Page 76 of Shadow of Deceit
“Who could that be?” Ryan stopped to stare at the vehicle.
Mia watched as the car approached, nerves skittering across her body, until she could make out that the vehicle was a hot-pink Cadillac. Not the kind of car a killer might drive.
The Cadillac stopped, and the driver waved over the roof through the open window. “Yoo-hoo, Mia, hold up.”
Her voice was vaguely familiar, but Mia couldn’t place her.
The door opened, and a large woman wearing an over-the-top floral dress with lime green terrycloth slippers climbed from the driver’s side. Recognition set in.
Mia groaned. Where could she hide?
Mrs. Miller, the town busybody flapped her hands in the air as she jabbered at the scrawny Mr. Miller wearing faded bib overalls and exiting the passenger side of the car.
Despite the woman’s reputation, her wild gestures and animated face piqued Mia’s interest. With all of Mrs. Miller’s contacts and owning the local gas station, she may have heard gossip about the incidents that could help move this investigation forward.
Mrs. Miller charged Mia, and they met in front of the headlights. “Here you are, you poor dear.”
“Hello, Mrs. Mil—”
“Oh, no, no.” She waved a plump hand. “You’re all grown up. Call us Art and Gladys.”
“If that’s what you want.” Mia watched the pink foam curler perched at the crown of Gladys’s head bob up and down.
She swung her body to face Ryan. “Evening, Ryan. Glad to see you here with Mia.”
“Glad to be with her.” Ryan gave a reserved smile, headlight beams shining on the side of his face.
Gladys stepped closer to Mia and took her hands. “I won’t take up much of your time when you should be resting from that dreadful fire, but I wanted to express my condolences for your loss, and I have something that might help find the arsonist.”
Just as Mia had hoped. She ignored the condolence comment. “What do you know, Mrs. Mil—Gladys?”
Gladys leaned even closer as if the entire world was listening in. “I was at Reid’s place yesterday afternoon checking on little Jessie. Russ showed up and while I played cards with the little sweetie, he and Reid went into the other room. They thought they were out of earshot, but I heard them talking about the man Jessie saw drive into the barn and start the fire.” She paused with a beam of satisfaction lighting her face.
Knowing Gladys, she wasn’t playing cards but had her ear snugged up to the door to learn all she could.
“I also heard the truck belonged to Orrin Jackson. Probably stolen by the man who started the fire. Now who would go stealing Orrin’s truck like that? Not anyone from around here, I tell you. Jessie confirmed that. She can’t identify that man as a local, but then at her age, she doesn’t know everyone in town.”
“So how can you help?” Mia asked, trying to push her along.
“I’m just getting to that. A couple years ago, the hubby and I,” she paused to give Art a pointed look, “got tired of city slickers passing bad checks and bogus credit cards at the station. So we started scanning a copy of strangers’ licenses and credit cards when they made a purchase. So, if the man who stole the truck and started the fire bought gas with a credit card, I’d have a copy of his license.”
Mia tried to keep a straight face when the idea seemed pretty farfetched. “This guy wouldn’t be too smart to bring a stolen truck into your station.”
“Oh, I know that, but if he’s not from around here, he had to get to Shadow Lake to steal the truck. Maybe whatever he was driving needed gas. Or he got hungry and needed a snack.” She dug in her bag and withdrew a red case. “Last night I went through all of the files for the last few months and pulled out the pictures of men matching Jessie’s description. They’re all right here on this DVD.” She slipped the case into Mia’s hand.
“Sounds like a long shot, but maybe it’ll pay off.” Mia smiled her thanks. “I’ll look at it when I get a chance.”
“That’s good. Be sure to tell me if I can help with anything else.”
“You can,” Ryan said. “Right now.”
“Tell me how, and it’s yours for the asking.”
“Mia just hit the back of her head on a concrete block. Broke the skin and she’s dizzy, but she doesn’t think she needs medical attention.”
Gladys snatched the flashlight from Ryan’s hand. With her tongue poking from the side of her mouth, she circled Mia and used her finger to probe the bump on Mia’s scalp as the flashlight warmed the skin.
“Doesn’t appear to need stitches.” She gave Ryan his light back. “I can take care of things now. I’ll just send my Mister home for some things, and we’ll spend the night with Mia so I can check on her.”
