by Cindy Bell
“But is Tony actually in the house? Maybe he had a motorcycle stashed somewhere?” Jo asked.
The sound of the motorcycle drew closer. Eddy fought with the keypad on his phone to text Walt.
“Auto correct.” He muttered.
“Eddy!”
“He can’t confirm that Tony is in the house.”
“All right, game on. Everyone down and quiet.” Jo crouched down, but she lingered by the door. The motorcycle engine cut off right in front of the villa. Jo’s heart pounded. Could Tony have slipped out when Walt wasn’t looking? Could it be Drew determined to get the necklace? Or was it another thief that was on their way to find it? There was a sharp knock on the door. Would a thief really knock?
“What should we do?” Roger whispered. Eddy and Jo exchanged a look.
“Open the door.” Jo frowned. “He’s coming in either way.”
Roger grimaced. He crept towards the door. Jo moved right behind him, prepared to pounce. Eddy stepped up on the other side. Roger opened the door. Tony shoved his way right into the villa.
“So, you have the necklace? The necklace that belongs to me?” He screamed in Roger’s face.
“You killed my wife!” Roger screamed back at him. “How could you kill an innocent woman?”
“Shut your mouth and give me my necklace!” Tony glared into his eyes. Jo moved to restrain him, but Eddy held up a hand to stop her.
“She was all I had in the world!” Roger lunged at Tony. He slammed his fist across Tony’s face. Tony stumbled back, then lunged forward and tried to tackle Roger to the ground. Eddy moved to jump into the fray, but Tony landed his foot in Eddy’s stomach which knocked him back several feet. Jo pounced onto Tony’s back to try to pull him off Roger. As she struggled with him, Tony reached up and behind his body. He grabbed at her hair and neck. Jo gulped down air as he twisted around and managed to squeeze her neck. In the middle of all the chaos she realized she had put herself in an impossible position. Tony had his legs twisted through hers and his hand wrapped tight around the side of her throat. It was getting harder for her to breathe. All of a sudden his hand was gone, as were his legs, and Tony was thrown to the ground. Jo stumbled to her feet to see Drew with Tony pinned beneath his thick, black boot.
“Drew?” Jo stared at him with wide eyes.
“Stay down.” Drew kept one foot on Tony’s back. “Don’t move!”
Jo swallowed hard. She knew that Drew was still a thief, but she was still disappointed. She knew that he had probably come for the necklace. He had probably just saved her life, but she wished he hadn’t. She wished he’d stayed a memory.
“The necklace isn’t here, Drew.” Jo rubbed at her throat and eyed him warily.
“It was a setup?” Drew raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Something else you learned from me, hmm?” Jo met his eyes and didn’t say a word. She wanted to say a million things, not the least of which was to accuse him of murder. He was there for a reason, and she knew that she was not it. “And you don’t have it either, hmm?” He looked down at Tony. “It must be a terrible thing to know that that beautiful necklace, the very reason you were in prison for so long, still isn’t yours to keep.”
“Keep quiet!” Tony growled. He tried to get out from under Drew’s boot, but Drew held him in place.
“The police are on their way.” Eddy hung up his phone. Drew’s eyes snapped towards him.
“Then I’ll be going,” Drew said.
“Wait just a second. Not so fast.” Eddy moved in front of the door. “No one is going anywhere. There’s still a matter of a missing necklace.”
“It’s not missing, Tony has it.” Jo glared at the man on the ground. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. I guess he just thought it might be a good idea to come here and wipe out the last witness to his crime. He killed Valda, and was going to kill Roger next.”
“That’s not true!” Tony squirmed under Drew’s shoe. “I’m here to look for the necklace.”
“I know you had it!” Roger accused as he stood up from where he was hiding behind the couch. “You told me you had it.”
“Okay fine, I did steal it. If you can call it stealing, since it was mine in the first place.”
“You mean, you stole it in the first place.” Eddy frowned.
“So, where is the necklace?” Drew applied pressure to Tony’s back. “You must have it.”
“I did have it, I did. Valda handed it right to me. She didn’t even fight me.”
“But you still murdered her?” Jo stared down at him with disgust.
“I did not!” Tony struggled to get free. “I didn’t kill anyone! I just wanted the necklace. Why would I kill her?”
“If you didn’t kill her, then who did?” Eddy threw his hands up with exasperation.
“Maybe someone else came looking for the necklace?” Tony lifted his head. “It’s not like I’m the only one who wanted it. There were others who wanted it just as bad. Isn’t that right, Drew?” Tony turned his head in an attempt to look up at him, but Drew increased the pressure of his shoe against the man’s back.
“Stop trying to blame other people for your own actions. I had nothing to do with the missing necklace,” Drew said.
“But that’s why you’re here isn’t it? To get it back?” Tony said.
“Maybe. Or maybe I am here to make sure that my friend is safe.” He looked at Jo and met her eyes. “Now, are you going to return the favor, Jo, or are you going to watch them haul me away in handcuffs?”
“Go, just go!” Jo lunged between Eddy and Drew to make sure that Drew had a clear path through the back door.
“Jo! Move out of the way!” Eddy tried to get past her, but Jo stood her ground until Drew was gone. Before Eddy could argue with Jo, a police officer burst through the front door of the villa. For a tense moment, Jo waited for Eddy to send him after Drew. Eddy stared hard at her, but he did not mention Drew.
“Officer, this man is involved in a murder and a theft.” Eddy pointed at Tony who had just gotten to his feet.
“Theft of what?” The officer looked between all of them.
“A necklace.” Roger frowned. Eddy sent a text to Walt saying he could take a break from the surveillance on Tony’s place.
“Where’s the necklace? Do you have it?” The officer looked at Tony.
“These people are crazy, I didn’t steal anything.”
“He doesn’t have the necklace.” Eddy attempted to explain. Jo tried to remain incognito.
“So, he broke into the house?” The officer made a note on his notepad.
“No, he didn’t break in actually.” Roger hung his head. “I let him in.”
“So, you let him into the house and then he attacked you?” The officer made another note. Roger groaned and shook his head.
“No. I think, I might have been the one to attack him first.”
“So, there is really no reason to arrest this man?” The officer raised an eyebrow. He looked over at Tony. “Do you want to press charges against this man for assault?”
Tony stared hard at Roger. Then he shook his head. “No officer. I’d just like to be on my way if that’s all right with you.”
“And you two?” The officer turned to look at Jo and Eddy. “Did you have a part in all of this?”
“Not exactly.” Eddy frowned. Jo just shook her head. She could have told the officer about Tony threatening her, but in order to do that she would have to reveal that Drew was present and had fled before the police arrived, which would only complicate things. Besides all of that she was still scared of the police and wanted to avoid talking to them wherever possible.
“All right then. I think you should leave.” He said to Tony. “The two of you need to stay away from each other. Understand?” He gestured between Roger and Tony.
“Yes sir.” Tony nodded.
Eddy could not hold his tongue any longer. “Don’t you think this should be looked into a little more?” He walked over to the officer. “A woman i
s dead.”
“Uh.” The officer skimmed through the information on his phone. “There is a suspicious death, but there is no confirmation of any foul play. I will pass on the information to the relevant people and see what they want to do. I don’t know anything about this necklace that you’re talking about, but if you want to make a theft report I’ll need a description of the item. Do either of you want to do that?” He looked from Roger to Tony.
“No.” Roger stood up.
“No.” Tony shook his head.
“Then there is nothing else I can do here.” The officer scrutinized Eddy. “You look familiar to me.”
“You’ve probably seen me around the station.” Eddy sighed. “I’m retired.”
“Oh, I see.” The officer smiled. “Still working the beat, huh?”
“Something like that.” Eddy gritted his teeth.
“Well, it looks like this one is a non-issue. So, let’s all agree to move on and have no further contact, hmm?” The officer looked at each person in turn. “I don’t want to have to come out here again.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Tony moved past the officer and right out the door. The officer followed after him with a slight nod of his head. Jo pushed the door closed behind him.
“Unbelievable.” Eddy shook his head.
“What did you expect?” Jo raised an eyebrow. “You should have discussed it with me before calling the police.”
“Things got a little out of control, don’t you think, Jo?” Eddy eyed her with annoyance.
“It seemed to me that Drew got them back under control.”
“Drew? You mean the criminal that you encouraged to run away before the police could get here?”
“Eddy, I can explain.”
“Is he the one who you caught breaking into Roger’s house?” Jo glanced over at Roger and then back to Eddy. She didn’t speak. “The one whose face you claimed not to see?” Eddy pressed.
“It’s not important now, is it?” She met his eyes. “I just want to get this case solved.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen now, is it? Our main suspect wasn’t even arrested by the police. It’s clear that he didn’t kill Valda, and that he doesn’t have the necklace. There’s nothing more that we can do here,” Eddy said.
“No there’s not because now that the police have been here no one else is going to show up to look for the necklace. The plan is blown, and we are no closer to knowing the truth than when we started.”
“And that’s my fault?” Eddy stared at her with widened eyes. “How can you truly believe that it is my fault when you obviously were very friendly with a criminal that has been involved in this crime possibly from the first moment?”
“What are you saying?” Jo stared at him.
“I’m saying that you have been protecting Drew from suspicion, when he is just as likely to be as guilty as Roger or Tony.”
“I didn’t do it!” Roger growled. “I’m standing right here you know. I didn’t do it!”
“Shush!” Jo looked over at Roger with a sharp glare. “I don’t think that Drew is capable of murder.”
“But you don’t get to decide that, Jo. He showed up here didn’t he? Who is to say that he didn’t go looking for that necklace after Tony took it, only to kill Valda when she caught him?”
Jo’s heart dropped. She hadn’t really thought of that. When Tony admitted to stealing the necklace, she thought that cleared Drew, but it didn’t. Eddy was right. Drew could have murdered Valda. He could have also shown up at Roger’s when he did with the intention of killing him.
“I’m sorry, Eddy.” Jo looked down at her hands. “I guess I didn’t think it through far enough. Or maybe I just didn’t want to think that he was involved. I mean, he did save us from Tony.”
“Did he? Or did he just do that to solidify the idea of his innocence in your mind?”
Jo thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m not sure.”
“That’s the problem. We have nothing. We have no evidence to point to anyone. We’re going to have to let this one go, Jo.”
“Seriously?”
“What about Valda?” Roger stepped in between them. “You’re just going to give up?”
“It’s not like you did much for her,” Eddy snapped. “You could have told the police about the necklace and your suspicions about her death if you really wanted her death to be investigated properly. Now we’ve spent a lot of time and effort to untangle the mess you made, Roger, but it’s still your mess. We couldn’t even get Tony arrested because you couldn’t admit to having the necklace in your possession at one time.”
“Wait a minute. Wait a minute.” Jo held up her hands. “If Tony doesn’t have the necklace, then who has it?”
“Why are you back on that again?” Eddy narrowed his eyes.
“I think that we need to take a step back. We’re missing something here.” Jo shook her head.
“Yes, we’re missing the fact that there is no way to solve this crime. I’m ready to get out of here.”
“Wait a minute, you’re going to leave me here alone, after leaking the fact that I have the necklace?” Roger grabbed onto Eddy’s wrist. “You can’t do that. They’ll eat me alive.”
“So, call the cops.” Eddy shook Roger’s hand free. “You committed the crime in the first place, Roger, maybe you should just turn yourself in and take your chances with prison.”
“Eddy, please, we can’t…”
“Don’t, Jo.” Eddy shook his head. “I’m going home.” He stepped out of the villa and slammed the door closed behind him. Jo felt terrible because she knew she was the source of his frustration. He wasn’t angry that they couldn’t solve the crime, or even that Roger had stolen the necklace in the first place, but because she had protected Drew. She took a deep breath and looked over at Roger.
“Don’t worry, I’ll stay with you tonight and by tomorrow we’ll have the rumor cleared up so that you won’t be targeted.”
“But what about Valda?” Roger frowned. “Someone should have to pay for what happened to my wife.”
Jo nodded as she turned to look out the front window of the villa. “You’re right, Roger. We just don’t know who. You lying about so much, hasn’t helped this investigation much.”
“I know. I guess once you get used to lying, it’s just what you do.”
Chapter 15
Eddy burst into Walt’s villa without even knocking. Walt jumped up and nearly spilled his cup of tea. He caught it before it could hit the floor and shatter.
“I can’t believe her!”
“Who?” Walt stared at him.
“Jo! That’s who.” Eddy shook his head and balled his hands into fists. “You think you know someone.”
“What are you talking about, where is Jo?”
“She’s at Roger’s villa.”
“Wait a minute, are you saying you left her alone with a thief and potential murderer?” Walt stared at Eddy with disbelief. “How could you do that?”
“She’s a grown woman and decided to stay on her own.” Eddy shrugged. “Women’s lib and all of that, right?”
“Eddy.” Walt glared at him. “Stop trying to act big and tough, I know you better than that. What really happened?”
“What happened is that she lied to me, Walt. I thought we were past all of that.”
“Lied about what?” Walt paused. “Oh, you found out about Drew?”
“You knew? Is everyone lying to me now?”
“I didn’t exactly know. There’s a lot of history there, Eddy. You can’t blame her for doing what she thought was best.”
“What if he was the one who murdered Valda, Walt?” Eddy frowned.
“All the more reason not to leave her alone.” Walt picked up his coat. “I’m going over there. I’m going to let Samantha know to keep up the surveillance. Are you going to come with me or not?”
“Why should I if I don’t know if I can trust her?”
/>
“Maybe that isn’t the problem, Eddy. Maybe the question you should be asking yourself, is, why doesn’t she trust you?” Walt brushed past him. “At this point, I wonder if you would turn so easily against any of your friends. What are you really angry about, Eddy? The fact that she lied, or the fact that she still feels the need to hide things about herself from you?”
Eddy watched as Walt walked through the door. “Lock up behind you please.” Walt closed the door. Eddy stood alone in the middle of Walt’s living room. He didn’t want Walt’s logical nature to creep through his fury and force everything he said to make sense to him, but it did. He decided that he needed to go back to Roger’s as well. If he wanted Jo to believe that she could trust him, he had to give her reason to.
* * *
Jo paced back and forth in front of the window. Her mind traveled from the past to the present. She wanted to be angry at Eddy. She wanted to be able to declare that he was dead wrong. But the truth was, he was right. She had given Drew far more benefit of the doubt than he deserved. If he was involved in the crime, if he was a suspect, she should have been honest every step of the way with Eddy. Instead she tried to protect Drew from the scrutiny of her friends, or maybe it was more about protecting herself and her past choices from their scrutiny. Either way she put the entire investigation at risk. Not that there was an investigation left to speak of now, anyway.
“Could you please sit down?” Roger looked over at her from the couch. “You’re making me dizzy.”
“Did you kill your wife, Roger?” Jo turned to face him.
“How many times do I have to answer that question?” He stared up at her. His glare and the tone of his voice bothered Jo to the point that she decided not to hold back any longer.
“Let me throw a scenario out there. Let’s just say that you came home from the buffet, and you found Valda, only she was still alive. She was upset. She wanted to go to the police about the stolen necklace. She wanted to turn Tony in, have him arrested for the crime. You, never told her how you really got the necklace, did you Roger?”
