Gertie headed down the hallway, giant purse in tow, and I braced myself for whatever she had planned. I knew she was going to disable the toilet somehow, but neither Ida Belle nor I had been able to get her plan out of her. She said she wanted us to be as surprised as Peaches. None of that sounded particularly good.
Ida Belle asked Peaches about her mother, and about that time, Gertie came back into the living room, looking a little sheepish. “I’m afraid there’s a problem with your toilet, dear, and I couldn’t reach the shutoff valve…”
Peaches jumped up from the love seat and ran into the bathroom. She came out a couple seconds later, her shoes leaving wet footprints everywhere she stepped. “What happened?” she asked Gertie.
Gertie held up a sponge ball. “I fished this out of the bowl when I got in there. Then I thought I’d better make sure it was working properly before I used it, but I’m afraid this ball might have a friend that got lodged down there.”
Peaches sighed. “Barclay. I try not to let him out of my sight, but he’s like a tornado. He probably sneaked in there when I was cleaning fruit punch off the living room rug. I need to grab a mop, if you ladies will excuse me for a minute.”
“Um, if it’s not too much trouble,” Gertie said. “Is there another restroom I could use?”
“Oh!” Peaches said. “Of course. There’s one in the hallway upstairs.”
“Fortune,” Gertie said, “if you wouldn’t mind helping me up the stairs. My knee’s been giving me heck lately.”
“No problem,” I said, and jumped up from the chair. I grabbed Gertie’s arm and headed upstairs with her.
At the top of the stairs, there was a large game room with a hallway beyond it. The game room had an enormous television hanging on the wall. Below the television was a nice ornate entertainment center with an expensive stereo and two gaming consoles. A leather reclining sofa sat against the far wall facing the television. We headed past the television and couch and straight for the windows in the game room, but a large oak tree in Peaches’ backyard completely blocked the view. The next room on the back wall of the house was the bathroom, and it only had one small frosted window. The room after that was the master bedroom. Instead of windows, French doors led out onto a deck.
Gertie handed me her purse and I almost dropped it from the weight. “What the heck do you have in here?” I asked.
“Necessary stuff,” she said as she unzipped it and pulled a camera with a huge, zoom lens out. The purse got lighter, but not as light as I thought it should have. I didn’t even want to think about what kind of firepower was weighing it down.
“Go close the bathroom door,” Gertie said, “then head back to the landing and make sure Peaches doesn’t come up here.”
I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to keep Peaches from coming upstairs in her own house if she wanted to, but I figured there was no use worrying about it until it happened. Hopefully, the flooded bathroom floor would keep her occupied long enough for Gertie to get some pictures.
I closed the door to the hallway bathroom and headed back into the game room. I peered downstairs where I had a clear view of Ida Belle and gave her a thumbs-up. I headed over to the window in the game room and looked out again, trying to peer through the foliage and get a peek at the back of Nolan’s house, but the oak tree was simply too large and full to see through it. I glanced over to the left and spotted Gertie on the far end of the deck.
She lifted the camera, then lowered it and cursed. She squeezed as much as possible into the corner of the deck and leaned out over the railing, then lifted the camera again. Once again, she lowered it and cursed. Because of the big oak tree, I couldn’t see what was going on, but assumed something else between the lawns was impeding the view from the deck. It had been a good idea, but we might have to give the whole thing up.
I figured Gertie would head back inside and we’d find another avenue to investigate, but I should have known better. Not about to be deterred, she pulled a deck chair over, climbed up it and slung one leg over the railing. I grabbed the drapes and clenched, probably putting a set of wrinkles in them that would need an iron to remove it. No way was this going to end well.
I took off for the master bedroom, walking as fast as I could because running would echo downstairs. When I got to the bedroom, I hurried out the patio door, just in time to see Gertie lose her balance and fall off the railing.
Chapter 12
I ran across the deck, but the thud I’d expected never happened. I looked over the railing and saw Gertie lying in a thick shrub.
She held up the camera. “Didn’t even break it.”
“I’m more worried about you than the camera.” Camera lenses were a lot easier to repair than a broken bone.
“Is everything all right up there?” Peaches’ voice sounded from downstairs.
Holy crap!