An all-too-familiar voice yelled, “Don’t any of you make a move!” and next thing I knew the sliding garage door opened and Deputy Hickman stormed inside. A dazed Clarence stood three or four feet behind him.
“Uh-oh,” I whispered to Bradley as I moved away from the window. “This doesn’t look good.”
“Want to take a chance and make a run to my car?”
“And miss what this is all about? I mean, other than the illegal gambling.”
We moved farther away from the window and closer to the rear of the garage. I could see some of the card players from the side angle but it was like watching a basketball game behind one of those large columns.
Bradley leaned over my shoulder and I could feel his breath on my neck. “Best bet is stay still and listen. Don’t try to sneak another photo or you’re apt to be seen.”
I swallowed and remained fixed against the side of the garage, leaning my head every so often to get a better look inside. Grizzly Gary’s normal speaking voice is loud and intense but tonight it was all but deafening. “With the exception of authorized gaming establishments, gambling is prohibited in the state of New York. This cozy little operation sure doesn’t look like any bona fide establishment to me.”
Before anyone could speak, he turned to Clarence and snapped his fingers. “Don’t stand there with your mouth open. Take names. Write them down. Names, addresses, phone numbers and emails. Better yet, have the nice folks around the table take out their IDs.”
“If I might make a suggestion, sir, perhaps I could use my phone to take pictures of their IDs.”
Deputy Hickman responded with a clap of his hands that rivaled his voice. Next thing I knew, what appeared to be driver’s licenses were tossed on the table adjacent to upside-down card hands. As Clarence photo’d the licenses, Deputy Hickman moved closer to the table. “It’s my understanding this used to be Davis Brewer’s little operation. Which one of you is running it now?”
I only had a side angle and I needed the entire “full-screen view.” I squeezed Bradley’s wrist and inched my way closer to the window. None of the six people made a sound and the three faces I did see epitomized the term poker face. That didn’t stop Grizzly Gary from spewing off a litany of legal-sounding words that at one point caused Bradley to stifle a laugh. Words like: penal code, fraud, misdemeanor, felony, regulating authority, and acquisition and maintenance of premises.
Bradley tiptoed closer to where I stood. “He’s shaking the tree to see if any fruit falls off.”
Next, Deputy Hickman pointed to the stacks of tokens on the table. “I’m guessing this isn’t penny poker. You know what that means, don’t you? Felony charges.”
“Does it?” I mouthed to Bradley.
He shook his head. “Not necessarily.”
Just then, the late entry to the game gave her hair a pat before resting her head in the palm of her hand. “Come on, Gary. You know as well as I do this is a friendly little neighborhood game that’s been going on since you were in grade school. What is it you’re really after?”
“My sources tell me Brewer orchestrated this friendly little neighborhood game, only it wasn’t so friendly. Word has it, this little endeavor may have been what got him killed. And it wasn’t the game, it was one of the players. So I’ll ask again, who’s in charge now?”
Not a single move from anyone. Except for the stupid birds that apparently roosted under the roofing shingles where the wood had chipped away. With dusk fast approaching, a few of them darted above my head at such close proximity I gasped. But that wasn’t all. In an effort to duck, I leaned too far into the window and made eye contact with Clarence.
He jumped back from where he stood and knocked into the table, causing the stacks of poker chips to fall. Not that it mattered. I seriously doubted the game would continue. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worst of it. Clarence immediately shouted, “Woman in the window! Woman in the window!”
At that point Grizzly Gary yelled “Stay here!” to the people at the table and “You, too!” at Clarence.
I turned to Bradley. “Guess it’s too late to make that run to your car, huh?”
My “huh” was barely audible because Deputy Hickman’s voice bellowed like nobody’s business in the quiet night air. “Miss Ellington! Miss Ellington! Don’t you as much as move an inch!”
I rolled my eyes and took a long, deep breath. “I was only—”
“Interfering with a crime investigation? And what unsuspecting accomplice did you manage to talk into joining you this time? I’m accustomed to seeing Mr. Buchman at your escapades.”
“Um, Theo is—”
“It doesn’t matter. Now, before I write you and your sidekick up for hindering an investigation, I suggest you return to wherever you parked your car and thank your lucky stars I’m in a good mood.”
With that, he turned away from us and stomped back to the front of the garage.
Bradley gave my shoulder a squeeze and laughed. “I can see where he gets his moniker.”
“I don’t suppose I better press my luck. Drat! And just when I thought one of them would open his or her mouth about Brewer’s murder. I suppose I can get Gladys to tell me who got arrested.”
“Hate to say it, but I don’t think any of them are going to be arrested. Your deputy is interested in solving a murder, not writing up the locals for gambling.”
“So now what? Back to my place?”
Bradley shook his head. “Not right away. I say we hang out in your car and see who walks across the street to get into their cars. Granted, we can’t catch them all, but we can get the license plates from the ones we do see. I may be able to pull in a favor from a police officer friend of mine in Kingston. Former college roommate.”
“Really? Would he mind running an extra plate? Godfrey got the number of the white SUV from that couple in the woods.”
“I’ll use my best powers of persuasion.”
“Seriously? That’s the sexiest thing I’ve heard in a long time.”
“Whoa. If that’s the sexiest thing, I guess I’ve been doing this wrong all these months.”
We walked back to Bradley’s car like schoolchildren who got chastised for talking in class. I kicked a few pebbles that were in my way while Bradley muttered, “Could’ve been worse.”
“I’m on the right track, you know, or Grizzly Gary wouldn’t have made his grandstand entrance back there,” I said. “The sheriff’s office must think it was one of those gamblers who killed Brewer.”
Bradley clicked the key fob for his Mazda and we got in. He leaned back, reached over and rubbed my neck. “This could be a long wait.”
“As long as I’m getting a neck rub, I have all the time in the world.”
With a decent vantage point, we eyeballed the street and waited. A good fifteen or twenty minutes later, the deputies got into Hickman’s official vehicle and took off.
The neck rub changed abruptly to a nudge. “What did I tell you? No arrests. Oh, sure, he’s got all the info he needs and will probably bring them in for questioning, but he’s looking for answers, not a penny ante citation. No poker pun intended.”
“What if no one leaves? What if they pick up the game like nothing happened?” I asked.
“I doubt they’d risk it on the off chance those deputies swing back. Hold on a bit and let’s see if I’m right.”
A few customers exited the Dresden Hotel and were immediately replaced by a few more. Mostly couples and older women. Ten minutes had passed and still no movement from across the street. “I’d make a horrible detective,” I mumbled. “I’d never sit long enough for a stakeout.”
“Looks like you won’t have to. Three men rounded the side of the house and are headed this way. Good thing the sun went down and the only lighting is from the restaurant. They won’t notice us, and even if they do, it’s not as if they have any idea who we are.”
I sat upright and stared straight ahead. “Oh, no. One of them is veering off. His car must be parked around back. Wait a sec. The other two are walking this way.”
Bradley leaned over and looked to his right. “They parked a few cars down from us. I’m going to pull out and drive past them. Get the plate number.”
I always thought it was such a nuisance for New York State to require a front and back license plate, but at that moment I could have kissed the bureaucrat who came up with that idea. I pulled a pen from my bag and wrote the number on the back of an old bookmark as Bradley drove past the car and circled behind the hotel.
“Did you get it?”
“Yep. GNS 6934.”
“Great. Maybe we’ll get lucky with the others.”
He returned to our original parking spot and continued to wait it out.
“Wonder what’s taking the other three so long?” I grumbled.
“A car’s pulling up in front of the house. Looks like someone called for a lift. Too late to make a go of it and get a license.”
“We still have the other two. If they ever get out of there.”
“Sit tight. I doubt they’ll be much longer.”
I clasped my hands together and rolled my neck around. “If we weren’t doing this surveillance, I could suggest something much more fun.”
“Suggest it when we get back to your place.”
A group of five or six people walked into the restaurant, but other than that there was no movement whatsoever. Then, in a blink, I spied them—the classy-looking woman with one of the men from that poker ring. They had gotten as far as the oak tree and didn’t budge. “What the heck? Can’t they walk and talk?”
Bradley laughed. “Take a closer look. They’re not talking.”
Sure enough, they were silhouetted against the tree in one of those embraces I tend to overuse in my screenplays. “Hmm, this puts a whole new light on things,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“Whoever they are, they could have plotted against Brewer. Worked in cahoots until something went sour. We absolutely have to find out who they are. The photos we snapped won’t be enough and the license plate thing might take too long. Rats. Even getting info from Gladys will be iffy. Quick! We’ve got about five minutes to come up with a better idea.”
“Short of holding them up and demand they give us their names, nothing springs to mind.”
“They’re not budging from that tree. Why don’t they get a room or something? Oh my gosh. One of them must be married. That’s why. Maybe Brewer threatened to blow their romance if they didn’t pay up so they made sure he wouldn’t get the chance. Now it’s four minutes. They can’t keep lip-locking all night. We need to do something.”
“Short of sneaking back around that garage from way over on the other side and listening in on their conversation, I can’t think of a thing.”
I leaned over and gave Bradley a peck on the cheek. “You just did.”