“Well, I wasn’t presuming to tell you how to practice your art.”
“If you’re good enough for New York Times best-selling author Gage Caldwell, you’re good enough for me.” In a spontaneous gesture, Summer reached across the table and covered Mrs. Heigl’s hand. Lucille’s. “You’re the best.”
“Oh psshaw. I’m just me.”
“Your me is pretty great.” Summer watched Myrna scurry around several tables and come their way. “Dessert?”
“It’s almost dinner time.” Mrs. Heigl checked her watch. “Oh who cares. Yes. Pie all around.”
Lucille ordered lemon meringue. Summer ordered chocolate cream and flipped to a fresh page in her art book.
“Tell me those family names again. As many as you recall.”
“Oh, we’ll be here until closing.”
“I don’t have any place to be.”
“Coincidentally, neither do I.” Her infectious laugh encouraged Summer’s mood.
Dessert disappeared and still they talked.
&&&&&&&&&&&
Tom kept his disgust to himself and took out a flashlight. Mia took one from her pocket and clicked it on. He raised a brow at her, about to order her back to the car.
“It helps you catch things you miss with the naked eye,” she intoned as if reading from a book.
The simple statement reminded him why he was including her. He walked carefully around the gazebo. The white posts and steepled roof were decorated with white lights that stood out in the cloudy day. The planked floor of the structure had been swept clean. A slight whiff of lemon in the air told him they’d wiped all the surfaces.
“Sergeant Applegate?”
Mia stood in the grass with her flashlight focused on the ground.
He hustled to her side. The wind whipped around them and tossed the musty smell of dirt and grass through the air.
A trail stood out. Since the park was on the winter mow schedule, it hadn’t been serviced in more than a week causing the outline to be plain as day.
Mia flicked her flashlight over the tracks. “Wheels. Wheelbarrow? Wagon?
Tom stooped to inspect the deep grooves. “Wheelbarrow. Santa’s too big for anything else.”
Mia moved on to shine her light on leaves. “They may have covered him with these to hide him.”
“I agree.” Tom followed the trail through a block of the park to the curb on Walnut Drive by the baseball field. The bank across the street might have gotten a view with their cameras. The courthouse was further along the street, but they’d check.
“They had a vehicle here, don’t you think?” Mia studied the street like a pro. He couldn’t decide whether it was something she came by naturally or whether she watched too much television. “Here comes Detective Vogel.”
Tom waited for the detective to reach him. “Here, then not,” he called to her.
“I’m behind on the latest.”
“Mia explain.” Tom left them talking and paced both directions to the corners and back to the center again, crossing the street to check, too.
“Nothing?” Carmen stepped into the street, coming back from walking the line through the grass again with Mia.
“Nothing. Except the bank camera.” Tom kept the snap out of his tone, but he was not amused.
Carmen crossed her arms and widened her stance as if ready to give a lecture. “So let me get this straight. Had to be more than one. Correct?”
