Like the car Colin had almost hit just blocks from the Sanchezes’ home?
Colin felt something akin to a key turning in a lock, and strained to remember exactly what he’d seen. The car careening toward him, swerving in the last instant, the vehicles brushing past with only inches to spare. Two men in the front seat. What kind of car?
A Camry.
Blue.
Reaching for his phone, he called Detective Wright, who answered on the second ring.
“Have you heard anything about Margolis?” Colin asked.
“Improving. Or so they say. Still in critical care and still unconscious. How are things there?”
“They’re okay. Maria’s safe.”
“And tonight?”
“She’ll stay here. She’s well protected.”
“If you say so. What do you need?”
“I’m thinking that Atkinson might be driving a blue Camry. Relatively new.”
“Why do you think that?”
Colin outlined his reasoning.
“You wouldn’t have happened to have gotten a license plate, would you?”
“No.”
“Okay. It’s not much, but I’ll get the word out. Everyone wants to find this guy, the sooner the better.”
Colin disconnected, somehow sure that Lester had been in the blue Camry that night. He felt certain, even if he couldn’t explain the reason, other than to assume that his subconscious mind was somehow ahead of his conscious mind in understanding that the answers were there, if only he could find them.
“What are you doing out here?” Evan asked, joining Colin in the front yard.
“Thinking,” Colin answered. It was half past six, and dusk had given way to darkness, the autumn air hinting at even cooler temperatures as the evening wore on.
“I figured. I saw the smoke drifting out of your ears.”
Colin smiled. “I just got off the phone with Detective Wright,” he explained, recapping the conversation. “What are you doing out here?”
“As sweet as Carmen is, her food is kinda spicy. Lily asked me to get her some gum from the glove compartment to help cool down her mouth. If you ask me, Lily just wants her breath to smell minty fresh, because not having minty fresh breath isn’t ladylike.” He shrugged. “By the way, what do you make of all this? Maria’s family, I mean?”
“I think they’re great.”
“It’s kind of amazing, isn’t it? Her entire extended family showing up to keep her safe?”
Colin nodded. “I doubt even my immediate family would show up.”
Evan raised an eyebrow. “Don’t kid yourself. When things were bad, even your family circled the wagons.”
“Friends, too,” Colin said. “Thanks for your help today. I know you wanted to spend the day in bed with Lily.”
“You’re welcome.” Evan shrugged. “But it wasn’t going to work out anyway. I couldn’t stop thinking about Margolis, which kind of put a damper on my mood. I still can’t figure out how he let Lester get the jump on him.”
Colin paused. “When he was on the porch, did he look confused to you?”
“He looked pissed off,” Evan said. “Because we hadn’t left yet.”
“How did he look before that?”
“I have no idea, dude,” Evan said, shaking his head. “Everything is so jumbled, I’m not really sure what happened. I can remember hearing shots and seeing you doing your crazy thing, but after that… it’s just all blood. My brain’s so scrambled, I can’t even remember why I came out here in the first place.”
“You came out here to get Lily some gum,” Colin reminded him.
“Oh yeah. That’s right. Minty freshness.” Evan started toward the car and then turned around to look back at Colin. “Do you want a piece?”
“No,” Colin said.
But Dr. Manning probably would…
Colin wasn’t sure why Margolis’s description of Manning’s compulsive gum chewing leaped to mind, but after considering it, he shook his head, deciding to head back inside with Evan and rejoin Maria’s family. They were a marvel, he had to admit. Talk about circling the wagons. In times of crisis, family was sometimes all you really had. Hell, even Dr. Manning showed up for Lester. He’d spoken to Margolis, he’d shown up at the station, and he’d also immediately arranged for an attorney, since Lester had been in no condition to do so himself.
But… how had Dr. Manning even known of Lester’s arrest? Wright had said that the attorney had shown up ten minutes after Lester had arrived at the station. Colin knew from experience that it was almost impossible to procure an attorney that quickly, especially on a Friday night after business hours. Which meant that Dr. Manning had known that Lester had been arrested well before his arrival at the station. It was almost like he was there…
And had parked his car in the driveway?
No, Colin thought. Margolis would have recognized the car. He’d seen Dr. Manning’s car yesterday morning, when the doctor had shown Margolis the gun in the trunk. And if it had been Dr. Manning’s car at the bungalow, Margolis probably would have acted…
Confused?
Colin stopped in his tracks. No. It wasn’t possible. But…
Families circle the wagons… Son and father… Lester and Dr. Manning… Dr. Manning nervously mowing through a pack of gum while talking to Margolis…
Colin groped for the answer, a forgotten detail… And?
Hadn’t he noticed a bunch of gum wrappers strewn on the roof of the building across from Maria’s office?