Nightchild

Chapter 64

The short private investigator reminded Nate more of a neighborhood grandfather than ex-cop turned detective. He was squatty, round bellied and what was left of his hair around the sides and back was gray with a few wisps fluffed across the top. He'd probably been considered cute when he was younger and thinner, like an Irish leprechaun. But the pug nose had grown bulbous and red, webbed with purple veins, the eyes no longer a bright lucid green were bleary, rheumy, his ruddy cheeks puffy. All in all though, it was still a pleasant face, a kind face and Nate could easily picture this man surrounded by dozens of loving grandchildren as he eagerly played Santa on Christmas Eve.

Jack Bellows had been polite and respectful during their first meeting, listening intensely to the long sordid details of his client's background and the woman he was to find. He made no comments, showed no shock or surprise and made meticulous notes of everything he thought important, most of which Nate thought completely irrelevant. At the end of the narrative, Mr. Bellows asked a few questions then stood to leave, ending the session with a dry comment about being in touch. Skeptical, Nate fully expected to hear nothing back for weeks, if ever, and was caught off guard when the phone rang four days later with the private investigator on the line.

"First of all, Mr. Stevens, I talked to your wife's publisher. He was quite friendly but of very little help. He had no address for her. It seems she always contacts them. But he did say that her royalty checks were being sent to an account in Switzerland. Now, let me say, sir, that I don't want you buildin' up false hope. I doubt seriously she'd be living there, but it might be a place to start."

Nate had been holding his breath. "Is that all?"

"If you'll remember, sir, you gave me complete carte blanche to do whatever I needed in order to track down information." Bellows went on briskly, not waiting for his client to answer. "Well, I talked to a few people and met with the same dead ends as you. So, I decided to go directly to the source, which in my opinion would be the last place she was seen. I flew to London, rented a car and drove out to the estate. Lovely place, but it was closed up, not a soul in sight. There's a local pub not far from it, so I went there. The Brits can be pretty closed mouthed about things when they know you're prying, so I just had my drinks and went with the flow, so to speak."

Nate was starting to get impatient. Certainly the man was leading to something. "And?" he asked tersely.

"Well, I found out some pretty interesting things that I don't believe from our previous conversation you're aware of."

He suddenly felt defensive. It irked him to have a stranger he was paying telling him things about his own wife. "Such as?" Irritation showed in his voice.

"Such as, her parents are dead, both of them. It seems ol' Angus went first, then Rachel MacLarren not long after."

The hush over the line confirmed to Bellows that Mr. Stevens was surprised over this piece of information but not nearly as much as he'd be over the next little tid-bit.

Recovering somewhat, Nate found his voice. "How long ago?"

"Let's see," Bellows said, thumbing through his notes. "Aw, yes, it's been close to two years now since your wife left, so I'd say that it happened...oh, about a year or so ago."

Silence again. "Is that all? Did you locate Blythe?"

"No, sir, I didn't. But I did find a young girl who worked for a time at the MacLarren estate. She was very congenial after I convinced her I was Angus's grieving brother form the States, looking for my only niece." Jack Bellows paused to light a cigar. "She couldn't tell me where to find your ex-wife now, but she did remember helping her pack things up so they could close the house till she could decide what to do with it. They had the opportunity to talk quite a bit and Blythe...