In Too Deep

by Rose Pressey

  Chapter 24

  How many cases was he aware of? I assumed this was the only case he knew something about. So why had he told me to ask my question if he already knew he wasn’t going to answer? I supposed this was over.

  “Thanks anyway,” I said.

  “That’s it? You’re just going to give up that easily?” Dorothy asked.

  “If he doesn’t want to talk, he doesn’t want to talk, Dorothy. We should get out of here,” I said.

  “We didn’t want to eat here anyway,” Morty said.

  Just as I was about to turn and leave the man turned around in the chair and looked at us. He stared at me for a few seconds and then turned his attention to Morty and Dorothy.

  “All right, what do you want to know?” he said.

  “Really?”

  Wow. I hadn’t expected him to change his mind, but nevertheless, I was glad. What had made him change his mind? It seemed as soon as he’d looked at Morty and Dorothy he had agreed to talk to us.

  “What I want to know is about Vivian and her involvement with the case. What did she know? Did you know anything about who killed this person?”

  “I can tell you that Vivian knew. That that’s probably why she was killed.”

  “So you do know that she was murdered recently?”

  “I read it in the paper, yes. I hadn’t talked to Vivian in a long time. I had decided to distance myself after what happened. I didn’t want anyone coming after me thinking that I knew something about this case.”

  “Yet here we are. Not to come after you to kill you,” I said. “Of course.”

  Maybe I should have thought before I spoke.

  “So you have no clues on who this person could have been?” I asked.

  “I have no idea,” he said.

  I wasn’t sure if I could trust him because he wouldn’t want to tell. He didn’t want to end up like Vivian. “All right, well, I suppose if that’s all the information you have…”

  So I had confirmed that my suspicion that this case was the reason Vivian had been killed. But this led me no closer to finding who had done that.

  “Thank you again for talking to us,” I said. “We really appreciate that.”

  “Yes, and that thing I said about not wanting to eat here, I didn’t really mean that,” Morty said.

  “Go ahead and tell them that you need a table. Dinner’s on me,” he said. “Anyone who’s trying to help find Vivian’s killer is a friend of mine.”

  “Really? Thank you,” I said.

  Dorothy, Morty, and I walked out of the room. I blinked, trying to allow my eyes to adjust to the light.

  “Do you believe him when he says he doesn’t know?” Dorothy asked.

  “I kind of believe him. He seems truthful,” I said.

  “I agree. I usually sense when people are lying and I didn’t get that from him,” Morty said.

  Who knew Morty was such a good judge of character? Maybe having him around was a good thing.

  “He seemed to think this was dangerous,” Dorothy said.

  “He’s right to feel that way,” I said.

  The staff still zoomed around the room. How would I catch anyone’s attention to tell them we wanted a table? Maybe they wouldn’t even believe that the owner had asked for a table for us. All they had to do was ask the owner.

  I made eye contact with the same woman. She frowned, not even trying to hide it from me.

  I hurried over to her. “The owner said for you to get us a table.”

  She raised an eyebrow. I looked at Dorothy and she rolled her eyes.

  “Wait here just one moment,” she said.

  “She sure is sassy,” Dorothy said.

  “I don’t think she likes us much. I just hope she’s not our waitress. I suppose that I irritated her by asking questions before.”

  “They should be friendlier to customers. I’m not sure I would leave a good Yelp review for this place,” Dorothy said.

  “You leave reviews, Dorothy?” I asked.

  “Oh, yeah, all the time.”

  I couldn’t wait to get online and look at those. That should be a lot of fun.

  “Maybe we should just leave,” Morty said.

  “I don’t think we should do that,” I said. “We’ll just see what happens, okay?”

  A short time later the waitress came back over to us. “Follow me. I have a table for you.”

  She still seemed angry with us, but I supposed we would actually go through with this anyway. I wasn’t sure why. I just sensed that we should stay around. We had a great table that overlooked a beautifully landscaped area with palm trees and other greenery. Dorothy held the giant menu up to her face. The thing was bigger than her. I glanced over at Morty. He was doing the same thing. The menu was actually bigger than him too.

  “What are we having?” Dorothy asked.

  What we were having to eat wouldn’t matter though because gunfire rang out and made us drop the menus. I grabbed Dorothy and yanked her under the table. Now I had to grab Morty. When I lifted my head up from under the table, I spotted Morty running after the gunman. Morty had a giant stuffed fish in his hands.

  “Morty, stop!” I yelled.

  What was he thinking? Was he trying to get himself killed?

  Dorothy yelled out from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw her running toward us as well. Everyone in the restaurant had scattered. At first there had been sounds of dishes flying and people screaming, but now there was nothing but silence. I took that back. Dorothy was yelling for Morty again. Now I yelled for both of them to stop. The gunman ran right out of the building. Apparently Morty thought he was going to chase right after him. When I stepped outside into the parking lot Morty had thankfully stopped. But the gunman was nowhere in sight.

  “Are you all right, Morty?” I asked breathlessly.

  “I’m just fine, Maggie. But that guy got away.”

  “You shouldn’t have chased after him like that,” I said. “It is very dangerous.”

  “Just doing what needs to be done. I had to save everyone,” he said.

  Unfortunately we hadn’t got a good look at the guy because he had been wearing a mask.

  “Why do you think he did that?” Dorothy asked.

  She was standing behind me now.

  “I don’t know, but I have a strange feeling that it might have something to do with the owner. The shooter looked as if he was looking for someone when he went in there.”

  “We should get in there and check on the owner.”

  “Somebody has to call the police,” I said as I pulled out my phone.

  I wasn’t looking forward to having Jake find out about us. I went over to the door where the man had been sitting in the dark. I ran across the room, weaving around the tables and chairs, but he wasn’t there. There had to be a light switch in here somewhere. Why was I still looking around in the dark? I ran back over to the switch and flicked on the light. The light flooded the room but there was no sign of the man. I hoped he had gotten out of here before any bullets started flying.

  “Yes, there’s been a shooting,” I said when a woman answered my call.

  I gave her the location. I had no idea if anyone was injured. Apparently, everyone was still hiding out. Had they taken off out the back door? Morty, Dorothy and I might still be the only ones in the place. Morty and Dorothy were still standing in the middle of the other part of the restaurant as if they were lost. Within seconds, the police cars had arrived. Still no other patrons were around. Or employees for that matter.

  The police stormed into the room.

  “Hands up,” the officer yelled.

  Morty, Dorothy, and I placed our hands in the air.

  “The shooter is gone,” I said.

  “I chased him with a fish,” Morty said.

  The officer stared at us for a moment as if we’d lost our minds. Maybe we had.

  “Wait, I recognize you,” the other officer said. “You’re the private investigator. The o
ne who discovered the guy at the park. And the boss’s wife.”

  “Yes, that’s me,” I said.

  I had hoped no one would recognize me, but what was I thinking? Of course they would.

  “So now you’re at the scene of another crime.” He shook his head. “You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”

  “Apparently not,” I said. “I don’t know where all the customers went. I guess they ran out when the shots were fired.”

  “We have people outside, yes. You’re the only ones still in here.”

  Okay, this was awkward. We gave the police a statement and then were allowed to leave the restaurant. But Jake hadn’t shown up at the scene. I thought this whole thing was really getting to him. It couldn’t be that bad, right? But I couldn’t get over that someone had come in there with a gun. I was pretty sure the shooter had been looking for the owner. I was almost positive it had something to do with Vivian’s murder and the other guy. Now this just added another twist to the puzzle. Plus, I hadn’t been able to talk with the owner again. I sensed he knew this was related to the other murders too. Maybe I could track him down again soon.

  I had managed to find the restaurant owner’s address. I slipped off without Dorothy knowing where I was headed. She would find out eventually and I’d be in big trouble. But the way I saw it, I’d put her in enough danger lately as it was, and I didn’t want to add any more stress for her. Therefore I figured just this simple little thing of going to his house wouldn’t require Dorothy coming along. Although she would say she had to do it in order to help me.

  Nevertheless, I was here now and in front of the guy’s address. I parked along the street and sat there for a moment, watching the surroundings. There was no activity, so I wasn’t sure if he was home.

  I had stalled long enough so I figured it was time to head up there. I wondered if he would be surprised to see me again so soon. More than likely he would considering all the drama there had been surrounding my last visit with him. I got out of the car and headed up toward the front door. Once at the front door, I knocked and pushed the doorbell. There was no answer. I stood there for a bit longer before ringing the bell once again. I supposed he wasn’t home after all. That was a bummer. How long would I have to wait before finding this guy again?

  Just before knocking again I thought for sure I heard a shuffling noise inside the house. Was he in there and just pretending not to be home? It was a real possibility. He’d probably seen me on the front porch and thought he would hide. Maybe he thought I had brought the killer with me here and to the restaurant. Not that I’d done it on purpose, but that the killer had followed me here because I was looking into the murders. That was a real possibility, so I wasn’t sure that I blamed the restaurant owner for feeling that way. I knocked on the door again, but this time it opened just a bit.

  I peered around to see if anyone was watching me. Almost as if this might be a setup. After all, I’d heard the noise inside the house. No one had answered the door, yet it opened. Maybe it had been unlocked and my knocking had pushed the lever just enough to make it release. Should I say something? What if the killer had gotten to the man? Maybe the killer was inside waiting for me. I pushed the door open just a bit and peeked inside. To my surprise there was nothing. No furniture and no restaurant owner. I’d thought for sure this was the correct address. Had he moved out recently? Something odd was going on here.

  I supposed since I was here, I should look around. Although it didn’t seem as if there was anything to see with all the furniture gone. But what was that noise I’d heard? Was it a mouse? I hoped it wasn’t a rat. Maybe it was just a cat. That would be a lot better. I stepped into the room. My footsteps on the hardwood floor echoed throughout the house. That was definitely a problem if the killer was here. I didn’t want anyone to know I was in the house if they were in here too.

  I slipped off my shoes and tiptoed across the floor. At the back of the house was a large kitchen and a sitting room adjacent to that. I stood in the kitchen and looked around. I pulled open a few drawers and opened cabinets. They were all empty. There was no sound in the house. No more shuffling sounds.

  I moved out of the kitchen and up the big, winding staircase to the second floor. Each and every room up there was empty as well. Nothing in the closets. I still couldn’t believe this. I knew for sure this was his address. My source was correct. What if he had taken off? Now I had to find out where he’d gone. Was he hiding out from the killer? I had a feeling he knew way more than he let on.

  Just as I stepped out of the big bedroom to go back downstairs, I heard that shuffling noise again. Someone was walking around downstairs. I stood there for a moment. Trying not to make a sound, I listened for more footsteps. I hoped the person didn’t come up here. Maybe they had been out in the backyard roaming around and they had no idea I was here. What if it was the restaurant owner?

  He could have come back to make sure he had gotten everything. I didn’t know what to do. Just then the sound of footsteps came up the stairs. I wasn’t prepared to have a confrontation with a potential killer, so I ran over to the closet and closed the door behind me. I stood there in the dark and tried to steady my breathing. I had to calm my nerves.

  The sound grew louder as the person climbed the stairs. Then it stopped when I assumed they had paused at the door. The person was probably looking around the room. What if they saw my footprints on the freshly cleaned carpet? They’d realize I was hiding in the closet. My breathing was heavy again and my heart beat faster. I just hoped I didn’t hyperventilate. The longer there was quiet in the room the more panicked I became. I hoped they left soon.

  No noise sounded from the other side of the door. I felt like the space was closing in on me. I had to get out of there soon. Footsteps sounded again. It sounded as if they were getting farther away. I really wanted to know who this was. Even though it was risky, I opened the door. No one was there. I hurried over to the other door and eased it open. When I looked down the hall to the left, I spotted the guy. From the back this looked just like the killer. It had to be him. Panic set in. Was he looking for me or the restaurant owner? I eased my way back downstairs. The guy was nowhere in sight. It was probably best if I made myself scarce too.

  Chapter 25

  I had to put my thinking cap on because I knew there was a way to solve this crime. Somehow, someway I would track down the killer—I hoped before he tracked me down. One idea came to mind that I could check for any photos someone might have tagged on social media from the time and place Dorothy’s purse was taken. It was a long shot, and I would have to look at possibly a lot of photos, but maybe I would catch a picture of this guy.

  He had seemed to be successful at eluding other videos. Maybe this time he wouldn’t be so lucky. It was as if he was some kind of ghost or something. He was obviously good at concealing his movements, even though what he’d done was in the middle of the day in the bright sunshine.

  I pulled out my phone and typed in the search for a business I knew around the area. I scrolled down the screen, looking for any signs. This was kind of pointless. Why was I even thinking this was a good idea? I probably didn’t have the patience to look through all of these photos. Nonetheless, I kept scrolling mindlessly. I was probably just stalling until I thought of a better idea. I sure hoped that a better idea came along. If not, I was seriously in trouble.

  I stumbled on a photo that I knew was right in front of the place where the car had stopped. It was a little café across the street and people had been outside eating. I remembered it because they’d been gawking at me and the guy who had been running toward his car. Too bad none of the employees had remembered seeing the guy. Only the people outside eating.

  When I clicked on one of the photos, I saw the guy in the background. With my thumb and my index finger I zoomed in on the photo. That was him all right. Yes! Now I had a photo of him. That was a step in the right direction. I studied his face, thinking back to the whole scene of the crime. H
is penetrating dark eyes sent a shiver down my spine. At least this was one step closer to finding him. What was his name?

  “What are you looking at?” Dorothy asked as she looked up from her crossword puzzle.

  “The killer,” I said matter-of-factly.

  She put the book down on her desk. “What do you mean?”

  “I found his picture.” I pointed.

  “How did you do that? I want to see the scumbag again,” Dorothy said.

  I got up from my desk and walked over to Dorothy, showing her my phone. “There’s the dirtbag.”

  Dorothy narrowed her eyes. “Oh, just looking at him makes my skin crawl.”

  “Now that we have a picture of him maybe we can locate him.”

  “I admire your tenacity at finding the photo, Maggie, but what good will that do?” Dorothy asked.

  “Well, Dorothy, the police can plaster his photo all over the news. Soon enough someone will turn him in.”

  “I suppose you’re right about that. I wonder if they would give you the reward.”

  “I’m not worried about a reward. Plus, it’s doubtful.” I took my phone again.

  Once back at my desk I dialed Jake.

  “Hello,” he said in his downtrodden voice.

  “Well, have I got news for you,” I said in a singsong voice.

  “Oh, really?” he said, not sounding so enthusiastic.

  It was heartbreaking to hear him sound like this. I had to remind him he was not going to prison for this and neither was I.

  “I have a photo of the person who took Dorothy’s bag.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “I was looking for the guy’s photo online and I came across it.”

  “Needless to say I’m a bit skeptical, Maggie.”

  “Well, he’s right here in the photo. All we have to do is get the police to put this out there and before long they’ll have him in custody. Then all of this will be solved.”

  “Your enthusiasm astounds me,” he said. “Text me the photo.”