“I guess we need to find out if one of our suspects, besides Marcus, was in town today. We know where he was, at Sam’s.” Archer watched as Drew parked his truck in front of the house. “Hey, buddy. Rarity’s getting more presents from this secret admirer. I wish you’d catch him. I’m feeling a little competition heating up for Rarity’s attention.”
“How do you know it’s a him?” Drew nodded to the package. “I take it you weren’t expecting something? We’re not going to open this and find a box of Shirley’s homemade fudge.”
“I’m not expecting anything, and Shirley was at the bookstore today, so she would have just given it to me.” Rarity sat down at the deck table as Drew put on a pair of gloves and brought the package over.
“You may want to get back.” Drew put a mask on as Rarity stood and moved to the opposite end of the deck. “Just in case it’s some sort of powder or poison. It’s pretty light.”
“Now you’re freaking me out just a little,” Rarity said.
“Just being cautious.” Drew turned to look at her, his eyes twinkling over the mask. “Here we go.”
He turned back, and using a knife he’d taken out of his pocket, he slowly opened the box. He leaned back when he opened it, but no puff of air or powder came out. He leaned over and pulled out a photo. “Well, this is interesting.”
Now Rarity stepped forward. “Who or what is it?”
Drew took a photo of the box and took a picture of it with his phone. Then he turned to let Archer and Rarity closer. “It appears that your secret admirer really wants Marcus to be focused on for the murder. It’s a picture of him and Janey at the quarry. I guess the sender thinks I’m not seeing the forest for the trees.”
Rarity leaned forward. Marcus had the word Killer written on his chest in red Sharpie. “They weren’t looking at the camera. They didn’t know this picture was being taken.”
“I think our friend has given us a clue that they didn’t think they were giving. Someone was watching them at the quarry and took at least one picture.” Drew tucked the photo into the box, put it into a large bag, and sealed it. Then he took off the gloves and leaned on the counter. “I’ll check, but I’m pretty sure Caleb is still in the hospital, so it couldn’t be him.”
Rarity met his gaze. “What about Trish? Or Cara?”
“I’m not sure. But I’ll find out. It’s too bad that pictures aren’t developed professionally anymore. Now, anyone with a good home printer could do that without leaving a trace.” Drew glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to get this back to the station. I’m meeting Dad for dinner in a few minutes.”
“Thanks for coming by, Drew,” Rarity said as he picked up the sack. “I’ll be really glad when this is done and no one’s leaving me presents anymore.”
Archer faked swiped a hand over his forehead. “Whew. I guess I’m off the hook for any future gifts.”
“I didn’t say that.” She lightly punched him in the arm. “Tell Jonathon thanks for everything.”
“He’s enjoying having something to do rather than hanging around the house. I could do without his snooping for information for your sleuthing club, but it’s been nice having him around.” Drew walked toward his truck.
Rarity and Archer went inside, where Killer was sitting at the door, watching. Rarity picked the little dog up and went to the couch. “Is it just me, or is someone invested in making sure that Marcus is the main suspect here?”
Archer went to the fridge and opened the door. As he studied the options for dinner, he called back, “I think you’re reading the message exactly as they want you to. The question now is who?”
Chapter 23
The rest of the week went by fast for Rarity. There were no more surprise packages left on her doorstep. Drew hadn’t gotten back to her about any conversations with either of her priority suspects, Cara or Trish. Not that she expected him to update her, but she would have thought he might have caught one of them on some sort of street camera on Main or someone might have seen them.
Saturday morning, Shirley was already sitting on the bench in front of the bookstore. She looked up at Rarity with tears in her eyes.
Rarity’s breath caught. Please don’t let it be George, she prayed as she met Shirley at the door. “Are you all right?”
“You haven’t seen it, then.” Shirley pushed in front of her and Archer as soon as Rarity unlocked the door. “You have to see this.”
Shirley unfolded a paper and pointed to a picture with a large headline: “Sedona’s Own Grandmother.” The picture was of Shirley reading a book at the Mommy and Me class. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so sweet in my life.”
The tears were joyful. Rarity felt her body starting to work again. She’d been bracing against the news that something bad had happened. Instead, Shirley was being honored for her work. Rarity picked up the paper and read the article. It wasn’t long, but it painted not only Shirley but the bookstore is a positive light as a welcome addition to Sedona. There was even a list of book clubs and their schedule in a sidebar article. “This is amazing. I bet our traffic today is going to be crazy. At least from the in-town folk.”
“I’ve never been in a paper before.” Shirley beamed and took the paper back. “I’m going to show this to George tonight. I wasn’t going to go to the home today, but he really will want to see this. I know it.”
Archer and Rarity exchanged a look, and she realized he’d been thinking the same thing. He’d been worried about her concern being for George too. “This is great, Shirley. You should get a second copy to send to your daughter. I bet she’d love to see it.”
Shirley’s eyes widened. “You’re right. I need to go to the store and pick up another copy now. Do you mind, Rarity?”
“Go on. I’ll be fine.” Rarity laughed at her over-the-top joy. “The club doesn’t start until ten, so you have time.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Archer watched Shirley spin around and leave the shop. He glanced at his watch. “Let me text Mike and let him know I’ll be late. I’m taking him with me on today’s tour so he can get a feel for what we’re doing here. I still need to pick up the bus.”
“You go ahead. Jonathon will be here any time. We talked yesterday about his writing hours today. And he’s so excited about visiting the tubes tomorrow.”
“Lava River Cave, not the tubes,” Archer corrected her. He looked outside at the nearly empty street. “Are you sure? I hate to leave you alone.”