03 Murder by Mishap

by Suzanne Young

  The gunman bent and picked up the envelope without taking his eyes from the group near the fireplace. He turned it over and quickly glanced at the back flap with its metal clasp and clear, package tape still in place. Waving the envelope in the air and keeping his eyes on the two women, he began to back out of the room. “Good thing you girls didn’t peek,” he said. “That means I don’t have to kill ya.”

  The corners of his eyes crinkled in what Edna guessed must be a smile, but looked more like a sneer. “Should lock your doors at night,” he said in a mocking tone. “Never know who might walk in.” His voice hardened when he added, “Stay put and count to a hun’red. If you move before that, you’re dead. Get the picture?” With a short bark of a laugh as if enjoying a joke, he back away without waiting for a reply.

  Edna half expected Mary to jump up and run after him and was amazed to see her calmly lift her glass off the coffee table and take a sip of wine. She was surprised but also relieved that her courageous neighbor wasn’t dashing up to grab her gun. Too stunned and frightened to speak at first, Edna finally squeaked, “Do you think he’s gone? We need to call Charlie.”

  Mary caught Edna’s look and shook her head. She still held Hank firmly by the collar. “Yes, he’s probably gone, but wait here until I check the doors.” She pushed herself up from the sofa, heeled the dog and, on her way out of the living room, picked up her gun. She was back in a few minutes, Hank still at her side.

  “Back door was wide open. He must have come in that way, but it wasn’t jimmied. No sign he broke in.”

  Edna winced. “Starling must have left it unlocked for me. We’ve gotten into that habit when we know someone will be home soon. I didn’t think to check it when I came in the front door this evening.”

  Mary rolled her eyes, but said only, “Both doors’re shut and locked now.”

  Edna was too weak with relief that they hadn’t been hurt to be offended by Mary’s unspoken criticism of the Davieses’ lax security measures. “I hope there was nothing too important in that envelope of Jaycee’s.”

  “Whatever is in it is probably on this too,” Mary said, reaching inside the breast pocket of her shirt and removing a small black wafer. She held it up between thumb and forefinger, grinning broadly.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Where did you get that,” Edna demanded, a feeling of dread beginning to burn the pit of her stomach. Mary was too pleased with herself, by far.

  “The tape only covered part of the flap. I felt a bulge near the clasp so I stuck my pen knife in to see what it was.” Mary’s eyes went wide with innocence. “This just fell out.”

  She put the wafer in the palm of her hand and extended it toward Edna who stared at it transfixed before stuttering, “Starling uses those. It’s one of those what-cha-ma-call-its ... a memory chip for a digital camera.”

  “That’s right. It’s like the one I use in my digital,” Mary said. “That’s why I think whatever’s in the envelope might also be on this chip. That guy thought he got away with it, but I fooled him.” Mary’s grin grew wider.

  Edna felt her skin growing cold and clammy. Her stomach wasn’t feeling so hot either. “And what happens when he doesn’t find it in the envelope?”

  “He probably doesn’t know what was in it in the first place.” Mary shrugged. “He’s just a messenger. Even if he did know what to expect, he won’t open it. His boss would probably have to kill him if he did.”

  “And what if this boss is waiting down the road? That thug could be back any minute.”

  “Bosses don’t wait near the scene of a crime,” Mary said with confidence.

  “I’ve got to call Charlie.” Realizing the futility of arguing with her all-things-criminal-enthusiast neighbor, Edna headed for her office, turning back when she heard a commotion behind her. Mary was close on her heels with Hank beside her. Benjamin, seeing everyone leaving the room, crawled cautiously from his hiding place in the corner and trotted after them. Safety in numbers, Edna thought, turning back and hiding a smile. She would have felt cheered if she weren’t so worried about an angry gunman outside her house.

  As soon as she entered her office and flicked on the overhead light, Edna crossed to the window and lowered the shade, something she almost never did. Even though prowlers had broken in the previous fall, they’d been caught. Knowing who the felons were and that the break-ins weren’t liable to happen again, she’d felt safe in the neighborhood. A screening of laurel and lilac bushes hid her house from cars going by along the road, so she hadn’t thought it necessary to pull every shade in the house after dark.

  Feeling a little more secure after shutting out the night, she moved to the desk, picked up the phone and dialed Charlie’s cell number. He answered on the fifth ring.

  “Rogers.”

  She was surprised she sounded as calm as she did with her stomach tied in a million knots. Still, her voice shook slightly when she said, “Charlie, it’s Edna. Mary and I were just threatened at gun point. Our intruder may not have left the neighborhood yet. Would you come and check?”

  Police Detective Charlie Rogers knew her well enough from past experience not to waste time questioning her. “Stay put. I’ll call for a patrol and be there as soon as I can, no more than fifteen minutes.” The words were barely out of his mouth before he hung up.

  True to his word, he arrived twelve minutes later with Starling in tow. Edna and Mary had stayed in the office with the dog and cat. Once Charlie assured himself they were unharmed, he put his hand in the small of Starling’s back and gently propelled her into the room. “I’m going out to talk to the patrol and look around. I think it would be best if you ladies stay in this room until I get back.” At a nod of reassurance and approval from Edna, he hurried from the room, flipping open his cell phone as he disappeared into the hall.

  “What happened? Are you okay?” Starling rushed to hug her mother, then straightened to look questioningly at Mary. Hank pushed his nose into Starling’s hand, and she scratched his ears absently as she waited to hear the details of their evening.

  “So what happened,” she asked when nobody spoke up. She rested a hip on the desk as Edna sat back in her swivel chair. Mary, sitting in the straight-back chair beside the desk, held up the memory chip for Starling to see.

  “Got something to read this with?”

  Starling frowned in puzzlement, but answered, “Sure. What is it?”

  “Memory chip from a camera,” Mary said.

  Starling rolled her eyes skyward. “I know that,” she said lowering her eyes to meet Mary’s twinkling ones. “I meant what’s on it?”

  “Don’t know. We need to look.”

  When Starling turned a questioning gaze on her mother, Edna explained about the envelope that Jaycee had left in her care. “That man must have seen what was written on the front when I opened the door to him earlier this evening. That’s why he came back.” She shook her head in disgust. “I should have left it in the desk.”

  “Don’t kick yourself, Mom. How were you to know?” Starling pushed away from the desk. “I’ll run upstairs and get my laptop.”

  Edna was about to protest that Charlie wanted them to stay in the office, but she too was curious to see what the chip held. Until her daughter reappeared in the doorway, computer in hand, she didn’t realize she’d hardly taken a breath, hoping the man with the gun hadn’t somehow reentered the house and hidden upstairs. She wouldn’t feel easy until she knew he’d been caught.

  She gave her seat to her daughter and Starling set her laptop on the desk, pushing Edna’s monitor aside to make room. While the computer booted up, she slid a camera bag from her shoulder and rummaged for an adapter which she plugged into one of the USB ports. Mary handed over the chip, having moved her chair around to sit as close as she could get to watch the screen. Edna stood behind her daughter, as mesmerized as Mary, waiting for a display of the contents of the little black wafer.

  Starling slipped the memory chip into the adapter and be
gan to swipe a finger across the touch pad to position the cursor and then press buttons to start programs and open windows. Suddenly, a photo appeared showing a large three-story house with flames shooting around the lower windows and above the front door. Black soot crawled up the white clapboard walls as the fire reached for upper floors. The three women watched in horror as a grisly slideshow scrolled across the screen showing how the fire had engulfed the house.

  “These must be the pictures Carol James took of the fire in Chicago, the ones the magazine article described,” Starling said, her eyes not moving from the screen.

  At the end of the fire series were several images that had obviously been cropped from sections of other pictures. Starling ran her fingers over the keyboard and touch pad to change the display to thumbnail images of the contents of the camera chip. Pointing and clicking on one, she enlarged the photo of a man looking over his shoulder.

  “That’s one of the pictures that sent the arsonist to prison. It was in the magazine article after the trial.”

  The man had a scowl on his face, as if he’d heard something and was looking back to see who was behind him. Carol James, a.k.a. Jaycee Watkins, had shot the photos with a long lens from a copse of trees across the residential street from the house, Starling explained to the others.

  “Bring up those small pictures again,” Edna said, leaning over Starling’s shoulder. “I think I saw something.”

  When the images appeared, she put her finger on one. “Can you make this one larger?”

  As Starling obliged, a shadow could be seen. The image was a blowup of the corner of one of the early shots when the flames hadn’t thrown as much light over the front yard. Light from a street lamp must have created the blurred silhouette. The arsonist who had been tried and convicted had been in a different spot in the same photo, so the shadow was not his. Starling brought up another enlargement that displayed a grainy image of the same section of wall. Barely discernible, it was either an optical illusion or a second man had been on the scene.

  “Do you suppose it could be our visitor,” Mary asked, twisting her head to look up at Edna.

  “Maybe. It would explain why he was looking for Jaycee and why he was so interested in the envelope.”

  Starling said with excitement in her voice, “It looks like these pictures prove there were two arsonists at the fire, but only one man was brought to trial.” She tapped keys and swiped at the touch pad. “I want to take these back to my studio and see if I can find anything else. I know Carol ...” she hesitated, “... or Jaycee or whatever her name is--probably went over these with a fine tooth comb, but maybe fresh eyes will see something else.”

  “You can’t take that. Charlie will want the chip,” Edna reminded her.

  “He can have the chip. I’m just copying the contents to my hard drive,” Starling said, busy at her task.

  “Who can have what chip?” Charlie had entered the room in time to hear Starling’s last remarks. Without waiting for an answer, he spoke to the question on three faces turned his way. “Didn’t find him. He’s gone. There’s nobody around who shouldn’t be and no strange vehicles, according to the patrol.”

  “Edna thinks he’ll be back,” Mary said, sounding as if she knew better and Edna’s concern was silly.

  “Of course he will,” Edna snapped, worry making her testy. “Whoever sees the pictures in the envelope--and I’m assuming that’s what it contained--must certainly want the originals or negatives or whatever you call what’s on a camera chip.”

  “Would someone fill me in? What envelope? What chip? Why did a man with a gun break in and threaten you two?” Charlie looked from Mary to Edna, a stern, no-nonsense expression on his face.

  Edna repeated the same story she’d told Starling, about Jaycee leaving the envelope with her and how the man at the door must have seen it. When she’d finished, Charlie thought for a minute while he absently watched Mary scratch Hank’s ears. Benjamin had crawled into Starling’s lap and was allowing her to stroke his back.

  They all watched him and waited until he broke the silence. “Edna’s probably right about this guy coming back, and even if she isn’t, ‘better safe than sorry’ as the saying goes.”

  “I want to get back to Boston to the studio and see if I can get anything else out of these pictures,” Starling spoke up, taking the chip from the adapter and holding it up to Charlie. “I’ve copied everything on it to my laptop.”

  Instead of taking it from her, he took a small notebook from his inside coat pocket and ripped out a blank page. Starling laid the wafer on the paper and Charlie wrapped it carefully before putting it and the notebook back in his pocket.

  “There’s probably nothing on this, but just in case,” he said. “I don’t want the lab boys on my back because they found one of my fingerprints on it.” He turned to Edna. “Can you go to Boston with Starling and stay for a few days?”

  “I could follow her up in my car, but let me first check with Peg. If she can use my help, I’ll stay with her.”

  Charlie put a hand on her arm before she could leave the room. “I’d like to keep your car here in the driveway, if you don’t mind.”

  It took only a few seconds for Edna to reason out why. “You think he’ll be back, too.” It was a rhetorical question.

  “It’s a possibility. If your car is here, he might try to get into the house to get to you. If he tries to break in again, he’ll be cautious to avoid alerting you and that might delay him long enough for the patrol to spot him.”

  “I can watch for him, too” Mary chimed in. “I’ve got new night-vision goggles.”

  Starling giggled and punched Mary lightly on the arm. “You’re so prepared,” she said with a smile as Mary grinned back at her.

  “I know it’s useless to ask you to stay away.” Charlie looked sternly at Mary, but Edna noticed a twitch at the corner of his mouth as he hid a smile.

  She thought for a moment. “I guess I can leave my car here. If Peg needs me, Starling can drop me off on her way home. Peg won’t mind driving me back once you tell me it’s safe.”

  “Benjy can come home with Hank and me,” Mary volunteered.

  “Benjamin,” Edna corrected automatically, still looking at Charlie.

  “Can I borrow a house key,” he asked, ignoring the interchange. “I’ll make a periodic check inside.”

  She nodded, feeling a cold shiver run down her spine at the thought of the stranger waiting somewhere in the house for her to return. Moving to the kitchen to get a spare key, she called Peg who, as it turned out, was not only delighted to have the company but desperate for some assistance.

  “Virginia’s sister is driving down from New Hampshire on Sunday. I know Virginia’s friends will want to meet Janette and her husband, so I’m arranging a small memorial service at the house. I contacted Virginia’s priest. He said he’ll ask the church women to spread the word, and he’s certain they’ll bring enough food for a small army, so I won’t have to worry about that. But I need to clean the house and order flowers and decide what sort of drinks to provide--and since tomorrow’s Friday, I’ve got only two days to get things done.” Beginning to sound beleaguered, Peg added, “Oh and there’s more packing to do. You may be sorry you asked, but yes, I would love for you to visit for a few days.”

  When Edna returned to the office with Peg’s answer, Starling went to get the rest of her equipment and her clothes. Mary called to Hank and Benjamin, going out through the mudroom so she could grab some cat food from the pantry on the way. Edna stopped for a minute to speak with Charlie before going upstairs to pack a small bag for what she hoped wouldn’t be more than a two- or three-day stay in Providence.

  “What else have you found out?”

  He was leaning against the desk, examining the cell phone in his hands and studiously avoiding her eyes.

  When he didn’t answer immediately, she persisted. “Have you heard from your friend Dietz? What’s the story with Jaycee? It’s become obvious
that dangerous people are looking for her. Is that why Dietz wanted you to keep an eye on her, to see that she’s safe?”

  His gaze flicked to her face and quickly dropped again. “I haven’t talked to Dietz. He’s still not answering his phone.” Charlie pushed away from the desk, slipping the phone into his pocket and, taking hold of Edna’s shoulders, looked her in the eyes. “I’m sorry we put you in danger. I had no idea someone would come to your house, let alone threaten you at gunpoint.”

  She looked at the concern in his hazel eyes for a long moment before she said, “I don’t blame you. I know you couldn’t have anticipated what happened tonight.” Changing the subject slightly, she said, “Have you found out anything more about Goran Pittlani? Could he be in cahoots with our gunman?”

  Without hesitation, Charlie shook his head, then dropped his hands and turned sideways to stare out to the hallway, effectively avoiding her eyes once more. “Your visitor wouldn’t have come here looking for Jaycee if he knew Pittlani had taken her off somewhere.”

  “So you know for certain they’re together, Jaycee and Goran?”

  He looked back at her. “It seems pretty obvious. Her car is gone and his bike is in her garage. I thought we’d already agreed that they’ve gone off together.”

  Something in his reply made Edna suspect Charlie knew more than he was letting on, but before she could question him further, Starling appeared in the door with a camera bag in one hand and a small suitcase in the other. “I’m ready whenever you are, Mom.”

  Chapter Twenty

  In less than half an hour, Edna and Starling were on their way to Providence. By the time they reached Peg’s house it was nearly eleven o’clock. Starling double-parked on the street while Edna rolled her suitcase up to the front door where Peg was waiting. Starling then waved goodbye to her mother and her honorary aunt and drove off.