“You met her?”
“Her name’s Amanda Holt. She’s going to visit her sister next month in Darrington, and she said she’d love to talk to you then about your family.”
Alice swallowed. “She remembers them?”
“Yeah. But there was something Amanda said that was different from what you remembered about the accident. I double-checked online and confirmed it. The person driving the truck that hit your family’s car didn’t die in the crash. The driver took off and has never been caught.”
“No, that’s not right.” Alice turned away. “The other driver fell asleep at the wheel and crossed over into our lane. It was an accident. That’s what the nurse said.”
Jack softly placed his hand over hers.
“Did the driver fall asleep?” Alice asked. “Were they drunk? What happened?”
“I don’t know. The newspaper article I found was only three paragraphs long and just said the other driver fled the scene. But I asked a friend of mine to try to get some details. And when we get back—”
Alice grimaced.
“I didn’t want to tell you when we were down here, but I didn’t want to keep it from you.”
She turned to face him again. “I’m glad you told me. Don’t keep anything from me, please?”
“I’m not. That’s all I know.”
She shook her head, and her green eyes locked on his. “I mean about anything. Always just let me know, okay? Promise?”
Jack pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I promise you, no secrets.”
“Thanks, Jack.”
“We’ll find out what happened.” He reached into the backseat and took out a bag. “Amanda had two things that she thought you should have.”
Alice leaned away as if Jack held a bomb.
“Don’t worry. This part is all good.”
Back at the house, Jack’s mother had given him a jewelry box to put the butterfly brooch in. He took it out now and handed it to Alice. “Your mother loaned this to Amanda. Amanda said it was your mom’s favorite.”
Alice held the box with trembling hands. “Is it…is it a butterfly pin?” Her voice was so soft, Jack barely heard her.
“Yes.”
Jack expected her to open the box, but she held it to her chest, closed her eyes, and began to cry.
“My dad gave it to her,” she whispered.
Jack’s heart hurt seeing her in such pain.
She looked up at him. “You said two things?”
Jack took out the framed photo.
Alice drew in a ragged breath. A storm of emotions crossed her face, and her whole body began to tremble. Jack wrapped an arm around her, and she collapsed against him, putting her head against his chest. She quietly sobbed, and he rocked her back and forth while her tears softly fell.
They stayed like that for a long time.
36
Old Friends
“Did you serve with Roy?” Jack asked the elderly soldier sitting across from him.
Jack and Alice were squeezed onto a worn loveseat covered with a tattered woolen throw. Darius Davis sat in a rocker facing them. The old man adjusted his thick glasses and leaned against the arm of the chair. “We were in the same theater, but that’s really the extent. I had it easy. I was just a radio operator. In Laos.”
“What branch?” Jack asked.
“Army. Roy was a marine. Combat marine.” Darius’s trembling hand held out his phone. “I took a picture of his Distinguished Service Star to show to my grandson. He was doing a report for school.”
“Did you know Roy well?”
Darius nodded. “VFW. Fewer and fewer of us old veterans nowadays. Roy was a good man. Not a bragger. He didn’t talk about the war much. Damn shame. Dies alone, and someone goes and breaks into his home.”
“That’s the reason we’re here, sir.”
“I don’t know how I can be of any help with that.”
“I have some pictures of the inside of Roy’s house that I was hoping you might take a look at.” Jack brought the pictures up on his phone.
Darius leaned back and made a face. “Sure, but I don’t know how that’ll be any help.”
“After Roy passed, a neighbor took photos of the house’s interior to send to Roy’s daughter-in-law,” Alice explained.
“And we’re hoping that you could take a look at them and try to recall if anything is missing,” Jack added.
“Missing? Ain’t no way I could tell you if something was. I’ve never been in Roy’s house.”
Jack and Alice exchanged a quick, puzzled glance. “I just assumed because you’re friends that you’d been there.” Jack said.
“Sure, we were friends, but I’ve never been to his house and he’s never been to mine. It’s over an hour and a quarter ride, so we always did a meet in the middle. You know? Either the VFW or the Breakfast Connection on Old Minot Road. They have the best pancakes in Florida.”
Jack made a mental note of it, not for the case, but to later share the glowing review with his pancake-loving father.
“Didn’t you go to the Bahamas with him recently?” Alice said.
“I did, but we met at the airport.”
Jack picked up the coffee Darius had given him. He stared down at the cup and considered where his questioning should go now. “Can you tell me about the trip?”
“Roy won it.” Darius grinned. “He was all excited about it at the VFW when he told me. Maybe he’d had one too many, because he asked me if I wanted to go with him. Of course I wanted to go with him. Who wouldn’t take a free trip to the Bahamas?”
Darius picked up his phone and squinted as he tapped at the screen. “My grandson got me the phone and taught me how to use it. Smart kid. Computer wizard. But everything’s so dang small. I had twenty-twenty vision until I was fifty-seven, and then boom, glasses thick as biscuits. They say the memory’s the first thing to go, but you know it’s really the vision. And then the knees. Those went when I was around sixty-two.”
He pulled up a picture and held the phone out to Jack. “That’s us in the airport. A selfie, they call that. You can scroll through the rest of the vacation from there.”
Jack took the phone and flipped through the vacation pictures.
“It was a great time,” Darius said. “It’s not like the two of us were closing down the bars, but it was still fun.” Darius chuckled. “Close down the bars. Ha. We were in bed by ten almost every night. Played a little slots. Did some sightseeing. Overall, we took it pretty easy.”
Jack scrolled to the last picture. It was a shot of Roy and Darius flanked by two women in floral dresses. One was holding a huge fruit basket, the other a statue of a silver dolphin.
Jack pointed at the statue. “Did you go to the Silver Dolphin Casino?”
“Sure did. Roy won the cruise and that included free chips at the casino. Beautiful casino. Clean. The buffet had great crab.”
“Did you or Roy keep that statue?” Jack asked.
“Roy got the statue and I got the fruit basket. There were nuts and salami in there too.”
“Did you see that dolphin statue in Roy’s house?” Jack asked Alice.
“No.” She took Jack’s phone and scrolled through the pictures of Roy’s house. Jack looked over her shoulder. After looking through them all, she shook her head. “I don’t see it in any of the pictures.”
“Would Roy have given the statue away?” Jack asked Darius.
Darius clicked his tongue. “I don’t think so. Roy said he had the perfect spot for it. In fact, I asked for it, but Roy wanted it, and it was his trip. Said it reminded him of his honeymoon, which was also to the Bahamas. It being a dolphin and all.”
Jack jumped to his feet. “Alice, can I see your phone?”
She handed it to Jack, and he pulled up the last picture taken—the photograph of the inside of Janet Ferguson’s closet. The cat figurine that Ginny had given her filled the frame, but beside it, on the shelf, was a silver dolphin statue. Jack held the ph
one out to Darius and asked, “Does this statue look like the dolphin statue Roy won?”
Darius blinked a few times and shrugged. “I think so, but like I said, my eyes are really shot. Sorry I couldn’t have been of more help.”
Jack shook the old man’s hand. “Actually, you couldn’t have helped us more. Thank you.”
37
Love-struck
“Should we check with your mom first?” Alice asked.
“I’m just going to talk to her. Right now, we’re not a hundred percent positive the statue in her closet is Roy’s.” Jack shut the car engine off.
“Seriously? It’s a silver dolphin, for goodness’ sake. It looks identical to the one in Darius’s picture. What are the chances it isn’t Roy’s?”
“Okay, maybe not good. But I can tell you it wasn’t Janet sprinting across the lawn the other night. And even if it is Roy’s dolphin, who knows how she got it? I just want to talk to her.”
“We could go to the cops.”
“And tell them that you made up a fake cleaning company to gain entrance to her house?”
“Good point.” Alice stuck her tongue in her cheek. “You know, Jack, I honestly thought your mother wanted me to do it.”
“Please stop trying to impress my parents. They love you. Okay?”
Alice smiled. “What are you going to say to Mrs. Ferguson?”
“That you saw the silver dolphin statue when you were cleaning and loved it. I’m going to offer to buy it for you.”
“That’s good. That’s really good!”
Jack rang the doorbell. “I figure it’s not too much of a stretch for me to play the part of a love-struck boyfriend, now is it?”
Alice blushed.
They waited a bit, but no one came to the door. Jack rang the doorbell again.
“She may have gone out,” Alice said. “She barely left the house when I was cleaning. Scared I’d steal the silverware, probably. I bet she has errands to catch up on.”
Jack listened for sounds from inside the house, and heard a hum coming from the garage. “Do you hear a car running?”
“It could be the air conditioning.”
“Could be.” With Alice following, Jack walked around the house to the window on the side of the garage. He cupped his hand beside his face and peered through the glass.
Inside was an ivory BMW, its engine running—and pinned between its front end and the wall was the body of Janet Ferguson. Her upper body lay flat against the hood. She wasn’t moving.
Jack shoved up on the window but it was locked. He smashed the glass with his elbow.
“You can’t break in!” Alice still stood off to the side, and from her angle, she couldn’t see what Jack had seen.
“Call 911 now!” Jack shoved the window open.
Exhaust fumes hit him full in the face. He turned his head to the side, took a deep breath of fresh air, and climbed through the window. The fumes burned his eyes as he pulled the emergency release rope on the garage door opener and heaved the garage door up.
Jack ran to the driver’s seat, dropped the car into neutral, and rolled it back.
Janet’s body slid off the hood.
Alice screamed.
Jack picked up Janet’s limp body and rushed her outside.
“Is she dead?” Alice’s green eyes were wide with fear.
An elderly man and woman hurried over from next door. As Jack laid Janet down on the grass, the neighbor woman knelt down beside her. “I’m a doctor,” she said.
Jack was coughing so hard now that he was having trouble breathing. Alice was talking to the 911 operator, but with his hacking, he couldn’t hear what she was saying.
Jack doubled over and tried to gulp in air, but could only take a shallow breath before coughing again.
“Breathe through your nose.” The doctor placed a hand on his back and pushed his head even lower.
Jack coughed, shook his head, and pointed at Janet. “Help her.”
The doctor rubbed his back. “She’s dead.”
38
Let Him Sleep
“Why can’t we go in the house and show the police the dolphin statue?” Alice asked as they got back in the car.
“Laws.” Jack clicked on his seat belt. “We told French all we know, and he’ll give that information to the detectives. Then they’ll work with it.”
“But we know that someone broke into Roy’s house, stole the statue, and gave it to Janet. And now she’s dead.”
“Which is why I want to go check on my parents.”
“I already tried calling your mom. She’s not answering.”
“Can you try again?” The rental car bounced over another speed bump as Jack sped to his parents’ house.
Alice dialed, and a second later she grinned. “Hi, Mrs. Stratton. Hold on, Jack wants to talk to you.”
Jack took the phone as he turned in to his parents’ driveway.
“Hi, honey. Where are you?” his mom asked.
“I just pulled into the driveway.”
“Oh, be quiet as you go inside. Your father’s taking a nap. I’m heading to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription the doctor called in.” She paused. “Actually, I’ve already taken Lady out for her walk, so would you two like to come meet me and maybe grab a bite to eat?”
Jack could tell that she really didn’t want Ted disturbed. “We’re good, but is there something I can do? Is Dad okay?”
“His blood pressure’s fine, but he’s feeling run-down. I’m hoping some rest is what he needs most. Could you and Alice go do something fun? Please? That’ll make both your dad and me happy.”
Alice poked Jack’s leg and whispered, “Tell her about Janet.”
Jack shook his head. “Okay. Love you, Mom.”
“Love you both.”
Jack stared at the front door but didn’t say anything. That feeling of helplessness was rising. His parents were getting older, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Time was undefeated.
Alice took Jack’s hand. “I’m sure he’ll be okay. Why didn’t you say anything about Janet?”
Jack sighed. “I didn’t want to tell my mom about Janet when she’s out driving. She’s not the best driver as it is, and she’d freak out and race back here.”
Alice kissed his cheek. “You’re a good son. But you’re still pale. Are you sure you don’t want to go in and get some water?”
“No. I’m fine. But I can’t sit around waiting for the cops to reach out to us.” Jack coughed again, his lungs still returning to normal.
“Do you want to go back to Janet’s house?” Alice asked.
“They’ll be processing the scene for a long time. We need to go to the community center.” Jack put the car into reverse, but kept his foot on the brake as he stared at his parents’ house.
Alice squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry. Lady’s guarding him. He’ll be fine.”
39
In on It
Jack and Alice walked right up to Tia’s desk. She was on the phone, but she smiled and held up her index finger.
“Are you going to tell me why we’re here?” Alice asked.
“There are three things that simply can’t be chalked up to coincidence. One, both Roy and my parents won a trip to the Bahamas while playing bingo here at the community center. Two, in both cases, they were given a statue by the casino that was part of the prize. And three, on the night of their return, their houses were broken into—and in Roy’s case, the gifted statue was stolen.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying, someone is working very hard to send people from Orange Blossom Cove to the Bahamas so they can bring back these statues. There’s something illegal hidden inside those statues, Alice, I’m sure of it. It’s a very clever smuggling operation. What customs officer would suspect a vacationing senior citizen of being a smuggler? As soon as my dad wakes up, I’m going to get a good look at that gecko statue.”
“So why are we at the community
center?”
“We’re here to talk to Helen Miller, the community director. Because in order to win that trip to the Bahamas, you had to get a triple decker at bingo, and my dad said the odds of getting it were like getting hit by lightning. Which means the games were fixed. And if you’re going to fix bingo, you either need the player to be in on it, or…”
“You think Helen’s behind it? Wow,” Alice whispered.
Jack shook his head. “No, not Helen. In fact, the reason I want to talk to her is because I’m certain she’s not involved. Bernie Lane told us that Helen has a key to every residence in Orange Blossom Cove. If she were involved, there’d have been no need for someone to climb through Roy McCord’s window; they could have just walked through the front door. No, I think it’s Marvin who’s in on this.”
“The bingo announcer? He looks a little nerdy. Do you think someone like that could really be rigging the games?”
“He gives out the cards and calls the numbers. If anyone is fixing the game, it’s gotta be him.”
Tia hung up the phone. “Can I help you, Mr. Stratton?”
“Yes. I need to speak to Mrs. Miller, please.”
Tia’s nose wrinkled. “I’m sorry, but she’s gone for the day.”
“I’m trying to get in touch with Marvin. The bingo announcer.”
Tia smiled. “Oh. He’s setting up for the next game.” She walked around the desk and motioned for Jack and Alice to follow.
They entered the game room. The tables and chairs were all set up, but the room was empty.
“Marvin?” Tia called out. “Marvin?” She looked around. “He must be getting something from his car.”
They walked outside, and Tia pointed at a red Corvette. The car’s trunk was open, but Marvin was nowhere in sight. “That’s Marvin’s car. Where could he have gotten off to?”
“Pretty expensive car for a guy running games at the senior center,” Alice said.
Jack of Hearts Page 17