please pull the front door shut?” Sonny said. “I don’t want the property damaged.”
One officer turned the lock inside the door then pulled it shut, while the other one put Sonny in the back of the car and then drove away.
* * *
Detective Floyd still had a passkey to the apartments, and since they hadn’t been able to find Burch to serve the search warrant, they notified Allen Carson of the search.
Allen was shocked about the request.
“Is Sonny Burch the man who abducted Rachel?” he asked.
“He’s a suspect in the case,” Floyd said.
“Lord. Do I have to be there?” Allen asked.
“No, sir. We’re just covering our bases by letting you know we’re on the property and about to search his residence,” Floyd said.
“Then search away,” Allen said. “I will be so glad to see the guilty person behind bars, and my renters safely back in their homes and unafraid. I also want to give you a little backstory about the property. I spoke to a woman from the historical society, and then the last living relative from the original owners, asking them about that passage. The historical society didn’t have much to go on, but the relative told me something that made things fit. Back in the old days, after the original owners had passed, one heir actually turned it into a gentlemen’s club for a time, with a secret access into the property without being seen, which might explain the tunnel. As for the secret doors in the building itself, at the time they weren’t secret, and the women inside were high-class prostitutes, waiting to service whoever came through that door. Then he died, some relatives from Boston inherited without knowing the details of the place, and through the years that knowledge was likely lost from one owner to the next.”
“Wow,” Floyd said. “Interesting, and explains the whole mess. Well, happy renovating.”
“Oh, have no doubt,” Allen said. “That’s about to be gone.”
“Okay, thanks for the info,” Floyd said and disconnected.
He and Mills were waiting in the hall in front of the office when Charlie and Wyrick arrived.
Floyd first saw them walking across the drive toward the entrance. Looking at Charlie Dodge made Floyd wish he worked out, but it was Wyrick who held his focus. No hair, no boobs, and she was, without doubt, the sexiest woman he’d ever seen. And from his partner’s comment, it was apparent that he agreed.
“Damn,” Mills whispered. “Charlie Dodge is one lucky son of a bitch.”
“I don’t think they have that kind of relationship,” Floyd said. “His wife recently died after a long bout with Alzheimer’s, and Wyrick has worked for him for years. They’re partners for sure, in the best sense of the word.”
And then Charlie and Wyrick entered the building, and both cops clammed up.
“We have a little info for you,” Floyd said. “Allen Carson found out why the passage and tunnel were likely there in the first place,” and then related the story as Carson had told them.
Charlie was dumbfounded. “Good Lord. So the original reason was just a way for rich guys to see hookers without their wives finding out.”
“Secrets and lies are never really buried,” Wyrick said.
“Yes, ma’am. Are you ready to do this?” Floyd asked.
Charlie nodded. “Lead the way.”
The detectives turned and moved through the lobby, then down a long hall on the south end of the ground floor to apartment 115.
“This is it,” Floyd said, unlocked the door and walked in, turning on lights as they went.
Wyrick moved through the rooms, looking at the layout and the fixtures and the bookshelves surrounding the gas fireplace in the living room on their left.
“This apartment is a reverse layout of the one Rachel Dean was in,” Charlie said, then glanced at Wyrick. “Everything okay?”
She nodded. “Just getting a feel for the place.”
“So what do you think?” Charlie asked.
She shrugged. “Even though the lights are on, it feels dark. I’m going to walk through all of the rooms first and then backtrack to begin a search and go from there.”
“You and Charlie do your thing and give us a shout if you find something,” Floyd said.
“I’m going this way,” Wyrick said.
“Then so am I,” Charlie added. “I already left you on your own once in this damn place, and I nearly lost you. That’s not happening again.”
Wyrick wasn’t going to argue with that, and began walking through the rooms but nothing popped. So she backtracked and began in Sonny’s bedroom, picking up small items, trying to get a feel