia asked.

“Yeah. I’m afraid my system is a little old fashioned, but there’s a method to my madness. We hand write our slips, whether it’s cash or credit, so that we have a record of the customer. That way, we know what they bought and when.”

“What do you do with that information?” she asked.

“The names all go on a master list for sales, promotions, that sort of thing. If we know someone has bought a lot of fishing gear, for example, when we have something special, we give him or her a call. We try to keep our service specialized, you know?”

“And what did Mindy Kenneher buy?” Beck asked.

“We don’t know. My manager was scheduled to be in at two, but I spoke with him and asked him to get in as soon as possible and asked him to make finding her slip his priority. I told Lisa I’d give her a call as soon as I had something. She said she’d want to talk to the salesperson, maybe they’d remember if someone was with her at the time.”

“I need you to call everyone in and ask them to take a look at the photo.”

“Sure, Beck, but my staff always turns over at the end of May. I lose all the college kids who work here part-time during the school year when they go back home. I don’t hire part-timers again until the fall, so I don’t know that they’ll be much help.”

“What time did Lisa leave The Goal Post?” Beck changed the subject. He’d have to wait for the sales slip.

“Around eleven, I think it might have been. We were just about finished talking when her phone starting ringing. She just said for me to call her as soon as I had something, then she answered the call and left the store.”

“Any idea who she was speaking to?” he asked.

Mickey shook his head. “No idea. I didn’t hear her say a name.”

“Did you see which way she went when she left the store?”

“No, I had an appointment to meet a customer at eleven, so I left pretty much when she did.”

“Thanks.” Beck stood abruptly.

“Sure.” Mickey looked from Beck to Mia, then back to Beck. “Is there something else going on here that I’m not picking up on?”

“Nah. Nothing else going on, Mick.”

“Is Lisa all right?”

“Is there a reason she wouldn’t be?”

“No. I just…you’re asking all these questions about her, that’s all.”

“Nice of you to be concerned.”

“Hey, we’re old friends, me and Lisa. We go back a long way, Beck.”

“Right.” Beck opened the door. “Don’t forget to call me as soon as that slip turns up…”

Beck and Mia walked to her car in silence. She put the key in the ignition, then turned to him and said, “You think he’s a suspect.”

“Until I know better, everyone’s a suspect.” He snapped his seatbelt.

Beck stared out the window for several minutes while Mia drove, then took his phone from his pocket and dialed.

“Hal, did you speak with Todd? Has he heard from Lisa?”

Mia braked to avoid hitting the car ahead of them which had made a left turn without signaling.

“When you’re done there, I want you and Duncan to make another search of those abandoned buildings down around the river. Make it every abandoned or empty place in town. And get Garland to run a list of the properties and their owners. Thanks…”

He hung up and seemed lost in thought.

“So, what did Hal have to say? Has Todd heard from Lisa?” She slowed as the cars in front of her began to stop.

“Hal said he caught Todd just as he was leaving to pick the kids up from the babysitter to drive them over to his sisters. He said they do this every summer. His kids stay with the aunt and uncle and cousins for a week or so, then everyone goes to the grandparents for a week. Todd’s parents own a very jazzy horse farm. According to Lisa, it’s really a showplace. Acres and acres of farmland, dozens of horses. They breed thoroughbreds.” Beck reached for the radio dial, then stopped. “Would you mind some music?”

“No, go ahead. Anything is fine.” She rolled down her window and stuck her head out. “Looks like there’s some road construction up ahead. Everything’s stopped.”