Chapter 19
Jack
WE FINISH UP AT Chipotle (where I also safely dispose of the knitting needle in a wad of napkins), then head back to my house. I get that Lucy, Mel, and Emily want to help–and it was useful to have them get us into the Wharfman’s neighborhood without any connection to my visit there last night–but I want to pay a visit to this Cleo woman, and I don’t want three extra participants in that conversation. Now that they all seem to have agreed not to tell their husbands and fiance? for the time being, I don’t need to keep them close by.
I know that deal has an expiration date, though, which means that now more than ever it’s important for us to figure out who moved Ian’s body so that we can get ahead of my friends on this case. This whole situation is turning into an unsolvable maze. Every time I think we’re getting somewhere a new wall pops up and we have to try a different route. At this point I don’t even know what the ending we’re working toward is.
At the beginning of the day I would’ve said we needed to do the following: get married, keep her identity as the murder just between us, and do whatever we could to get the case labeled as closed (including, but not limited to figuring out who moved the body). But, of course, the second part of my plan went to crap as soon as the women figured out the truth, and now I’m floundering. All I know is that we still have to figure out who moved the body. Whoever it was, they are the biggest threat to Nora staying out of prison.
It’s also not lost on me that it really doesn’t even matter that Nora and I are married anymore. There are too many other people in the know for it to matter that I can’t testify against her. I wonder if she’s realized this and, if not, what she’ll do when she does. End the marriage as quickly as it began?
The sudden ache in my chest reveals my own feelings on the matter. Unfortunately a marriage can’t be built on just one person’s love for the other. It’s a two-way street. But if having her back in my life has taught me anything it’s that even if she ends our marriage I won’t be able to stop loving her. As much as I tried to deny my feelings for her these last three years, it was clear the second she showed up on my doorstep that I’d been a fool. Her rejection broke me, but it didn’t erase the love I have for her.
Nothing ever could.
You can’t rid yourself of something etched into the very fibers of your being.
These are all problems for future-me, though. Present day me needs to think about what I’m going to say to Cleo.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to come with you to Nora’s office?” Lucy asks as she turns onto my street. “I’m very good at asking questions. Well, actually I’m better at just talking without interruption. Hazard of being a dental hygienist–no one can ever answer you back with all of that stuff in their mouth. But hey, if you end up needing to distract someone I would be really good at that.”
“Thanks, but I think Nora and I are going to do this one solo,” I tell her.
“Sure, sure,” Lucy says with a sigh. “I suppose it is their wedding day,” she says to Emily. “A murder coverup isn’t an ideal honeymoon, but at the very least we can let them run the coverup as just the two of them. After all, honeymoons are meant to be a two-person sort of thing.” She starts humming Olivia Newton John’s song “Let’s Get Physical”; I don’t have to look at Nora to know she must be blushing.
“I do need you guys to do one thing,” I tell Lucy and Emily, ready to move on from the topic of sex that will never happen.
“Anything, just name it,” Lucy says eagerly.
“He’s going to say, babysit me,” Mel supplies morosely.
“Ding-ding-ding,” I agree.
“Don’t worry, I understand,” Mel tells me. “I gave Emily my phone earlier because my fingers were twitching from the urge to text Noah and tell him everything.”
“We are more than happy to babysit you, Mel,” Emily tells her. “I already canceled all of my classes for the rest of the day.”
“And I called Jonathon a long time ago and played the pregnancy card,” Lucy informs us. “Considering how often I’ve shown up despite feeling like death warmed over these last few months, the other hygienists were kind enough to agree to cover my afternoon cleanings between themselves.”
“What about your car, Nora?” Emily asks. “Does it need to be picked up from the shop?”
“Oh.” Nora fumbles around for her phone. “I forgot all about my car.” She lights the screen. “But I haven’t heard anything from the repair shop. Usually they call.”
“Okay.” Emily nods. “Well, let us know if you do hear something and need us to get it.”
“Wow, that’s really nice. Thank you. Thank you all.” Nora’s eyes shine with sincerity as she looks around the car. “I really don’t deserve–”
“No, no, no,” Mel interrupts her from the backseat. “No self-deprecating speeches for you, young lady. Murderer or not, we support you.” She cocks her head. “There’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.”
Nora lets out a single, relieved laugh, the pressure visibly draining from her body.
“Alright, we should go,” I say before things can get too emotional. We have got to keep our heads in the game. Or maze. Or whatever. I can’t keep up with all of the metaphors in my head.
We exit Lucy’s car and head toward mine. Her steps slow as we approach and I turn back to find her holding her phone to her ear.
“What’s up?” I mouth.
She holds up a finger, mouthing back, “One sec.”
“Yes, I was just calling to check on the status of my car,” I hear her say. She lists off her info then pauses to listen. “It’s not. Are you sure?” Another pause. “A tow truck should’ve brought it in.” Heavy sigh. “No, it’s not your fault. Thank you for your help.” She hangs up.
“Your car isn’t there?” I ask.
“Nope.” Concern lines her forehead.
“Maybe he took it somewhere else,” I suggest. “We’ll just call Kenny and ask.”
“Right. Yes, good idea. What was the name of the towing company again?”
After I’ve given it to her she dials the number.
“Total Towing,” I hear a loud voice answer her call. Nora explains the situation.
“Let me look into that for you, ma’am,” the voice booms, making Nora wince and pull the phone from her ear. “Kenny! Kenny!” We both hear the man holler. With a shake of her head, Nora switches the call to speaker and we both listen as Kenny’s voice comes on the line.
“What are you yelling about, Leroy! I was taking a nap.”
“This lady on the phone wants to know where you took her Chevy truck last night, ya meathead.” Leroy has lowered his voice and seems to think we can no longer hear him. “Said she called the place she told you to take it to and it’s not there. Gee whiz, Kenny, why do you always have to be such a moron?”
“Hey,” Kenny blares, not worried about volume control, “I’m not a moron. I took that car where the lady told me to. She got all snooty with me and told me to take it to Northview Auto Repair.”
“What? I did not!” Nora exclaims indignantly, forgetting that we’re not supposed to be privy to their conversation. A second later Leroy is on the line.
“Ma’am, I do apologize but it seems the car was taken elsewhere,” he drawls. “It’s mighty hard to get good help these days.”
“Good help!” Kenny is irate. “That’s some kind of uh way to talk about your own brother, Leroy. I did what the lady asked. She was all upset with me because I walked in on her smooching that security guy. I just wanted to double-check I was right about where to take the truck, and it’s a good thing I did, since she changed the location. Mind you, she wouldn’t even look at me, just started hollering about me taking the dang truck to Northview. Crazy lady. Seemed right pleasant when she first got there, butchya never can tell.”
“Kissing Frank?” Nora is aghast. “I did not…would never…someone was kissing Frank?”
“I’m awful sorry, ma’am,” Leroy says again. “But at least we’ve located your vehicle. Please be sure to remember Total Towing for all of your future towing needs.”
And with that Leroy hangs up.
“Oh my gosh, can you believe that?” she cries, looking at me. “Frank had a woman there! And Kenny thought it was me!”
“You know, I thought I saw someone move past a window on the upper floor when we first got there,” I muse. “Must’ve been Frank’s lady friend.”
“Do you think she has anything to do with all of this?” Nora makes a vague gesture to my garage, like it’s the new headquarters for our murder coverup.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I’m not sure what to think…unless…”
“Unless what?” she prods.
“Well, what if the woman was Connie Wharfman?”
“Connie Wharfman?” Nora’s mouth drops. “You think I look like Connie Wharfman?”
“Not from the front. And I guess she is a few inches shorter than you. But you two do have a similar build and shorter dark hair. I suppose I could see how, in the dark, from behind, he could mistake her for you.”
“Frank and Connie,” Nora murmurs, shaking her head at the thought.
“If he exposed her husband’s affair, I could see that driving her into his arms.”
Nora digests this.
“But if they were both at the office building, neither of them could’ve moved the body to my front yard, and didn’t we think she was involved with that somehow?”
“Maybe we were wrong,” I say with a shrug. “Or maybe it wasn’t Connie he was kissing.”
“Frank and Connie,” she repeats in dismay. I take her by the elbow and tug her forward.
“We still have a lot of unanswered questions,” I remind her. “Let’s stick to our original plan and go find Cleo.”
“Right, sure, of course,” she agrees, falling into step beside me, still looking shell-shocked.
We reach my car and I grab Nora’s door for her, then walk around back to my side and hop in. I’m settling in when Nora’s door opens back up.
“Where are you going?” I begin to ask, but the question dies on my lips as I see what she’s doing: retrieving a manila envelope from under the windshield wipers of my car. Silently she gets back in the car, envelope in hand. She turns it over in her hands. It’s unmarked, giving us no indication of what’s inside.
“Should I open it?” she asks, her voice a haggard whisper. Her hands, I notice, are starting to tremble, the envelope vibrating between her fingers.
“Or I can,” I offer and she nods, thrusting it at me with a force usually reserved for a dodgeball game. Recovering myself, I undo the clasp at the top, then turn the envelope upside down. Two photographs slide out. The first photo is covered by a yellow post-it that reads: missing something? Beneath the post-it is a picture of the sweatshirt I left behind on the fence. Nora gasps, but I’m only halfway through this reveal. I hurry to look at the second photo– also covered by a yellow post–it, one that reads: I know what you did…
I snatch the post-it off the photo and stare in shock at the up close image of myself driving Ian’s car.
I blow out a long, very relieved breath even as Nora lets out a loud squeak of dismay.