Grant Thompson said, “Do you have an idea what that reason might be Ms. Newcomb?”
“Well, Detective Thompson . . .”
“Grant please.”
She hesitated briefly before continuing, “Grant, I think it must have something to do with my step-mother being at the house especially since the man broke in from her balcony.” She looked Grant in the eye. “Do you think it might have something to do with her?”
He ran his fingers through his hair, which seemed to be a habit of his since she remembered him doing it several times that morning. “It’s too early to tell. But this does lead into one of the questions that we have for the two of you.”
Harold nodded with a polite smile, “Please ask whatever you need to ask.”
“Okay.” This time he looked directly at Harold. “I guess you could say that this is a personal question, and please feel free to tell me so.”
“Okay, you certainly have my attention now. Please continue.”
“Could you give us as much information as you can on your daughter-in-law, Jane Newcomb?”
Harold rubbed his mustache between his index finger and thumb a couple of times before answering. Kelly knew all too well that was one of his thinking habits. “All we know is what she told us. She said she married Harry twenty years ago.” At Grant’s puzzled look, he clarified. “You see, my son walked away from all of us apparently about the time he married Jane. So we don’t really know much about her. In fact, we had never met her before Monday back in Washington.”
Grant looked at his partner then back at Harold. “We have also thought she or possibly her possessions must have been the target for this break in?”
Harold looked from one detective to the other then said, “You don’t’ think it was the work of this so called “Hillside Burglar?”
Grant shook his head. “No sir, we don’t want this out just yet, but there are too many major differences between this case and all the other burglaries.”
The detectives left shortly after that and Kelly opened the first folder prepared to discuss it with her grandfather. He placed his hand on the folder to close it.
“Kelly? Look at me.”
She knew what was coming. When she reluctantly turned her eyes on his kind face, she was surprised to see an emotion there that she didn’t recognize. In fact, she didn’t think she’d ever seen it before.
“Little one, you’re not only my granddaughter, but you’ve been my daughter for the past sixteen years as well.”
She remained silent, searching his face and his eyes for a clue as to where he was going.
“I’ve had a great burden on my heart for years about you. It seems that after you were injured and your mother died, you lost all interest in boys.” She started to say something, but he shook his head to stop her. “Back then, I could understand. You went through your teenage years in and out of hospitals having one surgery after another and almost constant physical therapy. You didn’t even go to school. When you finished your home tutoring and went to college, I had hoped you would become more social, but it didn’t happen. In fact, you still aren’t very social. Are you?”
She couldn’t fool him, so she didn’t try. She simply shook her head.
He smiled again and patted her hand that still rested on top of the folders in her lap. “This morning, when the detectives were at our home, I thought I saw something happening between you and Grant Thompson. Just now I watched the two of you very carefully, and I know I saw it this time.”
Kelly tried to put a puzzled expression on her face but failed miserably.
He waved a finger in front of her face. “Don’t try to deny it, Kelly. I saw sparks flying between you and this Grant Thompson. More yet, the young man seems to be thoroughly enchanted with you. My only question is, do you feel something too?”
By the time he finished speaking, Kelly was blushing so brightly that her face and neck felt burning hot.
This time Harold laughed a booming laugh. “I guess your face just gave me the best answer I’m going to get. You never could hide your emotions from me little one.”
Kelly was able to escape without being forced to say anything in her defense when Martha stuck her head in the open doorway.
“Harold, that man with the Air Force, Perry Scott is on the phone for you.”
Kelly started to rise to leave but Harold put a hand on her shoulder as he picked up the phone on the coffee table in front of them.
Kelly couldn’t gather anything from Harold’s side of the conversation. All she heard him say was hello and then to agree to something the other man said then hang up.
He turned to Kelly after placing the phone back in its cradle. “I’m glad he called while you were here, Kelly. I forgot all about his appointment with all the other things going on.”
He reached out and took both of her hands in his large ones. “Kelly, it seems that the Air Force believes that the circumstances surrounding your father’s death are somewhat suspicious.”
When a look of shock came across her face, he added, “That’s all this man would tell me the other day when he called to set the appointment.” He nodded at the phone. “That call was merely to confirm our appointment for 9am tomorrow.”
While Kelly was processing all of that, he said, “I would like for you and Wayne to be here for that meeting too.”
Kelly groaned. “If you want Wayne to be here, either don’t tell him it’s about Harry or don’t tell him ahead of time at all.”
He smiled down at her. “You think so much like I do, little one. Let’s not tell him ahead of time then.”
* * *
After another extremely frustrating day, Grant was more than happy to get away from the police station. He and Stan were trying very hard to wrap up all their current files so they could devote their full time to the Air Force case. Everything seemed to be wrapping up nicely except the Hillside Burglar. He and Stan were certain that Sanchez was their man, but since they had been ordered to back off on him, they weren’t getting anywhere. Both men were operating at an extremely high level of frustration, and Grant couldn’t wait to get home to try to release some of his tension.
Home! It always made Grant breathe a little better once he got home, even though it was just his dinky little one bedroom apartment. He’d never felt the need to get anything larger. He certainly hadn’t wanted to buy a house which frustrated his realtor sister. He just didn’t have time for all the upkeep that would come along with it
When he opened the door and walked into the living room, he jumped back as soon as he caught sight of someone sitting at his table which separated the kitchen from the living room.
As his hand was going to his weapon, his Aunt Sybil stood and walked toward him. “Grant I’m sorry if I startled you, but I’ve just got to talk to you right now.”
Grant didn’t say anything as he put his hand in his pocket to give it a safe place to rest. He walked past Sybil, placed his briefcase on the table, and went to the refrigerator. Opening it, he held up a bottle of water and a cola. “Want something to drink?”
Sybil seemed so agitated that Grant thought she might refuse, but was surprised when she reached for the bottle of water anyway. He closed the refrigerator and walked into the living room to almost fall into his recliner. He had to get comfortable, since knowing Sybil, this could be a long session, especially when Sybil was as upset as she seemed to be. He leaned back and pulled the tab on his cola wondering what had set her off this time. To say that his aunt was, by nature, an easily excitable woman was putting it mildly. After all, she had taught first grade for all those years. And that was part of her problem, as Grant saw it. She wasn’t teaching first grade anymore. Since she’d retired two months ago, she seemed to have trouble finding things to do with her time.
Sybil followed him into the living room and sat on the edge of the sofa facing his chair. At first she stared down at her feet as she absently opened her bottle of water. Then, she placed the untouche
d bottle on the coffee table, looked up, and her gaze bore into his eyes.
“Grant, I know you’re going to question what I’m about to say, but I’m convinced that I saw your mother this afternoon at the mall.”
Once she said this, she grabbed the bottle of water off the coffee table, leaned back on the sofa, and took a big gulp.
Grant didn’t know whether to laugh or be concerned about his aunt. Granted, she wasn’t that old, only 51. But just the other day Alison said that Sybil had been acting strange lately. He had simply passed it off as being due to the anniversary of her husband’s death. It happened every August.
Grant must have taken too long to respond, for Sybil jumped up and circled the tiny living room before plopping back down in the same place on the sofa. This time, she leaned toward him, placing her hand on his knee.
She opened her mouth to say more, but Grant beat her to it. “I don’t know what to say Sybil.” He ran his hand through his short, light brown hair. He wasn’t quite ready to tell her he had seen Jane Newcomb. “Are you sure you weren’t just imagining it, especially after seeing that article in the paper yesterday? I know you said you never really felt like my mother was actually dead, but you never had any way of knowing that.”
Sybil shook her head emphatically. “I’ve always known it in here.” She placed both of her hands over her heart. “You don’t understand, Grant.” She brought her eyes back up to his. “I’ve never told you or Alison this, but every time your father beat your mother, I knew it. Right then! It was almost as if I could feel her pain.”
Grant reached out and placed his hand on her arm. “But, Sybil, that doesn’t have anything to do with whether she’s alive or not.”
She shook her head again. “Oh, yes it does, Grant. You don’t understand. When she and Harry were on their honeymoon, I felt her pain. She was hurt and hurt badly in that car accident in Europe.” She closed her eyes and tears began to trickle down her cheeks. “But she didn’t die. I would not have felt the same way. It would have stopped, but I kept feeling her pain.”
This time Grant got up out of his chair, walked over to the window and looked out over the parking lot.
Sybil continued, “She was in pain for a long time, Grant, but she didn’t die. I’m as sure of that as I am that you’re standing right there.”
Grant drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning to face Sybil again. “But, if that’s the way you felt way back then, why didn’t you try to do anything about it?”
“I did, Grant! I contacted Harry, and he told me to let him grieve in his own way without me dragging everything back out to make him hurt all over again.”
“That sounds reasonable to me.”
“Yes, that may be true, but he was lying. I just know he was.” She hung her head and Grant started back toward her, sitting next to her on the sofa this time.
With his arm around his aunt, Grant said, “I’m sorry Sybil. It must have been really bad for you back then. Alison and I didn’t know much about all that was going on.”
“No, you didn’t, and I kept it that way on purpose. I didn’t want you two to hurt the way I have for the last twenty years.”
She broke down then with sobs wracking her body as Grant held her through them. They sat that way for several minutes as she went through several tissues before she took a deep shuddering breath and smiled up at him.
“I’m okay now.”
Grant wasn’t so sure about that, but he loosened his grip on her shoulders.
“Sybil, I guess I haven’t given you a chance to tell me the details of what you saw today.”
She gave him a watery smile, took a deep breath and said, “Well, I’d been shopping at the mall, and I was just leaving when I saw two women walking through the exit about twenty feet ahead of me. One was a tall dark haired young woman and the other was a shorter woman about my age with shoulder length blond hair. I didn’t look closely at them at first. Then, there was suddenly something about the way the older woman walked that caught my eye.”
She paused to wipe her eyes and blow her nose.
“Grant it was as if I was transported back in time forty years. Back to when we were girls. I’m three years older than Sarah, and she always wanted to be the same as me. But, she always tried to go ahead of me everywhere we went. It was as if she was trying to do everything I did, but sometimes even before I had a chance to do it myself.”
She paused again to take a small sip of water.
“At the mall this afternoon, I was following my little sister who was walking ahead of me as she always did. I don’t expect you to understand, Grant. You and Alison were never like that, but Sarah and I could have passed for twins, we were that much alike.”
Grant waited to see if there was any more before he said anything. “Well, Sybil, let’s look at this the way I would if this were a clue in a case I was trying to solve at work.”
He stepped over to a small desk and picked up a pad and pen. “Okay, what do you remember about the woman she was with?”
Sybil closed her eyes and placed her fingertips on each temple. “She was talk, probably around five feet nine inches, slender, with long black hair. Beautiful shinny hair, I might add. She had a rather dark complexion, not Hispanic, more like she had a deep suntan. Oh, and she walked with a limp. It looked as if there was something wrong with her left foot or maybe her ankle.”
Grant chuckled in spite of himself as Sybil had just perfectly described Kelly Newcomb. “That was some observation, Sybil. You should have been a detective. The only thing you didn’t give was her eye color.”
Sybil slapped herself lightly on the side of her head. “Silly me. How did I forget that? They were a deep blue.”
“How old would you say she was?”
“I would say she was about your age, maybe a little younger.”
Grant stopped writing and placed the pad and pencil on the coffee table then said, “Okay, Sybil, did you get a chance to talk to them?”
She frowned, “No, I’m sorry. I couldn’t get close enough before they drove off. But, they were in one of those long black stretch limos. There can’t be that many of those cars around the valley could there?”
Grant smiled and shook his head. “I don’t think that will be necessary.”
“Oh.”
Grant didn’t like the dejected sound of that one word. So he decided he’d better tell her what he knew.
“But, Grant, you’ve got to find her. I’m sure she must be staying with Harry’s parents.”
“Slow down Sybil. I’ll find her, but first, I need to check something out.” When Sybil nodded without moving off the edge of the sofa, he continued. “Do you have a full-length photo of my mother, the most recent you can find?”
“Just a minute.” She pulled her large purse up from the floor and into her lap. After rummaging through it for a moment, she pulled out a five by seven photo in a thin frame and handed it to him.
Grant held the photo and stared at it for a long time. It appeared to be a photo that Sybil had taken the day his mother had married Harry Newcomb. She was in a simple white knee length dress and he was in his dress uniform. They were standing in front of what looked like a church.
Her hair was much longer then, but he would swear that it was the same person as the one Kelly introduced to him as Jane Newcomb that morning. But why didn’t she recognize his name.
“Well, Grant Thompson, don’t keep me in suspense any longer. Did you see my little sister or not?”
Grant laid the photo on his legs and looked over at Sybil. “Now, Sybil, I don’t want you to get your hopes up too much until we’re certain.”
“Forget about that, they already are. So just spit it out Grant. Is that who you saw?” She paused as she looked into his uplifted eyes. “I know you saw her. You wouldn’t have asked for the photo, so don’t hold back any longer.”
“Okay, Sybil. Calm down, please.”
She didn’t relax visibly so he moved ove
r to sit on the sofa next to her. She grabbed his arm with both hands, her nails almost biting into his flesh.
Grant ran his other hand through his hair. “As near as I can tell from this old photo, the woman who was mentioned in that article as the present wife of Harry Newcomb, is the same one in this photo.”
He couldn’t get himself to say ‘my mother.’ He wasn’t quite ready for that, if he ever would be.
Sybil let out a whoop and jumped up to circle the small room several times while talking. He wasn’t sure whether she was talking to herself or to him. “I just knew it was her, as soon as I saw that article and it said Harry’s wife’s name was Jane. I’ve always known deep in my heart that my little sister wasn’t dead. She couldn’t have been. I would have known it if she had been.”
She turned to face Grant holding out her hand and twisting her index and middle fingers. “We were that close, Grant.”
Grant caught her by the elbows when she passed in front of him again and guided her back down next to him on the sofa.
She blew out a breath and said, “How did you see her, where?”
“They had an intruder last night at the Newcomb estate. When Stan and I went there this morning to investigate it, I saw her.”
Sybil let out another whoop and started to jump up again, but Grant’s arm reached out to restrain her.
“This morning? Why are you just now telling me?”
Grant laughed at her swaying emotions. She was getting angry with him now. He held up a hand as if to ward off an attack. “As soon as she was introduced to me, I felt a strange familiarity about her smile. Do you remember how she used to tell Alison and me that she always had a special smile for us?”
“Oh, yes I do. I always thought that was so sweet of her.”
“Well, I saw that smile this morning Sybil.”
“What did she say when you told her?”
“I didn’t want to cause a scene. After all, I was there to investigate a burglary. And on top of that, she looked directly at me when I was introduced to her and she didn’t show any sign of recognizing even my name.”
Lost Memories (Sycamore P.D. Series Book 1) Page 8
