The Vulture by Frederick Ramsay

So consider, it’s entirely possible that you did not know the phone was disconnected. It is possible that other people did not know that either. They may have discovered or guessed that you are here. If you answer, it will not seem unusual. If you don’t answer and it is an innocent mistake by someone thinking the line is live and expects you to answer, that might cause alarm. So, we don’t have many choices here. You’d better answer. Be the grieving widow and get rid of whoever is on the other end. Oh, and either wrap up all the way or drop it. You are driving me crazy.”
    â€œWow, decisions, decisions…drop or rearrange, drop or rearrange…what to do? Okay.” Ruth rearranged the towel in a marginally more modest fashion and picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
    ***
    The last person to see Felix Chambers alive, albeit through a shattered bathroom window, listened to the woman’s hesitant voice. The wife?
    â€œHello?”
    â€œHello. Yes,” he glanced at the script he’d memorized earlier. “This is Bill Montgomery calling from the Washington Post. Could I speak to Sheriff Ike Schwartz?”
    There was a pause. Was she alone and consulting someone?
    â€œExcuse me, Mr. …?
    â€œMontgomery.”
    â€œMontgomery…how did you get this number?”
    â€œIt’s in the book.”
    â€œSorry, but it is not. Why are you calling?”
    â€œI want to speak to the sheriff.”
    â€œYou obviously have not heard.”
    â€œHeard?”
    â€œMy husband is dead. Killed in an explosion. This is a very bad time to call. Since this is an unlisted number, I insist you remove it from your files.”
    â€œI am sorry to hear about your husband’s death. Can you tell me any…?” The line went dead.
    He turned to his companion. “She hung up.”
    â€œDid she say anything?”
    â€œShe confirmed that Schwartz is dead.” He snickered at his words.
    â€œWhat’s so funny?”
    â€œThe old joke. You know…‘Schultz is dead…’ only now it’s, Schwartz is dead.”
    â€œI don’t get it. What old joke? Never mind. Anything else? Did you get the impression someone else might have been in the room?
    â€œNothing certain. There was this hesitation like she might be looking at someone or something. But then, she might have just been caught off guard, you know.”
    â€œNothing else? Maybe a click on the line like another person picked up an extension to listen?”
    â€œThe sheet says there’s no extension in the house.”
    â€œDoesn’t mean shit. Any jackass who isn’t color blind and owns a screwdriver can install an extension nowadays. Did you hear anything?”
    â€œMaybe a click. I don’t know. If there was someone else there, it don’t mean it was Schwartz. Cops could have tapped the phone.”
    â€œThe cops don’t tap phones that are disconnected, Manny. There’s no reason to. They would do her mobile.”
    â€œWell, at least we know where she’s at now. I’ll pass that on.”
    â€œYeah. Jack said the guy in town lost her and the people at the top weren’t too happy about that. So, confirmation Schwartz is dead, but still need to see a corpse.”
    â€œThe boss sent Brattan to the ME’s office. He should call in soon.”
    â€œYeah, still…see, the car wasn’t going in the right direction and that got the boss thinking. You know how he is with details.”
    â€œYou and me both…and what’s-his-name…Chambers.”
    ***
    Ruth dropped the phone’s handpiece back into the cradle and turned to Ike. “What do you think?”
    Ike shook his head. “I don’t like it. That wasn’t Charlie. I’d bet my firstborn that it wasn’t the Washington Post either. Someone with the same kind of resources as the CIA managed to reconnect the phone. I guess that just