She approached the car but didn’t touch it. If Johanna could connect the dots between all the events, they might come back and want to check for prints. She used the bottom of her blouse over her hand to try to open the car doors. The passenger side was open, and the door moved towards her.
How could this be? The car was locked, according to the police. Now the car was unlocked but unmoved. She stuck her head in on the passenger side and looked around. The backseats had been folded down, as she remembered it. The man and woman had been in the back, making her first think that they were intimately involved. It wasn’t until she saw the man’s hands around the woman’s neck that she’d realized that she’d been mistaken. The man was trying to kill her.
The police had suggested that this was a sexual maneuver, but she knew better. The woman’s face had a blue hue, and her mouth made an odd motion as if she was trying to bring in air. Honestly, men sometimes thought women couldn’t distinguish one from the other.
She looked deeper into the car, wondering if she would find anything. However, she knew in all likelihood that nothing would be found. The vehicle had been scoured thoroughly by the police technicians when she had called in the murder. Nothing of any interest or value would have been left in the car.
Nothing explained why the car was still here or why it had been here in the first place. Johanna wondered if Lilly would know anything about the car and why it was there. Someone should be picking up the car to include as part of the estate, and now that it was open, the chances were that not much would be left for the estate.
The most likely way for anyone to get home after leaving a car stranded would be a car service. Even though Jessica was an older woman, perhaps she had a smartphone, and Johanna could find a way to look at the recently used apps. If she’d taken another car from the park home, then she might have talked to the driver, which could lead her in some exciting ways to find the truth.
The other thing, which she’d forgotten about until now, was the discovery of the key Marnie had found. At the time, she’d put it into her pocket, but Marnie had apparently not brought it with her today. Johanna couldn’t remember if the key looked like it fit a car or a house —or something else entirely. She would definitely have to look into that further.
Johanna was still disappointed, though. She had hoped for more than just these two small clues. She had wanted a sign that would blow up the case and make the police see that they were wrong.
Nothing like that had happened.
She walked around the parking lot several times, looking for anything that resembled a clue. Still, unless the killer had eaten several peanut butter cups, there was nothing to be found.
When she arrived home, a man was standing at her door. He had glanced around several times, but his gaze had only momentarily fallen on her before he looked elsewhere. Johanna had never seen this man before. Given that he had not greeted her, she was reasonably sure that he didn’t know her as well.
He had dark hair that fell down into deep brown eyes. He had the stubble of a few days on his cheeks, and his mouth was turned down. Johanna couldn’t read the emotion there—it was so hard to do with a stranger. He had a lean, muscled body from what she could discern; he didn’t wear clothing that highlighted it, which was a point in his favor.
She stood there a second to reassure herself that he was not the man who had killed the woman in the car. The fact that she still didn’t have names for either one frustrated her. If she knew their names and relationship, she was sure that she would solve the case.
Johanna approached the door with her phone in her hand in case of an emergency. He turned again and looked at her. “Are you Johanna Cole?” he said politely and calmly. Johanna felt confident that he wasn’t a reporter or a crackpot wanting to meet someone involved in a murder case.
Johanna nodded and stood there. She had no desire to go into her own home until she’d ascertained who he was. She thought of Jessica and how she’d been killed behind closed doors. When he didn’t offer his own name, she continued, “And you are?”
He put out a hand that she didn’t take. “I’m Thomas. I’m Jessica’s nephew, and I understand you were at the crime scene. I just wanted to talk to you and hear your story. The police have been very reserved about saying anything about her death, and it’s getting frustrating.”
Johanna smiled, but she felt puzzled. Lilly had distinctly mentioned a niece as the nearest relative and the likely heir to the estate. Yet, here was a young man who was claiming to be Jessica’s nephew.
Since she was in a public place, Johanna decided to be straightforward in her response. “I thought that the estate was going to a niece? I don’t recall the police mentioning anything about a nephew. Are you two married or brother and sister?”
His eyes widened for a second, and then he
