“Of course, of course. Take a seat.”
“I – uh –” Joe eyed the seat in front of her desk. “I’d better not. I’ll likely break it.”
“Oh,” she said. “Oh, all right then. Well, I could bring one of the wrought iron chairs through, if that would help.”
“No, no, that’s fine,” Joe said. “I prefer standing. Tina always said that sitting a lot would be bad for me, so I stand a lot instead.”
“Tina,” Olivia said.
“Yeah.” Joe sighed and shook his head. “Poor Tina. She was a good person. We didn’t always agree, but she was a great trainer and she helped me through so much. I’m so sad she’s gone.”
“I’m sorry, Joe.”
“Ah, well, I didn’t come here to mope around, just to thank you for helping me out yesterday. When I sent that text I wasn’t sure anything would come of it, and then Lulu charged in and saw me with her phone. Boy, was she angry. Anyway, just wanted to say thank you.”
“That’s my pleasure, Joe. Everyone in Chester was really worried about you.”
“They were?” Joe laughed and his belly wobbled. “I never expected that. I thought they believed I killed Tina. Anyways, I’ll get out of your hair, here. Looks like you’ve got work to do.” He nodded to the dead PC.
“Actually, I’ve got some time. Say, Joe, would you mind talking to me about something? About Tina’s murder, specifically?”
Joe opened his mouth and shut it again. “I – uh, I guess. What do you want to know? You were there, Olivia, you found her. I think you know even more than me.”
Olivia wriggled her nose from side to side. “Well, I’m not so sure about that. Joe, you and I were the only two who saw what happened firsthand, or rather, we heard it and found her body. That’s important.”
“It is.”
“Did you actually hear the – you know, the bang?” Olivia asked, and her pulse raced. She gripped her thighs underneath the desk.
“I did, yeah. I was getting changed in the men’s room when I heard it. Made my stomach drop. Initially, I thought a piece of equipment fell on someone. And then I rushed out of the bathroom and I saw –” Joe cut off and shook his head. “Nah, it couldn’t have been.”
“What? What did you see?”
“It was in the hall outside the men’s bathroom, just across from the door. I thought I saw the old uniform.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Ugh, I’m not making any sense. Sorry, little flustered.” Joe brushed sweat from his forehead. “It was someone wearing the old uniform of the fitness center. It’s kind of like a blue collared shirt with Chester Fitness Center written in bold white print across the back. I was confused about it at the time, but more focused on getting to the source of the noise.”
“No one uses that uniform anymore?” Olivia asked.
“Not anyone I know. No one at the center, that’s for sure. They’ve got new uniforms as of six months ago. It’s against their policy to wear the old ones.”
Olivia’s hope dissipated. An old uniform wasn’t a smoking gun, it was only a pity that it wasn’t older. This blew the case open again, or did it? Ugh, Olivia resisted the urge to tug at her hair.
“Did you happen to see if it was a man or woman wearing it?” Olivia asked.
“No. I didn’t look, I’m sorry.”
“An old uniform,” she said, and her eyes widened. An old uniform! What if it was Christopher in his old uniform? What if –
“Are you all right, Miss Cloud? You’ve gone pale.”
“Fine, fine. Just, oh, I think I need a moment alone, Joe. Talking about this has got me antsy.”
“I understand. Have a good afternoon, Olivia. And thanks again.”
She nodded, but didn’t register what he’d said. An old uniform. It had to be Christopher’s! It all added up. He’d fought with her the night before. His neighbors were suspicious of him. Joe had seen the uniform.
Olivia reached for the office phone and dialed for real this time, her heart pounding. This was it. It had to be.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
J ake had his usual position in the driver’s seat, his window rolled down ever so slightly to allow in cool night air from the suburban street. “You know,” he said, “this is the second night in a row we’ve sat outside a suspect’s house or similar.”
“What’s your point?”
“Nothing,” Jake replied, and shrugged. He glanced up at Christopher Robin’s house, porch light off and shrouded in darkness. The only light came from the crescent moon high in the sky, casting its paleness on the grass and lengthening the shadows of trees. “I guess I’m trying to say that I’ve enjoyed it. It’s nice spending time with you, even if it’s under these circumstances.”
Olivia tore her gaze from the Robin house and smiled at him. “I’ve enjoyed this too. A lot. I – I don’t just mean the investigating part. I mean actually being around you. This has been nice, Jake.”
“Taking it slow isn’t so bad,” he said, and grinned back at her.
Olivia placed her hand on top of his on the stick, then sighed. “If only we could have a little more down time to talk and get to know each other even better. I feel like all we do is investigate.”
“And eat chocolates.”
“I’m not complaining about that one,” Olivia said.
“Me neither.” He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, then sighed. “Well, we’ll make some time soon. Okay? I think it would be nice to know a little more about you.”
“And you,” Olivia said. “But for now, we’d better focus on this.” She nodded through the windscreen at Christopher’s house. “Why do you think all the lights are off? It’s only 8 pm. Surely he’s not asleep already.”
“Uh, Olivia, that’s when you go to sleep most nights, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t make chocolates at the crack of dawn,” she replied. “Maybe he’s not home.”
“Maybe,” Jake replied, and scratched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t like any of this. Walk me through what Fat Joe saw again.”
Olivia laid it out for him, from the moment Joe had walked in to when he’d told her about the old fitness center uniform. “And I called the center to confirm the information, as well. And the picture on their website was taken with the old uniform on.” She dragged her cell out of her pocket, unlocked the screen, then clicked through to the picture she’d pulled off the net. “There.”
Jake took the phone from her and examined the picture up close. “Right. And that’s definitely what Joe saw.”
“Unless he lied,” Olivia said. Gosh, could they trust anyone to tell the truth? Not in a murder case, that was for sure. “I don’t know. This seems like the next logical step, if you ask me.”
“You’re right,” Jake said, and handed back the cell. “Why don’t we go in there and speak to Christopher, then?”
Olivia slipped the phone into her pocket again. “Because of the last time?”
“Right, the pistol episode. Folks in Chester aren’t the most stable are they?”
“Oh, I think we’re all differing levels of crazy. Some are just a little closer to the surface than others.” Olivia folded her arms and drummed her heels on the baseboard. Nothing had happened in the half hour since they’d arrived, but then, Christopher wasn’t on their timetable. Heavens, it might be that nothing happened tonight.
The night passed by them and they sank into a noiseless stupor, listening to the sounds of suburbia. A dog barked in the distance, a door slammed. The scent of home cooking drifted through the window and Olivia’s stomach grumbled.
“Maybe we’re barking up the wrong tree,” Olivia said.
“Maybe.” But Jake didn’t start the car, and they waited on. The hours ticked by, and they stifled yawns or checked their watches by the light of the moon.
“Come on,” Olivia said, at last. “Let’s get –”
“What was that?” Jake whispered.
“What?”
Olivia scooched to the edge of her seat and peered through the windshield. “I don’t see anything.”
“There it was again. That’s definitely a person. Someone sneaking.”
The silhouette crept along the sidewalk, then took a sharp right and headed into Christopher’s yard, toward the side of his house. The person, whoever they were, looked short, hunch-backed.
“Who is that?” Jake asked.
“No idea,” Olivia whispered. “But I get the feeling they’re up to no good.” What if it was the nosy next door neighbor come back to do sleuthing of his own? “Come on, Jake, let’s go find out.”
“What about Detective Ranch?”
“What about him?” Olivia asked. “We’re not doing anything illegal. Think of it like this. We’re watching out for the neighborhood. There’s nothing wrong with that.” Every second they spent back here was one wasted.
They had to find out who that was and what they wanted at Christopher’s house.
“What if that’s Christopher?”
“Sneaking up to his own house?” Jake asked.
“Well, we’ll never find out sitting here.” Olivia opened the door and slunk into the night. Gosh, at this rate she’d go completely gray by the time she turned forty-two.
Jake’s door opened too, and Olivia grinned, though it was more out of nerves than excitement.
The pair hurried across the road toward Christopher Robin’s house.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
J ake and Olivia darted around the side of the house together, then slowed at the strange sounds which echoed from the back yard. A grunt, a scrape, the clang of metal, and a muted curse. Olivia bit her lip. What on earth were they about to witness? Crazy images flashed through her mind – a man dumping a body? Heaven forbid.
They rounded the corner and the humped shape loomed ahead of them, moving, writhing.
“Stop right there,” Jake said.
The figure let out a grunt of surprise, face hidden by what appeared to be a hoodie, then straightened a bit. It was tall. Definitely a man. He fumbled for something in his pocket.
“Gun!” Olivia hissed.
Jake leaped before she could stop him. He tackled the interloper to the ground, and they fell with a thump, and a cry.
“Jake!” Olivia screeched, she fumbled the cell phone out of her pocket, half-expecting a muzzle flash in the night. Her heart pounded against the inside of her throat. She switched on her flashlight app and directed it at the pair wrestling on the ground.
Both men froze for a moment.
Jake had the intruder in a headlock. Mike McCobb tugged at his arms with fingers covered in latex. Gloves? Mike?
“What the heck are you doing?” Olivia asked.
But Mike redoubled his efforts to get the better of Jake.
Olivia scanned the scene for help, for anything that could help at all, and her gaze fell upon a crumpled blue shirt on the ground, lettering peeking from the fold. Chester – ness Cen –
It was the uniform! And Mike had been trying to dump it in the trash can outside Christopher’s house.
No, this wasn’t time for grand deductions. This was time for action.
There wasn’t a gun in sight, but a switchblade lay next to the trash can, which’d been half emptied out again. Jake must’ve knocked it out of Mike’s hand.
“Think,” Olivia whispered. She jerked and reached into the back pocket of her jeans. Her fingers closed around the rectangle and drew it out. Detective Ranch’s cell number. “I’m calling the cops,” she said, and punched the number into the screen. “You’d better quit squirming, Mike. I’m calling them now.”
But that only made him wrestle harder.
“Olivia,” Jake grunted. “I’m going to knock him out. I can’t hold him much longer.”
Mike totally lost it at that. He jerked backward and tried to head-butt poor Jake.
“Do it,” Olivia said, and turned from the scene so she wouldn’t have to witness what was about to happen. She punched the green phone icon, then listened to the ringing.
“This is Detective Ranch,” the man said, clear as could be. Didn’t he sleep? It had to be past 1 am.
“Ranch, this is Olivia Cloud. I’m here at Christopher Robin’s house,” she said, and involuntarily cringed. “Jake Morgan is with me. We’ve just apprehended Mike McCobb trying to dispose of crucial evidence in the Tina Hobb case. Please, come quickly.”
“Ma’am, I’m just around the corner. I’ll be pulling up in two minutes. Stay with the suspect until I’ve arrived. Do not provoke him further.”
“Uh,” Olivia said. It was a little late for that. “Okay?”
“Miss Cloud?”
“Yes, we’re fine. I – we’re around the back. See you in a minute.” She hung up before he could cross-question her further. Olivia turned back to Jake and gasped.
The private investigator sat on the grass beside Mike, who lay supine, eyes closed and chest rising and falling evenly. “He’ll wake up soon and then we’ll have to do this all over again. How much longer until Ranch gets here?”
“He said he was minutes away. I don’t get it. Why would he be minutes away? And why did Mike have the shirt? Unless…you don’t think?”
“That’s exactly what I think,” Jake replied. “I just don’t understand the reasoning behind it.”
“You and me both.” Olivia walked to Jake’s side, but kept him between her and Mike. She wouldn’t survive a wrestling match like that and she didn’t want to. “Good heavens. Could life in Chester get more eventful?”
“Don’t jinx us.”
The lights of a car sliced through the darkness on the road, and red and blue flashed against the walls and windows of houses. Ranch had arrived, but Olivia couldn’t summon up relief.
No doubt this wouldn’t end well for any of the parties involved. She frowned at Mike’s stirring form. “Why did he do it?” She whispered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“L ove,” Ranch said, and scratched something out on his notepad. He flipped it closed, then stowed it and his ballpoint in his top pocket. “Or rather, passion.”
“What do you mean?” Olivia asked. “Mike was romantically involved with Tina?” The suspect, or rather, the murderer, had already been placed in the back of the police car and Detective Willis had gotten in and driven him back to the Chester Police Department.
Ranch had stayed behind to close the scene and to lecture both Olivia and Jake.
“That’s exactly right,” Ranch replied. “The DNA results came back from the lab not an hour ago. Deposits of Mike’s DNA were found under Tina’s fingernails.”
“She fought back,” Olivia said. “But how is that possible? She was struck from behind.”
“She didn’t fight back. No, the skin cells were from a previous encounter, likely earlier in the day. After interviewing Christopher, we discovered that he’d suspected she was having an affair for a while. He found pictures of Mike on her phone, and confronted her.”
“And then what happened?” Olivia asked.
“He gave her an ultimatum. Drop the spare and move in together or the relationship would end.”
Oh gosh, and if that’d happened Tina would likely have lost her job. Everyone in Chester would’ve found out that she’d had an affair with one of her clients. That would’ve damaged the reputation of the Chester Fitness Center.
Jake walked over from the ambulance where they’d insisted on bandaging up his wrist – he’d sprained it during the tussle.
Olivia watched him walk over, warmth swelling in her chest. Thank heavens he’d been with her. If she’d gone after Mike without him, who knew what might’ve happened.
“Good, you’re feeling all right?” Ranch asked, and raised both eyebrows at the private investigator.
“Yes, thanks.”
“The
n let’s have a chat,” Ranch replied, and led them around to the front of the house. He directed them to sit on the porch step, and Jake and Olivia did as they were told. Honestly, it felt a little as if they’d been called into the principal’s office.
“Now, I know you two thought you were doing the right thing by snooping around here, but you nearly lost your lives. This encounter could’ve gone wrong. You know that Mike had a knife on him, correct?”
“Yes,” Olivia whispered. “Now, we do.”
“Well, you’re lucky he didn’t get a chance to use it. And you’re even luckier he didn’t have a gun. The man was unhinged because he’d had his heart broken, unhinged enough to kill the woman he’d loved and frame her boyfriend after the fact.”
Olivia slipped her arm through Jake’s for support.
“I warned you to stay away from this,” Ranch continued. “This is the reason why. You’re not equipped to handle life and death situations, unless you plan on getting combat training of some kind, and even then, this is none of your business.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.” Detective Ranch shook his head. “I’m giving both of you this last chance. If you interfere in another investigation without prior consent from myself, you will be arraigned for obstruction of justice. And I don’t make empty threats.”
Olivia wouldn’t have classed Keane’s threats as empty. But Ranch certainly meant business.
“While I appreciate the fact that you’re concerned about Chester and its citizens’ wellbeing, I can’t condone this behavior.”
“We understand,” Jake said, and squeezed the inside of Olivia’s forearm. “And we won’t get involved without permission again.”
Ranch looked from Olivia to Jake, then back again. He grunted, but it was clear he didn’t buy that. “I’ll be watching both of you.”
They nodded and Olivia managed a grimace of shame. In truth, she did feel bad about this. She’d grown increasingly reckless with her investigative techniques and she’d endangered more than her own life. Things would have to change.
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