If Hooks Could Kill

CHAPTER 26


Neither Dinah nor I knew anything about guns, and even though Adele claimed to be good at the shooting galleries in amusement parks, she was clueless about the real thing. Since we had no way of telling if it was loaded, no one wanted to touch it. Carrying it with the chopstick seemed a little risky because the chopstick was one of those disposable kinds you get at the grocery store and seemed like it might break at any moment.

“The Pinchy-Winchy might work,” I said. Dinah had borrowed the device to pick up some icky stuff in the corner of her garage and still had it. She went off to fetch it.

I had thought of calling Detective Heather, but nixed the idea. Instead of thinking we’d helped her, she might consider our having the gun as tampering with evidence.

“This ought to be better than the chopstick,” I said when Dinah returned with the Pinchy-Winchy. I positioned the open claw over the trigger guard and let the claw hand shut. Carefully, carefully I lifted the Pinchy-Winchy and the gun dangled from it as I held my arms out so that the gun was as far away from me as possible. Slowly, the three of us headed for the greenmobile. Nobody wanted to take over holding the gun, so I got in the backseat and Dinah drove. Adele had gone from freelance detective to CSI expert and kept looking back to make sure I was dangling the gun, so it wouldn’t hit the seat and smudge the prints.

By the time we pulled into my driveway, I was sweating. Dinah and Adele got out first and then I slid out holding the Pinchy-Winchy in front of me with the claw gripping the gun. Dinah led the way to the house, opening the gate to the backyard and then the kitchen door. Adele took up the rear.

“Barry,” I called loudly as soon as I was in the door. I yelled his name again, and said I needed him. I heard footsteps and then he was in the kitchen. He started to take in the scene, but his eye went right to the gun. I guess even though it was hanging upside down, it looked like it was pointed at him and his face went pale.

I realized he was having an automatic reaction that stemmed from his incident with the shoplifter so I quickly moved the Pinchy-Winchy so the gun wasn’t pointing at him anymore. Before I could explain, Adele stepped in. “I found the gun that killed Kelly Donahue.”

“I thought you’d know what to do with it,” I said. Barry’s color had returned and while shaking his head with disbelief, he told me to lay the gun carefully on the floor.

While he moved closer and crouched next to it, Adele poured out her story of how she’d figured it all out and then checked North’s trailer, not mentioning that she’d broken in.

Barry sat back on his heels and asked me to hand him a knife. He used it to pick up the gun without touching it as he continued to examine it. The head shaking started again and this time it was accompanied by a laugh.

“North Adams might have killed Kelly, but he didn’t do it with this. Sorry ladies, but this isn’t the murder weapon. This is Jake Blake’s gun from the show.”

“What?” I said. “I thought you told me fake guns always had an orange plug in them. And how do you know what Jake Blake’s gun looks like?” I said. Barry suddenly appeared sheepish.

“Okay, I admit it. I watch L.A. 911.” He looked up at the three of us. “Just to see what they get wrong—which is just about everything.” Barry pointed out the gun was a .357 Magnum six-inch barrel. “Everybody knows his initials are engraved on the handle,” he said, showing us the engraved JB. “I said fake guns have a plug in them, but they can’t very well film them with a bright orange thing on the end.”

He got a bamboo skewer from the kitchen and poked it inside the gun barrel. When he pulled it out, an orange plastic plug was hanging off of it. He stared at the three of us. We got more head shakes. And then Barry’s gaze rested on me. “How do you manage to get in so much trouble?” I was relieved to see he said it with a smile. “I’m going to miss all the comic relief.” He looked at the gun still lying on the floor with the red and yellow handled Pinchy-Winchy next to it. “I hope you have a plan for getting it back where it belongs.” He started to leave the room. “Don’t worry. I didn’t see anything.”

I didn’t want my fingerprints on the prop gun, so I picked it up with a pencil and dropped it in a plastic bag. Adele was already backing toward the door. “I can’t go back there.” It wasn’t until she was outside in the yard that she realized her car was parked back by Dinah’s house and she couldn’t make a hasty exit.

“Cutchykins can’t know I had anything to do with this,” Adele said with a worried tone. “I’m not giving up my detective career, no matter what he says, but he can’t know about this.”

I drove us back to Dinah’s and as soon as I pulled in front of her house, Adele had the door open. She started to walk toward her Matrix, but then stopped and appeared to have a soul-searching moment before she turned back and rejoined us. “I can’t bail on you. We’re the three musketeers.”

As we looked down the dark street, we could see the night filming was still going on. It was hard to miss the tall crane with the bright light illuminating the area. I imagined Nanci Silvers grumbling in her house since the light probably was shining in her back windows as well. Eric was sitting atop his motorcycle facing away from us.

Adele had a plan. I didn’t really trust her plans, but we had limited time and she was the one who knew the lay of things and where exactly the gun had come from. It seemed that while Eric was guarding the north end of the street, no one was really watching the south end. We walked around the block past the Donahue house and Nanci Silvers’ and came around the other way. Just as Adele had said, it was all quiet on that end of the production. North’s trailer was parked away from the action in front of the middle school.

“This should be easy,” I whispered as we looked ahead toward the luxury RV dressing room. Adele pushed the plastic card toward me.

“I can’t go back in there,” she said sounding panicky. “If anything happens and I get caught, I’ll lose cutchykins.”

“Well, I can’t go in there,” I said. “If anything happens and I get caught, my son will lose a big client.”

Dinah grabbed the plastic card. “I’ll do it,” she said, wrapping her long scarf around her neck several times so it wouldn’t trail her. Adele gave her the details of how to open the door and where to put the gun and I handed my friend the plastic bag. Adele and I went back into the shadows and Dinah slipped quickly toward the door. I could barely make out her figure as she worked on the door. Then the shiny metal caught the reflection of a streetlamp as the door opened and closed.

I could feel my fast pulse throbbing in my neck and my mouth went dry. I kept my eye trained on the door, waiting for it to open and for Dinah to come out. Seconds turned to minutes and still the door stayed shut. Something was wrong.

“You can’t leave,” I said in a loud whisper. Adele had come out of the shadows and was looking down the street toward the filming zone. The lights were still illuminating the area, but the way everyone was milling around, it was obvious they were taking some kind of break. A catering truck had pulled up to the curb and was dispensing food. “Dinah has been in North’s trailer too long. We have to do something.”

“Not me.” She edged away, but I grabbed her arm.

“You just stay put and keep your eyes open, if somebody comes down this way, stop them. I don’t care what you have to do,” I said. She groaned with unhappiness, but followed my order.

“Pink, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not going to leave her in there.” I started walking toward the trailer. I couldn’t worry about Peter and his client. Whatever happened happened, even if he never spoke to me again. I had to help Dinah.

I used a plastic coffee card to unlock the door and opened it slowly. It was dark inside. I stepped in and pulled the door behind me without making a sound. I heard Dinah making psst sounds, then her hand grabbed my ankle. She was sitting under a table, still holding the plastic bag. I got on my knees next to her.

“What’s—” Dinah’s hand clamped over my mouth as she used the other to point toward the back. I could see a line of light coming from underneath a door and there was noise coming from inside. I took the plastic bag and pointed her toward the exit. I stood up and dumped the gun on the first surface I felt. Dinah was already out of the RV and I was about to follow when the door in the back opened and I was caught in a flood of light. North was standing wrapped in a towel.

“Hey there, stop,” he said as I tried to make a run for it. Here goes nothing, I thought turning back toward him. What could I possibly say? I opened my mouth, hoping something smart would come out.

North didn’t seem the slightest concerned that he was standing there almost naked. He looked me over and smiled. “I had a break and I thought I’d take a shower and freshen up,” he said gesturing toward the towel. He lowered his lids into his smoldering-eyes look and added a sexy smile. “I knew you had the hots for me. I knew it that first time you gave me the ride.” He pointed toward himself. “North is never wrong about women. Though I have to say, most women your age—well, they’re past sneaking in trailers. But no problem.” He gestured toward the couch.

Was he really talking about himself in the third person? I smiled demurely as I backed away. “You’re right. That’s it. I’m here because I think you’re so hot. But I really can’t stay. I shouldn’t have come. It’s so wrong.” I was babbling now as I moved closer and closer to the exit. He followed me and urged me to stay, but I was out of there in a flash.

Dinah and Adele were waiting for me and the three of us clasped hands and ran back the way we’d come. We were laughing and talking, all a product of our nerves. By the time we were passing the Donahue house, I had a pain in my side and we stopped to catch our breath. We just missed getting hit by a car pulling into the driveway. Dinah pulled Adele and me into the shadows as Dan got out of the driver’s side. He opened the trunk and took out a box. I was going to say something to him, but instead of walking toward his house, he headed for Nanci Silvers’.

The three of us watched as she opened the door and he went inside.

What was that about?