Practice to Deceive

boy” type, a man who fascinated many women.
    And, after all, he was Buck Naked, the leader of the band. Female fans crowded around the stages in clubs where the X-hibitionists played.
    As in most relatively insulated communities, many of Whidbey Island’s residents were connected in one way or another. Two of Jim Huden’s oldest friends on the island were Sue and Neil Mahoney. Susan, a warmhearted woman the old gang called “Sweet Sue,” and Neil had both lived through unhappy first marriages. As it happens with many slightly older couples, Sue and Neil were very much in love and grateful to have found each other. Their home was a gathering place for both the old high school group and their families.
    Invariably, whenever Jim Huden returned to Washington, he would visit Sue and Neil Mahoney’s home and he could expect to find old and new friends there.
    Of the many people whom Jim Huden treasured, the Mahoneys were near the top. When the stress of his life grew too heavy, he knew he could always count on them.

C HAPTER E IGHTEEN
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    A S SHERIFF’S COMMANDER MIKE BEECH and Detective Mark Plumberg prepared to fly to Florida in August 2004, they realized that they could not have chosen a worse time. They would be literally flying directly into a storm of horrific magnitude. Hurricane Charley, the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in a dozen years, was gathering strength in the Caribbean Sea and heading directly toward Punta Gorda. At its peak, Charley was expected to have winds measuring over 150 miles an hour.
    The weather warnings only made the Washington State investigators feel more urgency as they headed for Florida, hoping that they would get there in time to talk with Jim Huden. They didn’t have the luxury of waiting for calmer skies; Huden could be long gone by then.
    The plan was for Beech and Plumberg to go to Florida, and when they were finished there, Commander Beech would join Detectives Shawn Warwick and Ed Wallace and fly to Nevada to interview Peggy Sue Thomas again, if need be. Mark Plumberg would stay on Whidbey Island, organizing the case and seeking any further warrants they might need.
    Nevada in late August/early September would be extremely hot. But that was nothing compared to an encroaching hurricane.
    Beech and Plumberg arrived in Punta Gorda on August 3, beating the hurricane there. They did not, however, know if they could head back to Washington State before it hit.
    They immediately called Bill Hill and told him they would be staying at the Best Western Hotel and asked if he would meet them there. He was still conflicted and they could hear it in his voice. At first, he declined to meet them, but he called them back a short time later and said he had changed his mind; he said he was actually at the Best Western—waiting for them in the parking lot in his van.
    For the first time, Mike Beech and Mark Plumberg saw the man whom they had spoken to so many times on the phone.
    After they checked in, Hill accompanied the detectives to their room. They sensed his angst at once; he clearly hated the thought that he was betraying his best friend, but he felt compelled to help them solve a murder.
    Bill Hill confirmed everything he had told them in his series of phone conversations.
    “Would you be willing to wear a wire while you talked to Huden?” Plumberg asked.
    “No, no—I couldn’t do that,” Hill stammered immediately.
    Nor would he provide them with a written statement about what Jim had told him. He remained ambivalent, torn between loyalty and duty.
    “He’s just too good a friend,” Hill explained.
    Hill felt that Jim was going to try to get Peggy Sue back, explaining that Huden was very much in love with her, even though he still lived with his wife, Jean.
    “But I guess Peggy came to Florida last weekend, and she met with him and Jean,” he said. “Jim isn’t sure whether she will come back to him.”
    It was late and Beech and Plumberg had traveled all day. They agreed to meet with Bill Hill the next morning to continue their interview.
    Hurricane Charley stayed on top of the news, and all around them, those Floridians who realized the danger to come were nailing plywood sheets over plate-glass windows, bringing in outdoor furniture and plants, and generally battening down their hatches. Still, Mike Beech and Mark Plumberg were so focused on talking with Jim Huden that they barely noticed.
    At 3 P.M. on August 4, 2004, they met with Detective Tom