Vesta had the feeling that if Ted continued down this road he’d soon make a mortal enemy out of Marge.
“These gnomes,” she said, pointing to the biggest and fattest of the bunch. “You’re telling me they belong to Kinnard Daym?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” said Tex. “Kinnard’s been bragging about his gnomes for months. In our weekly meetings he can’t stop talking about how he snagged them at an online auction dedicated to gnomes for more money than any of us can afford.”
“We staked out Kinnard’s house last night,” Scarlett said. “And we almost caught the thieves.”
“Must be other collectors,” said Tex. “Gotta be.”
“Yeah, collectors can get very jealous,” Ted agreed. “They must have seen Kinnard’s gnomes on his Facebook or even his Instagram, and listened to his bragging, and decided to teach him a lesson.” His face sagged. “But why they would dump the pride of Kinnard’s collection in my backyard is frankly beyond me.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” said Marcie. “They wanted to blame you for the theft. They knew that some people would believe you were guilty.” She cut a vicious glance in Tex’s direction, and the latter, much to his credit, affected to look appropriately contrite.
“I’m sorry,” said Tex. “I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions like that, Ted.”
“And called him names,” Marcie added.
“And called you names,” Tex agreed shamefacedly.
“Okay, I think that concludes this part of the investigation,” said Vesta, tucking her notebook in the pocket of her tracksuit. “Come on, Scarlett. Let’s go find ourselves some clues.”
“Ooh, clues!” Scarlett, said, tripping after Vesta. “I love clues.”
Vesta studied the fence. She was so short her head didn’t even reach the top. “So how are we going to do this?” she murmured.
“Oh, I know,” said Scarlett. “We simply go around the block and come in from the other side.”
“Barbed wire,” Vesta said curtly.
“I don’t like barbed wire,” said Scarlett.
“Me neither.”
“Here, will this help?” asked Marcie, and pointed to a ladder leaning against a tree.
“Perfect,” said Vesta.
“Excellent,” determined Scarlett.
Things thusly arranged, Vesta soon found herself peering over the fence at the plot of land belonging to Jackson Browne. It was a wild tangle of weeds and nettles and brambles, but a spot right next to the fence had clearly been trampled on. A couple of gnomes were in evidence, the ones the thieves hadn’t had time to chuck over the fence.
“Mh…” she said thoughtfully.
“Do you see anything?” asked Scarlett.
“More gnomes,” she said. “And a can.”
“A can of what?”
“Dunno. Gimme a boost, will you?”
Scarlett gave her a boost, and Vesta tumbled to the ground in a jumble of limbs.
“Ugh,” she said, picking a piece of straw from her neat white curls. She then approached the can and took a good, close look. It was a can of red spray paint.
Scarlett, whose head now cleared the fence, asked, “So what is it?”
“Spray paint,” Vesta announced.
“You can’t touch it. Because of fingerprints.”
“I know I can’t touch it,” she said acerbically. “This ain’t my first rodeo.”
“How do you know it belongs to the thieves?”
“I don’t, but since only sheep come here, it stands to reason that it does.”
“Yeah, I guess sheep don’t need spray paint,” Scarlett agreed. “Well, bag it and hand it over to your son, I suppose? So he can lift the prints?”
“Yeah, I guess,” said Vesta. She was reluctant to involve Alec. She really wanted to prove her mettle with this, the neighborhood watch’s very first investigation. If every time she was stumped she’d go running to the cops, what was the point?
Scarlett threw down a plastic bag that Marcie must have handed her, and Vesta bagged the can and glanced around for more clues. When she didn’t find any, she scaled the wall again, with Scarlett’s help, and finally made it back to Marcie and Ted’s backyard in one piece.
“So what now?” asked Scarlett.
“I’ll think of something,” said Vesta.
Scarlett smiled. “Yeah, I believe you will.”
Chapter 32
It had been a long day for Chase, and when he finally arrived home, all the could think about was to drop down on the couch with a can of Coke Zero and take a load off.
Dan Goory still cooling his heels in prison wasn’t the kind of situation he enjoyed. He liked Dan. As a person and as a highly capable editor. And for Odelia’s boss to be accused of a double homicide was less than ideal.
He’d talked to Heather’s folks again, but they’d admitted to having no idea why she would suddenly head on down to Hampton Cove. She’d certainly not clued them into her plans. All she’d said was that she was soon coming into a great deal of money, and she might even be able to buy herself a house and her parents a new car.
It all pointed to the same story Jacqueline Goossens had told Odelia: that Heather had somehow found herself in the possession of this fabled Romeo and Juliet movie, and wanted to sell it for a big chunk of change. But if she thought Dan was going to be able to pay her what she felt Gnomeo was worth, she would have been in for an unpleasant surprise.
Dan was not a rich man, and would never have been able to pay through the nose for the movie.
Which only served to tighten the noose around the editor’s neck: an avid collector of all things Maria Power, he might have seen an opportunity to add the movie to his collection without paying a single cent: by killing the seller.
The story of Dan getting a call about his car being vandalized was a thin one, in Chase’s estimation: he could very well have broken off his own windshield wipers and simply have stepped out of the office to bring the car around so he could dispose of Heather’s body before Odelia arrived.
His plans had been thwarted by Odelia’s early arrival, and the whole thing had gone south for the newspaper owner.
Only question was: where had he hidden the movie? They’d searched his office and his house, and so far it hadn’t turned up.
Dan, of course, was steadfast in his denial. Heather had never said anything about a movie. In fact he’d never actually met her face to face. And as far as the murder of Jack Warner was concerned, he may have harbored a powerful antipathy toward the man, but he would never stoop to murder. He’d even denied these new charges Jacqueline Goossens had leveled against him. Said he’d never said anything to anyone about coming into the possession of an object that would spell the end of Jack Warner’s fan club.
Chase took a sip from his Coke when his attention was arrested by a strange sight: next to him on the couch a mouse was napping, a smile on the tiny creature’s face, its paws clasped together in nappy heaven, and lying in the center of Max’s favorite pillow.
Chase gulped, gently put down the can of Coke, and rubbed his eyes.
But when he opened them again the mouse was still there, its whiskers vibrating gently, and producing what could only be described as soft snoring sounds!
Odelia came walking down the stairs. “I’ve got the power of attorney right here,” she announced, then caught sight of her boyfriend and smiled. “Hey, you,” she said, leaning in for a kiss and a hug.
He gave her a perfunctory kiss and an equally perfunctory hug, his eyes still riveted on the mouse.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” he asked.
“Oh, that’s Elsa,” said Odelia, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to have a mouse napping in the family room. “Max and Dooley met her over at Maria Power’s place. She’s promised to help us get rid of Hector and Helga.”
He swallowed. “Hector and Helga being…”
“The mice family in our basement,” said Odelia. She waved the piece of paper. “All Elsa needed was this power of attorney, absolving her of all responsibility in case something goes wrong with the eviction.”