Jane set her phone down and worked on her lunch and the little murder problem. Tomorrow morning she could run down to the stables. She had not been there yet, and it could be telling.
Or she could sit and visit with Caramel, if Caramel had clothes on.
Jane picked the seeds off the crust of her bread. She couldn’t just “sit and visit” or pop into the outbuildings. She needed a plan.
It seemed clear to her that someone had been in the tub with Douglas. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been wet towels on the step. The person had disappeared before she got into the room, so they had to have heard her coming. And they hadn’t gone far, or the towels and laundry basket wouldn’t have just disappeared. And if they had just stuck themselves back into the closet they would have been found by the cops. So the person and the basket and the towels had just gone outside. It was the only possibility.
Jane peeked at her phone. No new message. She checked again. Still, it was better. She didn’t need Jake pestering her while she had so much important stuff to do.
She dialed Isaac’s number. Yet again, no answer. She was disappointed—sort of.
Seven o’clock rolled around, and Jane, Kaitlyn, and Valerie were stationed on three sides of a small table in Bean Me Up Scotty’s for their very important Friday meeting.
Jane’s back was ramrod straight. She held her cup of decaf close to her mouth, but didn’t sip.
Valerie frowned into her large cappuccino.
Kaitlyn sat like Jane, but with a thin line of tears glistening on one cheek. “I knew the cut was coming, but I didn’t know it would hurt so bad.”
Jane was torn. She had grown to like Kaitlyn, but the melodrama was exhausting.
“Can you get another part time job to help make up the loss?” Valerie’s suggestion came in her matter of fact tone. Not cold hearted, but not easily moved either.
“It’s the economy…” Kaitlyn wiped the tears away with her good hand.
“I meant it when I said I could offer you work cleaning.” It would take some work, but Jane was fairly sure she could come up with a client or two for her friend.
Kaitlyn held up her prosthetic. “With this?” Her voice had a teary edge to it.
“Of course with that. What would that hurt?”
“The chemicals, the lifting. I don’t know. I just don’t think it would work.” A thin silver bracelet with a diamond on the clasp slid back down her prosthetic wrist when she lowered her hand. The cuff of her crisp white button down had hidden it before.
“It’s hard work, but I think you are up for it.” Jane finally sipped her coffee. It was too hot still and burned the tip of her tongue. She rubbed her tongue across the back of her teeth.
“So far, you’ve only lost one shift a week. We will definitely keep you in our prayers, but I think we need to move on with our ministry plan.” Valerie nodded while she spoke, as though trying to get the team to agree with her.
Jane nodded, but kept silent. The little murder she was wrapped up in had taken over all of her free time. She had nothing new to offer her team.
“I think it is clear that the church is looking for missionaries who can take on a task and complete it, so the task we choose should be in proportion to both the time we have available to work and our giftings.” Valerie opened a burgundy suede folder. One side had a tablet and the other had a notepad covered in notes. She turned the tablet on and the Bible opened up.
“I think Paula is looking for innovative outreach.” Kaitlyn caught Jane’s eye as she spoke and nodded.
Jane scrunched her mouth.
“They want to see us try to touch the hearts of hard-to-reach places in our community. To really make an impact.” Kaitlyn turned to Valerie and tried the nodding thing again.
Valerie frowned, and looked over her small round glasses. “Paula said she wanted to train us to successfully lead and mentor a small group. They want to build up our basic skills before sending us away.”
Jane watched the coffee station over Valerie’s shoulder. She hoped the gray-haired barista who had had an eye on Val was here tonight.
“Jane? Your opinion, please?” Kaitlyn attempted the level-headed tone that Valerie used.
“I think they want to see if we can work together to achieve a goal.” Jane tilted her head. In fact, she was certain that’s what this was about. “If they wanted to see us lead small groups, or do some crazy new thing, they wouldn’t have put us all together.” Jane took another sip of her coffee. “In fact, I am positive the only point in all of this is teamwork.”
“You think that who is doing the job is more important to Paula than the job they are doing?” Kaitlyn’s cheeks flushed.
“Yes.” Valerie turned to a fresh page on her notepad. “I think Jane’s right.”
“The work is important, too…” Jane said. She smiled, but her heart wasn’t in it.
“That’s the problem with you, Jane.” Kaitlyn narrowed her eyes. “You see ‘good work’ as an end in itself. Valerie and I have very specific jobs already lined up. Mission work we know we are going to do.”
Jane set her cup down.
“Having a concrete goal really changes your perspective.” Kaitlyn rested both of her hands on the table, her good hand toying with her silver bracelet.
“Don’t put words in my mouth, please. I agree with Jane. This job is to show that we can work together—one of the specific skills that field missionaries asked the church to look for in candidates. Having a plan for our work in place doesn’t change that we have to learn how to work together.”
“I just don’t know why Jane is even on this team.” Kaitlyn looked down at the table.
Jane slumped. She didn’t know, either, but that didn’t mean she wanted Kaitlyn to say it.
“Jane is on this team because she is serious about missions.” Valerie kept her matter-of-fact tone.
Jane only hoped she could be as imperturbable in twenty years.
“Jane, why don’t you tell us what ideas you’ve come up with?”
Jane picked at her fingernail. Then she took a deep breath. “I… well…” She looked from face to face and couldn’t do it. She couldn’t talk about missions tonight. “Okay, this is the way it is. My boss was murdered. I found the body. The cops think I might have lied in my statement. I’ve been so wrapped up in this, I haven’t really given any thought to our project. But I am perfectly willing to work hard at whatever decision we make as a team.”
“Oh, child!” Valerie’s voice held all the warm tones of a mother. She reached across the table for Jane’s hand. “You poor thing. How can we help you?”
Jane let Valerie hold her hand. Tears sprung to her eyes. It was what her mom would have done and said, had she been in town, and exactly what Jane had been missing. She blinked the tears away. “I have to go back to the house where he died every morning to do some light cleaning. Tomorrow, I want to look around more, see if I can find any clues.”
“But haven’t the police already done that?” Kaitlyn’s voice was excited, but her face had a weird, hard look on it, as though she were trying to suppress some emotion.
“Yeah, they have. But I don’t know what else to do about it.”
“You all keep telling me to just pray for my crisis. You should just pray about this one.”
Jane looked hard at Kaitlyn. Was that envy in her voice? Because Jane’s crisis was worse?
Kaitlyn’s face was turning red. Her hand trembled. Her eyes sparkled.
No. Not envy. Kaitlyn was excited. She looked like she was trying to keep from smiling.
“I have definitely been praying, but I don’t have any concrete plan from God, or even a strong sense of peace.”
Kaitlyn leaned forward. She wasn’t sympathetic, though; she was almost certainly excited. “Are you scared to look for clues alone?”
“I am, a little.”
“Do you want someone there with you?”
Jane almost smiled. Kaitlyn was trying to get invited along.
“I have to be there at 5:30 in the morning…”
“I can be there. Just tell me where.”
Valerie let go of Jane’s hand. “I think it is very admirable of you—”
“It’s not admirable. She’s my friend and she needs help.” The hint of Kaitlyn’s suppressed smile popped out in her dimples.
“Jane, have you had a chance to talk to Paula about all of this yet?” Valerie asked.
“She’s got so much on her heart right now, I didn’t want to bother her.”
Valerie took a deep breath. “I’m glad you finally told us, but this is a very serious situation. I think you need to tell Paula so that she can allow you a little grace in our project.”
“But I’m willing to work on it still.”
“I know you are.” Valerie tilted her head and smiled. “But you need freedom from this project until this trial has passed. Please don’t underestimate this. Murder is very serious.”
“But so is ministry. This thing, this murder is just a momentary trial, but the ministry we do can have an eternal impact on someone.” Jane’s heart was racing. She could tell she was being pushed out of the ministry team—out of the running for future funding. She didn’t want Caramel and Douglas to do this to her. It wasn’t fair.
“We can have eternal impact wherever we serve.” Valerie turned her cup around in her hands. “I have been waiting twenty years to go overseas, but I had eternal impact here at home while I waited.”
Kaitlyn waved her hand, brushing away Valerie’s words. “This is a crisis, Jane. You’ll still do ministry stuff. Right now, we have to clear your name. Get out your phone and text me the address, and I’ll be there tomorrow, bright and early.”
Jane looked at them both, Valerie with her motherly concerned face, Kaitlyn squirming like a toddler. What choice did she have, really? It’s not like she had been contributing to the project. “But what does it mean to the team?”
“Just explain your circumstances to Paula and let her tell you what it means to the team,” Valerie said softly.
Kaitlyn picked Jane’s purse up from the floor. “Get your phone out and text me the number. You need someone by your side right now.”
Jane pulled her phone out. Did she want Kaitlyn’s help? Would it be wrong to text the wrong address? She sent the correct address, but wondered if she would regret it.
“First thing tomorrow, Jane. I won’t let you down.”
“And please, go see Paula as soon as you can.”
16
By 6:00 in the morning, Jane was pretty sure Kaitlyn wasn’t coming to the Swanson house.
When Jane finally heard a light knock on the back door, a wave of relief washed over her. She wasn’t sure why, since having Kaitlyn there to snoop with her would blow her innocent, “I’m just cleaning up” or “I was looking for you” cover.
Despite the added danger, it was nicer to be together than alone. With a backwards glance down the hall, Jane opened the back door. She held a finger to her lips, and joined Kaitlyn on the patio. “I’ve got a horse blanket from the garage. It’s been there since I started, but I thought we could carry it down to the stable.”
Kaitlyn’s eyes sparked. Her cheeks were flushed. “What’s your reason?”
“Just tidying up.”
“Who works down in the stables?”
Jane was taken aback. “I don’t know. Don’t you think they take care of the animals themselves?”
“Gosh, maybe? My parents hire someone, but then, we board our horses, so I don’t know.”
Jane shook her head. Of course Kaitlyn had horses. “Let’s just mosey on down there. You can tell me if anything looks funky.”
The Swanson property sloped away from the house, with the bulk of the land behind and to the side, sort of kidney shaped. A large field was bordered by white horse fence. A tree line stood toward the back, which seemed to be the only place outbuildings could be hiding.
“It’s only about three acres of land.” Kaitlyn shaded her eyes and looked from side to side. “They can’t keep many horses.”
“I think they just have the two.” Jane kept her eyes on the ground, thinking that a solid idea of what the grassy land should look like would come in handy around the stable.
“What’s that over there?” Kaitlyn pointed to the west side of the property.
Jane squinted. “A golf cart?”
“That’s what I was thinking. But it’s not like that much property, you know? Why did they need that?”
“Douglas was pretty old. Maybe he needed it to get around.”
“Like seventy?”
“Not that old.” Jane checked the grass for tire marks. It didn’t look like the cart had driven over the soft grass.
“Watch out.” Kaitlyn pushed Jane to the side. “Sprinklers.”
The automatic sprinkler system shot to life. Jane was almost safe, but it soaked her from the knees down.
Kaitlyn was as well.
The girls hugged the fence line as they made their way to the trees. Jane had guessed right; there was a small stable tucked behind the trees. There were also a shed and two small garages.
“Do you hear anyone?” Jane asked.
“No. It’s really quiet.”
“I don’t hear anything at all.” Jane turned into the door of the stable. “Where are the horses?”
“Have they ever had horses here?” Kaitlyn ran the toe of her shoe across the dirt. “Where’s the hay? Where’s anything that shows a horse has been here?”
“It doesn’t smell like horses, does it?” Jane walked into a clean, empty horse stall. “I thought Caramel had talked about her horses. I’m sure she had. But… was I wrong? Are they boarded somewhere else?”
“It looks like it.” Kaitlyn walked to the back of the stable and then to the door again. “No tack. Nothing. She must not like to keep animals at the house.”
“Which would explain why the horse blanket was in the garage, I guess. They drove it home from the stables where they keep the horses, but didn’t have anywhere else to put it.”
“Why did they bring it home?”
“Maybe she just took the horses somewhere else.” Jane crouched down and pressed her fingertips into the dirt floor. “The ground is pretty hard packed. And it kind of looks like it was recently swept. It’s been over a week since he died, and Caramel is kind of… impulsive.”
“But everything?” Kaitlyn wrapped her hand around a tackle hook on the wall.
“How much stuff could it have been?”
“Maybe she’s stuffed it all in the shed.”
Kaitlyn pulled her eyebrows together and frowned. “I doubt it.”
“Let’s check anyway.” Jane headed to the first shed.
It was padlocked.
She kicked the door.
Obviously, if there had been a pile of wet towels in the shed, the cops would have found them. She didn’t have any special detective skills to make their trip out back worthwhile, but she didn’t want to give up.
“Do you think these are the tracks from the golf cart?” Jane kicked a rock out of a bare patch of grass in front of the shed.
“What’s in the other shed?” Kaitlyn ignored the track and went to the other shed. She rattled the door, but it was also padlocked.
Jane followed the track. Two tire lines veered toward the left, though they faded into the healthy grass of the well-watered field. Jane looked up and down the field, looking for something the golf cart might regularly travel to. She walked in an almost straight line toward the fence.
Jane climbed over the fence into an airy wood that smelled of hot leaves and damp soil. The branches were covered in their full summer foliage, and blackberry brambles tangled through the underbrush on either side of the trail, but overall, it was a pretty and light forest. Jane put out both arms, and tilted back and forth testing the width of the track. It seemed like a golf cart could get through.
The woods tapered out at the back of a neighbor’s property. Jane w
as just a few yards ahead of some kind of pool house, or guest house.
She scanned the property. There was a pool adjacent to the little version of the big house. And to the left of it were some outbuildings, sheds perhaps. A fenced tennis court was just to the other side of the outbuildings. Trees behind the tennis court screened her view of the neighbor’s field. If they had horses, Jane couldn’t tell.
Jane went to the French doors of the little house and tried to peer through the sheer curtains. The lights were out, but sunlight shined in through dozens of windows. It looked like it was fully furnished.
Jane went back to the Swanson property. Kaitlyn was standing in the door to the stable, holding the horse blanket. And far off in the field, the golf cart was rolling.
Jane’s heart leapt to her throat.
She ran to Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn waved at her, a bright smile on her face.
Jane reached her, panting.
Kaitlyn’s smile was plastered on her face. “Best to act natural,” she said through clenched teeth. “Someone is driving that cart right to us.”
Jane kept her back to the cart. “Wasn’t it empty, and still, earlier?”
Kaitlyn shrugged and then laughed. “I didn’t pay enough attention earlier.”
The cart puttered up next to them.
A redhead Jane had never seen before was in it, her eyes on the horse blanket.
“Can I help you two?”
“I’m Jane, the maid.” Jane’s heart had settled down. Caramel wasn’t in the cart, so she couldn’t be in too much trouble. “This is my friend Kaitlyn. We were going to have breakfast, but she came down here with me first, just real fast.”
“And then into the woods?” The redhead tilted her head toward the gate.
Jane chuckled softly. “It was so pretty, and I was done in the house, so I thought I’d just peek.”
The redhead smiled. “It is really pretty. Can I have my horse blanket?”
Kaitlyn held the blanket out and the redhead took it. “I’m Amy, Douglas’s daughter.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Jane was glad to know who the driver was, but what was she doing at the house at 6:30 in the morning?
Dirty Little Murder: A Plain Jane Mystery (The Plain Jane Mysteries Book 2) Page 11
