“Did you have fun today?” Diana asked cheerfully.
Willow looked up. “Yeah. Lots. Thank you for taking me.”
Her voice held no vibrancy, no hint of little-girl happiness. Diana tried again. “I can’t wait to develop the pictures I took of you. I’m going to develop them even before I develop the ones for that awful man at the tourism center I went to last week. If he calls up saying he wants his pictures right now, I’ll tell him he has to wait until I develop my pictures of the prettiest girl in the world.”
“But I’m not,” Willow said desolately. “Mommy and you are the prettiest girls in the world.” She looked up with fearful eyes. “Do you think somebody hurt Glen like somebody hurt Mommy?”
“No. I think somebody tore up his office—maybe a student who was mad about the grade he gave them.”
“Do bad grades ruin your life? That man said somebody wrote on the wall somethin’ about his life gettin’ ruined.”
Diana tried not to look at Tyler. “A student who was really upset might think one bad grade had ruined his life, but that’s silly.”
“Glen was s’posed to go to a meeting but he didn’t. How come?”
“I don’t know. Honey, why are you so worried about Glen? I didn’t think you liked him very well.”
“I don’t. Oh, he’s okay, I guess, but I could always tell he really didn’t like kids, so I tried not to bother him. I told Mommy and she said that was best. I said, ‘How come Diana loves a guy like him? What if she marries him?’ And Mommy said, ‘She doesn’t love Glen one bit. She’s just going out with him till she meets the right guy, someone special I have picked out for her. When they finally meet, they’re gonna love each other like crazy and they’re gonna get married and have a little girl like you.’ ” Willow went silent again for a moment, then said, “Diana, was Mommy talkin’ about Badge—I mean Tyler? Are you two in love?”
Diana, blushing, hesitated, but Tyler loudly announced, “I am so in love with Diana I could just burst! She’s the most wonderful, beautiful girl I ever met and I’d marry her tomorrow if she’d let me. Would you come to the wedding, Willow? Because neither one of us would want to have a wedding without you there. And the cats, of course. Do you think Romeo would be my best man?”
He’d done it, Diana thought as Willow began clapping, her face breaking into a wide smile. He made her happy again. But was that his only reason for saying he wanted to marry her? She looked at him, still embarrassed, and he reached over and took her hand. “Just how big a diamond do you want in your engagement ring, future Mrs. Raines?”
Diana still didn’t know if Tyler was serious, so she tossed back, “As big and gaudy as possible. Something people will need to wear sunglasses just to look at it! And Willow will be my maid of honor and Christabel will be the flower girl.”
“But what if Christabel and Romeo wanna get married then, too?” Willow asked.
Tyler pretended to think. “Then it will just have to be a double ceremony! Are we going to take our honeymoons together, too? Where do Christabel and Romeo want to go, Diana?”
For the sake of Willow, Diana and Tyler continued bantering until they pulled up to the Van Etton house. They went in to find Simon and Clarice in the library, drinking iced tea and talking quietly. While Willow sat down and immediately began telling Clarice all that she’d seen downtown, Simon walked back to the kitchen with Tyler and Diana.
“Something happened,” Simon said. “You two can smile all you want, but I know when things aren’t right. Just give me the bad news now.”
Quickly Tyler told him about Glen missing the faculty meeting, being unreachable by phone, and finally about the office. Simon seemed most dismayed about the pictures. “They were all of Nan and Penny?”
“I suppose,” Tyler answered. “This Frederick guy bursting with all his news said one girl had lighter hair, she wasn’t pretty, and he thought she was a student. He said the other had short dark hair and was, in his words, ‘a real looker.’ He also said there must have been twenty pictures of both women. He wouldn’t know there were twenty of each unless he handled all of them, which should delight the forensics people, and I don’t know if they were twenty pictures of each in the same pose or different poses. He did say they were Polaroids, though.”
“I’m sure Glen had no trouble getting Nan to pose for him, but what about Penny?” Diana asked. “Either he would have forced her or he would have taken shots of her when she didn’t know he was around.”
“The kind of thing a stalker does,” Tyler said.
Diana shivered. “I cannot believe I dated this pervert for seven months and my only opinion of him was that he was boring. My God! What was I thinking?”
“Not about him, obviously,” Simon said dryly. “And you must remember he was always on his best behavior with you. You were the woman he wanted to marry.”
“Why?” Diana asked. “I gave so little—he didn’t even know me.”
“Status, dear girl. You’re the beautiful, captivating, world renowned photographer from what he considered ‘good stock.’ ”
Diana made a face. “I don’t think the director of the tourism center considered me captivating and world renowned.”
“Well, that man was an idiot. Nevertheless, when I first met Glen, I was rather charmed by his boyish wish to live in the world of some old movie. It was as if he thought somehow people really did live the way the characters did in Dinner at Eight or The Philadelphia Story. Later, I began to worry about him. He didn’t seem to be maturing. He still didn’t see life clearly. I wasn’t overjoyed when you began dating him, Diana, but I didn’t think any harm could come of it.” He shook his head. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty.”
“I’m just glad he didn’t sweep Diana off her feet,” Tyler said. “What would have happened if your relationship had gotten serious and you’d married him?”
“He would have been disappointed,” Simon intoned.
Diana looked at him. “Thank you.”
The older man laughed a little and put his arm around her shoulders. “My dear, he would have been disappointed with anybody because they couldn’t make life into what he wanted it to be. I’ve no doubt that even if you’d been wildly in love with him, he would have been seeking out the Nan Murphys of the world, still looking for that intangible something he so desperately wanted.”
“Well, so much for psychological analysis,” Tyler said. “I’m going to call Detective Silver and see what’s going on.”
“Will she tell you?” Diana asked.
“Depends on her mood. She might feel like sharing information with another person on the job, or she might tell me I’m out of my jurisdiction and to leave her the hell alone. At least I can give her the details about Glen’s office, just in case Frederick managed to leave out anything.”
“I’m sure he didn’t,” Diana said wryly. “This is more excitement than he’s probably had for years.”
Diana quietly fixed three glasses of iced tea while Tyler called Detective Silver. Apparently she trusted him enough to give him her cell phone number because she had left the office for the day. Tyler’s questions were abrupt and his answers muted. Diana knew he feared having Willow walk into the kitchen any minute.
At last he hung up and turned around. Diana gave him a glass of iced tea and he took a large swallow before he began to talk. “I don’t know if this is all the police know, but it’s all Silver was willing to tell me. First of all, you didn’t tell me about the guys finding the medical ID bracelet this morning,” he said to Diana.
Simon looked at her. “The one saying he’s allergic to penicillin? He never takes it off.
“The police found it in the woods this morning,” Diana said. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Tyler, but we were with Willow constantly and—”
He held out his glass. “No need for apologies. I didn’t mean to sound like I thought you were withholding evidence.”
“Are you certain it was Glen’s?” Simon asked.
Simon raised his eyebrows. “Well, I suppose that says it all.”
“Yes, but . . .”
Tyler and Simon both looked at Diana. “But what?” Tyler asked. “Are you going to say there could have been two Glen Austens with an allergy to penicillin in your woods last night?”
“Certainly not. I guess I still find it difficult to picture Glen running around in a white robe pretending to be Willow’s guardian angel. I didn’t think he had that much imagination, but then I’m finding I didn’t know Glen at all. Go ahead with what Detective Silver told you.”
“They went to Austen’s house—no one home. The bracelet gave them enough evidence to get a search warrant. They found nothing unusual in the house. They didn’t find any luggage, his wardrobe looked on the skimpy side, and apparently the man used no toiletries.”
“He ran,” Diana said flatly.
“So it would appear. His car wasn’t at the house and they even looked for it at the airport, even though no one by the name of Glen Austen had booked a flight yesterday or today. As for the office, they have a lot of forensics to look at. They will also have to take the fingerprints of the buoyant Frederick because he seems to have touched most of the stuff. Doesn’t the guy ever watch television? Doesn’t he know how important it is not to contaminate a crime scene?”
“He probably only watches shows on the History Channel,” Diana said glumly. “And even if he knew better, he seemed too elated to have used good sense when he looked at that office.”
Simon frowned. “I keep thinking about the writing in spray paint. ‘They ruined my life.’ That must refer to Nan and Penny with their pictures lying all around.” Tyler nodded. “Why weren’t there any pictures of Diana?”
“You sound disappointed,” Diana said, smiling.
“Oh, never, child. Never. The point I’m making is that he seems to believe Nan and Penny ruined his life—Nan with her scheme, Penny for—I don’t know what. Being the object of Nan’s scheme to make money? Not turning herself over to his protection—rejecting him even when she was in deep trouble? But what about Diana?”
Tyler drained his tea, then said, “All I can say is that I’m glad Diana’s picture wasn’t there because it seems fairly obvious Glen trashed his own office, and when he wrote ‘They ruined my life,’ he was referring to the women whose pictures were lying all over his floor.”
“And what about the attack on me last night?” Diana asked Tyler. “Me and Willow.”
“I think he was still trying to get out of this mess unscathed but he couldn’t with you around because you might remember seeing him in the attic with Nan. You were a witness he had to kill. When he failed, he threw in the towel and ran. At least that’s how I see it.”
“It does make sense,” Diana said. “But I still feel that there’s something we’re not seeing, Tyler.”
“We’re probably not seeing a lot,” Tyler answered. “We’re guessing on the little bit of evidence we have, but what else can we do?” He set his glass on the counter, making the ice cubes rattle. “Detective Silver said she did have something she particularly wanted me to tell you, Diana.”
“Me? Why me?”
“I don’t know. I guess it’s because of your talk with her earlier. Anyway, it’s important. Silver talked to people at the hospital about the week Willow had her appendix taken out. She asked if anyone besides Penny had come by or called about Willow. A young nurse right out of school admitted that someone claiming to be Penny’s brother, Tyler, called about Willow on Thursday. The man wanted to know when the child would be released. It was the nurse’s first week, she was overwhelmed and she made a mistake.” Tyler paused. “She told Tyler that Willow would not be released until Saturday morning instead of Friday morning, meaning that whoever blew up the house Friday night expected Willow to be safe and sound in the hospital.”
2
Diana gasped. “Tyler, you and Penny thought no one knew about your connection, but someone did. He said he was Willow’s uncle. Who could have known?”
“Jeffrey Cavanaugh could have known,” Tyler said. “I was fairly certain a man like Jeffrey would have done the research on his soon-to-be wife. I just let Penny think I believed he knew nothing about me. As for me, I hoped he thought that once I’d left the foster home, Penny and I had never seen each other again. Obviously, even I underestimated Jeffrey.”
“Detective Silver and I had a slight clash over Jeffrey Cavanaugh, Simon. That’s why she wanted Tyler to give me this information. She had Glen tried and convicted of the attempted murder of Penny. I kept harping on Jeffrey Cavanaugh. She asked if I had children, then essentially told me a parent would never try to kill his own child. I, with all of my experience as a parent, pretty much said she didn’t know what she was talking about—that maybe most parents wouldn’t harm their children, but a few of them were capable of not only harming them but killing them.”
“And now you think you were wrong about that?” Simon asked Diana in disbelief. “You think no parents are capable of killing their own child?”
“I believe that if Jeffrey Cavanaugh did set that bomb, he thought his daughter wouldn’t be in the house.”
“Oh. What a fine fellow,” Simon pronounced sarcastically. “He wouldn’t hurt his daughter but he would blow his wife to bits. None of us need to fear him any longer. He poses absolutely no threat. He—”
“Uncle Simon, Detective Silver was just making a point,” Diana said. “We clashed over the issue of Cavanaugh. I’ve always been certain of his guilt and she’s certain of Glen’s.” Diana paused. “Tyler, what about Glen? What if he was the person who tried to kill Penny. How would he have known about you?”
Tyler shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said tiredly. “Maybe if he was sexually blackmailing Penny, she got hysterical and pulled the ‘My brother, Tyler Raines, is a New York City detective’ card to intimidate him.”
The phone rang and Simon answered it. Before Diana’s eyes, her great-uncle seemed to shrivel inside his clothes as the fire left his gaze and the color drained from his face. He said, “All right. Thank you.” Then he hung up.
Diana and Tyler looked at him anxiously. “Information about Penny is supposed to be for family only, but I cajoled someone into giving me a word if she took a turn for the worse.” Simon’s resonant voice had turned flat and lifeless. “Well, she is worse. The doctors say within a few hours, Penny will be dead.”
Diana, Tyler, and Simon walked back into the library to find Clarice sitting alone in a chair looking out the window, her expression weary and distant. She tried to smile when they came in, but the smile lacked sincerity. “Willow was worn out,” she said. “The child put out a mighty effort to act happy and carefree today, but she’s tired and she’s scared. She doesn’t want us all to see how scared she is, and it breaks my heart that a little girl is trying to look out for the adults.” Clarice’s eyes filled with tears. “I took her upstairs in the elevator. She said she wanted a nap and she wanted to be alone with the cats, so I left her. I didn’t want her to feel that she had to keep talking, had to keep trying to entertain me. . . .”
Clarice’s tears spilled over her cheeks. Diana made a movement toward her, but Simon reached her first. He kneeled beside her chair. “We can’t blame ourselves for this situation,” he said. “I say that because I know you are somehow blaming yourself. But you’ve done more for that child than a real grandmother could have done. You’ve loved her and comforted her and spent endless hours with her watching those scintillating movies. . . .”
Simon had managed to make Clarice smile. “Yes, my knowledge of movie trivia has vastly improved.”
“You’ve been wonderful, Clarice.”
She frowned. “You sound as if it’s over.”
“Not quite.” Simon took her hands into his own. “We just got a call from the hospital. Penny is dying.”
“Oh no!” Cl
arice cried.
Simon pulled her hands to his lips as tears ran down her face. “Yes. We all knew it was coming, but even when you know, you’re never prepared. Penny was a bright light in all of our lives, but she could never be that again, and I know she wouldn’t want to live the way she is, especially for Willow. She would know how terribly unhappy Willow would be every time she looked at her mother. Don’t you think so?” Clarice slowly nodded. “I’m going to the hospital. I know I’m not family and they probably won’t let me near her, but I feel I should be there.”
“And so should I,” Tyler said, his voice sounding thicker than usual as he held back his own tears. “Maybe I’m not legally her brother, but I’m her brother in every other way.”
Simon nodded then looked at Diana and back at Clarice. “You two must stay here to look after Willow. Will you be all right while we’re gone?”
“Of course,” Diana said. “But promise to call and . . . and keep us apprised.”
“I will,” Simon told her briskly. “I’ll call your cell phone so the house phone doesn’t wake up Willow. Keep the cell phone with you and the doors locked.”
Diana walked them to the garage. “Take the Porsche, Uncle Simon,” she said. “Penny loved the Porsche.”
He smiled and went to the Peg-Board for the keys. Meanwhile, Tyler hugged her tight. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured in his ear.
“I know. And I’m sorry this is happening to you, too. But you must know you and your uncle gave Penny the best year of her life. Never forget that, Diana.”
Tyler kissed her fiercely, then walked to the Porsche and climbed in the driver’s side, since Simon insisted that he take the wheel.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
1
At six o’clock Willow was still sleeping and neither Diana nor Clarice had any appetite. They each drank a cup of coffee and sat in the library, talking quietly about everything except Penny. Clarice told Diana about her honeymoon with Henry, how they had started out for Niagara Falls and Henry’s old car broke down a hundred miles out of Huntington, so they’d stayed in a tiny town with one diner and one theater while the car was being repaired at the town’s one garage. Diana described how two days after her wedding, her husband came down with measles. They tried to laugh, but neither was really concentrating on the other’s story.
You Can Run... Page 30
