InSight

unanswered. His trepidation mounted as two days passed without communication. He considered driving to Charleston , but first he pulled up the newspaper’s website to check Matt’s column. Maybe he’d left town on special assignment.
    “Damn!” Luke said as he scanned the paragraph where Matt’s column usually appeared.
    Abby poked him to get his attention. “What’s the matter?”
    “Listen to this.” Luke read the front-page article.

    “Post and Courier reporter Matthew Devon died Thursday morning following an early morning accident on a deserted stretch of road outside the city. His car crashed through an abutment and overturned into a ravine, police said. There were no witnesses, but authorities determined the car was traveling at high speeds when Devon lost control.”

    The piece went on naming family members and announcing funeral services. Luke stopped, choked on the words. “The bastards. I put his life at risk and they took it. This is my fault.”
    “It’s not your fault. Matt was a reporter. He’d dealt with these people before. He knew the risks.”
    “No, no. He was out of it and I pulled him back in.”
    “It’s Collyer, isn’t it?”
    “Yeah. Him and your ex-mother-in-law . Matt was asking too many questions, ruffling too many feathers. They tried to take him out before. This time they succeeded.”
    “There has to be a reason, but I’ll be damned if I know what. I’ve wracked my brain.”
    The doorbell shrieked. Daisy barked. Abby cupped her hands over her ears at the penetrating noise.
    “Sorry,” Luke said, touching her shoulder on the way to the door. “It’s the only way I can hear it.” He opened the door and took the package. “It’s from Matt.”
    “What’s in it?” Abby asked. When Luke didn’t answer, she waved her hand and repeated the question.
    “Two CDs. He must have known they were on to him.” He opened the CD drawer on the computer and dropped in the disk marked number one. “It’s ready. Listen, then type it on the computer. It’s better if I read it.”
    “It’ll try to type as fast as he’s speaking, but I’m not that good.”
    “Do the best you can.” Luke pulled up a chair next to the computer and watched as she started.

    Sorry, Luke. I may have blown it. If I have, these recordings will explain everything I’ve learned so far; and if I haven’t, we’ll talk. I noticed a black Lincoln Navigator following me four cars behind yesterday morning, Wednesday the 16 th , as I crossed over the bridge. I couldn’t see the license plate, sorry. It’s probably registered to a dummy corporation anyway.
    This package contains the recording I made with the research chemist I told you about. She won’t be much help unless you find her. That’s if she’s alive. Even then, I wouldn’t count on it.
    I haven’t had much luck connecting the rest of the Gentry family to any illegal operations. Both her son and son-in-law are attorneys with the Gentry Law Firm. I doubt Carlotta Gentry could pull off anything without a little legal black magic. Don’t forget old man Serrano. Even though his home base is Boston , he has an active network capable of tremendous reach. He’s in his eighties but still a formidable man.
    Not much help, am I? Too many rotten apples in the basket. I need more time, and I’m not sure I have it. As far as Stewart Gentry is concerned, there are a dozen reasons for stashing him in a mental institution. My guess is it had something to do with Martin Gentry’s death.
    I didn’t get the chance to tell you everything during our phone conversation. At the time I heard talk of the foundation purchasing and developing a piece of property for a psychiatric hospital on a state-owned island in Georgia . The law prohibited commercial ventures, but Gentry envisioned getting around it. The project never got off the ground because Gentry died before finalizing the deal. Stewart may have heard or seen something that required him to be silenced. Drugs would be a perfect way to control someone without eliminating him.
    Carlotta Gentry has a number of high state officials in her pocket. Money talks. Whatever the real story, Stewart’s probably a victim in a nasty scheme only the very rich seem able to pull off, and poor Joes like me have a hard time proving.
    There’s a detective in the Charleston P.D. named Norm Archer. He’s honest, has little regard for the Gentrys , and is willing to buck authority. That may be the most important