Page 94 of Trouble Comes in Threes

“What do you know about the second murder victim?” I asked Dermot.

“His name is Noah Parker. Best I can figure, he didn’t know Harvey Smith.”

“Where did he work?”

“Nimble’s Lumberyard.”

“Darlene said her brother worked for Jefferson Sanitation,” Neely Kate said.

Dermot nodded. “We already looked into a possible connection. Jefferson doesn’t pick up the trash at the lumberyard or Noah’s house.”

“So we need to find out what else they could have in common,” I said. Talking to Darlene couldn’t be that bad. I’d follow up and make sure she contacted Joe. But I wasn’t sure Joe would agree with that strategy, especially after our argument last night and this morning.

Dermot turned to me. “Now tell me where you came across those two people in the sketches.”

I told him about my visions, ending by telling him that I didn’t know a Selena and had never seen either one of the people in the sketches.

“You think the vision might be tied to these murders?” he asked once I’d finished.

“The timing is right,” I said. “Or it could be related to the box we dug up, but that seems unlikely.”

“What box?”

Neely Kate and I told him about the box and our search for the person who buried it.

“What’s in it?” Dermot asked.

“We opened it yesterday and didn’t find much,” I said. “An empty locket, a quarter-carat diamond engagement ring, and a few cards with a note from who we presume was a guy telling a girl he was going away because their families didn’t approve.”

“You got it here?”

I started to shake my head, but Neely Kate piped up. “It’s in my car.”

“Let’s take a look.”

Jed retrieved the box, and he and Dermot examined the contents for a few moments.

Dermot picked up the ring and examined it. “I doubt this was the reason for your vision. Can’t see someone killing over this.”

“People have killed for far stupider reasons,” Jed grumbled. “But I don’t see that happening in this case. Unless it’s personal, it’s not big enough for the effort.”

Dermot picked up the cards and read them, reading the longer note out loud.

“Initials,” he said when he finished. “Not very helpful.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” I said. “We met with several previous homeowners, and one thinks the box could have been buried by a teenage girl who lived in the house next door. Her father was supposedly arrested, so maybe he forbade her from seeing this boy.”

“Or J’s mother could have forbidden him from seeing S,” Jed said. “He mentioned that her father and his mother wouldn’t approve.”

“But Miss Adolpha said the dad went to jail.” Neely Kate said. “And then everyone in the house moved out. She could have gone to him then.”

“Maybe she did,” Jed suggested.

“You think she’d leave the ring?” Dermot said in disbelief.

“Unless she didn’t bury it,” I said. “What if someone else did, trying to break them up?”

“It’s all so sad,” Neely Kate said, walking over to Jed and putting her hand on his shoulder. He covered her hand with his.

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