Page 125 of The Talk of Coyote Canyon

“But...” Ellen repeated.

“Yesterday she called to tell me not to mention that she’d had my car to anyone,” Jane said. “I was already worried that I possessed information I should probably share, but once she did that... I knew.”

Galvanized by this news, Hendrix gestured to the 1967 Mustang Jane’s grandfather had painstakingly restored and given to her for Christmas. “That’s the car she borrowed?”

When Jane nodded, he called up a picture on his phone—Talulah could easily guess which one—before hurrying out to the drive, and Ellen got up and followed him.

Jane picked nervously at her cuticles while they waited. “Averil’s going to hate us forever,” she murmured.

“I’m sorry, because I know what that’s like,” Talulah said. “She already hates me.” But she knew Averil was going to hate her even more when Hendrix turned to face them looking triumphant.

“We have a match.”

That evening, Hendrix dropped Ellen off before driving over to his aunt and uncle’s place. He doubted what he had to show them would make much of a difference. Lynn’s problem with Ellen wasn’t exclusively about the well, or they would’ve been able to get along up until that happened. Still, he was eager to convince Lynn she’d been wrong about Ellen in at least one regard, and hopefully, it would make Stuart think twice about letting Lynn get overly emotional and try to goad him into destroying the personal and professional relationship that’d existed between them all for so long.

Although he typically walked in—he’d been raised in this house—tonight Hendrix showed his aunt and uncle the courtesy of knocking, even though Zeus had already alerted everyone inside to the fact that they had a visitor.

He expected Leo to answer. His cousin was always eager for company. But it was Stuart who opened the door.

“Hello, Hendrix,” his uncle said.

Hendrix dipped his head in greeting before bending down to scratch Zeus, who was far more excited to see him. “Is Aunt Lynn here?”

Stuart glanced over his shoulder as if she wasn’t far away, but she must’ve signaled that she wouldn’t come to the door, because he said, “Maybe it’d be best if you just talked to me for now.”

“No problem.” Hendrix straightened and held out his phone to show Stuart the picture Ellen had taken at the Haslem well. “See this?”

“It looks like dirt...”

“If you look closely, you’ll see there’s something in the dirt—a tire impression from the vehicle driven by whoever sabotaged the Haslem well.”

Stuart looked up. “How do you know that?”

“Because Ellen found it there and took that picture Wednesday morning, just after Jay called her to tell her the well was no longer working. He saw it, too.” Hendrix took his phone and swiped left before handing it back. “And this is the picture of the tire that matches that imprint.”

Stuart examined the two pictures closely. “Who owns the car?”

“Jane Tanner. But that isn’t who sabotaged the well. She loaned her car to Averil Gerhart that night. It was Averil who poured cement down the hole.”

Hendrix heard a sound that made him believe his aunt was just in the living room, listening, but she didn’t make herself visible to him.

“Why would Averil Gerhart want to ruin Jay Haslem’s new well?” Stuart asked skeptically.

“If you’ll remember, she also spray-painted ‘Ellen’s a bitch’ on the chicken coop. She and Ellen had a disagreement a few weeks ago in the grocery store. The well was her revenge. She thought if she used a borrowed car, she wouldn’t get caught. But she thought wrong. I just came from the police station.”

“Are they going to do anything about it?”

“That depends on Ellen.”

Stuart whistled for Zeus to get out of the road. “Why would it depend on her?”

“In the state of Montana, vandalism with damage under $1500 is a misdemeanor. If Ellen charges Jay for fixing the well, and the bill is more than $1500, it would be a felony.”

Stuart pursed his lips. “Considering the time required and the use of heavy equipment, we would’ve charged at least that much,” he confirmed. “What’s Ellen going to do?”

“She hasn’t decided yet.” He used his phone to forward the pictures to Stuart and Lynn. “I just sent you and Lynn copies of what I have here.”

“We don’t need copies,” he said.

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