“Unfortunately, but yeah, he’ll have a headache for a few days, maybe even a slight concussion, but he’ll live.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Norm said then walked off his porch, making sure the gun he had in his hand was seen, but then put into the small of his back.“You got any ID?”he asked as he held out his hand for it.
Paul handed his dual ID for DEA and ATF, and Warren handed over his State Police ID.Norm’s only reaction to them was raised eyebrows and a slow whistle.
“Why do you need Paula’s van?”
“As we said, my sister, Sally, she owns Sally’s Diner in town, and Paul’s girlfriend are helping Paula pack.She needs the van to load it up, that’s what Paul and I will be doing, packing it so she can get as much stuff as she can inside.I don’t know what she’s taking, but we’ll make sure it holds as much as it can.”
“Good, give me a minute,” Norm said as he turned on his heel and disappeared into his home.The next time they saw him, the garage door was opening, and he stood there in the doorway, waving them inside.
“It’s been here for about ten months, I’ve kept it maintained, there’s a full tank of gas, the oil was changed three weeks ago, and there are brand new tires on it, the spare is even brand new.Paula doesn’t know I did this.”He handed over a thick black expanded folder.
“What’s this?”
“Paula would give me money over the past three years for storage fees to keep her minivan here.She also gave me any extra money she had, in her words, it was to keep it out of Eddie’s hands.I’m not as old as I look, I’m only in my forties, but I’ve been widowed for the last five years, and my daughter lives in a different country.”He waved it away with a gigantic sigh.“She’s smart, she went over there for her education, and met a man and married him.Because of her intelligence, and her husband being from there, she got a job there.Oh, don’t get me wrong, we’re still close, we talk for a couple of hours a week, and every two years, she’s able to come back here to spend a month for her vacation.She’s trying to get me to move there, but I just don’t have the heart to live anywhere else.Since Paula moved in, I’ve basically become a father figure to her, and I’ve been helping her whenever I can.Half of this money is what she’s given me over the years for the storage fees, and if I did anything in the house to repair it.”He shook his head sadly.
“What?”
“She doesn’t know that I own the home, so if anything went wrong, it was my responsibility to fix it anyway.Somehow she either didn’t catch on that I own it, or it was never brought up.Anyway, as I said, this is the money she gave me over the years, and I matched it.Also, I only took the amount of the taxes from the rent she’s paid, the rest of it is in this envelope.”He handed it to them.“Give it to her.There is almost five grand in here.”
Paul didn’t know what to say, so he took the envelope with a nod.“Thank you, I’m sure she’ll appreciate this.”
Norm nodded and stepped back.“I’ll walk down there to see if I can help with anything, why don’t you drive the van down?”
They did and in minutes they were walking into the house and watched as Sally, Paula, and Petra brought things to sit in front of the door.“These can be loaded,” Paula said, then called for them to wait.
“What’s up?”Paul asked when she continued to stand there with a confused look on her face.
“I don’t know how to say this.”
“Just speak,” Paul said.“Anything you say will stay between us.”
“I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“Did you do anything wrong?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
Paula sighed and rubbed her forehead.That was when Paul noticed she had changed into jeans, sneakers, and a tee shirt.The mini skirt, leather halter top, and fishnet stockings with high-heeled boots were gone.The heavy makeup had been wiped from her face, and her hair was in a pony tail.
“Eddie left something here.I didn’t notice it until I started taking things from my closet.There’s a backpack that I’ve never seen before.I told Sally and Petra not to touch it, and they told me to tell you about it.”
“Where is it?”Paul asked and actually reached into the inside pocket of his leather vest to withdraw a set of rubber gloves.Warren did the same thing.They followed her down the narrow hallway.Inside a room that didn’t even hold a bed, only a desk and chair the closet stood open, and Paula pointed to the open doors.
“There’s a black and orange backpack in there.It’s to the left, on the floor.”
Paul started forward and when he saw it, he withdrew his phone and started snapping photos.Without saying anything, he treated it like a crime scene, and once he was satisfied with the photos, he slowly approached the bag in question.He looked up and saw Paula had left, while Warren stood by the doorway, keeping everyone out.
“I’m going to lift it,” Paul said and put actions to his words.He frowned at the heft, and carried it over to the desk.He examined all the zippers, making sure nothing was rigged to blow, taking photos of everything.He slowly, methodically, unzipped one of the zippers, looked in, and whistled.He whipped his head up toward Warren.“You gotta see this.I won’t withdraw anything, but I’m going to take this back to my place for further investigation.I’ll show you what’s inside, then I’m going to want a plastic garbage bag to slip this into.”
“Reserve evidence?”
“Yes.”Paul nodded and stepped back when Warren slowly approached, looked in, and looked at Paul in shock.
“Holy shit, is that cash?”
