Something Missing_ A Novel - Matthew Dicks [101]
“Can you be there in thirty minutes?”
“You bet,” he answered, pleased with his quick response.
“Great!” Laura said with genuine enthusiasm. “I’ll see you there. I’ll be the pretty girl at the bar.”
“Okay,” Martin answered, shaking his head in disgust as he hung up the phone. “‘Okay?’ Is that the best I can do?” he wondered aloud. He’d think of something clever to say on the way over to the restaurant to make up for the blunder.
After a quick trip to the bathroom to straighten his hair, floss, and brush his teeth, Martin was ready to walk out the door when he heard the chimes that signal the arrival of an e-mail. Glancing at the clock and seeing that he had a few more minutes before he needed to leave, he sat down in front of the laptop, unable to contain his curiosity about the intruder. He double-clicked on the e-mail and began skimming the text, not expecting to find much. These reports tended to be full of addresses and previous work history, and little more. He was about halfway down the page when his eyes fell upon a piece of information that he had seen only once before.
Martin was suddenly very afraid for Sophie Pearl’s safety, and a few moments later, when the rest of the puzzle pieces clicked into place, his fear rose exponentially.
Sophie Pearl was in grave peril.
The drive to Max’s Oyster Bar was torture for Martin. He had gone from absolute glee over Laura’s invitation to a desire to dispense with the lunch as quickly as possible. There was much to do if Sophie Pearl was to remain safe, and he had no idea where to begin.
Adrenaline raced through his extremities, causing his hands to shake and his fingers and toes to tingle. His ears were filled with the sound of rushing blood. His heart raced like never before. As he turned onto South Main Street, in the direction of West Hartford Center, his fear grew as he began to comprehend the type of man with whom he was dealing.
The intruder, Clive Darrow, reminded Martin of himself. Meticulous, clever, and cautious.
Halfway down the page, Martin’s eyes had found Clive Darrow’s criminal history:
First-degree sexual assault.
Assault and battery with a deadly weapon.
A few lines past his criminal record, Martin saw that Clive Darrow was a registered sex offender, and it was this bit of information that allowed Martin to grasp the ingenuity of this man’s plan.
Only once before had Martin encountered a registered sex offender while conducting background checks. This had been Noah Blake, the man still living next door to the Pearls. Martin had allowed this fact to register as a coincidence for all of three seconds before the genius of Clive Darrow became apparent to him. Martin realized without any doubt that Clive Darrow, in search of a new victim, was targeting the home of a woman who lived within close proximity to a known sex offender. With a sex offender registry available online for anyone to access, Darrow would have been able to locate the homes of hundreds of these convicted criminals in the area. If his plans for Sophie Pearl were timed properly and executed without leaving any physical evidence behind, this would give the police a prime suspect for whatever crime Darrow might commit. And if Darrow was capable of breaking into the Pearls’ home undetected, he was more than capable of gaining access to Noah Blake’s home as well, in order to collect DNA evidence to leave behind at the scene. Hair from a drain or comb would be simple enough to obtain. In fact, he might have already gathered the necessary evidence and spent the morning dispersing it around the Pearls’ house. And since Noah Blake was a registered sex offender, his DNA would already be on file with law enforcement agencies.
Just as Martin was meticulous and ingenious in his work, it appeared that Clive Darrow was equally capable, and this was a dangerous combination in Martin’s estimation. Sophie Pearl was in great danger, and Martin knew that he would have to stop Darrow before it was too late.
What he should do was unclear, but as he pulled alongside