And Then She Was Gone(53)
“How do you know where she lives?”
“I Googled it,” Jack said. “She lives in Morton’s Hill. It’s that house next to where we’d go sledding.”
“The little yellow ranch with the tall bushes?”
“Yeah.”
Chandler pointed at Jack’s dirt map. “So it would have been faster for her to walk due east and head straight home than go back south to her work?”
“Very good, Watson.”
“Then why did we find her body in the middle of the park?”
Jack shrugged. “That’s the million-dollar question.”
“Look.” Chandler sighed. “I don’t think we should be doing this. No good can come from us sticking our noses where they don’t belong. Leave it to the cops.”
“I would, except the cops aren’t looking anymore. They think Jay is guilty. Once they charge someone, they’re done looking.”
“Then that’s Jay’s problem. I’m not getting jammed up because of him,” Chandler said.
“That’s why I told you to stay home.”
“Not gonna happen. You go, I go.”
Jack stood up. “I want to check out her work. Did you call Makayla’s cousin? Is everything cool?”
“Makayla called her, but I don’t think this is your smartest idea. Lori’s just the receptionist. She didn’t work with Stacy or anything.”
“I only want to talk to her. We’ll take her to lunch. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Jack parked in front of the office building that housed H.T. Wells. Built in the 1960s, the brick building had been recently remodeled to house shops on the first floor, with the four floors above dedicated to office space. H.T. Wells had the top two floors to themselves. It must be a nice place to work, Jack thought—great views of the park.
Chandler craned his neck out the window to look up at the building. “Why don’t we wait until she’s off work?”
“Let’s just go up and ask her if she wants to go to lunch. That way we get a look around inside, too.”
“No. There is absolutely no way. I promised Makayla we wouldn’t get Lori in trouble. Besides, I hate to break this to you, but you can’t look around inside. Not even if you were a cop, and you’re not.”
“I’m not pretending to be a cop—”
“Then why did you put on your police academy shirt?”
Jack looked down at his blue and white t-shirt with the police academy logo. “It’s the only clean thing I had in the car. It was in my gym bag.”
“You could have borrowed a shirt.”
“One of your shirts would look like a muumuu on me. I look good in this.” Jack turned in his seat to face Chandler. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got this. I’ve been reading and watching cop shows since I can remember.”
“So has Mrs. Franklin next door, but she’s still a little old grandmother. It doesn’t make her a detective.”
Jack stared out the windshield. The silence in the car became thick.
“Look.” Chandler rapped his knuckles against the door panel. “I know you—you keep going and you don’t quit. Sometimes, Jack, that’s not a good thing. Most of the time it just ticks people off and gets you in trouble.”
“I’ll be right out. Fifteen minutes.”
Chandler’s eyebrows went in opposite directions; one dropped heavily on the lid while the other arched high. “Are you even listening? And why are we risking this? For J-Dog? I thought you can’t stand him.”
“I can’t.”
Chandler huffed. “You know the rules, Jack. You get in trouble and we’re screwed as far as the recruiter goes. One call to the cops could make them take a second look at us.”
“Stay here.”
“That’s not happening.”
“I’m serious. It would look weird both of us going in anyway.”
“I’m not waiting here. You go, I go. That’s the deal. Besides, I promised Makayla.”
Jack opened the door.
“Hey.” Chandler grabbed Jack’s arm. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Come on. It’s me you’re talking about.” Jack got out of the car.
“That’s why I’m saying it.”
They took the elevator up to the fourth floor. The doors opened onto a posh reception area. A hallway led off to the right, and to the left was a waiting area with leather couches and marble coffee tables covered with glossy magazines. Directly across from the elevator stood a long reception desk with a floating glass counter, silver accents, and teak wood. A vase of summer flowers in full bloom added a colorful dash to the dark-brown wood. Jack wrinkled his nose. The fresh flowers mixed with the synthetic smell of carpet cleaner produced an odd odor.