Chapter 17: Putting the Pieces Together

The sergeant's question caught all of us off guard.

"A collision with another car?" I asked. "She hasn't said anything about that. Wouldn't someone report that?"

"Maybe ... maybe not. Depends," the sergeant said. "We have a number of people who insist on driving without insurance. Could have happened in a parking lot and she didn't notice the damage. Maybe she was hit by a drunk who didn't want to get caught by us. There could be a number of reasons."

"I get the impression there's more to this, Sergeant," Thomas said evenly.

Kranowski nodded. "Your daughter's SUV had consistent mud splatter along the sides. It had rained Sunday night and early Monday morning. The dirt roads were muddy. When we got the unit back to our lot and discovered the paint scrape and damage, we looked a little closer. There was some mud on the paint scrape, but not consistent with the splatter on the sides.

"We think the mud and dirt on the paint scrape happened as a result of the roll down the ravine and not from the road. That would indicate that the scrape happened about the time of the accident, if not actually the cause of the accident. Again, the possibility of a hit and run driver."

I sat back and looked at the shock on the faces of the Fultons and Nan. Like me, it was hard to believe that someone had deliberately left the scene of a serious accident, perhaps leaving Georgette to die alone in that ravine. But Sergeant Kranowski was clearly saying the current evidence pointed in that direction.

"Do you know when the accident happened?" Thomas asked, the first to recover from the shock of the revelation.

"Yes. Thanks to the rental car's GPS and their tracking system, we believe the accident happened at 4:25 pm on Monday afternoon. We've tracked back on her route and we know where she was the entire day. I have officers out checking with anyone she might have encountered. It's a huge assist to us when there is a suspicious situation. As it stands now, we believe someone else caused your daughter's accident and neither stopped nor reported it."

"Can you tell us where she was that day?" I asked.

"No. I don't want you interfering with our investigation. I'm giving you all the information you should have and then some. I would appreciate it if you left it to our department to track down what happened to Ms. Fulton. We won't be very forgiving if we find you conducting your own investigation. You're going to have to trust us to do our job and bring the person or persons to justice."

"I understand," Thomas said. "I'm pleased you have as much information as you do about her whereabouts that day. We have John to thank for that."

I was humbled by my future father-in-law's praise.

"We've learned something important too," Kranowski said. "We'll know that these devices are more common than we thought and can aid us in all sorts of investigations. I think we should have one on every public safety vehicle and I'll be passing that up the chain of command at our next meeting."

The meeting ended with our filing out of the little interview room after thanking Sergeant David Kranowski for sharing his information with us. But it left us with another question. Why would someone deliberately try and run Georgette off the road, if that's what happened? Maybe it was a drunk or someone who just didn't want to be involved. I wondered if we'd ever know.

We decided to go back to the hospital to see if there was any change in Georgette's status. We were cautioned not to question her about the accident. Kranowski told us to leave the investigation to him and that included talking to Georgette. We wanted to respect his wishes. We owed him that much.

I could tell things had changed for the better with our group of four. We went out to dinner together and, for the first time, we all seemed to have an appetite. There was even a bit of laughter around the table when we discussed the various merits of the local cuisine. In truth, we had found a very nice restaurant that served a number of items that were not beef and we took advantage of the variety.

When we arrived at the hospital the next morning, we discovered that Georgette had been moved to a private room on the wards. I took that as a good sign, as did everyone else. We were still restricted to the two-persons-only rule and Thomas and Sarah were the first to visit in her new room.

"You play cribbage, Johnny?" Nan asked as we waited in our usual room.

"I have a time or two," I said.

Nan reached into her purse and pulled out a deck of cards and a folded cribbage board.

"Care for a game? Ten cents a point?"

"Deal," I smiled.

By the time Thomas and Sarah returned, I owed Nan a dollar-ninety. She was a shark and someone should have warned me.

"How is she?" I asked as her parents joined us.

"Much better," Sarah said. "She's much more aware and awake. We were allowed to spend a half-hour with her. I can see she's gaining strength. I'm so relieved I don't know how to express it."

"I think someone from the authorities is coming in later to talk to her," Thomas said. "We'd better avoid the subject of her accident for now."

"No need," I said, looking over his shoulder. "This looks like them now."

Two men, one in uniform and one in a suit walked into the waiting room surveyed it and came toward us.

"Mr. Fulton?" he asked Thomas.

"Yes. Thomas Fulton. This is my wife, Sarah, her mother Nanette desBiens and our daughter's fiancé, John Smith."

"I'm Detective Colby Shilton and this is Officer Meldrum of the Great Falls Police Department. We've been given permission by your daughter's doctor to interview her with some restrictions of course. Have any of you talked to her today?"

"My wife and I have," Thomas said.

"How is she?" Shilton asked.

"Much better, but on pain medication as you can guess. A little groggy, but aware of what's happened."

"We'll be careful not to upset her, but we have some questions about the accident that need clearing up. I understand Sergeant Kranowski has told you of his suspicions."

"Yes. We've been careful not to discuss it with our daughter, Detective."

"Very good. We hope she can help us find out what happened. We'll see you afterwards," he said with a quick smile before leaving the room.

It seemed like we had spent a month in that waiting room when it was really only a little more than four days. But it was four days of doubt and concern for Georgette's future. That was still uncertain, but the signs were good that she was on the road to recovery.

The detective and the officer weren't gone that long when they returned to the waiting room.

"Your daughter was very helpful, folks. I won't give you a blow-by-blow, but our supposition that she was knocked off the road by another vehicle was borne out by her comments. We also know that her vehicle rolled partway down the ravine before stopping. When she tried to exit the door on the passenger side, it began to tip and roll again. She tried to brace herself, but it was rolling too fast and she lost consciousness before it got to the bottom.

"She remembers waking up in great pain and trying to get out, but was trapped in the wreckage. She was in and out of consciousness for some time. I think we found her just in time according to the doctor. Anyway, we now have a description of the vehicle that collided with her. It had been following her for some miles before it made its move on her. We have an idea who might be responsible. That's all I can tell you for now."

"Did she suggest a motive for this act?" Thomas asked.

"Yes, but I can't discuss that with you right now. We need to get a sworn statement from her and talk to the prime suspect. I would continue to ask you not to talk about this with her for now. I want her to have a clear mind when she makes her statement. It's important that her statement can't be challenged."

"We'll do our best not to interfere," Thomas said.

"Thank you, and we'll continue to keep you informed."

"It was intentional ... deliberate ... attempted murder," I said, my heart pounding as the realization hit me.

Sarah's hand was across her mouth and she was staring at Thomas wide-eyed in shock.

"Why would someone try to kill her," she asked to no one in particular.

"I can't guess," Thomas said. "There has to be a reason. I wonder if it has anything to do with water contamination. Willis Overland suggested that some of the ranchers would be worried about any discovery of that on their land."

Before anyone could say anything else, Doctor Hettinger appeared once more.

"Your daughter is doing quite well, considering. We'll want to keep her here for a few days yet to make sure there's no infection in her arm and that the bone is setting properly. We also want to be certain there are no after effects from her mild concussion. I've talked to the police and asked them not to take a sworn statement from her until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. I want her to be fully settled before they do that."

"Are there any other injuries we should know about?" Sarah asked.

"No, although her bruising is quite significant and widespread. She must have been really thrown around in the cab of that vehicle when it rolled. She's going to be pretty sore for a while yet."

"Do you have any idea how long it will be before she can resume normal activities?" I asked.

"A couple of months at least for the arm to fully heal. Compound fractures are very serious and there was some muscular damage. She'll need physical therapy on it for sure. Otherwise, most of the healing will be done in six to eight weeks."

I sighed audibly. The summer will be gone by then, but what I was hearing is that she would be back to normal in a few months. That was a huge relief.

Sarah and Thomas chatted with the doctor while Nan listened attentively. I had tuned out. It was too much. Someone tried to harm or even kill her. It was like we were being revisited by Brad Little all over again. Our stop-and-start life was on stop again. I was almost afraid to wonder what else could go wrong. I sat down in a nearby chair, put my head in my hands and wept in relief.

The police took Georgette's statement on Sunday afternoon. We were not told what it contained, and we were warned not to discuss it with her. At that point, no one had been charged with any crime in conjunction with her mishap. We were in the dark, but I had a feeling that we wouldn't have to wait long to find out what was going on.