Ding Dong Dead

35

Andy Thomasia sat up from a crouched position in the backseat of Gretchen’s car. Instinctively a scream of terror rose into her throat. She swallowed it down, tasting bile.

You deserve this, she thought.

She was outside the library, alone, her car parked in an isolated back corner of the lot. Her mother was inside, unaware that her daughter had even left the building. Gretchen hadn’t checked the backseat. She hadn’t seen him until it was too late. She was already inside the car, checking her cell phone’s car charger to see if the phone had full power. Gretchen couldn’t possibly have been this careless.

But she had been.

Andy wore the same dark sunglasses and Cardinals ball cap that he’d had on yesterday, but his clothes were different. They were dirty, torn, and too large for his body. Nacho had done a thorough job of turning him into a homeless person.

“I locked my car,” she said. “How did you get in?” Did her voice give her away? Could he hear the fear?

Andy held up a long, narrow strip of metal. “I got in with this,” he said. The tool was a lock-picking device like those cops used to open locked cars. Andy’s voice was neutral, not threatening or overly aggressive. Not friendly either.

The inside of the car was stifling hot, having sat in the sun for hours. She felt a slick layer of sweat against her skin.

“Why did you break into my car?” Gretchen spoke quietly and calmly. She had more than a few questions for the murdered woman’s husband. “I told you that we’d contact you.”

She had a firm grip on the door handle in case she had to make a run for it. No one was around to help her.

Andy leaned forward. She didn’t move. Gretchen had been wary of Andy before. Now she was downright terrified.

“I’m here because I have new information,” Andy said. “I need to get it to Caroline. I hadn’t expected you to come out alone.”

Gretchen couldn’t read him, not his voice or his expression.

“I didn’t expect you either,” she said, turning her body so her back was against the steering wheel, as far from him as possible. “My mother’s inside the library. I’ll relay the message to her.”

“You don’t trust me, do you?”

“Of course I do,” Gretchen lied. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to help you.”

“I didn’t kill Allison. I loved her. Even if we weren’t able to work out our problems, I would have continued to support her dreams. Allison’s fantasy doll line was taking off,” he said. “She was starting to make money, finally breaking in. I wanted her to succeed.”

“I’m sure you did.” Was her tone patronizing? She hoped not. “Did Allison make an earlier trip to Arizona?”

“Yes. She was here in March, doing initial research. I wish she’d never come back here. If only I’d known.”

“What did you want to tell my mother?”

Still no one passing by the car.

“Nacho made the rounds this morning looking for a guy,” he said. “Apparently someone was in the cemetery the night that Allison was killed, who wasn’t part of the normal homeless community. But he didn’t tell the cops that.”

“The street people don’t like cops much,” Gretchen said.

Andy nodded. “For good reason, I’m finding out.”

“And this guy?”

“He’s a common crook type who runs some action on the street. Nacho found him. He told Nacho he was hired to rob me.”

“By whom?”

“He never met his contact.”

“Convenient.”

Andy nodded. “This thug was paid to pick my pocket, steal my wallet, remove the driver’s license, and replace the wallet. And it had to happen on a certain day.”

“What day?”

Andy looked pained. “The day Allison was murdered,” he said. “The person who hired him made it very clear that I wasn’t to suspect anything was missing. And it worked. The guy was smooth. I didn’t notice a thing.”

Gretchen watched Andy’s face. Was he making this up?

“The guy would get paid double for the next part of the deal.”

“Which was what?”

“He was supposed to drop my driver’s license in the cemetery at a specific time. The guy ran late getting there though, so instead he threw it in a bush by the entrance when he saw the cops pull up. After that he was trapped and taken in along with all the others that were rounded up for questioning.”

“So your driver’s license is in the cemetery.”

Andy shook his head. “The cops have it by now.”

What an unbelievable story! Gretchen had to get out of the car, get away from Andy Thomasia, and run for the safety of the building.

He grabbed her shoulder. “Don’t you see?” he said. “Someone planned the whole thing ahead of time. Allison’s death was premeditated, not some random act of violence. And I was supposed to be arrested for her murder.”

Gretchen pulled away from his grip, carefully arranging her face to convey compassion and understanding. “Then go to the guy who robbed you and make him cooperate. Turn yourself in and have him substantiate your story.”

“Nacho said the guy wouldn’t help me, and Nacho wouldn’t give me his name. And why should the guy help me? He’d be incriminating himself.”

“Andy.” Gretchen had to make her move to escape before it was too late. “How did you find us at the library so easily?” she asked. Would she have time to grab her phone from the charger? Not likely. She’d have to leave it behind.

Andy leaned back in the seat, which was what Gretchen was waiting for. “It was the strangest thing,” he said. “I told Nacho that I wanted to find Caroline. Not long afterward, he gave me your location. It’s like there’s some kind of communication system, but I don’t know how it-”

Gretchen slammed her body against the driver’s door at the same time that she released the handle. The door flew open and she was out. If Andy had a weapon besides the lock pick, she hadn’t seen it yet.

She broke into a run, aiming straight for the library, relieved that she didn’t hear him chasing her. Every muscle in her body was taut, and she was very aware of her exposed back.

She gained the steps leading into the library. Several other patrons were also entering.

The only sound Gretchen could hear was her own ragged, frightened breath.