"Why would she do that?"
"She's the only one who stuck by Juliet when all her friends and her employer abandoned her, yet she's not getting any of the praise and credit. Maybe she wants a little attention for herself."
I could understand that. It was a selfish thing if that were the case, but it was human. "I felt sorry for myself when I got shot too. Let's walk this way and see if we can find that alley Penelope claimed to have used."
"Do you know which is Juliet's house from the back?" Lily asked as we turned from the sidewalk, walking in the general direction of it. All the crime scene tape was gone, but the trash hadn't been emptied yet, judging by the full cans at the rear gates.
"I think it's that one," I said, pointing to a flutter of white ribbon attached to a fence. I jumped up and down, trying to see over, and caught a glimpse of pennants hanging across the yard. "Yes, it is."
"Is that blood?" Lily asked, pointing to a small dried pool on the ground.
I shuddered as we stared down at it. "Yes."
"I expected more."
"Penelope got lucky. I didn't see an alley. Did you?"
"Maybe it's further ahead," Lily said, pointing as she moved off, leaving me to survey the fence as my cell phone buzzed. I ignored it as she called, "There's more blood over here."
"There shouldn't be."
"Maybe it's yours?"
"No, I didn't go over there. I stopped right here when I saw Penelope." I jogged over to Lily, following her finger as she pointed to the scattered spray of blood spots. Judging by the flattened grass, something heavy was very close to the spatter. "This must have been partially concealed by a trashcan. No wonder we didn't see it in the dark."
"There's blood on the trashcan too. Ohmygosh! Lexi, I think it's a fingerprint."
We both leaned down, peering at the smear. I grabbed my cell phone and snapped a picture of what did look very much like a bloody fingerprint. Grabbing a glove from my pocket, I slipped it on and lifted the lid. A rancid waft drifted upwards and we recoiled. Gingerly, I reached inside and pulled out the first trash bag, heaving it next to the fence. We peered inside again. "I see something," I said, snapping another picture, this time of a scrap of black fabric. I reached in, tugged it and it slipped free.
"A jacket?"
"With blood on it. There's something else." I held my breath and leaned in, pulling out a mask. Something dislodged in the bin and clattered.
"I'd volunteer to get the next load, but I can't bend," said Lily. "Which reminds me, pedicure soon?"
"Awesome." I pulled out the second garbage bag and hefted it over to rest next to the first bag. We peered inside again and I smiled. There, inside the can, was a pair of flat-soled boots. I was pretty sure they were a women's size seven. "I need to call Solomon."
"No need," said a voice behind me. "I was just coming to find you. The realtor angle was a bust."
"Huh?" I said, the moving in discussion flashing to the forefront of my mind. "What realtor?"
"From the vacant house. Had no clue what I was talking about."
"So we're no closer to knowing who was using that house as a dead drop?"
Solomon nodded.
"We found a bloody jacket, boots, and a mask," squealed Lily, clapping her hands. "I mean, Lexi found it. She noticed the blood on the trashcan and just knew!"
"Lily spotted it," I said honestly, even though I appreciated her enthusiastic attempt to pin the good work on me. "We found it together. We haven't found any kind of side access route that Penelope said she was going to take either. You know what this means, right? That I was right all along."
Solomon nodded. "I know exactly what this means. I have other evidence to back it up. The hospital just called."
"Does anyone want to catch me up?" asked Lily. "What does this mean?"
Solomon and I exchanged a look. Since Solomon didn't seem in a chatty mood, I took the lead. "It means our stalker dumped the jacket and boots, then switched clothes to throw us off the scent. And if it wasn't for you spotting that blood, it would have worked. We've been duped. Penelope had this planned all along. She must have stashed her clothes in the trashcan when she realized I was still chasing her. And then she shot herself to make it look like she was attacked. She probably meant to remove the clothing later when she had a chance, or hoped the trash would get collected and consequently, destroy the evidence."
"So go get her," said Lily. "Let's take the bitch down! Stalking totally violates the best friend code."
"By a million miles," I agreed.
"There's just one problem," said Solomon as his cell phone began to ring. "I called the hospital and she already discharged herself. We don't know where the hell she is and she's got a gun."
Chapter Twenty
We sat on the floor of the unmarked surveillance van Solomon had positioned a block away, and each of us was trying to talk. To my left was a bank of monitors, covering every room and exit point of Juliet's house. I could see Juliet sitting with her friends in the living room, while Rob sat in the dining room-turned-bar. I watched Juliet passing from one monitor into another that covered the hall before turning toward the stairs. A moment later, Rob followed her upstairs while the gaggle of friends remained below.
Two men had their eyes fastened on the monitors, but I would have bet a hundred bucks their ears were tuned in to our conversation. Above them, an eight-by-ten color photo of Penelope was taped to the side of the van. Someone scrawled WANTED across it.
"Why can't someone, anyone, find Penelope Cera?" asked Solomon, his voice booming above the chatter. "Someone speak."
"We found all the evidence," said Lily, the only one of us who managed to score a chair. Right now, her knees were pressing uncomfortably into my back. I had to wriggle around to get comfortable in the minute amount of space I worked my butt into on the floor.
"You don't work for me," replied Solomon.
"Which is why I'm sending you a finder's fee."
"I'll purchase something nice for your baby shower," he offered.
"Thank you!"
"Now who can outdo the pregnant lady, who, I'll remind you now, isn't even an investigator? Can anyone actually find this nutcase?" he continued. His gaze swept over the small crowd as he jabbed a finger at Penelope's headshot.
"I'm monitoring traffic cam footage," said a disembodied voice. "Hi, everyone."
"Hi, Lucas!" we chorused as though we were Charlie's Angels and he were Charlie.
"Hello, angels," whispered Lily in my ear.
"Any sightings?" Solomon asked.
"Hi, everyone. No, not yet."
"She might have changed her appearance," said Delgado. He was crouched at the far end of the van with his back to the wall.
"You think she might run?" asked Solomon.
"Maybe. She had a lucky escape when Lexi fought her. She must have expected we would find her jacket and mask eventually, and maybe even draw some DNA evidence."
"If there's gunshot residue on her hands, the case against her is a slam-dunk," said Delgado.
"She wore gloves when we fought," I pointed out. Swallowing hard, I added, "And we still can't find my gun."