Deadly Diaries

by C. E. Waterman

  When she stopped to take a breath, she noticed Robin had two bags on her arm, one of which was hers. It smelled horrible. But it was there, and it was whole. “When did you get my purse?”

  Robin laughed. “I went back to your place after I dropped you off yesterday. I found it right where you said, and it looks like it hasn’t been touched. I checked to see if your credit cards were there.” She waited while Maggie rummaged through it. “At least, there are some cards in there,” she continued. “I don’t know if any are missing. There’s some cash, too.”

  Maggie dug out her wallet and went through it. All her credit cards were accounted for, and her cash hadn’t been touched. She sighed with relief. “Thanks, Robin. I can’t believe I didn’t think about this yesterday. Or even the day before, when I was in the hospital. I simply forgot about it.” She walked to the desk and gave the clerk her card. “Put all the charges on this one, please.” She smiled at Robin. “Now I just owe you for the clothes.”

  Robin waited until they were in the car and halfway to Maggie’s before bringing the subject up again. “You don’t owe me anything,” she said. “It’s what friends do.”

  Maggie opened her mouth to protest, but before she could get it out, Robin continued, “I don’t want to hear another word about it.” The way she set her mouth, Maggie knew arguing would not change her mind. She’d have to find another way to show her appreciation.

  They pulled into the alley behind her house, and into her short driveway. Robin shut off the engine. “Here we are. Are you ready?”

  Maggie nodded. “Who has Tony? Do you have time to go through the house with me? I’d like your input on some design ideas.”

  Robin laughed as she got out of the car. “Redesigning already? That’s a good sign. Libby has Tony, so I can spend some time here, and then maybe we can go to lunch.”

  Maggie reached to unlatch the back gate. “Um, I might have plans today, Robin, but I’d love to take you guys to dinner when Mark gets off.”

  She could feel Robin’s gaze as she went through the gate, but Maggie didn’t look back. Robin would want to ask who Maggie’s plans were with but wouldn’t want to intrude.

  “Ah, yeah,” Robin said. “Dinner would be great. We don’t get out as much as we used to. It would be a treat.”

  The sight of the house brought Maggie to a full stop.

  Robin joined her. “Does it look worse than you remember?”

  Maggie started walking again. “No, in fact, it’s not as bad as it was in my head last night.”

  The tarp was clipped back, and fans blew air from the open windows in front out the hole in the back. “Wow, what’s going on? Did you get this started?”

  “No, Greg did.”

  Maggie maneuvered around the fans and into the house followed closely by Robin. She couldn’t believe he was still looking out for her even after she broke up with him. She headed straight for the stairs, skirting a generator in the middle of the room. Careful to avoid some cords, she paused halfway up the steps. “Was it bad yesterday when you went up to get my purse?”

  “No, but I didn’t get much chance to look. There’s some damage to the back bedroom above the kitchen, but when I peeked into the other rooms, it looked like they just had smoke and water damage.”

  They had reached the upper floor. The soft furnishings were gone. The carpet had been ripped up, and all the mattresses and box springs were gone, leaving bed frames leaning up against the wall of one of the bedrooms. As Robin had said, only Allie’s room had any structural damage. Danger tape crisscrossed the door below a Keep-Out note.

  She moved into the other rooms. The walls had been cleaned and all the windows thrown open, with fans drawing air through from the front of the house to the back, just like downstairs. She crossed to the front windows and peered into a dumpster, which must have been put there yesterday. The soggy mess inside couldn’t be identified from up here.

  “Man, these people are fast! When did they do all this?”

  Robin spoke from across the room. “A crew of five people were here yesterday. They’d already cleared all the furniture out and were vacuuming soot off the walls and the floors when I arrived. They must have set up the fans right after. I wonder if they’ve been here yet today or if they ran them all night.”

  Maggie went back downstairs and checked her office in the front of the house next to the living room. It didn’t have any fire damage and sustained very little water damage. Her wood desk remained intact, and the built-ins storing her file cabinets appeared untouched. She’d go through them at some point to see if anything had gotten wet. In the meantime, she headed out to the kitchen where Robin was waiting.

  “I’m considering gray and white for my color palette, with punches of the pretty blue so popular now.” She glanced at Robin. “What do you think?”

  “I think it would be beautiful. Are you going to put another chair and ottoman in this bay nook? I always loved it.”

  Maggie pictured a new overstuffed chair and a tall reading lamp. “Yeah, it’ll be good to give buyers ideas for a space they might not have thought of themselves. Plus, I can keep the same palette in here since it’s connected, and it’ll be easier to stage.”

  Robin had been wandering around, no doubt picturing what Maggie was saying. She came to an abrupt stop. “Buyers? And did you say easier to stage?” She twirled on her toes, her mouth still partly open. “Do you mean you’re not rebuilding to live here?”

  Maggie shook her head. “I came to the decision last night.”

  Robin’s brown eyes turned gentle. “Why? Don’t you feel safe here anymore?”

  “No, I’ve been safe here for seven years, and once the people responsible are caught, I would’ve felt safe again. I realized that last night too.”

  Robin cocked her head. “So are you moving into Esther’s house?”

  Maggie grinned, having fun dragging it out. “Greg and I will have to find a new house.”

  Robin hesitated until it sank in and then threw herself at Maggie, giving her a huge hug. “Are you guys back together? Have you talked to him?”

  “No, but I’m hoping I can take him to lunch.”

  Robin beamed. “What are you waiting for, girl? Call him right now!”

  Maggie’s smile faltered. “He hasn’t changed his mind, has he? I know I hurt him. He may decide I’m not worth the effort.”

  Robin gave her a sidelong glance. “Not in this lifetime. Call him and put the poor guy out of his misery.”

  “OK, but you can’t tell him. I want to tell him myself.” She pulled her phone out of her purse. “Oh, and you can’t tell Mark either.”

  The disappointment on Robin’s face was almost comical. “I can’t even tell Mark?”

  “Nope. He won’t be able to keep a straight face, and Greg will find out. Promise me.”

  “OK, spoilsport, I won’t say a word. But hurry, you know how hard it’ll be for me to keep this quiet.”

  “I’ll call him now and see if he wants to meet for lunch.” She moved toward the stairs. “I’d better get the ring. I’m so glad my bedroom didn’t catch. I don’t think the diamond would burn, but I have no idea if it would be hot enough to hurt the gold.” She ran up the stairs. The diamond was in a small stone box on her nightstand, right where she’d left it. It slipped easily on her finger and sparkled in the light from the open window. How could she have felt tied down by such a beautiful thing?

  While she was upstairs, away from Robin, she dialed Greg’s cell. It rang a few times and went to voicemail. Not knowing what to say, she hung up. Very mature, Maggie. Oh, well, she’d try again later. Maybe dinner was a better idea anyway. Robin would understand.

  Her clothes still hung in the closet. A handwritten note fluttered on the closet door.

  Wash the clothes and hang them outside. You may have to wash them a few times to remove the smell, and there’s no guarantee it will work. Unfortunately, dry cleaning won’t touch it, so your dry-clean-only clothes are
probably ruined.

  Great. There were some nice things in there. “Robin?” she called down the stairs. “Can you help me get these in my car?” When Robin appeared at the bottom of the stairs, Maggie added, “I’m going to take them to Aunt Esther’s and do them there.”

  They pulled everything washable out of the closet, her dresser, and her winter clothes storage, then retrieved sheets and towels from the blanket chest in her bedroom and stuffed her car full. “It’s a good thing these have to be washed, so it doesn’t matter how we put them in.” Robin forced the trunk closed and worked to get it to latch. “We’d never get it all in if you had to worry about wrinkles.”

  Back inside, Robin helped her take measurements. “There isn’t much I can do until the insurance company gets back to me, but I can at least start lining up what I want.” Maggie let the tape measure slide closed with a snap. “Since I’m selling, I won’t use the expensive stuff. Maybe insurance will cover everything.”

  They headed out to their cars.

  Robin paused between the cars in the driveway. “Do you want me to come along and help you get the clothes out?”

  “No, like you said I don’t have to be neat. I’ll get some baskets and haul them in one at a time.” Maggie hugged her good-bye, tears forming in her eyes. “Thanks for everything. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.”

  Robin sniffled, hugged her hard, wiped her eyes, and stepped back. “Since I have a free hour before I pick up Tony, I think I’ll take my husband to lunch.”

  “Remember your promise,” Maggie called after her.

  Robin waved as she drove away.

  At Aunt Esther’s, Maggie parked in the driveway. Aunt Esther’s white sedan was in still in the garage, so she’d have to either take the laundry through the front door or maneuver around the car. Maggie opened the front door and walked in. She was beginning to lose the feeling she should call out to Aunt Esther. Was it a good thing? Or did it mean she was starting to forget her aunt? Swallowing around a lump in her throat, she passed through the kitchen and the laundry room to the garage and hit the door opener.

  Three empty baskets were stacked in the laundry room, and she carried them all out to her car and started loading up. Maybe she should have taken the clothes to a laundromat. At least then, the baskets would have wheels. The flat four-wheel dolly in the garage caught her eye. Perfect! She filled the baskets and positioned them on the dolly, two on the bottom and one precariously on top. She pushed them to the door and tipped them over inside the laundry room. Good thing neatness didn’t count.

  After the second load, she began to wonder how many clothes one woman needed, anyway? Maybe it was time to pare down. After the third trip, she was considering calling the thrift store. But she would have to wash them anyway. Clothes this smelly couldn’t even be given away.

  She wiped her damp forehead with the back of her hand before shaking the last basketful of sheets onto the huge pile on the floor.

  “Wow, that’s a lot of laundry,” a familiar voice sounded behind her.

  She jumped, her heart pounding in her chest. “Edward, you scared me! I didn’t hear you come in.”

  He smiled at her, but somehow she didn’t feel relieved. There was something in his eyes—a watchfulness she hadn’t seen before—and her heart didn’t slow its frantic pace.

  “The garage was open, so I came in,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  He stood next to Aunt Esther’s car, effectively blocking her escape. Should she try to go out the front? Why was she afraid of him? He’d never done anything to make her afraid.

  Except to cover up at least one murder and maybe two.

  Another word popped unspoken in her brain—Run!

  30

  Greg suspected his patience was about to bear fruit.

  “I want to deal,” Grady said.

  Greg stared across the table at Grady and Lyle Goodman. Neither one looked like they’d gotten much sleep. The guard said it was almost dawn by the time Goodman left the station. Greg glanced over, their signal for David to answer.

  “We don’t cut deals with murderers.” He smirked.

  Greg stifled a laugh.

  “I didn’t murder anybody!” Grady shouted. “I told you I wasn’t there!”

  Goodman placed his hand on Grady’s arm. “My client feels he may have some information to help you find Mrs. Campbell’s killer.”

  “Great! Let’s have it.” David’s raised eyebrow displayed the same disbelief Greg was feeling.

  Grady opened his mouth, but Goodman grabbed his arm before he could speak. “Not until we have an agreement.”

  “Mr. Goodman, you know we can’t decide what charges are brought against Mr. Hayes or make any deals,” David replied. “The Larimer County District Attorney makes those decisions.”

  “All I’m asking is for you to listen to him with an open mind and check out his story.”

  Grady nodded.

  Greg leaned back in his chair. “OK, tell us what you know, and if what you say is true, we’ll see what can be done to help you.”

  Grady glanced at Goodman, who nodded for him to begin. “We were watching the old lady’s house, not because we wanted to steal, but because Cameron’s girlfriend was in there, and he wanted to talk to her.”

  David rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”

  Grady glared at him and then spoke to Greg. “We saw someone go in the house. Then Cameron’s girlfriend climbed out the window. She got in the old lady’s car and took off. Cameron wanted to go after her, so we did.” His hazel eyes pleaded for Greg to believe him. “I don’t know what happened after, I swear. She wouldn’t stop, even though we tried to get her to pull over. We gave up halfway to Denver, because we were low on gas. Cameron was pretty mad. I told him she wasn’t worth it, but he didn’t want to hear it.”

  “What time did all this supposedly happen?” David’s voice was sarcastic, but his stiffened posture told Greg he was more interested than he appeared.

  “We quit chasing her around noon. I know because we decided to get something to eat.”

  “Where’d you go?”

  “A pizza place off the highway with a gas station next door.”

  David scribbled some notes. “So did you pay for the gas or did Cameron?”

  “It was Cam’s truck, not mine. I’m not paying for gas to go chasing after some chick no matter how good looking she is.” He laughed. “I’m smarter than that.”

  Greg peered at David’s notes, trying not to show the excitement he felt. “So, what time did you leave Mrs. Campbell’s?”

  “Around ten thirty I guess. It took me and Bobby awhile to convince Cam to give up.”

  “So Bobby was with you?”

  “Yeah. He didn’t kill her either.”

  Greg exhaled. So far, they only had Bobby on burglary. If what Grady said was true, then burglary wasn’t the motive. The killer would’ve had an hour and a half to kill Esther and bust the place up before Maggie showed up at noon. He pursed his lips. Tight, but possible. They’d have to check Cameron’s credit card and verify Grady’s story later. “So, Mr. Hayes, did you recognize the guy who went into Mrs. Campbell’s house?”

  “At the time, I didn’t get a good look at him. We were down the street and saw his back as he got out of the car and walked up to the door. She knew him though. She opened it up before he even knocked.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “He was older, his hair had some gray in it, but he still looked like you wouldn’t want to mess with him, you know?”

  “How tall was he?”

  “Hard to tell from where we were parked, but I’d say he was pretty tall, maybe six feet or so. He was driving a black SUV, and he was taller than the vehicle.”

  “What kind of SUV?”

  “I don’t know the model, but it was expensive. And he looked like he had money. You know the type.”

  Greg wasn’t sure what the type was exactly, but he continued, “So
how does any of this help us?”

  “I couldn’t go home ’cause I knew you were looking for me, so I holed up in the house near Maggie’s. Cam was keeping an eye on Allie, so it seemed a good choice.”

  “So why did you burn Ms. Schreiber’s house?” Greg tried to keep the anger out of his face and voice. He wanted to reach across the table and choke the life out of the little slug.

  David glanced over, but didn’t interrupt.

  “Hey, man, I told you I didn’t do that.”

  A hot wave of anger welled up from Greg’s gut.

  David put a restraining hand on his arm, and Goodman sat forward in his chair. Deep breaths—he needed to take some deep breaths or he would kill this kid.

  “So,” David spoke up, “you’re admitting breaking and entering?”

  Goodman kept his eyes on Greg, even as he answered David. “He’s admitting to unlawful entry, yes. But he didn’t commit arson.” Goodman’s posture remained tense.

  Greg had been clenching his fists. He opened them and sat back, purposely relaxing his posture. “How about stalking?”

  David watched Greg, even though he directed his words at Grady. “Mr. Hayes, you should know Detective Williams here is engaged to Ms. Schreiber.” David let it sink in.

  Grady’s eyes widened, and his whole body tensed.

  “However,” David drawled, “I may be able to keep him from wrapping his hands around your throat if you give us something useful.”

  Grady’s chair scraped as he stumbled back against the wall.

  Goodman rose and stepped in front of him. “Are you threatening my client?”

  David smiled his wolf smile. He was enjoying this. “Of course not, Counselor. I’m just giving you the facts.” He paused. “Now why don’t you both sit down and tell us what you know to help us take this killer off the streets?”

  Goodman stayed in front of Grady and stared at Greg. “Not until you promise not to physically attack my client.”