Kale didn’t have to wait long.
The chief stopped his truck on the road in front of Sarah’s car and got out. He left the engine running and the lights on. “Still no sign of her?”
Kale shook his head. “I’ve called her cell phone five or six times. Still no answer. I called the inn again. She’s not there. I even called Stanley’s gas station to see if she’d called in for assistance. Nothing.”
If she’d needed help, she would have called Kale.
Chief Willard stared at her car, then turned and gazed toward the chapel. “She could be anywhere.”
“I want to talk to the Popes,” Kale insisted. “She’s convinced Mrs. Pope is involved in all this somehow. If we don’t get anywhere with them, we’ll have to start a search.”
“Guess so.”
Kale wanted to shake the man. He seemed distracted. This wasn’t the time.
“Come on.” The chief started toward his truck. “I’ll drive.”
Kale worked hard to keep his emotions in check during the short ride. He just kept seeing those images from the two murder scenes. If something like that happened to her ...
God, he couldn’t even think about it.
“Now listen to me, Kale.” The chief put his truck in park in front of the Pope residence and turned off the headlights. “You let me do the talking, you hear?”
“I understand.” He’d say anything at this point to get the man in action.
Kale followed the chief to the front door. He pushed the doorbell and they waited. Another push and movement inside the house told them that someone was coming.
Jerald Pope opened the door, looked from the chief to Kale and back.
“Evening, Jerald,” the chief said. “I’m sorry to bother you so late, but we’re trying to locate Ms. Newton.”
Confusion furrowed the other man’s brow. “Was she planning to come here?”
The chief shook his head. “We found her car over by the chapel. Looks like she broke down. We thought she might have walked over here for help.”
Jerald shook his head. “I’m sorry, gentlemen, but we haven’t had any visitors this evening.”
“Well, if you hear or see anything,” the chief said, “you let us know.”
“Certainly.”
Before he could close the door, Kale braced his hand against it. “One more thing, Mr. Pope.”
Beside him, Kale felt the chief tense. Pope looked at Kale expectantly.
“Is your wife home?”
Pope nodded. “Did you need to speak with her? Jerri Lynn’s here as well.”
“Have they been home all evening?”
Pope’s confusion shifted to annoyance now. “They have, indeed. Is there more going on here than I know about?”
“No. No,” the chief assured. “We’re just checking out every possibility. Good night, Jerald.”
Jerald Pope bade them a good night and closed his door. He was lying. Kale was no body language expert, but he knew the man was lying. Sarah’s certainty about the Popes was all the certainty Kale needed.
The chief drove Kale to his Jeep. “We’ll go back to the office and get a search party started.”
