“He’s in charge of the search. Go downstairs and he’ll find you a group to lead, while I try to find Luther.”
Robin walked to the other wing on the second floor and called out for the missing houseman. She was nervous about being alone, and she kept her gun in her hand. When Luther didn’t appear, Robin went downstairs.
“I couldn’t find Luther,” she told Pine.
“Do you think something happened to him? Could he have run into Zelko?”
“I have no idea why he’s missing, but we’ll have to search without him.”
“Miss Monroe has agreed to go with one of the groups,” Pine said. “She says she’s learned a lot about the house since she’s been living here.”
“So, we’re set.”
Pine started to turn away when Robin remembered something.
“Can you do something for me?” Robin asked.
“Sure, what?”
“After we found Mr. Trent, Ken and I searched his room to see if we could find anything that would suggest a motive for his murder. We didn’t, but we also didn’t find Trent’s cell phone or laptop. Can you ask everyone to look for it?”
“You think it’s important?” Pine asked.
“Trent and Melville met after he arrived at Black Oaks. No one else was in the office, so no one knows what they were discussing. There’s probably something on Trent’s phone or laptop that might give us an idea what they talked about. It’s a stretch, but the motive for killing one or both of the men might have something to do with what went on at the meeting, and there might be something on Trent’s phone or laptop that can tell us what that was.”
“Okay. I’ll tell everyone to keep an eye out for a cell phone or a laptop.”
Pine paired the officers with a guide. Then Pine, Morales, and Carter joined one of the three groups, and they started the search. Robin went up to the second floor with Mrs. Raskin and four police officers. Luther’s absence bothered Robin, and she wondered why the houseman would have disappeared. Had Luther run into Zelko? Robin hoped that wasn’t the case. She didn’t want to stumble on another murder victim.
While the medical examiner spent time with Frank Melville and Justin Trent and the lab technicians examined the elevator andthe basement, the search parties covered every inch of the manor house with no more success than the first group of searchers.
Just before the search was concluded, the medical examiner followed the ambulance carrying the bodies of Frank Melville and Justin Trent down the mountain. The team from the crime lab followed soon after.
“I’m convinced Zelko isn’t in Black Oaks,” Pine said when the searchers reconvened in the dining hall.
“If he is, he’s figured out how to become invisible,” Morales said.
Dr. Ashcroft had been waiting for the result of the search in the dining hall. He approached Sergeant Pine.
“It doesn’t appear that Zelko is still at Black Oaks, so I’m going back to the hospital.”
“Okay. I’ll let you know if there are any developments.”
“How about you, Miss Lockwood?” Pine asked.
“It’s too late to drive back to Portland.” She turned to Jose. “Is it alright if we leave in the morning?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Then Ken, Jose, and I will spend the night. Is that okay, Nelly?”
“Of course, you can stay. I don’t know how I would have made it through this ordeal without you.”
“Then we’ll leave after breakfast.”
“Are we free to leave?” Max DeNucci asked.
“The road’s been cleared, so you can leave as soon as you give a statement to one of my people.”