“The strongest evidence is the juice bottle. It’s a very rare brand and the label was peeled just like the housekeeper said Lorna Ingels did. Then there’s the diary. It clearly shows how controlling Lorna was, and how ticked she was at Lorelei for dropping out of the pageants and cheerleading and all the other stuff that was so important to the woman. That gives her motive and opportunity. She certainly had access to Lorelei’s diet pills, so that gives her means.” As Skye finished listing her case, it sounded measly even to her.
Wally rocked back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. “There’s just not enough evidence. A juice bottle with a peeled label and a mother who doesn’t like the fact that her daughter is gaining weight is not enough to arrest her on, let alone get a conviction.” He stared a while longer. “Even if her prints were on the bottle we found at the murder scene, and we find a bottle of the pills in her medicine cabinet, there could be a logical explanation.”
“So she gets away with it?”
“Unless we find some hard evidence.” Wally gave a dry laugh. “Or unless she confesses.”
“Maybe I could get her to confess. Unless, of course, she’s in Bolivia by now.”
“Not a good idea.”
“Do you have another plan?”
“No.” The chief stood. “But I do need to look into this bank matter, so if you’ll excuse me . . .”
Skye followed him down the stairs, waving to her mom on the way out.
Wally walked her to her car. “Go home, get some sleep.” He put his hand on her cheek. She felt the calluses in his rough palm. “Please don’t put yourself in danger.”
She swallowed a lump in her throat. “I won’t if you won’t.”
He leaned closer and pressed a soft kiss to her temple. “Let’s both be careful.”
CHAPTER 23
A Thing of Beauty Is a Toy Forever
At five the next morning, the phone woke Skye from a light doze. She had spent another restless night before finally falling asleep around four-thirty.
“Skye, you awake?”
She was too tired to come up with a smart remark to her mother’s dumb question. “Yeah, what’s up?”
May was whispering, which meant she was still at work. “Allen Ingels really has disappeared. Car’s gone, safety-deposit box cleaned out, and closet empty.”
“Wow! What about the rest of the family?”
“Lorna claims she doesn’t know a thing about it.” May’s voice got lower and more serious. “Looks like he took Linette, too.”
“Oh, my! Mrs. Ingels must be frantic.” Skye wondered if Allen knew his wife had killed their older child. Maybe he was trying to protect his youngest daughter.
“Not really. Wally said she seemed almost like she couldn’t care less.”
“Mmm. Why don’t you meet me for breakfast at the Feedbag? I want to run some ideas by you.”
“Okay. I’ll keep my eyes open.” May sounded energized.
“Great. Say, how about calling Charlie and Vince, and seeing if they can join us?”
“You have a plan?”
“Part of one, but this time Wally’s not going to be able to call me the Lone Ranger. If I go in, it’ll be with backup.”
After the call, Skye took a leisurely shower and examined the possibilities. She coaxed her hair into a chignon and put on her most expensive outfit. She didn’t dare wear fake jewelry, so she put on the only real ones she had—the Leofanti emerald ring and a string of pearls her parents had given her for graduation. She wished she had some of the pieces her ex-fiancé had given her, but he had taken them when he moved out on her. Skye thought Lorna would be more willing to talk to someone who seemed her social equal.
After calling the school and telling Opal she would be making home visits that morning, she tucked a small tape recorder into her purse and drove to the restaurant.
Her troops were already assembled. Skye pulled out a chair and sat facing the three expectant faces. “Mom has filled you both in?”
The men nodded.
“Great. Here’s the plan.” Skye outlined what she wanted the others to do while she was attempting to get Lorna to confess. “Any questions?”
Vince was the first to speak. “How can I hear anything if I’m hiding in the bushes? How do you know she’ll ‘entertain’ you in the library and not the living room?”
“By the looks of the living room, no one ever goes in there. And as to you hearing, I’ll tell her I’m warm, and ask that she open the window a crack.” Skye looked around. “Anything else?”
“Why do I have to stay in my car?” Charlie pounded the table. “Are you thinking I’m too old to really help?”
“No. If I thought that, I wouldn’t have had Mom call you.” Skye patted her godfather’s arm. “You need to be on your CB in case we need Wally fast. You’re the only one who’s got any pull with him.”
Charlie grinned. “Ain’t that the truth.”
“Mom, you okay with watching the back of the house?” Skye suddenly looked worried, thinking maybe she shouldn’t have gotten her mother involved. “I could get Trixie if you want.”
May huffed. “The day I can’t take a walk in the cemetery is the day you bury me there.”
“Great. Vince, you take Mom and pick up your old walkie-talkies, so she can alert you if she sees anything. If either of you thinks there’s a problem, Vince tells Charlie, and Charlie calls Wally.”
Everyone nodded.
“Vince, remember that if I say, ‘Oh my, look at the time,’ I’m in trouble. Get help.” Skye looked around the table. “Since the cemetery is the only place where we can inconspicuously park cars anywhere near the Ingelses’, we’ll meet there in fifteen minutes.”
Skye went over her plan in her head as she pulled into the Ingels’ driveway. Her mom should be in place with binoculars, Vince would be along the library side of the house in the bushes, and Charlie would pull into position as soon as Lorna shut the door after Skye.
She rang the bell. No answer. She rang again. Boy, will this be embarrassing if Lorna isn’t home. She looked at her watch. Almost eight. It should be the perfect time. Lorna should be up and dressed, but not have gone anywhere yet. One more ring. This time the door was inched slowly open.
Not a good sign. Skye was already wrong about one thing. The woman wasn’t dressed, and she doubted Lorna had been up yet. Shit!
“Mrs. Ingels, I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Skye Denison, the psychologist from the school.”
The woman turned and walked away, leaving the door ajar. Before following, Skye thumbed up the button in the knob, disengaging the lock.
As Skye trailed Lorna across the foyer, she noted that the woman had continued to go downhill since the last time she had seen her. Today her blond hair hung in hanks, with one side flattened. Her skin seemed to have coarsened, showing large pores, discoloration, and wrinkles. She was dressed in a stained floor-length bathrobe, with bare feet peeking from beneath the hem. Skye felt a momentary twinge of sympathy. If Lorna had killed her daughter, clearly she was suffering for it.
Lorna shuffled into the library and curled up in a wing-back chair. She finally spoke. “What do you want?”
“Ah, I was wondering if I could do anything to help you.”
The woman glared. “Can you bring back my daughter . . . daughters?”
“No, but perhaps I can help you locate Linette. Do you have any idea where her father might have taken her?” Skye reached into her purse and clicked on the tape recorder.
“No.” The word was whispered so low Skye wasn’t sure she had heard it.
Skye perched on the coffee table, which brought her knee to knee with Lorna. She took the other woman’s hand, “Do you know why he would take Linette and leave?”
Lorna jerked her hand away and grabbed a nearby wineglass. “No, why would I?” She gazed into the red liquid as if she would find the answer there.
“Could it have to do with what happened to Lorelei?” Skye pers
isted gently.
“No.” The woman shook her head wildly.
“Maybe Mr. Ingels thinks he’s protecting Linette by taking her away.”
Lorna’s head snapped up, and she narrowed her eyes, her whole body stiffening. “Why would you say that?”
The swift change in Lorna was a bit frightening. Skye stood to put some distance between them. “Ah, it’s really warm in here. All right if I let in a little air?” Without waiting for an answer, Skye moved toward the window and lifted it several inches.
Lorna’s mouth tightened. “I didn’t say you could do that.”
“Sorry, thought I was going to faint for a minute there. Can’t stand being hot.”
“You’d better leave now.” Lorna rose, finger-combed her hair, and straightened her robe, seeming to notice the large red wine stain near the waist for the first time.
Skye forced herself to go on. “I know this is hard for you to hear, hard for you to think about, but I found Lorelei’s diary. I know what you did.”
“Where? How? You can’t!” Lorna flung herself toward Skye. “I don’t believe you.”
Skye took a hasty step back, but Lorna had grabbed her wrist in a clawlike hold. “The diary was in a gap between the wall and her cheerleader locker. It tells everything,” Skye said.
“You had no right to read that.” Anger seemed to revitalize Lorna.
“Maybe not, but the police do have a right.”
Lorna’s flushed cheeks paled. “The police?”
“Yes, they’ll probably be here to arrest you at any minute. I just thought maybe you’d feel better if you talked about it. I can’t imagine what it would be like to kill my own daughter. It must be tearing you apart inside.” Skye felt a little queasy, as if she were pulling off the legs of an insect. But Wally said that they needed a confession, and it wouldn’t be fair to Lorelei if her death went unsolved.
“I never meant any of this to happen.” Lorna wilted again, releasing Skye’s hand. “A month ago I had a successful husband, two beautiful daughters, and a life that everyone in Scumble River envied.” She was silent for a moment before continuing, “You know, you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for a lifetime.”
“Sounds like you were living a fairy tale. What made things go wrong?”
“It was all Lorelei’s fault.” Lorna sank into the love seat, facing away from Skye.
Skye was forced to move away from the door to see her face. “Lorelei’s fault?”
“She was a beautiful girl. And so smart and talented. She had everything. Sometimes I even thought she might be psychic.”
Skye blinked. Psychic? Please. “Sounds like she had it made.”
Lorna nodded eagerly. “That’s right. And was she happy? No. I made sure she had the most beautiful clothes. And for the pageants, she never had to wear a costume twice. I did everything to ensure she’d win. She could have been Miss America, but she wanted to throw it all away. I couldn’t let her do that.”
“How could you stop her?”
“I talked her out of quitting cheerleading and the play, and made her promise to do one last pageant.” Lorna gazed feverishly at Skye. “I figured if she won Miss Central Illinois, she’d see how important it was to go on, but she made sure she’d never get that crown.”
“By gaining weight?”
“Yes, she just kept eating. I knew that if I didn’t do something right away, she’d end up as fat as you. She wanted to eat three meals a day, for godsake. And she’d hardly exercise anymore. She was down to only three times a week at the gym. But that wasn’t the worst part.”
Skye overlooked the personal insult and guessed, “Lorelei stopped taking the diet pills?”
“Yes.” Lorna shook her head. “She got so fat. She went from a size two to a size eight in a matter of three or four months. None of her clothes or costumes fit. It was a nightmare. And she still wouldn’t take the pills.”
“It must have been hard to watch.” Skye hoped she wouldn’t gag on the words she was forcing out of her mouth. “So, you just had to do something to stop her.”
“To help her. I did it to help her.” Lorna suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Skye by the shoulders. “You’ve got to make sure everyone knows I only did it to help her.”
“Help her?” Skye tried to back away, but the woman was stronger than she looked, and her nails were digging into Skye’s flesh.
“Yes, I started slipping the diet pills into her food, but the dose she had been on before wasn’t working.” Lorna’s hands tightened on Skye’s shoulders.
“Lorelei didn’t know you were feeding her diet pills?”
“No, of course not, she wouldn’t have taken them if she knew.”
Skye tried to edge toward the door. “Oh, I see. So what happened?”
“I kept giving her higher and higher dosages. Then that Wednesday I was going to be away all afternoon and evening, and I was afraid she’d really binge if she didn’t get her pills.”
“How often did you feed her those pills?”
“Three times a day. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, so I took a bottle of her favorite juice and added a handful of crushed pills. After I met with the other cheerleaders’ mothers that morning, I found Lorelei and gave the drink to her. She loved that juice, and usually I didn’t let her have it since it was three hundred calories a bottle, so I knew she’d drink every drop.”
“Then you went out of town so you’d have an alibi.”
“What did I need an alibi for?” Lorna let go of Skye and looked confused. “I went to get my hair done.”
“An alibi for the murder of your daughter.”
“I didn’t murder Lorelei. Why would I want to kill my own daughter? It was an accident. I just wanted her to stay beautiful.”
“But you killed her.” The words slipped out before Skye could stop them. And judging from the look on Lorna’s face, they were a mistake.
Without warning the woman lunged and wrapped her hands around Skye’s throat. Both women toppled to the floor. Skye tore at the other woman’s hands, panicking at the sensation of not being able to breathe. It took her a moment to realize that Lorna was about half her size, and by flipping the smaller woman on her back, Skye easily pinned her to the ground, using her weight as leverage.
Lorna let go of Skye’s throat and started pounding on her chest. “You cow, get off me.”
Skye wished she had an extra hand to slap the hysterical woman. Instead she shouted, “Oh, my, look at the time.”
“What? Are you crazy? How can I look at the time with you on top of me?” The woman struggled. “You’re breaking my back. I’m going to sue, you fat cow.”
Skye ignored Lorna’s curses and threats. She had a bigger problem. What to do? Vince must not have heard her. For now, Lorna was secure, but if Skye got up off her, the woman would either run or attack again. They were at a stalemate.
Before Skye could formulate a plan, the front door slammed open, and Vince ran into the room saying, “Skye, something’s wrong with Mom. I heard a scream on the walkie-talkie and now I can’t get a response. You run for Charlie. I’m going out back to see what’s—” He stopped abruptly, staring.
Lorna grew still, and her demeanor changed instantly. “Vince, darling, your sister has gone crazy. She’s hurting me. Please help.”
Vince frowned and flicked a look at Skye.
She made a face. “Vince, get something to tie her up with.”
He looked around. “What?”
Her mind worked frantically. “The electrical cords on the lamps.”
Lorna yelped, “Don’t touch those lamps. They’re originals by Tiffany.”
Vince ignored her, ran to the nearest end table, and yanked the wire from the base, returning with the cord. Even though she fought him, he easily secured Lorna’s ankles, and then repeated the procedure for her wrists. As soon as he was finished, Skye jumped up and between them they tied Lorna to the desk chair with the sash from her robe.
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br /> Within minutes, Vince and Skye were running toward the cemetery. They arrived at the end of the Ingelses’ property at the same time. Vince had longer legs and was in better shape, but Skye was still jazzed with adrenaline from her wrestling match with Lorna. A few inches in front of them the graveyard began.
Skye paused, listening. Which direction? Sounds of scuffling indicated the way. She slowed down, picking her way carefully among the plaques and grass-covered mounds. Vince followed silently. As they advanced, Skye began to hear voices and she slowed further, going from headstone to headstone, crouching behind the granite markers.
A huge gray marble slab with a teardrop shape cut out of the top allowed her to stand upright and peek through it without being seen.
May was sitting on a flat headstone, and Allen Ingels held a pistol pointed at her head. May was speaking. “You never answered me. What did you do with my money?”
Allen looked a wreck. His hair was in disarray, allowing his bald spot to show through. The knee of his suit had been torn, and the lining of his jacket hung beneath the hem. He wiped a soiled hand across his eyes, leaving dirt on his cheeks. “Shut up. I’ve got to think. What am I going to do with you?”
“Give me back my money.” May cocked her head. “It’s not right what you did to this town.”
“You’re forcing me to shoot you,” Allen gritted out from between clenched teeth. “You’re just like Lorna and Linette—totally selfish. If that little brat hadn’t insisted she had to have her crown, we could be in Mexico by now.”
“Why did you take her then?”
He looked puzzled. “I couldn’t leave her with Lorna. Not after she told me last night about ‘accidentally’ killing Lorelei with those damn diet pills of hers. She’d already started Linette on them. What was I supposed to do, wait for another ‘accident’?”
May reached out as if to pat his arm, but he stepped back, out of contact. “Save your pity. Linette and I will be just fine as soon as I take care of you.”
May clasped her knees. “Why did you do this, Allen? You had money. You didn’t need ours.”
His laugh was raw. “That’s what everyone thinks, but when the bank was sold last year, the new company cut my salary in half right away. We couldn’t live on that amount.”
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