by Diane Weiner
Emily’s ears perked up. “Which cat?”
“Which cat? I dunno. Hate to say it but they all kinda look the same.”
“What did the owner look like?” said Emily.
“A little older than you, dark hair, cowboy boots.”
Emily and Henry said in unison, “Winnie.”
Henry cleared his throat. “Franklin, do you think Winnie could have swiped some of that sealant while you weren’t looking?”
“What on earth for? I mean, I suppose so. I leave it lying around pretty regularly now that I’m in repair mode.”
Chapter 13
The next morning, Emily came in from her run and before she could get into the shower, Henry said, “Pat talked to Megan last night. The boot print was too big to be Winnie’s. Maybe you’re right and we should be looking harder at Brody.”
“He was an engineer so he would have been knowledgeable enough to rig up the carbon monoxide. If he installed Splash Panels knowing there was a problem, he’s responsible for those deaths at Nature’s Vista. Maybe Danielle realized that after she defended him and wanted him to admit guilt.”
Emily grabbed a glass of water. “That’s a good guess. I have to be at work, but if you have time …”
“I’ll do what I can.” He scooped oatmeal into bowls. “I hope Maddy has a better day today.”
“Good morning,” said Maddy, dressed in stringy jeans and a top with peek-a-boo shoulders.
Henry couldn’t get used to the idea of paying money for deliberately ripped clothing, but Emily had assured him it was the style. Maddy half-heartedly ate her breakfast while rummaging through some papers in her backpack.
“Whatcha got there? Don’t tell me you’re studying for a test on the third day of school?”
“No, just some stupid graduation requirement. We have to document forty hours of community service in order to graduate.”
“Graduate? You have four years to go.” Henry filled Chester’s food bowl.
“It’ll take me that long to find something I want to do in this dumb town. In Chicago, I would have had a million places I could have volunteered.”
Emily said, “I read in yesterday’s paper that Vermont is taking in truckloads of shelter animals from the recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida. Maybe you could volunteer at the Humane Society.”
“No, thanks. I hear all you do is clean dog poop when you work there.”
Emily, again grateful for the calmness garnered by her morning run said, “Any way they put you to use benefits the animals. You’d be saving a dog from sleeping in a smelly cage.”
Maddy rolled her eyes at her. “Speaking of smelly,” Emily continued, “I’d better get in the shower or I’ll be late for work. Mair Rose sent an email assuring us she’d be at her desk bright and early, expecting the same from all of us.”
Emily said goodbye to Maddy, then showered and got ready for work. She wondered if she and Henry should talk to Maddy about the possibility of adoption. It might make her feel more stable—or she might blow up in one of her ‘you’ll never be my mother’ tirades. She still walked on eggshells much of the time around Maddy, too worried about being the perfect parent and not understanding that perfect parenting was like unicorns or mermaids—they only existed in one’s the imagination.
When she arrived at St. Edwards, she met Nancy in the parking lot.
“Ready for battle?” Nancy smoothed her silk skirt which matched her turquoise heels.
“Nancy, just how many pairs of shoes do you own? You look so coordinated.”
“Thanks. That’s a compliment, right?”
“Yes. I wish I had your sense of style. How’s Brooke doing?”
“She’s happy with her teachers, likes her classes. She says she’s been asking Maddy to eat lunch with her but she turns her down and eats by herself.”
“She’s not a happy camper. They scheduled her into some classes she’s already taken and she feels like everyone knows each other and she’s an outsider—which she is.”
“It’s only the third day. It’ll get better.”
They walked through the side door of the stone building and into the mailroom, where one of their colleagues was crying and sweeping papers off the counter. “I quit. I really need the money, but if she won’t let me have an hour off to get my ultrasound done…I don’t need this stress with a baby on the way.”
Nancy hugged her. “It’s okay, Sasha. You’re a great teacher and any school would be lucky to have you.”
“Where? It’s not like Sugarbury Falls is teeming with colleges, and the public schools have already started. Besides, who’s going to hire a teacher who will be on maternity leave in a few months? If I didn’t need the money, I’d sit home, watch soap operas, and eat candy, but Jim doesn’t make enough for us to survive on his salary alone.”
Emily said, “You can try tutoring. Contact the guidance counselor over at Sugarbury High. Don’t juniors still have to take the SAT’s? I’ll bet the kind of parents we have around here will gladly pay if their child needs a good score to get into a top college.”
Sasha wiped her nose with a crumpled tissue she took from the pocket of her maternity smock.”
“I’m going to go to my appointment and afterwards, settle down with a cup of tea and do some serious thinking. Jim is going to be so upset. He’ll want to come down here and deck Mair Rose you know.” She gathered her things and left.
“Nancy, let’s duck into my office for a bit. We have a little time before our classes start. I have a feeling there are things we don’t know about our new boss.”
Emily opened her laptop. “We already know she wasn’t on the roster of what she claims was her previous job.”
“Just google her. How many people do you think there are with her unusual name?”
Emily scrolled past the advertisements offering to provide background checks and criminal histories. “She worked at a public high school. Got a two out of five on ratemyteacher.com.”
“That’s no surprise. Keep going.”
“Says she was brought up on charges of falsely accusing a teacher of mentally endangering a student. Here’s something about accusing the teacher of making him stand next to the trash can because he was trash, and dangling a cross necklace over his head while chanting a prayer.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“The teacher claimed it was totally untrue. The teacher was exonerated, then turned around and sued Mair.”
“What was the upshot?”
“They settled out of court. Here’s more. This is juicy.”
“Tell me.”
The phone on Emily’s desk rang. “Hello, this is Dr. Fox. Yes, I’ll be there.”
She turned to Nancy. “It was the school. We requested a conference with the guidance counselor and they fit us in this afternoon.”
“I hope they can smooth things out for Maddy. She’s such a lovely girl.”
“Me, too.” She turned her attention back to her computer screen. “Oh…”
“What!”
“Look! It says Mair’s son disappeared under mysterious circumstances. He was autistic. The ex-husband claims she killed him.”
“Killed her own son?”
Emily scrolled through the article. “A body was never found and there was no ransom request. Mair said she fell asleep on the sofa and when she woke up, the front door was open and her son, Nathan, was gone. He was twelve.”
“When was this?”
“About two years ago. The husband says he wasn’t wearing shoes. The boy always wore one particular pair of sneakers and they were still in his closet. The kid was obsessive-compulsive about getting dirty and the father said there’s no way he would have gone outside without his shoes. And he claims the area rug in the living room was missing.”
“She was never charged? Why would she kill her own son?”
“The father says she had no patience for Nathan, especially since he’d become a tween. She went on and on about sendin
g him to an institution but the father wouldn’t have it.”
“Infanticide. That’s heavy duty messed up.”
“I don’t know what they call it, but yes, it’s really messed up… and I think I have an idea for my next true crime book.”
Chapter 14
Even after stopping by Maddy’s school, Emily arrived home before Henry or Maddy. She sat with her laptop, intrigued by her new story idea. She found that Mair and her husband divorced shortly after their son’s disappearance. Without too much effort, she determined Mair’s ex still lived in the area and she jotted down his phone number. She had her phone in her hand when it began to vibrate.
“Winnie? Is everything okay?”
“Did they arrest Brody?”
“Not yet, why?”
“I remembered something Danielle said. She mentioned thinking Brody was cheating on her because he was taking phone calls in private and running out to late night meetings.”
“Was he cheating?”
“No, it turned out to be business but Danielle was worried. She said it couldn’t have been on the up and up if he was meeting in secret late at night.”
“Did she mention a name?”
“Just that he was in cahoots with a partner who was planning on making them both a fortune. I thought it might help.”
“A partner? I thought he was just the engineer behind the project.”
“He was more than that. Splash Panels was his baby.”
“It’s another lead, but why don’t you call the police directly?”
“They’ll try to get me to come back to Vermont and I can’t. My sister is having some health issues and I don’t want to leave her alone.”
“I hope she gets better soon. I’ll pass along the information.”
Henry threw his keys on the table and sat down next to Emily on the sofa.
“I didn’t hear you come in.”
“You were pretty engrossed in your phone call.”
“It was Winnie. She told me Danielle had mentioned Brody had a partner. If Danielle found out and threatened to blow the secret…”
“He’d have motive to kill her. Interesting. Brody and the partner had motive. I was talking to Pat earlier and he mentioned Danielle’s parents are back and coming into town tomorrow to speak with the detectives and take home her things. I wonder if they know anything about it.”
“Danielle’s parents are coming tomorrow? I told Kurt after it happened I’d go over and gather her things together before they showed up. Want to come with me after dinner and do it?”
Henry agreed, then went into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of iced tea. Emily followed him.
“The school fixed Maddy’s schedule. She should be happier. They’re moving her to Geometry and French 2.” Emily took some store bought oatmeal cookies out of the cabinet and arranged them on a plate. Maddy would be home any minute.
“I’ll bet Maddy can get through high school in three years, maybe less. I started college when I was sixteen. It’ll give her a head start on veterinary school.”
Emily said, “Did she say she wanted to go to veterinary school?”
“Not in so many words, but with her mind…”
Maddy came in and plopped her backpack on the recliner. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was tousled from the open windows on the school bus.
“How was your day?” asked Emily. She already knew the answer. “There are cookies on the table.”
“It was okay. They said I’ll be starting my new classes tomorrow.” Maddy went into the kitchen and poured a glass of Almond milk. Emily and Henry followed her. “I have to do this stupid assignment for Social Studies. We’re supposed to make a family tree and come up with a coat of arms.”
Emily said, “Your mom was born in Scotland. I don’t know anything about your dad, except when Fiona chose a donor, I’m sure she requested he have a similar background. You look every bit as Scottish as Fiona did.” Emily thought what she said came out sounding idiotic, but she was grasping at straws. She hadn’t even seen Fiona since college.
“I have an idea,” said Henry. “They have those kits now where you can trace your ancestry through your DNA.”
“No thanks,” said Maddy. “The assignment’s due at the end of the week.”
“I know Fiona had a brother who still lived in Scotland, at least back when we were in college. She’d get an occasional call from him.”
“Uncle Malcolm,” said Maddy. “He used to send me birthday cards when I was little. He stopped sending them years ago. I don’t want to make a big deal over this. It’s not like the teacher can check or anything. Henry, can I just pretend you’re my father and use your family tree?”
Henry flushed. “I’d be incredibly flattered. My father was born in England but his family came over to the states when he was nine. My mother was born in New York. An immigrant story…” He was slightly hurt when she cut him off.
“Great. I’ll use that. I can fill in the other half of the tree with my real mom.” She ate the cookies, scooped up Chester, and retreated into her room.
Emily opened the fridge. “How about I make black bean chili for dinner, then we can swing by the cabin and pack Danielle’s things?”
Henry sat at the table, head leaning on his hand. “Huh?”
“You look like you’re a million miles away. Is chili okay for dinner?”
“Sure.”
“What are you thinking so seriously about?”
Henry picked up his head and looked into her eyes. “Remember what we started talking about the other day? I want to adopt Maddy. I know we chose not to have children, but we got a second chance when Maddy came into our lives. I love her, Emily. I already feel like her father and I want to make it legal.”
“I love her, too. I’m not sure how great of a mother I am, though. I feel so inept at times.”
“I think all parents feel that way. I know I thought my parents knew nothing about anything during my teen years, but it’s normal, right? It didn’t mean I didn’t love them, and in the end, I realized they were smarter and wiser than I gave them credit for.”
“You don’t think it’s too soon after her mother’s death?”
“We can ask. If she says no, it really doesn’t change anything. We’ll still be a family.”
Emily drained a can of beans and tossed an onion to Henry to chop. She thought about the time she’d already spent with Maddy, shopping, caring for Chester, helping her through the sad times when she cried over photos of Fiona. She loved going out to dinner at the inn, the three of them—like a family. But so many times she felt like she didn’t know what to say or how to act around her. Was she good enough to be someone’s mother? She certainly wasn’t a very good sister, and she wasn’t a good enough daughter to pull her mother out of her depression.
“Em, what do you think? You’re so good with Maddy.”
There were those times Maddy screamed at her about how she wasn’t her real mother; the times Maddy slammed her door and locked herself in her room, making Emily feel helpless…She thought with her mind, but gave into her heart. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
Chapter 15
After dinner, they knocked on Kurt’s door and followed him to the rental cabin. When they walked in, Emily shivered, remembering the sight of Danielle lying dead on the floor the previous time they were here.
“You can pull the door shut when you leave. I’ll lock it back up when I take Prancer for his bedtime walk.”
“Thanks, Kurt. It shouldn’t take us long to gather her things.” Emily locked the pine door from the inside.
“Well, should we start in the kitchen?” said Henry. “I doubt much of anything in there belonged to her.” He opened the wooden cabinets and drawers, seeing standard kitchen fare. “Nothing but pots and pans, plates, silverware…”
“Kurt stocked all that for when Chloe came.” Emily headed into the bedroom and pulled clothing out of the cedar scented drawers and closet. Daniell
e’s suitcases were still lying open on the floor next to the canopy bed.
Henry started in the master bathroom. “I wish we’d gotten the chance over dinner to ask Maddy how she feels about us adopting her.”
“I know. She was in a rush to finish her homework and on a rant about her teachers. It wasn’t good timing.” When she finished packing the clothes, she found Danielle’s laptop tangled in with the comforter. She gingerly touched a key and a letter popped up on the screen. “Put another ten thousand in the account by Friday or you know what will happen.” A cold chill traveled up her spine.
Henry said, “I can throw away the open shampoo and used soap, right?”
“Henry, come quick. You have to see this. Danielle was blackmailing someone.”
Henry looked over her shoulder. “Who was this intended for? And what information did she have that was so valuable?”
Emily rifled through the nightstand and rummaged through the top dresser drawer.
“What are you looking for?”
“I’m not sure. Some kind of clue as to who she was blackmailing.” She looked under the bed and pulled out a briefcase. She flipped through the papers.
“Did you find something?”
“Yeah. A business card. Wallace Hartman Investments—why does that name sound familiar?”
Henry thought for a minute. “The owner of the assisted living place was Wallace Hartman! I read it on line when I was researching the story Winnie told you.”
The floor creaked. Emily jumped. “What was that noise?”
“Just the cabin adjusting to the cold weather. Floorboards are contracting.”
“And that? Who’s banging against the wall? I’m scared.”
“Probably just an animal outside. Refocus. Was Danielle blackmailing Brody, or Wallace Hartman?”
“Over what? She won the case for Splash Panels. If the company wasn’t at fault, then Nature’s Vista was twice removed from being at fault. Unless…maybe she found out Splash Panels knew it wasn’t ready for marketing and Hartman pushed to go ahead anyway after the trials were over.”
