She had a point. Bea shrugged and continued staring out the window. “We have to find the clue. Let’s worry about that when we find it.”
Penny pulled the car over to the side of the road and parked. “I suppose we should get out and have a look around. But it sure is dark up here.”
“This road looks familiar. These houses do too,” Bea mused as she climbed out of the car and glanced around. “What street is it again?”
Penny huffed. “I don’t know. I was trying not to crash. I didn’t read the sign. But I did see the stork.”
“Great work, honey,” Taya said, patting her arm.
Penny laughed. “Thanks.”
Evie jogged back to where the stork stood vigil beneath a streetlamp. “Here’s the clue… It’s taking us back to the inn. It’s time for supper and dancing.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Taya said. “I’m about to drop from exhaustion.”
Bea laughed. “Me too. I’m too old to spend the entire night traipsing all over town. I had no idea we’d be doing so much running.”
“And what about that rock climbing? I’m going to have a word with Charmaine when I see her,” Taya replied. “She should’ve warned us to wear pants!”
Penny scanned the road one way, then the other. “Wait… Hey, I know where we are. This is Buck’s street.”
Evie was puffing lightly from her jog back to join them. “Oh, yeah. That’s right. It is.”
“Really?” Taya shivered, hugging herself.
“He’s not a murderer anymore. I mean, he never was. I guess.” Penny inhaled a quick breath. “It’s all very confusing.”
“Penny’s right. There’s no need to be afraid of him now that we know the truth,” Bea said. “When we visited Buck before, he was nice to us. He’s an old man who likes to garden and bake and whose sister killed someone fifty years ago. We can’t hold that against him, can we? Plus, he’s been investigated repeatedly, harassed, and then arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. Maybe we should say hi. It can’t hurt.”
Taya and Evie exchanged a look. Taya nodded. “Sure, okay. Why not?”
Evie forced a smile. “I don’t mind, if that’s what you want to do. Do you have a torch in your car, Penny? I can’t even see where to step.”
“Sorry, I should add one to my glove box. I have them in my work trucks, but not this car.”
“It’s fine. We’ll hold hands and walk slowly,” Taya said, reaching for Penny. “The last thing we need is for you to trip on something and fall.”
Bea took Evie’s hand, and the four of them set off down the street, walking slowly and watching carefully where they placed their feet.
“Do you think the others have already been here?”
“Definitely,” Evie replied. “The cardboard with the clue was pretty tattered and lying on the ground next to the stork rather than in its beak, where there was some tape flapping about.”
“Oh, darn. We’re not going to win,” Bea replied. “And the fact that we’re the only ones here means we’re probably last, then.”
“Never mind,” Taya said. “We’ll head back in a minute and tear up the dance floor. We don’t need a silly prize—we’ve got moves.”
“It was a holiday in Airlie Beach,” Bea replied.
“Yeah, we can go there any time we want on the ferry,” Evie said in a defiant tone. “We don’t need it.”
“You’re right,” Bea said. “We’ve got each other.”
“The Fabulous Four, back together again,” Penny said.
They stopped outside Buck’s house, and Penny knocked on his front door. The porch light was on, and a soft glow emitted through the curtains at the front window. The door opened, and Buck stood there in a pair of jeans and a shirt with a spatula in his hand.
“Hi,” he said, offering a confused smile. “Everything okay?”
