Although, come to think of it, that was exactly what had happened to me and Heather. We had literally just run into each other. So it could’ve happened again, I suppose.
And on a different note, why had she gone for a drink with him in the first place? How could that be a good idea? She had suffered through a bitter breakup with him and the betrayal had haunted her for twelve long years. So now they were all friendly and cozy again?
But wait. Maybe Rod had set the whole thing up. I wouldn’t put it past him. And I was much more comfortable thinking it was his idea rather than thinking Heather had sought him out.
My mind was going in a hundred different directions and I was starting to get a headache. I glanced out the window, but didn’t see Derek anywhere. It didn’t matter, though, because I had complete confidence that he wouldn’t let Heather slip away. I sipped my drink and tried to relax.
“There you are,” Inspector Lee said from right behind me.
I flinched. “I didn’t see you coming.”
“I’m like the stealth bomber.”
I rolled my eyes. “Right. Do you want a drink?”
“Nah. I’m on the clock.” She glanced around. “Where are your friends?”
“Didn’t you see Derek outside?”
“No. Why isn’t he in here with you?”
“He went outside to make sure Heather didn’t disappear.”
“She’s trying to disappear? From me? I’m hurt.”
“Don’t be,” I said. “I didn’t tell her you were coming, so I think the reason she left has more to do with the nice guy she met tonight.”
“Ah, young love.”
“It’s a beautiful thing.” I grabbed my purse and pulled out a credit card. “I’m going to pay the bill. If you want to go outside and look around for Derek, I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She took off and I signaled the waitress. As she walked away with my card, I wondered again how Heather would react to the fact that I’d brought the police here. She shouldn’t be angry with me. After all, an old friend had been murdered so, naturally, the police would want to interview everyone who’d seen her over the past forty-eight hours. And furthermore, Heather had been with the victim’s husband at roughly the same time that Sara was killed. Even if she was completely innocent, she might know something that could help Inspector Lee solve the crime. Maybe Rod mentioned something crucial when they were together.
And why did I even care what Heather thought? At this point, all that mattered was finding justice for Sara.
The waitress returned with my credit card. I signed the receipt, shoved my copy into my purse, and walked to the door. Once again it felt like I’d been here for hours, but I checked my watch and saw that it was barely seven o’clock.
Out on the sidewalk, I looked up and down the street, trying to spot Derek and Inspector Lee. But now they had both disappeared. Lee couldn’t have gotten too far because she was only a minute or two ahead of me. I took off down the street toward my house, thinking they might be on the nearby side street.
Summer weather was coming soon, but for now, the night was cool enough that I wished I had thought to bring a jacket. I zipped my hoodie up and shoved both hands in my pouch pocket for warmth. I smiled at the sound of the roaring crowd watching the ball game at the Giants’ stadium less than a quarter mile away.
There was a dark, narrow alley at the end of the row of buildings, and when I peeked down there, I could see Inspector Lee talking to Derek. Heather stood off to the side. Where was Gus?
I walked toward them and spoke to Heather. “Did Gus leave?”
“I’m not sure I’m talking to you,” Heather said, tossing her hair back. “Why would you think I know anything about Sara’s death?”
“I never said I did,” I said calmly. “But the police will want to talk to anyone who knew Sara. Plus you were with her husband last night and the police are trying to find him. I thought you might know where he is.”
“Rod didn’t kill Sara,” she insisted.
“But the police still need to talk to him. He’s Sara’s husband.” In case that detail slipped your mind, I thought. I didn’t ask her why she was so adamant that Rod was innocent. Why, all of a sudden, was she his staunchest ally? I didn’t get it.
She huffed. “Maybe so, but you could’ve warned me that the police were coming.”
“You just fainted, Heather. I didn’t want to freak you out all over again.”
Inspector Lee had been silent during our brief discussion, but now she spoke up. “Why don’t we go somewhere more conducive to carrying on a conversation?”
“What a good idea.” I rubbed my hands together to warm them up. And why were we in an alley in the first place? I would have to ask Derek later.
“Our place is just a block or so away from here,” Derek suggested.
I slipped my arm through his. “Perfect solution.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Heather said, frowning. She was clearly not ready for what she anticipated would be a tough police grilling.
“Beats taking you down to the police station,” Inspector Lee said, her cheerful tone belying her steely determination to interview Heather tonight.
Heather gulped, seeming to finally grasp the situation. Glancing at Derek, she said, “Your place sounds great.”
With a satisfied gleam, Inspector Lee met my gaze. “I’ll get my car and meet you all there.”
Chapter Eight
On the way back to our place, I made a special effort to explain things to Heather, who was still treating me like the plague of doom. “I didn’t mean to spring Inspector Lee on you, but when I found Sara’s body, I had no choice but to call the police.”
“Wait.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. “What? You found her body? Brooklyn, that’s awful. Why didn’t you tell me that? How did that even happen?”
Her shock brought it all back to me and I had to take a moment to compose myself. “You’re right, it was awful. She was supposed to come over last night, too, but never showed up. So this morning I started texting her to make sure everything was okay, and she never responded. I was getting worried so I went looking for her. And I found her.”
“That’s terrible.” But her pouty lip was showing again. Was she jealous that I didn’t try to hunt her down, too?
“I went looking for you, too,” I assured her, as we started walking again.
“To turn me in to the police,” she muttered.
“No,” I insisted. “I wanted to tell you about Sara. I would’ve called you sooner, but I was stuck in that cold, ugly basement for hours.”
She must have realized how petty she was starting to sound because she sidestepped closer and wrapped her arm around my waist as we walked. “I’m an idiot. You poor thing. I can’t even imagine. That must’ve been horrifying.”
“It was. Look, back in school the three of us didn’t end things on a very happy note, but you and Sara were once my best friends. I absolutely hate that this happened.”
I didn’t mention the alarming fact that this wasn’t the first time I had discovered a dead body. Wait until my mother hears about this, I thought, as the words murder-magnet reverberated around my head. I quickly shook away the thought and kept walking.
Once we were home, I poured a glass of water for each of us and changed the topic of conversation. “Do you think you’ll see Gus again?”
“We’re going out tomorrow night.” Heather gave a shy smile. “He’s a really nice guy.”
“I agree. Plus he’s an honest-to-goodness hero.”
“I know.” She stared off at nothing in particular, obviously brooding. “Of course, I’ll never see him again after Sunday, but it’ll be nice while it lasts.”
“He really seemed to like you, so you never know.” That was me
, the eternal optimist.
She gave a grim laugh. “Yes, actually I do. He lives here, I live in Wisconsin. Two different worlds.”
“Hello? Telephones. Email. Airplanes.”
She smiled a little but I could tell she was already saying good-bye to Gus.
The buzzer rang.
She glanced around. “Is that a signal to let me know that I’m being a total buzzkill?”
I laughed. “If it works, yes. And also, it’s our security system.” I walked into the kitchen and checked the screen to see who was at the door downstairs. Inspector Lee was waving to the camera so I dialed the number to open the door.
Heather had begun pacing in front of the kitchen bar and I grabbed hold of her hand.
“Don’t be nervous,” I said. “Inspector Lee is a good friend and I trust her. She just wants to ask you a few questions.”
“Famous last words,” she mumbled, but sucked in a breath and straightened her shoulders. “Here goes nothing.”
* * *
• • •
Heather survived Inspector Lee’s interrogation. I sent the two of them off to talk in my workshop studio while Derek and I hung out in the kitchen. Forty minutes later, Janice was ready to leave—I still had a hard time calling her anything but Inspector Lee—and I walked her to the door, but stopped when I remembered something.
“Did you want to take a look at that book I was telling you about?”
“The Three Musketeers? Sure. I was going to give you a call tomorrow, but if you’re up for it now, let’s have a look.”
I led the way down the hall to the closet where I kept my book safe. The square cubicle had originally operated as a dumbwaiter back in the eighteen hundreds when this building was a corset factory. The dumbwaiter rope-and-pulley mechanism had long been removed and I had recently installed an old jewelry store safe in the space in order to upgrade the security level as well as my peace of mind. It was steel-lined and impenetrable—so far.
I picked up the book, unwrapped the cloth cover I had used to protect it, and handed it to her. “Here you go.”
“Whoa. I can see why someone might spend a lot of money on this one.” She turned it over and examined the workmanship. She ran her hand across the smooth leather cover and stared closely at the illustration. “It’s a beauty.”
“It is.” I felt a little burst of pride and happiness that Inspector Lee could recognize and appreciate the qualities of a rare book and hoped that it had something to do with her association with me. True, she was usually resistant to the idea that any book might be worth killing over, but this time I happened to agree with her. I couldn’t see how this particular book might have led to Sara’s death.
“Here,” she said, handing it back after a quick inspection of the inside cover and the title page. “I’d rather have you keep it in your safe than gamble on it surviving the police station.”
“Okay, thanks. It’ll be here if you need to see it again.” I wrapped the book up in the soft cloth and slipped it back into the safe, pitifully grateful that she hadn’t insisted on holding on to it for evidence.
I walked her out into the hall.
“So did Heather tell you where Rod was staying?” I asked as we strolled to the elevator.
“He’s been sharing a room with his wife in the conference hotel,” she said. “But Heather doesn’t think he was there much.”
“Interesting,” I said, frowning. “So he and Sara may not have been getting along. I wonder what Heather thought about that possibility.”
She scowled as the elevator door opened. “Clearly I’ve said too much. Good night, Brooklyn.”
“Good night, Inspector.” I wore a grin all the way back inside.
Once Janice was gone, I asked Heather to stay awhile longer. Derek poured three small glasses of wine and we spent another hour chatting. I was determined to keep it light, so I asked all about her job and her life back in Valley Heart, Wisconsin. She managed to relax and even admitted that the so-called grilling by Inspector Lee wasn’t all that bad.
Something hit me in mid-sentence. “Wow, I completely forgot that you fainted just a few hours ago. You recovered so quickly.” Too quickly? I wondered. “How are you feeling? Would you rather have a glass of water?”
“I’m fine,” Heather said, waving away my concern. “I forgot about it, too. I’ve never fainted before in my life.”
“I’m glad you’re okay.” But I wondered all over again if she had really fainted or if she had been faking it. Had my sad revelation about Sara’s death been that traumatic for her? Or was guilt the real reason she had reacted so oddly? I took a sip of wine, then ventured into new territory. “So how was it seeing Rod after all these years?”
She sighed. “You know, after all these years of tormenting myself over our breakup, I was expecting a major confrontation.”
“I’ve got to admit that I was, too.”
“But it was fine.” She stared at her wine as though she were replaying the scene in her head. “Don’t get me wrong, I gave him plenty of grief when we first saw each other. I had to say something, right? I mean, he broke my heart, the jerk.”
“I’m glad you said something.”
“But you know, once I called him on it and he admitted he was a major jackass, I was ready to let it go.” She swirled her wineglass. “After that, we laughed a lot. It was fun. We took a selfie.”
“Ooh, let me see.”
She pulled her phone out and showed me a photo of the two of them sitting at a bar, grinning into the camera. I examined their smiles and especially their eyes, looking for what, I didn’t know. It wasn’t like I’d be able to tell from a photograph whether one of them had just murdered Sara and then rushed to the bar in order to establish an alibi.
“You look really good,” I said. “Will you send this to me? I’d love to have something to remind me of you.”
“Sure.”
I handed the phone back to her and she pushed a few buttons. “You should have it now.”
“Thanks.” I gazed at her for a moment. “Okay, I’ve got to ask. Are you going to see him again?”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Are you kidding? No way. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.”
I grinned, having recently expressed the same feeling about Rod. “I’m so happy to hear you say that.”
She sighed. “I’ll admit he’s still as cute as ever.”
“Yeah, that was always a problem.”
“Oh, I would call that a major problem.” She gave a firm nod of her head. “But I’m happy to say without a doubt that I am completely over him. Finally.” She finished the last sip of wine and then set down her glass.
“I’m proud of you.” I just hope you didn’t kill his wife, I couldn’t help adding.
She smiled. “Yeah, I’m proud of me, too.” She stood and reached for her purse. “I should get back to the hotel. I have a seminar in the morning.”
Derek stood. “We’ll walk you back.”
“You don’t have to,” she protested. “I can call a cab.”
“It’s barely four blocks,” I said. “We can use the air.”
As we walked, we chatted about the conference and the seminar Heather was attending the next day. We walked with her all the way to the door of her room, then said good night.
Derek and I strolled home holding hands. Despite all the turmoil and tragedy swirling around us, I experienced a few moments of peace.
“This time next week we’ll be in Paris,” I said, and made a mental note to check the weather report for Paris tomorrow. Not that I needed the reminder. I’d been checking every day for the past month.
Derek smiled. “Just to warn you, I plan to spend the first few days sitting on a park bench with a book, a fresh baguette, and a hunk of cheese.”
I squeezed his hand. “
If there’s wine in that scenario, I’m so there.”
He chuckled. “Definitely wine.”
“I’ll be there even without the wine,” I amended.
He smiled and we walked in silence for half a block, enjoying the clear dark sky and chilly air.
When we reached the stoplight at Brannan, I said, “I’d like to track down Rod Martin tomorrow. I want to see how he’s doing.”
“Because you care?” Derek asked. “Or because you suspect him of murder?”
“Part of me would love to see him carted off to jail, but I’m afraid he’s got an airtight alibi, thanks to Heather meeting him for a drink last night.”
“Yes.” He frowned. “Convenient, isn’t it?”
“I know she was happy tonight, but it still seems odd that she would’ve agreed to spend time with him.”
“Definitely odd. I’d be interested to hear how they got together.”
I wished I’d brought that up with Heather earlier. All she had said was that they ran into each other, but I wanted more details. “I’ll text her tomorrow and see if she’ll meet me for coffee.”
“Excellent.”
His face was partially illuminated by the streetlamp and I recognized that look. “You’re thinking Rod set her up.”
“What do you think?”
“It’s possible. The timing is just a little too perfect, isn’t it? They were drinking together in a bar the same night and at almost the exact same moment that Sara was dying under a huge pile of books.”
Derek frowned thoughtfully. “Are we certain they met for a drink? Or could that be the story they conjured up for the police?”
“I saw the picture of the two of them together.”
“The police can check her phone for the time and date the photo was taken.”
“Oh, good idea.” I thought about it for a moment. “Isn’t it also possible that Heather was setting up Rod? Maybe Heather was the one who arranged for them to have drinks so that she would have an alibi.”
Buried in Books Page 12
