I broke the news that I had to go back. You’d think I’d just asked Adele for a seat on a rocket to the moon.
“What, exactly, is all this about?” she asked, putting her hand on her cloud-colored encased hip. She wasn’t going to give back the keys without the whole story. She stopped in the middle of the path and waited while I told her about the doll in Izabelle’s book and how I thought if I got it age-progressed, I’d know what she looked like as an adult.
“But we know what she looked like, Pink. I think you’re losing your detective touch.”
I reminded Adele how she’d brought up that Izabelle’s perfect looks weren’t natural.
“Right,” she said. “My eagle eye did pick out the fake cheekbones and redone nose. And the puffy lips, ha!” I threw in the eye and hair color. Then I dropped the bombshell and told her Izabelle had an identical twin and that she might be among us.
Adele took a moment to process the information and then got it. “And I bet if someone was on the beach with Izabelle, it was her,” Adele said, handing back the keys. “Okay, you didn’t wreck my car the first time, so you won’t this time, right?”
In all our negotiations, I hadn’t noticed that there were people around us until Jym called out a greeting. Jeen’s acknowledgment came out like a combination groan and sigh as her eyes locked on Adele. I looked past Bennett, who appeared deep in thought, to a dark blue uniform that immediately grabbed my attention.
“There you are,” Sergeant French said in a studied friendly voice. He stopped next to Adele. “Ms. Abrams, I just want to talk to you again about the afternoon Ms. Landers died.”
Adele grabbed the fabric of my corduroy blazer. “Here, Pink has some information for you. I really have nothing more to add. Like I said all those times before, I didn’t talk to Izabelle after the incident in the crochet workshop. I didn’t follow her to the beach. I didn’t have any of the s’mores. I went to my room alone, where I could concentrate, and tried to re-create the stitch she had stolen from me.”
The police officer shifted his weight and sighed. He obviously hadn’t given up on Adele being the person with Izabelle on the beach.
“Ms. Abrams, you know you’ll feel better if you tell me the real story.”
“That
She marched off, and Sergeant French turned his attention to me. “More amateur sleuthing, Ms. Pink?” he said with another sigh.
“I’m going to have something this afternoon that’s going to rock your investigation.”
“Right,” he said without looking at me, probably because he was rolling his eyes. Commander came by, carrying a grocery bag. He stopped to remind me that his group was making a special appetizer for the evening get-together. Sergeant French nodded at him.
“Anything else you want to add to your statement?” the police officer asked.
Commander merely shook his head as an answer. So, Sergeant French had talked to him, too.
When Commander was out of earshot, I asked the sergeant if Commander had mentioned that he’d picked up marshmallow forks on the beach. I was expecting a big gasp of surprise before he asked me for details, but he gave me his blank cop face.
“I don’t have to discuss this with you. We’re not working together, remember? At first Mr. Blaine didn’t mention it, but it came back to him, and he called me. He said he’d picked them up along with a partially burned bag. He claimed it was his natural tendency to pick up his things others had left. He didn’t remember exactly, but was pretty sure he’d thrown the bag away and cleaned up the forks and put them back with the others.”
“Well, there goes any forensic evidence,” I said. I think Sergeant French was back to rolling his eyes as he prepared to leave.
“You should talk to Spenser Futterman,” I said quickly.
“Who?” Sergeant French asked. His cop face was all gone as I described Spenser and his female companion and said that Spenser was the crow.
“The what?” he asked. He was trying to keep a serious look, but his mouth wanted to grin. I reminded him that someone was in Izabelle’s room when Dinah and I had first used the key. “There were papers missing and we saw a shadow go out the window. You said it was a crow, remember?” He gave me a condescending nod and I explained how Spenser and his lady friend had come into Izabelle’s room and I’d heard Spenser admit that he’d been in there before and had exited through the window. “So you see, he’s the crow.” It was a little tricky explaining why I was in the closet.
“I guess that’s part of your amateur sleuthing,” Sergeant French said. He couldn’t hide the grin anymore. He took out his notebook and wrote something down. “See, I’m making a note of it. You said they didn’t take anything other than pictures, right? I’ll have my men check this guy out.”
Right. I knew when someone was humoring me.
The call that my photo was ready came as the workshops took their break. I walked through the throng of people quickly, not wanting to be stopped by anyone, and made a direct line to Adele’s car.
I struggled with the lock, not remembering what special move I was supposed to use, and finally jiggled it enough that it moved and the button popped up. A few moments later, I zipped back out through the gate, elated at the prospect of seeing the altered photo. In a few minutes I’d know for sure if Izabelle’s twin was among us and, more important, who she was. I barely noticed the ride and pulled into the large parking lot of the Del Monte Mall.
Rather than deal with Adele’s weird lock, I just left the car open. How long would I be, anyway, and who in their right mind would want to steal her car? The layout of the mall confused me, and I didn’t realize until I was walking into it that I had parked at the wrong end. By then it seemed longer to walk back and move the car than to go the extra distance. I felt a surge of excitement as I reached the walkway between the stores and headed toward the photo studio. I was priding myself on my creativity at age- progressing the doll. Amateur sleuth, hah!
When I walked in the store, the kid straightened. “I think you’re going to be very happy with this,” he said as he showed me the sealed, large manila envelope sitting on top of the book behind the counter.
“Can I see it?” I said, reaching for it, but he handed me the bill instead. When the transaction was complete, he handed me the charge slip, book, and envelope, and walked me to the door. “We close early on Sunday.”
Since I had waited this long, I decided to do the unveiling in the car, where I could sit and examine the picture. The only problem was, finding Adele’s car turned out to be a chore. I’d been so focused on getting to the photo place, I hadn’t paid any attention to where I had left the car. Silver cars don’t exactly stand out the way my greenmobile does. A 1993 Mercedes 190E in teal green is hard to miss. When I finally located it, I slid in, shut the door, and tore open the envelope.
When I looked at the print, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I certainly understood why the clerk had been so quick to show me the door and discourage my viewing his work in front of him.
How to describe what I was looking at? Basically, he had taken the doll’s head and given it some wrinkles and gray hair. Apparently he had understood that noses and ears keep growing, and had extended the doll’s nose until she looked like a witch and her ears hung to her chin line. Discouraged, I threw it on the seat and turned the engine on.
The parking lot opened right onto the highway and I stepped on the gas, very anxious to get back now. I had spent too much time away from my duties, and for nothing. Up ahead the stoplight went to yellow, and I stepped on the brake. The pedal went down, but the car didn’t slow. As the car flew through the intersection, I looked ahead at the road and realized I was in big trouble.
CHAPTER 22
“OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD-THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING,” I said out loud, as if it would make any difference. I took my foot off the accelerator again, and again the car didn’t slow at all. I tried the brake, but the car just made an angry noise and kept roaring down the road. What was wrong with Adele’s Honda?
A picture flashed through my mind-a retreating figure in a hooded sweatshirt as I approached the car. I hadn’t
