Book 2-Alex Bishop in Follow That Mystery

Alex Bishop in Follow That Mystery

                                                                                      Chapter 9

                                                                        The Very Old Mechanic

     Anna's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Roberts hurried down to the police department while Anna, Alex and their friends sat down to further discuss Sandra's case.  Dawn laid her cell on the dinning room table beside her, so she wouldn't miss a call from Detective Burns, hopefully saying the case had been re-opened; although none of them thought they would hear that news that day.

    "So, first we want to talk to the mechanic about Dave's car."  Fletch said, making a note in his spiral notebook Dawn had handed him a few minutes earlier.  Now she was passing note books to the others at the table along with pens.   "Hey!  This is like school!  Matt said with a chuckle.  Dawn smirked at him, but said nothing.

     "Yeah Fletch," Dawn started, in answer to what he'd said about Dave's car.  "But first we have to wait to see if the case is re-opened and Detective Burns is going to want to take the lead on that," she said bossily.  "I know.  I'm just writing things down," he said defensively.  Alex grinned at them in amusement.

     "Why don't we list the events we've discussed, in the order in which we think they happened."  Alex suggested opening his note book.  "I'll start," Anna said, "My sister Sandra, Dave Clinton and their three friends Aaron Ford, Jo Anne Stewart and Connie Carter came up here in June, the summer before graduation," she said scratching away on her paper as she spoke.

     "They probably spent the day swimming, fishing and grilling hamburgers," Glenna guessed Then making a note.  "Then too, maybe when Detective Burns interviews Sandra's friends they can give him a time line for their activities that day," she suggested.  "Good idea Glenna," Lee praised her, "Those interviews should be in the police report," he said, writing, "Friends' Statements in his note book.

     "Third I guess would be the party that night,"  Sam said.  "Right," Chet agreed.  "Next, Aaron, Cecilia, and Julie went to bed around 10:30 pm.," Nick said, writing it down.  "And Connie said that she overheard Dave asking Sandra to take a drive with him,"  Fletch said, stuffing a cookie in his mouth. 

     "Fourth, Dave claimed he heard a scream at midnight," Alex paused for a moment to give Anna a sympathetic look.  "Go ahead Alex," she said with a small smile at him.  Alex nodded at her and went on, "Dave claims he woke the others, who hadn't heard a scream by the way, then he ran out to the balcony, and well we all know what he saw."  Alex ended.

     "So....should we talk about what we think happened on this drive Dave and Sandra took?"  Lee ask tentatively.  "I know we have to discuss it Lee," Anna told him gently.  "But thanks for caring."  Lee smiled and nodded at her.  Then he started again, "Dave could've been drinking or already drunk when they set out and...."

     "Wait a minute!"  Anna interrupted him, "Sandra wouldn't have gone willingly with someone in either of those conditions," she said passionately.  "Maybe he forced her," Nick suggested.  All was quiet for a few moments while everybody thought over what Nick had said.  "So if he had taken off with Sandra in the car and she didn't want to be there...."  Glenna trailed off.

     "Sandra was probably yelling at him to stop because he was driving too fast," Chet said, "possibly to prevent her from getting out of the car.  "Maybe she was even hitting him trying to get him to stop,"  Dawn suggested, "and because his driving was impaired he crashed the car."  "But could he have crashed the car so badly that he couldn't drive it back to the house?"  Anna posed.

     "And what of my sister?" Grant it, she only weighed about 110 pounds but If the car wasn't driveable, how did Dave get Sandra back to the cabin?  I mean, if they were more than a mile or two out that's a long way to carry someone."  "Of course, maybe the car only sustained minor damage, in which case he did drive it back,"  Sam said.

     "Yes.  If that is true then that would explain how Dave could've been at the cabin at midnight to discover Sandra at the bottom of the hill,"  Alex said, with another sympathetic look at Anna.  Then he added, "I think we've hashed this part over pretty well for now," Lee and Fletch, who were closest to him gave him a nod of agreement.  They, along with Alex had noticed the tears in Anna's eyes.

     Fletch changed the subject with a thought he had, "You know I wonder if the police checked tire tracks outside the cabin."  "I doubt it Fletch," Lee said, "Don't forget the police and coroner were satisfied "it" was a suicide."  Alex, who had been listening to the conversation, suddenly got a manic gleam in his eyes, then jumped up quickly and ran outside.  Anna looked over at Lee who the closest to her and gave him a confused look.  Lee chuckled and said, "Alex is always doing stuff like that." The others glanced at each other for a moment and then darted out the door after Alex.

     "Alex!  What are you doing?"  Dawn hollered from the porch.  Alex didn't answer but diligently kept digging with his fingers in the dirt aside of the driveway.  "What are you looking for?"  Glenna asked him from her place beside Dawn.  "I don't know.  But I'll let you know when I find it."  Dawn rolled her eyes and shook her head at him.

     After a few moments, Alex said while still scanning the ground, "We don't know how many vehicles were here that night...." he trailed off and raised his head turning it toward a grove of trees setting at the curve of the drive.  "If Dave was in a big hurry,"  Alex started again, "and drunk as we suspect he was, he could've hit another parked car or any of these trees here."

     "Something could have broken off of the front or back of the car,"  Alex then mumbled distractedly as he continued his search.  Lee, Fletch, Nick, Sam, Matt and Chet all shrugged at each other and begin to dig in the dirt and around the trees as well.  The girls spread out on either side of Alex and started picking through the grass.  The lawn had just been mowed a few days earlier, so if anything of interest was there Alex was sure they would find it.

     After only ten minutes Chet let out a whoop from the grove of trees, "Hey!  Look what I found!"  Everyone rushed into the wooded area to see Chet holding a red piece of plastic between his thumb and forefinger.  Chet plopped it into Alex's palm as the others crowded around them.  "That my friends is piece of a tail light."  Alex said with a grin.

     He pocketed the plastic and then said, "Let's keep looking."  The other detectives spread out among the fir trees scanning the pine needle strewn ground.  "I'll be right back!"  Anna called, sprinting into the house.  Alex watched her go, shrugging to his friends as if saying, I don't know what she's up to.

     In a minute or so Anna was back, a box of plastic bags in her hands.  She laid them on the driveway beside the search area.  "To preserve the evidence," she said with a smile.  "Good thinking,"  Lee praised her.  They had searched another fifteen minutes when Dawn gave out a shout!  "Here!" she squealed.

     All of them came running to her side in the thickest part of the woods fifteen feet from the driveway.  Dawn was looking down at a beer bottle half way buried in the pine needles. Other bottles lay covered in leaves all around where the friends were standing.  Anna immediately grabbed a bag from the box and handed it to Alex.  He looked around once at the eager faces of his friends before he reached down, bag in hand and picked up the bottle.  Alex grinned up at them victoriously.  "It's dated June.... five years ago."