Free April Fool Dead by Carolyn Hart

believed there were guilty persons who needed to be caught. Maybe the point of the flyers wasn’t simply to torment innocent victims. Maybe somebody believed crimes had been committed and the flyers might reopen old cases, bring new ones.
    Adultery? That was a crime against the heart, a crime against the innocent third in the ages-old triangle, a crime against God, but it certainly was not a crime to be judged in a court of law. But murder, false imprisonment and hit-and-run resulting in death were crimes indeed.
    Annie reached the end of the alley, and again she hesitated. Where to start? She glanced down at the open folder. Barb hadn’t minced words:
    Crime 1
    Hit-and-run. Unsolved. Tower was hit by a car while jogging two years ago, April 14. Found unconscious in the ditch on a lonely stretch of Blue Heron Lane shortly after eight-thirty that morning. Died en route to the hospital without regaining consciousness. Survived by his wife, Jessie, and two children, Amy and Cliff. Jessie is now running the Tower Insurance Agency; Amy is a senior in high school, Cliff a sophomore. Fragments of red paint were found on Tower’s T-shirt. Island police put out a call for damaged red cars. None were reported.
    In the margin, Barb had scrawled: “Probably the car was taken off island for repair before the search began.”
    Annie remembered the cryptic clue in the second flyer: What happened to the Littlefields’ red Jeep? That was as specific as the clue pointing one-half mile east on Least Tern Lane.
    Annie returned to the text:
    Tower had no known enemies. His wife was driving the children to school. Her car was (and is) a blueMaxima. F2 asks: What happened to the Littlefields’ red Jeep? Either a good question or a matter of geography. Curtis and Lou Anne Littlefield live on Blue Heron Lane a half mile from the site of the hit-and-run. Curtis is a venture capitalist with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Avid golfer. Reputed to improve his lie when nobody’s looking. Lou Anne’s antique store—My Attic—is second only to Parotti’s as the main attraction downtown. They have one daughter, Diane, a so-so student who works part-time at her mother’s store after school.
    Crime 2
    Adultery. Paul Marlow, one sexy dude, lives one-half mile east on Least Tern Lane. He runs The Grass Is Green lawn and garden service. I’m still working on it but so far I’ve got a list of twenty weekly customers. Don’t have a clue who the lady might be, always assuming he likes ladies, but I don’t think that’s in question. A favorite with the single gals at the Low Places Lounge near the ferry stop on the mainland. He’s a bachelor. Scubas down near Cozumel a couple of times a year, has a big black Lab named Hoss.
    Crime 3
    Here’s the lead story from The Island Gazette , September 13, 1990:
    â€œA jury convicted islander Jud Hamilton of second-degree murder yesterday in the death of his wife, Colleen, despite Hamilton’s claim that he had an alibi at the time of her death.
    â€œAccording to police testimony, Colleen Hamiltonwas found critically injured at the foot of the stairs in their two-story home. A neighbor, Joan Leavitt, testified that Mrs. Hamilton seemed to be afraid of her husband.
    â€œOn the witness stand, Edward Miles testified that he had lied when he said he and Hamilton were out fishing on the afternoon in question. Miles testified that he had told the police he was with Hamilton at Hamilton’s request. This surprise testimony shocked Hamilton and his attorney, who requested a mistrial. The request was overruled by Judge Larrabee Logan.
    â€œPolice Chief Frank Saulter testified that he observed scratches on Hamilton’s arms when he interviewed the husband the day after Mrs. Hamilton’s death. Chief Saulter also testified that Mrs. Hamilton was conscious when he reached the scene and that when he asked her what happened, she said,