Murder Most Owl, page 18
I hurried after her, stopping close to the shop on the corner of Main Street so I could dart out of sight at any moment. Shanifa walked at a quick pace, heading toward Ocean Drive. When she was two-thirds of the way there, I continued to follow her, hoping she wouldn’t look back.
She did, once, just before crossing Ocean Drive, but the dogs and I had taken shelter in the recessed doorway of the chocolate shop and she showed no sign of having spotted us. She crossed Ocean Drive and jogged toward her food truck, pulling keys from her pocket on the way. When she reached the truck, she unlocked the door and disappeared inside.
With no traffic in sight, the dogs and I quickly crossed the street and hurried over to the food truck. The serving window was still shuttered, but the back door stood open a crack. I moved as close as I dared while trying to appear casual. Fortunately, Flossie and Fancy helped me out by sniffing around one of the back wheels of the truck. To any onlooker, I probably appeared to be an innocent dog walker who’d paused to let the spaniels sniff for a minute.
In reality, I was straining my ears. Shanifa was talking to someone. On the phone, probably, since her voice was the only one I could hear.
‘I lost her,’ Shanifa said as I listened.
A long pause followed, likely because the person on the other end of the line was speaking.
‘She was probably just walking the dogs,’ Shanifa said after a moment. ‘OK,’ she added a few seconds later. ‘We’ll have to keep an eye on her.’
Shanifa’s voice sounded closer now, so I hurried away from the food truck, the dogs abandoning their sniffing investigation to stay at my side.
It was most likely Byron on the other end of the phone call, and it sounded like Shanifa really was in cahoots with him.
But what were the two of them up to?
They wanted to keep an eye on me, probably because of what I’d seen in the woods last night, but would they stop at surveillance or would they try to silence me?
Despite the warm sunshine, goosebumps popped up along my arms.
If Byron really had killed Dorothy, and Shanifa was his accomplice, I needed to be very, very careful. Otherwise, I could end up as their next victim.
TWENTY-SIX
That evening I left Flossie and Fancy at the carriage house with Auntie O while I drove back into town to meet Tessa for dinner at the Moonstruck Diner. I hadn’t told my aunt about my encounter with Byron in the woods, or the fact that Shanifa had followed me that afternoon, because I didn’t want to worry her. At the same time, I knew it would be prudent to tell somebody. Maybe that somebody should have been the police, but I didn’t know if they would believe me. I worried that they might think I was simply trying to deflect suspicion away from myself and my aunt.
I decided to share everything with Tessa over dinner. As a lifelong resident of Twilight Cove, she might have a better idea of whether or not the local police would believe my story about Byron.
The Moonstruck Diner looked exactly as I remembered it. The restaurant’s interior had a checkered, black-and-white floor, turquoise and chrome stools at the counter, and turquoise and white bench seats at the booths. The walls were still bubblegum pink and covered with vintage posters and black-and-white photos. The jukebox stood in its same place of honor, to the right of the door.
When I stepped inside, it was almost like being transported back to my junior year of high school. The only thing that didn’t appear the same were the faces of the people seated at the counter and in the booths. I didn’t recognize any of them except one. Tessa waved to me from the booth at the back of the diner. I smiled and hurried to join her, slipping onto the bench across from her.
A teenage girl wearing a retro turquoise dress with a white apron came over to take our orders, her brown ponytail swaying when she walked. I ordered fish and chips and a chocolate milkshake while Tessa requested a burger and a strawberry shake. Once the waitress had brought us our milkshakes and left our table, I quietly filled Tessa in on my encounter with Byron in the woods the night before and what I’d experienced in town during the afternoon.
I wanted to tell her about Roxy and me being in Byron’s home office and what we’d seen there, but I didn’t dare talk about that in public, even in whispers. Instead, I simply told her that he had an apparent fascination with cold cases and promised I’d let her know how I knew that after we left the diner.
‘You should tell the police,’ Tessa said after the waitress brought us our food.
‘Do you think they’ll believe me?’ I asked. ‘I’m still a suspect, as far as I know. What if they think I’m just trying to throw suspicion on someone else?’
Tessa considered that for a moment. ‘I don’t know how the state police would react, but I think Chief Stratton would hear you out. Brody Williams too. Have you met him?’
I nodded. ‘A couple of times now. I’ll try to talk to him or the chief tomorrow.’
I told her what the Gins and Needles ladies had said about Officer Brody Williams during their last meeting.
Tessa laughed. ‘Those ladies are incorrigible. But they’re right – Brody is cute. And single. And only a year younger than us.’ She waggled her eyebrows at me.
I laughed this time. ‘I didn’t come to Twilight Cove looking for someone to date,’ I said. ‘Besides, I’m just here for a few weeks.’ Unless I decided to change my plans. I kept quiet about that for now.
‘Doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some fine male company while you’re here.’ Tessa waggled her eyebrows again.
I balled up my napkin and tossed it at her. She tossed it back, hitting me right on the nose. We both laughed, and for the second time that evening I felt like I’d gone back in time. I hadn’t realized just how much I missed Tessa’s friendship until I’d come back to Twilight Cove.
‘Brody’s a really talented painter and wood-carver,’ Tessa said. ‘He sometimes sells his Native American art at the local farmers’ market.’
‘Hmm.’ I eyed her with amused suspicion. ‘You seem to be a fan. Maybe you should be the one enjoying his company.’
‘We’re just friends,’ she said, but I detected a hint of a blush on her cheeks.
I didn’t press the subject but I filed that observation away in my mind.
‘Brody’s not the only good-looking man around our age here in town,’ I said before taking a sip of my milkshake.
Tessa’s eyes lit up with interest. ‘Ooh. Tell me more.’
‘Not much to tell,’ I said. ‘Let’s just say that Auntie O’s farmhand is easy on the eyes.’
Tessa looked at me with a level of perception I hadn’t anticipated. ‘I think you should say more, because I’m sensing there could be sparks.’
I pretended to zip my lips shut.
‘We’ll come back to that,’ she said.
‘Or not,’ I countered, spearing my last bit of fish with my fork. ‘What about you?’ I asked before she had a chance to disagree. ‘Are you dating anyone?’
Tessa took a sip of her strawberry milkshake. ‘Nope, and that’s fine by me. Life is simpler without juggling a relationship along with everything else.’
The look in her eyes didn’t quite match the conviction in her voice, but I wasn’t going to bring up the subject of Brody again. Not yet, at least.
Instead, I said, ‘I’ll drink to that.’
As I took a long sip of my milkshake, my thoughts strayed to Callum with his green eyes, golden hair, and broad shoulders …
Don’t go there, I silently scolded myself.
Hoping for a distraction from those thoughts, I asked Tessa to fill me in on the classmates I could remember from my year of school in Twilight Cove.
After we’d finished eating, we strolled down to the beach, with me telling Tessa how the dogs and I had followed Roxy into Byron’s house. I didn’t mention Flossie’s and Fancy’s special abilities, but I shared everything else.
‘OK, he’s creepy,’ Tessa said about Byron when I’d finished the story. ‘And Roxy!’ She shook her head. ‘She’s so lucky that you’re the only one who caught her in the act. I wish that girl could see all the potential she has. I worry she’s going to do something to jeopardize her future.’
‘She’s going to volunteer at the sanctuary,’ I said. ‘She clearly loves animals. Maybe by spending a few hours per week at the farm, she’ll have less time to get into trouble.’
‘That would be amazing.’ Tessa tucked her arm through mine as we reached the beach. ‘Thank you, Georgie.’
‘I don’t know her well yet, but I like her. She’s a good kid.’
‘She really is,’ Tessa agreed. ‘If only she had more people in her life telling her that.’
I filled Tessa in on my most recent conversation with Shanifa, the one where I’d asked about the shooting incident.
‘Shanifa says it was a warning shot because she accidentally wandered onto Dorothy’s land while out walking in the woods,’ I recounted, ‘but I swear she was lying when she told me that story. Some of it might be true, but not all of it.’
‘Do you think she was doing something more than simply walking in the woods that day?’ Tessa asked.
‘It could be.’ I told her how I suspected that Shanifa had followed me that afternoon with Byron’s knowledge and possibly at his behest.
‘So whatever Byron’s up to in the woods, Shanifa’s probably in on it,’ Tessa surmised. ‘Dorothy caught her in the act of … whatever it is they’re doing, and thought it was threatening enough that she brought a gun into it.’
‘That’s what I’m thinking.’
The breeze blew a strand of hair into Tessa’s face and she brushed it aside. ‘You need to look into those cold cases that Byron’s obsessed with. They could be the key to figuring out what he and Shanifa are up to. Even if neither of them killed Dorothy, they’re definitely up to something.’
‘That’s for sure.’ I kicked off my sandals so I could walk barefoot in the cooling sand. ‘And you’re right about the cold cases. I’ll see if I can learn more about them.’
We spent a few minutes more on the beach, chatting about this and that while gentle waves crashed ashore and the moonlight danced on the water. Then we walked back up to Main Street together and hugged goodbye before returning to our respective vehicles.
I was about to climb into my car when a great horned owl glided down from the dark sky and landed on the top of a nearby lamppost.
‘Euclid,’ I whispered, having no doubt that it was him and not another owl.
I stood with the driver’s door open, looking up at Euclid, until an approaching car distracted me. With a last glance at the owl, I got into my car and shut the door. I leaned forward over the steering wheel and craned my neck so I could look up at the lamppost. Euclid unfolded his wings and took off into the night. I wondered if he wanted me to follow him, but he disappeared into the darkness overhead rather than staying within sight and trying to lead me somewhere.
Maybe he just wanted to say hello, I thought as I started my car’s engine.
Although I didn’t yet know if Euclid had any special powers, he certainly had a unique intelligence. He’d led me to the lawyer’s office, where I’d seen Ed Grimshaw bullying the receptionist. Did the owl know who had killed Dorothy?
I shook my head at the thought and pulled out onto the road. If Euclid did know the killer’s identity, he probably would have led me straight to that person. Although, maybe he already had if Grimshaw was the murderer.
I decided I needed to stick to facts and evidence. Yes, I believed that Euclid had tried to point me in a certain direction investigation-wise, but I didn’t know exactly why. Ed Grimshaw might well be the killer, but I had other suspects I couldn’t forget about. Tessa was right. I needed to dig into the cold cases that held Byron’s interest. Hopefully, I’d have a chance to do that the next day. For the moment, I would try to put thoughts of the murder aside and focus on getting a good night’s sleep.
As I turned into the farm’s driveway, I smiled at the thought of Flossie and Fancy waiting at the carriage house to greet me. I was looking forward to giving them each a good hug and then settling in for the night at the farmhouse. I hadn’t yet raised the subject of possibly staying in Twilight Cove with Auntie O, so I added that to my mental list of things to do the following day. Maybe it was foolish to move to the small town instead of remaining in Los Angeles, but something told me that the opposite might be true.
I pulled up next to the farmhouse and parked.
I was still sitting in the car when a dark figure darted off the back porch and ran away.
TWENTY-SEVEN
I sat frozen, gripping the steering wheel, my heart thudding, as the figure ran around the far corner of the farmhouse and disappeared from sight. Releasing the steering wheel, I grabbed my phone and called 9-1-1, silently cursing myself for forgetting to leave the porch light on. The farmhouse was completely dark, and the illumination from the security lights out at the barn barely reached the lawn behind the house.
At least I’d left all the doors and windows locked. I’d spent most of my life living in cities and tended to lock doors out of habit, even here on the outskirts of sleepy Twilight Cove. Hopefully the intruder hadn’t broken a window and made it inside the house.
Aunt Olivia had left the light on over the front door of the carriage house. I gathered up my courage and climbed out of my car, quickly darting over to the smaller dwelling, hoping the prowler hadn’t tried to break in there as well. I found a sticky note posted to the door. My aunt had left it to let me know that she’d gone to bed. The dogs were inside, waiting for me.
When I’d first arrived at the farm, Auntie O had given me a set of keys that included one for the carriage house, in case of emergency. I slipped the key into the lock and quietly opened the door. I shut and locked it behind me, deciding I’d feel safer waiting for the police in the carriage house than in my car. A single lamp near the back of the carriage house sent a glow of warm light through the living room.
I crouched down as Flossie and Fancy jumped up from the rug and bounded over to greet me. I kept our reunion shorter than I normally would have, giving each dog a kiss and a pat on the head before creeping over to the ground-floor bedroom and peeking through the half-open door. Aunt Olivia was tucked up in bed, sound asleep and breathing steadily.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I backed out the bedroom door and moved to the front window in the living room. As far as I could see, nothing moved out in the driveway or near the farmhouse. I still didn’t want to risk going outside before the police arrived.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for a patrol car to pull into the driveway, its lights flashing but with the siren turned off. Quietly, so as not to wake my aunt, I switched off the lamp and slipped out the front door with the dogs, locking up behind me before tucking the key ring into the pocket of my shorts.
Officer Brody Williams got out of the cruiser and I hurried over to greet him, the spaniels happily trotting along with me. I explained what I’d seen when I arrived home, and Williams instructed me to wait in my car while he had a look around. Flossie and Fancy wanted to follow the officer over to the farmhouse, but I managed to coax them into the back seat of my car. With the doors locked, I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel, waiting and hoping that the prowler hadn’t broken a window and gained access to the house.
Aided by a bright flashlight, Williams made a full circuit of the farmhouse. I climbed out of my car when he returned to the driveway. Flossie and Fancy ran for the back porch and began sniffing around. They probably knew that someone had been there, someone who didn’t belong, but they didn’t seem worked up or anxious about the scent. They soon gave up their investigation and lay down on the porch to wait for me.
‘Whoever it was, they didn’t gain entry to the house,’ Williams reported. ‘Everything’s locked up tight and there’s no sign of an attempted forced entry. Either they were just casing the place or you scared them off before they had a chance to break in.’
‘That’s a relief,’ I said.
Callum came striding across the farmyard from the direction of the barn. At least I knew he wasn’t the prowler. The creeping figure had been shorter and stockier than Callum. I knew of someone else who matched that description.
Callum broke into a jog and quickly joined us by my car. ‘What’s going on?’ He looked at me with concern. ‘Are you OK, Georgie?’
‘I’m fine.’ I rubbed my arms, the cool night air adding to the chill that the prowler had triggered. ‘Someone was creeping around the farmhouse when I got home.’ I returned my attention to Officer Williams. ‘I might have an idea who it was.’
I told Williams about my encounter with Byron in the woods the previous evening. Callum tensed beside me as he listened, but he stayed quiet. Williams took out a notebook and pen and jotted notes as I spoke.
After recounting the events of the night before, I shared what had happened in town that afternoon. I wished I could tell the police about the cold case room in Byron’s house, but there was no way I could do that without getting Roxy and myself in serious trouble.
‘You think Byron recognized you in the woods last night and that’s why he and Shanifa want to keep an eye on you?’ Callum asked as soon as I finished talking.
I had a feeling Williams had been about to ask the same question, but Callum had beaten him to it.
‘That’s the only explanation I can think of,’ I replied. ‘I just got a brief glimpse of the prowler tonight, but going by the person’s height and build, it could have been Byron.’
I was almost convinced that it was the reporter. Too bad I couldn’t prove it.
‘Will you talk to Byron?’ Callum asked Williams.
‘I’ll talk to the chief first,’ Williams said. ‘I don’t want to jeopardize the murder investigation by tipping Szabo off.’
‘So he’s a suspect?’ I asked.
