“Do as much as you can at the courthouse before you take off,” the chief said.
“What about Phinny’s house?” Horace asked. “Don’t you want me to work on that, too? “
“Yes,” the chief said. He was rubbing his forehead as if all of this wasn’t helping his head. “We did a basic search after Rob reported the vandalism, of course,”
“But that was before you realized the vandalism was actually a burglary,” Horace said. “And that the burglar stole a gun that later became a murder weapon.”
“It calls for a whole new level of effort,” the chief said. “But I think we need to seal Mr. Throckmorton’s house so you can focus on the courthouse. Phinny’s not moving home anytime soon—at least we hope he isn’t—and we need to turn the courthouse inside out before we let FPF back in. Or perhaps I can ask the SBI for some help. Anything else?”
Randall shook his head. So did Ms. Ellie and Rob.
I realized there was just one thing bothering me. I kept thinking, “Why now?”
Chapter 21
“What do you mean ‘why now?’” Randall asked.
I started slightly. I hadn’t realized that I’d said it aloud. They were all looking at me.
“Mr. Throckmorton has been in the basement for over a year,” I said. “And the Evil Lender in possession of the courthouse for the whole of that time. Why wait till now to frame him for murder?”
“Somebody high up got tired of waiting?” Rob suggested.
“Maybe,” I said. “But there have been a lot of other things lately. They hire a new security service. They hire a PI. They bring in a hawk to attack Mr. Throckmorton’s pigeons. They maybe even burgle his house. From what I can see they’ve sent down quite a few more FPF personnel. Colleen Brown hadn’t been here that long, had she?”
“About a month,” Randall said. “And yeah, they do have more suits in town now. You saying you know what they’re up to?”
“No, just that it seems a lot’s going on all of a sudden. I’m not sure we should just assume somebody got fed up. Why now? What happened?”
“Maybe it’s something that’s going to happen,” Randall said. “There’s a big court date coming up that has Festus and his legal team working long hours.”
“Tell me about it,” I said. “They’re up on the third floor, you know. Their lights are already on when I get up, and still on when I stagger off to bed, so I figured something big was coming up. Is it in our suit against the ex-mayor or the ongoing battle with the Evil Lender?”
Randall looked sheepish.
“I’ll ask Festus,” he said.
“It’s a good question, actually,” the chief said. He was leaning back in his chair with his fingers steepled, looking noticeably more awake than a few minutes ago. “All of you, give it some thought. What’s happened recently, and what’s happening soon.”
We all nodded.
“And if you think of anything, don’t try to act on it,” he said. “Come and tell me.”
“Any objection if Meg tries to use her friendly contact with that PI fellow to pick his brains?” Randall asked.
The chief winced, but he shook his head. Suddenly he looked tired again. And then he set his jaw and stood up.
“I’m so beat I can’t think straight,” he said. “Yes, if you run across information that might help me solve this case, I want to know it. I’d be happier if you’d all stick to running the festival and doing legal battle against FPF and leave me to solve the murder, but I’m not hoping for miracles here. Just try not to do anything illegal or anything that’s going to paint a bull’s-eye on your back if the killer notices you doing it.”
He nodded good-bye and strode out of the room.
A few moments of silence followed his departure.
“So, Meg,” Randall said. “You’ll track down the PI and see what he has to say.”
“Assuming Rose Noire can wrangle the festival in my absence,” I said.
“I’ll do some data mining to see if I can come up with any more answers to that ‘why now?’ question,” Ms. Ellie went on.
“I’ll talk to Festus,” Randall said. “And I’m going to check out this new guard company a little more carefully.”
“Why?” Ms. Ellie asked.
“Those clowns don’t behave like any normal guard service I’ve ever heard of,” he said. “All this saluting and siring.”
“Seems a little over the top,” I agreed.
“Couple of my cousins have worked as guards, unarmed or armed,” Randall said. “Talked to one of them earlier today, and he also thinks they sound pretty bogus. More like some kind of nutcase paramilitary group than a professional security outfit. He recommended I check with the Department of Criminal Justice Services—that’s the state agency that regulates security companies. See if they’re really operating legitimately.”