The hills on either side were covered with maples, oaks, and beeches interspersed with abandoned farmland. In the fall, the hills would turn shades of gold and red, but now the trees were a tapestry of light and dark and blue and yellow greens. Bernie was thinking that it would be nice to have a cabin out here when she heard the sound of gunfire coming from behind the clubhouse.
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” Marvin said nervously.
Libby noticed a sheen of sweat on his forehead. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Marvin told her.
“Really?” Libby asked.
“Not really,” he allowed. “It’s just that ever since . . . you know . . . the sound of gunfire makes me nervous.”
“Me too,” Libby said. “Do you want to stay outside?”
Marvin shook his head.
Bernie clapped her hands together. “Okay, people. Enough shilly-shallying. Let’s go.” She opened the clubhouse door and walked inside.
Libby and Marvin followed. No one was sitting at the front desk, and they walked straight through to the back of the building. The door to the target area was open and they could see the Evanses out there. Rick was shooting at targets and Gail was watching.
“I didn’t expect her to be here,” Libby commented.
“Me either,” Bernie agreed, “but I guess the family that shoots together, stays together.”
“Only she’s not shooting,” Libby said.
The three of them stepped outside. Marvin, who was the last one out, let go of the door, and it slammed in back of them. Rick lowered his rifle and spun around. Gail followed his lead.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded.
“We have a question to ask you,” Bernie replied, indicating Marvin and Libby with a wave of her hand.
“Come back when we’re open and I’m sure Tim will be able to help you out,” Rick said. “We’re closed till five o’clock.”
“Then how come you’re here?” Libby asked.
“We’re members,” he said.
Gail stroked his arm. “Rick is practicing for a competition and I’m his cheering squad.”
“At this rate, I need all the practice time I can get,” Rick said.
“This will just take a minute,” Bernie said.
He was about to say something, but Gail laid a hand on his arm. “Let them ask. It’ll be quicker that way.” She flashed a smile at Bernie. “What do you want to know?”
“We want to know whether or not Rick received a message from a receptionist at Aberthay and Marks telling him that the lock on the shed near the rose garden was broken,” Bernie replied.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t,” Rick replied.
“Why unfortunately?” Libby asked.
“Because if I had, I would have fixed the lock, and poor Marvin here,” Rick inclined his head in Marvin’s direction, “would have been spared what he is going through now.”
“What if I told you that the receptionist we spoke to said otherwise?” Bernie asked.
“Then I would say she’s a liar,” Rick replied pleasantly.
“Why would she lie?” Libby asked.
He shrugged. “Not being gifted with ESP, I couldn’t tell you. Your guess is as good as mine.”
Gail pointed to the clock. “If you don’t mind, my husband would like to get back to practicing. He’s facing stiff competition tomorrow night and I know he doesn’t want to make a fool of himself.”
“My lovely wife is correct.”
Bernie and Libby watched as he put down his musket, came over, and clapped Marvin on the shoulder. “I just want you to know that I wish you good luck and I’m sorry for what happened to you. If I could do anything about it, I would.”
“He definitely would,” Gail echoed.
“That’s not what you sounded like when it happened,” Marvin replied.
Rick Evans glanced down at the ground, then back up at Marvin. “I know. If it’s any consolation, I feel terrible about that. I was . . . I was hysterical. I didn’t know what I was saying.”
“It’s true,” Gail put in. “When he got home, he told me he felt dreadful the way he’d acted. He even tried to call and tell the police, but by then it was too late.”
Rick nodded. “I did. Hopefully after you’re cleared, you’ll be able to look at this as a blip on your radar of life.”
“That goes double for me.” Gail lifted her eyes up to the heavens. “I have you in my prayers.”
Bernie, Libby, and Marvin turned as one and headed to the door.
“Great,” Marvin muttered as they walked back through the club. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Well, at least Rick apologized,” Bernie pointed out.
Libby frowned. “Small consolation.”
“Maybe he’ll be willing to testify on Marvin’s behalf,” Bernie said, thinking ahead.
“Testify?” Marvin repeated. “Did you say testify? I thought things weren’t supposed to get that far.”
“It’s always good to have a backup plan,” Bernie explained. “Just in case.”
“Just in case what?” Marvin demanded.
Libby stepped in before Bernie could answer. “You’re not helping anything,” she told her.
“Why?” Bernie asked. “Would lying be better?”
The sisters were still bickering when they got outside. They were all walking toward the van when Marvin came to a complete standstill.
“What’s the matter?” Libby asked him.
“I think I just remembered something.” He was staring at the Range Rover.
“What?” Libby inquired.
“Oh my God.” Marvin put his hand up to his mouth. “I remember this car. It was parked about two feet away when I came back up the hill. Rick Evans must have been there all the time. He must have followed me from the costume store. All that stuff about being sorry.” Marvin’s voice rose. “He lied to my face.”
“Calm down, Marvin,” Libby told him.
“I am calm, Libby.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Libby demanded.
“Because I didn’t think that car was Rick Evans’s. I thought he drove a BMW.”
“He drives both. Let’s find out what he has to say about this.” Bernie turned around and went back inside the gun club.
Libby and Marvin followed close behind.
“Hey, Rick,” Bernie yelled when she got to the gun range. “Marvin says he saw your Range Rover by the rose garden the day he put the stuff for the reenactment in the shed. He says you were watching the whole time.”
Rick and Gail turned around. Rick looked ready to bite someone’s head off. “What are you babbling about?”
“I saw your Rover at the rose garden,” Marvin said.
“You most certainly did not,” Rick snapped.
“I did.” Marvin shook a finger at him. “You lied to me.”
“About what?” Rick seemed genuinely bewildered.
Marvin took a step toward him. “I was right. You set me up. Don’t even think of denying it.”
Rick was about to reply to Marvin’s accusation when Gail tapped him on the shoulder. “Er, darling.”
“What?” he spat out, annoyed at being interrupted.
“I, er . . . I loaned the Rover to . . . to . . . Tony.”
Rick’s eyes narrowed. “Tony Gerard? The Tony Gerard that smashed my car into a wall when he was backing into a parking space? That Tony?”
“Well, yes,” Gail replied.
Rick’s eyes widened. “You loaned my Range Rover to Tony Gerard?” His tone was incredulous.
Gail gave a nervous little cough. “It was just for a little while.”
“Why would you possibly do that, Gail? That vehicle cost me $75,000. No one drives that but me. You know that.”
Gail fingered the edge of her polo shirt. “Tony’s car was being fixed and he needed to do an errand,” she replied in such a low voice that Bernie had to strain to hear it.
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“So you loaned him my car?” Rick’s voice got louder.
“It was just for half an hour.”
“What were you thinking?” he demanded.
Gail licked her lips. “I didn’t think it would be such a big deal.”
He shook a finger at his wife. “No. You knew it would be. You just didn’t care.”
Gail straightened up and put her hands on her hips. “You would never have noticed if I hadn’t told you.”
“So, that makes it right?”
Bernie cleared her throat. “Excuse me.”
Rick and Gail didn’t turn around to look at her, much less answer. They were too busy glaring at each other.
“I guess we’ll say good-bye now,” Bernie said.
Neither Rick nor Gail answered.
“Don’t worry we’ll close the door on the way out,” Libby told them.
Chapter 37
Twenty minutes later, Bernie, Libby, and Marvin were back in Longely heading toward Tony Gerard’s shop. Located down the block from Sanford Aiken’s place, Gerard’s Vacuums was sandwiched in between a cleaners and a place that sold bad Chinese take-out. Even though the primary stock in trade was vacuum cleaners, over the years Gerard had broadened out. His was as close to an old-fashioned variety store as you could get. As he’d once said to Bernie, how often do people buy a new vacuum cleaner?
His merchandise ranged from cleaning products to ashtrays, sewing kits and pinking shears, pink Spalding tennis balls, old-fashioned tops, sun hats, winter gloves, beach pails, small boxes of rock candy, and packages of licorice whips.
Bernie once again noted that this end of Main Street looked shabbier than their end. Random tufts of grass grew out of the cracks in the pavement and some of the stores looked as if they could use a fresh coat of paint.
Tony Gerard was stocking shelves when they walked into his store.
“Yes?” he said, looking up from the row of chargers, headphones, and cell phone cases he was lining up. “What can I do you for? You want a box of licorice? Just got some good stuff in. Or some cleaning supplies? This green stuff is pretty good.” He indicated a bottle with a label—GOOD FOR EVERYTHING BUT DRINKING—on it.
“We want to ask you something,” Bernie said, taking a step forward.
Gerard put down the box he was holding, wiped his hands on a paper towel he was carrying in his pocket, and walked toward her.
“And that would be?” he said in a wary tone.
Libby stepped forward. “We just spoke with Gail Evans.”
“And?” Gerard asked.
“She said she loaned you her husband’s Range Rover.”
“Did she now?” Gerard said.
Libby thought he sounded surprised. “Yup, she did. Her husband didn’t seem very happy about it.”
Gerard reflexively wiped his hands on his khakis. “Well, it is his baby.”
“He was very upset,” Bernie said.
“I can imagine.” Gerard looked from Libby to Bernie and back again. “So what’s your question?”
“Did you borrow the Range Rover?” Libby asked.
He gave a short laugh. “Why do you want to know? How could this possibly concern you?”
Marvin stepped forward and pointed to himself. “It concerns me. You want to know why, I’ll tell you why, Tony. Because you followed me from the costume store, you parked in front of the rose garden, and watched me come out of the shed. After I left, you went inside and over-primed the musket.”
Gerard put his hands on his hips. “Talk about manufacturing things out of whole cloth.”
Watching him, Bernie decided that Gerard seemed genuinely distressed.
“I’m not manufacturing anything,” Marvin cried. “I saw you there.”
“Maybe you thought you saw me there.”
“I did,” Marvin insisted.
Gerard pointed to himself. “Did you see me?”
“No,” Marvin admitted.
“Okay then. Did you get the license plate number of the Rover?”
Marvin shook his head.
“Do you know how many there are in this area?”
“No.”
“I agree you saw a Range Rover there,” Gerard replied. “But I wasn’t in it. Most likely it wasn’t Rick’s.”
“So what you’re saying is that Gail is lying?” Bernie asked. “That she didn’t lend it to you?”
Gerard nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Why would she do that?” Bernie asked.
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her that yourself.”
“I don’t believe you,” Bernie told him. “I think you’re the one who is lying.”
Gerard shrugged. “Think what you want. I really don’t care.”
Libby continued to pursue Bernie’s line of questioning. “Why would Gail lie? That makes no sense. No sense at all.”
“Like I said,” Gerard told Libby, “you’ll have to ask her.”
“I saw the Range Rover,” Marvin insisted. “I know I did.”
“Maybe you did,” Gerard said, “but I can assure you that I wasn’t in it.” He turned toward the shelves.
Marvin put a hand on his shoulder and spun him around. “Why are you doing this to me?” he cried. “What have I ever done to you?”
Libby pulled Marvin away. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay. It’s not okay at all.”
“Listen,” Gerard said to Marvin. “I’m sorry you feel that way, but there’s nothing I can do.”
“You can tell the truth,” Libby said.
“I am,” Gerard flung back.
Before Libby could reply, Bernie stepped in. “Unlike my sister, I believe you. I really do.” She smiled. She could see Gerard relaxing. Her smile broadened. “I don’t think you were there.”
“I told you,” Gerard said.
“But what I don’t get,” Bernie continued, “is why Gail is doing this to you. That’s not very nice of her.”
“No, it isn’t,” Gerard said.
“Most definitely not,” agreed Bernie. “Why do you think she’s doing that? I mean I thought she was nice, but now—”
“She’s scared,” Gerard blurted out.
Bernie raised an eyebrow. “Scared,” she scoffed. “Of what?”
Gerard bit his lip.
“Come on,” Bernie wheedled. “It’s obvious she’s setting you up.”
Gerard looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Bernie explained. “She just told us she loaned you her husband’s Rover and Marvin saw it there. It seems to me that’s enough to go to the police with.”
Gerard didn’t answer, but Bernie could see that he was thinking. She decided to give him another nudge. “Why are you protecting her? She certainly isn’t protecting you.”
“This has nothing to do with what happened to Jack Devlin,” he said.
“Then what does it have to do with?” Libby asked.
“It has to do with her husband. She didn’t want him to find out.”
“About what?” Bernie asked.
“About the fact that she’d taken up with Devlin again.”
“Rick Evans told me he didn’t care about that kind of stuff. So did Gail for that matter. They both said they were free spirits.”
Tony Gerard snorted and slapped his knee. “Now there’s a good one. Rick was really, really jealous. In fact, Gail was afraid of him.”
“How do you know that?” Bernie leaned against the counter and picked up a bracelet that was on a stand.
“Because she told me, that’s how I know,” Gerard said. “She told me she was scared that Rick would kill her if he found out that she was seeing Devlin again.”
“When did she say that?” Libby asked.
Gerard shrugged his shoulders. “A couple weeks before the reenactment.”
“Either she couldn’t have been that scared,” Bernie noted as she slid the bracelet over her hand and onto her wrist, “or Devlin must
have been really good.”
Marvin turned to Gerard. “So you’re saying—”
“I’m saying that Gail and Devlin started seeing each other again and they were in the Rover when you stowed everything in the shed,” Gerard replied.
“How do you know this for a fact?” Libby asked, curious.
“Because she told me,” Gerard said.
“Why would she do that?” Libby asked.
“Because I’m her friend. Anyway, would she lie if she wasn’t afraid of Rick finding out that she was seeing Devlin again?”
Bernie held up her arm to admire her bracelet. She had to admit she rather liked it. “That’s a good question.”
“Isn’t it though,” Libby seconded. “Maybe we should talk to Gail again and find out.”
“Maybe we should,” Marvin agreed.
Bernie pointed to the bracelet on her wrist. “How much?” she asked Gerard.
“Twenty dollars.”
“I’ll take it.” She gave him her credit card. Then she took out her cell and called Gail.
After a few minutes of pointed conversation, Gail agreed to meet them at the Six O’Clock Diner in half an hour.
Gerard handed Bernie her credit card and receipt, and the three investigators left his store.
On the way to the diner, they dropped Marvin off at the funeral home because he had paperwork he needed to clear up.
“Just in case,” he said, looking as mournful as it was possible for a man to look.
“It’ll be fine,” Libby assured him for the hundredth time.
“I don’t think so,” Marvin replied, but Libby didn’t hear him because Bernie had already taken off.
The diner was one town over, so even with Bernie going faster than she should have, they were five minutes late. Gail Evans had already arrived and was sitting in the last booth as they walked in. She was facing the door, nursing a cup of coffee, and eating an English muffin topped with peanut butter.
Bernie and Libby slid into the seat across from her and ordered the same when the waitress came over.
“I haven’t been in this place in years,” Bernie noted, looking around. It was a classic diner with chrome fixtures, red leather booths, and a huge menu, of which the hamburgers and BLTs weren’t half bad. Maybe it was why most of the people in the place were eating those.
A Catered Fourth of July Page 23