After five days in Park Beach, Sandy wasn't pleased with her progress. And Sunday was a lousy day to get things done. She wanted to review notes with Jerry Kagan, however his law office was closed. Linda would be happy to see her but wasn't working at the newspaper that day. And Sunday visiting hours at the jail were later. She wondered if Chip was snuggled at home with Miss Legal Secretary. After looking through her notes, she decided it was time to check out Norma Martin, the woman who wouldn't talk to Chip.
She pulled her Miata convertible into the lot behind the Jardin Café just as another woman was parking. The woman was slender yet nicely filled out her peasant blouse and tapered designer jeans. She wore her dark auburn hair pulled back tightly and wrapped with a band; the long bunch at the back bounced around her bare shoulders. Sandy guessed she couldn't be over forty at the most. Sandy envied the confident way she glided effortlessly over the rough gravel in her stilettos like a fashion model on a runway.
She noticed Sandy and glided over. "We don't open until five. Love your little red car. I've seen it around town." Then she frowned. "I know where, the police station...you're police!"
Sandy hesitated only an instant. "No, I'm a reporter. I'm looking for Norma Martin."
The color faded from the woman's face. She took a step back and studied Sandy. "You're a reporter?" The woman almost shrieked, "How did you find me?" She turned and hurried into the restaurant.
Sandy flipped open her phone and hit speed dial #1. It rang for some time before Goddard answered. She asked, "Can you trace a tag for me?"
"It's Sunday, go read the comics."
She read off the tag from the woman's car. "It's a white Buick, tag says Hillsborough County."
There was a long pause and then he said, "Okay, got it. Where did you spot this vehicle?"
"At the Jardin Café."
"You shouldn't be out there." Then, after a minute, "Tag is registered to one Elena Duarte in Tampa. I happen to know she's a cook at the café. Of course, her vehicle is going to be there. What are you up to?"
"I think it was Norma Martin. I think she's connected to the murder."
"She already told me she lives with Elena Duarte, although I'm not too sure of that. Probably uses her vehicle. What else?"
"I saw her. She acted guilty."
"That's it, she acted guilty? That's nice, she acted guilty. Sandy, you didn't talk to her, did you?"
"I met her in the parking lot. She thought I was a reporter and came all apart. No, I didn't actually talk to her. Give me her address."