I bit my lip, but I couldn’t leave. “We can’t ignore this. We have to tell someone.”
“I’m a sworn officer of the law.” His face contorted with anger. “I can’t go in people’s houses, pick up their things and accuse them of murder. It wouldn’t stand up in court, for one thing, and I’d lose my job for another. We have to go.”
“You can’t do it, but I can.” I picked up the wig again. “We have to know what happened. Can’t you see that? We have to confront her with it.”
“Then what? She falls all over herself to tell us the truth? If what you’re suggesting is true, Dae, Mary Lou went out of her way to throw the blame on someone else. I’m not saying she’s hard, but someone like that has it thought out. You know what I mean? We’ll have to talk to the chief, get a search warrant and then confront her at the station. That’s the way it’s gotta be done. Nice and legal.”
“I’m taking it with me.” I heaped some clothes over the spot where I’d found the dress. “If we leave it here and she destroys it, we’ll never know what happened. There has to be another way.”
I thought Tim might try to stop me, but he stepped aside. “I’m not saying Mary Lou had anything to do with this, but you do what you think is right. You always do. Hell, I think she might be related to me. That’s a whole nightmare if she is convicted of a crime. The chief might never trust me again. They say it’s genetic.”
“We can’t stand here discussing it.” I found an empty shopping bag and stuffed the dress and wig into it. “I’ll think of something. You can pretend you didn’t know anything about it. I don’t think the chief will think any less of you if you’re related to Mary Lou. Besides, there might be some other explanation for why it’s here.”
“You mean besides Mary Lou killing Miss Elizabeth, then trying to blame it on Miss Mildred?” He shuddered. “We need to get out of here now. I don’t think that breakfast burrito is sitting right with me.”
I swept up the checkbook as I walked out of the house, determined not to doubt myself. Taking the dress and the wig was the right thing to do, but I needed to figure out what my next step should be. Mary Lou was as much a part of my life as the two sisters. She was even dating Gramps. But something was wrong. I didn’t believe I’d found the dress and wig for nothing. I had to think of a way to get Mary Lou to tell me why she had them. I could only hope Tim was right and there was a good explanation besides the one that had crept into my brain.
We got back in the police car, and Tim cautioned me about what I could say. “If you say anything about finding that dress and wig, no one will be able to use it in a court of law.”
“I don’t plan on saying anything. What would be the point?”
He nodded. “Exactly. It’s obviously a mistake. Maybe the dress and wig don’t go together. Maybe she had the same dress as Miss Elizabeth. And she had an old person wig from before. Maybe Halloween or something.”
I looked at him as he started the engine. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“I don’t know what to believe. And neither do you. You should put that dress back in Mary Lou’s house, and we should forget we saw it.”
“And let Miss Mildred take the blame for killing her sister?”
“Let it go, Dae.” That was his last word on the subject before he raced out of the drive. We didn’t speak again until we reached the turtle rescue area and Carter waved us through.
I saw Gramps getting out of his golf cart, Kevin in tow. I took the shopping bag that held the dress and wig and stashed it under the seat in the golf cart. I glanced around to see if Tim was watching. He was talking to Chief Michaels. They both turned and stared at me, but by that time, the bag was out of sight.
“Are you in trouble?” Gramps asked with a nod toward the two police officers.
“I can’t explain right now,” I answered quickly when I saw them walking toward us. “I have to take this checkbook to Mary Lou.”
“I can take care of that if you need to do something else,” he volunteered.
I looked at his dear face and kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry if I hurt you. I mean, if I ever hurt you. I would never do it without really believing I didn’t have any choice.”
He frowned and glanced over my shoulder toward Chief Michaels. “Dae, you’re worrying me. Is there something I should know?”
“Not now. Not here. I’ll tell you later.” I handed him the checkbook, relieved that I wouldn’t have to face Mary Lou. I wasn’t sure my face wouldn’t give me away. I didn’t want her to get in trouble, but I wouldn’t let Miss Mildred spend the rest of her life in an institution because of something someone else did.
I didn’t want it to be Mary Lou. It would’ve been a lot more convenient for Chuck Sparks or Jerry Richards to be the one who’d killed Miss Elizabeth. They were greedy, grasping people who didn’t care who they hurt in their quest for money. I would’ve gladly handed over evidence to Chief Michaels that proved they were the ones responsible.
“Mayor.” Chief Michaels addressed me with a general nod in my direction.
“Chief. I see they volunteered you too.” I could see Kevin kind of nonchalantly standing in earshot of us.
“Tim tells me you have something to say.”
I glanced at Tim, who was standing behind the chief. “No. Not really.”
“Is something wrong? Tim says you went to Mary Lou’s house and picked up some items.”
I wished my eyes were laser beams that could burn a hole in Tim’s forehead. The man couldn’t keep his mouth shut, especially around the chief. He didn’t want me to say anything, but he thought it was okay for him to say something. I didn’t know what he expected me to do.
“She sent me there to pick up her checkbook. Tim brought some baskets out here too.” I wasn’t going to say anything about the dress and wig. At least not until I could figure out what to do with them. I really felt that sharing this information with the chief wasn’t the way to go.
It was the chief’s turn to glare at Tim. “Would one of you mind telling me what in blazes is going on? Tim says you found something over at Mary Lou’s house, but he won’t tell me what it is. You’re telling me it’s a checkbook and some baskets. Is that about right?”
I shoved my hands in my pockets. “That’s about right.”
The chief exhaled loudly and his nostrils flared. “I don’t understand you young people. I swear I don’t.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be difficult.” I gave him my best mayoral smile and walked away. It was hard since I was nervous about the bag under the seat in the golf cart. I was afraid I might look at it as I walked by. Or was I trying too hard not to look at it?
Neither one of them followed me or rummaged around in the golf cart, so I thought I was safe. Confused and uncertain, but safe. I glanced over my shoulder briefly to see Chief Michaels yelling at Tim, and even making strangling motions with his hands.
“So what did you really find?”
I jumped when I heard Kevin’s voice from behind me. I’d forgotten about him in my eagerness to get away. “You startled me.”
“Sorry. What did you find in Mary Lou’s house?”
I didn’t tell the chief. I didn’t plan to tell Kevin. I wasn’t sure who to trust with the information. “If you were eavesdropping carefully, you know I got the checkbook and Tim got the baskets. That’s all. End of story.”