Free Proof Positive: A Joe Gunther Novel (Joe Gunther Series) by Archer Mayor

den—just from things he used to say about ‘burrowing in,’ and ‘being as snug as a mouse in his hole.’ Remember what I said about how sometimes he reminded me of an animal that way? I actually thought it was kind of cool, and fantasized that at the end of one of them was a large cave with a TV and a pool table and all the rest. I know it wasn’t true, but that’s how I saw it in my mind’s eye.”
    “God knows what it was really like,” Willy said in a low voice, a man well known for his lack of possessions.
    “Speaking of nooks and crannies,” Joe said. “You mentioned some pictures that were missing from his version of a bedroom. Did you happen to shoot those with your camera, or were they off-limits?”
    Rachel smiled shyly. “They were, kind of. But I shot them anyhow, when he wasn’t looking.” She gave Lester an idea of where to find the footage on his computer. A minute or two later, they were all looking at a trio of snapshots of a smiling young woman, thumbtacked to one of Ben’s walls.
    “Pretty,” Sammie murmured.
    “And he never identified her?” Joe asked again.
    Rachel shook her head. “Nope. Like I said, just a friend. That was it.”
    They asked her a few more questions about Ben’s living habits, getting little more in return, before thanking her for the video and her help, and escorting her to the door of their second-floor office.
    “Was that tunnel booby-trapped?” Lester asked once the door had closed.
    “I think so,” Sam answered. “After they got the body out, Joe and I gave what was left of the tunnel a pretty good look. You could see how the stack spanning that part of the passageway had been built off balance, with a massive hunk of metal positioned right over it.”
    “The top of a welding table,” Joe filled in. “Course, that kind of heavy equipment was all over the place. But Sam’s right about it looking built to collapse. It seemed like the tunnel was narrower at that point, too, so the user would have to shove his way through to keep going, thereby triggering the cave-in.”
    “Why?” Willy asked succinctly. “Was there something worth protecting down the line?”
    “I wondered the same thing,” Joe admitted. “But we’ll have to keep at it. There was no more excavation after that. We sealed the scene and sent the crew packing. From what we could tell, there wasn’t anything to see beyond where Bajek’s body was found.”
    “It was like the trap was the whole point,” Sam added.
    “Curiosity killing the cat,” Willy said.
    “Maybe so,” Joe agreed. “If Ben was aware of the rumors that he was hiding secret loot, he might’ve built it solely for that purpose.”
    They’d each returned to their respective desks by this time, except Spinney, whose computer they’d been using to watch Rachel’s footage.
    It was he, therefore, still manning his keyboard, who said, “Wow. That’s a double whammy.” He looked up at Joe. “Boss, you may not love computers, but when they work, they’re hard to beat. I was just checking e-mails and found a message from the Philadelphia PD—a Detective Elizabeth McLarney. She contacted the sheriff’s department with an inquiry a couple of days ago, which they then put onto the intel Listserv. But she’s not asking about a missing person named Bajek—she’s asking if anybody up here has ever heard of Benjamin Kendall.”
    “You’re kidding me,” Willy reacted.
    “Apparently it’s in context with a case they got down there,” Lester finished. “Here’s the contact info.” He recited McLarney’s phone number, which Joe took down on a pad.
    He looked up at his squad members. “Any reason not to jump on this now?”
    No one bothered answering, as he was already dialing.
    The voice over the speaker phone was brusque, urban, and fast-spoken. “Detective McLarney.”
    “Detective, this is Special Agent Joe Gunther of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation.”
    “You gonna talk to me about Benjamin