“Okay. Do you want to stay with us? Or would you be more comfortable at home?” He knew that Dexter was at Grant’s and maybe it was just easier for Grant to go home, but he didn’t want to assume.
“I’d like to stay, but I’m going to be up early, so I’ll go home and sleep there so I don’t disturb you and Cameron. But text me when you get up, and maybe we can meet for breakfast somewhere if the process doesn’t take too long.” Grant pulled onto the highway and drove through Harrisburg on their way back to Carlisle.
MARTY GOTCameron inside, and suddenly he had all this energy. Marty was exhausted, but he let Cameron play for a while as he brought in everything from their day out. “I’ll seeyou tomorrow once you’re through for the day. I was planning to take Cameron to the park for a while in the afternoon.”
“Sounds like fun.” Grant stifled a yawn. “I’ll see you then. I have to get home to let Dexter out and get him fed.” Grant kissed him and then left. Marty closed and locked the doors before taking Cameron upstairs, where he got him in the bath and then finally into bed before heading to his office to work.
Processing never stopped, and he handled a few issues before making sure that everything was running smoothly. Saturdays were big processing days for the retailer he worked with, but thankfully they made few changes before they increased volume.
“Whatcha doing?” Cameron asked from the doorway, holding his stuffie.
“I’m helping people with their computers,” Marty said, wiping his eyes. He was about to ask why Cameron wasn’t in bed, but he came over and climbed in his lap.
“Show me,”
Marty shrugged. “See this screen? Those are all the things that are running already, and these are what’s waiting. See, that one just turned green, which means it ran good, and this one is yellow, so it’s running now. If it goes red, then it stopped because of a problem. So I’m looking for the red. But there isn’t any so far, and there isn’t likely to be now. So that means that I can go to bed, and so can you.”
“I wanna watch the colors,” Cameron said. Marty had a few more things he could do, so they sat together for the next hour with him working on one screen and Cameron watching the processing grid on the other. By the time Marty finished, he looked down and realized that Cameron was asleep on his lap. Marty closed the windows on his systems and carefully took Cameron to his room and put him to bed. Then, as quietly as he could, he left the room and went to his own, but he couldn’tsleep for a long time. So in the end, he gave up and went down to the living room, turned on the television, and found an old movie before curling up under a blanket. But he barely watched what was on, his mind roving to Grant and the fact that he wished he were here and that he had had the courage to just ask him to come back with Dexter. Instead, he was alone and awake, wishing that things were different.
Chapter 18
GRANT BARELYslept, and when he finally dozed off, his alarm woke him because he had people to meet, a case to solve, and too many open questions. Mostly he hoped that some answers would be forthcoming today, because he needed them, and he needed them now. Grant showered quickly, dressed, and fed Dexter before getting him into the SUV. He drove past the Gunderson house on the way, but it was still closed up tight with no sign that anyone had been there. Not that he was surprised, but he had to try.
He went on to the cemetery, joining the small party at the entrance. “The folks from the cemetery are here, and they’re opening the grave,” Captain Robards told him when he got out to join the rest. “We can head on over and join the coroner. It won’t take them long to open things up.”
Grant got Dexter and walked through the headstones to where a small digger pulled up the earth. A man stood next to the hole along with the county coroner. She and Grant shook hands. “Can I ask how quickly you’ll be able to identify who is actually in the casket?”
“It depends on the state of the remains, but once I can look inside, I’ll know very quickly if its Bryant or Hansen Gunderson Junior. I have already gotten copies of dental and medical records. I’ll need to get everything back to the morgue, though, and we have a vehicle standing by.” She tipped her head toward the black vehicle, and Grant nodded. “I know this is important. I have a daughter in school. I’ll be as quick as I can, but I have tobe sure. Give me a card with your cell on it, and I’ll call directly when I have anything.”
“I understand,” Grant said, handing over the card, and then stepped back as the men digging reached the vault lid and carefully lifted it out. Then the light brown casket was raised out of the hole. Grant and the coroner both took photographs. “That matches what was purchased for the burial, according to cemetery records,” Grant said, and the coroner nodded. Once it was out, the entire casket was carefully moved to the back of the coroner’s vehicle while the cemetery staff completed their work, covering the dirt with a mat and securing the hole so no one wandered too close.
The coroner drove off, and Grant returned to where the captain waited, Dexter coming along the way he usually did, probably happy to be outside and not in the car. “So that’s it.”
“Yeah. Kind of anticlimactic, I guess.”
“It’s not like on TV, where they dramatically open the casket and someone makes an extraordinary proclamation.” Captain Robards shrugged. “But it won’t take long.”
“That’s what the coroner said too.” Grant stood looking at the hole as though it was going to give him some sort of answer. “I do think we need to have a talk with Hansen Gunderson as soon as possible.”
“Yes. Go by the house. I know it looks locked up tight, but go by anyway. If he’s there, then ask him to come to the station to answer some questions. If he isn’t, then find out if anyone has been there since we first visited. Remember that there was literature outside the front door that I tucked inside the storm door. See if it’s still where I placed it. If it is, then knock and check. If it’s been moved, call me and I’ll be right there.” Captain Robards was someone who liked to get out from behind the desk every now and then.
The house still appeared closed up, but Grant checked the front door. The literature was gone. Someone had indeed been home. He returned to the SUV and called the captain, who said he was two minutes away with a warrant. Grant got Dexter out of the back and walked him to the corner, returning as the captain pulled to a stop behind him.
“I’ll take the front. You and Dexter go around to the alley. If someone tries to run, they’ll go that way. I’ll give you a few minutes to get in place.”
Grant nodded and strode down the block before turning the corner. He was part way down the alley when a back gate opened. A man peered out and then closed it again. As Grant got closer, he saw it was a neighbor to the house they wanted. He peered inside the yard, where a man in his fifties was watering plants. “Go inside and stay there,” Grant said quietly. The man set down the hose and strode to the back door, turning off the water before going inside. Grant continued, radioing the captain that he was in position.
The garage door lifted next to the gate, and a car started. Grant pulled his gun and entered the garage, pointing it through the back window of the car, ready to squeeze off a shot. “Turn off the engine,” he said forcefully, and the Honda engine quieted. “Now, open the door and get out. Show me your hands at all times.” He activated the radio. “Have Gunderson Senior out back.” He waited as the elder Gunderson got out of his car, moving slowly, and stood to face him. “Where were you going?”
“To visit my son,” he answered shakily.
“Would that be the son who died or the one impersonating him?” Grant asked. Gunderson looked like he was going to yell or try to cover it up, but he sighed and his shoulders slumped. Grant didn’t relax until Captain Robards joined him. “I think you need to come to the station and tell us everything,” Grant said. “Including which son is actually in the casket we have down atthe morgue.” He knew they had him, and any fight went out of him, especially with Dexter next to him ready to attack at any moment.
The captain took charge of Gunderson, with Grant and Dexter following through the garage and out to the cars. As soon as the man was in the squad car, Grant praised Dexter and got him back in the SUV before heading to the station. The captain was already heading inside with Hansen Gunderson Senior, and got him to a conference room before calling Grant to his office.
“Let him sit in there for a while. Let him scare himself regarding what we do and don’t know. In the meantime, the coroner may have some information for us.”
Grant’s phone chimed with a message. “The remains in the casket are definitely not Bryant Gunderson. Working to confirm actual identity now.” Grant smiled and showed the message to Captain Robards.
