Andy picked up Lowell, Melinda, and Johnny after a long day in court, a lot of it spent waiting, and drove them uptown to the townhouse. Since it began serving as the temporary address of Starlight Detective Agency, all five floors including the basement were in full use.
Sarah and Mort were in the den watching the evening news when they arrived. Lowell tossed his leather jacket onto a tall wooden coat rack in the hallway.
“You’re on TV!” Mort shouted.
Lowell and Melinda were on TV exiting the courtroom.
“Why did your client kill Judge Winston?” The reporter’s microphone inches from Melinda’s face.
“Was this a vengeance killing? Or was there more to it?”
“Was she the judge’s lover?” asked the reporter from Fox.
“No comment,” said Melinda repeatedly to the camera, her face filling the screen.
“Would you mind shutting that thing off?” Lowell turned and left the room and headed downstairs to his office.
Melinda gave a look at Sarah and Mort that said don’t ask. Lowell didn’t like being on TV. It never amounted to anything good.
***
Lowell was back upstairs in five minutes. The group was sitting around the dinning room table.
“I was just about to call you. Dinner is ready,” said Julia, as she served Lowell a plate of organic multigrain pasta with a rich homemade all-organic sauce
Lowell looked down at the scrumptious meal he realized he was never going to get to eat. “Everyone has to leave immediately.”
“What’s wrong? asked Melinda.
“Someone’s been in my office. I can tell. Something is very wrong.”
Melinda picked up on what her father was saying immediately. “Oh, my God, there’s another bomb, isn’t there?”
“Maybe. I don’t know for sure. But I don’t want to take any chances. I want you all out of here now while I search.”
“Where do you think it is?” asked Johnny.
“It could be almost anywhere.”
“We have to search this entire building from top to bottom now,” said Melinda.
“Don’t be stupid. You all have to leave now. I’ll search the house alone.”
“I suggest we investigate each floor together as a group,” replied Melinda ignoring him, “rather than running around haphazardly. That way we can be more thorough and finish quicker.”
Johnny interrupted. “There are several logical places it would be. As low in the building as possible, to cause more damage, or where the most people would be, like a living or dining room.”
Despite the chill, Lowell ordered everyone out into the backyard. “Melinda, please call the police. I am going to the basement.”
Johnny didn’t budge.
“I told everyone to leave, and that includes you.”
“Easy, big daddy.” She had an odd grin on her face. “This is what I do. Get it?”
“I will not have you risk your life to save a building. I can always repair any damage done, but I can’t fix you.”
“You saved my life by bailing me out of jail. And now you and your daughter are trying to prove me innocent. There’s nothing I can ever do to repay you. Let me do this. I’m the best there is at it.”
***
In the basement, Johnny tilted her head like a cocker spaniel listening to a far-away noise only she could hear. She walked around the room barely making a sound. Then she stopped.
“It’s here,” she pointed at Lowell’s desk “It’s under here.”
She got on her knees and examined the bomb. “You want the good news or the bad first?”
“Just tell me.”
“The good news is it’s not a remote control. It’s running on a timer, so there’s no chance someone can blow it up while we’re standing here.”
“And the bad news?”
“We got about ten minutes before it goes off.”
“What can I do?”
“Get me some tools. I need a wire cutter, a pair of long-nosed pliers, a small screwdriver and a lot of luck.”
Lowell bolted up the stairs and returned with a toolbox.
Johnny flipped open the lid, searched around for the right tools, and began to work on the bomb. She removed its casing and unscrewed the connections holding the wires.
“It has a safety on it, a false set of decoy wires. They put those on it to make it difficult to do what I’m doing.”
The timer showed one minute.
“Johnny, are you sure? There’s still time to get out.”
She held up two sets of wires.
“One is the real one, and one is the dummy. If you cut the dummy wires you set off the damn thing instantly.”
“So how do you know which is which?”
She took a deep breath, held the two wires in her hand, and said: “You can’t.”
The timer showed ten seconds. Nobody was leaving the building now.
“Then how do you decide?” a bit of sweat running down his knit shirt.
“The same way I did in the army when I saved a squad from a terrorist’s homemade cup of soup like this one.”
The clock showed eight seconds.
“And how was that?”
“Eenie meenie minie…”