Free Linda Crowder - Jake and Emma 02 - Main Street Murder by Linda Crowder Page B

frame.  Four frames later, the shorter man looked up at the float and Joyner was able to capture a slightly out of focus but clear enough to be recognizable picture of him.
    He saved the image then continued advancing one frame at a time until the men turned away from the camera.  The taller man had not looked up, once pulling on the bill of the cap, keeping his face out of the camera’s eye. 
    Joyner wondered if the man was aware of the Main Street cameras and was deliberately hiding his face from them.  If so, he clearly hadn’t shared that information with his companion.
    Resuming regular speed, Joyner watched while the men quickly disappeared from view and Emma nudged Jake.  Joyner watched while she gathered her lawn chair and disappeared in the direction the men had gone with Jake trailing behind her.
    As the Welcome Wagon trundled out of the camera’s view, there was a brief section of blank screen then an image of the corner where Emma had reported losing the men in the departing crowd.  He saw what appeared to be the taller of the two men turn away from the parade route and head up the street.  A minute or so later, Emma came into camera range, looking toward the man but prevented by the now surging crowd from following him.
    Joyner reversed the footage and watched again as the man came into camera range then turned away from the spectators.  He was clearly alone at this point.  Joyner wondered where the second man had gone.  Joyner watched frame by frame as the man made his turn.  The camera that had captured these images was oriented toward the intersection but he thought there might be a moment or two when the angle would be right to catch the man’s profile.
    Joyner swore under his breath as the man turned his face away from the camera, keeping his focus on the shaded storefront until the danger had passed.  By the time the man faced forward again, all Joyner could see was his back, then he disappeared from the camera’s view all together.
    There were no cameras on the side street that might have recorded where the man had gone.  The City had installed them only on one five block stretch of Main Street.  Always frugal, the Council wanted to test whether the cameras would prove useful enough to warrant spending the money to install more.  Right now, Joyner wished they hadn’t been quite so careful with his tax dollars.
     
     
     

     
    Emma paused to knock on the open door that led to Cheri Jackson’s hospital room.  Hearing Cheri’s cheerful response, she walked in to find a room liberally decorated with well-wishes.  Every flat surface, except the nurses’ work station, seemed to boast a card, plant or vase of flowers. 
    Two big bundles of balloons floated in the corners, anchored by the trademark golden foil of Casper Balloon & Gifts.   Emma laughed as she deposited her own balloon bouquet next to the much larger one that boasted a trademark Welcome Wagon balloon as its centerpiece.
    “Oh my, Emma,” said Cheri, grasping Emma’s hand as she settled herself on a corner of the bed, “you didn’t have to bring me anything.  Just your smiling face is present enough for me.”
    “Don’t knock it,” said Emma, smiling back at her friend.  “It’s not every day a girl gets to find out how much she’s appreciated.”
    Cheri waved her hand depreciatingly.  “You know how it is when you’re a member of something.  Word goes out, ‘She’s in the hospital’ and it triggers the flower committee.”
    Emma looked around the room, “I have seen those obligatory flower committee arrangements my friend and these are not them!  I’m not sure there are any flowers left in Casper.  I think I got the very last balloons in town!”
    Cheri laughed.  She had a good, hearty laugh and Emma was pleased to be hearing it again.  Cheri’s color had returned to her and she was sporting neither IV nor oxygen tubes today.  Emma asked when Cheri thought she’d be going home.
    “I could go