“Emily, you need help. If you don’t want to talk to me, then you should think about consulting the Stamford police. I can give you a name if you want.”
She looked at me incredulously. “That’s the last thing I’d do. Having the police running around here really would close down my school.”
“Okay, no police,” I agreed. “For now.”
Emily started to rise.
“Wait.” I paused, then added, “Please?”
She stopped mid-move.
“Give me five more minutes.”
“To do what?”
I gave her the look. The one every teacher has perfected. I knew Emily would recognize what the expression meant. I wasn’t going to budge until I was satisfied that we were finished.
“Fine.” She sank back into her seat. “Five minutes.”
“Have there been any other incidents besides the ones I’m aware of?”
“No,” she replied quickly.
Too quickly. So I was guessing that meant yes. I sat quietly and waited for her to speak.
“Okay, maybe a couple of small things. Stuff I didn’t think twice about at the time.”
“Like what?”
“Last week, the school mailbox at the end of the driveway got smashed. I figured a careless driver must have hit it with his car. You know?”
I did. In her place, I’d have thought the same thing. Mailboxes were an endangered species in Fairfield County.
“Then my electricity went out one night. Again, no biggie. It does that sometimes.”
I nodded. “But?”
“I assumed it was a neighborhood outage. But when it wasn’t back by morning, I checked with the power company. Nobody else had a problem. I was the only one. They sent out a guy who found that the line to this property had been severed. He said maybe a squirrel had done it.”
“A squirrel,” I repeated. Considering everything else, that didn’t sound like a likely explanation to me.
“He repaired the wire, and that was the end of it,” Emily said.
Except it hadn’t been, had it?
“Is there any reason why someone would want to harass you?” I asked.
“Me?” Even after all the things we’d talked about, Emily still managed to sound surprised. “Of course not. I’m a normal person. It’s not like I have any enemies.”
“How about a disgruntled friend?”
“Just you,” Emily said with a small smile.
That didn’t help.
I briefly thought about everything she’d said. I would have spent more time pondering the problem, but I was on the clock. Soon camp would be letting out for the day.
No doubt about it, I was well and truly stumped. Whenever Aunt Peg was in a similar spot, her first thought was always about the dogs. That didn’t seem to apply here, but you never knew. The notion that someone would have given Emily three rowdy puppies at once still struck me as curious. And besides, it wasn’t as if I had any other bright ideas.
“The Dalmatians,” I said. “Last week you told me you’d received them as a gift. Who gave them to you?”
“I can’t see why that matters.” Emily was on the defensive again.
“Humor me.”
She closed her eyes briefly. Maybe she was praying for patience. If so, I knew how she felt.
“The puppies came from my ex-husband.”
“You never talk about him,” I said. “I didn’t even know you’d been married until you mentioned it the other day.”
“Why would I want to talk about him? He’s not my favorite person. As you can probably imagine, since we’re divorced.”
I was divorced too. My first husband, Bob, was Davey’s father. Our marriage had ended when he’d abandoned us when Davey was just a baby. Years later, Bob and I had managed to become friends again, but I was well aware that everyone wasn’t that lucky.
“Your ex gave you the puppies,” I said thoughtfully. A tenuous connection was beginning to form in my brain.
“That’s right.”
“And the red truck that rolled down the hill belongs to him too?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t tell me the stove that caught fire was his, too?”
“No.” Emily issued a small snort. The question sounded absurd to me too, but I had to ask. “That old thing was here when we moved in years ago.”
“And you and your ex aren’t on friendly terms?”
She shrugged. “We don’t hate each other, if that’s what you’re asking. Mostly we just ignore one another.”
Except when he was giving her presents of dubious worth, I thought.
“Is there a possibility he could be involved in what’s been happening around here?”
“Will? I highly doubt it.”
“Why?”
“Precisely,” she retorted. “Why? What would he have to gain?”
Good question.
“Besides,” said Emily, “Will loves that old truck. Probably more than he ever loved me. He’d never do anything to damage it.”
She picked up her glass and stood. “I’ve got to get back to work. Look, Melanie, I know this is what you do. You find problems, and then you leap in and try to solve them. But I don’t need your help. There’s nothing suspicious going on here. It’s just a run of bad luck. You’ll see, soon everything will turn around and be just fine.”
For all our sakes, I hoped she was right.
Chapter 10
The next morning I awoke to the sound of my phone buzzing on the table beside the bed. I had a new text. I opened one eye and reached out a hand toward the device.
Faith watched the maneuver from her position on the floor. She probably figured I had an equal chance of snagging the phone in my fingers and of knocking it on her head. Unfortunately, she was right.
I sighed, turned over, and gazed at my clock. It was six-thirty a.m. Who needed me at this hour?
“It’s probably Peg,” Sam muttered sleepily from the other side of the bed. “At least she didn’t call and wake everybody up.”
Except . . . I could hear the sound of movement in the hallway outside our bedroom. We weren’t the only ones who were stirring. What was going on?
I sat up, grabbed the phone, and took a look. Emily Grace had sent a mass text. The message read, GRACELAND CAMP IS CLOSED TODAY. I APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.
Before I could process the news, Augie came trotting into the room and jumped on the bed. He just missed landing on top of Sam. Davey was right behind the big Poodle. His hair was mussed from sleep, and his pajamas looked about two sizes too small for him. One more thing I needed to remedy when I had the time.
Davey had his phone in his hand too. He stared down at it with a frown. “Did you see this?”
“Yes,” I said. “Just now.”
“What do you think it means?”
“What does what mean?” Kevin joined the parade heading into our bedroom.
Eve and Bud were with him. The two dogs took one look at Augie and leapt up beside him. The bed bounced up and down from the impact. Sam put his pillow over his head. I wished I could do the same.
“Your camp is closed today,” I told Kev.
He stood on his toes and looked at the message on Davey’s phone. He knew his letters, but he couldn’t read yet. He liked sending people emojis, though. “How come?”
“We don’t know,” said Davey.
Kevin shook his head. “No, I mean how come no one told me?”
“We just found out,” I said.
“I need my own phone,” he announced, “so people can text me things too.”
I heard Sam groan from beneath the pillow. I agreed. It was much too early to have to deal with this.
“How about breakfast instead?” I asked Kev.
“Nope.” My younger son crossed his arms over his skinny chest. “It’s not the same thing.”
“If I don’t have to drive you to camp, I’ll have time to make pancakes.”
Kev considered t
hat. “With butter and maple syrup?”
I nodded.
“As many as I want?”
“Within reason,” I told him. “No more than twenty.”
“Twenty pancakes.” Kevin giggled. “Can I share them with Bud?”
“No!” Sam, Davey, and I all said simultaneously. “No sharing food with Bud.”
As if anyone ever obeyed that rule. Bud had perfected the art of shameless begging. Even though he was already shaped like a zeppelin.
Hearing his name, the little dog popped out from beneath the covers. Lord knew what he’d been doing under there. When he scrambled down off the bed and ran to the bedroom door, I knew what he wanted. Having just gotten up, Bud needed to go outside.
“Who’s letting the dogs out?” I asked.
“I guess I am,” Davey grumbled.
“Look on the bright side.” Sam had given up on going back to sleep. “You have a day off from work. Maybe we should go to the beach.”
“I’m in,” I said.
“I didn’t want a day off,” Davey was still grumbling. “Do you think I’ll get paid anyway?”
“I don’t see why not,” I told him. “Since camp being closed wasn’t your fault.”
“Whose fault was it?” Kev piped up.
Good question. I was wondering about that myself.
* * *
We spent the day at Tod’s Point, a busy beach on Long Island Sound just south of Old Greenwich. We weren’t Greenwich residents, but earlier in the summer I’d absconded with Aunt Peg’s shore pass. As far as I could tell, she hadn’t set foot on a beach since the 1970s.
We packed a picnic lunch, a couple of beach chairs, and plenty of sunblock. The boys spent most of the afternoon fooling around in the water. Sam and I relaxed in the shade of a big umbrella, read our books, and went for the occasional swim. The weather, the setting, and the company were all perfect. So I tried not to waste any of it by worrying about Emily Grace and the cryptic message she’d sent out that morning.
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder.
Twenty-four hours earlier, Emily had been determined not to shut down the camp. She’d insisted that the campers were not at risk. So what could have happened to change her mind?
“You haven’t turned a page in ten minutes,” Sam said, glancing over at me. “I know you read faster than that.”
I slapped the book shut. “I was just thinking.”
“Worrying, you mean.” The man is entirely too perceptive.
“Yes.”
“About Emily Grace?”
I nodded. The previous evening, I’d told him about my conversation with Emily. Sam shared my concerns. But he’d also advised me to take a wait-and-see approach while Emily worked on solving the problems herself.
We both knew that patience wasn’t my strong suit.
“Something else must have gone wrong,” I said. “Why else would she cancel today’s session at the last minute?”
“I assume there hasn’t been a follow-up message?”
Usually I ignore my phone. This afternoon, Sam had been watching me check it every ten minutes.
“Nothing,” I told him. “I hope Emily’s not in trouble.”
“She’ll have to get in touch at some point,” Sam said. “If only to let everyone know whether or not the camp will be open tomorrow.”
“What if it isn’t?” I asked.
“Then I suspect you’ll probably drive over there to find out why.”
“You, recommending that I get involved?” I said with a smile. “That’s a switch.”
“That wasn’t a recommendation,” Sam said. “It was a prediction.”
“Emily is my friend.”
“I know.” Now he looked resigned.
“She might need my help.”
“Let’s hope it’s nothing too bad,” said Sam.
* * *
A second text arrived that evening. Camp was back in session the next day.
“Yay!” cried Kevin.
Davey looked similarly pleased. While Kev and the Poodles were dancing around the living room to celebrate, I pulled my older son aside.
“I want you to do something for me,” I told him.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“When you’re at Graceland, I need you to keep an eye on your brother.”
Davey paused. “You know Kev’s not in my group, right?”
“I know. Just do the best you can, okay?”
“Sure. No problem.” He started to walk away, then stopped. “I know you talked to Ms. Grace yesterday after we spoke. So I figure you’re on top of things. But . . . is everything okay?”
“That’s what I intend to find out,” I told him.
* * *
This was beginning to feel like a habit. The next morning, I let both boys out of the car at the drop-off point, then once again pulled out of line to park in front of the admin building. Mia glanced my way as I got out of the car, but she was too busy to comment. It looked as though every parent in the long line wanted to know what had caused the previous day’s unexpected closure. I doubted they were having any more luck getting information from Emily’s assistant than I had.
I waited until Davey and Kevin had disappeared into the other building before going inside myself. Emily wasn’t in her office. Nor was she in the kitchen. Only two days had passed since I’d last been in that room, but someone had been hard at work in the meantime. The soot-stained wall now sported a fresh coat of paint.
A stairway off the kitchen led to Emily’s apartment on the second floor. It occurred to me that if she was still holed up in there now—when the camp day was about to begin—there was probably a good reason. Like maybe she didn’t want to see anyone.
That thought made me pause at the foot of the steps. I decided against going up to knock on her door. Instead I remained below and sent Emily a text. I had to wait a full three minutes for a reply.
I’M HERE. COME ON UP. I GUESS.
It wasn’t the most effusive welcome I’d ever received, but it was good enough. I slipped my phone in my pocket and ran up the stairs before Emily could change her mind. She opened her door as I reached the top step.
Immediately, the words I’d been about to say died in my throat.
Emily was a smart, savvy, pulled-together woman. I’d never seen her look anything less than professional. But right now she was a mess. Emily’s face was blotchy, and her hair was snarled. Both eyes were puffy. She didn’t look as though she’d slept recently. And maybe she’d been crying as well.
Rather than speaking, I simply stepped forward and wrapped my arms around Emily’s shoulders. I thought she might resist the embrace. Instead she laid her head on my shoulder. After a moment, she exhaled with a long sigh.
“That bad, huh?” I said.
She lifted her head and stepped back. “Worse.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Her lips quirked in a half-smile. “Are you going to give me any choice?”
I shrugged. It was up to her. Yes, I was curious. But I didn’t need answers right this minute. I wasn’t going to intrude unless she wanted me to.
“You might as well come in,” Emily said. “Maybe I’ll feel better if I talk to someone.”
As I closed the door behind us, I smelled coffee brewing. A coffee maker sat on a counter next to the stove. Emily followed the direction of my gaze and went to pour me a cup.
The apartment consisted of just two rooms. The space in which we stood was a combination living room and dining area, with the kitchen appliances lined up along one wall. A small bedroom, its door half-open, its bed unmade, was visible on the far side of the room.
Two of the Dalmatian puppies were asleep on the rumpled bed. The third one was nearby, its lithe body lying draped over the cushions of a tweed couch whose taupe color matched the curtains on the windows. None of the puppies had reacted when Emily opened the door. Nor had they run to greet me when I came inside. Oddly, even now, they didn’t
lift their heads. The puppies’ mood was just as subdued as their owner’s.
“Milk and sugar?” Emily held up a heavy stoneware mug.
“Just a splash of milk please.”
She opened her fridge, added the milk, then passed the mug my way. “Thanks,” I said, taking it from her. “You look like you need this more than I do.”
Emily frowned. “Any more coffee and I’ll be spinning like a top. I just finished my third cup.”
“This morning?”
“Yeah, I guess.” She lifted a hand and raked it through her tangled hair. “What time is it, anyway?”
“Eight-thirty.”
Emily should have known that. Her campers were outside arriving for the day. She had a camp to run. All of this was very much out of character for the woman I’d thought I knew. And before Emily did anything else, what she really needed was a shower and a change of clothing.
I watched in dismay as Emily sank down on the couch, narrowly missing the puppy who made no attempt to move out of her way. Emily lifted her bare feet and plunked them down on a vintage trunk that served as a coffee table.
“Sit,” she invited.
There was a low, lattice-back chair nearby. I pulled it over and took a seat.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Emily blinked in my direction. “You don’t know?”
“No. I have no idea.”
“Oh.” She seemed to find that mildly interesting. “I just assumed you would have heard about it on the news.”
“Heard about what?” I asked, with new urgency. I’d just left both my boys downstairs. “What was on the news?”
“That’s a surprise,” she murmured. “I guess I was wrong then. I was sure you’d come to gloat.”
I still had no clue what she was talking about.
Emily straightened fractionally in her seat. Even that small move looked like it took more effort than she wanted to expend. “It turns out you were right. I should have been more concerned about those things that were going on around here.”
A sense of dread settled over me. “Did something else happen?”
“You might say that.” She paused as if she needed to find enough energy just to say the words. “Early yesterday morning, the police found a body in the woods.” Her fingers flicked a wave toward the rear of her property.
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