[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]“No time to talk,” Kari said. Her brain was bubbling with the plot she’d
begun hatching inside the storefront. Jeff’s fortuitous appearance was
making things jell; it would work even better now. “Look, unless you were
just on your way to put out a fire or rescue a damsel in distress, get out of
sight, lay low, and be at the south end of Market Square by two. Keep out of
sight, but keep your eyes out for the van. Watch for me, but stay in hiding.”
“What’s up?”
“In the immortal words of Sherlock, ‘the game’s afoot.’ Now, scoot,
before someone sees you.”
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Cynthia MacGregor
She gave him a quick swat on the rump for emphasis, and Jeff replied
with a snappy salute and a “Yes, ma’am!” Then, he obediently wheeled
around and headed back to his car.
At two o’clock, Kari parked the van at Market Square. She spotted
Jeff’s car, parked just a few cars south of the van, and she scoped out Jeff
himself, hiding behind a newspaper on one of the shopping centre’s
benches, discreetly keeping watch. Good!
Kari, with pocket camera in hand, took up a position to the north of the
van, also discreetly hidden. As the minutes dragged by and nothing
untoward happened, she began to worry that the fish she was after was not
among the people who had been in the storefront earlier. No one was taking
the bait. She looked over to Jeff, who was restlessly fidgeting, then back at
the van, parked undisturbed in the quietest corner of the parking lot.
At 2:15 a car pulled out of the spot next to the van, and another car
pulled in. The occupant got out, looked furtively around, then approached
the van’s locked back door. In a minute, the door was open, and the man
was pulling flyers and posters out of the van and loading them into his car.
Kari had no trouble recognizing Steve, and she was sure that, from his
vantage point, Jeff could identify him too. Getting out her camera, she
inched closer and began snapping pictures of the culprit in action. When she
was sure she had a nicely incriminating set of shots, she backed away
without having been seen. Steve, driving away with the materials, hadn’t a
clue he’d been caught in the act.
Walking over to Jeff, Kari wore the grin of the cat who’d trapped the
canary. “Got the bastard,” she sang out gleefully, giving Jeff a thumbs-up
sign. “Now let me transfer the pictures to my computer for safekeeping—
I’m not taking any chances—and print out copies, and I’ll meet you back at
the storefront in half an hour, give or take. Keep your mouth shut about this
till I show up with the evidence.”
“How did you know it was him?”
“I didn’t. I was clueless as to who it was, but it almost had to be one of
the volunteers, so with virtually everyone there this morning, I seized the
opportunity and set up a trap.”
“Clever Kari,” Jeff praised her. Kari glowed.
With a hurried “thank you,” Kari got back in the van and speeded
toward home.
An Appetite for Passion
125
Many of the volunteers—including Steve—were still there when Kari
arrived back at the storefront. “Hey, is anybody here an art lover?” Kari
sang out as she walked through the front door. “I have some photos you’ve
just got to see...especially you, Russ.”
Eileen said, “I noticed you were gone the last two weeks. Are these
vacation pictures?”
“No,” Kari said. “I haven’t been on vacation, just busy. Someone else
has been busy too. These pictures don’t have to do with my being gone.
They have to do with some things being gone. I told you, these pictures are
art...the art of catching a bad guy.”
By now, everyone who wasn’t on the phone—including Steve—had
gathered around Kari. “Aren’t these great photos?” Kari asked, passing
around the pictures showing Steve raiding the truck and putting the
materials in his car.
“Hey, I didn’t know you were helping Kari,” a volunteer named Joey
said to Steve. Joey hadn’t quite caught the significance of the photos.
“Oh, he wasn’t helping me, I assure you,” Kari said. The pictures hadn’t
gotten around to Steve yet, but he began edging nervously toward the door.
Russ was standing between him and the door. The first three pictures
had reached him already. “I wouldn’t leave just yet,” Russ said, grasping
Steve’s arm. “I think you have a few questions to answer first.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Steve answered with a thin
veneer of bravado.
“Maybe these will refresh your memory,” Russ said, brandishing the
photos under Steve’s nose. The group of volunteers formed a circle around
Russ and Steve, and Steve realized he wasn’t getting away. His shoulders
suddenly slumped. The defiant glint faded from his eyes. A long sigh
escaped him, and even his chin sagged.
“There’s this woman—Suzanne—at Badley’s headquarters,” Steve
finally began. “I was trying to score points with her. You guys know how
that one goes.” His voice was pleading now. “And then one of the managers
over there...I was trying to score points with him, too, for a different reason.
He’d intimated there might be a place for me in Badley’s government if he
won the election. I’ve been out of work for four months now!” His eyes
beseeched the other volunteers to understand that this was a matter of
economics. “Hey, I’ve got a pregnant wife, no job, and very little left in
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Cynthia MacGregor
savings. Lylah’s been working, but pretty soon she’ll have the baby...and
then what?”
“So you were cheating on your pregnant wife with this Suzanne and
trying to score points with Suzanne by stealing our materials...and trying to
get a job with our illustrious opponent by proving your dishonesty,” Jeff
said. “If he really would have hired you after that stunt, that’s one more
reason why we need Larrimore, not Badley, in office. I’m a witness, by the
way,” he added to Russ. “I saw the whole thing...and so did Kari, of course.”
“Eileen, please call the police station and have them send an officer
over,” Russ said.
“Bitch!” Steve spat the word at Kari.
“I beg your pardon!” Kari replied frostily.
“Shhh. Don’t waste your breath on him,” Jeff said, putting an arm
around her shoulders. Only then did he feel that she was shaking with anger.
“Hey! What’s with you? Let’s get you out of here. C’mon, I’ll buy you a
cup of coffee.” He steered her out the door, calling to Russ, “We’ll be next
door for a little while.”
Seated in a booth at the coffee shop, Kari began to relax a little. She’d
been keeping a tight rein on her emotions since the weekend with Max two
weeks earlier, and all this excitement on top of that was a little more than
she could handle with equanimity.
As she relaxed her grip on herself, a mélange of emotions fought each
other to dominate her mood—anger at Max, anger at Steve, relief that the
mystery was solved, relief that Jeff’s name would be cleared now, joy at
seeing Jeff again, sadness that the campaign was nearly over, and mixed in
with all this was a tinge of pride at having solved the mystery.
“Not bad, Sherlock,” Jeff said. “What gave you the idea to do what you
did?”
“When I saw virtually all the volunteers in one place, I figured I’d never
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