Murder or Not?

Murder or Not?

By

Rebecka Vigus

Copyright 2019

All Rights Reserved

Chapter 6

Arriving at the Bakersfield Estate, Sam and her dad parked and went to the front door. She had filled him in on her discoveries on the ride over. The chief rang the doorbell.

Mrs. Bakersfield answered the door, “Chief and Samantha, what a pleasant surprise. Won’t you come inside? Marvin and I were in the library. Won’t you join us?”

They entered, and she closed the door, “Right this way.” She led them down a long hallway running along the side of a wide staircase. Pausing at the third door on the right to knock.

“Enter,” came a male voice from inside.

“Marvin, we have company,” Mrs. Bakersfield announced as she entered followed by the chief and Samantha.

Arising from his desk, Marvin Bakersfield, smiled and held his hand in greeting. “Welcome Chief, Samantha. To what do we owe this honor?”

“It’s business, Marvin,” the chief answered.

“Have I broken a law?” he asked indicating they should take seats. He and his wife chose a leather sofa. Sam took a side chair and the chief a straight back wooden chair.

“No,” the chief chuckled.  “However, Sam and I have been working a case jointly and it concerns a member or members of your family.”

Marvin leaned forward, “Do tell.”

“A few days ago, an anonymous letter arrived at my office,” Sam began. “I called Dad, because it was a threat to someone here at the estate. With the holidays coming and your entire family arriving, I was worried.”

“What type of threat?” Marvin asked.

“Someone threatened to kill a member of your family.”

“Preposterous!” exclaimed Marvin as he rose from his chair. “You believe this is a viable threat?”

Sam’s calm voice responded, “There is more.”

Sitting again, Marvin said, “Tell me.”

“Do you remember a hit-and-run with a motorcyclist a few years back?” she asked.

“I believe I do,” he said. “Did they ever catch the driver?”

“Apparently not,” Sam replied. “I have just discovered the truck was driven by someone in the Mason family.” She let the name of the family sink in.

“You mean like Tom Mason the other hiker?”

“Yes.”

He rubbed his brow as he pondered this. Then asked, “Who was the victim? I don’t recall his name ever being given out.”

Taking a deep breath, Sam answered, “Matthew Weaver. It wasn’t released here because his family had him flown to a trauma center near their home. He died there.”

“So, the Mason’s want blood for blood,” mused Marvin. “I suspect it means Robert is probably the target.”

“I thought so at first,” Sam began, “now I think it could be anyone in Robert’s immediate family.”

“Oh, good Lord,” gasped Mrs. Bakersfield.

“Tilly, it will be all right. We have both, Gus Worth and Samantha working on this,” Marvin assured her.

“What we need to do immediately is talk to Robert,” the chief told him. “We have to go over again everything about the hiking weekend.”

“But he’s told you everything,” Marvin argued.

“Mr. Bakersfield, I think he needs to be hypnotized to see if he can remember anything he hasn’t told us,” Sam stated. “It’s important if we are going to prevent any more tragedies from occurring.”

“I’ll call him,” Mrs. Bakersfield replied. “I for one want to get to the bottom of this.”

“Who’s going to hypnotize him?” Marvin asked.

“I have a doctor friend who specializes in this,” answered Sam. “She is board certified and has helped on police cases all over the country. Her name is Dr. Adele Garcia,”

“Thank you. I will have her checked out,” Marvin assured them. “Is there anything else?”

The chief spoke up, “Marvin, we need Robert here by nine tomorrow morning. This cannot wait.”

Marvin looked at him, “Very well. Tomorrow morning. Where shall, meet?”

“My office,” answered Sam. She pulled out a business card and handed it to Mr. Bakersfield.

Sam and the chief stood. They shook hands with Marvin.

“Thank you for your time, Marvin,” the chief said. He nodded to Mrs. Bakersfield who was giving Robert the details on the phone. She nodded back.

Walking them to the door, Marvin said, “Nasty business this is.”

“I agree, Marvin,” acknowledged the chief as he left the house.

###

“Dad, drop me back at my office,” Sam said. “I’m going to confirm the appointment with Adele and go back to pouring over the cases.”

“Sure thing.”

In the office the first thing Sam did was look at the incident report written by Reggie Reynolds. Why is the victim reported as a Terrence L. Marshall? When did they change the identification? Who changed it? Why?

She plowed through the reports looking for the coroner’s report. Maybe there would be something there. When she found it, her answers were explained. So, who is Terrence L. Marshall and how did he get identified as the victim?

“Anna, can you run me one more person?” Sam called into the other room.

“Sure, give me a minute.” Anna appeared less than a minute later. “Who do we need to track down?”

“Terrence L. Marshall, he was first identified as the hit-and-run victim. I need to know everything about him, including where to find him today.”

“On it.” Anna breezed out of the room and Sam went back to case files.

Within five minutes, Anna returned with a file on Terrence L. Marshall. She handed it to Sam saying, “I’m heading home to make dinner for my family. Do you need anything else?”

“No. We have Dr. Garcia coming in at eight-thirty in the morning. Mr. Bakersfield and his son, Robert, will be in at nine. I’m sure the chief will be here. We need coffee, donuts, and maybe some breakfast burritos.”

“Got it covered. I’ll by here by eight-fifteen to have the coffee going,” Anna assured her.

“See you then.”

“Locking you in on my way out,” Anna told her as she left.

Sam looked at the file for Terrence L. Marshall. He was a local man, several arrests for petty crime. The most time served was ninety days. She made a note to ask him about the accident. Was he a witness? Was he nearby? How did he get mistaken for the victim? His mug shot was old, and Sam didn’t see a resemblance to the victim. Setting it aside, she moved on.

It was time to look at more than newspaper clippings on the missing hiker.

Hours later the chief let himself in and found Samantha asleep on the couch, several papers scattered on the floor.

“Sam, honey, wake up,” he said as he gently shook her arm.

Groggily Sam opened her eyes, “Wha…what, where, oh, no.”

“Relax, pick up the papers and I’ll take you home,” he said. “What time do you want to be back in the morning?”

“Eight, I have to be here by eight to get everything ready,” she moaned.

He helped her straighten the file and they left together.