Double Trouble Read online

  “What about Jodi’s laptop? It isn’t here anymore.”

  “They took that in and had it checked out. Didn’t find anything on it that raised any flags so they returned it to the family.”

  “Any chance I could take a look at it?” Alan said.

  “I don’t see why not. I’ll see if I can arrange it with her parents.”

  “Does Nick have some sort of mechanical experience? That hidden wall he built is amazing.”

  “He told me he found the plans for that online. Said it was pretty easy to construct and that it only took him a few days. I think he’s being overly modest, to tell you the truth. I have a mechanical background and was impressed with the design. But it’s one thing to design something and quite another to put it into practice.”

  Ken opened the briefcase and said, “Our first plan of action is to find out if anybody can confirm that Jodi gave Nick her grandmother’s coins over the holidays. Nick says he can’t recall ever telling anybody about it, nor did Jodi ever mention it to her parents. But there’s a chance she could have told somebody. We need to talk to everyone who was in close contact with her—friends, coworkers, neighbors, any possible boyfriends, etc. We need to track them down and see if we can find out about those coins and anything else relevant to this case.”

  “I could do that,” Amanda offered, looking at Alan. “If that’s okay.”

  “Go for it. You’re familiar with the town and may even know some of her acquaintances,” Alan said.

  “Can you think of any other ways we could help corroborate Nick’s story?” Ken asked Alan.

  “According to the coroner’s report, Jodi was murdered between 9:00 AM and noon. So the only time Nick could possibly have murdered her was shortly after he talked to her on his cellphone. If we could somehow prove he was nowhere near this place that morning, it would certainly help our case.”

  “How do you propose doing that?”

  “I want to interview the neighbors living around here again. Although the report says the sheriff’s department has already canvassed the area, maybe they didn’t ask the right questions. For example did somebody actually see Nick’s car that morning? Or is that indeed nothing more than a rumor?”

  “That’s an excellent idea.”

  Ken pulled out a stack of papers from his briefcase. “These are transcripts of my interviews with Jodi’s and Nick’s parents concerning the case. I’ve made copies so you can study them at your convenience.”

  He handed the documents to Alan. Alan scanned through them and then recalled something.

  “I have a question regarding autopsy procedure. How thoroughly do they test for sexual activity? For instance, can they determine if any oral sex was involved?”

  “From what I know, they swab for the presence of semen in all orifices of the body. If there’s anything there, they will find it.”

  “What if the killer used a condom?”

  “Although there would be no sign of semen, they would also look for any signs of trauma such as bruising that might have resulted from sex acts. I suggest you ask the coroner—he could tell you a lot more about it than I can.”

  “I may do that.”

  “Well, I say we go get something to eat.”

  “And a drink,” Alan added. He could certainly use one.

  After dinner, Ken suggested that Amanda and Alan stay at his place since he had three extra bedrooms and they could avoid staying in a motel. They agreed and spent the rest of the evening having drinks and hanging out in their host’s comfortable family room. When it was time to retire for the night Alan and Amanda slept in separate bedrooms after a good-night kiss outside Amanda’s room.

  As he lay in bed, Alan reflected on the case and how unusual the day had been. He had trouble falling asleep, and when at last he drifted off, he had a dream about Julie. By the end of the dream Julie’s face had somehow become Amanda’s face.

  CHAPTER 7

  Alan awoke to the clatter of dishes coming from downstairs. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was eight-thirty. He arose, slipped into his jeans and headed for the kitchen.

  “Good morning,” Amanda said as he entered the room. “Did you sleep well?”

  “Like a log. Where’s your uncle?”

  “He had to go take a deposition from one of his clients. He’s letting me use his Jeep to get around in. Want some coffee?”

  “Thanks,” he replied.

  Amanda got out a coffee mug and poured him a cup.

  “I’m having cereal—you want some, too?”

  “Sounds good. I’ll make the toast.”

  “So what’s the plan for the day?” she asked.

  “First, I want to go get that computer from Jodi’s folks. You know where they live?”

  She nodded. “I asked Uncle Ken and he left the address. It’s not far from here.”

  “Let’s go there together so you can do the introductions. After I get the computer, we’ll split up. I’m going back out to God’s country to canvass Jodi’s neighbors. In the meantime you can be trying to track down Jodi’s friends and possibly visit the salon where she worked to see what you can find out.”

  “Okay.”

  As they sat down to eat breakfast, Alan felt awkward. Now that they were beginning their new relationship as partners in investigation, he detected an unmistakable formality in Amanda’s demeanor. He sensed that she wanted to act professional now—either to impress him with her dedication to the work at hand or simply because it would be easier to proceed that way. This was exactly what he had dreaded happening while contemplating their new partnership.

  Would they be able to work together and simply put their budding romantic relationship on the back burner? Business now, pleasure later? Or would this partnership spell the end to their budding romance?

  Was there even a romance budding for that matter?

  He didn’t know the answer to any of these questions.

  “Are you looking forward to all of this?” he asked.

  She smiled. “I am—much more than I ever thought I would. It feels really good knowing that we’re doing something to help out Nick. That means a lot to me. I’m thrilled to actually be part of the hunt. It’s awesome!”

  “That’s great. So let me ask you something that’s been sort of bothering me. Do you think this could mess us up somehow?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know, as a couple, or whatever you’d call us.”

  There, he’d said it.

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, that’s what you mean! I actually haven’t given it that much thought. I mean—I figure we are what we are already. And I definitely like what we are. This collaboration or whatever you want to call it is something new we’re going to do together, as a team. So what could be wrong with that? We’ll be able to spend more time together and get to know each other better. I think that’s wonderful.”

  Alan felt a huge wave of relief. Her way of rationalizing things was always refreshing and unexpected.

  “Gotta say, I’m thrilled to hear you say that. I guess I’ve been over-thinking all of this, which I tend to do. It sometimes gets me in trouble.”

  “Over-thinking probably goes with this line of work, doesn’t it?”

  “I guess you could say that. But sometimes it’s best just to keep things simple.”

  “Missed sleeping with you last night,” she winked.

  “Me, too. Guess we gotta keep up appearances for your uncle, right?”

  “Most definitely. He’s as old school as they get and the last thing he wants to see is his favorite niece playing house with the hired help.”

  “Afraid you’d say something like that.”

  After cleaning up the kitchen and letting the dog out, they showered, dressed and left the house. Amanda led the way to the Brooks residence while Alan followed behind.

  The drive only took a few minutes. Alan parked the Pilot and then joined Amanda as she led the way to the Brooks’ front door.

&
nbsp; A man wearing a suit and tie answered. “Good morning,” he greeted. “Come inside.”

  They followed Mr. Brooks inside and were led to the living room. Mrs. Brooks was tidying up the coffee table and smiled as they entered the room.

  “Hello, Mandy. My, I haven’t seen you in years! Your mother used to bring you in the shop when you were a little girl.”

  “I remember now—you used to work at Martin’s Gift shop, didn’t you?”

  “I did indeed. Worked there right up to the last day in fact, when they had to shut down.”

  Amanda hugged her. “I am so sorry about Jodi, Mrs. Brooks. She was a sweet girl.”

  “Thank you, dear.”

  “This is Alan Swansea.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she said. “Ken Barker told me he’s hired you to investigate. I sure hope you can find whoever did this.”

  “We’re going to do the best we can, Mrs. Brooks.”

  “Please, sit down.”

  “I have a couple of questions I’d like to ask you, if you don’t mind,” Alan said.

  “Of course.”

  “Is there any way Nick Wilburn could be involved in this?” he asked.

  “Absolutely not. Nick and Jodi’s relationship goes all the way back to when they were in middle school. They’ve been inseparable ever since. Or had been,” she corrected herself.

  “How did Nick react to Jodi’s insistence to end everything when she found out about his affair? Did he accept it, or was he resentful?”

  Alan saw Amanda out of the corner of his eye, glaring at him. No doubt baffled and perturbed about this line of questioning.

  “Well, he wasn’t thrilled about it, I can tell you that. Nor were Hank and I for that matter. We’ve always adored Nick and thought our daughter was wrong not to give him a second chance. But Jodi was a proud, stubborn girl. Zero tolerance would be the best way to describe her feelings about philandering husbands.

  “With that said, Nick was of course hurt and couldn’t believe that Jodi wanted to break it off, just like that. But from what she told me since, Nick had always acted like a gentleman whenever they spoke to each other. She even admitted that she might have been wrong to end it without at least trying to reconcile. We were both praying she would one day change her mind, weren’t we, Herb?”

  He nodded. “Yes, for what good that ever did.”

  “Do you know if Jodi ever dated anybody after the divorce?”

  “Not to my knowledge. She called me every day and never once mentioned anything about a boyfriend or any guy friends at all. She said on more than one occasion that she was through with men, would probably die an old maid and be just fine with it. Nick had been the only man in her life.”

  “Who all did she hang out with?” Amanda asked.

  “She had a couple of close friends that I know of: Jillian Weathers and Summer Moore. She would always be with one or the other whenever she went out, which wasn’t often. Jodi was a bona fide homebody—came into town to work at the salon and do her shopping then drove back out to her home on the west side. She seemed to be happy just reading or crafting, hanging around her home living a quiet life.”

  “Could you tell me where those two gals live?” Amanda asked.

  “Sure. Summer lives on Oakland Lane and last I heard, Jillian’s living with some man in the Sunset Apartments.”

  Amanda texted the information on her iPhone. “Thank you.”

  “I was told you have Jodi’s laptop. Would you mind if I borrow it for a few days?” Alan inquired.

  “Sure, I’ll go get it for you,” Mr. Brooks said. “But the police have already examined it and said they didn’t find anything of significance.”

  “I understand, but I’d still like to borrow it—I know somebody who can give the hard drive a thorough going over.”

  Mr. Brooks left the room. Mrs. Brooks said, “I appreciate what you two are doing to help find Jodi’s murderer. We have been devastated by all of this, and having the police think that Nick was involved has made it even worse. He’s a good man and doesn’t deserve any of this. And with his mother’s poor health and all—well, it’s just not right.”

  “We’ll get to the bottom of this, Mrs. Brooks,” Amanda assured her.

  “I hope so.”

  “Do you know where Jodi’s car is?” Alan asked.

  “Hank parked it out back. Jodi loved that car and Hank was afraid it might get stolen or vandalized out there with nobody in the house.”

  “Did the police check it out?”

  “I believe so. I’ll ask him when he gets back.”

  “Mind if I take a look at it?”

  “Not at all. Hank, dear—did the police investigate Jodi’s Volkswagen?”

  Hank had just entered the room and handed Alan the laptop. “Yeah. Checked for fingerprints and all that. Told me it was okay to bring it here.”

  Alan didn’t recall anything in the police report about the car.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like to take a quick look at it,” he told Hank.

  “Sure, it’s around back. C’mon—I’ll get the key.”

  He followed Hank to the kitchen where he removed a set of keys from a ceramic bowl sitting on the counter.Alan followed him out the back door to a silver VW Passat Cabriolet that looked like it just came off the showroom floor.

  “This little car was her ‘baby,’ as she called it. She really liked the thing.”

  Alan noticed Hank Brooks tear up as he unlocked the door. He tried to imagine how hard it must be for this nice couple to lose their only child so tragically.

  “There you go. I’m going back inside—just lock her up when you’re done.”

  “Will do, thanks.”

  Alan stepped in and sat down in the driver’s seat. The black leather interior was as immaculate as the exterior of the little German car. He smelled the faint scent of perfume and it dawned on him that only a week ago Jodi had most likely been sitting right where he sat now, listening to the stereo with a big smile on her face. The vibe of her death suddenly engulfed him, filling him with a dull, indescribable sadness. How could someone so young and so loved be taken away so violently?

  He had to find out who did this.

  He poked around in the console and glove compartment and found nothing but the owner’s manual, a box of tissues, some loose change and a couple of country rock CD’s. He peeked between the seats and saw nothing but a clean carpet. After checking under the visors and under the seats he searched the rear compartment but found nothing.

  Alan popped the trunk and looked inside. The entire area looked as though it had just been detailed. He lifted up the carpet covering the spare tire compartment and saw a jack and the temporary spare. He was about to replace the carpet when he noticed a small piece of black plastic sticking out from under the spare tire. He took out his pocketknife and managed to fish the object out.

  It was a memory card. Either the police had never looked here or the trip into town had jostled it out from under the tire and into plain sight.

  He pocketed the SD card, closed the trunk, locked up the car and went back inside. When he returned to the living room, Mrs. Brooks was telling Amanda about Jodi’s funeral.

  “Did Jodi have a camera?” he asked, handing the keys to Mr. Brooks.

  “Yes, she did. A very expensive digital one,” he replied. “It was in her car so I brought it inside.”

  Alan pulled out the memory card from inside his pocket. “Found this in the trunk under the spare tire. Could you get her camera so we can take a look?”

  “I’ll be back.”

  “I wonder how the cops missed that,” Amanda said accusingly.

  “They never removed the spare tire—that much is pretty obvious.”

  “How do you suppose it ended up there?”

  “I’d like to know. Jodi was apparently very neat and orderly. Seems unlikely that this thing could find its way under the trunk carpet and into the tire compartment.”

  “Oh, sh
e was an absolute neat freak,” Mrs. Brooks said. “Got that from her father.”

  Mr. Brooks returned and handed Alan a camera bag. He opened it up and took out a Canon EOS Digital SLR. He switched it on and reviewed the images on the camera’s LCD. There were several shots of a parade—probably taken during the Fourth of July. He clicked through about a dozen or so frames until he reached the last one.

  He removed the card and replaced it with the card he had just found. To his dismay, the second card was empty.

  “Either it’s been erased or it’s a new backup card,” he mumbled. “Guess that ends that mystery.”

  He examined the camera case for more memory cards but came up short. He was about to put the camera back into the case when he suddenly thought of something. He removed the card and looked over at Amanda.

  “Maybe this card wasn’t used in the camera. It could have been used for file storage on a different device instead.”

  “That’s possible,” Amanda nodded.

  “We’ll see if your uncle has a card reader and check it out,” Alan said.He stuck the card in his pocket and said, “Well, I guess we should get going. Thanks for all of your help.”

  “And thank you,” Mrs. Brooks said.

  After the shaking of hands and more hugs, they were shown to the door.

  On the way to their cars, Alan handed the memory card to Amanda. “If you get back to your uncle’s before I do, see if there’s anything on this, okay?”

  “No problem. You heading out to the west side now?”

  Alan nodded.

  “Guess I’ll go see if I can find those girls. Oakland Lane is only a few minutes away.”

  “Give me a call if you find anything out.”

  “Will do. See you later.”

  As he pulled away, Alan called Charlie Ling’s number.

  “Hey Charlie, what’s up?”

  “Not much, haven’t heard from you in a while,” the Asian-American computer wiz said.

  “Really not much happening lately. Listen, I’ve got a Dell laptop that I need thoroughly checked out. Any chance you could do that for me?”

  “Yeah, but I hope you’re not in a hurry. I’m really busy.”