Ida Belle nodded. “And Gil wasn’t exactly the outdoorsy sort. You see that tiny patio and only one lounge chair on it. I guarantee you Tiffany is the only one who’s been out that back door in years.”
“Explain to me again why Judith has been pining for this guy her entire life?” I asked. “I mean, he didn’t like the outdoors and she’s a farmer. He didn’t shoot guns, and my guess is Judith is probably James Bond with a handgun and a pitchfork. He was only interested in acting and constantly playing a role and Judith is completely what-you-see-is-what-you-get.”
“Attraction is often one of life’s great mysteries,” Gertie said.
“I guess so,” I said. “Well, at least it’s convenient for us not to have to try to go over a fence.”
“Especially with Gertie’s history with fences and trees,” Ida Belle said.
“I’m fine with fences and trees,” Gertie said.
“Until you climb up on one,” I said. “Or have you forgotten that fall in Emmaline’s lawn?”
“That was a fluke,” Gertie said.
“You have more flukes in your life than you have liver spots,” Ida Belle said.
Gertie waved a hand in dismissal. “Do you hear anything?” she asked me.
I shook my head. “Not so much as a peep. Could be in another room on the opposite side of the house.”
“Or sleeping or not even at home,” Ida Belle said. “I guess we should have driven by and looked for her car before coming out here.”
“Not sure it would have made a difference,” I said. “The house has a single-car garage. I assumed Gil probably put his Mercedes in there and Tiffany stayed parked outside out of habit. But after that chicken stunt, she might be observing stricter safety regimens.”
Ida Belle nodded. “Good point. I was thinking—”
I held up a hand to stop her as I’d heard movement in the kitchen and flipped on the recorder. It sounded like the refrigerator opening. I lifted my binoculars and found a spot to peer through the hedge. The room was fairly dark with only the one window and the sun on the opposite side of the house, but I could see a shadow moving around inside. A couple seconds later, I heard Tiffany’s voice.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said. “This whole thing has gotten out of hand.”
There was a pause before she spoke again and I realized she was on the phone.
“Of course I want to leave, but the cops said I can’t,” she said. “I can’t believe this. I already found a great apartment in NOLA, right in the French Quarter. I wouldn’t even have to have a car. Everything is walking distance. And the best part is, if I decide I like it, the owner is willing to talk about selling it when the lease is up. But I’m afraid if I can’t get going on it soon, he’s going to rent it to someone else.”
Another pause.
“Yeah, I have the money stashed for the security deposit and first and last month’s rent and all that. But if I make a move so soon after Gil’s death, how is that going to look? Especially now that the cops found his car. That detective from New Orleans was here this morning asking a million questions about me and Gil and wanting my alibi for the night he was killed. How am I supposed to have an alibi when I lived alone with Gil? One of my nosy, insomniac neighbors verified that I was watering my flowers that evening and my car was here all night, so I guess there’s that. But I don’t know if it’s enough.”
Pause.
“I just can’t deal with this anymore. First, I was trapped by my mother and my age and married Gil to get out of it, then found myself trapped again by my own bad choices. For the first time in my life, I’m ready to stand on my own two feet and I’ve got to sit and wait again.”
Pause.
“What if they’re watching me? The deputy had my house searched after that horse thing at the festival. And that detective from New Orleans didn’t look like she believed a word I said. The last thing I want to do is get them focused on you.”
Pause.
“I don’t know why they would be watching me. I don’t know how any of this works.”
Pause.
“No. She hasn’t called again. I haven’t talked to her and have no intention of doing so. I really need to see you, though. I’m going crazy locked up here in this horrible house in this horrible town. Maybe we could meet somewhere. Away from Sinful.”
Pause.
“That sounds good. I’ll see you there in a couple hours or so.”
That was it.
I turned off the recorder.
“She’s going to meet someone in two hours,” I said. “My best guess based on the rest of the conversation is the meeting place is in New Orleans.”
“So shower and change and the drive,” Gertie said. “Which puts her leaving here in thirty minutes or so. Are we going to follow her?”
“We can certainly try,” I said. “But that means we’ve got to pack up and get out of here fast. Then find a spot on the highway to pick up her trail. If we try to follow her out of Sinful, it will be far more likely to register with her.”
Ida Belle nodded. “We can get ahead and pull off at the Walmart exit close to the city limits. She’s not likely to change course before then if she’s going into the city.”
“And if she’s not?” Gertie asked.
“Then we’ll miss her,” I said. “But since we have to go to New Orleans anyway, I think we should try. And I need to play you guys this audio and see what you think.”
Gertie nodded. “Then let’s get this show back on the road.”
I had just finished packing up the equipment when things went completely south.
“Skunk!” Gertie yelled.
Ida Belle and I froze, then whirled around and finally spotted the black-and-white menace emerging from the bush over to our right. He took one look at us and wiggled his tail. That was all it took for us to clear the area. Gertie whirled around and ran into the tree she’d had her handbag hanging on and I shoved her ahead of me with one hand while still clutching the parabolic microphone in the other, then sprinted in the opposite direction of the stink machine.
As I burst through a bush, all of a sudden, the ground disappeared from underneath me and I fell a good five feet before jolting back upright as Ida Belle came tumbling over the edge beside me, clutching the equipment suitcase. I whirled around just in time to get tackled by Gertie, who took us both out, then scrambled back up to peer over the side of the embankment with Ida Belle, trying to spot the skunk.
“Do you see him?” Gertie asked, her glasses crooked and leaves stuck in her hair.
“There!” Ida Belle pointed as the offender went traipsing toward the far end of the clearing and disappeared in a bush.
“I don’t think it’s safe yet,” Gertie said.
“We can take the long way back,” Ida Belle said.
“My purse is on the tree,” Gertie said.
Then we heard a crack—like a limb splitting off. We all peered back over the edge just in time to see the branch holding Gertie’s purse break loose from the tree and hit the ground. There was a loud clank, like metal striking metal, and Gertie’s eyes widened.