Deadly Stillwater

Mac sat on the bar stool, his back to the bar, looking out over the restaurant. He looked to his right, where a small hallway led to the back door, the patio, and then the parking lot where Hisle was abducted. He looked back out into the restaurant, where there were sixteen tables in four rows. To Mac’s left a row of tables sat along the front windows of the restaurant. There were two rows down the center and then a row along the wall to his right. He looked at the back door again.

“How many people in the restaurant about the time Hisle left?” Mac asked.

Haines tilted his head, squinted, and pondered for a minute, “I’d say we had maybe four or five tables going at that point.”

“How about in the half hour before she left?”

“Give me a minute,” Haines said. “I can go through the receipts and get a count.”

“What are you thinking?” Riles asked after Haines walked off for the receipts.

“They had someone on the inside.”

“How do you figure?” Rock asked, puzzled.

“She leaves at 5:00 PM or thereabouts on Sundays, right?”

“Yeah, that gives them a time to be ready.”

“Fine,” Mac replied, “But let’s assume for a second that our guy is waiting behind that truck for Shannon to leave. He can’t just sit there for five or ten minutes with a mask on and not risk drawing some attention.”

Riley picked up on the thread.

“So they know when she’s generally going to leave, but they need to know when she’s heading out so as to be ready.”

“Right,” Mac said. “Somebody sits in here, eyes the situation, and calls out when she’s getting ready to go.”

“And this person knows when Shannon is getting ready to go, since she sits up at the bar, having a soda and closing out her tables,” Rock added.

“Probably because the inside person has been in here on Sundays, watching the pattern and knew when she was getting ready to roll,” Mac finished.

Just then, Haines came back.

“In the half hour before Shannon left we had eight tables active.”

“How many closed out between 4:30 and 5:00 PM? Lich asked.

Haines reviewed them quickly, “I have four closing out in that time period.”

“Which is the latest?”

Haines flipped through the four that closed, looking for the time along the top of the white receipt, “Last one was at 4:52 PM. Shannon closed it out.”

“How’d the person pay?” Riley asked before the others could spit it out, all thinking the same thing and knowing the answer.

“Cash.”

Not a surprise. A credit card would have made it easier, Mac thought.

“How much was the tab?”

“$18.76,” Haines replied. “A few iced teas and a sandwich.”

“Which table?” Mac asked.

“Four.”

“Where’s that?”

“Over by the front door.”

They all walked over to the table. It was empty, except for the ceramic sugar holder and the glass salt and pepper shakers in the middle. Mac stood on the side that backed up to the front door. He could take in the entire restaurant, including the bar and the hallway to the back door.

“Mr. Haines, do you recall who was sitting here?”

“Vaguely. Black hair, flowery blouse. She was here for a while, reading a book.”

“Was she ever on a cell phone?”

“I think she was from time to time.”

“Have you seen her in here before?”

“Yeah, a few times.”

“Over the years? Last couple of months? What?” Mac asked.

“Probably more recent,” Haines replied.

“Do you recall when she left today?”

“Not exactly when.”

“Do you think it was before or after Shannon left?”

“I really can’t recall. I do know she wasn’t here when the patrol car arrived. She wasn’t here when I asked everyone to stay. She was gone by then.”

“You think she went out the front door?” Lich asked.

“I don’t recall her going out the back.”

“We need forensics to work this table over,” Mac said.

“I’ll go get them,” Lich said and left the group.

“Your entire staff has to remember this woman as best they can,” Riley told Haines. “We need a name, full description, anything and everything they can think of. Call anyone in who has worked Sundays for the last month. We’ll get a sketch artist down here as well.”

“Why?” Haines asked.

Because,” Mac replied, “this person may have sat right here and let the kidnappers know when Shannon bailed.”

Riley’s cell phone went off again.

“Riley,” he answered. He nodded his head a few times. “Where?” He took out a notepad and started writing. “Okay… thanks.”

“What’s up?” Rock asked.

“We might have the van.”

“Where?”

“River Falls.”

3 “ Who’s the guy?”