Elizabeth C. Main - Jane Serrano 01 - Murder of the Month (25 page)

“Just like Lassie,” I responded. I didn’t mention that Wendell had had a rough journey.

“I was afraid that Gil would hurt him if he found us. Remember, Wendell was the one who growled at him.”

“Weren’t you worried about yourself?” Nick asked.

“Well, sure, but I had to find out what he was up to.”

“And did you?” I asked.

“First, I found out that you can’t tell much from the inside of a trunk. He dropped Jenna off after a while and went home. Trouble was, once we got into his garage he noticed the trunk was unlatched and he slammed it shut. Good thing he didn’t look inside right then. I didn’t know what to do after that, so I just stayed put.

Then the weirdest thing happened. The trunk popped open again. I thought for sure I’d been caught, but no one came. I heard a big commotion and then it got quiet again. I didn’t know what was going on.”

Maybe Bianca didn’t, but I could figure it out. While Tyler was supposed to be outside Gil’s house on guard duty, he must have come into the garage to do a little investigating on his own. That’s the reason I hadn’t heard the back door open when he had come to warn us that Gil was on his way. Too bad he hadn’t had time to check the trunk before the deputies arrived, but it had been nice of him to unlatch it for Bianca.

“After a long, long time, I sneaked into the house and hid in the front coat closet with the door open a little bit. He talked on the phone a couple of times during the evening, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. At first I was scared that he’d realize I was there because of my scarf, but I guess he never noticed it.”

“What about your scarf?” I asked.

“A bee was trapped in the closet with me and I used my scarf to wrap it up and put it safely back outside. The scarf snagged on the window ledge, so I had to leave it there when I heard Gil coming and ran back to the closet.

Anyway, I got really excited one time when he looked through a bunch of videotapes and laid one out separate from the others. I just knew it had to be the missing tape from Vanessa’s camcorder! Once he was asleep, I ran out and got it. I was so sure it was the right tape that I made the sheriff watch it today.”

“What did it show?” I asked.

“Nothing. It was a tape of some boring trial.”

“Why didn’t you call us?” I asked. “We’ve been so worried.”

“Were you?” Bianca sounded surprised and pleased. When I remembered the skeptical reception we had given her ideas earlier in the week, I could see why she hadn’t been anxious to tell us what she was doing. “I did think about calling Ty to ask about Wendell, but I didn’t have a chance. Besides, I knew Wendell would find his way home and you’d take care of him.”

She looked at me with the trust of someone who had always found the world a good place, a place where dogs found their way home safely and people lived happily ever after. I hated to go over the next part of her story, but we had to know what had happened. But before I could bring myself to ask about the next morning, Bianca started telling us about it, almost as though she were reliving it.

“I was still in the closet when someone came in the front door. Gil said, ‘What are you doing here?’ in an unfriendly way, but this person didn’t answer. Then Gil asked, ‘What’s going on? Yes, she’s … Wait a minute! You can’t …’ and then I heard shots.”

I put my arms around Bianca then, but she was so caught up in her story that she jumped in fright. Her eyes were wide and unfocused at first, but gradually she returned to the present. Once she actually saw me instead of the scene in her mind, she relaxed, just as she used to after a nightmare. After a moment, she continued.

“It was awful. I kept smelling the wool of the coats around me and thinking that it was too warm for wool and those coats should have been put away somewhere for the summer.”

“Oh, Bianca,” I said through the tears that were now running down my cheeks, “I’m so sorry you had to go through this.”

Nick had been taking notes. “Are you sure about Gil’s words?”

“Not exactly, but it was something like that.”

“And how many shots did you hear?”

“Two. I kept waiting for more, but they never came. Next thing I heard was something—or someone—falling. Then something banged up against the closet door. I figured someone out there must know I was inside, so I thought I was a goner. Instead, there were all kinds of crashing sounds. Finally everything stopped and I heard the front door open and close. It was weird, after all that noise.”

“Footsteps? Anything like that?” Nick probed. “Could you tell whether you were hearing a man or a woman?”

“No, just … crashing and then the silence. I finally tried the closet door, but it was blocked. After a while I got panicky and started beating on the door until it came open. A chair had been half-wedged under the doorknob, but it wasn’t stuck in there tight enough to hold when I really hit the door. The room was a mess. Things were smashed, and then I saw Gil. He was behind the couch, and there was a gun on the floor beside him.” She made a vague gesture toward her waist.

“Your scarf.” I said. It wasn’t a question, of course.

“Yes, I sometimes use it as a belt, but it was tied … over his mouth like a gag. I tried to loosen it to help him breathe, but his eyes were wide open.” She shuddered and lapsed into silence.

I prompted her. “And then …?” I gently shook her. “Bianca? What happened next?”

“Someone came in the back door. I thought it must be the murderer—you know how the murderer is always supposed to return to the scene of the crime?—so I picked up the gun and ran out the front door.”

“You picked up the gun that was lying beside Gil’s body,” Nick said wearily.

“For protection,” Bianca said.

“Do you know how to use a gun?” he asked.

“I’ve seen lots of movies. How hard could it be? Anyway, that’s why I shot it into the air later. For practice, in case I had to use it. It sure was loud.”

“For practice.” Nick had stopped taking notes and was staring at Bianca.

“But then I thought it wasn’t smart for me to have it in my possession, so I wiped off my fingerprints and got rid of it. That was harder than you’d think. I didn’t want kids to find it and get hurt, or any little animals, but I knew the police would want it. It was evidence, you know.”

“I know,” Nick repeated. ”Where did you put it?”

“In a juniper tree, inside a plastic sack I found. Those twisty trees are hard to climb, but I got high enough to find a good branch and tied the sack to it. It was out of sight and would have been a great place, except—”

“You were afraid a bird would find it and shoot itself by accident?” Nick asked.

Bianca missed his sarcasm. “No bird could have reached the sack,” she answered. “That was the beauty of it. It was hanging too far below the branch. No, the problem was that the police arrived before I got all the way back down the tree. That sort of messed up my plan.”

“Your plan?” Nick said. He turned to me. “That was her plan, Jane.”

I shrugged.

“Time’s up.” Kincaid was back in person to make sure we left on time.

“Mom, when can I come home?” Bianca asked.

“As soon as possible,” I answered, “but it might not be today.”

A sound from Kincaid caused Bianca to address him directly. “You don’t really think I killed him, do you? This is all—”

“Don’t say anything more, Bianca,” Nick warned her. “You are not, under any circumstances, to talk to anyone here when I’m not present.”

“But I can explain—”

“That’s what I’m trying to avoid.”

“Mom, I’m really sorry about this.”

” It’ll be okay. Just do what Nick says.” I forced a smile onto my face and hugged her once more. “I’ll take care of everything.”

And I would, though right now I didn’t have the faintest idea how.

“I’m warning you,” Kincaid said as we neared the lobby, “you have five minutes to get them out of here.” I assumed he was just being his usual unpleasant self until I heard the sound of chanting from outside.

The sound soon resolved itself into two words: “Free Bianca!” One look at the half-concealed smirks on the faces of the uniformed officers present told me that I was hearing it right. Reluctantly, I crossed the lobby, opened the front door, and looked at the scene outside. I closed my eyes in disbelief and then looked again.

Unfortunately, the view remained the same. Minnie carried a handmade sign lettered in her trademark fire-engine red lipstick. It read, “We demand justice,” while Tyler’s scrawled placard offered the emphatic comment, “No way!” As they marched past the entrance, I could see that the back side of the posters advertised the Wedding Belle. Alix lounged against the side of her Saab, smoking. She had no doubt supplied the poster board from the trunk of her car, though apparently she herself had opted out of the
ad hoc
demonstration. All three of them appeared to be having the time of their lives.

“Can we pretend we don’t know them?” Nick asked plaintively.

“My thought exactly. We have to get them out of here before Kincaid either turns the fire hose on them or records their activities on camera as evidence for a future trial.”

I approached the marchers and kept my voice conspiratorially low. “Let’s get back to my house quick. We need to plot strategy.” I was sure the word
plot
would get their attention, and it did.

“How is Bianca?” Alix asked. She stubbed out her cigarette and moved around to the driver’s seat of her car.

“Is she okay?” Tyler wanted to know.

“We can talk later,” Minnie said. She handed her sign to Tyler and bounced into the passenger seat. “Hit it, Alix!”

Tyler and the signs tumbled into the back with Wendell just as Alix gunned the motor. They were halfway down the street before Nick and I even reached his Jeep. We looked at each other in wonder.

“Good job,” he said.

“Don’t talk. Drive. We’d better get home before they call the governor.”

Nick didn’t turn off the engine when we pulled up in front of my house. “I’m not coming in,” he said. Alix, Minnie, and Tyler were lined up on the porch, waiting for us. “You go right ahead and tame the lions. Try to keep them from … well, at least try to avoid more charges of breaking and entering.”

“Very funny. We had a good reason—”

“Just kidding,” he said. “Look, Jane, I need to do some preparation, find out what we’re up against. You want me to get your daughter out of jail, don’t you?”

“Oh, sorry. Of course I do.” I scrubbed my hands over my face. “I’m just not thinking too clearly right now. This is all so … so strange.”

“And I came here thinking Juniper was a quiet little place.”

“Not since Bianca came back. You
do
think you can get her out?”

“Well, she had motive and opportunity, and there was that stunt with the gun.” He held up a hand to forestall my rebuttal. “I know. She didn’t kill him. I believe you—”

“But Arnie doesn’t,” I said, “so he’s not even going to look for the real killer. Somebody killed Gil and probably Vanessa, and it wasn’t Bianca.”

“Would you please let me see what I can do
legally
before you do anything else? There’s a real killer out there somewhere and you could be putting yourself in danger if you get too close to that person’s identity. This isn’t some silly mystery novel, even if the other members of your book club seem determined to make it one.”

“I’m not going to sit on my hands while they charge my daughter with something she didn’t do. I want to talk to Linda Sanchez, for one thing. She didn’t seem too enthused about Gil.”

“Really. Why don’t you let me talk to her? Maybe she can give me a picture of the internal politics in the D.A.‘s office. I can talk ‘criminal stuff,’ as you call it, with her, so just give me a chance, will you?” He gestured out the window at the others. “It would help if you could slow them down, too. Keep them out of the sheriff’s way and I think we stand a better chance of getting whatever sympathy he might have.”

The door handle was wrenched out of my hand and Minnie poked her head into the car. “If you’re coming in to talk, let’s get to it. If not, how about if we take our demonstration downtown—lots of people there on a Saturday afternoon—and call KPHD?”

“I’m coming, Minnie,” I told her. Turning back to Nick, I said in a low voice, “I see your point.” I jumped out and slammed the door.

“Call you later,” he said through the open window.

I shook my head in weariness as I considered the position my daughter had put herself in. Only someone as naïve as Bianca could pick up a murder weapon and fire it without realizing how it would look later in a court of law. And that didn’t even take into consideration her other activities, like writing anonymous notes, hiding in the trunk of Gil’s car, and sending her dog for help.

I contemplated my assembled pseudo-detectives. Clearing Bianca was going to be hard enough without extra problems. Alix could help, except for the fact that she antagonized the sheriff’s department with every word she uttered. Then there was Tyler. He was plenty smart, but I was the only responsible adult in his life at the moment so I probably ought to keep him out of jail. And Minnie. Oh, yes, Minnie, whose heart was in the right place, but who—to coin a phrase—was one tortilla short of a taco.