Where the Guilty Hide by Annette Dashofy

Author:Annette Dashofy [Dashofy, Annette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008556235
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Chapter Seventeen

Sara’s Restaurant was a long-time fixture of Erie. The red and white décor harkened back to a more innocent era when jukeboxes played the music of the fifties. At one time, vintage cars—or at least the shells of them—had added ambiance in the parking lot. But the business kept growing and the cars were removed to make room for additional dining space, which consisted largely of picnic tables under red and white striped awnings.

Situated at the entrance to Presque Isle State Park, the place fed ice cream, hot dogs, hamburgers, and other fast foods to tourists, as well as being a hotspot for locals seeking a family-friendly outing.

Being mid-morning on a chilly, gray Wednesday, Sara’s was only moderately busy. Matthias and Cassie easily spotted Belle Simmons seated by herself at one of the outdoor tables.

“Good morning,” Matthias said with an easy smile. “Do you remember Detective Malone?”

Belle glanced at her. “Yeah.” She brought her gaze back to him. “Thanks for meeting me here.”

“Not a problem.”

She gave a short, sad laugh. “Not for you maybe. Jake’s so freaked out, another visit from the police might push him over the edge. And Mom? She’s mad at everyone and everything. I couldn’t dare let either of them know I was talking to the cops. I had to lie. Tell them I was going to the park with a couple of friends. I guess it wasn’t a total lie. I just had them drop me off here first. I’ll meet them in the park later.”

“We appreciate you making such an effort,” Cassie said.

Matthias stepped over the bench and sat across from the teen. He rested his elbows on the table and folded his hands. “You said you think you noticed something during the break-in.” In his peripheral vision, he noticed Cassie, who remained standing, pull out her pen and notebook.

Belle lowered her eyes to the beverage in front of her. “You asked if we’d seen anything like a scar.” She glanced up at him—and he assumed at the scar on his lip—before again studying her drink. “Or if any of them spoke with an accent.”

“That’s right.”

“None of them did. At least not that I noticed, so I didn’t lie.”

“Okay.”

“But one of them … the one that stayed by the door … was smaller.”

“Smaller?”

Belle nodded. “And was getting impatient because the others were taking too long. She only spoke once and said, ‘Hurry up’.”

Matthias inhaled. “She?”

“Yeah. I mean, I can’t be one-hundred-percent sure because she was trying to make her voice sound gruff. But I’m maybe ninety-five percent sure.” Belle met Matthias’s gaze, her shoulders hunched.

He shot a look at his partner and could see masked excitement on her face. Returning his focus to Belle, he asked, “Can you tell me anything else about her? You said she was small. Small, how? Height? Weight?”

“Both. And it may sound odd, but she moved like a cat.”

“You mean graceful.”

“Yeah. Like a dancer maybe.”

“This is all good stuff, Belle. You’re doing great. What about the others? Were they tall or short? Heavy or thin?”

She chewed on her lower lip, thinking.

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