She sat on her lounger and leaned back with a satisfied sigh. “You know, this has been the best vacation I’ve ever taken,” she said. “It’s been so relaxing to be out of touch with the rest of the world. No one’s making any demands on me. I stocked up on frozen dinners, so there’s been no cooking and not much cleaning up. There’s been nothing to do but lie by the pool and read.”
“And frame your husband for your murder,” I pointed out, possibly unwisely, considering that the gun was still within her reach.
“I wouldn’t have had to go so far if people had noticed I was gone. Do you know how discouraging it is to be able to totally fall off the face of the earth for days before anyone in your life notices? It seems the only person who cared at all was you, someone I’d talked to once. The plan was that my coworkers would check on me when I didn’t show up for the luncheon and get worried when they couldn’t reach me. The police here would find my car, and then they’d find Hugo’s car nearby. But then the luncheon got cancelled and I had to come up with something else I could miss.”
“And the interview with me was the perfect opportunity.”
“Yes. I was so glad I met you. But then I missed that, and nothing happened. The car didn’t seem to alarm anyone, even when I went out and put some blood on the door handle.”
“Someone did call the police about the car, and I noticed the blood and pointed it out to the police.”
“But they didn’t do anything about it! That night I put my purse, shoe, and earring in Hugo’s trunk, along with some rope, and I cut my hand and left a bloody print. Surely someone would notice that!”
I wondered if she was the prowler the neighbors had noticed and called the police about, and it wasn’t Margarita and me, after all. “Your daughter reported you missing on Monday,” I told her. “She noticed you were gone.”
“Finally! It took three whole days before it occurred to anyone that I was completely unreachable. You notice my husband didn’t seem to care. I don’t think he even tried to call me.”
“Still, this all seems a little extreme,” I said. “You could have just left him.”
She gave a bitter laugh. “If he’d asked for a divorce, I think I’d have been okay with that. I would have made sure I got my share of the assets, but I wouldn’t have fought him or made it hard for him to go. But he didn’t just cheat. He lied. He made a fool out of me.”
Feeling like a hostage negotiator on a TV show, I said, “That must have been difficult.” As long as she was talking, she wasn’t shooting at me, so I felt I should encourage her to talk.
Her voice cracked as she said, “It was terrible. We haven’t always had the best marriage. He’s had his world and I’ve had mine, and he’s cheated before. I’m used to being forgotten and invisible. It’s not just Hugo. But that night at his class reunion, it was the worst I’ve ever experienced. He and his old girlfriend were all over each other, like no time had passed, even though I was right there. It was like he not only forgot I was there, he forgot I’d ever existed.”
She took a long sip of lemonade, put the glass down, and said, “I’m hot. Do you want to get in the water?”
“I’m not exactly dressed for it.”
“You can put your feet in the water. It’ll help keep you cool. The shallow end’s in the shade at this time of day. And I want to swim, so you’re coming with me.”
As I followed her to the edge of the pool, I considered running for it, but I wasn’t sure I could get to the gate before she could get to the gun. It wasn’t as though I was suffering. As long as we were sitting by the pool and talking, I supposed there was no harm in staying. I hated the thought that the other newspaper was likely to run an inaccurate story, but at the same time, I could kind of see Florrie’s point. I didn’t have a huge problem with Hugo’s reputation getting trashed. My sympathies were with the other editor, whose paper was going to be outdated even before it came off the press.
While Florrie pulled off her caftan and made her way down the steps into the pool, I slipped off my shoes and rolled my pants up to my knees. I sat on the edge of the pool and let my feet dangle in the water. I had to admit that it felt good. It would have been nice to be able to get in the water. Maybe the next time I decided to conduct surveillance on a house with a pool, I’d put a swimsuit on under my clothes.
Florrie sank down into the water until it was up to her shoulders and half-stood, half-floated. “The Vegas trip was what really made me mad,” she said, continuing her story. “It was bad enough that he acted like I’d be a burden if I came along, even though it would only have cost my airfare and meals and I wouldn’t have minded being left alone. But I felt like such a fool when I mentioned it to his secretary and she had no idea what I was talking about. I knew Hugo couldn’t make travel reservations for himself to save his life, so I knew something was up.”
“Yeah, that is pretty fishy,” I said. “But how did you know he was going to stay with Cissy?”
“Where else would he be going?” she asked with a shrug. “It was pretty obvious he was doing something he didn’t want me to know about. For one thing, he locked his phone. We have the same model, and we’d always used them interchangeably. We both had the passcodes to each other’s phones. One day I picked up his, thinking it was mine, and none of the codes I knew worked. And while I was holding the phone, a message from Cissy came in. I couldn’t read the whole thing on the lock screen, but I saw enough to be suspicious. That was when I did some research. Someone I used to work with had moved to Stirling Mills, so I called her to chat, and it turns out she lives directly behind Cissy. She was about to go out of town on a cruise just before teacher inservice started, and she mentioned needing someone to look after her dog. It was the perfect chance, so I volunteered. I suppose I could have hidden out anywhere, but it was nice to be able to keep an eye on Hugo while I was at it.”
“And so you pulled an Agatha Christie,” I said.
Her face lit up. “Yes! You get it! I knew I liked you. I’m a big fan of her books, and I’ve always been intrigued by that story. Of course, we don’t really know if she actually planned to set her husband up, but it seems likely to me. Hugo’s the one everyone remembers, the guy with the personality. I think half my friends don’t remember me if they’re not looking right at me. Our mutual friends invite him, and I come along with him. If we just divorced, he’d be the one who ended up with the friends. I’d be forgotten. If I wanted any kind of life, I’d need to make sure sympathies were with me.”
“So you framed him.”
“Technically, I don’t think it counts as framing. I haven’t accused him of a crime. There’s no crime to accuse him of. I put my own belongings in a car I have every right to have access to. If people assumed something bad based on the evidence, that’s not my fault. I’m planning to reappear as soon as the newspaper comes out, so he’ll never be charged with a crime.”
“Other than lying to the police and impeding an investigation,” I said.
She laughed. “Really?”
“Yeah. He gave the Vegas story when the police called him after your daughter reported you missing.”
“And then they found him here with Cissy. Oops.” She giggled.
“It didn’t look good for him.”
“He walked right into it. Lying will make them even more suspicious of him.”
“They’re already pretty sure he didn’t do it.”
“What?” She slapped her hands against the surface of the water, splattering me and the deck around me. Bowser heaved himself up from where he was lying and came over to flop down next to me.
“You may have overdone it with the evidence you planted. They figure any killer dumping a body wouldn’t have left the shoe and the purse in the car. The earring might have worked, since he might not have noticed it.”
She nodded. “Good point. I should have thought of that.”
“And there are no signs of a dead body having been in the trunk. If you’d been wrapped in plas
tic, the shoe and earring would have fallen off in the plastic.”
“Oh well, it wasn’t like I was trying to get him convicted of murder. I just wanted people to see him being put in a police car outside his girlfriend’s house, and I got that.”
“You know that holding me prisoner here is a bigger crime than he’s committed, so they’re also going to see you being put in a police car. Is it worth it?”
I thought for a moment I was going to have to dive in and rescue her because she stumbled and fell underwater. She came up, sputtering, a moment later. “Oh, God, no. I didn’t think of that. I just couldn’t let you ruin everything. I wouldn’t have shot you. There aren’t even any bullets in the gun, though I don’t think that matters if I made you think there were bullets. I’m so sorry.” I couldn’t tell if it was the water on her face or if she was crying, but her shoulders shook violently.
I knew Wes would probably be annoyed with me for this, but I said, “I don’t have to tell anyone. Just come clean. I’m sure word will get back to your hometown, whether or not the story about your husband ends up in your local newspaper. I’m not even sure I can make it back to the office in time to catch that other editor and tell him what I’ve found. I don’t have his number with me.” This was actually the truth. I’d called him from the newspaper’s landline, so I couldn’t reach him until I got back to the office. I’d feel bad for him if he got the wrong story, but I wasn’t deliberately holding out on him.
“Really? You’re not going to tell anyone? Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. I mean, I already owe you for trying to report me missing. You’ve paid more attention to me than most of the people in my life, including my husband.” Now I felt really bad for her. I didn’t want her going to jail, not when she’d come up with such a clever way of getting back at a cheating husband. She made her way to the steps and climbed out of the pool. “I’ll get you a towel so you can dry off before you put your shoes back on.” She hurried over to the lounge chairs, leaving puddles in her wake, picked up a beach towel and brought it to me.
“I have told the police that I thought I found where you were house-sitting,” I admitted as I pulled my feet from the water and turned around to dry them. “They may be coming to check on you, and I think you should answer the door when they do. This has gone on long enough.”
With a deep sigh, she said, “You’re probably right. Anything beyond this would be pretty malicious. I have what I wanted. Again, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have brought out the gun. Desperation really does make people do dumb things, doesn’t it? I’ve always been so critical of characters in books and movies when they do dumb stuff, but now I think I get it. I must have completely lost my mind. Do you want some more lemonade before you go? Or what about staying for dinner? It’s been nice having a few days to myself, but I have to admit, I’ve enjoyed having the company just now.”
That was quite the reversal, going straight from holding me prisoner to inviting me over for dinner, but there was such raw, naked need in her eyes that I couldn’t say no to her. Besides, it was either that or having to cook for myself. Even if I ate the brisket Charlene had brought me, I’d have to at least make a salad to go with it. “Sure, dinner sounds nice,” I said.
“We can eat out here by the pool. But I guess it’s still early for dinner. If you’re hungry now, I’ve got some watermelon for a snack. I’ll go get that.” She pulled her caftan back on and went into the house.
I finished toweling my feet and legs, rolled down my pants legs, and put my shoes back on before I stood. This was my chance to leave. She was in the house, and I knew I could get back to my car and be well away before she came back outside, especially now that I knew the gun wasn’t loaded. But I didn’t feel like I was in any danger, and if I was here, that would keep her from doing anything else stupid. As angry as she was at her husband, him being just across the alley was probably a massive temptation, and she had that gun.
I went back to the lounge chair and sat down. Bowser followed me, and I gave his ears a good scratch before I picked up my lemonade glass and poured a refill. This was a nice backyard. I wouldn’t mind spending a vacation at a place like this, with a swimming pool all to myself. Come to think of it, I didn’t know how vacations worked in my job. The newspaper had to come out, week in and week out. Did I get vacations? Did we ever do a double issue and skip a week? I had flexible hours and nowhere to go right now, so I didn’t feel the loss of vacation time, but at some point I might want to go somewhere. I figured I might as well enjoy myself at the moment, since this was the closest I was likely to come to a getaway this year.
Florrie came back out with a bowl of watermelon. “Here you go,” she said. “I cut it up like for a fruit salad because it’s easier to eat that way.” She placed the bowl and a couple of smaller bowls on the table. “Serve yourself.”
As I picked up the spoon, Bowser jumped up and ran to the back of the yard, barking. I looked up just in time to see Hugo burst through the gate. “Aha! Caught you!” he shouted.
Chapter Fifteen
Florrie’s back was to Hugo, and she whirled to see him. “Hugo!” she yelped. Bowser also yelped and ran back to me.
“I can’t believe you’ve been hiding out here all this time,” Hugo said with a snarl. “Do you know what I’ve been through?”
“Yeah, and that was pretty much my plan,” Florrie said. “It’s too late to try to sweep this under the rug. Everyone knows what you did. The newspaper’s already gone to press. The whole town will see the story tomorrow.”
He raised a gun. “Well, if I’m going to go down for killing you, I might as well do it.”
That seemed like a rather extreme response. Now would have been a great time for Bowser to come to our rescue and lunge at Hugo, like the service dog belonging to Ruthie, the artist across the street from the newspaper office, had once done to save me from a killer. But Bowser was cowering behind my legs. I could feel him trembling. He must have been a rescue dog who’d been traumatized by abusive behavior. It looked like I’d have to save him.
“Whoa, you’re not going down for anything other than lying,” I said, standing and moving to Florrie’s side, my hands raised so I wouldn’t appear at all threatening. But that meant I was looking down the barrel of a gun yet again. Twice in one afternoon was definitely a record for me. This was not a habit I wanted to get into. “Lieutenant Mosby told me he didn’t think you did anything to Florrie. I mean, other than lying to her and cheating. And I already told him I found her. He knows she’s okay, that there was no crime.” That was stretching the truth a bit, but I didn’t think that anything said at gunpoint counted as a lie. “But if you shoot her, you’ll be in real trouble,” I added.
Unfortunately, my assurances didn’t have the effect I’d hoped for. He didn’t lower the gun. “They found her things in my car,” he said. “She set me up.”
“Yes, but she’s obviously alive,” I pointed out to Hugo. “As long as she stays that way, no one’s going to arrest you for murder because there is no murder. If you kill her, then they will get you. They’re already watching you. You’ll be the first suspect because you have a motive that everyone already knows about.”
“But they know I didn’t kidnap her, that those things were planted, so maybe when she dies, they’ll think it was someone else,” he said, sounding like he was desperately grasping at straws. It didn’t look good for Florrie if he was rationalizing what would happen if he killed her.
“There’s a witness,” I reminded him.
The gun moved toward me. “Not necessarily.”
Things had taken a serious turn rather quickly. I couldn’t help but glance toward the gun on the little table between the lounge chairs. True, it was unloaded, but he didn’t know that, and maybe I could scare him off. I was careful not to move my head so that maybe he wouldn’t notice my glance, but the moment he aimed his gun at me, Florrie turned to look at her gun and took a step in that direction. Hugo couldn’t help but notice the movemen
t, which meant he noticed the gun.
“Uh-uh,” he said, shaking his head. “Both of you move away from it, now.”
Florrie and I moved a few steps sideways, closer to the pool. I wondered if jumping in the water would do any good. It might be harder to aim at something underwater, and the farther apart Florrie and I were, the harder it would be for him to shoot both of us. On the other hand, any sudden movement was likely to startle him and, as edgy as he looked, he was likely to pull the trigger as a reflex. Bowser came along with us, still cowering behind me and whimpering softly.
“I’m disappointed in you, Hugo,” Florrie said, sounding remarkably calm for the circumstances. I supposed a teacher had to be good at deescalating tense situations, and she was certainly using her “teacher” voice. I felt like I was back in school. “I wasn’t too surprised to find out you were lying to me and cheating, and I know you’ve cheated before, but I didn’t think you were the kind of person who’d stoop so low as to get violent. Our marriage wasn’t great, but I was never afraid of you, until now.”
“Really? Then why did you make it look to everyone like I’d tied you up and thrown you in the trunk of my car?”
“I just wanted someone to notice,” she shouted, her voice shrill with emotion. “I wanted people to know about you, what you were doing, and since no one even noticed I was missing, I had to try harder to make them look at you and see what you were up to.” She took a couple of deep breaths, then shook her head sadly. “I don’t know why I expected better. No one ever sees me. We lived in the same house for more than twenty-five years, and I think you always forgot I existed the moment you weren’t looking at me. Maybe that’s why you cheated. When you were out with other women, you totally forgot about me, so I guess you thought you were a free agent.”
Case of the Vanishing Visitor Page 14