Chapter 21
“It’s right here.” Lucy traced the outline of Keller’s flight path the morning of his crash.
“What am I missing?” Liz’s brows furrowed. “I’ve watched this several times. All I see is the plane looping around our farm and then disappearing.”
“Which is exactly what it is. Now we know where the bullet hit.”
“Ah.” Gloria tapped the tip of her chin. “Because the direction the plane was flying and the bullet hole tells us the general vicinity of where the shot came from.”
“Exactly.” Lucy grabbed a large pad of paper, a black marker and drew a big “x.” “Here’s Liz’s farm. Christi’s farm is directly across the road and the third farm…”
“Is Ivan Gregware’s, although he doesn’t live there,” Liz reminded them.
“Still, Lucy and I noticed a rifle rack in the back window of his truck,” Margaret said. “Which means he drives around with a gun.”
“So, we have three solid suspects,” Gloria said. “Floyd.”
“Who didn’t shoot the plane down,” Liz interrupted.
“He’s still a suspect.” Gloria pinned her with a stare. “Can I continue?”
“Be my guest.”
“Floyd, Ivan Gregware and Christi’s husband,” Gloria summarized.
“Darren Kravitz.”
“And possibly whoever owns the tree stand we saw in the field,” Ruth added.
“Right, so there might be more suspects. Those are the only ones we know about,” Margaret said.
“Based on the time of day—early morning—I would say whoever took the plane down was familiar with the area.” Lucy tapped the screen. “We now know the shooter was standing at this angle, facing toward Liz and Floyd’s place when they fired the shot.”
“Unless Keller looped back around before he went down,” Ruth said.
Lucy started writing a list:
Large gunshot - hole. More than likely a rifle. Shooter was facing toward Liz and Floyd’s farm. Near daybreak, early a.m.
“We have the time, the weapon, and the location,” Gloria said. “Now all we need is to figure out who pulled the trigger.”
“I think it’s time to have another chat with your neighbor, Christi, considering her farm’s proximity to the location,” Lucy said.
“What do you know about her husband?” Ruth asked.
“I’ve met him and have seen him around a few times, out in the gardens and riding around on his tractor. He travels a lot.”
“Doing what?”
Liz shrugged. “I’m almost positive he sells medical equipment.”
“Was he home at the time of the shooting?”
“I think so. In fact, when I stopped by Christi’s place to ask her to sign the petition, she said he hated the plane flying around too.”
“It looks like we need to move Darren Kravitz to the top of the list,” Gloria said. “You need to find out for sure if he was home.”
“And then what?” Liz placed her hands on her hips. “I ask her if Darren was the one who fired the shot?”
“No, but you can try to gauge his level of anger or irritation at the plane and pilot.”
“I’ll try, although I’m not as good at getting info as you guys are,” Liz warned. “Does this mean you ruled Echo out?”
“Echo, who has a handgun and was practicing with a target out back?” Gloria asked. “We’ll leave her on the list. I’m sure she wasn’t happy having tomatoes tossed at her place.”
“I’ve seen Echo’s gun. If you want my professional opinion, I don’t think her particular handgun was capable of blowing a large hole in the side of Keller’s plane,” Lucy said.
“I want to leave her on the list,” Ruth said. “Suspect the least suspect.”
“I’ll run over to Christi’s as soon as I get home.” Liz motioned to Rose. “You have a spare key. Let yourself in whenever you want.”
“Thanks. I have a rental car and figured I would spend some time visiting a few of my favorite places.”
Dot flung her arm around Rose’s shoulders. “Not without me. I’m going with you.”
“How about dinner at my place?” Gloria warmed to the idea. “We can invite Andrea, Brian, and the twins over.”
“I’m in.” Ruth gave a thumbs up. “Let’s do an easy meal and order pizza.”
“What about you, Lucy?” Gloria asked.
“If it’s not too much trouble. I would love to spend some time with Rose.”
“Ditto,” Margaret said.
“Liz?” Gloria nudged her sister.
“I’m going to pass, but thanks for the invite.” Liz grimaced. “I’m not in the mood to socialize.”
“Since we’ve taken over your schedule, Rose, why don’t you spend the night with Ray and me?” Dot clapped her hands. “It will be like old times.”
“I’m free as a bird,” Rose said. “The more time I have to spend with my friends, the better.”
“It’s up to you,” Liz said.
“I don’t want to mess up your plans.”
“My main plan is to figure out who shot Keller’s plane.” Liz patted her arm. “Spend time with Gloria and the others. It’s going to go by in the blink of an eye.”
“Thanks for being understanding,” Rose said. “I don’t care what Gloria says about you. You’re the best.”
“I have my moments.” Liz was the first to leave Lucy’s place.
Gloria’s brows knitted as she watched her sister climb into her SUV.
Lucy nudged her. “I can see the wheels spinning. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“There’s one more person we need to take a closer look at.”
“Floyd,” Ruth guessed.
“Yes, and the sooner the better.”
*****
During the drive home, Liz mulled over what she would say to her neighbor.
She couldn’t come right out and accuse her or her husband of firing at Keller’s plane, but it had to be someone in the vicinity and they made the most sense.
As luck would have it, Christi’s vehicle was in the driveway. Liz grabbed Duchess and headed back out. There was no sign of her neighbor. She could hear voices, or maybe it was the television, blaring loudly. Liz rapped on the door. No one answered, so she tried again.
Christi peered out. Seconds later, the door opened. “Hey, Liz.”
“Hello, Christi. I hope I’m not bothering you.”
“Not at all. I was throwing some stuff in the crock-pot for dinner tonight.”
“I thought I would stop by to let you know I heard the investigators are close to arresting the person or persons who shot Tristan Keller’s plane down the other morning.”
“Close?” Christi blinked rapidly. “They think they know who it was?”
“That’s what I’m hearing. Have you heard anything?”
“No. I…Darren and I spoke with the police right after it happened. They asked to see Darren’s hunting rifles and handguns. After finishing, they said they would contact us if they needed any additional information.”
“Same here,” Liz said. “Did they want to know where you both were at the time of the shooting?”
“Yes. I told them I was home in bed and Darren was out of town.”
“Out of town? I thought…” Liz tried to remember exactly when Christi had told her Darren was getting back into town and could’ve sworn he was home the morning the shooting occurred. “I thought Darren was home. You mentioned having to do laundry.”
“N-no.” Christi nervously licked her lips and gazed over Liz’s shoulder. “I’m almost positive I told you Darren got home later that day, not early in the morning.”
Liz didn’t press the issue. Perhaps she had heard wrong. Perhaps Darren had arrived home later, long after the plane went down.
The women made small talk for a few more minutes before Liz left. She gazed around, wondering what Christi kept looking at, and realized it was a small storage shed to the right of their barn. She also noticed Darren’s pickup was gone again.
Back at the house, Liz made a beeline for her security cameras, the ones covering the front of the yard, all the way up to the driveway. The cameras also offered a partial view of the road out front.
Liz fixed a cup of tea and began playing the surveillance videos. Because of their semi-remote location, few vehicles traveled down their road. She glimpsed Floyd strolling toward the pigpens early Thursday morning.
Up next was a blip in the sky. It was Keller’s plane making its first loop around their property. She noticed something falling from it and landing at the end of their driveway.
“Jerk,” she muttered under her breath. “I hope your plane is out of commission for a really long time.”
The next several minutes passed uneventfully and she could feel her mind wandering. Perhaps Christi was telling the truth and Darren hadn’t arrived home until later in the day.
A small movement caught her eye. A set of headlights bounced off their mailbox. Darren Kravitz’s pickup truck appeared. He turned into the driveway and drove out of sight.
Liz noted the timestamp. It was mere minutes before Keller’s plane appeared again, this time flying lower and closer to their house. Another tomato bomb was tossed out the window, landing only a few feet away from Liz’s luxury SUV.
Keller kept going until he was no longer in sight and Liz knew his plane went down only seconds later. She started to click away when she noticed a flurry of movement. It was Darren, jogging from the shed to the barn. He ran out back toward the open field. Liz waited, but he never returned. “What was he doing?” she whispered under her breath.
She replayed the surveillance footage, clearly showing Darren Kravitz arriving home shortly before Tristan Keller’s plane went down. Christi had lied to her.
Liz pulled up the flight radar, reminding herself she had no idea the app even existed until her neighbor had told her about it.
Christi knew about the flight software. Christi and her husband were home at the time of the shooting. Their property was adjacent to Ivan Gregware’s property. Darren was running back and forth outside. Was he the shooter? Or had he heard the gunshot and ran over to check it out?
Liz’s tea had gone cold. She stuck the mug in the microwave and turned it on, her mind whirling. Was Darren or Christi behind the shooting?
Duchess daintily trotted over to the door and stared up at Liz.
“Good idea, Duchess. Let’s go for a walk so I can clear my head.” She grabbed a jacket, followed her pup out of the house, and down the two-lane path past Echo’s place.
Duchess cast a longing look as they walked past. “Teddy went to work with Echo today,” Liz said. “We’ll stop by later to say hi.”
With her pup by her side, she meandered all the way to the woods and creek near the back of the property. The authorities had already taken a look at Christi and Darren’s weapons, just as they had Floyd’s.
But what if they hadn’t seen them all? What if Darren shot the plane and then hid the gun in his field, knowing they would eventually search his place? Would the authorities run a check on who owned what weapons, looking for a possible match?
“C’mon, Duchess.” Liz called her pup for a leisurely stroll back toward the house. On the way, she stopped by the pigpen to give Pepper and Piper a snack. Despite insisting Floyd was in charge of caring for their pigs, Liz found herself stopping to check on them and chat at least once a day.
She finished feeding them beets and leftover lettuce before washing her hands in the outdoor sink and meandering toward the house.
They were almost there when she spotted Floyd’s pickup turning into the driveway. He parked next to her SUV and climbed out.
Liz caught up with him. “You’re home early.”
“I’ve been worried about you, considering everything we have going on, and figured I would come home to see how you’re holding up.”
“How sweet.” Liz bounced onto the tips of her toes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“I also have a surprise.”
“A surprise?”
“Close your eyes.”
Liz closed her eyes. She could hear her husband open the truck door and then slam it shut.
“You can look now.”
Liz opened her eyes and found a beaming Floyd standing directly in front of her. “What is this?”