Here Comes the Ride
Page 29
I felt frustrated and let down. The safe might still provide information, but it would take time. Time while Pam languished in jail.
We were just leaving the house when a taxi drove up. Stan Steffan got out.
“My wife said the car we rented was still out here, so I came to get it.”
“She gave us all the information we need about your hit-and-run, you know,” I said impulsively. “That the victim was that starlet in Big Storm Brewing, where it happened, what car you were driving, everything.”
Mr. Steffan looked stunned, and I took a second wild stab. “Which is why you killed Michelle, because she was blackmailing you!”
“Ms. McConnell!” Detective Molino protested, horrified at my leap into conjecture. And into his legal domain.
“She’s trying to pin Michelle’s murder on me?” Stan Steffan growled. “No way!”
I started to protest that the conjecture about his being the murderer was mine, not what his wife had said, but he didn’t give me a chance.
“She killed Michelle,” he said. “And that housekeeper too!”
In spite of his shock with me, Detective Molino jumped on that. “You’ll testify to that?”
Mr. Steffan hesitated. Sweat beaded his forehead. He wiped a hand on his pants leg. But then he shoved his sunglasses firmly back against his nose and backtracked. “You can’t force me to testify against my wife.”
“Okay, we’ll get the details about your hit-and-run from Michelle’s safe, and then we can file charges against you for that.”
Mr. Steffan did not now look so scornful of the capabilities of “small-town cops.”
“I want to see my lawyer,” he growled, which seemed to be his normal manner of speaking.
“Mrs. Steffan’s lawyer?” Detective Molino asked.
“No, my lawyer.”
And the Hollywood Wars were on.
***
The Wars were still raging four days later when charges against Pam were dropped, and she was released. Accusations and counter accusations flew back and forth between the Steffans and their lawyers. By then the safe had been opened, and Detective Molino had the details about the hit-and-run that Michelle had so carefully preserved.
Joe and Phyllis Forsythe had at the last minute changed their minds about the graveside services, so Pam and I both attended when it was held a few days later. It was small and tasteful, and we both shed a few honest tears.
***
In spite of the accusations and counter accusations, the prosecutor charged Mrs. Steffan alone with the murders. A trial is scheduled for later in the year, at which I will apparently be a star witness.
Stan Steffan has his own problems down in California with charges against him on the hit-and-run death.
I was back home in my duplex now, the limo business doing nicely. I didn’t know my new renter well yet. She still wore motorcycle boots under her muumuus, but she liked weeding the daisy beds, mowing the lawn, and feeding the birds, so I really wouldn’t care if she wore snowshoes and a bikini.
Change Your World opened with much fanfare, though the limo and I weren’t included. Cindy and Uri posed with the Uri-Blaster for a photo that showed up in half a dozen newspapers. Both were photogenic in leopard-skin Spandex. They announced a free exercise program for children. I figured they were feeling a little guilty about the insurance money, even though they hadn’t actually done anything dishonest or unethical to acquire it.
Detective Molino had notified Shirley’s family of her death, and her body was shipped to Texas for burial. I sent her granddaughter a card and letter, telling her the good things I knew about Shirley.
***
Mike arranged Pam’s luggage in the trunk, then we all climbed into the limo. Fitz in the passenger’s seat beside me, Pam and Mike holding hands in back, Phreddie jumping back and forth through the open divider like a furry gymnast. He had his own special bed on the console between the front seats, probably the only cat in the world with a limousine bed consisting of half of a $24,000 wedding gown. The other half of the gown was his bed back at my duplex.
The late September sun shone gloriously golden. Pam would be a few days late getting to the fall quarter at college, but they were letting her in anyway.
She had not changed her mind about being finished with mysteries. She’d be continuing her studies in math. That night in jail we’d talked about her parents’ deaths, and we’d prayed about that too, and she’d put it behind her.
Today we were taking her to Sea-Tac for the flight back to Dartmouth. The Bug was at Mike’s place. He’d whispered to me that this winter, when business was slow, he’d give it a new paint job. Pam and Mike’s relationship was solid, but they’d wisely decided to give it more time before marrying.
Pam didn’t look back as the electronic gate closed behind us. Some details of the will were still up in the air, including ownership of the house, but Pam and Sterling had agreed to sell it and split the proceeds.
Pam got her grandmother’s pearls.
She’d had her eyebrows professionally plucked again. She looked great.
We were all rather quiet on the drive. At the airport, I let Mike and Pam out, with her luggage. Fitz and Phreddie and I would wait for Mike out in the parking area.
Pam gave me a final hug. “You’ve been a wonderful friend, Andi. A great limo driver. And a fantastic sleuth.”
I gave her the same advice I’d give my own granddaughter. “You study hard. Be careful on that skateboard. And think about the ‘God stuff.’ ”
“I don’t think I’ll ever come up with a mathematical equation that proves God exists. But I don’t have to, because I’m pretty sure He does.”
Step number one! Guide her, Lord, help her to take that next step and come to know You personally.
And me?
I have an intriguing new renter in my duplex. I have an affectionate new cat sharing my home. I have a great, also rather affectionate guy sharing my life. And I have a faith that's growing day by day.
God is good!
The End
BOOKS BY LORENA McCOURTNEY:
THE ANDI McCONNELL MYSTERIES:
Your Chariot Awaits
Here Comes the Ride
For Whom the Limo Rolls
THE JULESBURG MYSTERIES:
Whirlpool
Riptide
Undertow
THE IVY MALONE MYSTERIES SERIES:
Invisible
In Plain Sight
On the Run
Stranded
Go, Ivy, Go!
Coming next: Something Buried, Something Blue (Book #1, The Mac ‘n’ Ivy Mysteries)
THE CATE KINKAID FILES MYSTERIES (Available in both paperback and e-book)
Dying to Read
Dolled Up to Die
Death Takes a Ride
CHRISTIAN ROMANCES
Three Secrets (Novella)
Searching for Stardust
Yesterday Lost (Mystery/Romance)
The author is always delighted to hear from readers. Contact her through: http://lorenamccourtney.wordpress.com or connect with her on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/lorenamccourtney