Quiet Enlightenment

Part 2, Chapter 15 - Holiday's Eve (Part 1)

Thursday, December 24, 2015

"Detective Anson. Can I see you for a second?" the chief said as he up to the man who was still occupying a table, getting ready to hand the Butch Conner case to the authorities up north and head home to salvage what was left of the holidays.

"Sure, throwing me a going-away party?" Anson said as he got up and followed the chief into his office.

"No, but I am giving you a hell of a gift." the chief said as he gestured to the same detective that interviewed Charmaine the other day.

"I'm sure you've heard of the case of Charmaine Hayes' restaurant, am I right?" the local detective said. Anson had to keep from rolling his eyes at this story that was more seemingly more important than a national manhunt to these locals.

"I am. But it has nothing to do with me."

"Keep listening." the chief said, sensing the slight hostility.

"Well, I talked to Mrs. Hayes and she gave me a tip that a crazy old man on the east coast wanted to do some harm to her."

"Okay..."

"Well, he's from this town, and it turns out that he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He's got some health issues yet decides to take a 'non-traditional' path of treatment."

Starting to see a connection, Anson gave the detective his full attention.

"The man used to be a local restaurant owner. He owned the restaurant where Butch Conner worked for a bit."

"Huh..." Anson replied, in amazement.

"Wait, why would he be working if he had his own little under-the-table business?" the chief asked, causing the local detective to sigh as quietly as possible.

"It looks better if you have something to tell the IRS, plus it helps create connections." Anson replied before gesturing to the detective to continue.

"Anyways, anyone who ate at the restaurant would know that Butch would do anything for that man. So, I got a bit of a hunch and called in a favor to my buddies in the NYPD to get the man's phone records. Turned out that he was smart enough to use his personal cell phone to call a prepaid phone here in Oregon. We were able to track the phone's serial number back to the store."

"Was you able to get a hold of the store?"

"Oh yes, I went there yesterday and braved the last-minute crowds to get a hold of the manager of the little discount store. Holiday spirits be damned, she gave me access to the surveillance video, and we were able to see exactly who bought the phone. Look."

Anson craned his head over and nearly leapt out of his skin when he saw Butch Conner buying the phone with his son behind him.

"Merry Christmas, Detective." the chief said.

"It's not over yet, it just says that he was here, but not that he's still here." the local detective chimed in.

"But it does indeed link the restaurant fire to Butch Conner. I need to speak to Mrs. Hayes."

"On Christmas Eve?"

"Oh, I think she'll want to see this man go down as much as I do." Anson said as he grabbed his coat and slid out a notepad. The detective took it and wrote down Charmaine's address.

Meanwhile, in Boston, Toby looked out of the window as he heard his phone ring. His face lit up as he saw Olivia's name pop up on the caller ID.

"Hi!" he said as he happily answered the call.