by Paul Regnier
“You bet.”
“And, I’m just thinking aloud here, but when I was leaving the workshop I got word from the station that Jimmy never returned to his corporate event in McCall. Furthermore, his dark blue Subaru sedan is not in the parking lot at the Deer Bend Lodge, and hasn’t been seen anywhere locally.”
“Interesting,” I said. “I apologize if I unofficially overheard you thinking aloud.”
Brooke flashed a quick smile in the rear view mirror.
Several minutes later, we reached our house, and Brooke dropped us off. Once inside, we all headed straight to the kitchen. Mom was sitting in the breakfast nook, sipping the tail end of another green smoothie.
“You boys were gone awhile,” Mom said. “Kenny, your afternoon smoothie is in the fridge.”
Kenny’s face tightened. “Thanks.”
More of that nasty green water? Bandit whined. What happened to all the good food in this house?
I’m with you, buddy. I scratched behind his ear. Thankfully it’s only for today and tomorrow.
What? That’s forever. Bandit trotted toward the doggie door. Maybe they’re grilling over at Mr. Ruffington’s house. Sometimes they throw something over if I beg through the fence.
The plastic door flapped shut behind him.
“How was the drone flying?” Mom asked.
“Well,” I said. “It’s not everyday you fly over a murder scene.”
She furrowed her brow. “I don’t get it. Is that a line from a movie?”
“No.” Kenny grabbed a tall glass of green liquid from the fridge. “He’s not kidding. We actually saw someone get killed.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Have you two been drinking?”
“Mom, for real. It was up at the old Turner cabin. Someone got stabbed.”
“Who?”
“Jimmy the Mysterious,” Kenny said.
Mom furrowed her brow. “Who?”
“Jimmy Bosko,” I said. “Ellie’s ex-fiancé.”
“Oh dear.” Mom shook her head. “Who would do such a thing?”
“I don’t know. I only saw the murderer’s hands for like a second.”
She stood and headed for the phone. “Good heavens, I’m calling the police. If you boys are playing one of your pranks you’d better come clean fast.” She lifted the receiver off the landline wall phone, a decades-old monument to telephones of the past.
“Mom, we told the police. Brooke already went up there and checked it out.”
Mom clunked the receiver down with a frown. “Can’t you boys have a normal day out? What happened?”
Kenny and I broke down the series of crazy, stressful events that had taken place that morning. Mom listened intently, her eyes squinted with concern.
She sat at the kitchen table, letting out a long breath. “You two certainly know how to find trouble.”
“Not our fault,” Kenny said. “Trouble found us.”
“Really?” Mom lifted her brow at me. “And who tricked their way into going with Brooke in the car and listening in on the Greyson interview?”
Kenny pointed at me. “His idea. I wanted to go home.”
“For all I knew, they were in on it together,” I said. “I couldn’t let her go there by herself.”
“I understand, dear. But she’s a trained officer. You could’ve made things worse. You know, when your father ran the local force–”
I threw my hands up. “Here we go.”
“Well, honey, if he was still alive, he’d tell you to leave it to the authorities.”
“Without Kenny’s drone the police wouldn’t even know about Jimmy.”
“Hey.” Kenny shook his head. “Don’t drag me into this.”
“And without Bandit sniffing out clues,” I said. “They probably would’ve dropped the case completely. If we have the ability to stop this killer and we don’t, what does that say about us?”
Bandit stuck his head back through the doggie door flap. Did I hear my name? Am I in trouble?
No. I grinned at him. I’m complimenting you for sniffing out evidence today.
Oh. In that case, carry on. He went back outside, letting the plastic door flap down behind him.
“Luke, I’m all for finding the thief,” Mom said. “And you know I’m excited about the plans for our detective agency, but our assignment was to catch a gem thief. Now there’s a murder involved. We need to be careful when our investigating mixes with police business. You can’t be some masked vigilante running around outside the law.”
“Hold up. Batman’s in that category.” Kenny said. “Let’s go easy on the vigilante hate.”
“Oh, honey.” Mom shook her head at Kenny. “He’s not real. He’s just a cartoon.”
“Once again, graphic novels are not cartoons. And Batman is more than a character, he’s an idea. And furthermore–”
“Okay, stop,” I said. “This day is just too crazy. I need a nap.”
Mom came over and gave me a hug. “That’s a good idea, dear. Get some rest.”
“Yeah. I just need like thirty minutes.” I left Mom and Kenny to debate the finer points of his Batman personality disorder, and went upstairs to my room. After closing the blinds tight, I lay down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling.
My head buzzed with all the recent wild events. The bed beneath me felt softer than ever. An overwhelming sense of fatigue washed over me, like I’d been running all day. My body was begging me to rest and recharge, but my brain wouldn’t have it. There was a dangerous killer on the loose, and my investigative reporter instincts were kicking in big time. I’d learned a lot about the people closest to the crime and my mind taunted me with the thought that I had everything I needed to figure out who was behind it all.
I blamed my Aunt Joyce. On my sixth birthday, she had given me one of those Rubix Cube puzzles. Most normal people got bored after a few minutes of frustrating effort and cast it aside. Not me. I played with it for an hour straight. I couldn’t seem to let it go. I knew if I just kept turning the sides and trying different combinations, I’d eventually solve it.
As much as my mom tried to distract me with birthday cake and party games, I was too enthralled with solving the puzzle. Just before she took it away for my own good, I solved it. I was ecstatic. She tried to enjoy the moment with me, but I could tell by the concern in her eyes she thought I’d learned the wrong lesson.
Here I was, all these years later, still fixated on trying to solve puzzles. Only this time far more was at stake. If this puzzle went unsolved, a killer would roam free in our town.
Every potential suspect spun through my mind. I tried to focus on the events of the silent auction and everything I’d learned about those involved. As I was considering all the potential motivations and personal connections, I drifted off to sleep.
In my dreams, a giant drone chased me toward a creepy old cabin. When I opened the cabin door, a clown was waiting inside, holding a hunting knife.
My eyes blinked open to a dark figure standing over my bed.
Chapter 12
I sat up with a start, only to find Kenny standing beside me.
“Dude!” I glared at him. “You scared me to death. We’ve talked about this. Knock first.”
“Sorry.” He motioned to the doorway. “Your door was open.”
“It’s always open. Bandit’s dog bed is in here. He has to come and go for bathroom breaks.”
“Well, I didn’t mean to wake you up. I was just gonna leave this note on your nightstand.” Kenny held up a post-it.
I squinted at the scribbled note. “Brooke called. Zoom perched. No scones yet ... I don’t get it.”
“No.” Kenny shook his head. “It says, room searched. No stones yet.”
I leaned closer to the post-it. “Your handwriting is terrible.”
He snatched it away. “Hey, I’m a typer not a writer.”
“So, is Brooke talking about Jimmy’s place? They searched it?”
He nodded. “His apartment in Mc
Call. The police are still searching, but they haven’t found anything yet. But here’s what’s interesting. There were signs of an attempted forced entry, but nothing was disturbed.”
“That’s crazy. So, someone wanted in. They’re looking for the gems. I wonder if the police scared them away before they could search his apartment.”
“Could be. But check this out, Brooke said they also went to his dressing room at the Deer Bend Lodge, you know, the place where you almost got me caught this morning?”
“Yes, I know the place. Continue.”
“Well, the dressing room was all overturned like someone had been there looking for something.”
“Really?” I thought for a moment. “Well, it was pretty messy when we were there. Jimmy had stuff strewn around the room.”
He shook his head. “I thought the same thing. But Brooke said drawers were emptied and all the boxes were overturned. She even said that big wardrobe was tipped over and broken apart.”
“Whoa. Okay, that’s different. Someone wanted those gems bad.”
“Uh-huh.”
My brain was firing on all cylinders. Things were in motion, and I had the feeling I needed to move fast.
“What time is it?” I asked.
Kenny checked his phone. “Three thirty-two.”
I jumped off the bed and put on my shoes. “I need to get my car.”
Kenny followed me downstairs. Mom was in the front room putting her hair in a ponytail. She was back in her jogging suit and running shoes.
“Mom, can you take me to town? I need a spare for the Mustang.”
“Sorry, honey. I’m meeting Cliff in Cascade for our rock climbing lesson.”
“Rock climbing?” I said. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll break–”
She pointed at me. “Stop right there. Not one word about my age.”
I tried to cover. “Afraid you’ll, um, break all the rock climbing records and shame the instructor?”
“Nice try. Why don’t you have Kenny dust off his precious car and drive you?”
I turned to Kenny, lifting my eyebrows.
He shook his head. “Forget it. That’s a collector’s item.”
“No, it’s not,” I said. “Come on, you’ve only let me ride in that car twice since I moved back. What good’s a car you don’t drive?”
“I only drive it on special occasions. Like, oh, I don’t know, a first date with Ellie if you hadn’t ruined things between us.”
“Luke?” Mom said. “Did you apologize to Kenny? That bathroom situation really wasn’t nice.”
“Neither was blowing my tire. I think we’re even.”
Mom shook her head. “Well, I’ll let you boys hash it out.” She grabbed her phone and keys off the entry table and opened the front door. “Try to stay out of trouble. And I mean, really, really try. Okay?”
She left, closing the door firmly behind her.
Kenny turned to me. “We’re not staying out of trouble, are we?”
“Probably not. So, how ‘bout it? Fire up the Caddie, we’ll get a tire in town, and go get the Mustang. It’s a short trip.”
Kenny sighed. “And you’ll put a blanket on the back seat for Bandit?”
“Of course.”
“Fine. But you owe me.”
Kenny’s “collector’s item” was a Silver 2003 Cadillac CTS. It was the make and model of the car used in The Matrix movies which held a special place in his heart. So much so that it usually sat unused in the garage, swaddled in a heavy duty car cover.
I waited with Bandit at the end of the driveway while Kenny prepped the car for take off.
Bandit looked up at me. What’s taking so long?
“I don’t know,” I said. “Just don’t scratch anything. He’ll freak out. He likes that car way too much.”
He shook. Humans are weird. I say, if you like something, you spend time with it. Like that squeaky rabbit chew toy you got me.
I laughed. “You destroyed that thing. It looked like a combine harvester ran over it.”
That just shows how much I liked it.
“Yeah, until you lost it. Probably for the best, though. I’m sure that thing had diseases growing on it.”
I didn’t lose it. I buried it in my safe spot.
“Safe spot, huh? Any of my socks in there?”
Hard to say. I’ve got lots of valuable things stashed away.
“Oh, Bandit. That stuff should really get thrown out. Seriously. I’m sure there’s mold growing in there. Listen, I’ll buy you new toys. Where’d you bury it?”
Not telling. It’s mine.
“Bandit? Where is it?”
He turned away. Um, I forgot.
A gleam of silver caught my eye as Kenny drove the shiny Caddy up to us and rolled down the tinted window.
Kenny wore dark shades and turned to us as the window lowered. “The Matrix has you, Neo.”
“Do we have to do the Matrix thing every time?”
He frowned. “Hey, I’m putting miles on my collector’s item. You gotta give me something.”
“Okay, fine.” I cleared my throat. “Take me to the Oracle, Morpheus.”
Kenny tilted his head from side to side. “Not great but I’ll take it. Get in.”
I strapped Bandit to his harness in the back and got in the front with Kenny. “Hey, wait a second.”
“What?” Kenny looked toward me. “What happened? Did you scratch something?”
“Relax. Your car’s fine. I just had a thought. We should bring your drone.”
“Why?”
“If Jimmy’s car got stashed near the crime scene, we can do an aerial search for it. Can you imagine if we found it? That would be the break in the case that puts all the pieces together.”
Kenny was quiet for a moment. “Okay but what if he’s still nearby? What if he spots my drone? Everyone in town knows I’m the guy with a drone. I’ll be his next target.”
“Okay, first of all, no one thinks of you as the guy with the drone. Lots of kids fly drones.”
“Not in Crystal Falls. I tried to start a club, and no one signed up.”
“Maybe that’s because it’s your club.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“Look,” I said. “This is important. This could mean the difference between a killer getting caught or getting away. You could be the one that spots him.”
He shook his head. “No. I’ve seen too much today. And I didn’t get a nap like you. My blood pressure is way up.”
“You’re twenty-four, not ninety.”
He crossed his arms. “Still. Too much excitement for one day.”
I paused for a moment, considering another line of persuasion. “Maybe you’re right ... It is a little dangerous.”
He nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”
“I suppose we should just get my car and come back home. Put it all behind us.”
“Amen, brother.”
Bandit whined. Are we just gonna sit in the driveway all day? What’s the hold up?
Easy. I’m working on it.
“Hey,” I said. “I forget, who’s your favorite superhero?”
“Batman. Duh.”
“He doesn’t actually have superpowers, right?”
“Not in the classic sense. Martial arts skills but essentially he’s just a man.”
“Right. So, mostly he just uses high tech gadgets. Like grappling hooks and stuff?”
“Yeah.”
“Wait,” I said. “Doesn’t he use some kind of bat drones for surveillance? Isn’t that how he fights crime and keeps the city safe.”
Kenny frowned and pointed at me. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare bring him into this.”
“You know, it’s a shame we don’t have any Batman types here in Crystal Falls. Gee, I wonder what he would do in this situation?”
He covered his ears. “I’m not listening. I’m not listening.”
“I guess he’d just go back to his safe little house and have his butler Alfred make hi
m some kale juice.”
Kenny sighed and dropped his arms. “You’ll pay for this.” He clenched his jaw and got out of the car. He leaned back in and pointed at me. “No joy rides while I’m gone. No laps around the block.”
I lifted up my hands. “I won’t even touch the precious steering wheel.”
“Good.” Kenny pulled the car door back as if to slam it shut, then paused and took a deep breath. He closed the door softly and brushed a speck of dust off the window before heading into his room above the detached garage.
A minute later, Kenny returned with his drone and we headed into town.
On the drive down, my phone rang.
“Hey, Mom,” I said.
“Speakerphone,” Kenny said.
I switched it to speaker and handed the phone to Kenny.
“Got an interesting call from Margie Feldspear,” she said.
“Yeah?” I said. “Who’s that?”
“Friend of mine that helped Graham Sullivan out with event prep.”
“Is she the one that makes the strawberry cheesecake?” Kenny asked.
“Yes,” Mom said. “She even grows the strawberries in her backyard. It’s all from scratch.”
“Boy, I could really go for a cheesecake right now,” he said.
“Focus Kenny,” I said. “So, what did Margie say?”
“Well, according to her, Graham was very specific about the fireworks show. Especially when they were going to start. That got me thinking, wasn’t it a little convenient that the fireworks distracted everyone’s attention away from the gems? Not to mention covering up the sounds of the smoke bombs?”
“That’s true,” Kenny said. “Good catch, Mrs. Cooper.”
“Yes, it struck me as odd,” she said. “So, I put in a call to Carol Caddel. She’s the one that handled the fireworks show. Remember we met her at the auction?”
“Yeah. Briefly.”
“Well,” she continued. “I wanted to confirm with her how specific Graham had been about the timetable, and whether anything seemed fishy.”
“What’d she say?” I asked.
“Couldn’t reach her,” she said. “She should be at the hardware store, but I’m guessing she’s out or with a customer. Anyway, I just got to the rock climbing place. I’m about to meet Cliff inside, and we’ll probably be here a while. I thought I’d call in case you wanted to talk to Carol.”
