“Sounds fun,” I said, forcing the cheerfulness in my voice.
“Great! See you at four.”
I’d just have to figure out how to live until tomorrow afternoon.
I’d started looking up employees’ phone numbers in the phone book when I heard the sirens in the distance, coming closer to the house.
My cell phone rang in my purse. I picked it up, surprised to see Joe’s number.
“I’m sorry,” was all he said.
The sirens stopped out front. What did he do?
The police pounded on the door and shouted for me to come out with my hands up. Muffy whimpered next to my leg. “It’s okay, girl,” I said as I rubbed her head, positive it wasn’t. I opened the kitchen door.
Five of Henryetta’s finest greeted me at the door. Apparently, it was a slow crime day.
“Keep your hands up where we can see them,” one of them shouted.
I walked out with my hands in the air, fuming. I could wring Joe McAllister’s neck with my bare hands. Then the Henryetta police department would really have a reason to arrest me.
“Ms. Gardner, we have reason to believe you murdered Sloan Cooper on Wednesday night and the murder weapon is on your premises. Do you give us permission to search your property?”
My heart skipped a beat and my head got fuzzy. Joe had planted the gun on Thursday night. He set me up all along. I was too angry to be hurt. I could be hurt later. “Where exactly do you want to search?”
“Your shed.”
I knew I should call Deanna, but I didn’t have time to waste. It was already five o’clock and I had to be at The Trading Post at ten. It could take Deanna an hour to get here. Besides, I knew the gun wasn’t there. “Sure.”
Joe stood on his front porch, gawking like all the other neighbors. The look on his face when he heard me give approval was priceless. I gave him a cold hard stare.
Muffy whimpered in the doorway.
“It’s okay, girl,” I said. She was unconvinced and paced back and forth at my feet. I addressed the closest officer. “Can I put my hands down now? You’re making my dog nervous.”
He turned me around and patted me down. “Yeah.”
Several police officers had already opened the shed and were removing items, tossing them into the yard.
Muffy came out of the house and stood by me, whining. I leaned down and petted her head.
“May I ask why you think I did this?”
“An anonymous tip.”
“Yeah, I bet it was anonymous,” I muttered under my breath. “I have an alibi for that night. I stayed the night at my sister’s.”
“Are you making a statement?” the officer asked, surprised.
“Take it for what you will.”
The crowd on the sidewalk grew quickly. You would have thought it was the second coming of Jesus from the rapt attention the people were giving my shed. By that point, the shed was at least halfway empty, the lawn mower one of the items in the yard. I looked over at Joe to see his reaction. The disbelief and confusion on his face gave me momentary satisfaction. I gave him a smile so sweet it would have killed a diabetic.
“I think I’d like to call my lawyer now,” I said. The policeman went inside with me to watch me use my phone. Muffy tagged along.
Deanna was furious with me for allowing the police access to the shed and said she’d be right over. The only reason I called her was because I saw the kind of damage they were doing to my yard, and I doubted they would restore it to its previous state.
I went outside to wait for Deanna. Muffy kept whining and followed close behind.
The contents of the almost empty shed lay tossed in the yard. Even the metal shelves lay on their side. It looked like a redneck yard sale.
A car tried to drive down the street, a difficult task considering all the people crowded on the pavement. It was an older muscle car owned by the high school boy who lived on the corner. Any other person would have driven around the block, but curiosity got the better of him and pushed his way through the crowd.
When the car reached Joe’s house, it backfired twice in rapid succession, sending the crowd into screams and bedlam that rivaled Armageddon.
The officers in the shed began to shout, “Get down! Take cover!” To my amazement, the stout policeman standing at my side dove on top of me, throwing us both to the ground. The crowd panicked even more, running into each other and diving under bushes and cars.
Muffy lost it.
She began to howl and run in circles, nudging me with her nose and whimpering. The policeman swatted at her. She took off running down the street past Joe’s house and into the screaming mob.