Gloria grinned. Kenny was a good guy and Ruth’s right hand man. She was sure that Kenny had many stories he could tell about the goings on inside that little post office! He probably knew more about Gloria than she knew about herself!
She stepped over to the computer screen and slipped on her reading glasses. The screen was dark. Gloria watched closely, waiting for something to happen. Was she missing something? “What am I looking at?”
“Just wait,” Ruth replied.
Seconds later, a small light beamed onto the screen. Gloria could tell from the angle that it was coming up the basement steps. The beam flashed around the room like a light show on steroids before it settled on the kitchen.
The intruder set the flashlight on the counter so that the light illuminated the ceiling. There were several long moments of silence followed by several loud whacks.
“What in the world…”
It was hard to see through the dark grainy computer screen, but the sound was loud and clear. After what seemed like an eternity, the whacking stopped.
The person picked up the flashlight and turned the light to the kitchen cabinets. Gloria realized with horror what the whacking noise was. The intruder had smashed some of the fronts on the lower kitchen cabinets while others appeared to be completely missing! Splintered chunks of wood scattered the floor. “Oh no!”
Her heart plummeted. What would possess someone to destroy a home like that?
“Can we watch it again?” she asked.
Ruth glanced at the clock. It was 7:50 a.m. “Yeah, I have a few minutes before I have to unlock the front doors.”
She fiddled with the mouse and set the surveillance video back to the beginning. Gloria leaned forward, searching for a clue…anything that might help them figure out who this person might be.
She couldn’t come up with anything. She waited until the flashlight and dark figure disappeared down the stairs before she turned to Ruth. “Was that it?”
Ruth nodded. “Yep.”
Gloria stood upright and gazed out the front window. “We have two problems now,” she said.
Ruth lowered the laptop cover. “What’s that?”
Gloria lifted a finger. “One, we don’t know who that was.” She lifted a second finger. “Two, as far as anyone knows, we were the last two people inside that house!”
There was the possibility they could be charged with destruction of property, theft, breaking and entering, unlawful use of surveillance equipment…although she wasn’t certain of that.
Ruth shook her head. “No. We are down to just one problem. There was a big clue and I’m surprised that you missed it.”
Chapter 21
Gloria frowned. “What clue?”
Ruth let out a dramatic sigh and lifted the top of the computer. “Gloria, Gloria, Gloria, are you losing your touch?” she teased.
“I’ll cover the front,” Kenny offered.
Ruth acknowledged him briefly. “Thanks, Kenny.”
She turned back to the screen and started the video from the beginning.
The light bounced up the stairs and started across the room.
“Close your eyes and just listen,” Ruth urged.
Gloria closed her eyes and focused on the sounds. This time, she heard it: a faint scraping sound, as if the person was dragging something across the tile floor. “Yeah, I hear it.”
Ruth crossed her arms. “Whoever was in that house either dragged the sledgehammer OR what I think, is that they walked with a limp.”
“Hmm.” It was a stretch.
Ruth fast-forwarded to the end. “You can hear it again.”
Sure enough, toward the end of the video, they heard the distinct sound of something dragging.
It was a good clue, but how in the world could they figure out who it was? It could be anyone. For all they knew, the person could have driven their car from the other side of the state and snuck in, just like Gloria and Ruth had done.
The fact that the intruder had destroyed the kitchen cabinets and stolen the rest was scary. Leaving a dead animal or two was bad enough…
Ding. A customer had walked into the post office. “Be right back.”
Ruth headed to the counter to help the customer while Gloria stared out the window. All she could visualize was Jill, Greg, Ryan, Tyler, Eddie, Karen, Ben, Kelly, Oliver and Ariel, along with Gloria and Paul all trying to cram into her house.
Ruth returned. “I think it’s one of the neighbors.”
She had Gloria’s undivided attention and pressed on. “Think about it. Who else could it be? I doubt it’s the homeowners, especially now that whoever it was destroyed the kitchen cabinets. It’s one thing to try to drive away buyers so you can keep collecting the deposit, but it’s a completely different story when they start destroying stuff. I mean, those homeowners will have to pay to have the cabinets repaired and the missing ones replaced.”
True. Ruth had a valid point. It would be completely counterproductive. On top of that, Gloria had seen the house the Acostas lived in. If they were collecting deposits for cash flow, they weren’t using the money to improve their current living conditions.
“Plus, whoever it is knows the comings and goings of that place, which would point right to a neighbor, someone who can watch the place.”
Gloria thought about the neighbors she had met. On one side, the people had seemed quite friendly and informative. Gloria didn’t get the impression that they had hard feelings toward the Acostas. In fact, it seemed quite the opposite.
There was the nice woman on one side, although she had been the one who had called the police on Ruth and her.
Then there was the older couple across the street, the ones who had pets of their own.
Last, but not least, there were the noisy neighbors on the other side. The ones with the big dogs and the flimsy fence that separated their property from the one Jill and Greg intended to buy. She had never met the people who lived in that house, only the boy who had come to the door.
“So we’re looking for someone with a limp. What do you suggest that we do? Go door-to-door asking the neighbors if they walk with a limp?”
Ruth shook her head. “Nope. I’ve been giving this some thought.” She held out her hand. “Be right back.”
Gloria watched her disappear in the back room. Kenny watched her go. “Wait ‘til you see this,” he said.
Gloria could hardly wait.
Ruth returned with a large, shiny, plastic copter. “This is a DR650, able to fly up to 250 feet. It has a 720 x 240 resolution that can take 3MP photos and video tape for a full five minutes.”
Gloria stared at the contraption in confusion.
Kenny touched one of the propellers with his index finger and gave it a spin. “It’s a drone.”
“A drone?” Gloria had seen drones on the local news in recent weeks. They were a nuisance for airplanes at the Grand Rapids Airport. Pilots had reported several near misses with drones when they accidentally wandered into the planes’ flight paths.
From what little she knew, Gloria considered them a dangerous toy. She could tell from the look on Ruth’s face that Ruth did not consider her drone to be a toy!
Ruth carefully placed the drone on the counter. “We can use this to film aerial footage of the neighbors. They won’t even know it’s there.”
Gloria stared at the drone. An idea began to form in her head. “So we come up with some kind of lure to draw the neighbors out of their houses. The drone is overhead, capturing their movements on camera. Whoever shows up on video with a visible limp…”
Ruth snapped her fingers. “Voila! We have our man. Or woman.” she added.
The bell chimed again. Gloria waited while Ruth took care of the customers. She nodded to Judith Arnett, who was one of them.
When Sally Keane walked in, Gloria glared at her then turned her back. She was the last person Gloria wanted to see!
Sally made a quick exit after checking her mailbox.
Kenny had fin
ished sorting his mail, organizing it in the large plastic bins and then loading the bins into his mail truck. He came back to grab his keys.
Gloria stepped to the side, out of view of the lobby.
Kenny walked over and whispered in Gloria’s ear. “I’ve got a few 4th of July fireworks left over if you want to use them.” He winked and then turned on his heel, whistling a catchy tune as he exited the post office and climbed into the mail truck.
Ruth caught the tail end of the conversation. “We might want to take him up on that.”
Gloria slowly nodded. They would need something to draw the suspects out into the open. She turned to Ruth. “Can you forward a copy of that videotape to me?”
“Of course.” Ruth settled into the desk chair. She clicked a few buttons and turned to Gloria. “Done. I emailed a copy to you.”
“Thanks.” Gloria reached for the door handle. “When do you want to pick up the spy equipment?”
She remembered Jill telling her that she had scheduled an inspection of the house for the following day. “Maybe we can run by there before Jill’s inspection. How long do you think it will take?”
Ruth stared at the ceiling. “I’m guessing no more than 20 minutes. Tops.”
Gloria stared at the back door thoughtfully. They could pick up the spy equipment and implement their plan to flush out the perpetrator at the same time.
She opened the door. “Yeah. We can do it tomorrow morning.” That would be perfect. “Ask Kenny to drop off the fireworks, just in case.”
Ruth nodded. “Got it covered. Want to swing by my house say around 10?”
Gloria pulled her keys from her purse. “Yeah, that’ll work. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Gloria climbed into her car and started the engine. Her next stop was Montbay County Sheriff’s office to visit Paul.
Gloria settled into the chair across from her betrothed. He leaned his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands in front of him. Gloria wasn’t one to drop by for a casual social visit, not while he was at work. He was certain the reason she was there had something to do with Jill and the house.
Paul got right to the point. “Something happened,” he stated bluntly.
Gloria rubbed the palms of her hands on the front of her slacks. “Yeah. The box that Ruth had yesterday… You got a minute for me to show you something on the computer?”
Paul nodded. “Sure.”
Gloria inched her way around the desk and leaned over Paul’s keyboard. “Do you mind if I log into my email account?”
“Be my guest.”
Gloria opened her email and scrolled through the messages until she got to the one Ruth had sent her. She opened the message and clicked on the attachment. “Watch this.”
Gloria pressed the “play” button and stepped back.
Paul leaned forward. He watched the video in silence and then pressed the stop button. “This is what you and Ruth were doing yesterday? Installing surveillance equipment?”
Gloria cringed inwardly and nodded. “Did you notice anything about the person?”
Paul played the video again. “Whoever it was walked with a limp.”
“Right. Do you think you can question the neighbors?” Gloria would love to hand it over to Paul. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be involved, but the fact that they had been inside the house right before it had been broken into and vandalized would make Ruth and her prime suspects.
Paul forwarded the video to his own email then clicked out of hers. He shook his head. “Unfortunately, our hands are tied, unless, of course, the homeowners file a report.”
She frowned. Maybe they would. Maybe they wouldn’t, although if they were to file an insurance claim, they would have to file a police report. She wasn’t sure how long that would take. It could take weeks! Gloria didn’t have weeks - she had hours!
Her shoulders drooped. “It was worth a try.”
Paul knew Gloria was not going to let this go. “What are you going to do now?”
“We think it’s a neighbor.” She shrugged. “We only have one choice…flush the perpetrator out.”
“How do you propose to do that?” He paused. “Never mind. I don’t think I want to know.”
Paul got out of his chair and followed Gloria down the hall and out to the main lobby. “Please be careful. When do you plan to ‘flush them out?’” If he knew “when,” at least he could be on the alert in case she needed help.
“Tomorrow morning, right after we pick up the surveillance equipment.”
Paul gave Gloria a quick kiss and held the door. He shook his head and slowly closed the door behind her. She sure did know how to keep him on his toes.
Chapter 22
Gloria made a pit stop at Lucy’s on her way home. Lucy, the closest to an explosives expert that Gloria could come up with, might have an idea on how to attract attention without blowing – say – a hand or other body part - off in the process.
She parked Annabelle behind Lucy’s jeep and started down the sidewalk.
Brrrup!
Gloria stopped in her tracks.
Brrrup!
That noise. It was coming from the direction of the shed.
She could see that the shed door was open.
Brrrup!
It had to be Lucy.
Gloria wandered around the corner and spotted her friend, bent over her workbench. Lucy was wearing a metal welding mask. Gloria burst out laughing at the sight of the mask. Protruding out of both sides of the mask were two deer antlers – one on each side.
Lucy dropped the welding gun and jumped back. “You scared the crap out of me!”
She lifted the mask and clutched her chest. “I almost had a heart attack!”
Gloria patted her arm. “I’m sorry, Lucy,” she apologized. She pointed at the antlers. “Don’t tell me those are from a deer that you shot.”
Lucy ran her hand along one of the antlers. “Yep,” she said proudly. “A four point buck.”
“Are you going hunting this year?”
Gun season ran from mid-November until the end of November. Last year, Lucy had gone hunting with her ex-boyfriend, Bill. They had broken up not long ago, right after Lucy told him she didn’t want to go bow hunting, but instead wanted to hang out with the girls.
Bill had never been one of Gloria’s favorite people and she always thought that Lucy always went along with whatever Bill wanted but he would never do anything that she wanted to do. It was a one-sided relationship, not that she had ever admitted that to her friend.
Lucy wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure. I don’t want to go alone and Max doesn’t sound too enthused about it.”
Her eyes sparked. “Hey! Why don’t you go with me?”
Gloria shook her head. “Oh no! I don’t…”
Lucy clasped her hands together. “Please,” she begged. “You need more shooting practice and I need someone to go with me. It’ll be fun.”
Gloria sucked in a deep breath. Lucy had always been a good sport about helping Gloria out with her investigations and had asked for little in return. In fact, this was the first time Gloria could remember her ever asking for a favor…
“Well, maybe,” she conceded.
Lucy bounced on her toes. “Oh, thank you, Gloria! It’s going to be so much fun,” she gushed.
Gloria slowly shook her head, certain she would rue the day this day. Deep down, Gloria knew she would go if it meant that much to her friend.
She pointed at pieces of metal sitting on top of the workbench. “Whatcha building?”
Lucy lifted two bars she had just welded together. “Wait ‘til you see what I’m making.”
She stepped over to the wall and dragged two pieces of barn wood to the center of the floor. “It’s going to be a small table. I’m going to put it out on the porch. Since this is my first welding project, I thought I’d start small,” Lucy explained.
Gloria wrinkled her nose. A table didn’t sound small. Wall art or jewelry holder - that was
small.
“When I’m done with this, I want to build a fire pit out of old tire rims. I found a picture of one on the internet and I’ve already got the rims.”
“Sounds cool, Lucy. I can’t wait to see it,” Gloria said.
“Yeah, I kinda need a hobby. I was thinking I could start making some stuff and selling it at the flea market during the summer months.”
“Do you need some money?” Gloria had never heard her friend mention money being tight and Gloria had never asked.
“Nah.” Lucy shrugged. “I need something to keep me busy during the winter.” She pointed to a cast iron wood stove in the corner. “I can come out here and work when it’s nasty outside.”
Jasper tromped into the garage, his paws covered in a thick coat of fresh mud.
Lucy stuck her hand on her hip. “Jasper! What did you get into this time?”
Jasper hung his head and looked up at Lucy guiltily.
Gloria reached over and patted his head. “There’s so much fun stuff to get into living out here in the country, huh?”
She looked up at Lucy. “Don’t worry. The newness will wear off and he’ll settle down. Just tell him no and soon he’ll understand what he can and can’t get into. Labs are smart dogs.”
Jasper slumped into a heap at Lucy’s feet and let out a sigh. “He sure does wear himself out.”
She changed the subject. “So what brings you by?”
The women stepped out of the garage. Lucy shut off the lights and closed the door, locking it behind her. Jasper led the way as the three of them headed to the house.
Inside the kitchen, Lucy pulled a plate from the microwave and set it on the table. “Monster cookie? I made them this morning.”
Gloria plucked a candy-coated cookie from the plate and took a bite. “I love cookies with nuts. These are delicious. What’s in them?”
Lucy pulled a large cookie from the plate and nibbled the edge. “My grandmother’s secret recipe,” she said.
Gloria wasn’t nearly as fond of sweets as Lucy, but these were delicious. She reached for another one.
Lucy grinned. “Wow! You must like them.”
Bully in the Burbs (Garden Girls Christian Cozy Mystery Book 8) Page 12