‘GARAGE SALE MYSTERY’
SYNOPSIS
A burglary takes place in an upscale neighborhood. The burglars work in a team of three – a
male and a female who enter the house, and a getaway driver. They get in and out
undetected.
The next day, Jennifer Shannon scans the classifieds for the day’s garage sale listings, and
chats about the recent string of robberies with her husband, Jason. Jennifer, a garage sale
guru, has made a career out of finding valuable items at garage sales and re-selling them at her
consignment store, Rags to Riches.
After breakfast, it’s off to the garage sales for Jennifer! Her seasoned eye sifts through the
knick knacks for treasured objects. Along with the other “regulars” on the garage sale circuit –
“The Englishman,” “The Dutchess,” “Stevedore” and a new regular, “The Stranger” – she knows
what she’s looking for, and buys a set of valuable Blue Danube china before heading to the next
sale.
Jennifer is surprised to realize that the next sale is at the house of her friend Kate and her
husband Ben, who have their items displayed inside. “The Stranger” and “The Dutchess” also
sift through Kate’s sale. Jennifer tells Kate not to sell a jade Buddha because it is too valuable,
and makes lunch plans with Kate, who seems to have something weighing heavy on her mind.
After one more garage sale, where Jennifer picks up a model train and a Qing dynasty vase that
appears to be a knockoff, she stops by Rags to Riches to review her purchases with her
business partner Danielle (Dani).
Back at home, Jennifer tries to console her daughter Hannah, who recently broke up with her
boyfriend. Later that night, Jennifer reads about the local burglaries, and realizes that they all
happened at houses that had garage sales! She shares this with young Detective Adam
Iverson, and although he is initially skeptical, he agrees to go to the next garage sale with her
to follow the lead.
In the midst of another robbery, Chelsea runs out of the house without a stash, and has her
partners in crime, Glen and Billy speed off. Something clearly went wrong.
When Jennifer goes to Kate’s house to pick her up for lunch, she finds Kate dead at the bottom
of her staircase. The police come to investigate, and Adam believes it to be an accident.
Jennifer is convinced that it’s related to her recent garage sale and the string of burglaries, but
Adam points out that no items are missing from the house.
The next day, Jennifer gives her formal statement to Adam. After this, Jennifer visits Ben, who
was out of town when his wife Kate died, to pay her condolences. She notices the jade Buddha
is missing. He is still shell shocked, so she does not push the topic further.
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Jennifer recruits Jason to examine the damaged roof at Rags to Riches. To fix it, she and Dani
need about $20,000 – money the store does not have. Until they figure out how to afford the
repair, Jason advises them to avoid the middle of the roof, which is on the verge of collapse.
Chelsea and Glen talk about their next job, and Chelsea brings the Buddha from Kate’s house to
Rags to Riches to see how much it is worth when only Danielle is in the shop.
Adam joins Jennifer and Hannah for some garage sales. Jennifer - playing matchmaker - has
Hannah ride with Adam. Even though Hannah tells Adam that she is not yet over a breakup,
she eventually warms up to him. At the garage sales, Jennifer points out the regulars to Adam,
who runs their plates to check on past criminal activity. Jennifer points out Glen (“The
Stranger”), but before Adam runs his plates, he sees Sam, a paroled criminal. Adam questions
Sam, finds burglary material in the trunk of his car and arrests him.
Danielle tells Jennifer about the girl who tried to sell her a jade Buddha (Chelsea). Jennifer
draws the connection to Kate’s jade Buddha, and calls Adam. He is skeptical that Kate’s death
is related to the garage sale burglaries based only on the jade Buddha, especially since Jennifer
didn’t see the Buddha for herself. Further, Kate’s toxicology report showed alcohol and sleeping
pills in her system, which could have caused her to drowsily fall down the stairs.
Still determined to make a buck, Chelsea sells the Buddha at a pawn shop. There, she learns
that ivory statues - much like the ones at Kate and Ben Douglas’s house - are worth thousands.
She needs to go back to the Douglas house to steal them! When she, Glen and Billy return to
steal the ivory, Ben catches them in the act and has them arrested.
Before their interrogation, Adam and Jennifer go to the pawn shop where Chelsea sold the jade
Buddha, and confirm that it is, indeed, from the Douglas house. Even so, both Adam and
Jennifer believe Chelsea’s story that Kate was dead before the robbery. After the interrogation,
Adam asks Jennifer if he can ask Hannah on a date. She agrees, but warns him to treat her
well.
Later that day, Jennifer goes to the Douglas house to select a burial outfit for Kate, and notices
that several pieces of Kate’s jewelry are knock-offs. Even more disturbing, she finds a
fingernail, and what appears to be dried blood under the bed. When she drops the clothing off
at the funeral home, she views Kate’s body, and sees that one of her nails is missing. Jennifer
tells Jason what she discovered, and tries to add up all of the clues.
While Jennifer pieces together her findings, Adam joins Hannah for a run and asks her on a
date. She says yes - but only if he can keep up with her! At the store, Danielle sells the
knockoff Qing dynasty vase to Asian Arts Gallery’s Richard Miller.
When Jennifer tells Adam about the missing fingernail and the rust colored stain she found on
Kate’s floor, Adam agrees to test the stain. When he does, the results show that it is, indeed,
blood. Ben is furious that the police are only now realizing his wife’s death may be murder.
When Jennifer catches Dani up on the case news, Dani reveals news of her own. Mr. Miller
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returned the Qing dynasty vase because the value was far more than he paid for it - in the
ballpark of $100,000! Even though the vase is legally theirs, and could solve the roof issue,
they decide to take it back to it’s original owner, who uses the windfall to pay off her house.
The next Saturday, it’s back to garage sale business as usual. Jennifer’s mind is still on the
case, however, when she notices a seller checking the pockets of a purse before it’s sold. This
sparks an idea in Jennifer, who then checks the pockets of Kate’s bags, which she agreed to sell
for charity. She finds a business card for a family lawyer and a flash drive.
Jennifer calls her family lawyer, Katherine Neuhoff, who tells her she never met Kate. Logan
helps Kate open the encrypted flash drive, and she stays late at Rags to Riches to review the
contents. She finds e-mail correspondences between Kate and Ben that prove Ben committed
financial fraud, and Kate caught him and threatened to turn him in! Ben, who had been tipped
off by his divorce lawyer, Katherine, forces his way into the store with a gun.
While holding Jennifer at gunpoint, Ben admits to killing Kate, and tells Jennifer how he bought
a car with cash so there was no record of him returning home. He grabs the flash drive, and
just as he fires his gun at Jennifer, she dives up the stairs to the roof.
Seemingly cornered, Jennifer hides behind a chimney and waits for Ben. Unlike Jennifer, he
runs across the rotted part of the roof, and falls through to the store below, breaking bones on
the way down. The police arrest Ben, and Jennifer promises to stick to garage sales from now
on!
Jennifer and Danielle hold the memorial garage sale of Kate’s belongings to benefit an animal
shelter. There, Hannah gives Adam a kiss and thanks him for helping her mom. Logan finds a
mysterious key and gives it to Jennifer. Looks like it’s time for another mystery, after all!
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