by Cindy Bell
She placed the curtain rod back on the hooks just as she heard a crash outside. It was followed by an assortment of very colorful language. Jo raced back to the window she had climbed in through. As she started to climb back through it, she caught sight of the front door. It wasn’t closed all the way. If Roger broke in the front door, why did she catch him climbing out the window? Maybe he saw her out front and decided to exit a different way.
Jo jumped down from the window and nearly landed on top of Eddy and Roger. The two men wrestled on the ground with grunts and curses.
“Eddy! Let go of him!”
“He has a gun!” Eddy growled.
“I’m not going to use it!” Roger placed the gun on the ground. Jo reached down and scooped it up.
“There, now both of you stop! We need to figure out what is happening here!” Jo said.
Eddy glowered at Roger as he got to his feet. “What is going on is that he was waiting out here for you with a gun. He clearly killed his wife and was prepared to do the same to you.”
“I think you’re wrong about that, Eddy. I knew he was here, and I knew he had a gun, before I ever went in.”
“What?” Eddy’s eyes widened. “Why would you do something so reckless?”
“We’re all looking for the same thing,” Jo said.
“A murderer?” Eddy’s eyes flashed. “Because that’s what I’m looking for.”
“The only way we are going to find the murderer is if we find the necklace.”
“You didn’t find it?” Roger looked at her with some disappointment.
“I thought I had. I really did. It was the perfect hiding spot. But it wasn’t there.” She shook her head.
“We need to get out of here before Tony comes back.” Eddy grimaced.
“Wait, we should shut the front door first or he will know that someone was here.”
“Why did you open it?” Roger rolled his eyes. “You had time to do that, but not find the necklace?”
“Excuse me, but I was distracted by the two of you out here wrestling like teenage boys.”
“He had a gun!” Eddy waved his hands with exasperation.
“So? Who doesn’t have a gun?” Roger said.
“Wait a minute.” Jo narrowed her eyes. “Are you saying that you didn’t open the front door, Roger?”
“No. I didn’t. Why would I go in the front door and risk being seen? I’m not that stupid.”
Jo didn’t argue, but she knew that going in the front door wasn’t stupid at all. Drew taught her from the first day that the best way not to get caught was to act as if you belonged there. Walk up to the front door, use your body to shield whatever tool you’re using to break in, and to anyone passing by it will appear that you are just unlocking the door.
“Maybe Tony took off suddenly for some reason,” Roger said.
“Whatever the reason might be we should get out of here,” Eddy said.
“You’re right, let’s go.” Jo hurried towards the car. Roger went off in a different direction when they reached the sidewalk.
“Get in, get in.” Eddy unlocked the doors. Jo jumped into the passenger seat and Eddy started the car the moment he was inside. “We should be arresting him.”
“Well remember, you’re not a cop, and I don’t have handcuffs.”
“I know.” Eddy drove down the road with his hands curled around the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turned white. “I can’t believe that you did that.”
“It was a judgment call, Eddy. He had a gun.”
“You could have called for me.”
“And then he might have shot us both. I thought it would be safer to go inside. I wanted to search the place anyway.”
“Did you find anything?”
Jo sighed. “I thought I did. But it turned out to be nothing. I don’t know, Eddy, we keep hitting up against brick walls.”
“It’s a bit complicated. It’s almost like Valda’s death is an afterthought. Samantha called while you were in there Walt did some searching on Valda and he couldn’t find anyone in her past that had anything against her. I still think she was just an innocent bystander at the time of the crime. It’s hard to figure out who would be so vicious, when she doesn’t have any personal enemies that we can find. It looks like she wasn’t the target, the necklace was, she just got in the way.”
“Are we sure about that?” Jo rested her head against her fist and looked over at Eddy. “Maybe we zeroed in so much on the necklace that we overlooked a simpler answer. Maybe she was the target. Anyone who killed her would have taken the necklace, too. Nobody leaves a piece of jewelry like that behind. Let’s not forget that Roger was angry at her for wearing the necklace to the front door. He might have lost his temper with her and thought she was too big of a risk of exposing him.”
“Roger was at the buffet though.” Eddy shook his head. “I really don’t think that he would have had time to get from the buffet, to Valda, lose his temper with her, kill her, and then stash the necklace, all while leaving no evidence behind.”
“You’re right, that is pretty farfetched, but it might be possible. Maybe he killed her before he went to the buffet and pretended to find the body afterwards.”
“That’s possible.” Eddy nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll get Samantha to see if she can find out a more accurate time of death.”
“I think it is still possible that someone out of the blue broke in and attacked her,” Jo said.
“Now you’re thinking that someone random might have killed her?” Eddy asked.
Jo pursed her lips. She gazed out through the windshield. It was grasping at straws to think that the necklace wasn’t the target. The truth was, with Roger getting lower on the list of suspects, it was getting much harder to believe that Drew was innocent.
“Samantha also said that she couldn’t find any evidence that Tony and Roger have had any contact with each other since Tony was arrested.”
“Interesting,” Jo said. “Another dead end.”
“Let’s get everyone together at my place and we’ll regroup. I think you could use a break, Jo. When was the last time you ate?”
Jo waved her hand without concern. “I’m not sure.”
“Then we need to get some food in your stomach. Jo, you can’t let these things consume you. Trust me, I know from experience. If you stop taking care of yourself you’ll never solve the crime.”
“It’s nice to know that you’re concerned.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Jo stole a glance at him and smiled. “Thanks Eddy. I’ll go ahead and text Samantha and Walt to meet us there.”
“Perfect.” Eddy nodded.
Chapter 12
When Eddy and Jo arrived at Eddy’s villa, Samantha and Walt were already there.
“So, no luck?” Walt stepped back to let Eddy unlock the door.
“All we did was run into Roger breaking into Tony’s house to get the necklace back.” Eddy shook his head.
“But we didn’t find the necklace.” Jo frowned.
“Well, that just means we have another chance to look for it.” Samantha smiled. “I have to say that I’m rather enjoying the hunt.” The eyes of all the others turned on her. Jo raised an eyebrow. “What?” Samantha shrugged. “We’re essentially hunting for lost treasure. That doesn’t seem like fun to any of you?”
“Maybe it would be fun if we had a solid clue about where to look.” Jo frowned. “I am the most experienced treasure hunter out of all of us, but I can’t get it right. My instincts are going haywire.”
“Oh, trust me.” Eddy clapped her lightly on the shoulder. “That’s called old age.”
“Speak for yourself.” Samantha raised an eyebrow. “Jo, maybe you just need some rest.”
“Maybe.” Jo nodded and joined the others as they entered the villa.
“I found out that the estimated time of death was around ten,” Samantha said. “Shortly before the body was found by Roger.”
“So that
rules out Roger again because he was at the buffet,” Eddy said. “He couldn’t have murdered her before going there.”
Jo settled on one side of the couch. Eddy pressed a drink into her hand, a few minutes later Samantha presented a sandwich. Jo couldn’t focus on what was being said or done. She heard snippets of conversation about Valda’s body, the absence of any trouble from Valda’s past, and their inability to locate the necklace. But what really occupied her mind was that the front door was left open. As much as she wanted to believe that Tony might have been in the house, she was almost certain that someone else was there.
“Jo, can I talk to you?” Samantha sat down next to her. Jo nodded and looked over at her. Samantha waited until Eddy and Walt were engaged in an argument over the justice system versus rehabilitation, then she scooted closer to Jo on the couch and lowered her voice.
“While I was going around in circles I did a little research on Drew. I hope you don’t mind.”
“What kind of research?”
“Well, I know the two of you have been out of touch for a very long time, so I just wanted to look into what he’s been up to.”
“Oh.” Jo frowned. “What did you find?”
“It isn’t good.” Samantha lowered her voice even further, to a whisper. “There have been two charges of assault, but he was not prosecuted on either one.”
“Well, then he probably didn’t do it.”
“Maybe. Or he might have cut a deal of some kind, or there wasn’t enough evidence to hold him.”
“He’s not violent, but knowing Drew, even if he punched a police officer in the face he would find his way out of it. He’s highly intelligent and very charismatic.”
“Which makes him even more dangerous.”
“Samantha?” Jo leaned towards her.
“Listen, I’ve done my best to hold my tongue on this, but I don’t want you to be at risk. Whoever you thought Drew was all those years ago, you don’t know if he still is.”
Jo grimaced. “I know that. I’m not so foolish to think that I can trust him. I don’t think he’s a murderer, but lately my instincts have all been wrong.”
“I don’t think that they’re wrong. There are a ton of emotions involved in all of this for you, Jo. I’m sure you’re just having a hard time sorting through them to get to the truth. But in time you will figure it out. Until then, I just want to make sure that you use caution around Drew. I have instincts, too, and Drew strikes me as someone who will do whatever it takes to get whatever it is that he wants.”
“You’re right about that.” Jo sighed. “I think I need some air.” As she walked out of the villa she passed through Eddy and Walt’s heated conversation.
“You can’t throw a person away based on a mistake,” Walt insisted.
“Some mistakes you can’t come back from,” Eddy argued.
Jo closed her eyes and closed the door behind her. Had Drew made a mistake that he couldn’t come back from? She hated to think it, but she knew that it was possible.
Jo stood outside the door and stared into the distance. It kept bothering her that the front door of Tony’s house was open. Had he been there when they arrived? Was that why the necklace was gone? She shifted from foot to foot. He might have hidden it somewhere, but where? The curtain rod seemed like the perfect place. Despite her breaking in they were no closer to knowing who had the necklace or who murdered Valda. It made her uneasy to think that maybe Tony somehow knew she was on her way there and had taken the time to grab the necklace before bolting out the door. Or perhaps, her instincts were wrong and the necklace was never in the curtain rod. What they needed was a way to draw Tony into admitting that he had the necklace.
Jo bit into her bottom lip and closed her eyes. She ran through memories of different break-ins she had taken part in. Then she recalled one particular event. Drew wanted to steal a particular collectible, but it was already stolen. No one knew who had it. He decided to set a trap by baiting other thieves with the idea that he had the item. He leaked to them that it was in a particular place. Then he sat outside and watched as one by one all of the thieves attempted to find it. All except one. He knew then, the one who had not attempted to get it, was the one who had it all along. As far as she knew he never successfully stole the item, but he did find out who had it.
“Eddy?” Jo poked her head inside the villa. “I have an idea.”
“What is it?” Eddy stood up and walked over to her.
“You’re not going to like it.” Jo eyed him hesitantly.
“Why not?”
“Because we’re going to need Roger’s help to pull off what I’m planning.”
“What?” He frowned. “That man is not trustworthy. I’m not convinced that he didn’t have a part in the necklace going missing and the murder. He’s one of our suspects. How can we work with him to find out who the killer is if it might be him?”
“I’m not convinced that he’s innocent either, but we need to make him think that we believe him, that way he will cooperate with us. In the long run it will pay off. I want to set a trap. I want to tell Roger that we believe that he doesn’t have the necklace, but that we’re going to pretend that he does to get Tony or whoever else might be interested in the necklace to come looking for it.” She lowered her eyes as she wondered if Drew would be one of them. She couldn’t worry about that, as she knew that she had to focus on solving the crime, not protecting Drew. “So, we’ll tempt them and then wait for them to show up. If Tony doesn’t show, then we’ll know he has it.”
“What if Roger has it?” Eddy asked.
“I don’t think he does, but even if he does, he’ll play along, he’s not going to admit to having it, right?”
“Right, he probably won’t.” Eddy nodded.
“And if he does admit to it then we’ll at least know that he has it,” Jo said.
“So, if Tony does show up, we’ll know Tony doesn’t have it, and we don’t have to focus on him.”
“We can set up the sting at Roger’s place. That will probably give me time to do a thorough search of his house. I believe that if Roger has the necklace it will be somewhere in the house,” Jo stated.
“All right.” Eddy ran his hand back through his hair.”
“I’ll leak the information to my contact so it can get back to Tony,” Jo said.
“Good. We can have Walt monitor Tony’s movements to see if he goes anywhere. If he does have the necklace and someone else claims to have it, I guarantee you he’ll go to wherever he is hiding it to check to make sure that it is still there.”
“Good point.” Jo smiled. “I like the way you think, Eddy.”
“I think you’re the only one.” Eddy grinned.
As the two began to work out the plan for the sting the next day Walt and Samantha joined in.
“You do realize that you’ll be the target of anyone who wants this necklace right?” Walt sighed. “I’m not so sure that’s the best idea.”
“Maybe not, but it’s the only one we have right now.” Jo frowned. “The longer we let this go on, the more likely it is that Valda’s death will get swept under the rug.”
“She’s right.” Samantha nodded. “At this point there is no evidence that we know of to prove who killed her. Maybe if we find out who has the necklace it will lead us to the murderer or even a confession.”
“I hope so.” Eddy yawned. “But before we do any of that, we all need some rest. Jo and I will head to Roger’s in the morning. Let’s all plan to get into position by eight, that way we can catch Roger and Tony before either of them think about leaving the house.”
“Good plan.” Samantha nodded. “I’ll do a little more research tonight, too. I want to know if there is anything floating around on the internet about the necklace.”
“I’m going to head home.” Jo stepped out of the villa. Walt stepped out behind her.
“I’ll walk you.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“I know, but I could us
e the company.” Walt smiled. Jo thought about arguing, but she decided against it. If she was honest with herself she felt like company. The two began to walk in silence towards Jo’s villa. After a few minutes, Walt took a short breath and looked over at her.
“Are you doing okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Drew.”
Jo blinked. “I thought we agreed not to mention that?”
“I agreed not to mention it to anyone else. I never agreed not to make sure that you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“Even after seeing him again?”
“Yes, whatever we had ended a very long time ago.” Jo paused at the end of her walkway. “I appreciate your concern, Walt, I really do. But I’ve never been the romantic type. I wasn’t then, and I’m not now. Sure, at one time Drew and I were close, but we’re entirely different people now. I don’t want anyone to get the impression that I am somehow still involved with him.”
“I didn’t mean it that way, Jo. Of course I know you’re not.”
“You might know that, but I doubt that Eddy will see it that way. I’d just prefer to pretend there is no connection between us. All right?” Jo met his eyes. “Please?”
“Sure.” He nodded. “I have no problem with that. But will you be able to say the same if he turns out to be responsible for Valda’s death? You know that you don’t owe this man anything, right?”
Jo clenched her jaw. “If Drew is the one who killed Valda, trust me I will be the first person to make sure that he pays for it.”
