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appreciated the way he tried to take over the situation, but I decided to let it rest for now. I knew he was having a difficult time believing I had actually seen what I claimed. But he would soon know that I wasn’t making it up. Something had happened this morning. I just didn’t know what yet.
    “Not exactly,” I answered. “Just as you had, I also assumed someone was here when I saw the car in the driveway. So when no one answered the front door, I decided to go around back and try the back door.”
    He took my hand again, asserting his authority. “Okay, let’s go around to the back, then.”
    I allowed Justin to lead the way along the driveway that circled to the back of the house. But as soon as we made the turn, I realized something had changed. I stopped for a moment and studied the empty driveway. My pulse raced in a nervous frenzy. I freed my hand from Justin’s grasp and ran to the spot where only a small oil stain remained.
    “What’s wrong?” Justin asked.
    “The car’s gone!” I told him. “I told you there was another car parked back here this morning. It was a red Toyota. But now it’s gone.”
    He shrugged and came closer. “Look,” he said, a bit condescendingly. “It probably belonged to the lady you saw in the house. I mean, we’ve already established that she couldn’t have been dead. So she probably drove off in the Toyota after you left.”
    “And that’s why there was nothing here when the police arrived.” I said the words slowly, trying to comprehend the meaning.
    “Exactly,” Justin said. “It all makes sense now, doesn’t it?” He seemed determined to find a logical solution.
    I hugged my elbows to my waist and considered his response. “I suppose so,” I finally answered. “But there is still one thing that doesn’t make sense.”
    “What’s that?” He blew out a deep breath.
    I ignored his obvious frustration and glanced at the house. “It’s just that it seems strange to me that someone would go to so much trouble setting up this practical joke when they couldn’t possibly have known that I would be here.”
    Justin crossed the driveway and took my hands in his. His blue eyes locked into mine. “Maybe the joke wasn’t meant for you,” he said. “Maybe you walked in on something you shouldn’t have.”
    I rounded my shoulders. “That’s an understatement.”
    “Just think about it,” he continued. “If you did walk in at an inopportune time, you probably startled the lady in the chair once she realized you weren’t her intended victim. You said yourself you ran out without looking back. She probably peeled out as fast as you did—in the red Toyota.”
    He almost had me convinced, but then I remembered something else. “I suppose all that is possible, except for one important detail.”
    I heard another long, drawn out sigh. “What?”
    “Well, if I wasn’t the intended victim of a practical joke, then it must have been meant for Michael Black. But he’s supposed to be out of town.”
    Justin seemed to consider the idea before offering another explanation. He appeared determined to find a plausible answer for what happened. “Maybe the woman didn’t know he wouldn’t be here.”
    I shook my head slowly. “Then how did she get inside?”
    Justin held me away from him, a look of concern distorting his handsome features. “Now look,” he said, his impatience showing. “Don’t try to make this out to be something mysterious.” He paused for a moment, studying my reaction. “If this wasn’t someone’s idea of a practical joke, then how did a dead woman get up and drive off in a red Toyota? They’re both missing, and they were both here this morning. And Michael Black is out of town. How else do you explain it?”
    I sighed in exasperation. “I don’t have another explanation, Justin,” I admitted. “But I know there has to be one.”
    He turned away and threw his hands in the air. “It was a joke, Denise,” he insisted, his