She put on her best angelic face. “I promise to be a good girl, until I’m asked not to be.” She grinned at the blush creeping up under his collar. “Go on. I’m listening.”
“Elaine’s house is empty and has a sign out front. It’s been sold.”
Addie’s eyes widened. “No way, she’s skipped town?”
“Looks like it. Strange timing. But she wasn’t put on the witness list after she gave her initial statement, so in reality, she has every right to come and go as she pleases.”
“I get that, but don’t you find it suspicious that I saw Andrew hand her an envelope, and then she suddenly leaves town?”
“I do, but the DA reviewed the reports and decided she had nothing to add to the case, so she was dropped from the investigation.”
“Maybe they need to take a harder look at her now that’s she vanished.”
“I don’t know about ‘vanished,’ but tomorrow I’ll look into it and see if anyone knows where she went.”
“Are you going to search her house for any clues?”
“Like I said, it was empty. Any clues would be long gone.” He looked at her over the rim of his cup, draining it.
“My guess is that she knows something, and Andrew wanted to make sure she wasn’t here to answer any questions.”
“Based on what we know now,” he said, setting his cup on the counter, “you might be right.”
She scrubbed her hands across her face. “This is getting to be too much.”
“Come on, then, let’s take your mind off it. You said you needed help cleaning up. Let’s get started.” He pulled her behind him out of the kitchen.
She laughed. “I don’t need help. I said you could help if you wanted to.”
“I want to. Where do we start?”
“Right here.” She pointed at the dining room. “I think every room was hit, by the looks of it. But let’s leave the living room for now, because I want to show you the puzzle compartments that I discovered in the desk when we’re done.”
He raised his brow, looked at the living room doorway and then back at her, and shrugged.
They worked their way through the downstairs and then the second floor. Through their inspection of the rooms, they found every one of them had been searched, some more than others. Her aunt’s old bedroom had been hit the hardest.
“Any word on her autopsy report?” She put the last of her aunt’s belongings in the drawer of the bedside table.
Marc was standing at the closet door. Without a word, he closed it.
“I asked if there was any word on my aunt’s autopsy yet.” Addie stopped what she’d been doing and looked at his broad back; his shoulder muscles flinched. “What is it? What did they find?”
He turned to her slowly, his face contorted. “I knew there was something I forgot to tell you.” He winced.
“Okay.” She sat on the edge of the bed. “Tell me now, is it bad news?”
“Well . . . yes and no.” He sat down beside her.
She sucked in a sharp breath. He took her hand, stroking his thumb over the back of it.
She quivered at his touch. Could he feel her pulse race? She slowly let out her breath, hypnotized as his thumb stroked small circles across her skin.
“It seems,” he started, then blew out a deep sigh, “that when old Doc Smith, her doctor, discovered the exhumation order, well, he flew into a rage. He came to see me first, then went directly to the DA and had it rescinded.”
Her eyes widened. “Why?” She bit her lip. “Do you think he’s trying to hide something?”
“No, no. He said that she suffered from a heart condition for years and had begun failing rapidly in the couple of months preceding her death. He’d wanted to hospitalize her, but she wouldn’t go.”
“I hear she was stubborn.”
Marc looked at her. “I’d say it runs in the family.” He chuckled.
She pulled her hand away. The electrical charge that had bound them broken, she playfully slapped his hand.
“Anyway, he went on to say—and none too calmly, I might add—that I was a fool to think anything other than natural causes were to blame. When she refused admission, he did insist she have round-the-clock nursing homecare.”
“No one told me that.” Addie pursed her lips. “So with a nurse always with her in the house, no one could have come in and poisoned her?”
“Doc said her visitors were limited in the last months, since she wasn’t up for company, so only a few close friends came to see her.”
Addie nodded. “Understandable.”
“But he did mention something strange.” Marc’s eyes twinkled. “He said the night nurse, who slept in her bedroom on a cot, did mention that she was woken a few times by strange noises in the house.”
“Did she report it?”
“No,” he sighed. “He said she just put it down to the house being so old and guessed it was normal. So that’s that. No autopsy needed.”
Addie stood up and went to the window, crossing her arms. “Then we’ll never know if someone did give her some tainted tea to try to rush things along.”
“It’s very unlikely, but you’re right. We’ll never know, but to be honest, I think Doc Smith is right and it was natural causes.”
Addie shook her head, gnawing on her bottom lip. “I guess so.” She glanced over the bedroom. “Well, I think we’re done up here. It didn’t take long with the two us working on it. Thank you.”
“What about that old desk you mentioned? I’ve been itching to explore it all evening.”
“Come on then.” She motioned toward the door. “Let’s grab more coffee and go have a look, and you can tell me what you think.”
“You’re the expert on it, not me, but anything with hidden compartments to be explored sounds like my kind of thing.”
She stopped at the top of the landing and looked at him. “You really do love your job, don’t you?”
“Well, yes.” He scratched his head. “I can’t imagine doing anything else. What makes you say that?”
She laughed and bounded down the stairs. “’Cause you love a good mystery and sorting out the clues as much as I do.”
“Then maybe you should join the police force.”
“Nah, I’m a rule breaker. Don’t think I could follow orders.” She winked at him and walked toward the desk.
“Gee, I hadn’t noticed.” He chuckled and glanced around the living room. “That’s a great-looking desk, it appears to be really old. I hope the intruder didn’t damage it?”
“I don’t see any damage, but as you can tell by everything tossed on the floor, they did search it,” she said, wiggling into the kneehole.
He bent down as she flipped onto her back and shifted over to one side. “Here, I think there’s enough room for the two of us.” He slithered in beside her. “It dates back a few hundred years. I think. I haven’t really had time to appraise it though. I love the old pedestal design. Too bad it’s so bulky and heavy. Take a look at what I found this morning.” She pressed on a panel above his head. The drawer popped open easily, and she pulled it out of its recess. “See, it’s full of these. I think I’ve only discovered about half.”
They continued to poke and probe every inch of the underside and side pedestal panels but nothing else popped open. Addie wiggled out from under the desk. “There’s one more option we haven’t tried.”
“What’s that?” Marc slipped out and stood up.
“This desk wasn’t made to be placed against a wall. It’s only here, I’m assuming, because the room’s too small. On the front side is a modesty panel.”
“So it’s finished?”
“Yes, it’s the front of the desk, not the back, at least if it’s like the others I’ve seen, and it probably has fairly ornate carvings. I just haven’t pulled it out because it’s too heavy for me on my own.”
“Looks like someone has.” Marc bent down and traced his fingers over scratches on the hardwood flooring by the foot of the
desk.
“Really?” Addie leaned over his shoulder. “They aren’t too bad, pretty faint, but it looks like the desk was pulled out at one time at least.”
“They’re barely noticeable, and that’s a good thing. Probably why whoever broke in here didn’t pull it out. They didn’t know this wasn’t the front of it.” He stood up and grabbed the side of the desk, inching it away from the wall.
“Wait.” Addie ran around the other side. “You’ll strain your back if you do it yourself. I’ll walk this side, and you do yours. We should be able to get it far enough from the wall to take a look.”
When the massive mahogany desk was far enough out, they began to explore the carved wood front. Addie pointed out the intricate features on the trim and details in the modesty panels that might mean it concealed a drawer. They ran their fingers over the ornate design, pressing and pushing on anything that could be a button.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Addie fumed when they had been over every inch of the design. “There has to be something here. I can feel it.”
“That gut feeling of yours again?” Marc stood up, offering her his hand. “Well, I’m done. Kneeling this long reminds me that I’m not a kid anymore.”
Addie clenched her fists and studied the desk, then walked around to the other side and dipped down into the kneehole. “I see it.” She popped her head back out. “Of course that’s where it would be.” She jumped up and ran around to the modesty panel again.
Marc grunted as he kneeled beside her. “What did you find under there?”
“Here under the top lip. Run your fingers under here, pressing along the length of the desk. See if you feel any crevices or a peg or piece of rough wood—anything out of the ordinary.”
“Why?” Marc ran his fingers under the desktop overhang.
“The depth under the knee hole is shallower than it should be, given the top width of the desk. It must mean there is a hidden drawer or two somewhere.”
They each started at one end and worked their way to the center, but nothing happened. “Darn it. I was certain I was right.” She slapped her palm against the modesty panel. There was a click. She turned to Marc and swallowed hard.
“Well, well, well, let’s see what we have here.” He reached over her arm and opened the small door that swung outward.
Addie reached inside and pulled out an elaborate jeweled box. “Look at this. Wow. It must be worth a fortune.” She glanced at him and then back down at the box in disbelief.
“Maybe this is what the thieves are looking for.” He rubbed his fingers over the inlaid diamonds on the lid. “Does it open?”
She turned it over in her hands. “Yes. Here’s a keyhole. I wonder where the key is.” She shook the box, the contents thudding against the sides of it. “Sounds solid. I wonder what it is?” She shook it again.
“It’s large enough to hold a lot of things: a book or papers, wills, a smaller jewelry box. Who knows?” He shrugged.
“We have to find the key. It must be hidden in another compartment.” She began pressing the sides of the niche that the box had been in.
Marc groaned, rubbing his knees, and stood. “Well, there’s a lot of gold and diamonds on there. The box has a fairly high value by the looks of it.”
“Do you think they’re real?” She looked up at him
“They must be. Why else would someone be willing to kill so many people to get their hands on it?”
“Yeah, you’re right.” She stared at the exquisite gold filigree design with diamond insets.
“I don’t like the fact that it’s here in the house with you.”
She stood up and placed the box on the desktop. “What are you saying?” But he was walking toward the window.
He pulled back the curtain enough to peer out a small crack, then closed it. “Just as I thought . . .” His voice trailed off.
“What?” Her veins ran cold, and she shivered.
“Earlier I thought I saw a flash of headlights across the curtains. Then you started searching the trim lip, and I shook it off. Because I know some traffic doesn’t realize the street’s a dead end and turn around up there at the top of the driveway, but . . .” He shook his head, his jaw tense.
“But what?”
“Look,” he said, stepping toward her, “it’s pretty dark out there, and I can’t see it clear enough, but the streetlight is reflecting off—”
“That black sedan’s out there again, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “I know you have a new security system and all, but I don’t think you should stay here tonight.” He pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket. “But don’t worry, I’m going to call it in and have a patrol car come by and check it out.”
She crossed her arms and planted her feet. “No, I’m not going anywhere. I’ve done enough running. The house is secured now, and I’m not putting myself or anyone else out tonight. Not anymore.”
“If you insist”—he took a deep breath—“then I insist . . . I’m staying here for the night, and I’m still going to call the station to send someone to check out the car.” He locked eyes with her, mirroring her stance.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Addie awoke to a text alert on her cell phone. She fumbled to grasp it from her bedside table. Who would be messaging her at six-fifteen a.m.? She pulled her phone close to her eyes and bolted straight up, her hand against her chest. “Thank God, Jeremy.”
She continued to read the message. Initially, she was disappointed to see he was still away, but then he went on to say that he hoped to be back in Boston this week and would come and visit her for a few days before he had to return to work. He would explain it all when they got together and wanted her to know that he hadn’t forgotten about her book appraisals. They were almost finished. “What a relief.” She bounded out of bed, wrapped her robe tightly around her, and headed down the hall to the bathroom.
She basked in the calming effects of the steamy shower and vanilla body wash cascading over her skin and hugged herself. Jeremy’s coming back soon! She hadn’t realized until she read those words this morning just how worried she’d been about him. Her heart feeling lighter than it had in weeks, she stepped out onto the bath mat and dried off, snuggling her face into the soft cotton towel and inhaling the heavenly aroma of fabric softener mingled with the fragrance of her body wash and peppermint shampoo. She smiled, humming to herself, and wrapped the towel around her wet hair.
A scuffling sound came from the corridor, and her chest constricted. She stood motionless and held her breath, gritting her teeth as her lungs burned for oxygen. Then there was a rap at the door, and she gasped.
“Addie, it’s me. Sorry to disturb your shower.”
“Marc.” She heaved a sigh of relief.
“I don’t mean to rush you, but . . .”
“Sorry, I’m on my way out.” She pulled her robe around her and opened the door.
His eyes scanned her robed figure. “Good morning.” He thumbed a piece of towel lint from her cheek. “Sorry to interrupt you, but—”
“I should have told you there’s a bathroom off my aunt’s room and a half bath—”
“No, no, I don’t need to use the facilities. I’m heading out and need to talk to you before I leave.”
If he could be nonchalant about her being in nothing but a flimsy robe, so could she. “I had forgotten you were here.”
He leaned against the doorframe, crossing one leg over the other, and lazily reached out to finger the ties of her robe. “Really?” His brow rose. “You forgot there was a man in the house?”
“Yes.” She stepped back and slapped his hand away. She unwrapped the towel from her head and hung it over the rack. “What’s up?” She began combing out her hair.
“I told you I’d call the station and have them check out the car at the top of your drive last night, and it paid off.”
“Fantastic, whose is it?”
“Well, we don’t know yet, but they ran the plates, and it’s reg
istered to a car rental company in Boston. I’m heading in to request a warrant for their client records.”
“So your officers didn’t catch the driver or talk to him, or her, whatever?”
“Afraid not.” He shook his head. “Andy came up the hill just as the car was heading down. He did get the plate number, but by the time he turned around and headed after it, they were gone.”
She blew out a sigh. “I guess that’s the best clue we’ve had so far. How long will it take to get the client records?”
“Probably a few days, but I’m going to put it in as vital to a murder case and see if that will hurry the process along.”
“Good. Are you hungry? Did you get anything to eat, any coffee?” She stepped toward him to pass.
He didn’t step back. For a full second, time stopped. The old grandfather clock even quit ticking. All she could smell was her vanilla body wash and his day-old cologne. The scents, merged together, took her breath away. His eyes held fast with hers. She wanted nothing more than to dive into their depths and lose herself. He broke the spell when he stepped back, and she sucked air into her burning lungs, only aware then that she had forgotten to breathe.
“No, I’ll grab something later, thanks. I have to be in court for another case by nine. Busy morning.” He turned to go. “I also forgot to tell you—the nursing station called, and it looks like Catherine will be discharged this morning after doctor’s rounds. I had said I’d pick her up, because I need to ask her a few questions but—”
“I will, and I’ll tell her you’ll drop by later. I planned on being there anyway. I need to get my hands on that envelope, and soon.”
“I don’t like the idea of you and her being alone in her house.”
“Why not?” Addie spun around from her bedroom doorway, the fine hairs on the back of her neck bristling. “Don’t you trust her?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just that her house was ransacked, and she was knocked out. The culprits still haven’t found what they’re looking for, and I’m afraid they may be back. Especially if they know the two of you are there alone.”
Her hand clung to her doorframe. “I thought you were worried about her attacking me.”
Murder by the Book Page 20