Another EMT jumped in and shut the back doors of the ambulance as the vehicle pulled away from the curb.

“I’m sure your grandma would say it was fine,” Jensen said. He looked over to Grandma Rose, now sleeping. “But let’s not bother her now. She needs to rest.”

“It’s been a hard night,” Charlie said, sounding like he was parroting something he’d overheard.

“Yes. It looks like it has been,” Jensen said. “Think you can talk about it?”

“I don’t know.”

“It would really help us in our investigation,” Jensen said, placing special emphasis on the last word.

“You need my help?”

“Your help would be the best of all,” Jensen said. “The biggest help would be to know if there is anyone else involved who wasn’t at the house.”

“You mean who wasn’t dead?”

Jensen chuckled to hear Charlie put it so matter-of-factly. “I suppose, yes. I guess I mean did anyone leave before the police arrived?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? I really could use a sharp mind to help me figure this mess out. Detective work takes remembering a lot of details. Things other people would miss,” Jensen said. “For instance, I noticed that there were some footprints in the kitchen that were too small to be a man’s. But the shoe type was different from the kind your grandma wears.” He pointed to Grandma Rose’s smooth-soled loafers.

“So whose foot was it?”

“I don’t know,” Jensen said. “But I bet you do.”

“Huh,” Charlie said, thinking. “I think I might remember.”

“Really? You would make an excellent detective.”

Charlie beamed. “I didn’t want to say it before, but my mom was there for just a few minutes.”

Jensen didn’t know what he was expecting to hear, but this certainly wasn’t it. “What was she doing there?” he asked.

“She helped us get away from Stanley,” Charlie said.

“Who is Stanley?”

“The guy with the big cut in his neck. My grandma threw her scissors at him.”

“Ouch,” Jensen said. “Was Stanley trying to hurt you?”

“He was trying to kill us. He took Joe first. Then he came back to get us.”

“Who’s Joe?”

“He’s the guy who tied us up. I tried to shoot him, but he shot Grandma Rose first. And then I had an asthma attack.”

“Let’s get back to the part about your mom,” Jensen said, trying to make sense of everything. “Was she there the whole time?”

“No. Just at the end,” Charlie said.

“So then where did she go?”

“Is she going to be in trouble?”

Jensen made sure his face oozed concern. “Only if you don’t tell me where she went.”

The ambulance rumbled down the road. The attention of the EMT crew was focused on Grandma Rose, whose vital signs were steady and stable. The driver said they were only a few minutes away from the hospital.