Marta Perry

by Search the Dark

  “That’s why it doesn’t make sense. We certainly didn’t know anything about how Aaron died. Only that it happened, and our parents clamped down on where we went and what we did. Lainey was sent back to her mother, school started and it all slipped away like a dream.”

  “So why...” Zach let that trail off, staring out the front window.

  She followed his gaze. A police car had pulled up in front of the house.

  Meredith’s stomach clenched at the sight of Chief Burkhalter walking toward the house, his two patrolmen trailing along behind. “What do you think they want?”

  Zach stood. “This looks like more than follow-up questions. I suspect this means the medical examiner considers it a case of murder.”

  Meredith fought back a powerful surge of anxiety. Now was not the time to give in to the powerful combination of grief and panic. She had to rely on the calm, rational thinking that had always been her strength.

  Zach made a move as if to go to the door, but she waved him back, getting up. This was her home, and she felt the need to assert that fact.

  “Chief Burkhalter.” She held the door wide to allow them to enter. The younger patrolman looked embarrassed, as if he couldn’t quite decide what to do with himself. But Ted... There was a cat-that-ate-the-canary expression on his face that raised her hackles in an instant.

  She focused on Chief Burkhalter. “It’s good of you to come by. I was about to call to see if you had any idea yet about when I can schedule my mother’s funeral.”

  Burkhalter’s gaze shifted away from hers. “I’m afraid I... We really can’t say, yet. The medical examiner called with his preliminary report. Still some test results to come back yet, but the long and short of it is that it looks like your mother was murdered.”

  She’d thought she was prepared for it. Apparently she wasn’t. The room seemed to swim around her.

  Zach and Burkhalter reacted simultaneously, each taking an arm to help her to the sofa. “Put your head down until the dizziness passes.” Zach’s hand pressed on her nape, guiding her head down. He sat next to her, and it seemed she could feel the tension in every cell of his body.

  “I’m all right,” she murmured. She started to raise her head, found the room was still spinning and put her head down again.

  “What were you thinking, blurting it out like that?” Zach’s angry question was obviously directed at Burkhalter.

  “Sorry,” Burkhalter muttered. He patted her arm. “Davis, what are you standing there for? Go to the kitchen and bring Ms. King a glass of water.”

  Hurried footsteps moved toward the kitchen. Cabinet doors opened and closed, water ran. Presently a glass appeared in her range of vision, the hand that held it shaking so that water sloshed over the side and dripped on her lap. She grasped it before he could do any more harm and raised her head slowly to take a sip of water.

  “There, you’re looking better now.” Burkhalter sounded relieved.

  “Thank you.” She handed him the glass. “I’m all right. It was just a shock.”

  “Shock to everybody in town, I guess.” Burkhalter looked harassed. “I don’t know how the news got out, but seems like it’s all over town already.” He glared at his officers. “People calling up, thinking there’s some kind of maniac on the loose.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.” The words were out before Meredith considered that maybe it would be better not to argue with the prevailing opinion. Still, she’d never been much good at lying, and she’d better not start now.

  “What makes you say that?” Burkhalter’s gaze sharpened.

  “Because I can’t understand why my mother changed her clothes and went out to the dam at night.”

  Burkhalter nodded. “That’s the question, isn’t it? If she saw something or heard something suspicious...” He let that trail off, as if inviting her to provide an answer. Zach’s arm pressed against hers, expressing tension.

  Well, Burkhalter surely knew that one as well as she did. Mom had called his office often enough. “If that were the case, my mother would call 911. Or possibly call me, if it wasn’t too alarming. She certainly wouldn’t change her clothes and go out to investigate on her own.”

  “That’s what I figured, too. I suppose you looked for a note.”

  “That’s the first thing I did.” She waved toward the kitchen. “You’re welcome to have a look yourself. We always leave...left notes for each other on the bulletin board next to the fridge.”

  “Well, the thing is, I’d appreciate it if you’d let my people have a look around your mother’s bedroom,” Burkhalter said, his tone making it clear it wasn’t really a request. “Maybe there’s some indication of what took Margo outside.”

  She was about to say that they’d just searched, but the pressure of Zach’s arm on hers stopped her. “Of course. Please, go ahead and look.”

  Burkhalter nodded to Ted, and the two patrolmen headed for the stairs.

  “It’s the room to the left at the top of the steps,” Meredith called after them, suppressing the thought of how her mother would have hated the idea of strangers looking through her things.

  “There’s one odd thing that Meredith thought you should know.” Zach sounded as if he’d been quiet as long as he could manage. “About the jacket Margo was wearing.”

  “The jacket?” Burkhalter frowned.

  “I didn’t realize it at first,” Meredith said. “But that light tan jacket my mother was wearing was actually mine.”

  Burkhalter’s frown deepened. “Where did you keep that jacket?”

  “On the peg by the back door. I suppose she might have decided she needed a coat and just grabbed it as she went out.”

  “Depend on it, that’s what happened.” Burkhalter looked relieved. “It got pretty chilly last night after the sun went down.”

  That was the logical explanation. She found herself hoping Zach wouldn’t repeat his obvious fear that she had been the intended target.

  “And Meredith discovered today that something is missing from the house,” Zach said instead.

  Unfortunately that was just about as bad in terms of subjects she didn’t want to discuss with Burkhalter. It was going to lead inevitably to telling him what she’d been doing, and she knew what his reaction would be.

  “Well, that’s more like it.” Burkhalter brightened at the thought of a thief. “What was taken? Money? Silver?”

  “Nothing like that,” she admitted. “It was a scrapbook. An old one that I had from the summer Aaron Mast died.”

  Chief Burkhalter looked as like a man who’d missed a step in the dark. “An old scrapbook. Well, now, don’t you think you might just have forgotten where you put it? I mean, that was a good twenty years ago. It could be stuffed away in a box—”

  She shook her head. “You don’t understand. I’ve had it out recently. Rachel Mason and I kept it together.” She decided to leave out mention of Lainey for the moment, fearing it would confuse the issue further. “My mother had been interested in it, as well. I know exactly where it was in my room, and today I discovered that it was missing.”

  Burkhalter ran a hand through his graying hair, making it stand on end. “I don’t get it. Why would anyone want an old scrapbook a couple of kids made? Why all the interest in it?”

  Meredith took a breath, trying to arrange her thoughts. “The thing is, we... Well, we kind of had a crush on Aaron Mast that summer. We used to follow him around. We knew all about his secret romance with Laura.”

  “Well, yeah, guess that never was as much of a secret as those two thought. Sad business.” He shook his head. “What happened last night kind of brought it back to me.”

  Burkhalter had been chief then. He’d have been one of the ones who’d pulled Aaron’s body from the pool, most likely. And he’d been the one to announce that it was an
accident.

  “When Rachel came back to town, we started talking about that summer. That was when I got the scrapbook out. We realized that we...had questions about Aaron’s death. When Rachel found that note in the covered bridge that had been left for Aaron, it made it look as if he had killed himself.”

  Burkhalter’s face had grown steadily redder as she talked. “It was ruled an accident. Everybody accepted that. Don’t you think I had my suspicions of suicide at the time? Never leads to anything good, a relationship like that one. Laura broke it off, the boy was despondent and he killed himself. I did the kind thing and ruled it an accident. You should have let it alone.”

  She felt herself wilt under his glare. If she’d never started looking into Aaron’s death, Sarah and his parents might have been content with a soothing lie. And her mother might still be alive.

  “How do you know Laura broke up with him?” Zach’s question probably took both of them by surprise. “Did she say so?”

  “I didn’t question her. She was upset, under a doctor’s care.” Burkhalter’s face was an alarming shade. “I did what was best for everyone concerned.”

  “Did you?” Zach ignored the warning she was trying to convey through the pressure of her hand on his. “What if it wasn’t suicide? What if someone doesn’t want Meredith snooping into what happened to Aaron? What if that same someone was responsible for Margo’s death?”

  Burkhalter shot to his feet—not an easy feat for someone of his girth. “Maybe the Pittsburgh P.D. deals in fantasy. I don’t. When someone gets killed, the killer is usually someone a heck of a lot closer than that.”

  He jammed his cap on his head and stamped off toward the stairs. Meredith listened until the thud of his footsteps had faded. Then she let out a long, shaky breath.

  “He didn’t believe me.”

  “Us.” Zach’s hand closed warmly over hers. “I made things worse. But his mind is so closed it would take a stick of dynamite to open it.”

  “What can we do?” The situation closed around her like quicksand.

  Zach’s face tightened. “We start looking for that stick of dynamite.”

  * * *

  ZACH WAS NOT in the best of moods when he headed for the King house the next day. The sense of helplessness gnawed at him. He had to be doing something to help Meredith, whether she wanted him to or not.

  After the cops finally left, he’d tried to comfort Meredith, but she had withdrawn again. He wanted to get back to the closeness they’d reached before Margo’s death, or even the sense he’d had of Meredith relying on him when Chief Burkhalter was questioning her. But Meredith had given him a frozen look and said she was tired. In other words, go away.

  Rachel was standing at the gate, talking to a man leaning against a late-model sedan. This must be Colin McDonald. They were engaged, Meredith had told him. Lucky Colin, given the way Rachel was looking at him.

  She turned her smile his way when she saw him approaching. “Colin. You remember Zach Randal, don’t you?”

  “Sure thing.” Colin stuck out his hand, and Zach had a quick impression that the mischief-maker of their childhood had matured into solid strength. “Zach and I have been talking about getting his property ready to sell.”

  “Colin’s been a big help.” Though the house was the last thing on his mind now. “By the way, congrats, Colin. I hear you convinced Rachel to marry you.”

  “It took some doing, but I wore her down.” Colin’s grin was the one he’d always worn when he’d pulled off a particular piece of mischief.

  “Colin knows what’s going on.” Rachel cut short the casual conversation. “He wants to help.”

  Zach’s initial reaction was that if there was really anything to be done, he’d do it. But it would be stupid to push away any offers of help.

  “Good. Meredith needs as many people as possible on her side.”

  “You do, too, I’m afraid.” Colin’s face hardened. “The gossip is going around already.”

  “It’s wicked, that’s what it is.” Rachel looked outraged. “Zach couldn’t have done anything to Margo because he was with Meredith. And anyone who suggests Meredith would lie about that is just plain ferhoodled.” Rachel resorted to the Pennsylvania Dutch of her childhood to find a word strong enough.

  “Some people will believe anything, and the worse it is the better they like it,” Colin said. “Ordinarily I wouldn’t pay much attention, but this time it was Kristie James telling someone in line at the post office that the police suspect you. With a lot of embroidery, of course.”

  “Kristie?” The name didn’t ring any bells.

  “Hasn’t been here that long—she works at the Brass Bell.”

  The Brass Bell was the local bar.

  “She’s also Ted Singer’s girlfriend,” Rachel added. “I’m sure it’s against the rules for him to be talking to her about the case.” Rachel looked ready to take on anyone on her friend’s behalf.

  “True, but things get out.” Zach was realistic about that. No matter how much Chief Burkhalter might want to keep a lid on the case, rumors would leak.

  “That’s exactly why I was just telling Rachel that Meredith should talk to an attorney,” Colin said.

  Rachel looked troubled. “But wouldn’t that make her look guilty?”

  “Better to be prepared no matter how it looks.” Zach suspected it was going to be an uphill battle to convince Meredith. “We need to talk to her about it.”

  Rachel nodded reluctantly. “At least Jake Evans is a friend. Nobody would think it odd if he stopped by, I suppose.” She glanced at him. “If you’re going to be here awhile, I have a few things to do.”

  He nodded. “Meredith isn’t going to thank us for hovering over her anyway. Did you have a chance to see Laura Hammond yet?”

  “I tried.” She made an expressive face. “I think I could have talked my way past the housekeeper, but Jeannette Walker was there. She’s like a mother tiger where Laura is concerned.”

  “The woman is never happy unless she’s manipulating people,” Colin said.

  “I figured she was just a garden-variety gossip,” Zach said. “You should hear her trying to get information out of me.”

  Colin grinned. “I’m sure that’s the only reason she hasn’t kicked you out yet.”

  “True. She wants me there because she figures I’m a pipeline to information, and I want to stay because my bedroom gives me a good view of Meredith’s house.”

  “Well, if you can’t stand it, I have a room for you anytime,” Rachel said. “But I’d better be going.”

  “Yeah, me, too.” Colin gave her a light kiss. “I’ll be around, Zach. Anything I can do, just say the word.”

  Zach nodded, but his attention had already shifted away from them. He had to see how Meredith was holding up.

  She opened the door almost before he knocked. “What were you and Rachel and Colin scheming about?”

  Maybe he’d better not push his luck by trying to kiss her. He settled for a smile. “Hi. Nice to see you.”

  Meredith flushed slightly, and it was good to see some color in her face. “I’m sorry. That was rude. I just—”

  “You don’t want us talking about you behind your back.” Since she didn’t make any move to take him farther than the hall, he walked on into the living room. “It was nothing important. Rachel told me about her attempt to see Laura.”

  Meredith moved toward the sofa and then seemed to change her mind. She took the rocking chair instead. To keep him from sitting next to her?

  “Victor and Jeannette seem determined to keep Laura from being upset. I was surprised he actually brought her to the house yesterday.”

  Mentally shrugging, he subsided into the wing chair. “He must have figured she wouldn’t be upset by you, doped up as she was. Do you stil
l think she knows more than she’s ever told?”

  “I’m not sure what I think anymore.” Meredith pushed her hair behind her ears. She clearly hadn’t put on makeup, and she looked pale. “It’s just so confusing. What was my mother doing at the dam? I’ve been over it and over it and I can’t even imagine an answer.”

  Zach frowned, not liking the defeated tone in Meredith’s voice. That wasn’t like her. “It seems clear enough to me. She went out either to spy on someone or to meet someone.”

  The blunt comment brought the brightness to her eyes again. “You can’t know that.”

  “The logical answer is usually the right one. You’ve already said you can’t think of another reason, so what’s wrong with mine?” If challenging her was the only way to make Meredith fight, that’s what he’d do.

  “Who would she be spying on? It’s ridiculous.”

  Interesting that she didn’t immediately deny that Margo would spy on anyone. He didn’t have any illusions about Margo, but he suspected Meredith still cherished a few.

  “You mentioned having seen lights moving there a couple of times. She might have decided to investigate.”

  “She wouldn’t. She’d be too afraid to.”

  “Maybe not if she thought she knew who it was. But I agree, the other is more likely. She went to meet someone.”

  “But why there? Why at night?” Meredith flung out her hands in a gesture that suggested she was pushing his ideas away. The movement stung.

  He hitched his chair a little closer to hers, reaching out to clasp her hands. For an instant she gripped them, her eyes widening. Then she snatched her hands away and clasped them in her lap.

  Zach bit back an instant response. “Look, I know it’s hard to believe, but Margo was there. She did something you believe is foreign to her nature. So think. We can’t resolve this without knowing what took her out of the house, and the police are already—” He stopped, not sure he wanted to go there.

  “The police are already what?” Meredith was alert in an instant, face flushing, eyes frightened.

  “Apparently Colin overheard some gossip, coming from our friend Ted Singer’s girlfriend. She’s spreading it around that the police think I did it and you’re covering for me.”