An Insignificant Case

Chapter Twelve

CHAPTER TWELVE

Charlie Webb had forced himself to be all business when Gretchen Hall called, but it felt weird talking to someone who had been arrested on the red carpet at the Oscars for sex trafficking. It was like getting a call from a celebrity, even if the cause of the person’s notoriety wasn’t a good thing. Charlie reminded himself that Guido’s case had nothing to do with sex trafficking, so Charlie knew better than to bring up Gretchen’s case while they were finalizing the deal that would keep his client out of jail.

Charlie drove into the yard in front of Guido’s farmhouse at eleven thirty, because he wanted to talk to his client before Gretchen Hall arrived at noon. Charlie knocked on the farmhouse door and waited for Guido to open it. After a reasonable amount of time, he knocked again and shouted Guido’s name. When there was still no response, he tried the door and found that it was open. Charlie walked into the entryway and called out, “Hello, Guido?” There was still no answer, and he was going to call again when he walked past the living room. It looked like a tornado had ripped through it.

Charlie’s instinct was to flee, but he stopped after a backward step. Guido could be injured. Charlie took a deep breath and began to walk through the house. Every room was a portrait of devastation, and Guido wasn’t in any of them.

Charlie left the house and was headed toward the barn when a car drove into the front yard. It stopped, and Gretchen Hall and Yuri Makarov got out.

“Are you Gretchen Hall?” Charlie asked.

Gretchen nodded. “And I assume you’re Mr. Webb.”

“Yeah. Call me Charlie. Thanks for coming.”

Charlie thought that Makarov looked scary. He was almost as big as Charlie but constructed of solid muscle, and an aura of menace surrounded him.

“Who’s your companion?” Charlie asked.

“Yuri Makarov is a friend.”

Charlie remembered reading that a man named Yuri Makarov had been arrested in connection with the sex trafficking scheme.

“So, where is Mr. Sabatini?”

“Good question. He isn’t in the house, and it looks like it’s been searched. I’m going to see if he’s in the barn.”

When Charlie walked into the barn, he saw Guido’s easel lying on its side and his paints strewn across the floor. Makarov walked to the first stall, and Charlie followed. The video monitors connected to the security system had been smashed and the wiring ripped out. Someone had taken a knife to Guido’s mattress.

“He’s not here,” Makarov said after he searched the rest of the barn.

“Neither is the painting,” Charlie said. “If he got away, he has it.”

Gretchen’s gut was in a knot, but she kept calm. “Let me know if Mr. Sabatini gets in touch,” she said.

“Definitely,” Charlie said as he handed Gretchen his card. “Do you think I should call the police?”

Gretchen did not want the police anywhere near Guido.

“What would you say? Guido is crazy. He might have done this himself. He’ll probably call you, and we can finish our business.”

“Point taken,” Charlie said. “I’m sorry you were inconvenienced.”

“No problem.” She turned to Yuri. “Let’s go back to town.”

Charlie got in his car and followed Gretchen to the highway. Guido was nuts, so Charlie could see him running amok in his house, but destroying his easel and his paints…? No way. Guido lived to paint. That meant that somebody else was looking for the items Guido took from the safe. It also meant that Guido was in danger.