Strawberry Shortcake Murder

Chapter Eighteen

The shower had contained nothing but a bottle of shampoo and some rust stains near the drain. They’d double-checked Lucy’s doors and windows to make sure her apartment was secure and then they’d gone back downstairs to return Vera’s key. They hadn’t mentioned the break-in to her, knowing that it would only cause her a sleepless night of worries about Lucy. As far as they could tell, nothing was missing from Lucy’s apartment, and they’d decided to report it later, when they spoke to Mike and Bill. Then they’d driven to The Cookie Jar, pulled into Hannah’s space in the back, kicked up the heater so that they could huddle close to the vents, and listened to the answering machine tape.

There had been Norman’s call, the one that had told them Lucy wasn’t at his office, several calls from Rod to ask where she was, a slew of messages about Lucy’s overdue credit-card balances, and one from a telephone solicitor who’d read his whole pitch on the tape. The only call that was even remotely interesting was from Delores. She’d wanted to know whether Lucy was more interested in necklaces or earrings.

“What was all that about?” Hannah asked, when they’d played Delores’s message.

“Oh, Mother’s probably angling for another article in the paper. They ran one while you were off at college about her collection of antique clocks.” Andrea sighed as she pressed the button to rewind the tape. “There aren’t any clues on here, Hannah. What shall we do next?”

Hannah shrugged. They were getting nowhere fast. “Let’s drive back over to Lucy’s place. Vera said she was going straight to bed. If her lights are off, we’ll check the garage to make sure Lucy’s car is gone.”

“What good will that do? It’s got to be gone if Lucy is.”

“Not necessarily.” Hannah backed out of her parking spot and headed down the alley. “Lucy could have left town with someone.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know, but we should still check. Investigating is a process of elimination. You have to explore all the possibilities, and whatever’s left, no matter how implausible, has got to be it.”

“I never thought about it like that before.” Andrea sounded impressed. “You’ve really got a good head for this, Hannah.”

“It’s Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s head. I read it in a Sherlock Holmes book. I probably misquoted it, but it’s essentially what he said.”

“Maybe I should buy Bill a set of Sherlock Holmes for Christmas.” Andrea sounded thoughtful. “Do you have them on tape?”

“Yes, if you’re talking about the PBS series.”

“Not television, audio. Then he could listen to them on his way to work.”

“It’s only a ten-minute commute. He’ll get so interested, he’ll probably sit out in the parking lot until the end of the chapter and get docked for being late.” Hannah drove around the corner. “Here we are, Andrea. Check to see if Vera’s still up.”

Andrea peered out her window as Hannah drove slowly past her house. “It’s all dark. She must have gone to bed.”

“Good.” Hannah cut her lights and turned into the alley. She didn’t want of the neighbors to spot her. Vera’s garage was an old-fashioned, freestanding structure that sat on the rear corner of her lot. Hannah parked at the side of the alley and shut off her engine. “We’re here.”

“If Vera ever listed her house on the market, we’d call that a two-car garage,” Andrea said, sounding amused. “Can you imagine two cars fitting in there?”

Hannah flicked off the dome light so that it wouldn’t shine when she opened the door. “Two little sports cars, maybe, but that’s about it. Come on, Andrea. Grab those flashlights in the back and let’s check out the garage.”

“Do you really need me for this?”

Andrea’s voice had started to shake again, and Hannah turned to her in surprise. “What’s the matter?”

“I’ve got cold feet.”

Hannah knew her sister wasn’t referring to the fact that the heater in her truck wasn’t putting out much hot air. “Why now?”

“Because the last time we searched a garage, we found a dead body.”

“The last body we found wasn’t in the garage, and this is a different situation. We’re not even sure that Lucy is missing, much less dead. She could be out chasing down a hot story.”

“Do you really believe that?”

Hannah sighed. She didn’t like to lie. “Not really.”

“I don’t believe it, either. And I have a really bad feeling about this. I think we should call Bill and Mike.”

“And tell them what?” Hannah asked. “Do you want Bill to know that we broke into Lucy’s apartment and stole her stash of evidence?”

“No.”

“Okay, then buck up. If I have to break in, I’m going to need you to hold the flashlight.”

“Break in?” Andrea sounded shocked. “You didn’t say anything about breaking in!”

“I said if the first thing we’ll do is look through the window. If the garage is empty, there’s no point in breaking in. Besides, you told me you like to be helpful.”

Andrea groaned, but she retrieved the flashlights and handed one to Hannah. “All right. But if Lucy’s car is there, I’m not going in.”

“Deal.”

Hannah got out of the truck and waited for Andrea to join her. They walked around the side of the garage and Hannah pressed her flashlight up against the windowpane before she clicked it on. She peered through the dusty pane, spotted Lucy’s car, and gave a little groan.

“What is it?” Andrea’s whisper was loud in the quiet night.

“Lucy’s car.” Hannah whispered back. “And that means I go in.”

“Why?”

“Because she could have left something inside that’ll tell us where she’s gone.”

Andrea thought about it for a moment. “All right. Are you going to break the garage window?”

“Not unless the door is locked. It’s the old kind that doesn’t have an opener. I can see the mechanism.” Hannah snapped off her flashlight and stuck it in the pocket of the parka.

“Do you think it’ll be unlocked?”

“There’s a good chance. Most people don’t lock their garages in Lake Eden. There’s practically no crime.”

“If you don’t count murder.”

Hannah gave an appreciative chuckle as they retraced her steps to the front of the garage. At least Andrea had recovered enough to crack a joke. She bent down to grasp the handle on the door, turned it until it clicked, and then pulled. The door slid up smoothly. Either Lucy or Vera must have greased the track before the first snowfall.

Andrea gave her the high sign and squared her shoulders. “I changed my mind. I’m going in with you. I’d never forgive myself if something bad happened to you and I wasn’t there.”

That comment struck Hannah as funny and she bit back a giggle. Andrea seemed to think it would be terrible if something bad happened when she wasn’t there, but everything would be okay if she was it didn’t make sense, but Hannah was glad to have her company all the same.

After they’d stepped in, Hannah reached up to lower the door. Andrea gasped and she stopped. “What is it?”

“Do you have to close the door? It’s so dark in here.”

“I guess not, but don’t turn on your flashlight. Vera’s neighbors across the alley might see it. Just inch your way along the side of Lucy’s car and don’t trip over anything. I’ll go first.”

Both sisters inched their way forward until Hannah had reached the driver’s door. She reached into her pocket, pulled out her flashlight, and pressed it up against the window. “Okay, Andrea. I’m going to look to see if I can spot anything.”

“Okay. Hurry, Hannah. I’m freezing.”

Hannah snapped on her flashlight, took one look, and snapped it right back off again. “Do you have your cell phone with you, Andrea?”

“Of course I do. I’m a real-estate agent, and I never go anywhere without it.”

“Where is it?”

“It’s in my purse in your truck. Why?”

“I want you to go back to the truck and call Bill. Tell him to come over here right away.”

Andrea gasped as the implication of Hannah’s request sank in. “Lucy’s in her car?”

“That’s right.”

“Is she… uh… dead?”

“As a mackerel.”

“But are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Hannah fought to keep her voice steady. The sight she’d captured with the beam of her flashlight had completely eliminated the necessity for an ambulance, and she wasn’t about to share the details with her sister. “Just do it, Andrea. Right now. And after you’ve called, eat a couple of cookies. It’s going to be a long night.

* * *

The county cruiser pulled up in record time, and Hannah was relieved to see Bill and Mike. At times like this, the presence of two officers who’d been trained to deal with the aftermath of death was very reassuring.

Mike got out of the cruiser and came straight up to Hannah. “What happened?”

“It’s Lucy Richards. She’s in her car and she’s dead.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m positive. Get Bill and come with me. I’ll show you.”

The garage had a light with a pull string. Hannah reached up to turn it on, but she stopped before her fingers could touch the cord. “Should I touch this? There could be fingerprints.”

“Go ahead. We can’t get fingerprints from that.” Mike motioned for her to pull it. “Did you touch anything else before you found Lucy?”

“The side of the car and the garage handle, but Andrea and I were both wearing gloves. That’s it.”

“How about the handle on the passenger’s door?” Bill asked.

“I didn’t open it. I just looked through the window with my flashlight. It was… uh… pretty obvious that she was dead.”

“How about Andrea?” Bill looked concerned. “Was she with you when you found Lucy?”

“Yes, but she didn’t see anything. I snapped off my flashlight and told her to go back to my truck and call you. I said that Lucy was dead, but that’s all she knows.”

Bill looked relieved, and he gave her a hug. “Thanks, Hannah.”

“You can go back to your truck, but don’t leave.” Mike took her hand and squeezed it. “We’ll talk to you later.”

She’d been dismissed and Hannah was glad. She really didn’t want to view Lucy’s body again. Lucy Richards had been shot in the back of the head, execution style, and the sight wasn’t pleasant. Hannah took a couple of deep breaths of the frigid night air to clear her head. It smelled like pine needles and aromatic wood. Someone must have a fire in their fireplace. Then she climbed back into her truck.

Andrea turned to Hannah as she slid in under the wheel. “Is Bill really mad at me?”

“No. He even thanked me for keeping you for seeing Lucy.”

“Oh, good.” Andrea gave a sigh of relief. “What did they ask you?”

“They wanted to know if we’d touched anything. That was about it. They’re coming back here to talk to us later.”

“Are we going to tell them that we were in Lucy’s apartment?”

“Yes, but only the second time. Vera knows we were there, and there’s no reason to lie about it. It’ll explain why we looked in Lucy’s garage.”

“It will?”

“I’ll say we could tell that someone had broken in and were worried about Lucy, since no one had seen her all day. We came out to the garage to see if her car was gone.”

“Okay, but why didn’t we tell Vera about the break-in?”

“We figured she’d get hysterical, and we didn’t know, for sure, that anything bad had happened to Lucy. We were going to go back inside later, when we knew more about what had happened.”

Andrea still looked apprehensive. “And we won’t have to tell them about breaking in this morning?”

“Not unless they ask us directly, and it’s in an official capacity.”

“Good. Are you going to show them the pictures of the murder?”

“I think I have to,” Hannah answered, and her voice was grim. “Those pictures could be the reason why Lucy was killed.”

“But how are you going to explain how you got Lucy’s film?”

Hannah dropped her head in her hands. Andrea was asking too many questions. “I’ll think of something when the time comes. Hand me a couple of those Cocoa Snaps, Andrea. I really need a lift. And take a couple for yourself. If your mouth is full, you won’t ask so many pesky questions.”

The two sisters munched in silence. After a few minutes, Hannah began to feel better. She was more alert, her mind seemed clearer, and she was ready for more questions.

“Okay, Andrea.” Hannah turned to her sister. “Shoot.”

“Shoot what?”

“Ask me all those questions you wanted to ask before.”

“Are you sure?” Andrea’s brows knit in a worried frown. “You said my questions were pesky.”

“They were, but I’ve recovered.”

“From what?”

“A chocolate deficiency. You wanted to know what I was going to say when Bill and Mike asked how I got Lucy’s film?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not going to go into details. I’m just going to say I ran across the film this morning, and I asked Norman to develop it for me.”

“But they’ll want to know where you found it.”

Hannah shook her head. “No, they won’t. When they see the prints and realize that they’re pictures of Boyd Watson’s murder, they won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. It’s like this, Andrea. If Bill and Mike knew we did something illegal to get that film, it can’t be used as evidence against the killer. But if they don’t know, they can use it.”

“I get it. But will Bill and Mike be smart enough to figure that out?”

“I’ll give them a big hint.” Hannah glanced out the windshield and spotted Mike and Bill coming out of the garage. “Here they come. Open the glove compartment and hand me the pictures of Boyd’s murder. They’re in a separate envelope.”

“You don’t want all of them?”

“No. Leave the other ones there. And try to pretend you’re still too upset to talk much and take your lead from me.”

Andrea opened the glove compartment and handed her the murder pictures. Hannah had just stashed them in her parka pocket when Bill walked over to the passenger door and pulled it open. He hugged Andrea with one arm, and asked, “Are you all right, honey?”

“I… I think so. I just feel kind of… of shaky.”

Hannah breathed a sigh of relief. Andrea was trembling again, even though, a second earlier, she’d been as calm as could be. It was too bad she couldn’t nominate her sister for an Academy Award. Andrea deserved it.

“Hannah?” Mike opened Hannah’s door. “I need to ask you some questions.”

“Okay.” It was a good thing she didn’t have to pretend to be too rattled to answer. Andrea was a much better actress than she was. “Your place, or mine?”

Mike grinned at that, but his grin faded fast. Murder was serious business. “Come back to the cruiser. It’s a lot warmer than your truck. Aren’t you ever going to get that heater fixed?”

“It’s fixed. It’s just not very efficient.” Hannah got out of the Suburban and motioned to Andrea. There was no way she was going to take the chance that her sister would confide in Bill if she left them alone in the truck. “Come on, Andrea. We’re all going back to the cruiser to warm up and spill our guts.”