by Diane Weiner
Convenient. He never mentioned seeing Preston until now. Just like he didn’t remember the boating accident until after they ran into Hunter Griffith. She grabbed her jacket and locked up.
“Where do we start?”
They’d barely gotten out of the driveway when they saw an elderly couple walking hand in hand. Travis seemed to know them. “We’ll start right here.”
He approached the couple. “How are you today? Still fitness walking, I see.”
“Since George had that stent put in last year, we’ve been diligent. Rain or shine, hot or cold. I can’t lose my better half.”
George grumbled. “I ain’t going nowhere. Best shape ever. I’ve lost ten pounds since we started our walks.”
“A friend of ours has been bedridden since her surgery. His wife is playing nursemaid. I’m not spending our golden years giving bed baths.”
“She doesn’t give me much of a choice,” said the hubby. “She leaves my sneakers right at the front door.”
Travis said, “Since you are regulars, I want to ask you something. Do you remember the night Ellie was murdered?”
“Of course. George and I heard sirens and saw all sorts of police cars and an ambulance pass our house. The next day we read about it in the paper. Poor girl. Such a sweet young thing. Always a smile and a friendly wave.”
“Earlier that night, did you see anything out of the ordinary? Anyone in the area that you found suspicious?”
“Like we told the police, no one.” George jogged in place.
“George, remember later we thought about those sneaky teenagers from down the block. Two brothers—the Howards’ kids, and the boy on the other side of our house. Brayden Carlisle. Every weekend they blast the music and park over by the woods.”
Sara said, “Why didn’t you call the police back?”
“Didn’t want to get them in trouble with their parents,” said George. “We watched those boys grow up.”
“George, Nancy down the road says the music makes her crazy. She lives near the opening in the woods and even says she can smell the marijuana from her back porch when they are out there.”
“Do you think it’s possible those boys saw something?” Sara was talking more to Travis than the couple at this point.
“The police interviewed everyone on the block, but I doubt those boys would have admitted they were partying and smoking. Partying is a verb, you know. Means they were drinking. I’ll bet they claimed they were home and their parents probably thought they were in their rooms playing those video games or talking on the phone.”
Sara said, “I’ll tell my friend the detective. They very well might have seen something if they were out in the woods that night.”
George shivered. “I’m getting cold standing in one spot and can’t jog in place any longer.”
“Of course. Keep going. Enjoy the rest of your walk.”
“What now?” said Travis. “Want to keep going?”
“I’d like to go knock on the Howards’ door, but, of course, that would be awkward. I guess the best thing to do is to notify Phil.”
“Wait a minute. The kid on the bike. Across the street. That’s Brayden Carlisle. He comes around offering to shovel driveways when it snows. For money, of course.”
“Probably to fund his habit. Does he know you?”
“Yeah. He knocked on my door more than once. Come on.”
Travis hustled and waved to Brayden Carlisle. “Brayden, can we talk for a minute?”
Brayden hopped off his bike. “Yeah. Need your driveway shoveled?”
“No. This is Sara Baron. She’s staying at Ellie’s house. She was a close friend and she’s the one who found the body.”
“Oh, man. That’s a bummer.”
“Brayden, we’re trying to help the police find out who killed Sara’s friend. Did you see anyone go in or out of Ellie’s house that night?”
“No, man. The police already asked me and my parents. I was upstairs in my room.”
“Look, we aren’t the police and don’t care if you were engaged in underage drinking or dabbling in recreational drugs. Our only concern is finding Ellie’s killer and if you saw something, we won’t drag you into it. Honest.”
Sara said, “You’re loyal to your friends, right? Put yourself in my shoes. What if your best friend was murdered? I have to know who killed mine. Please, if you know anything…” Playing the empathy card with a teenager was like convincing a tiger to become vegetarian, but she had to try.
“You swear you won’t tell my parents or the police?”
“If you know something, we’ll relay the information to the detective. We won’t say where we got it.”
“Well, the night that lady died, I drove my bike past her house. On the way to the woods, I saw a man come out of the front door of her house. On the way back from the woods, hours later, there was a different man leaving her house. He went out the back door. I ain’t judging or anything.”
“Go on,” said Sara. “Can you describe them?”
“The first man was short and heavier than the other guy. He was wearing like a dress coat and a cap with a brim.”
That could describe Hunter Griffith. Sara said, “Like a baseball cap?”
“Kinda.”
“Where did he go when he left Ellie’s? What direction?”
“Towards the woods. I heard a car start up right afterwards. He must have parked it there.”
“What time was it?” asked Sara.
“I guess around 7 or 7:30.”
“And the second man?” asked Travis.
“The second one was wearing a parka, like his.” He pointed at Travis. “He was wearing an orange ski cap. Real bright, like the roadmen wear when they’re doing repairs.”
“Young or old? Tall? Short?”
“I guess he was average height. Not too tall or too short. That’s all I could see. He was on foot going the opposite direction that I was.”
Travis said, “He was an older man?”
“Younger than the first from what I could tell. Now this guy ran towards the woods. He was on foot.”
Sara said, “That could be his son, Noah. Maybe he went back to clean up his father’s prints or to make sure Ellie was dead. What if Noah avenged his brother’s death by killing Ellie?”
“Do you know what time it was?” said Travis.
“I snuck in before midnight. Must have been sometime around 11 or 11:30. You think he killed your friend?”
“It’s a lead for sure. Thank you.”
Travis had a business card in his pocket. “Call me or knock on my door if you remember anything else.”
“You promised not to tell my parents, right?”
“We won’t tell your parents.”
He sped off on his bike.
“Travis, neither of those descriptions sounds like Hunter do you think?”
“Average height wearing a parka? Could be anyone. The old guy with the baseball cap? Don’t think that was him,” said Travis.
“We have to see if Hunter and his son had alibis. Maybe the defense attorney can point us in the right direction.”
“She was done working with Ellie’s case by the time of the murder. I doubt she’d be of help.”
“How am I going to relay the information we learned tonight to the police without disclosing where we got it. We promised Brayden.”
“An anonymous letter? Wait, isn’t there a police tip line?”
“Yeah. Let’s go inside and give it a call.”
Chapter 29
The next evening, Sara’s mother called after work to tell her about the call to the tip line. “Detective Lambert was on the phone all morning talking to the lab. In the afternoon. Guess what? He had Hunter Griffith at the station. I thought he was going to arrest him or something.”
“Did they arrest him?”
“He was still being questioned when I left. I think this might be it. I think they may have found Ellie’s killer.”
“I
sure hope so.” She doubted it would have been so easy to get a confession.
“What time are you coming over tomorrow night?”
“Tomorrow night?”
“Dinner. Seriously, tell me you didn’t forget.”
“Okay. I won’t tell you. I’ll be there around 6. Travis is still invited, right?” I almost wish he wasn’t. Maybe he’ll have another emergency and bail out.
“Of course. And Detective Lambert will be there too.”
At least I can hear what happened when Phil questioned Hunter. I have to act surprised, like I only know because my mother said something.
She went upstairs and looked at the gifts she’d purchased. She’d better get wrapping. She had picked up a wallet for Travis on a whim. Should I still give it to him, or wrap it up for Grandpa?
The next morning, she went by the shop. They’d agreed to put in a few hours since they were getting close to catching up on orders.
“Sara, I think I solved part of the code. I deciphered the words a minor and c major. I think the numbers on the graph have to be transposed.”
“That’s brilliant. Does it work?”
“If we transpose each number using the proportion, the graph makes sense. I haven’t seen an oboe made following these specs, but the more I think about it, he could have been on to something.”
Sara’s father said, “The subtleties in the measurements are just enough to really improve the integrity of the scale. I told Pops we’d take that hunk of rosewood you started and try it.”
“But if it doesn’t work, you’ll have wasted a lot of time. Shouldn’t we focus on the orders until we’re caught up?”
“I have a feeling about this. If it works, we could have the next best thing to sliced bread and we’ll triple our orders.”
She hadn’t seen her father or grandfather this excited in an awfully long time.
“Let me see that new graph.”
Sara worked on the wood, anxious to get it to the point where the body could be completed and the tone holes drilled. It wasn’t happening overnight, but maybe by the time she went back home they’d have something. Or, I’ll be here carving oboes for the rest of my life. Time will tell.
Sara went home, had lunch, and took a nap. When she woke up, she had just enough time to take a shower and get ready to go to her parents’ for dinner. Why can’t I sleep that soundly at night? She pulled on her jeans and a blue sweater that matched her eyes. She stared at the bag of party favors in the corner. I have a lot to do to help get ready for Grandpa’s party. He’s going to be so surprised. I hope he keeps his Barack comments to a minimum; it’s embarrassing.
Travis picked her up, looking handsome in a fisherman’s sweater and new jeans.
“I hope they arrested Hunter Griffith and this is all solved and behind us,” said Sara.
“Would be nice to have closure, but hope we don’t spend the evening talking about murder.”
“It’s going to be hard not to slip about the party in front of Grandpa now that it’s so near. He thinks we’re taking him out to dinner, end of story.”
“I hope he likes surprises.”
“He’ll grumble, but in the end he’ll love it. He secretly loves attention. How about you? Do you like surprise parties?”
“I don’t like surprises, period. My idea of a birthday is a good dinner and a big, chocolate birthday cake. With ice cream. Gotta have ice cream.”
“Mom always baked our birthday cakes when Scott and I were growing up. And we always had the store brand Neapolitan ice cream. No one ever ate the strawberry. I always wondered why they didn’t make just a chocolate and vanilla combo.” I miss Scott.
“Just pull in behind Gail’s car.” Her mother was already waiting on the stoop.
“Sara, Travis, come on in. It’s freezing out.”
“Especially when you aren’t wearing a coat, Mom.”
Travis handed her a bottle of wine. A fire crackled in the fireplace and Grandpa and Gail sat in front of it sipping cider. At least it smelled like cider. Sara had barely taken off her coat when the doorbell rang.
Phil came in holding a healthy African Violet which he handed to Sara’s mother. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“You’re welcome anytime, Detective. Come, do you want hot cider or wine?”
“I’ll take wine.”
“How was work?” said Sara.
“Good. Spent the day questioning Hunter Griffith. We’d received a call on the tip line that a man fitting his description was seen at Ellie’s the night of the murder. Came right out of the blue.” He looked at Sara in such a way it was obvious he knew it was her who called in the tip.
“So, what happened? Did he confess? Is he in jail?”
“Not so fast. He swore he was nowhere near Ellie’s the night of the murder. He wasn’t even in town.”
“Where was he?”
“New York City meeting with a lawyer.”
“So he knew he had to line up a defense.”
“No, he was setting up a scholarship program in his son’s name. The lawyer was drawing up the paperwork. He had an alibi. I spoke to the attorney myself.”
Sara’s heart dropped. She’d been sure Hunter was guilty.
“What about his son?”
“His son is dead. That’s what started the whole business with Ellie being dragged to court.”
“Not Jordan, Noah. I saw Hunter at the mall. He has another son who’s a senior in high school.”
Hopefully Noah doesn’t have an alibi. If neither of the men at Ellie’s house the night of the murder was Hunter or Noah, then who were they?
“Come, dinner is ready.” Patty led the way into the dining room.
Travis said, “Gail, weren’t you bringing Jacob over?”
“He’s going to the cemetery. Poor man misses his wife so much. I know how he feels.”
They’d just sat down when the doorbell rang.
Patty said, “We aren’t expecting anyone. Maybe Jacob changed his mind.” She went to the door and screamed.
Sara and the rest of the house ran to the door. Sara threw her hands up to her face and tears streamed down. “Scott!”
A handsome man in uniform grabbed his mother in a bear hug. “I’m home.”
“Scott! This is the best surprise ever. Why didn’t you tell us you were coming home? Oh, it doesn’t matter. I’m so happy to see you.”
Bob gave his son a hug. “You must be exhausted. Long plane ride from Iraq.”
“Yeah, but I’m running on adrenaline. Sara!” He hugged her so hard she could barely breathe but she didn’t want him to let go. “I had some leave coming and was fortunate enough to make it home in time for, um…in time to get a home cooked meal. Hey Gramps!”
“Gail, my son is an officer. He graduated West Point.”
“Frank told me all about him. You must be very proud.”
Patty made the remaining introductions, while Bob found a folding chair. Sara couldn’t believe her brother was standing here in front of her.
“Mom, is this lasagna? Do you know how many times I’ve craved your lasagna since I’ve been deployed?” Scott sat down and grabbed the spatula.
“I’ll make you lasagna every night you’re here. Now eat before it gets cold.”
Sara sat sandwiched between Travis and Phil.
Scott leaned across the table. “Travis, what brings you to town?”
“My job. I’m a physical therapist over at Hudsonville Community. I wanted a change from big city life.”
“Where are you from?”
“Chicago.”
“If I were moving from Chicago I think I’d have gone somewhere warmer. A little town in Florida, maybe? Then again, after being stationed in the desert, Antarctica’s looking attractive to me.”
“This opportunity came across my desk and the dollar stretches a lot farther than it did in the city. Besides, I never minded the snow. I rather enjoy skiing.”
“Me too. We’ll have to hit the slopes
one day. Sara skis, too. Sort of. What about you, Phil?”
“I’d rather spend my days off watching football with a pizza in front of me.”
Grandpa said, “No one’s asked me.”
“Pops, with that hip of yours I think you’d be best off joining Phil.”
Travis said, “How much longer do you have to be in Iraq?”
“My tour is up in a few months. I’ll have to decide whether or not to reenlist. I’ve been offered jobs already as a civilian in the IT business.”
“My boy is quite the computer expert,” said Patty. “He does intelligence for the army, right, honey?”
“Yeah, but I can’t talk about it or I’ll have to kill you.” Sara watched the change in expression on Gail’s face. Scott broke into a smile. “That was a joke. A bad one at that. Pass the garlic bread.”
Sara said, “Phil, what’s your next move now that Hunter Griffith has been cleared?”
“I don’t have one, really.”
“What about the men who were seen at Ellie’s the night of the murder?”
“And how do you … Never mind. I knew it was you who made that anonymous tip.”
She neither confirmed nor denied the accusation. “The boy who told us doesn’t want his parents to know he was partying out in the woods with his buddies instead of in his room playing video games like they thought.”
“What if the boy himself is the murderer? You’d have tipped him off and you’d be next on the list. I asked you to trust me on this.” Phil took a sip of wine.
“Then you’ve already looked into the two men?”
“No, not yet. We interviewed all the neighbors, no one mentioned seeing either one.”
Sara said, “There was a younger man. Could have been Noah, Hunter Griffith’s other son. And then again, there could be witnesses you didn’t question. Like the one Travis and I found.”
“Travis, you encouraged her?”
“I supported her. I trust her instincts. Besides, it would’ve been like trying to stop Niagara Falls with a catcher’s mitt.”
Scott said, “Woah. I’m lost here.”
Sara poured herself another glass of wine. “I came here to house sit for Ellie while she went to Europe. When I walked in, I found the house ransacked, and Ellie was dead on the bedroom floor. We’ve been trying to solve the murder but keep hitting dead ends.”