it diluted the pie. Jocelyn would have to share. Did she seem like a woman who enjoyed the idea of splitting an inheritance?”
“No, she didn’t,” Lando agreed. “Jocelyn seemed like she was swatting away an annoying fly. And the fly was me.”
“I saw no fear in her eyes that you might uncover her sinister plot. Confidence is what she oozed. Which is the reason we need to come up with how she pulled it off. Who was the likely person she used?”
“Don’t get tunnel vision?” Zeb warned. “Before you take off on this theory, make sure you’ve eliminated all other possible suspects from the picture.”
“You mean like the ‘vagrant passing through town’ theory?” Lando proposed. “How do I do that? ‘Passing through town’ is a hard one to nail down. Plus, I don’t buy it. Do you know how far Moonlight Ridge is from the main highway? What did the person do, wander around until he found just the right farmhouse with a tricky backdoor that wouldn’t lock right?”
Zeb picked up his iced tea, sipped. “It’s not unheard of. There was a case down in Texas where a nutjob drove from Missouri looking for someone to kill. He saw a huge cross off Interstate 40 near Amarillo and took it as a sign. He exited off the freeway, drove around until he came to the first farmhouse, got out, and killed an entire family.”
“But in our case, it wasn’t a stranger,” Gemma insisted. “Little Julie recognized her killer. That means she had to have met him at least once before that night.”
Zeb and Lando traded looks.
Lando thumbed a gesture over toward his wife. “That’s what happened when she walked the crime scene.”
“Maybe we should do that again,” Zeb suggested. “The three of us. After you get a warrant, of course, maybe we should go back there. Turn the place on its end and let Gemma do her thing.”
When Lando sent him a wide-eyed look, Zeb added, “Hey, what could it hurt?”
“It’s an empty house,” Gemma added. “There’s nothing in it to hurt. However, I didn’t check out the basement. Lando showed up before I could do it.”
Zeb grinned. “There you go. A reason to go back and see what’s in the basement.”
Unconvinced, Lando munched on his fries. “And how do you suggest I get a judge to go along with that?” But he no sooner had the words out of his mouth when the answer came to him. “Wait. I’ll use Ben’s note to link the two cases together. Essentially as we sit here now, that note connects one to the other. That’s what cracked opened the door for me to the Copelands in the first place. Until I can prove otherwise, that’s the way I should approach the whole thing.”
“A fine line,” Zeb murmured. “But if you write the request a certain way, it might work. Judge Hartwell likes a clear, concise argument. Attach a copy of the note or what’s left of it. Doing that could slingshot you to a win.”
Lando wiped his mouth with a napkin and took out his cell phone. “I’ll get one of the guys to start the paperwork now. Come on, Gemma. Let’s head back to town and get this done.”
“I’m not finished with my sandwich yet,” she protested as he tugged her out of the booth. “Wait. Slow down. At least let me ask if they can wrap it up to go. I’m still hungry.”
Zeb signaled the waitress. “Maggie, could you box up their order? They need to take off.”
“No problem,” Maggie said with a smile, hurrying back to the counter to retrieve the boxes. When she came back, she handed them off to Gemma. “Sorry, you guys have to rush out of here.”
“Not half as sorry as I am,” Gemma grumbled as she dug out the money for a tip. “This is one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in a long time. What’s your secret?”
“It’s in the sauce. The cook uses a dash of apple cider vinegar to tamp down the heat of all the different hot peppers he throws in there.”
“Be sure to tell him how awesome it is,” Gemma said, handing off the cash.
Maggie’s face broke into a wider grin. “I’ll be sure to.”
“See ya,” Gemma said to Zeb. “Once Lando gets the warrant, will you meet us there?”
“You bet. Text me when you’re ready to go.”
It was late that afternoon before Hartwell signed off on the warrant.
Since there was no electricity at the farmhouse, Lando knew they’d