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Chloe joined her on the sidewalk a moment later, bundled up in her puffy coat and matching gloves. They continued to tread carefully along the icy sidewalk, watching their step to avoid slipping, until they eventually came to a stop in front of a blue house owned by Derek Vance. The home appeared to be well-kept. Even the porch furniture had been winterized with canvas covers, and ice pellets had been spread over the thin path leading up to the porch.
Somewhere nearby, a dog barked loud enough to capture Phoebe's attention.
She glanced down the street, noticing a lone figure dressed for the weather standing on the corner. The person was bundled up in a heavy black coat and what looked to be a ski mask. That was a bit overkill, in her opinion. There was no indication that the man was walking a dog or had any companion of the four-legged variety.
A chill went through her that had nothing to do with the cold temperature.
Something about the solitary figure made her uneasy. Before she could point out the stranger to Chloe, the man had already turned around and walked away with purposeful strides. His pace seemed hurried, like he wanted to disappear from sight as quickly as possible. His behavior struck her as peculiar and a bit unsettling.
Phoebe made a mental note to keep an eye out, just in case she noticed the stranger again. For now, the male subject had vanished from sight, turning down a side street and disappearing into the neighborhood.
"You coming?" Chloe asked, already halfway up the snow-dusted walkway with the camcorder in hand.
With a quick nod, Phoebe made her way up the stairs, free of any ice. She raised her fist and rapped sharply on the door. Footsteps approached from within, followed by the click of a lock. The door swung open, revealing a man Phoebe vaguely recognized from her youth.
Derek Vance held a winter coat in one hand with a suitcase upright on wheels behind him. His tanned face creased in surprise as he looked from Chloe to Phoebe. It was obvious that he had been on his way out.
"May I help you?"
"Derek Vance?" Phoebe asked even though she already knew the answer to her question.
"Yes." Derek studied Phoebe's face. "I know you."
"Phoebe Burrow.” She gestured toward Chloe. "Friend and business partner, Chloe Anderson."
"You're Jenna's sister," Derek said as his gaze dropped to the camcorder in Chloe’s hand. "You also have that podcast that my mother raves about…what's the name? Gravesite Mysteries? Graveyard Mysteries? Something like that."
"Graveside Mysteries," Chloe replied with a tilt of her head and a stiff smile. "I heard you have some type of travel blog or podcast, but I don't listen to those."
Phoebe would have nudged Chloe had Derek not been watching them so closely. Chloe didn't take it well when she believed someone was insulting them, not that Phoebe thought Derek had meant any ill will with his comment.
"I was actually on my way out," Derek said hesitantly as he switched his focus to Phoebe. "I'm late for my flight."
"How late?" Chloe asked, tilting her head the other way to make a point. She even held up the camcorder. "Don't you think that your mother would love to see her son on Graveside Mysteries?"
Derek seemed at a loss on how to respond. It was clear he was uncertain how to react to their request for an impromptu interview for the podcast. Phoebe was quick to react, though. She jumped in before the moment passed them by and they lost the opportunity to obtain any useful information from Derek.
"It's just a few questions," Phoebe promised him as she placed her hands over her heart. "Please?"
Derek glanced at his watch with a grimace.
"I can spare maybe three minutes," Derek said as he stepped back to allow them entry into his foyer. Phoebe hadn't realized just how cold she had been standing on the porch. Maybe the man in the ski mask had the right idea. "Fortunately, my flight to Costa Rica is running a few minutes behind schedule. At least, according to the text that I received from the airline."
"You haven't spoken to your mother this morning, have you?" Phoebe asked with a lopsided grin. She figured it was best to lead him into discussing Jenna instead of just peppering him with invasive questions.
"As a matter of fact, I haven't spoken to Mom since yesterday morning," Derek revealed as he crossed his arms. His gaze flicked to Chloe before blatantly ignoring her. The two of them had definitely gotten off on the wrong foot. "Is this about my mother?"
"Actually, it's about Jenna." Phoebe unzipped the top portion of her jacket now that the heat from the foyer had taken some of the chill away. "I don't know if you remember, but I had a really hard time after my sister's death. I don't know how to explain it, but I was never convinced that her drowning was an accident."
"Are you saying you think Jenna committed suicide?"
"No."
Recognition of where this conversation was headed flashed in Derek’s eyes. Since he had already professed not listening to or viewing episodes of Graveside Mysteries, Phoebe decided to forgo the explanation they had come up with regarding someone seeing Jenna's ghost. Derek wouldn't understand the premise of the podcast anyway.
"I reached out to Chief Bennett, and I discovered something that doesn't match up with the day that Jenna died," Phoebe said, purposefully leaving the facts vague. The less she had to explain to Derek, the better. He was already running late, and she didn't want her questions to go unanswered. "Those findings then led us to the high school today, where Principal Grayson mentioned that he caught you and Jenna skipping class, hiding out in another classroom. I guess I have two questions. One, were you and Jenna more than friends? I read in her student file that you were tutoring her in calculus, so Principal Grayson might have just jumped to the wrong conclusion. And two, was she acting strange or maybe said something to you that stood out?"
Derek had an odd expression on his face as he ran a hand through his tousled hair. Chloe had already begun filming, but he motioned that she could shut off the camcorder. She hesitated, but she finally lowered the device.
