Alibi in April (Calendar Mysteries Book 4)

by Camilla Chafer

  "Perfect!" I agreed.

  "Nate, do you need any help carrying things from the rear veranda?"

  "No, that was everything," replied Nate. "Thanks for the help, Gus."

  Dad hugged me again and Leonard said he might as well leave too. He had to go buy lemons and sugar from the grocery store. He asked if he might borrow Aunt Edie's big glass pitcher for mixing everything up and thanked me again for the photo before hugging each of us again.

  "Leonard is a very sweet man," said Nate as we watched the two men leave. Leonard turned and waved from the sidewalk and we waved back, just as my dad fired up his electric trimmer and started hacking at the brambles.

  "Do you mind him hanging around while you work?"

  "Not one bit. He promised us gallons of lemonade!" Nate grinned and nudged me.

  "If he gets too excited at seeing your guys, I'll just turn the garden hose on him," I said and this time, Nate bellowed a laugh. I waited while he finished before I said, "Thanks again for agreeing to fix the house up."

  "It's my pleasure. I love these old houses and I'll enjoy working on this one even more and..." he stopped, a cloud passing across his face.

  "What?"

  "Never mind. I'm going to take off now too. I need to dump the garden furniture and pick up a few supplies for tomorrow, now that I know what I’m doing. I'll order the glass for the broken window and it should be here within a few days. I fixed the window of another Victorian-era house in March so it won't take me too long to fit it in nicely. I'll be here by eight tomorrow morning."

  I nodded along as he spoke. "That's great."

  "Are you going to be okay staying here by yourself?"

  "Yes," I said, not entirely sure if I were being honest. I recalled what Detective Logan and I discussed and wondered how expensive any extra security would be. "I'd like to talk to you about installing an alarm system too."

  "Sure. That sounds like a good idea. I'll bring by some options and we can walk through it tomorrow. If you go with a wireless device, I can fit it within a couple of days. You can get online cameras too. Or if you'd prefer, I can put you in touch with a twenty-four-hour monitored system?"

  "What do you suggest I do?" I asked.

  "I would do the wireless option but it's your choice. Later on, just include the cost of it in the sale of the house. I'll walk you through the most effective options and you can decide what works best for you. You can even include the garage too if you want."

  "I forgot all about the garage."

  "That's because you can't see it. It'll be visible by the end of the week after I cut a path tomorrow so you can take a good look. I already locked the French doors in the kitchen but I left the keys in the door so don't forget about them."

  "Thanks."

  Nate gave me a brief, warm hug before he left via the front door. He paused while my dad turned off the hedge trimmer and jogged over the pile of cuttings. On the sidewalk he waved to me, then signaled my dad to continue before he waved to someone else I couldn't see. A moment later, Tia stepped into view. I waved to her and called out that I would be a couple of minutes. She nodded and pointed toward the sidewalk, miming that she would wait there.

  I jogged back to the kitchen and removed the keys, tossing them into the drawer, and put our used glasses in the sink to wash later. I grabbed my jacket and purse, and left by the front door, locking up behind me.

  "Looks great, Dad," I yelled.

  Dad turned off the trimmer. "Are you going out?"

  "Tia and I are taking a walk. I won't be long."

  "I'm almost done. I'll brush all these branches to one side. Call your mother later. She's worried about you."

  "Tell her I'm fine!" I called as he powered up again.

  "Is your dad cutting all the bushes back?" asked Tia as we headed along the street.

  "No, just enough to stop us from getting thorns in our arms and legs."

  "A wonderful plan."

  "There's been a development," I told her, filling her in quickly. I began with the fruitless search of the motels Danielle and I investigated, and finished with the surprise photo Dad recognized. I also briefly described Detective Logan's second grilling.

  "That's terrible that your uncle, no, your cousin..."

  "Second cousin," I corrected her. "He's my dad's cousin although they weren't biologically related because Aunt Edie is my dad's aunt and Terry was Uncle John's nephew.

  Tia nodded. "Confusing. Hey, Vanessa, it's just terrible that your second cousin could be behind this. Your dad must be so upset."

  "I think that's why he's hacking away all those bushes."

  "What did your mom say?"

  "She doesn't know yet."

  "I guess it's pointless searching for a mystery car, now that we know who the dead man is."

  I shook my head. "I've been thinking about that and it could be more important than ever that we find it. Detective Logan is right: a second accomplice that we haven't identified is still out there. He says they might have left the area but he also said they might try and infiltrate my life somehow. It could even be Terry's brother, Noah."

  Tia pulled a disgusted face. "That's awful!"

  "I agree. Which is why we need to find the car."

  "But if it's registered to your second cousin, that won't help us at all."

  "No," I agreed, "but there might be something inside it that indicates the identity of his accomplice. It's a longshot, but if we find that car, we might find Terry's killer and learn what they wanted to steal from my house."

  Chapter Thirteen

  We walked two blocks south of the Inn while Tia pointed out various cars that she knew belonged to the neighbors as well as those who were regular visitors she recognized from other parts of town. There were a couple of work trucks but we both knew the names emblazoned on the sides, so we ignored them too.

  "I wouldn't even know the cars that regularly park outside my apartment in Chicago," I told her when we decided to turn back toward the Inn and search another direction. "I lived in a triplex building and except for my friend, Mallory, I barely ever saw the people in the other unit."

  "It's a blessing and a curse of small towns I guess. We know all our neighbors and can instantly spot someone who doesn't fit in. It also means we never get away with anything because someone always manages to see something," replied Tia.

  "Remember when we were twelve and someone told our moms that we weren't using appropriate language as we walked home from school?"

  "Yeah. Our moms were more pissed at being informed by the local meddling phone tree than the fact we were cursing."

  I laughed at the memory. "We had no idea someone could even hear us!"

  "Much less that half the neighborhood knew all about it before we even arrived home." We paused as we reached the Inn.

  "North, west or east?" I asked.

  "Let's head east. I always take that route to work so I'm fairly sure I can recognize most of the regular vehicles. North is probably the same. I'm less sure of the western streets so they might be trickier."

  "East it is," I agreed and we turned onto that street. Tia pointed out numerous cars for which she could identify the owners, and the ones that belonged to their friends, relatives and the occasional caregiver or homeworker. After we walked two blocks, we turned and headed back.

  "What if we aren't walking far enough?" asked Tia.

  "I thought about that but I think if Terry and his accomplice planned to steal something, they had to carry it away. If it were too heavy, they wouldn't want to carry it very far. They would draw attention if they were walking around at night in black clothing and carrying a bag or a box full of stuff. Terry lived here as a kid. He would know how suspicious people can be. I doubt he would risk being reported to the police and getting stopped or searched."

  "A fast getaway makes sense when you explain it like that."

  "Let's head north next."

  Tia repeated her commentary as we took off in the next direction.
There were a couple of cars she couldn't identify so we wrote down their license plates. "These look like nice vehicles," I said, tapping my finger against the first two plate numbers. This van seems a little more suspicious."

  "The rust around the wheels doesn't fit in with the genteel nature of this neighborhood," added Tia. "Plus, there’s enough room in back to fit all kinds of things."

  "We should check the other direction just to complete our circuit," I said and Tia nodded. We walked back to our beginning point but as we crossed the street, Tia tapped my arm and pointed to something. We stepped onto the opposite sidewalk and I followed the direction of her finger. "I guess we can cross that van off the list after all." We both watched two men carrying out an old, claw-foot bathtub and pushing it into the back of the van. "I think that's Rob Sanderson and his son. I forgot his name."

  "Joey. He's a senior in high school. I know he works with his dad after school. I didn't recognize the van though. He usually drives a blue one."

  "Maybe it's undergoing repairs so he borrowed this one?" I suggested. "Regardless of why, I think we can cross him off our list. Rob Sanderson doesn't have a deceitful bone in his whole body."

  "I agree. Even if we don't spot anymore suspicious vehicles," said Tia as she tucked her arm through mine and we walked companionably while scouring every car with our eyes, "at least we're getting plenty of exercise."

  "You always manage to look on the bright side."

  "I do. How's the house coming along? I saw Nate leaving. Did you hire him?"

  "I did," I confirmed, "and he told me it won’t be too much work or too expensive. By the end of next week, the house will look spectacularly different, thanks to the window pane being replaced, the siding getting fixed and painted, and those damn blackberry bushes finally getting under control."

  "Two weeks? That's pretty ambitious." Tia raised her eyebrows and whistled.

  "I think it looks worse than it is and Nate won’t be working alone."

  "No time for you two to get cozy then."

  I stopped. "What do you mean?"

  "Oh, c'mon. Nate has never hidden that he’s always had a crush on you. Now you two are all grown up..." Tia waggled her eyebrows.

  "Nate does not have a crush on me," I said. He once confessed as much but that was so long ago. He was working for me now only because he loved repairing old houses and we were old friends. Despite the lapse in our communication over the past few years, our friendship endured. Even if I had to admit feeling a surge of something when he was around, I’d already concluded it was no more than the pleasure of reuniting with an old friend. I had to be honest and confess that our friendship would probably lapse again as soon as I sold the house and left town again. That thought settled heavily in my stomach. I would be leaving Nate behind all over again.

  Tia nudged me. "Why the long face?"

  I brushed off the grim thought. Tia would make more of it than it actually deserved and since it was nothing, I avoided thinking about it. "If Nate has a crush on anyone, I bet it's Danielle," I told her, remembering what Danielle said.

  "Danielle?!"

  "He acted really funny around her earlier and she told me something happened between them."

  Tia stopped. "No! I don't believe it!"

  "You didn't know?"

  "No!"

  "Maybe they were being discreet. I shouldn't have repeated it."

  "I still don't believe it," Tia snorted. "Nate never liked Danielle. He just tolerated her because she was in our group."

  "But we spent so much time together growing up!"

  "Nate was part of our crowd long before Danielle was, remember? She only joined us in freshman year of high school. We liked her so he put up with her but if you ever bothered to notice, he never really hung around her. I guess if it's true, people really can change. Hey, don't look so glum."

  "I'm not glum. I just keep getting all these reminders of happier times and I guess it makes me sad that I'll be leaving so soon again." For the first time in a long time, I felt a pang of homesickness. No, it hadn't been a long time. It was happening more and more often over the past few months.

  "No one says you have to leave."

  "I do. I have a life that I carved out in Chicago and my friends and... and..." I trailed off. What did I have in Chicago that I didn't have here in Calendar? A job? Boyfriend? A home? None of those things were waiting for me. With the exceptions of Mallory, Jill and a handful of friends, I had to start anew with everything. I had friends here too, old friends, which I'd been reminded of since my arrival. I also had a magnificent home if I wanted it.

  "Have you ever tried freelance work?" Tia asked. "If the house improvements take longer than you anticipated, freelancing might be a good option."

  "I never really thought much about it. I've always worked for someone else."

  "I think you would love being your own boss and all the freedom that entails. I don't want to worry you, but houses don’t always sell immediately when they hit the market around here. You might need something to fall back on while you're waiting for the right buyer."

  "I don't think there is much demand in Calendar for a graphic designer."

  "I’m sure there is! My boss, Ryan March, badly needs a new logo before he sends out postcards to everyone on his mailing list. He definitely needs a graphic designer. I bet there are plenty of other stores and businesses right here that could use your help too."

  "Maybe I could do some freelancing just to test the market," I said hesitantly. At the very least, I wouldn't have to explain any gaps on my résumé.

  "You have plenty of space to set up an office, or two or three," Tia reminded me.

  "I'll think about it," I agreed. "First, we need to keep our minds on this task. Do you recognize all those vehicles we just passed?"

  "Yes, to all of them on the driveways and yes to the white Audi parked on the street right behind us. I have been looking at them even while we've been chatting," Tia assured me.

  "That is the service road that runs between our stretch of homes and the ones on the next block," I said, pointing across the street. "Does anyone ever use it?"

  "Not really. There's enough parking for Mom and Dad on the driveway and I usually park on the street. I think this is just a throwback from the days when certain tradesmen could only use the rear entrances. Why do you ask?"

  "I think I spot a car tucked behind that garage, barely jutting out. I can just see a headlight," I said, pointing to the area that caught my attention. "Let's take a closer look." We crossed the street and picked our way through the service road, careful of where we put our feet since the road wasn't as well maintained as the streets. We had to dodge a lot of weeds that sprung up wherever they could. A couple of cats were watching us lazily from their vantage points atop the fences. One of them looked like the little, black cat that found its way into my house.

  "It is a car," I said when we reached the older black Ford. "Do you recognize it?"

  "No, but it's not really suspicious. The only thing that’s odd is parking it back here instead of out in front. Maybe it belongs to someone's teenaged kid?"

  "It has plates for this state but it's too nice to be a teenager's first car, even if it is an older model," I decided. I stooped to stare through the windows, shielding my eyes with my hand.

  "Perhaps it's a very lucky kid? Do you see anything inside?"

  "Not much. A piece of crumpled paper in the door pocket and what looks like a grocery bag in the footwell." I tried the handle and found it unlocked. The door opened and, when no alarm went off, Tia and I exchanged looks. I leaned into the car and rummaged through the grocery bag. "Two Cokes, both empty, two sandwich wrappers, and a bag of chips. Doesn’t that sound to you like someone could have been on a stake-out?"

  "Not really. It sounds like someone was hungry."

  "Or two people were hungry. There's two of everything except the family bag of chips." I dropped the bag where I found it and leaned across the driver's side d
oor where I spotted the paper. I pulled it out and ducked out of the car, smoothing it. "It's a pencil drawing of a house. Actually, it looks like Edie's house. It is Edie's house!" I exclaimed.

  "Let me see." Tia yanked the paper from my hand and her jaw dropped. "This points out all the exits and where all the rooms are situated! This has to be Terry's car! What else is in there?"

  I ducked back inside and grabbed the receipts littering the central tray. I smoothed them out. "Here's one for a gas station where someone bought the food. Cash. There's another receipt for gas bought in Halliwell. More snacks and a phone charger. Do you see a phone around?"

  "No, but who leaves their phone in an unlocked car?"

  "Who takes one into a house they're burglarizing?" I countered. This time, when I ducked back inside, I sat on the passenger seat. I dropped the receipts back where I found them and opened the glovebox but all I found inside was half a packet of mints and a road map. The backseat was empty. I found the button for the trunk and pressed it, hoping the accomplice wouldn't be stuffed inside. Not that I would have mentioned it to Tia, but if that were the case, I was ready to grab her hand and run back to the street as fast as we could. Then I would call Detective Logan and let him deal with it. I hopped out and motioned Tia to follow me. The trunk was cracked open so I used both hands to push the lid up.

  I didn't realize I'd been holding my breath until I exhaled with a sigh. There was nothing inside except for a wheel jack and a small duffel bag. I unzipped it and rifled through it. "Just clothes," I said. "They look like men's clothing so the bag probably belonged to Terry. No phone either."

  "I really thought we’d find a dead body in the trunk," said Tia, giggling nervously.

  "Me too!" We looked at each other and burst into raucous, but relieved laughter. "I was going to grab you and run the minute we opened it."