“Charlie quickly piped up, “Not me! I couldn’t remember enough to do myself any good much less bring anything back.” Charlie didn’t even hesitate to add, “I doubt that Mel would want to go either. He’s too much of a homebody.”

“No worry there,” the chief said to Charlie.

Wryly with a grin, he added, “There isn’t enough money in the budget for two people and if one of you two went, the other would have to go, too.”

“Have you mentioned this to Tom yet,” asked Ann?         

“Matter of fact, I have. He said just about everything both of you have said. He even suggested I go, since I am the senior officer. And I called Mel last night. He said basically the same thing Charlie said.  I’ve made up my mind, though. Ann, you’re going. You’ll be in plain clothes. Be sure to wear something conservative while you are at the seminar. You’re a looker and there’s no need to distract anyone. You’ve been pretty good at keeping records and I expect you to bring back some ideas. Remember, this seminar is for the benefit of all of us.” He didn’t ask if there were any questions.

“I have an errand to run,” he said. “My cell phone is on in case anything comes up.” Then he walked out the door.

Ann and Charlie looked at each other.

“Now, are there any questions?” Ann asked.

“That was short and sweet, wasn’t it?” Charlie said. “I guess we were the last to know.”  

“And another thing, where does he get off asking Mel about what I would think about going? And why didn’t he call us last night the same as the others instead of waiting until this morning?”

Ann could see that Charlie was getting a little hot about the way this whole thing had been handled. He felt like the chief thought he was so unimportant that he wouldn’t mind not being considered at all, and Mel could speak for him. Ann needed to de-fuse what could be an explosive situation before it went any farther.

“You know, the chief knew you were on dispatch last night and probably didn’t want you to have to take your mind off of your dispatching by telling you about the seminar. I doubt he asked Mel about you. Mel’s comment about you not wanting to go probably came out spontaneously during the conversation. You know, like your comment this morning about Mel. You two know each other pretty well. It must be nice to have that much confidence in someone.”

“And I had spoken to the chief earlier and he probably figured I had already gone to bed. He knows what a grouch I can be if I get woke up at night.”

“You’re most likely right,” Charlie conceded. “Besides, he probably already had his mind made up to send you all along because of your work on the Abbot case. Maybe he figures you can teach the people at the seminar a few things. Or, maybe he thinks he can find out how you did it!” With that, Charlie chuckled aloud.

Ann didn’t respond to what Charlie said about how she solved the Abbot case. She wondered why it didn’t hit a nerve with her when Charlie mentioned the Abbot case the way it did when Tom had mentioned it.

“You know, that is a frequent topic of conversation when you aren’t in the office. Everyone wants to know how you did it. Even after you told everyone how you did it, the process of elimination and all. I guess I’m about the only one who doesn’t care how you did it as long as it got done. Maybe I’ll solve something someday. I hope not, though. I don’t know if I could handle the fame and attention!”

Ann grinned but didn’t say anything. Why did she feel like she and Charlie had a secret? She couldn’t figure it but she was glad. It was almost as good as really sharing her own secret with someone.

Ann wondered if there was any way to transfer the case of the mayor’s death to Charlie. It would be up to the ‘voice’. But it was probably too late now. She made a mental note to ask him when he called again.

It was now two weeks since she had left the garbage bags at the old shack. The first time she did this for the Abbot case, she had waited three and a half weeks. She thought little about it at the time. Right now she was thinking about the seminar.

It was 1:30 am on the second Tuesday since she had been out at the abandoned shack and left the garbage bag for the ‘voice’ when the phone rang. Ann had retired early, at 9:00, and was in rem sleep, her eyes darting around under their closed lids. She was dreaming about a river she had frequented as a child and saw herself in her mind as that same child. It was a clean, gently flowing river and there was a tree on the bank of the stream with a knotted rope hanging from a limb that reached out over the water. She had to jump to get the rope and swing back and forth to get back to the bank without letting go and dropping into the river.

She had just jumped and grabbed the rope, as she had many times before, when she felt something unfamiliar in her dream. She knew the feeling shouldn’t be in her dream, this same dream she had dreamed many times before, one of her favorite dreams, along with the dream of flying and soaring like a bird.

At first it was a feeling but soon it became a sound. It was urgent and, after an instant of half sleep, she awoke with a start. She sat up quickly and realized the sound was of the phone ringing.

“Ann Barton,” she said into the receiver.

“Are you plumb awake?” said a voice. “Go get a pencil and paper.”

“Hold on,” said Ann. She walked into the kitchen and laid the phone on the table. She rummaged through a drawer for a pencil and writing pad.

“All right,” she said, “Go ahead.”

“Now listen carefully and write this down. There are a couple of things you have to do. First, check the charge card records for everyone who was out of town when Mayor Rafton was shot. Get times and places of every purchase of gas or anything at service stations for a week afterwards, especially out of town purchases. Next check the cleaners’ records for every police officer up to a month after the killing. Don’t mention no name when you get the records, just tell them to give you all of them. You’ll already know who the killer is but doing all this will get everyone wondering what is going on and will help you explain how you caught him.  Oh, it was Detective Tom Watson that did it. Last, get someone from somewhere else instead of Tulla City to be with you when you tell the killer you know it was him who done the killing. A reporter or someone like that. Maybe that guy from the Enquirer you talked to. Prosser. Yeah, get him. Get Prosser. Remember though, you can’t tell him how you done it. Just tell him he has to be real secret about going with you and he can’t tell anyone about what’s going on. Tell him he has to promise or you’ll get someone else. He’ll do it. Get in touch with him after you do the other stuff I told you. Wait a little while before you talk to Watson. That way it’ll seem like all them records was part of your strategy in solvin’ this thing. Maybe a week. Yeah, a week’ll do it. That’ll be long enough.”

There was a pause and Ann felt a stab of panic.

“Wait!” she said, “I have a question!” She wanted to ask about giving the case to Charlie. She heard a breath being expelled over the phone, like the voice had released a sigh.

“You don’t need no questions answered,” the voice said. “This is your baby. Maybe in a year or so I’ll tell you how I done it. Maybe not.” Then the ‘voice’ hung up the phone.

Well, this was it then. She had her orders and she had the killer. She wondered what the ‘voice’ would have said or done if she had just refused to follow his instructions and told him to get someone else. A small shudder ran through her as she considered that idea. No, that wasn’t an option. She thought of what had happened to her car and to Billy’s house because of much more minor transgressions. Besides, she knew the killer needed to be brought to justice and somehow it seemed right that she have a hand in it.

Ann wondered aloud. “I guess it’s all in the timing,” she said to herself. But how could this be happening the way it was. Who the hell was this person, the ‘voice’ she listened to and was afraid to question? And how does he know everything about everything? How could he?

Her mind went back to the progression of the latest set of circumstances that had to do with the murder of the mayor. They couldn’t be just coincidences linked mysteriously somehow together. No, this was all happening according to some master plan known only to God and the ‘voice’. Otherwise how could the police seminar to which she had to attend this Friday and the ‘voice’s’ instruction to involve Gerald Prosser in her confrontation with Tom Watson have happened in the order they did. She was sure Prosser would attend the seminar, he being the Enquirer’s top crime reporter. But how could the ‘voice’ know ahead of time? And was it just coincidence that the voice took only two weeks to come to his conclusion this time instead of three and a half weeks as he had the first time and the four weeks that he had indicated when he assigned this case to Billy Thompson? Well, she may as well quit worrying about it and get the show on the road.

It was a couple of days yet before the seminar starts and Ann decided to make a couple of calls. She was pretty sure Prosser would be at the seminar but it wouldn’t hurt to check and be sure. She looked up the phone number of the Enquirer and dialed it. The phone rang twice and was answered by a receptionist. She asked for Gerald Prosser and was put on hold. In a second the receptionist returned and asked who she was.

“This is Detective Barton,” she replied. There was a pause and the receptionist asked what her business was with Mr. Prosser.

“My business with Mr. Prosser is none of yours,” Ann replied brusquely.

“Now if he isn’t in, put me through to the editor.”

“Hold on,” said the receptionist. In a moment a man said, “This is Gerald Prosser. May I help you?”

“Mr. Prosser, this is Detective Ann Barton of the Tulla City Police department. I am scheduled to attend a crime seminar in Philadelphia on Friday and wondered if you plan to attend.”

“Detective Ann Barton.” He put emphasis on ‘Ann’. “Of course. How nice to hear from you. Sorry about my secretary giving you the run-around. I’m expecting another call I really don’t want to accept.”

“From a different Detective Barton?” Ann asked curtly.

“No. Now you want to know if I’ll be at the seminar. Yes, I will. May I assume you are going as well?”

“Yes. I just got my orders today.” Ann waited for a response. She got none so she went on, “I’ll be staying at the Fremont Hotel. I understand that is where the seminar will be held.”

Gerald Prosser was slightly taken aback by that disclosure. He wondered why she told him where she was staying.

“Yes it is,” said Prosser. “It has a nice big conference room. Now why are you telling me where you’ll be staying?” he asked. “What’s on your mind?”

Ann felt her face redden. Why had she blurted that out so abruptly? It was too late now though so she must make the best of it.

“I need to tell you something in the strictest confidence. I need to talk to you after the seminar and I wanted to know for sure if you would be there. If I tell you something, will you keep it confidential? I have to know for sure. It’s important.”

Gerald Prosser had thought about the lady detective on occasion and wondered again how she really had solved the Abbot murder case. He knew there was more to it than she was willing to tell. He also thought about her strange green eyes with the brown flecks in them. It had annoyed him to entertain any thoughts of her when he assumed she probably hadn’t thought about him at all. Had he been wrong?

“If it’s important I can keep a secret. But first I need to know what it’s about.”

Ann hesitated. “No, if you can’t promise to keep it to yourself, no questions asked, then forget it. I’ll find someone else.”

Prosser knew he couldn’t let that happen.

“Wait,” he said quickly. “All right. I promise to keep this a secret. I won’t even mention you called today if that is what you want.”

“That’s the way it has to be,” Ann said. “I’ll contact you Friday at the seminar.” Ann hung up the phone.

“What in hell in going on?” Prosser asked himself.  “What is she up to and why did she call me?” Prosser decided to make a call and see what he could find out. He spoke into an intercom and told his secretary to get the Fremont Hotel. In a second the phone buzzed and a light flashed on line two. He picked up the phone and pressed a button and spoke into the receiver. A voice on the other end said, “Fremont Hotel. This is Anita. May I help you?”

“Yes,” said Gerald Prosser. “Can you tell me what room Detective Ann Barton will be staying in Thursday and Friday and if an adjoining room will be available?”

There was a short pause and the clerk said, “Yes; that will be room 212 and room 210 will be available.”

Prosser said, “This is Gerald Prosser. I’d like to reserve room 210 for those same days. Would you like a card number?”

“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Prosser. I know you.” the clerk answered.  “That room is available and I’ll hold it for you and you can give me your card when you get here or I can bill it to the news paper.”

“You know me?” asked Prosser.

“Of course I do. Everyone who follows the news knows you,” she added.

“All right, thanks, Anita. I’ll be in Thursday afternoon.” said the reporter and he hung up the phone.

Back in Tulla City, Ann Barton was sitting at her desk, scribbling on a sheet of typing paper. She was thinking about what she needed to do before going to Philadelphia for the seminar. It worried her some that members of the press would be there. She knew she now had to let B J Lassiter, the editor of the local newspaper know that press members would be invited. First she needed to check and make sure the press presence wouldn’t be by invitation only.

Ann walked to the chiefs’ office door and knocked. He said to come in and she walked through the door and stopped in front of his desk.

“Chief,” she said, “is the press invited to the seminar?  Lassiter asked me and I told him I thought not. I think I should let him know for sure.”

“Yes, there will be reporters there. Do you want me to call him?” the chief asked.

“No thanks, I’ll do it,” Ann answered and she left his office.

Back at her desk, Ann picked up the phone and dialed the number of the Tulla City Crier.  The ring was answered immediately and a voice said, “This is the Crier; Lassiter here. May I help you?”

“B J, this is Ann Barton. I wanted to let you know that there will be reporters at the police seminar.”

“Well, thank you Detective,” answered Lassiter. “I’m glad to hear that. Then I’ll be there. It should be interesting. Maybe I can get a big city story to bring to my readers.”

There was a pause then Lassiter asked, “How is the investigation of the mayors’ death coming along?”

“We’re working on it,” Ann responded.

“Are there any new leads I can report?” asked the reporter.

“Not yet,” said Ann. “I’ll let you know when we come up with something.”

“OK,” said Lassiter. “See you at the seminar.”

Ann thought about the task that had been assigned to her by the ‘voice’ of collecting credit card receipts, cleaning  receipts and the like of everyone involved with the mayor at the time of his untimely demise. She wondered if a day and a half would be ample time to do this. She decided it would. She knocked once more on the door to the chiefs’ office and was told to enter.

He looked at her quizzically. “Hello, Detective,” he said. “What is troubling you?”

Ann reddened slightly and said, “Do I look troubled?”

“It’s the second time this morning you’ve been in here. I would think so,” he responded. “Whatta you need?”

“I have a couple of ideas about the mayors’ murder,” she said. “I’d like to check out some things that have been bothering me about it and I need to be able to do it on my own. It’ll take the time between now and when I have to leave for the seminar.”

“I don’t think you are going to tell me what it is you’ll be checking,” said the chief.

“That’s right. I don’t want anyone besides you to know what I’m doing,” said Ann. “I’ll fill you in when I get back from the seminar. I might have something to tell you by then, or a while after I get back. I’m not sure just how long it’ll be but it won’t be longer than a couple of weeks.”

“How could I say no,” said the chief. “Leave when you get ready. I won’t mention this to anyone.” The chief picked up a pencil and began writing on a scrap of paper and Ann left his office.

The next day and a half was full and hectic. Detective Ann Barton went about calling credit card companies and copying the results of  the credit card activities of everyone around the mayor. That included all of the police officers and others. She also collected cleaning bills and checked cell phone calls made by everyone involved. By the end of a day and a half of police work, she knew all about just about everyone and, by the end of the day and a half of police work, she was ready to leave for the seminar. As a matter of fact, she was more than ready; she actually looked forward to it!