Chapter 8
When Poppy pulled up in front of Iris’s house, she met Violet in the driveway, who was picking up a bag of groceries from the open trunk of her car.
“Is Iris having you do her grocery shopping now?” Poppy asked.
“Oh, no, I picked up some snacks for the office. Wyatt has been working so hard. We just had a breakthrough in the Lara Harper case and it’s all because of him!” Violet exclaimed, beaming like the proud grandmother she was.
Poppy clasped her hands together hopefully. “Did you find her?”
“Not exactly,” Violet said as she scooted up the driveway toward the garage, clutching her plastic bag of junk food. “I’d better get these ice cream sandwiches in the freezer before they melt.”
Poppy chased after her and got ahead of her in time to open the side door of the garage for Violet, who hurried past her. Once inside, she found her team of investigators hard at work. Wyatt was at his desktop computer, furiously punching keys as Matt hovered over him. Violet began unpacking her food in the kitchenette toward the back of the garage office, and Iris, well, Iris was on the couch, reading Vanity Fair. But she was reading her article so intently it almost appeared as if she were in the middle of some important research.
“What have you got?” Poppy asked, crossing over to Wyatt.
Iris suddenly noticed Poppy’s presence and dropped her magazine down on the coffee table in front of the couch. “You’re back! Is the trial over? Did you actually send that American treasure Tony Molina to prison?”
“No, Iris, he got off. At least for now. It was a hung jury,” Poppy sighed. “But it looks like the prosecutor is going to try the case again.”
“That poor man,” Iris lamented, shaking her head. “Being targeted by an overzealous prosecutor only interested in advancing her career by going after a celebrity who has been falsely accused!”
“If that is what you think happened, Iris, then you’ve been fed a heaping serving of fake news,” Poppy declared. “I have been listening to all the facts for days, and the man is definitely guilty! He just got lucky!”
Violet raced past them and over to Wyatt and handed him a wrapped ice cream sandwich. “There you go, sweetheart. Grandma’s so pleased with your progress. You should get some kind of award.”
Matt looked up at Violet. “Don’t I get one?”
Violet patted him on the arm. “Of course, dear. But Wyatt’s been working so hard and you . . .” She stopped short at the sight of Matt’s crestfallen face. “Hold on. I’ve got one coming right up.”
Violet flew back to the kitchenette.
Poppy turned to Iris. “I don’t want to talk about Tony Molina anymore. I’ll be happy if I never have to hear his name again. I want to know about what Wyatt’s uncovered.”
Iris threw her arms up in surrender as Matt dashed over to Poppy excitedly. “It could be big. Rod told us that after his fight with Lara he threatened to cut her off financially but he didn’t follow through, so Wyatt has been tracking her credit card, which is still very much active.”
Poppy lit up. “She’s been using it?”
Violet returned with an ice cream sandwich for Matt and then hugged Wyatt from behind. “I wish Wyatt got his brains from me, but sadly that’s not the case!”
“Nana, stop. . . .” Wyatt groaned, squirming and scrunching up his shoulders.
“Someone’s been using it,” Matt said. “Either Lara is alive and well and using the card or it’s been stolen and someone is posing as her.”
“But if we can see the charges, then we will know exactly where the card has been used,” Poppy said, thrilled. “And if it is her, we can use those charges to trace her whereabouts.”
“I love this! We’re a real team! Whatever we’re doing here is working like a dream!” Matt gushed.
The women ignored Matt’s overenthusiasm as Poppy turned to Wyatt. “So where has the card been used?”
Wyatt scanned down the charges listed on his computer screen. “Right here. All over the Coachella Valley. At a Mexican restaurant in Cathedral City, a Macy’s, a music store in Palm Desert, Starbucks in Rancho Mirage, a Regal movie theater in Palm Springs . . .”
“If it’s her using the card,” Matt said with a smile, “then that means she’s right here in our own backyard.”