Mrs. Evans agreed. The girls nodded.
“So, they investigated. The squad car guys didn’t find anything at first, but they went into the alley next to the building on the other side of the block. You know the place?”
Regina nodded.
“Sure,” said her mother.
“Well, they were looking around the yards for anything suspicious, and they saw something. They reported …” He flipped some more pages in his notebook. “They saw a large number of people, perhaps half a dozen, says here, all at the back of that house at exactly 2:34 A.M . You know the house? The one that’s being renovated?”
They nodded again, wondering why he kept trying to describe the house that they all knew. Stevie thought it was for dramatic effect. If that was the case, or even if it wasn’t, it was working.
“What were those people doing?” Stevie’s mother asked.
Stevie groaned. Lawyers seemed to know how to get to the heart of the matter, which was exactly where Stevie didn’t want this to go.
“Well, that’s what we’d like to know,” said the detective. “The perps dispersed extremely quickly, like they all had a plan of where to go when they split up. They were in a big hurry, says here,” he said, once again consulting his notebook.
Of course they disappeared as fast as possible, Stevie thought. They were tired and scared. They wanted to get home! She didn’t share this thought with the detectives. Regina sat silent.
“Anyway, we think we’ve got them—or most of them,” said Detective Eaken.
Stevie gulped.
“They’ve denied there was anyone else there, but we know there was. That’s one thing the officers are absolutely sure about. Five or six, they said in their reports. We’ve got two in custody. They could see the perps’ mode of egress—they’d come out of the basement of that building, the one on the corner—but the officers couldn’t get over the fencesas fast as those guys and they’d gone already, like I said.”
Two. Which two? It must be Peter and Ann
, Stevie thought. Her heart sank for her friends.
“Well, this escape action, plus the apparently unfounded cries for help, led to a full-scale investigation of the entire house, as you can imagine, ma’ams,” said Detective Eaken. “Full-scale,” he repeated.
“Of course!” Stevie’s mother said.
“That’s what we saw last night,” said Mrs. Evans.
“Yes, ma’am,” said Detective Martin. “And when they gained entrance into the building, what they found was very interesting. Very interesting, indeed.”
And incriminating
, Stevie thought, still trying to sink into the depths of the sofa.
“And incriminating,” said Detective Martin.
At that moment Detective Eaken produced the very object that both Regina and Stevie had dreaded seeing. He reached into a large canvas bag and pulled out Regina’s backpack. He put it on the coffee table.
Mrs. Evans’s brow furrowed. Regina paled. Stevie did, too. Mrs. Lake just looked. Of course, she wouldn’t have recognized it.
“There was nobody in the house,” said Detective Eaken. “Nobody at all. They searched the place as muchas they could, given the amount of construction going on.”
“It must be almost done,” said Mrs. Evans. “They’ve been working on it for over a year, and I know the Perseys are hoping to move in very soon.”
“Not likely, ma’am,” said Detective Martin. “Not for a long time.”
“Why?” asked Mrs. Evans.
“Because the place is nowhere near ready. Almost no work has been done and there are dangers everywhere. In fact, there’s even a big hole in the floor in what’s supposed to be the kitchen. There are no stairs above the parlor floor.”
“But the Perseys have paid him a fortune! Estelle told me herself!”
“Well, she may have paid a fortune, but it hasn’t been used for her benefit. More likely, it’s been used for the contractor’s benefit and is probably safely tucked into a Swiss bank account by now.”
“He keeps
“So, they investigated. The squad car guys didn’t find anything at first, but they went into the alley next to the building on the other side of the block. You know the place?”
Regina nodded.
“Sure,” said her mother.
“Well, they were looking around the yards for anything suspicious, and they saw something. They reported …” He flipped some more pages in his notebook. “They saw a large number of people, perhaps half a dozen, says here, all at the back of that house at exactly 2:34 A.M . You know the house? The one that’s being renovated?”
They nodded again, wondering why he kept trying to describe the house that they all knew. Stevie thought it was for dramatic effect. If that was the case, or even if it wasn’t, it was working.
“What were those people doing?” Stevie’s mother asked.
Stevie groaned. Lawyers seemed to know how to get to the heart of the matter, which was exactly where Stevie didn’t want this to go.
“Well, that’s what we’d like to know,” said the detective. “The perps dispersed extremely quickly, like they all had a plan of where to go when they split up. They were in a big hurry, says here,” he said, once again consulting his notebook.
Of course they disappeared as fast as possible, Stevie thought. They were tired and scared. They wanted to get home! She didn’t share this thought with the detectives. Regina sat silent.
“Anyway, we think we’ve got them—or most of them,” said Detective Eaken.
Stevie gulped.
“They’ve denied there was anyone else there, but we know there was. That’s one thing the officers are absolutely sure about. Five or six, they said in their reports. We’ve got two in custody. They could see the perps’ mode of egress—they’d come out of the basement of that building, the one on the corner—but the officers couldn’t get over the fencesas fast as those guys and they’d gone already, like I said.”
Two. Which two? It must be Peter and Ann
, Stevie thought. Her heart sank for her friends.
“Well, this escape action, plus the apparently unfounded cries for help, led to a full-scale investigation of the entire house, as you can imagine, ma’ams,” said Detective Eaken. “Full-scale,” he repeated.
“Of course!” Stevie’s mother said.
“That’s what we saw last night,” said Mrs. Evans.
“Yes, ma’am,” said Detective Martin. “And when they gained entrance into the building, what they found was very interesting. Very interesting, indeed.”
And incriminating
, Stevie thought, still trying to sink into the depths of the sofa.
“And incriminating,” said Detective Martin.
At that moment Detective Eaken produced the very object that both Regina and Stevie had dreaded seeing. He reached into a large canvas bag and pulled out Regina’s backpack. He put it on the coffee table.
Mrs. Evans’s brow furrowed. Regina paled. Stevie did, too. Mrs. Lake just looked. Of course, she wouldn’t have recognized it.
“There was nobody in the house,” said Detective Eaken. “Nobody at all. They searched the place as muchas they could, given the amount of construction going on.”
“It must be almost done,” said Mrs. Evans. “They’ve been working on it for over a year, and I know the Perseys are hoping to move in very soon.”
“Not likely, ma’am,” said Detective Martin. “Not for a long time.”
“Why?” asked Mrs. Evans.
“Because the place is nowhere near ready. Almost no work has been done and there are dangers everywhere. In fact, there’s even a big hole in the floor in what’s supposed to be the kitchen. There are no stairs above the parlor floor.”
“But the Perseys have paid him a fortune! Estelle told me herself!”
“Well, she may have paid a fortune, but it hasn’t been used for her benefit. More likely, it’s been used for the contractor’s benefit and is probably safely tucked into a Swiss bank account by now.”
“He keeps
Similar Books
