Gracie Greene Mystery Box Set

by Jack Parker

"Nothing," Shawna declared.

  "She thought we should hear it from you," Kelly said.

  "We know Mrs. Lane was found dead on Saturday morning, after the party on Friday night," Cheryl said factually. "It's all over school that she fell and hit her head, but no one seems to know what made her fall. Do you?"

  "No, Cheryl, I don't," Ken answered her frank question. "Not yet, anyway. I am sure that she'd been drinking and that contributed to the fall. Guess I'd better start at the beginning. Mrs. Lane's neighbor saw her patio door standing open early Saturday morning and went over to close it; she saw Mrs. Lane on the floor, went in to check, and called 911. She told me about the party and said she'd seen a light-colored car parked in front of Mrs. Lane's house in the wee hours of the morning."

  "My car's a light tan – but Cheryl and I didn't go to the party," Shawna said.

  Ken smiled ruefully. "That isn't much to go on, and it's very likely that the car has nothing to do with the death. Thankfully many criminals are stupid, but they usually don't drive their own car to a murder."

  "Not if they intended to commit murder," Gracie mused aloud.

  "Exactly. The ME puts time of death between 1:00 and 3:00AM; according to the last hold-outs the party was over at 1:30 so that narrows it a bit. Her blood-alcohol level was .12, so she was definitely intoxicated. Cause of death was a blow to the head caused by a fall from the dining room onto the hard tile floor in the sunken living room. There was some skin under her fingernails, but no bruises or scratches or other indication she'd put up a fight of any kind. No signs of forced entry, and about a zillion fingerprints so they won't do us any good."

  "Wow!" Cheryl said. "She was schnockered."

  "Three sheets to the wind, as my Daddy would say," Ken agreed. "And of course the patio door was left standing wide open. We know that it was unlocked during the party and kids went in and out to the patio. We found an earring out there that belonged to…"

  "That was Amy's," Gracie supplied.

  "But Amy doesn't date," Shawna piped up. "She sure wouldn't have been out there with a guy."

  "She doesn't smoke, either tobacco or pot, so that wasn't the reason," Cheryl added.

  "It was a little warm in the house," Kelly said. "It's entirely possible she just went out for some fresh air or a quiet moment, but I didn't notice."

  "Did either of you," here Ken nodded at Gracie and Kelly, "see anything odd outside during the party? Maybe a fight?"

  Gracie looked thoughtful for a minute, trying to remember what had piqued her curiosity. "Jake and Meaghan were out there talking, they had their heads together like it was real serious, but they weren't fighting."

  "Okay, given these facts, what do you think might've happened?" Ken asked.

  "Since she was really drunk she could've just lost her balance and fallen," Shawna said.

  "But the door was open which makes it look like someone left that way, and in too much of a hurry to close it," Kelly said.

  "I suppose she could've been cleaning up," Cheryl suggested. "You know, she'd gone out to pick stuff up outside, came in to throw it away, and then gotten side-tracked by something else that needed doing in the living room and fell down the stairs." She stopped, having noticed the disbelieving looks of her friends. "My aunt drinks," she stated. "I've seen her do crazy stuff like that; she has the attention span of a gnat when she's drunk."

  Ken nodded soberly. "People do strange things when they're drunk. It could've happened just that way."

  "But what about the skin under her nails?" Gracie asked. "I'm assuming the ME didn't find scratches on her body where she'd scratched herself." She looked to Ken for confirmation. "Which means she scratched someone else. If someone pushed her off those steps maybe she reached out to grab his arm to keep from falling and scratched him."

  "And the same thing could've happened if someone else was there and she just lost her balance. She would still have tried to stop her fall," Ken said.

  Kelly nodded in comprehension. "There's nothing to indicate a physical fight, but she could've been yelling at someone. Or running from someone. Or maybe she scratched someone earlier in the day, and who knows how that might've happened."

  "It'd be impossible to check out all the fingerprints, even on the door frame," Gracie mused. "Everyone at the party has an alibi of sorts, since there's no way to know when the prints were made. And the place was a mess when I left so you couldn't really tell if there was a scuffle."

  "What do you all think of Jake Salazar?" Ken asked, seemingly out of the blue.

  "Jake?" Cheryl asked. "Great eye-candy, good running back, most of the girls would die to go out with him."

  "Ditto," Shawna agreed. "But I wouldn't date him on a dare, he's got too many girlfriends already."

  "Nice enough guy, but he'd better hope he gets signed to play football for some college 'cause he won't get there with his grades," was Kelly's opinion.

  "He made that big scene with Maggie," Gracie added. She'd already told Shawna and Cheryl about that so no explanation was needed. "Why?"

  "Would it surprise you to learn he'd been having an affair with Mrs. Lane?"

  Shawna's face registered shock and Cheryl's showed bored acceptance; Gracie seemed a little surprised, while Kelly just looked disgusted. None of them made the connection to the scratches, for which Ken was grateful. Kids that age shouldn't know about that kind of rough sex.

  "Ahem," he began, not quite knowing how to say this. "Some people like to, um, well – to scratch, or be scratched, during lovemaking. Please don't ask me to explain that."

  Shawna looked horrified at the very thought, but the other three nodded a little uncertainly as if they had indeed heard about the practice.

  "So Maggie scratched Jake," Cheryl said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Did you figure that out from the DNA?"

  "Nope," Ken told them. "Jake came into the station this afternoon and told me all about it. He says it happened Friday after school, and before the game and party of course."

  "So he says," Gracie said. "He could've come back to her house after the party and it happened then, just like we said."

  "Well, not quite like that," Ken said. "He showed me the scratches on his back. At this point it's impossible to measure the healing process and tell if they were made at 4:00PM on Friday or 2:00AM on Saturday. But they definitely were not made by someone making a wild grab to catch their balance."

  "We all saw Jake leave early," Kelly said. "Is there any evidence he did go back later?"

  "His mother says he came home around 1:00 AM Saturday morning and stayed there. She seemed like the kind of woman who keeps track of her kids, says she's a light sleeper and would've heard if he'd left again. It's hardly proof, but she had the ring of truth in her voice," Ken told them.

  "The Salazars are a very religious family," Shawna said. "Jake's the oldest kid, but none of 'em have ever been in trouble. It wouldn't surprise me that their parents know where they are and what they're doing."

  "Though it would probably surprise them to learn about Maggie," Cheryl added.

  Gracie was frowning in contemplation. "But if Jake came in and admitted he'd been with her and that she'd scratched him, wouldn't he be likely to also admit it if there'd been an accident and she'd fallen?" she finally asked.

  "You would think so," Ken replied. "He was nervous about talking to me, but I didn't get the sense that he was leaving anything out. From all I've heard he strikes me as the kind of young man who would've called 911 if he'd been there when she fell, instead of running away."

  "Yes, I think so, too," Gracie said. "Especially if it was really an accident. He could've made up some story about coming back to help clean up, or maybe even admit she'd been flirting with him and all that."

  "Just so," Ken said. "Or he could be thinking that admitting the affair is enough that we won't suspect him of involvement in her death. It's just so hard to tell, there's not enough evidence either way."

  "Do you think it was murder or accident?" Gr
acie asked.

  "At most it looks like manslaughter – but we just don't know. If it is manslaughter, Jake Salazar is my number one suspect."

  CHAPTER 35

  By Wednesday no one at school said a word about Mrs. Lane's death; it was as if they'd forgotten all about the un-favorite teacher. No one mentioned the sub, either; even those students in his class. Life seemed to be back to normal, with its endless rounds of petty gossip and complaints about boyfriends/girlfriends, parents, and classwork. That made it far easier for Gracie and her friends to keep quiet about what Ken had told them the night before.

  They all kept their eyes and ears open whenever Jake was around or mentioned, but found nothing the least bit suspicious. Of course, Gracie reasoned, Jake would hardly tell anyone if he had been at Maggie's house when she died. Maybe Shaun and Tyler, but she doubted it. She wouldn't tell a soul something like that, and Jake wasn't stupid. A secret shared is no longer a secret.

  The big news of the day, if you could call it that, was Emily's poison ivy. She'd shown up drenched in pink lotion and insisted on regaling everyone with the details of how horribly it itched and how she had absolutely no idea where she might've gotten it. Gracie felt a little sorry for her because people started shying away when Emily walked up. She knew Emily would keep up the progress reports all week long, until even her friends would tell her to shut up already.

  By the time school let out the weather had turned cool and rainy. Gracie walked to the bike rack and stared disconsolately at her bicycle. She could go back in and get some paper towels from the ladies' room to dry the seat, but it looked like it might pour again at any second. Fat black clouds hung in the sky and the wind was brisk enough to cut through her denim jacket even as she stood there. She sighed and pulled out her cell phone to call Shawna. This is the downside of trying not to pollute the air, she thought as she hit 'send'.

  A few minutes later Shawna and Cheryl came out to meet her, and they began slowly walking to the car.

  "Should've driven your car today," Cheryl said.

  "I would have if I'd known it was gonna be like this," Gracie responded. "It won't be long before I can't ride my bike at all, so I'm trying to use it as much as I can."

  "What about your bike?" Shawna asked. "You just gonna leave it here? Someone might steal it."

  "Oh, I'll ask Clay to bring me back up here to get it," she said. "Though I guess I'd better start paying more attention to the weather report because all this driving defeats the purpose of riding the bike!"

  Madison sailed by them on her Heelies, waving cheerfully as she passed.

  "You guys wanna go home, or maybe we could go to the mall instead," Cheryl suggested.

  "Why, is there some new style coming out today that you've gotta have before it's 'old'?" Shawna teased.

  "There might be!" Cheryl grinned. "But seriously, Friday's an away game; I'd like to look good just in case I meet some cute guy there." Her eyes sparkled, though it was hard to tell whether it was over the possible new clothes or guy.

  "I just hope we don't have rain for the game," Gracie said. "You're driving, it's up to you Shawna. I don't mind if we hang out at the mall for awhile."

  They heard a scream and looked around to see Madison sprawled on the ground some distance ahead. All three girls raced ahead to help.

  "Madison! Are you okay?" Shawna asked.

  "What happened?" Gracie asked.

  "Gotta watch out when your shoes have wheels," Cheryl opined. "Are you hurt?"

  Madison sat up and looked around. "I'm not sure," she answered. "I was just skating along and wham!" She brushed her hands together to dislodge any dirt they might have picked up. "Owww! Looks like I got a little road rash." She held her palms out for her friends to see.

  "Doesn't look too bad, but I bet it hurts," Gracie said.

  "Uh, Madison, you've busted the knee out of your pants," Cheryl told her.

  Madison bent her knees to pull them closer for a better look. She pushed aside the torn cloth with her index finger and said "Damn." They could all clearly see a thin film of blood on the bare skin of her knee.

  Gracie extended a hand. "Can you stand up?"

  Madison took the hand and let Gracie help her up, taking most of her weight on her undamaged leg. Gingerly she flexed the other leg, then pressed her foot to the ground to see if it would bear her weight. She grimaced, but said, "It's gonna be sore, but I don't think anything's broken." She leaned against the trunk of the nearest car to rest.

  "Good," they all chorused.

  Shawna began picking up the books that had gone flying when Madison took her spill. Cheryl looked at the ground behind where Madison had fallen to see what might have caused it. She picked up a jagged shard of red plastic and held it out.

  "I bet you ran over this," she said. "Looks like a piece of a taillight; someone's had a little accident, I guess."

  They all looked down and saw several more pieces. Then they began looking around at the cars parked nearby.

  "I don't see any damage, they must've been there this morning," Madison said.

  "Look beside you," Gracie said. "Whose car are you leaning on?"

  Madison looked to her right and gasped when she saw the shattered lens. "It's my car!"

  "Was it broken this morning?" Cheryl asked.

  "I don't think so," Madison said. "But I don't really know. I mean, well, the way I parked last night I wouldn't have walked past the back end when I got in it this morning."

  "Did you go anywhere yesterday? Mall, convenience store – anywhere someone might have bumped the car while it was parked?" Shawna asked.

  Madison furrowed her brow in thought for a moment. "I went to Andrea's for awhile; we were supposed to be doing homework but really just hung out."

  "Did you park in the street?" Gracie wanted to know.

  Madison had to think about that, too; clearly she was a little rattled after her fall.

  "Here's the culprit," Cheryl said, pointing to the car across the row. "Looks like they hit your car when they pulled forward to back into the slot."

  All eyes stared at the car in question. There was a definite dent in its front fender.

  "But how do we know that's the one?" Shawna wanted to know. "That could've happened any time."

  Gracie walked over for a closer look, then beckoned the others over. "Maybe that little piece of red plastic stuck in the crack," she said.

  "Whose car is it?" Cheryl asked as she pulled her cell phone out and began taking pictures.

  Emily walked up at that moment and asked, "What are you guys doing with my car?"

  "Your car!" Madison exclaimed hotly.

  "Yes, my car," Emily said emphatically. She looked closer and saw the dent. "What'd you do, hit it?"

  "No, you hit mine this morning," Madison retorted.

  "I did not," Emily insisted, looking at Madison's broken taillight. "You backed into me."

  "Oh, and that explains why I tripped over the pieces of my taillight and fell on my ass," Madison returned.

  "Oh my God, look at that dent! You're gonna pay to have that fixed." Emily started to put her hands to her cheeks but remembered at the last second that she didn't want to risk spreading the poison ivy, especially to her face.

  "You're the one who's going to be buying me a new taillight," Madison insisted.

  "Ladies!" Gracie said forcefully. "Let's just all calm down and think this out. Madison, when you parked this morning did you pull in straight, or did you have to back out and try again?"

  "I'm a good driver, I got it right the first time," Madison said, glaring at Emily.

  Gracie patted the air with her hands, emphasizing her request to cool down. "Okay, what about you, Emily?"

  "I pulled through from the other side," she explained. "I like to do that when I can, makes it easier to leave."

  "Could somebody else have hit both cars trying to get into the next slot over?" Shawna asked.

  The five of them spent a couple of minutes lookin
g at adjacent cars, but found nothing.

  "There's an empty space, maybe they already left," Shawna suggested.

  "I'd certainly find another parking spot if I'd hit not one but two cars!" Cheryl commented.

  Gracie stood in the middle of the lane, head swiveling left and right to look at each car in turn. "Wait a minute, something's not right."

  Emily and Madison looked cautiously at each other, not yet ready to admit the other's possible innocence.

  "Whadda ya mean?" Cheryl asked.

  Gracie pulled her backpack off, set it on the ground, and began fishing in its depths. She held up a pocket-sized tape measure as if that would answer all their questions. Tensions eased a bit as curiosity overcame the girls. Gracie measured the height of Madison's taillight, then walked over to measure Emily's front bumper.

  "The taillight's a good six inches higher than the bumper," she announced.

  "And that means?" Madison asked, not quite ready to give up her claim of injury.

  "It means," said Gracie solemnly, "that neither of these cars hit the other. The damage doesn't match up."

  "Then why is there a piece of my taillight stuck in Emily's bumper?" Madison asked truculently.

  "It could've been kicked up by another car driving past," Gracie suggested. "I don't know what did happen, but it's not either one of your faults."

  Emily seemed to have just noticed Madison's torn pants and bloody knee. "Oh gee, Madison, I hope you weren't hurt when you fell."

  Madison looked at each car in turn, then at Gracie. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Emily. It really looked like you'd hit my car."

  "I'm sorry, too, Madison," Emily offered. "At least the damage isn't too bad."

  "Looks to me like someone's played a dirty trick on the both of you!" Cheryl said.

  CHAPTER 36

  "I've had better lunches," Cheryl informed her friends, wiping her mouth with a paper napkin.

  "I like chili," Kelly said. He scraped the last dregs from the plastic bowl and leaned forward a bit to see if she had some left. "I'll take that if you don't want it."

  "It's not bad for institutional food," Gracie said. "And besides, none of us felt like going out for lunch in this weather.