Passion In James County IV: Hell Hath No Fury
Chapter 8
"Do you have any idea why anyone would want to do this to you, Mr. Samuelson?" the police officer asked Bob and his wife.
Bob shook his head. "None whatsoever," he said.
"I don't, either," Joanna added. "Nobody hates us, at least not that I know of."
"Sir, are you having any problems at work?" the officer continued. "You know, maybe a disgruntled employee, that kinda thing?"
"I do very little hiring and firing," Bob replied. "Actually, my staff hasn't changed since I took my present position."
The policeman looked at Joanna. "What about you, ma'am?" he asked.
Joanna shook her head. "I work as a consultant," she replied. "I'm self-employed."
"How about a disgruntled client?" the officer asked.
She shook her head again. "I'm not aware there are any," she told him.
"Ah..." the officer reddened. "Uh...some of the stuff that was painted on your car, it was, you know, kinda sexual. Is there any reason why...?"
"Our marriage is solid," Bob told the officer. "There are no irate lovers or disgruntled husbands or wives out there that I'm aware of."
The officer looked at Joanna, his face getting even redder. "Ma'am?"
"You heard what my husband said," Joanna told him. "If you ask me, I think this was done by some madman."
The policeman nodded. "Could be, ma'am," he said. "Lord knows, there's enough nut cases loose out there." He put his pen back in his uniform shirt and closed his notebook. "Look, I'm going to file a report on this with the detectives. They'll review it, maybe they'll even come by here to ask some follow-up questions. But I gotta be honest with you. I wouldn't get my hopes up that whoever did this is gonna be caught any time soon."
"But...but what if it happens again?" Joanna asked.
"First of all, make sure you keep your doors locked from now on. Chances are, whoever did this picked your car because your door was unlocked. I mean, I know you say you don't have any enemies, but you work for the school system, Mr. Samuelson, so it could be kids, too. If it happens again, call us, we'll come back," the officer said. "But I wouldn't worry too much about that. I don't think that's gonna happen."
"What else can we do?" Bob asked.
"Like I said, I'd make sure my garage was locked from now on," the officer said. "Maybe you should keep a light on outside. If you want, I can have our crime prevention officer give you a call. She'll come out, look your place over, and make some suggestions about how you can make it more secure."
"I'd like that," Bob said. "What do you think, Joanna?"
"I think that's a good idea," his wife agreed.
The officer stood up. "OK," he said. "I'm gonna head back to the station and get this report done for the detectives. And I'll have Sergeant Dillon give you a call."
"Sergeant Dillon?" Bob asked.
"She's the crime prevention specialist I was telling you about," the officer said.
"Fine," Bob said. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," the officer said, putting his hat on. "You folks take care now. A lot of times after something like this happens, the night shift increases the level of patrol in the area. Don't be surprised if you see more police cars around for a week or so than you usually do."
"I certainly won't complain if that happens," Bob said.
"Me, either," Joanna said.
After the officer left, both Bob and Joanna left for their respective jobs. Bob insisted that his wife meet him at his office after work. "I don't want you coming home alone, not with that madman running loose," he said.
Milt Bingham sat down across the table from Heidi at lunch that day. "You look upset today, Heidi," he said. "Is something wrong?"
Heidi, who was so lost in thought she wasn't aware Milt was at the table, looked at him. "Oh, hello, Milt," she said. "What did you say?"
"I said you looked upset," he said. "Is something wrong?"
"I got an obscene phone call last night," she said. She shuddered. "It was awful."
"My word!" Milt exclaimed. "What did you do? I hope you called the police."
