Johanna thought about the questions she still had about the murder and the circumstances. She didn’t know how he could help until she thought about the car. “Do you think you could get her phone? I would love to know if Jessica had called a ride service to get home from the park. If she did, maybe we could talk to the driver and learn if she said anything about how she was feeling, or why she had taken a service home from the park, rather than driving. If she didn’t take a ride service home, then we’ll know we still need to find out how she got home. It’s a fairly long drive, and she couldn’t have walked or ridden a bike.”
Thomas seemed to smirk for a moment. “I don’t think she ever rode a bicycle. You’re right. Somebody drove her home, and we could find out who that is and why she left the car there.”
Johanna puzzled over this for a moment. “The police said that the car was operational. Unless it was one of those things where time makes the car start again, like flooding the engine or something, then she had no reason to get a ride home. She should have driven there.”
Thomas stuck his hand out again as he stood up. “Thank you for sharing all this with me. I’ll try to track down the phone. I’ll let you know what I find out.”
This time, Johanna took his hand and smiled. “I hope to hear something from you soon.”
Chapter 7
Marnie came over in the afternoon to see what the latest was on the locked house and the murder. She was wearing a dress and large hoop earrings that made Johanna wonder where her friend had been. This did not look like her standard leggings and oversized blouse.
“What’s up with you?” Johanna asked, as she let her friend inside.
“I wanted to report back that I looked into the matter of the key. I took it to three different locksmiths, and none of them could tell me much. It’s not a car key, at least not a recent model, but it could belong to an older car. But all three of them felt it was more likely that it belonged to a lock on a house. Not a fancy lock, but just a plain old house key. So from that, I’m assuming that the key doesn’t answer any questions about the locked home. I was hoping for an easy answer there.”
Johanna shook her head. “I don’t think it’s going to be that easy. There are about three things that need to be explained before we can start to solve this case.” Johanna ticked them off on her fingers. “The locked home, the explanation of why Jessica took another means of getting home and left her car, and the identities of the people who were in the car—the ones I saw.”
Marnie laughed. “You don’t ask much, do you? Those are three pretty big requests.”
Johanna explained how she’d met Jessica’s nephew/cousin and how he had offered to find out more about how Jessica had made it home.
“Do you think he’ll even remember?” Marnie asked.
Johanna blushed slightly in response, and Marnie laughed again. “So you have a thing for him, eh? You know that means: he’ll be the killer. That always happens in books. The seemingly nice guy turns out to be the villain of the piece.”
“I want him to introduce us to the niece as well. She’s the person who inherits the estate, and that gives her a good motive for the murder too.”
The phone rang, and Johanna answered. She didn’t recognize the phone number, but she assumed that it would be about the crimes she’d witnessed.
“Johanna, hi, it’s Thomas.” The voice at the other end of the phone was cheery.
Johanna paused for a second and didn’t speak. Maybe Marnie’s words had altered her perspective, but she was wary of the man, especially since she knew quite well that she had not shared this number with him. Somehow he’d come up with the number on his own, and then chosen to use it. She felt a bit queasy at the thought. Perhaps in her zeal to find out who had been killed, she had forgotten that she was putting herself in harm’s way.
“Hi,” she said, after another pause. “What can I do for you?”
“I was able to look at my aunt’s phone, and I found the ride app. I have the name of the driver if you have a pen?” He paused after his words.
Johanna looked around but didn’t see anything to write with. Marnie tossed a pen in her direction, lobbing it lightly since Johanna was on the phone. She caught it and decided to scribble the number on the back of an envelope.
“I’m ready,” she said, wondering if she was prepared for what came next. Johanna had a sinking feeling in her gut that the offer of information was a setup that could lead her into danger. The situation with the phone number had shaken her trust in this man, who, if she admitted it to herself, might not even be Jessica’s relative. She’d taken it on his word that he was her cousin.
“The guy’s name is Alexander—no last names on this app—and he picked her up at the parking lot on the day in question. I don’t know too much else, but I wanted to call you as soon as I found out the information.”
“I hope it didn’t cause you any issues,” Johanna said, hoping to get some information out of him on who had the phone and how he’d obtained the information.
“Not at all,” Thomas replied. “Let me know how it goes.” With that, Johanna was alone on the phone. She hadn’t learned anything but the name, and now she had a decision
