The Fugitive Grandma

Chapter 34 - A Curious Case

Detective Rebecca Little was first pulled into the strange case of the fugitive grandma on Sunday night, when called to the scene of the odd break-in at Shady Palms Retirement Home.

By the time she arrived, paramedics were carrying out the man who’d been shot in the leg during the robbery. His gaunt face and bulbous eyes seemed vaguely familiar.

“So this guy, Harry Gibraltar, was the manager of the retirement home,” the responding officer told her as they walked inside the building. “He says he came into the office to do some paperwork and walked in on a random B and E.”

When Rebecca heard the name, it clicked immediately.

“That what he told you?” Rebecca said. “He’s saying this was a random B and E?”

“Yeah, why?” the patrol cop asked.

“I’ve seen this guy before. He has a record. He’s one of Lester Cummings’s cronies.”

“So you think there’s more to it?”

The detective and the officer entered the back room where the shooting occurred. A small puddle of blood marked the scene of struggle among scattered boxes and bingo balls. A scattered trail of cash led to an open lockbox against the wall.

The officer’s partner joined them.

“I checked upstairs,” he said. “One of the old ladies who lived on the second floor is missing.”

“What?” Rebecca cried. “Show me.”

A pair of backup patrol cars came into the front lot, sirens blaring, as Rebecca and the two officers took the stairs to the second floor. They came to an empty resident room with the television set left on.

“The staff says this room belonged to a woman named Stella Valentine. Moved in about a month ago.”

“Looks like she left in a hurry,” the first officer said.

“One more thing,” his partner said. “The home had a wheelchair-enabled van. Looks like the thieves took that as well. If it was an ADA-compliant van, that’s a valuable steal. Those things sell for seventy thousand dollars if they have all the latest equipment.”

“Did anyone see Ms. Valentine today?” Rebecca said.

“Yeah, apparently she was around all weekend. They say this Valentine is quite a feisty character. She has a grandson, a young boy, who visited her. You think she’s mixed up in this robbery?

“It seems like quite a coincidence that she disappears at the same time. There’s got to be some connection.”

Rebecca lifted a framed photo on the nightstand, a picture of Stella and her grandson at a table with a birthday cake that had eleven candles.

As she studied the old woman in the picture, Rebecca tried to decide whether it was the face of a victim or an accomplice. The grandmother’s direct gaze and sly smile seemed to reveal a combination of innocence and guilt. Rebecca’s instinct told her that finding this woman was the key to solving a bigger mystery that still hadn’t revealed itself.