Hell's Roundabout. Benjamin Vance

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      “I’m going to look into that too, if things don’t make sense around here. We know it happened that night, which would have been between 12 midnight and 2:00 a.m. here. When exactly did you see her last?”

      “I saw her wave to me from her front porch at about 5:00 p.m. on her way to church for Bible study. I watched her drive away. It was a beautiful, clear night, with a snow storm brewing.” Chiara looked out her window again and wiped her nose with a tissue.

      She didn’t talk much then, except to give directions. They arrived at the designated home about 4:00 p.m. and Chiara went in to talk to the owners. When she returned, she had a closed-lip smile on her face, and it made her look even more beautiful. When she got in, she removed her blue toboggan to rearrange her thick, fragrant long hair and said, “We need to turn around and take the first right.”

      They pulled up to their second destination about 4:30 p.m. and there was an old man waiting on the front porch of a beautiful fieldstone home; a bit Scandinavian in style, trim and color scheme; a green metal roof and three cheerfully painted dormers indicating a second floor. As they exited the SUV the old man’s face broke out in a big smile. He stuck out his hand as they climbed the porch stairs and introduced himself as Truly Anderson, and his impossibly big smile got bigger when he took Chiara’s hand. They were invited in and accepted heartily, since it was butt cold outside.

      Army deferred to Chiara after they settled into chairs and accepted the charity of hot mint tea. Once into tea sipping and after thanking Mr. Anderson for his hospitality, Chiara related all she knew about Lois Peterson’s disappearance to Mr. Anderson. Army told him the abbreviated details about the California accident and Truly Anderson just shook his head.

      After contemplating his cup of tea for a moment he said, “You may never find dis lady. She maybe disappeared vith her auto-mobile. Many t’ings happen around dat damned mine ve don’t know about, you know. I vurry about dem kids from dat college ven dey come to look at rocks, you know. Dem geologist guys come and camp out, and I vurry about dem too. Dey’ve seen lights. I know because dey tell me dis and dat and laugh about it. It’s no laughin’ matter, by golly. People been disappearing up dere for a hunnert years; equipments too. Doze gents who run da mine yust say dose union folks steal equipment, but I know it yust poofs into da sky durin’ a storm,”

      When he stopped to take a sip of tea, Army asked, “Everybody talks about the lights Mr. Anderson. What color are they and when are they seen?”

      “Ya, dey’re seen at night of course, mostly very late, you know. Mostly green and blue I tink and in da Vintertime only. No lights in storms dough. Lightnin’ strikes mostly in da summertime and very bad, but if lightnin’ in da vinter, people and stuff gonna disappear, you betcha.”

      “You mean that things only disappear in the winter during storms?”

      “Ya, and people too.”

      Chiara butted in with wide eyes and a look of anticipation, “There was lightning the night Lois disappeared, not much though, just threatening.”

      “If she vas on dat hill she’s gone somevere else, I betcha.”

      Army asked, “What hill Mr. Anderson?”

      “Dat damned hill above dat lake. Dat’s vere dat equipment vent from and dat’s vere da guys vent from too. Dere’s somethin’ in dat damned hill. Dat little railroad vas cut yust like a damned velder did it, so supervisor guy says da union stole everyt’ing and took it avay, but dey never find it.”

      Army asked, “You mean there was a processing plant on the hill and ore train rails up to it?”

      “Ya, dat’s vat I’m sayin’. And dem guys are gone too and dey don’t care. Dey yust care about dat damned equipment.”

      Chiara asked, “How many guys went missing Mr. Anderson?”

      “Plese call me Truly. Dere vere two guys gone dat time.”

      “You mean there’ve been more people gone missing from around here?” she blurted.

      “Dat’s vhat I been tryin’ ta tell ya, girl. I’fe heard of tree or four myself and I betcha dat Sheriff keeps a secret of some too.”

      Army allowed a pregnant pause and asked, “What’s in that hill, Truly?”

      “Some say dat’s Satan, but I don’t tink Satan cares about a few souls here ven he gets all he needs in New York City” he laughed and continued, “I tink so much magnets dere, dat lightnin’ gets pulled hard and ven it goes avay it takes everyt’ing vith ‘im. It makes a heap o’ sense, you know.”

      Thinking Mr. Anderson was getting into the realm of the absurd and knowing it was getting dark and colder, Army and Chiara thanked him in excess and made their way from his presence. He was a good and knowledgeable man, but the two had about as much of Mr. Anderson as they could take for one evening. On the way back to Chiara’s place, Army asked her if Mr. Anderson had any direct association with the mine owners. She said he’d apparently been the caretaker for over forty years. Of course it made Army wonder why he gave them no indication that he knew Mrs. Peterson.

      After he dropped Chiara off, he called Charley and talked about things at home and in New York. He asked Charley how the Stottlemeyers’ were. Charley said they told him to say hello, he told him about school and about how pretty Mrs. Stottlemeyer looked when she picked him up from school the day before. He suspected Charley was playing cupid again. They talked until Army got sleepy and finally told Charley he loved him and hung up. He went to sleep on his bed without dinner, a shower or covers and woke in the middle of the night from a dream in which he was lost in the snow and cold.

      Chiara called about 8:00 a.m. She asked if she could come to the motel for breakfast. Not being stupid, Army did not tell her he’d already eaten. He invited her and she arrived about 8:20 looking and smelling very nice. He could tell immediately she had something on her mind. She ate ham and eggs and Army had most of another egg and cheese omelet and coffee. After she ate and was nursing her coffee, she told him about calling the folks at the home from which she got the directions to Mr. Anderson’s place; their first stop on the way to Truly’s.

      She smiled a self-assured smile and said, “I talked to the Swansons’ and found that Truly Anderson has been in and out of mental treatment for years. Folks think he has Alzheimer’s and is perhaps senile altogether. He’s 92 years old, Army. He could be wrong about a lot of things and I don’t think we should take his word about the hill or the mine accidents or anything. It might all be in his mind.”

      Carefully choosing his words, Army responded, “I really don’t believe anything I hear and only half of what I see, Chiara. I learned that from Will Rogers I think. In any case I can’t assume anything and deal only in fact during an investigation. We have a few facts so far, but it’s impossible to connect them logically and it may never be possible. I have several unsolved cases on my desk as we speak.”

      Chiara looked thoughtfully out the window and responded without looking at Army, “I feel like she’s gone, that’s all. She was so sweet and kind and intelligent and I guess I see some of me in her. When I get old, I’d like to be just like her, with one exception.” She turned to look boldly at Army and continued, “I want to have the one I love next to me until I die. I had that feeling once and lost it through my own avarice. I won’t make the same mistake again if I ever get another chance, but if I don’t, I’ll be satisfied to carry on the way I am now. I’m going to miss her and come to think of it, I might have to find another place to live and СКАЧАТЬ