Chapter One #2
“Aw, that’s special. Thank you. We try.”
“You don’t try. You succeed. You’ll be at Olivia’s on Sunday for family dinner?”
“Yes, as always.”
She waved to Helen and left the office, mind already ten steps ahead planning her painting supplies. Even though she didn’t have specifics for the work, there were basics she could order to get organized
In her car, she pushed a preprogrammed button on her phone and waited for Jonathan to answer. She had no doubt after explaining what she wanted, he’d be on the phone to Helen. Those two were thick like besties on a shopping spree, and she couldn’t be happier this town had adopted him, too.
As Jonathan answered, a police car went by. Chief Paul Hudson had a scowl on his face and that usually meant trouble. Hope it wasn’t going around. Tom, in an irritated mood from work, was all she could handle.
“Hey, J. Have a minute.”
“For you, the world, my genius. What’s up?”
“I have a project. Donating it.”
“I thought we agreed you’d come to me with those donations first.” His growl was for show.
“Well, you should call Helen.”
“Ah, an Echo Falls project? The one you talked about last Christmas?”
“Yes.”
“Finally.”
She squirmed in her seat. “What do you mean?”
“Frankly, you’re moody and difficult when you aren’t around your husband.”
She scowled. “I miss him sure. Not certain where the moody and difficult come from.”
“Shall we talk about Chicago last year?”
“Um, no.”
Jonathan sighed. “You hated their project, but you did a fantastic job on it, and the client was happy.”
“I’m never doing another thing for them as long as I live. Call Helen will you, please? I’d like to get this worked out so I can get the ideas formed.”
“Where’s the project?’
“I don’t know, yet. That’s the fun part.” She checked her watch. The library would be closing for lunch in an hour. “I gotta go. Tell me what you discuss.”
“Ah, Summer…”
“They aren’t paying for it, J. I want to do it for the town. It’s my home.”
The silence stretched on the line. “Okay, but only this once.”
“I have two places I call home. You already have a painting of mine over your mantel. Let me do this one. Now get on a plane to Europe to visit your mother and Merry Christmas.”
“Bah humbug. I’ll talk to you soon.”
She tossed her phone onto the seat and drove the route to the library. “And so it begins,” she whispered.
The twinkling lights of town agreed.
&&&&&&&&&&
Tom had seen guilt written on too many teenagers’ expressions not to recognize it in Mianna Devlin’s brown eyes.
“What did you do?”
She jerked her shoulders back, flipped her long ponytail in a practiced move, and scowled at him. “I did nothing.”
He frowned, not happy with the answer. “What are you doing?”
“Forensics study. I’m taking a class.”
“You’re fourteen.”
“Yes, duh. Online college.”
Well, shoot. Tom rubbed his forehead, not even sure where to start. If he asked her what she’d found, he’d encourage her. If he didn’t, she’d sneak around and do it anyway.
She pointed at the ground. “There’s footprints.
The person wasn’t tall enough or strong enough to heft the figure over his or her shoulder so Santa got dragged behind Slade’s to the alley of Hickory Street.
I’m guessing it weighed sixty pounds because Misty Slade helped her dad move it into place, and she guessed it was as heavy as some of the boxes in their last shipment. ”
She moved a bit further away from him and pointed.
“I also tracked the marks on the ground, but they disappeared around the dumpsters by Lynn’s Fibers because it’s paved there.
Don’t worry I didn’t step on the footprints or touch anything.
I checked the street on the other side, but the prints and drag marks don’t continue.
Could be they met with someone and that person was big enough to lift it off the ground. ”
She finally ran out of breath, and if she hadn’t been fourteen, he’d have complimented her on her tracking. Debating, he examined what she’d done and couldn’t find fault. “Good job on this, Mia, but it’s a police case and, from this point forward, Detective Vogel and I will do the footwork.”
“But why? I can help.”
“I have no doubt. But we don’t know who took the Santa and why. If you’re right and this person met someone else, we have no information about that suspect. Your family won’t be happy if something happens to you.”
“Okay, but one more thing. I took a picture of the shoeprint and narrowed the shoe to one. It’s a Hoka Men’s Mach X3. Size nine. The depths of the shoeprint will let you estimate his weight.” Her hopeful eyes killed him.
“Excellent work. I’ll pass the info on to Detective Vogel. Do you have a way home?”
“Aw, come on. I can help.”
“Nothing to do right now but check security footage and that needs a badge. Do you have one?”
Her mouth collapsed into a pout. “No, I don’t.”
“Can I give you a ride home?”
“I can walk.”
“Give me your cell phone number in case I need to talk to you again.”
Her eyes widened, bright with excitement. “Honest?”
“Yes.” He was certifiable, but he hadn’t been through a forensics class in a few years. It wouldn’t hurt to brush up with an overachiever.
He rattled off his number, and she sent her contact. “Man, you need to get a phone where we can air send contact. That was too slow.”
“Noted. Officer Vogel will be here in a minute. We’re going to walk the scene. You can watch. After, you need to get home.” For good reason, her mother got twitchy when she disappeared.
“It’s all good. She GPS tracks me.” She flounced over to the closest bench and plopped in a loose-limbed flounce.
Vogel parked in Slade’s lot. He walked to her car, putting his back to Mia.
Carmen handed him his coffee, then raised a brow at the young girl. “Both men have settled. What’s she up to? Did she steal our Santa? Please, tell me yes. I’ve got two house robberies and a car accident already on my desk.”
“Nope, she’s investigated the scene for us. Taking a forensics class online. Already gave me a brief.”
Carmen groaned. “What is she, like twelve?”
“Fourteen. High school. Well, past high school classes, hence online.”
“Girl needs a hobby.”
“She had one. We talked her into dropping rocket science. Exploding mailbox – remember last Christmas?”
Carmen tipped her head and glared the girl’s way, grinding her teeth. “Okay, what did she find?”
“Let’s walk it through and verify her conclusions.”