″Wonder what Rosa would say her favorite childhood food was,″ Joy mused. ″Hilda had a good palate and plenty of talented cooks over the years. Bet Rosa grew up on some fancy foods.″
″Maybe.″ Aurora sighed. ″What do you make of Rosa and Hilda? Think she was as controlled as Jonah claimed? She seemed pretty independent to me.″
″Well, I think she liked to rebel but, in the end, Hilda would reel her back in,″ Joy said. ″At least, that's the impression I always had. Besides, you saw how scared Rosa was to tell her aunt she'd gotten married. That's not normal, is it?″
″Do you think we should show her those photos?″ Aurora asked.
″I don't know. I want to sleep on it, honestly,″ Joy said. ″The morning light should give us more clarity.″ Yawning, she stretched and patted her stomach. ″I'm going to sleep like a baby after this meal.″
″So you'll wake up crying at 3am then?″ Aurora grinned.
Joy groaned. ″Invest in some new jokes, Aurora. I'm pretty sure I've heard that one seventy-seven times…at least.″
″It must have made an impression for you to keep count.″ Aurora winked. ″Go on and sleep. I'll clean up. Thanks for an amazing dinner.″
″No problem.″ Joy waved to her and headed upstairs.
Aurora was right, though. Joy did wake up at 3am. She found herself bolt upright in bed, a curious prickle of fear running down her spine. She'd been having a dream where she was a child again only, this time, when she entered the house for Sunday dinner, she smelled something horrible instead of her grandfather's cooking. For some reason, this dream scared her so much that she woke up. Even now, in the darkness, as she slowly blinked awake, Joy felt like she could smell it. That horrible smell…the smell of something burning.
Burning!
She tiptoed down the stairs and met a wall of smoke. With a gasp, she realized that their house was on fire!
22
The Inferno
By the time the sun rose, there were firetrucks on their lawn and the smell of burning wood had been replaced by the damp, horridly-ashy smell of a doused fire. Joy sat on the curb with a blanket around her. Aurora had an arm slung around her shoulders. On Aurora's lap, looking extra despondent, sat Emmanuel, Hilda's precious statue. Despite the burning house, Aurora had had the presence of mind to take Emmanuel out with her. He was the only thing she'd saved.
As usual, in the moment of crisis, Joy had taken charge and acted like a hero. She woke Aurora up, she called the police, she even used an extinguisher as best as she could on the fire. Aurora had still been stumbling around as though she was in a dream when Joy had led her outside the house. Then, for a horrible ten minutes, they'd waited helplessly as the flames licked the house.
Aurora gave Joy a half-hug. ″You ok?″ she asked.
Joy shook her arm off. ″I'm fine.″ Her voice was sharp as glass. She was seething. To Aurora this was, in the end, just a house. But to Joy, it was her entire life. It had been her grandparents' house, and most of her happiest memories were tied to it. It was one of her last links to her grandparents, and she absolutely hated that she felt like bursting into tears. She couldn't bear Aurora's pity at the moment. She didn't really want to talk to anyone right then.
A strong male hand reached out to hand over a cup of coffee. Joy looked up to see Leo Finley standing with a pile of styrofoam cups and a thermos of coffee tucked under an arm. Why was this man always offering her coffee when they met? She felt a wave of irritation, and nearly knocked the cup out of his hand.
Aurora, seeing the mutinous expression on Joy's face, quickly accepted it instead, and thanked the officer.
″You could give me information instead of coffee.″ Joy snarled up at him. ″That's your actual job, you know. Finding out who did this.″
″So you think it's arson?″ Leo ignored her barb and sat down next to her on the curb. ″There's no possibility that one of you left the stove or the oven on last night.″
″No. There's no possibility. Because, unlike you, we aren't an incompetent bunch of—″
″Now, Joy. He's just trying to help.″ Aurora patted Joy on the back. Joy was like a tiger on a leash at the moment. Looking at Leo, Aurora said, ″I cleaned up last night. I was the last to leave the kitchen and I always double check that the stove and oven are off.″
″Alright. In my experience, 90% of these cases are either a faulty wiring or a human error,″ Leo said. ″But Joy seems to think it's arson, so I'm going to make sure we look into it carefully.″
″Of course, it's arson. You’d have to be blind to think otherwise! Let me tell you when I catch who did this I'm going to…″ Joy ground her teeth. ″I'm going to...″
″Hey.″ Leo put a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. ″I get it, okay? You're furious. I would be, too. I've heard around town how much this house means to you and your family. I'm sorry about what happened, for what it's worth.″
Joy's lower lip trembled. She couldn't stand his direct gaze or the warm hand on her shoulder or the way Aurora was patting her back like she was a seven-year-old. All of it made her feel like breaking down and she simply couldn't afford to break down. Flinging off the blanket, she got up. She was a reporter! She'd go gather facts - that's what she'd do. Aurora and Leo both looked up at her like she was a toddler with a sharpie in her hand.
″I'm going to talk to Chief Brooks,″ Joy said.
″Then you haven't heard?″ Leo asked.
Joy stared at him. ″Heard what?″
″Chief Brooks had an accident last night.″ Leo tried to keep his voice even. ″He's in the hospital for now. We're still investigating.″
″An accident? Just how many things are you willing to label an accident before you get a clue, mister?″ Joy growled.
″You can call me Leo.″
″Leo, there's something massive going on here. Massively bad. I have to go. I'll talk to the fire chief.″
″Hold it.″ Leo grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle tug. ″I have a few more questions for you and Aurora first.″
Joy blinked. ″So that whole giving us coffee thing was just a pretext to ask questions?″
″Seemed like a more neighborly thing to do than to drag you down to the station,″ Leo clarified.
Joy stared at him. ″What?″
″I told you that ninety percent of these cases are faulty wiring or human error. But, of the remaining ten percent, most are insurance fraud,″ Leo said. ″I can't just clear you.″
″Aurora, if I punch this man, will you be witness to the fact that I was provoked?″ Joy asked. ″He's accusing me of burning down my own home!″
″I'm not accusing you of anything,″ Leo said. ″I just need to clear you both out before I can move on to the next suspect. It would be great if you cooperated. Come on, Joy. This is routine procedure. Anyway, now that you both confirmed that you didn't leave the stove or oven on, I can tell you that the fire chief does suspect arson after his initial investigation. Now the good news is, you identified the fire fast enough. Only the kitchen is damaged. If neither of you did it, can you give me an idea who did? Who has a grudge against you?″
Aurora gasped. ″The kitchen! The photos!″
″Photos?″ Leo's eyes narrowed.
″I'd put them on the counter. They must be totally burned now. Oh, no!″ Joy groaned.
″What photos?″
Joy and Aurora looked at each other. Joy turned to Leo. ″So, Chief Brooks is really out of action?″
Leo nodded. ″He fell down the stairs of his house last night. He's going to pull through, but we don't know how long it might take. He's unconscious at the moment.″
″And he never told you anything about Hilda?″ Joy asked.
″No,″ Leo said. ″I got the impression he wanted to solve that himself. A last hurrah, of sorts.″
″Alright, we'll fill you in on everything we know,″ Joy said.
23
Too Many Accidents
With the h
ouse temporarily sealed off, Joy and Aurora were both forced to spend the night at Joy's parents’ place. Aurora, for one, was rather glad to have company - even if it meant sleeping on an air mattress in the basement. Exhausted, she had expected to crash into bed as soon as dinner was done. But Joy had other plans. With a casserole dish in her hands, she persuaded Aurora to walk down the block with her. They walked to a small ivy-covered house with garden gnomes all over the yard. The door was opened by a small, grey-haired woman with tragically-drooping eyebrows.
″Betsy.″ Joy gave the woman a fierce hug. ″I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier. I heard about Chief Brooks.″
″Thanks, Joy.″ Betsy sniffed. ″Forty years on the force with not one injury and the man has an accident in our own house. Would you believe it?″
″I'm sorry to hear it.″
″It was horrible.″ Betsy sniffed again. ″You know how I always take sleeping pills for my insomnia?″
″Everyone knows it.″ Joy smiled. ″You and Aunt Giulia are always talking about it down at the cafe.″
″Well, I was knocked out totally when the accident happened. I didn't even hear a thing.″ Betsy looked like she felt horribly guilty. ″My poor man was lying hurt, and I couldn't even help him.″
″You can't blame yourself.″ Joy gave her a hug. ″It wasn't your fault. How is his condition now?″
″They said he's steady now. Hopefully he should come out of his coma in a little while. But we don't know if he'll remember a thing. I know I'll never use a sleeping pill again in my life, no matter what.″ She began walking inside and they followed her into a quaint living room. It was a little shabby and in need of paint, but felt quite welcoming. Pictures of Chief Brooks holding up various fish, a photograph of Betsy holding a trophy for a dance competition and photos of the two of them together at various town functions covered all the walls. A staircase led upstairs.
″That's where it happened.″ Betsy pointed to the staircase. ″I always wanted to move to a larger house, but Buddy said, since it was just the two of us, he wanted a nice, cozy cottage like this.″ Betsy sighed and rubbed her eyebrows.
″It's really strange that he slipped down the stairs,″ Joy said. ″I haven't stayed in my parents house in years and I could still walk blindfolded down the stairs without missing a step.″
″Yes, well. I suppose as you get older, accidents happen,″ Betsy said. ″It's funny. Leo Finley was here earlier. He's acting chief now, I suppose. He was pretty upset with Buddy's accident. Really upset. In fact, he, Lundy and Samuels are taking turns to sit by Buddy's bed all day and all night.″
Joy raised her eyebrows. So. Looked like Leo Finley was finally convinced that the accidents were all a little too coincidental.
Betsy frowned. ″In fact, Leo seemed almost…suspicious.″
″Did he find anything?″
″I don't think so,″ Betsy considered. ″But he asked some curious questions. He wanted to look in my freezer.″
″Your freezer?″ Aurora frowned. ″Whatever for?″
″Beats me. Leo also examined the stairs really carefully.″
″Did he ask any other questions?″ Joy asked. ″About any cases Chief Brooks was handling, for example?″
Betsy nodded. ″I suppose I can tell you. Buddy had brought home an old case file. Leo asked me to hand it over.″
″Let me guess. This case file…it was about Henry Braithwhite's death?″
″Henry? Oh, no. This was different. It was about an unidentified body found near the Tanner farm.″
″An unidentified body?″ Joy frowned.
″It was even before Buddy's time in the force, this case,″ Betsy said. ″I don't know why he was so keen on it now. Maybe as an exercise.″
″Was there anything unusual about the body?″
″Well, it caused a lot of hubbub at the time. There were rumors that the man was a foreigner. A secret service agent.″
Joy gaped at her. Of all the things she had expected to hear, this was not one of them. ″A…what?″
″You heard me,″ Betsy said. ″I don't know why Buddy had that file, to be honest. Leo Finley looked baffled, too. Or maybe I should call him Chief Finley now.″
″Nonsense. There's only one chief in town and it's your husband still.″ Joy said. ″At least until we throw him a proper retirement party.″
Betsy shook her head. ″I was always afraid, you know. Bent River is a safe town but some part of me had an intuition that Buddy and I needed to get away. I'd just managed to persuade him about Florida, too.″
″Do you really think you can stay away forever?″ Joy asked. ″You two have roots here.″
″Well, maybe just a year or two. To get a flavor of a new life.″ Betsy started crying. ″Now I don't know if we ever will.″
″You absolutely will,″ Joy said, her teeth gritted. ″Don't worry, Betsy. Chief Brooks will be alright in no time. We'll all look after him. I promise.″
Mentally, Joy also promised herself that she'd catch whoever had done this to the chief. After all, this was no accident. This was a deliberate sabotage.
″I've got just one last question,″ Joy said.
″What's that?″
″Do you have a spare set of house keys?″ Joy asked.
″Well, actually, we lost those about a year ago.″ Betsy paused. ″I've looked all over for them, but it's a mystery. Buddy was always too busy to do anything about it.″
″Thanks,″ Joy said. ″That's all I wanted to know.″
24
An Empty House
The week dragged on with no relief in sight. Thankfully, Aurora was feeling more like herself and her bump was looking a little better. And, with business slow in Max's office, he'd given her permission to take the entire week off. She spent most of it with Rosa and Milly at Hilda's mansion, cleaning it all up.
The more time she spent there, the more Aurora began to believe that Russell's belief of there being another will was actually wishful thinking. Aurora pored over document after document and she realized that, like Rosa, Hilda was messy but organized. She'd saved receipts from as far back as 1973. Her tax documents were neatly tied up in bundles in a dusty closet. Her insurance papers and stock certificates were all locked up in a safe. A small black diary even had instructions about where she'd kept everything…in case she died. Everything important had its place, even if it took some effort to find that place beneath miscellaneous items.
If Hilda had made a new will, she certainly wouldn't have left it floating around. Even at her age - or perhaps in consequence of it - Hilda had kept her documents very organized. There were just so many of them that it was exhausting to sort through. There were also newspaper cuttings, old letters, birthday cards, miscellaneous receipts and magazines scattered all around. Aurora could see why Hilda had needed help. In fact, she felt a twinge. If she and Hilda had worked together, they could have had this place beautifully organized. As it happened, Rosa only seemed to want to get rid of everything as fast as possible to sell the house.
Joy and Aurora had discussed whether or not to tell Rosa about the photos of Jonah. With the photos burnt, Aurora thought she wouldn't even believe them. Joy had asked her to wait a week.
″What'll happen in a week?″
″It's a magic trick.″ Joy winked at her.
″Tell me!″ Aurora insisted.
″I'm planning to write to the private investigators and ask them if they have copies,″ Joy said.
″Will they listen?″ Aurora was doubtful. ″They value client privacy, don't they? They might not give them to you even if they have copies.″
″Well, that's why we need a week. If they don't agree to hand it to me, I'll ask Leo to request them officially,″ Joy said. ″As part of the investigation.″
″What investigation?″ Aurora had been glum. ″As far as the world is concerned, there was one overdose, one car crash, one accidental fall and nothing else.″
″Aurora? Hello?″ Rosa snapped her f
ingers in front of Aurora's eyes. Aurora blinked and came back to the present. She was sitting in Hilda's den, surrounded by ever decreasing piles of paper.
″Sorry,″ Aurora said, smiling. ″I guess I was day dreaming.″
″Wouldn't have pegged you as a day dreamer. Thought that was all my territory.″ Rosa smiled. ″Come on, let's take a break, shall we?″
″Sure.″ Aurora stretched. ″Yes. I think I need one.″ It was strange. Normally, as a space cleared, Aurora's own head would clear, too. But, with all the events of the past few weeks, her head felt clouded and heavy. There were so many unanswered questions, so many different threads to follow, that her mind had just become a giant tangled ball of yarn. What was she missing?
″You're in deep thought about something,″ Rosa said. They sat at the kitchen table and Milly brought over a pitcher of mint lemonade. Rosa smacked her lips as she had some. ″Nothing like some cold lemonade when you've been working in dusty corners all day. Phew!″
Aurora nodded, her mind still far away. Then, abruptly, she got up.
″Rosa, do you mind if I take the rest of the day off? We've made a lot of progress and I think we should be done in another day or two.″
″Sure.″ Rosa looked at her. ″I think Milly and I will call it quits for today, too. We all deserve it. I'd pat myself on the back if I could.″
″Thanks,″ Aurora said.
″Shall I give you a lift back into town?″ Milly asked.
″I'd appreciate it.″ Aurora smiled. ″If it's not too much of a pain.″
″No pain at all.″ Milly smiled warmly. ″As long as you don't mind the mess in the backseat. My daughter never cleans up after herself.″
″Actually, I wanted to talk to Aurora,″ Rosa said. ″I'll give her that lift later. You can go on home, Milly.″
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