by Shepherd
Vishal leaned into Zach and made a face. Manservant, he mouthed. Zach bit his lip, trying not to smile.
“But you did talk to the police before you left, right?” Sophia asked.
Marguerite waved her hand dismissively. “That’s all been taken care of.”
Sophia leaned forward. “Have they searched his condo yet? Have they found anything? What did they tell you?”
Marguerite grimaced like Sophia had done something distasteful. “Darling, you mustn’t pepper one with so many questions. It’s unbecoming of a lady. Hasn’t your mother taught you that?”
Sophia’s jaw clenched slightly. “My mother is a lawyer, Aunt Marguerite. Asking questions is kind of her job.”
Marguerite let out a heavy sigh. “Well, I suppose not, then. Such a shame. I still remember the ball her parents gave when she was making her society debut.” Marguerite shook her head. “She had such promise.”
Vishal leaned over to Zach and whispered in his ear. “Did she just diss Sophia’s mom? What’s going on?”
“Don’t look at me,” Zach whispered back. “It’s like they’re speaking a whole other language.”
Sophia’s smile was brittle. “Last year, she was named one of the best trial lawyers in the Twin Cities. We’re very proud of her.”
Marguerite’s smile was condescending. “Of course you are, dear. She is your mother, after all.”
Evie broke in. “How awful this ordeal must be for you, Marguerite.” Sophia looked at her gratefully. “I’m sure it will be such a relief for you when all of this is over.”
Marguerite pressed her hand to her forehead once more. “To imagine that that cad Evan could take advantage of me like that, a poor defenseless woman! What kind of monster . . . ?” Her eyelids fluttered. “I shudder to think of how many other unfortunate victims he swindled.”
There was a light knock on the door, and a muscular, clean-shaven man walked in carrying a lacquer tray. His hair was military-short, and he wore a black suit with a heavily starched shirt and a striped tie. He laid the tray on the coffee table. “Your tea, madam,” he said. “Shall I pour?”
“That would be lovely, Derek,” Marguerite said. “What would I do without you?”
Vishal stood up. “Excuse me, may I please use the restroom?”
Marguerite looked at him with disgust and waved her arm toward the door.
Derek picked up the steaming teapot and poured tea for Marguerite and her guests. Evie stared at his face, searching her memory. As he handed her a cup of tea, she smiled up at him. “You look familiar. Have you lived in Minneapolis long?”
Derek smiled politely and turned away from her. “I’ve only been here a few months. I just have one of those faces, I guess.” He didn’t look at Evie again and hurriedly poured the other cups. He stretched forward to pick up the tray and hastily left the room, closing the door behind him.
Once he left, Evie stood up. “Marguerite,” she said softly, “I think you might be in terrible danger!”
CHAPTER
25
Marguerite put down her glass of brandy. “In danger? Whatever do you mean, child?”
Evie pointed to the sitting room door. “Your manservant, Derek,” she whispered urgently. “I think he stole the North Star!”
Marguerite’s jaw dropped. “What on earth?!”
Evie showed the photo of Derek, and the group recounted Jasmine’s story about the theft.
When Marguerite saw Jasmine’s selfie with D-Mack, with his distinctive eyebrows and snake tattoo, she gasped. “Are you saying that my Derek is the same man as this D-Mack character? That he helped steal our precious family heirloom?”
Evie gave a solemn nod. Sophia gripped her great-aunt’s arm. “Not only that. We believe he might have masterminded the whole plot.”
“Surely not Derek! You must be mistaken! He’s been an exemplary employee since I hired him a few months ago.”
“Did you find him, or did he find you?” Sophia asked. “It’s possible he’s been planning to target you next!”
Marguerite looked horrified. “Oh, good heavens! Have you told the police?”
Zach stood up and reached for the phone in his backpack. “Not yet,” he said, “but we should call Detective Bermudez right away.”
Marguerite stood up. “It’s too late for that! Derek may already suspect something. We need to get out of this house and find help. He could be dangerous!” She tossed her blanket to the side and stood up, remarkably spry. “Follow me! But quietly, now. We don’t want Derek to know what we’ve discovered.” She picked up a set of keys from a bowl near the door and peeked down the hall. She turned back to the kids. “Now,” she whispered.
In a panic, Sophia and the twins followed her without speaking, tiptoeing down the hall and out the back door, hoping they wouldn’t be spotted. “Derek has the keys to the town car, but Harold’s old MG is still in the garage,” Marguerite whispered.
Sophia squeezed Evie’s hand. “I knew she still had it,” she whispered.
Marguerite led them across the dark driveway and unlocked a side door, flipping a light switch that illuminated a single bare bulb, which did little to dispel the shadows that clung to the clutter filling the garage. Two cars were covered with tarps, and piles of boxes, old gardening tools, and rusty paint cans filled the rest of the available space. Marguerite pointed to the dusty tarp on the far side of the garage. “Under there. I think I still know how to drive it. Quick! Go pull off the cover!”
The three kids ran over across the garage and tugged at the tarp covering the classic red convertible. A cloud of dust filled the air and fluttered down onto them. Zach sneezed. “Wow,” Evie whispered. “I can’t imagine a better getaway car.” The little two-seater convertible was cherry red, with shiny chrome edging its elegant curves.
Zach grinned and elbowed his sister. “Not a bad way to save the day, huh? I hope we all can fit!”
Sophia grabbed his arm, and her voice dropped in horror. “Wait! We forgot Vishal!” Zach blanched.
That’s when they heard the door lock behind them.
***
“Oh no!” Sophia cried. “Derek’s locked us in! Quick, Marguerite—” Sophia turned to look for her great-aunt, but the old woman was nowhere to be seen. A look of fear passed over her face. “He must have grabbed her!” She ran to the door and pulled on the handle. “Don’t you dare hurt Marguerite!” she shouted. “Do you hear me?” She banged on the solid wooden door. “Leave her alone! She’s just a fragile old woman!”
Zach and Evie huddled together in the dim garage. Evie squeezed her brother’s hand. Helping to find the necklace had felt like an exciting adventure at first. She had never imagined it would be dangerous, but now here they were. Held prisoner while their best friend was trapped in the house with a dangerous thief and a frightened old woman.
Sophia’s eyes were wild. “Give me your cell phones. We have to call 911!”
Zach and Evie shook their heads helplessly. “We left them inside with our backpacks,” Zach said, his voice weak.
Sophia slumped. “So did I.”
Evie searched her mind for an idea. “What about Liana? She should be home from the market soon. Maybe she can call for help.”
“Derek will be expecting her back, too,” Sophia said. “Once she gets to the house, she’ll be walking into a trap. We have to get out of here and find a way to warn her before she goes inside. It’s our only chance of getting help here in time.”
“Let’s split up and search the garage,” Zach said. “There’s got to be something in here we can use to escape.” The three spread out, rummaging through boxes, scouring shelves, and poking through piles of junk.
“Look for a spare set of car keys,” Evie suggested. “If we could start Harold’s car, we could use it to ram through the garage door. That’s what they always do in the movies.”
“Evie, none of us can drive,” Sophia said.
Evie shrugged. “We’d only be driving, like, a
few feet. It can’t be that hard.”
“Sure, except for the part where we’d be driving through a wall.” Sophia shook her head. “It’s a terrible idea.”
“Well, do you have a better one?” Evie shot back.
“I will,” Sophia said, “if you just give me a few minutes to think of one.”
“What about you, Zach?” Evie called across the garage. “Have you found a way out?”
“Not yet,” Zach answered, “but I think I figured out where Evan Masterson went.”
CHAPTER
26
“OMG, that’s Evan’s car!” Evie pulled the tarp off the second car, revealing the sporty black convertible they had seen at the country club, with its distinctive 10IS GOD vanity plate. “I don’t understand. Is Evan hiding out at Marguerite’s? There’s no way she’d let him do that, would she?”
“Definitely not,” Sophia said firmly. “She would never help anyone who stole from her. He must be working with Derek. Marguerite never drives anymore, so I bet Derek could easily sneak the car into the garage and hide it without her seeing.”
“Yeah, but where’s Evan now? I don’t care how big your great-aunt’s mansion is; she would definitely know if Derek were hiding someone inside her own house.”
“Well, he must be nearby,” Evie said. “Otherwise he’d take his car with him.”
“We can worry about that later,” Sophia said. “Marguerite’s trapped inside with a criminal, and who knows what happened to Vishal? We need to find a way out of here and get help before it’s too late.” She pulled a stepladder out from behind a sawhorse. “Maybe we can use this somehow.” She placed the stepladder against the garage door and climbed up, peering out the square glass window near the top.
“Is Liana back? Can you see her car?” Evie asked.
“It’s pitch dark outside. I can’t see anything.”
“Let me see if I can find a flashlight,” Evie said. “We can try to shine it outside.” She squeezed under a workbench and pushed some boxes aside. Suddenly, she let out a sick-sounding yelp.
Zach ran over. “What is it?”
Evie backed up, her face pale. “Remember how we said that Evan must be nearby?” She gulped. “Well, I think I found him.”
***
Sophia jumped off the stepladder and ran to join them. “Oh, my gosh, is he dead?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?” Evie’s voice was tiny. She held her stomach. “I feel like I’m gonna throw up.” Zach put his arm around her.
“Let me see,” Sophia said. She crawled under the workbench and pushed the boxes aside. Evan lay on the floor, his arms and legs tied up with ropes. His eyes were closed, and there was a flowered silk scarf tied around his mouth. “I doubt you’d bother to gag a dead person. At least I wouldn’t,” Sophia said. “It’s not like they’re going to scream or anything.”
Evie gasped. “Sophia!”
“What?” Sophia looked at her. “It’d be a total waste of effort.”
“That’s not the point!” Evie said. “How can you talk about dead people like that? Especially in front of a . . . possible . . . dead person?”
Sophia untied the gag from Evan’s mouth. “I need a mirror,” she said, looking around. Zach jumped up and grabbed a crowbar. He pried the side mirror off of Evan’s car and handed it to Sophia. “Nice one,” she said, grinning at Zach. She held the mirror to Evan’s mouth. It fogged up. “See? Not dead!” Her voice was triumphant. “The mirror fogs because he’s still breathing.” She felt around the back of his head. “He’s got a lump on his head, but no blood. He must have been knocked unconscious.”
Evie’s face was incredulous. “How do you know all this stuff? You’re like a murdery Girl Scout or something!”
Sophia looked smug. “I watch a lot of Masterpiece Mystery! with my parents.”
Zach untied Evan’s wrists and ankles and found some old coveralls to put under his head as a pillow. “So Evan wasn’t hiding out here at all. He was kidnapped! I guess his blackmailing threats went too far, and Derek decided to make him disappear for a while until he had a chance to get away.”
Evie bit her lip. “That proves that Derek’s dangerous. He’s already a thief, but now that we know he’ll stoop to kidnapping, who knows what else he’s capable of? We have to find a way to warn Liana so she can get help!”
The three stood up again. Sophia ran back to the garage door and peered out the window. She noticed the yellow squares of light shining lighting up the driveway just outside. She turned back to the garage and spotted something on the shelf. “You guys, I have an idea.”
***
Meanwhile, Vishal sat hidden in the bushes in the front of the house, his cell phone in hand. After he had recognized D-Mack serving tea, he had excused himself and slipped outside to call Detective Bermudez. It had taken some convincing to get the detective to listen to him, and Vishal knew that a long lecture would be waiting for him and his friends when this was all over. At least he hoped so. He had no idea if his friends were still inside or if they had even realized that Derek was D-Mack yet. Vishal’s stomach churned. Should he have stayed in the room and warned them? He hugged his knees, wondering when the police would arrive.
After what felt like hours, Vishal could hear the comforting sounds of sirens in the distance. They grew closer, and soon he could see the flashing blue and red lights as the cars pulled into the driveway and along the quiet lane in front of the house. Vishal was so relieved he wanted to run to them, but he stayed put.
Uniformed officers rushed past his hiding spot to the door and banged on it hard. When nobody answered, they broke the door down and rushed inside. Vishal picked up his cell phone and called Detective Bermudez. “I’m hiding near the front door in the bushes, and I’m scared to come out,” he whispered. “I don’t want the cops to shoot me by mistake. Will you come get me?”
“Where are you?” Detective Bermudez’s voice was kind. Vishal told him where he was hidden, and heard the detective talking to other officers.
In a few moments, the detective’s face appeared between the bushes, his face etched with concern. “You okay?”
“I will be once I know everyone else is safe,” Vishal said, his voice shaky. “Are my friends still inside? Did you find Derek?”
The detective scratched the back of his neck. “Well, we’re having a bit of a problem with that. I’m gonna need your help.”
Inside the house, a cluster of uniformed officers crowded the entryway, talking in hushed tones and shifting from foot to foot. Over the creaking of their leather boots, Vishal could hear Marguerite’s strident voice raised in irritation. He followed Detective Bermudez into the little sitting room, where they found Marguerite reclining again on her divan, wrapped in blankets and holding the back of her hand to her forehead like a heroine in a silent movie. His friends were nowhere to be seen.
A police sergeant sat beside her, notebook in hand, taking her statement. “As I was saying,” Marguerite said, her voice heavy, “I’ve been through a terrible shock. I’ve just discovered that my dearest friend, Evan Masterson, was a thief and a swindler, and he’s already absconded with some of my most prized possessions. I’m certain that he’s behind the North Star theft as well. Why aren’t you out finding him, instead of pestering me with useless questions?!”
The sergeant shifted in her seat, and when she spoke, her voice was patient. “I understand, ma’am, and we will find Mr. Masterson. But right now we’re trying to track down one of your employees, a Mr. Derek Mackenzie, also known as D-Mack.”
Marguerite waved away the question. “D-Mack? What a dreadful pseudonym! I would never have such a person in my employ. I have exceptionally high standards.”
Detective Bermudez broke in. “We have witnesses who place Mr. Mackenzie in your home, Mrs. LaFarge. I understand you may be trying to protect what you consider a trusted employee, but it’s very important that we find him.”
Marguerite’s voice sounded feeble, but her eyes were fli
nty. “I assure you, detective, if I knew of such a man, I would be happy to help you, but I have never employed anyone by the name of Derek.”
Vishal was incredulous. “What are you talking about? Derek served us tea right here in this room less than an hour ago!”
For the first time, Marguerite noticed Vishal in the room. “Do the police make it a habit of bringing children along on their cases these days?” She gestured to the gathered police officers. “I assume this boy belongs to one of you.”
Detective Bermudez’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “He claims he was here with his friends earlier this afternoon, and I found him outside in the front yard when we arrived. Are you saying you don’t recognize him?”
“Certainly not,” Marguerite huffed. “And he was skulking about in my front yard when you arrived, you say?” She narrowed her eyes. “That sounds like rather suspicious behavior to me.”
The detective turned to Vishal. “Is there something you want to explain, Vishal?” He lowered his voice. “I know you and your friends are eager to find the necklace, but making up stories isn’t going to help solve the case.”
Vishal’s eyes widened. “I’m not making anything up!” He cringed inwardly at how shrill his voice sounded, and forced himself to calm down. “I came here with Sophia, Evie, and Zach. Derek brought in the tea, and now he’s missing and so are my friends.” He saw Marguerite shake her head in disbelief, and his voice rose again. “I’m telling the truth!”
Marguerite voice dripped with condescension. “Officers, there has obviously been some kind of misunderstanding. My darling grandniece did come to visit me earlier this afternoon, but I assure you she was quite alone. I had my maid, Liana, run her home about half an hour ago.” She picked up the receiver of a landline telephone that sat on the table next to her. “Shall we telephone them to confirm?”
Detective Bermudez looked embarrassed. “I think it would be helpful, just to put everyone’s mind at ease.” He turned to the other police officers.