A Broth of Betrayal (10 page)

Nate was silent a moment, all too aware of what Lucky had gone through with her parents’
car crash. His voice was slightly warmer. “Okay. You’re right, that doesn’t sound
like Elizabeth. Tell you what, I’ll go over to her office and I’ll make inquiries
about her car. But I doubt there’s been an accident. If there had been, I would have
been contacted about any car registered in Snowflake. Do you know the year, make and
license plate?”

“Hang on. Her files are right here. I know it’s a dark blue Toyota sedan, probably
about six years old, I’m guessing.” Lucky pulled open the top drawer of the filing
cabinet and riffled through the folders. She wasn’t sure what Elizabeth’s filing system
was. “Don’t hang up, Nate. Just give me a minute.” She rested the phone on the desk
and opened the second drawer of the cabinet. She found what she was looking for. Balancing
the file on her lap, she opened it. Several papers slipped to the floor before she
could grab them. Her hands were shaking slightly as she tried to quell her growing
fear. “Here it is—her plate number is on her auto policy. It’s 501293. Nate, I am
really worried about her.”

“I know you are. But there
could
be a logical explanation. In the meantime, I’ll call over to the hospital in Lincoln
Falls and check out her car license with the police there. I can send Bradley out
to drive around and look for her car.”

“Is there anything else you can do?”

“Lucky . . . look . . . I’m not minimizing this, but I have a murder investigation
going on right now. If you’re right about Elizabeth, that something might have happened
to her, I’ll get the State Police on it. Just give me a couple of hours to try everything
else, okay? And try not to panic.”

“Okay. Thanks, Nate.” Lucky took a deep breath and replaced the receiver, not feeling
the least bit better. She picked up the papers that had fallen to the floor and returned
them to the folder, setting it neatly in the filing cabinet. She took a last look
around and trudged downstairs. She double-checked that the lamp in the front room
was still on its timer, as Elizabeth always left it.

Charlie was now purring and circling her legs. She picked him up and carried him back
to the kitchen. His bowl was empty. She dished out another smaller bowl of wet food
in case he grew hungry later. Charlie showed no interest in the additional food but
sat next to his dish and meowed. Lucky knew he expected a treat. Elizabeth always
gave him one after feeding him. She found the bag of treats in a kitchen drawer and
doled out two. Charlie snapped them up. She turned on the radio that sat on the kitchen
counter and found an easy listening station, setting the volume low. It might keep
Charlie company. She took a last look around the kitchen. A bowl and a cup, freshly
washed, sat in the dish strainer. If there was a clue here as to where Elizabeth had
gone, she hadn’t found it.

She leaned down to pat Charlie. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning to check on you.”

“
Elizabeth, where are you?
” she whispered softly to herself as she slipped out the door.

Chapter 17

“
I
S THERE ANYONE
she’s close to? A relative maybe we could call?” Sophie asked as she reached over
to pour another glass of wine. She was seated cross-legged on a large cushion on the
floor of Lucky’s living room.

“More?” she asked, holding the bottle over Lucky’s glass.

Lucky shook her head to indicate no. Sophie ignored her and poured another full glass.
“Drink up. There’s nothing else you can do right now. You need to relax.”

Sophie had knocked on the door of Lucky’s apartment unexpectedly a half hour before,
a bottle of wine in her hand. She had come, no doubt, because she knew Lucky was worried
sick about Elizabeth. She claimed that Sage was busy tonight and she had popped over
because she thought a girls’ night would be a great idea.

“Relax? How can I relax? It’s just too weird, Sophie. People don’t just vanish . . .
or do they?”

“You’ve done everything you can. You’ve notified Nate and now it’s in his hands. Look—tomorrow
I’ll go over to her house with you. We’ll search everywhere. I can knock on her neighbors’
doors and see if they’ve seen her or seen
anything
. We’ll stay in touch with Nate and find out what he’s doing about the situation.
Someone must know something. Someone must have seen something.”

“Talking to the neighbors is a good idea. Maybe they saw her leave the house. Maybe
they noticed if she was with someone. And to answer your earlier question, no. Her
family is gone. She has no brothers or sisters. No one. She was closest to my Mom
and Dad . . . and me and Jack. That’s why I’m sure something’s happened to her. She
would never have gone away without at the very least letting me or Jack know—not to
mention Jessie, her assistant.”

“How do you know she left in the morning? She could have gone out at night.”

“I don’t. I’m just guessing. There was a cup and a bowl in the strainer. Like she
might have had breakfast before heading to her office.”

“Hate to say this, but it doesn’t really prove anything, Lucky. She could just as
easily have had a cup of tea and a bowl of soup at night. She could have gone out
anytime. When was the last time you actually spoke to her?”

“The day of the demonstration. There was a lot of yelling and carrying on at the construction
site and then the bones were discovered. Elizabeth was trying to calm everyone down
but they were pressing in on her. They were shouting at her as if she were responsible
for how the town council voted.”

Lucky glanced around her small living room. Everything she had now she owed to Elizabeth—the
apartment she rented in the building that Elizabeth owned, the car Elizabeth had given
her. Even most of her furnishings had come from Elizabeth’s hand-me-downs.

“What happened then?”

“Edward Embry came over and Elizabeth introduced us. We chatted for a bit and then
she and I walked back to the Spoonful. Oh, and we ran into Cordelia Rank, who was
going on about the DAR and that’s it.”

“And you haven’t talked to her since?”

“No,” Lucky moaned. “Not once. The next day I was pretty busy. I didn’t expect to
see her. And then Jack discovered Harry in his shop and you know the rest. I thought
I’d talk to her after that, even the next day, but I didn’t hear from her. I called
a few times but just got her machine. I knew she’d be very upset about what happened
to Harry. I thought she’d certainly want to talk to Jack or me. It seems that’s all
anyone wants to talk about anyway . . .” Lucky trailed off. “Well, you know what I’m
saying.” Lucky took a sip of the unwanted wine. “Sophie, do you think her disappearance
could have something to do with Harry’s murder?”

“What makes you say that?” Sophie furrowed her brow.

“No reason. It’s just too coincidental for my taste. And speaking of Harry, I told
Nate about what happened at the church the morning we were there unloading drinks.”

“Refresh my memory. What happened at the church?” Sophie looked blank. “Oh, that’s
right. I remember now. You said you overheard Harry confessing something to Pastor
Wilson. You really think that might have had something to do with his murder?”

“It’s unusual. Harry never talked to anyone. We’ve all been sitting around trying
to figure out who knew Harry best, and even though everybody knew him, we really didn’t
know anything about his life. Who his friends were. Who he had a beer with. Nothing.
Probably Guy Bessette knew more about Harry than anyone and even he admits he didn’t
know him very well. He was here, in this town, his whole life, and it’s as if he was
invisible, living under the radar. He doesn’t seem to have had any deep connections
with anyone.”

“I know you told me what you heard at the church, but tell me again.”

“I’ve done my best to recall.” Lucky cast her mind back. “I was standing in the corridor
near the door to Pastor Wilson’s office. It sounded like someone was sobbing and then
I heard Harry say, ‘
I just had to tell someone.
’ Pastor Wilson said, ‘
You did the right thing.
We can talk again . . . whenever you’re ready
.’”

“Look, I’m not pooh-poohing your intuition. Couldn’t they have been talking about
anything? Maybe Harry was concerned about something to do with the demonstration.
Maybe you heard something that just sounded like crying.”

“I could be wrong, I admit. It’s hard to describe the feeling. It was something . . .
There was an emotional charge in the air. It was obvious the Pastor was trying to
soothe and encourage Harry to come back and talk again. Maybe he hadn’t made up his
mind. That’s what I felt. The Pastor said, ‘
Whenever you’re ready
’ as if Harry had to prepare to talk to the Pastor again. It felt like Harry had a
secret, something he wanted to get off his chest.”

Sophie leaned back against the arm of the chair, staring into her wineglass. “Too
bad he didn’t get it off his chest sooner. If you’re right, I’d be willing to bet
it’s what got him killed.”

Chapter 18

L
UCKY LOOKED UP
from the counter. Two tall figures were dark shadows against the sunlight. The Spoonful
was packed with morning customers and so noisy she hadn’t heard the bell over the
door jingle. Nate stood with another man in a State Police uniform. A frisson of fear
ran up her spine and her throat caught. Had they found Elizabeth? Were they here to
deliver bad news? Her hands started to shake. She placed the dishes she was holding
on the counter and watched as the men headed in Jack’s direction where he sat on his
stool behind the cash register. Lucky couldn’t hear what they were saying over the
din of the restaurant. It was obvious they wanted a quiet place to talk. She signaled
to Sage that she was heading for the office and called Meg over to take care of the
counter. Jack spoke to Nate and the other man and then pointed in her direction. She
stood at the doorway to the corridor, and when they reached her, she led them down
the hall to the office. She offered them seats on the other side of the desk. When
she closed the door behind her, the room was almost completely quiet.

“Lucky, this is Sergeant Woczinski of the State Police. He’s based in Bennington,
but he’s very familiar with this area and has had a lot of experience in missing person
cases.”

The man nodded without smiling. “Call me Steve.” He was in his midthirties with a
ruddy complexion and blond hair cropped so close to his skull, he appeared to be bald
at first glance.

Lucky shook the Sergeant’s hand and took a seat in the cracked leather chair, her
Dad’s chair, behind the desk. “No news?”

Nate shook his head. “That’s maybe a good thing, Lucky. I wanted the Sergeant to meet
you and Jack, and try to gather all the information he can. He’s already spoken to
Jessie at Elizabeth’s office. We’re heading back to her office again to try and locate
anyone else who’s around who might know something we don’t already know.”

“Sophie’s knocking on doors on Elizabeth’s street this morning. She promised to ask
all the neighbors if anyone had seen Elizabeth, or seen anything unusual.”

“Great. We’ll talk to her too. And question the neighbors ourselves. You never know
what information a few nosy neighbors can give you,” the Sergeant agreed. “So, let’s
start at the beginning. When was the last time you saw Elizabeth Dove?”

“The day of the demonstration. That was . . .” Lucky quickly checked the desk calendar.
“August tenth—we walked back to the Spoonful together. She had a quick lunch at the
counter and said she was heading back to her office.”

“Jessie’s confirmed that she returned and worked until five o’clock. Do you know if
she had any plans for that evening?” Nate asked.

“Not that she mentioned . . .”

The Sergeant interrupted. “When did you first become alarmed?”

“I was a little surprised I didn’t see her the next day. Pastor Wilson held a short
service at the construction site before they moved the skeleton.”

Sergeant Woczinski raised his eyebrows. Nate caught his look and rushed into the breach.
“Quite by accident. We discovered a very old skeleton. It was uncovered during construction
of the car wash over on Water Street.”

“Okay,” the Sergeant replied cautiously.

Lucky continued. “A few people stopped by to attend the Pastor’s ceremony. It wasn’t
so much that I expected her to be there, it’s just that it was the kind of thing she
would make a point of attending. At the time, I really didn’t think too much about
it. I just assumed she was busy and couldn’t make it.

“Then, all the other things happened. Jack discovered Harry Hodges dead at the Auto
Shop. I headed over there, as you know, Nate. And after that, well, I was just concerned
about my grandfather.”

“Why were you worried about your grandfather?” the Sergeant asked.

“He suffers a lot from a stress disorder from his war service. He has for most of
his life, and one of the things that really sets it off is seeing blood. Finding Harry
like that shook him up, as you can imagine. So, with all that, and the restaurant,
the day flew by. The next day I called Elizabeth a couple of times at home, and then
at her office. Jessie must have been at lunch because I wasn’t able to reach her.
Then later that same evening, I tried calling Elizabeth’s house again, and again there
was no answer. That’s when I started to worry.”

“Would she have let you know if she was going out of town for a few days?”

“I’m sure she would. We’re very close. Elizabeth was my parents’ closest friend, and
since they died, she’s been like a mother to me. I’m sure she would have let me know.”
Lucky felt tears springing to her eyes as she spoke. “I’m sorry.” She swiped her eyes.
“I don’t mean to get so upset, I’m just worried sick.”

“I understand. Normal reaction.”

“And even if by some strange reason she didn’t mention anything to me or to Jack,
she would never have left her assistant Jessie up in the air, trying to field calls.
That’s not Elizabeth. On top of that, she would never ever have left her cat unattended.
She dotes on Charlie.”

“Does she have any health problems that you know of—physical or mental?”

Lucky bristled. “Certainly not. She’s very healthy, she’s strong for a woman of her
age and she’s not gaga.”

“I’m sorry. We have to ask these questions.” Sergeant Woczinski tried to smooth her
ruffled feathers. “A lot of people do go missing because they’re not able to take
care of themselves, or suffer from mental or emotional problems. We usually find them
very quickly, but it’s always upsetting for the people close to them.”

“You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry.” Lucky sighed. “No, no heart disease, no diabetes,
no history of depression. Nothing.”

“Okay. That should do it. Do you mind if we speak to your grandfather while we’re
here? He might have some further information.”

“Not at all. I’ll cover the cash register and send him in.”

“I understand you’ve been to her house and taken care of her cat. Did you notice anything
out of place?”

“Not a hair. I did go through her desk calendar to see if she had an appointment to
meet anyone. I looked in her filing cabinet to find her car license for Nate. Oh,
and I listened to the messages on her answering machine. There was nothing unusual
at all. Nothing to point to anyone she might have been meeting or any place she might
have headed to.”

“We’ll check out her house this afternoon. You have a key?”

“No, but there’s one hidden in the gardening cabinet inside the garage. The garage
isn’t locked. It’s on a hook on the left inside the cabinet. Please be careful not
to let Charlie out. She doesn’t like him roaming around when she’s not there.”

“We’ll take good care of everything.”

“When I was there, it looked to me like she might have just had breakfast and gone
to work as usual. There were a bowl and a cup in the dish strainer.”

“And nothing looked out of place, or looked like there might have been a struggle?”

“Neat as a pin.”

Nate spoke up. “Do you have a photo of Elizabeth that we can use?”

“We found a good photo from the mayoral election at the
Gazette
. I asked Sophie to have some flyers prepared. She’s going over to Lincoln Falls this
afternoon to a print shop and we’ll have three thousand of those flyers by this evening.”

“Make sure she lists the State Police hotline, the station here and my cell phone.
Does she know about the websites for missing people?”

“Yes, she’s found several. She’s posting Elizabeth’s photo on those today.”

“I plan to make an official announcement tonight.” He turned to Sergeant Woczinski.
“There’s a town meeting tonight at the Congregational Church. The people from the
University want to update everyone about what they’ve found so far with the remains
we discovered. I plan to make an announcement about Elizabeth there. The more people
who are on the alert, the better.” He turned back to Lucky. “You’re sure the flyers
will be ready by tonight?”

“Yes. Sophie’s very efficient. I’m sure they will be. I’ll call her though to make
sure she has all those numbers and websites listed.”

“Well, that’s it then.” The Sergeant stood. “We’ll canvas Elizabeth’s neighborhood.
You never know what people might have seen. And we’ll examine her house and her office
and her phone records. If there are no leads there, we’ll be organizing ground searches
and calling in the FBI.”

Lucky gulped at the mention of the FBI. She was grateful Nate and the State Police
were taking this very seriously, but with every step taken, the possibility of Elizabeth
being dead or in real danger became more real. “Thanks. I’ll send Jack in next to
see you.” She rose from the chair and moved to the office door. She turned back to
the men. “I didn’t mean to get so upset. I just wish I could spend my whole day searching
for her.”

“Any help you’ll be able to give is greatly appreciated. Just so you know, Ms. Jamieson,
we do sometimes find the missing.”

Lucky couldn’t think of a response. She took a shaky breath and slipped through the
door.