Letters in the Attic (12 page)

14

Annie was speechless for a moment and then managed an uncertain smile. “Hello, Mr. Maxwell. Excuse me, I didn’t see you there.”

He narrowed his dark eyes at her. “You don’t pay attention real good, do you?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I said, if you’d pay a little better attention, you’d save yourself a lot of trouble.”

She glanced around. There were a few people on the street, not close, but within shouting distance.

She swallowed hard. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I mean—” He glanced around, too, and then lowered his voice. “I mean that I would prefer that you leave my wife alone. She doesn’t like company, and she doesn’t want you coming around bothering her all the time. Is that clear enough, or do I need to write it all out for you?”

Feeling her heart pounding in her throat, Annie shook her head.

“I tried being polite before, Mrs. Dawson, but it didn’t seem to work. So now I’m telling you straight out. Stay away from my wife.”

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and stalked into the hardware store.

Annie stood frozen for a moment more; then she scrambled into her car and locked herself in. Her pulse was racing, but she didn’t want to sit around waiting for it to slow down and have him find her still there when he came out of the store.

She pulled out into the street, briefly considered stopping at Chief Edwards’ office or at least Ian’s, but decided to head straight home instead. By the time she pulled up in front of Grey Gables, her fear had galvanized into indignation, indignation that wasn’t smoothed over when she found Roy Hamilton on her front porch.

“Roy?”

He came up to her car and opened the door for her. “You’re home early.”

She pressed her lips together, praying for a quick infusion of patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Roy Hamilton was the last thing she needed on a day like this.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on your place. I thought maybe our guy might show up once you were gone, and I think he might have.”

“Might have?”

“I really didn’t see much. I’m pretty sure there was somebody on your porch just a minute ago. I drove around the block, trying to see if I could spot him, but he was gone.”

“Who was it?”

“I don’t know. He had on a dark jacket with the collar turned up and one of those stocking caps pulled down to his eyebrows. To be honest, I couldn’t swear it was a man, but I’m reasonably sure it was.”

“Was he tall or short?”

“I’d say average. About 5 feet 10.”

“Heavyset?”

“No. Medium build. I guess it could have been something harmless. Maybe the guy was chasing his dog or something.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “Maybe I’m too suspicious all the time.”

“I hate to think I have to worry about my neighbors in a place like Stony Point.” Annie sighed. “Maybe you’re right, and it was a false alarm. I do appreciate you watching out for me though.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

“Thanks. See you around.”

“It’s kinda cold out today, isn’t it?” He rubbed his hands together. “Guess I’ll head on home and make me some coffee.”

“That’s a good idea. I think I’ll do the same thing.”

She started to unlock the door and realized that he was still standing there. He looked a little forlorn, as if he wished his valor had earned him more than mere thanks. Again she smiled.

“Would you like to join me?”

He didn’t have to be asked twice.

“You make a good cup of coffee, Annie. Sometimes a guy gets tired of those freeze-dried instant crystals.”

She opened the door and stopped where she was. Someone had pushed another blank envelope through her mail slot.

“Don’t touch it,” he warned. He pulled his gloves out of his jacket pockets and put them on. Then he picked up the envelope. “Mind if I look inside?”

“Go ahead.”

He flipped open the unsealed flap and pulled out the paper.

LET THE DEAD REST IN PEACE

Annie exhaled, her breath coming out in unsteady little puffs. Roy glanced at her.

“I guess it’s referring to this Susan again. Is that the impression you get?”

“Yes. It’s a little, um, unsettling. I don’t know what to think.”

“There’s no real threat here,” he reminded her. “Just like the last one. At least nothing that could be considered more than friendly advice.”

“No. That’s just it. I don’t know whether to be scared or not. I guess I’d better talk to Chief Edwards about it.”

“I’ll let him know. In the meantime, I don’t want you to worry about it. I’ll check this for prints and see what else I can find out.” He leaned toward her. “And I’ll look after you.”

She smiled, genuinely grateful. After her little chat with Tom Maxwell, it would be nice to know someone was watching out for her.

“Thanks, Roy. It’s a little scary when you’re on your own.”

“You always have Boots, right?”

She managed a laugh. “She can be pretty tough when she needs to be, that’s for sure.”

Both of them studied the note again. The words were made up of letters cut from the newspaper. The paper they were pasted to was like any you’d find in almost every household in the country—plain white, no watermark. The envelope was equally nondescript, though this one was a safety envelope, like the second one she had received.

“Just like the ones you got before,” he said. “That’s the trouble with the cold weather.”

“The cold weather? What do you mean?”

He wiggled his fingers at her. “Almost everybody is wearing gloves, so nobody leaves fingerprints.”

She sighed. “Now what?”

“This isn’t much to go on. Has anybody been telling you not to snoop around?”

“My daughter tells me that all the time, but she’s in Texas right now, and I don’t think she has anything to hide regarding Susan’s death.”

He chuckled. “Anyone else?”

“No more than usual. And only friends I know too well to suspect.”

“Maybe they’re friends who think you need a friendly warning. It’s not all that threatening, you know.”

“I hope it’s not. It’s a little vague, like the other one.”

“You got a sandwich bag or something I can put this in?” He turned the note over and then back to the front. “A big one would be nice, so I don’t have to fold it up more than it was.”

She went into the kitchen and got him what he asked for, and he tucked the note inside.

“I’ll dust this one for prints, too, but I can guarantee you there won’t be any.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky with this one.”

“We’ll see. Anyway, if you think everything’s secure here, I’ll head on over to the office.”

“Thanks, Roy. Let me know what you find out.”

She went to the door, holding it for him, and he handed her his card.

“That’s got my home and cell numbers on it. I want you to know you can come to me if you need anything—anything at all. Or if you’re just afraid to be home alone or something. I don’t mind keeping an eye on you, if you’d like.”

“That’s sweet, Roy. It really is. But I’m all right. It’s nice to know you’re just down the street though.”

So much for deflecting rumors.

He grinned as always. “ ‘To protect and to serve,’ right?”

“Thanks.”

“Oh, and remember to not say anything about this to anybody. We always like to keep something back that nobody knows about so we can make sure we’ve got the right guy if we catch him.”

“All right. I won’t say anything.”

“Not even to Alice.”

“But, Alice—”

“No, not to anybody. I mean it. If it gets out, it might scare the guy off. Or worse, it might make him do something stupid. So far, this has been pretty mild stuff. No threats. Nothing specific. We don’t want to push him into something worse.”

Annie nodded. “I’ll keep it quiet. You just let Chief Edwards know about it.”

“I’ll take care of everything. Don’t worry.”

He went whistling out to his car, and soon she was alone in the house. More than ever, she wished Wayne were with her.

****

Let the dead rest in peace.

Why couldn’t she do just that? But it still didn’t make sense. Susan was gone. She had no family left except Sandy Maxwell, and nobody in town knew about that relationship. Was there something about the family that maybe Sandy didn’t want anyone to know?

That couldn’t be it. If Sandy hadn’t told her about it, Annie wouldn’t know there was a family connection in the first place. Besides, she wasn’t looking into their family history, just Susan’s death, and there was nothing to tie Sandy to that.

Annie rubbed her eyes. She needed to just drop the issue and get back to her regularly scheduled life. Susan was gone. It didn’t matter.

Let the dead rest in peace.

Maybe she wouldn’t drop the issue. Not quite yet anyway. There was still the anonymous prankster, or worse, to be found. Chief Edwards said he would be looking into the matter, but he hadn’t been too encouraging. Resources in a little place like Stony Point were probably stretched too thin already to make a minor nuisance a priority, and it was likely that Roy was spending way too much time on it as it was.

But obviously, someone did care about Annie’s investigation. She had to know why. If there was some indication that Susan’s death was more than just an accident, maybe it would give her a clue about who might want something like that kept secret.

Before she lost her nerve, she dug out Archer Prescott’s cell phone number and dialed it. It took him four rings to answer.

“Mr. Prescott? This is Annie Dawson.”

“Annie. How are you?”

“I’m fine. I’m sorry to bother you, but—”

“Now what did I tell you? I said you were welcome to call me anytime.”

“Well, yes, Mr. Prescott, but—”

“And I told you to call me Arch, right?”

“Yes.”

He was just being nice, she was sure, but he was obviously used to people obeying him most of the time.

“Now, Annie, what can I do for you? Have you found out anything new about Susan?”

“I hate to ask you this. I don’t want to open up old wounds more than I have already, but I was wondering if you had ever considered the possibility that Susan may have taken her own life.”

He was silent for a long moment.

“I remember the police asking me that at the time. I couldn’t imagine it. She never said anything about wishing herself dead. She didn’t leave any kind of note.”

“But she had just lost her aunt and then both of her parents. Wouldn’t that be a reason for her to be depressed?”

“No. Why should she be? Sad, certainly. That was to be expected, but clinically depressed? I don’t think so, but I’m not an expert.”

“I was talking to our Pastor Wallace about her the other day. Do you remember him? He remembers you.”

“Wallace, huh? I’m not sure. I know I talked to the pastor at the church in Stony Point about us getting married there. Could have been Wallace. Why? Does he have any reason to think Susan may have killed herself?”

“No. No, I don’t think so, but he told me he thought she was different those last few weeks before you and she were to have been married. He said you had arranged for him to do your wedding, and then Susan called him and canceled the whole thing. Why do you think she did that?”

Prescott exhaled heavily. “I told you that already. It’s no big mystery. She wanted a big wedding. That’s why we were sailing down to Florida.”

“The big wedding wasn’t your idea?”

“You know how it is with us guys. All that fluffy stuff is for the woman. They usually want to be queen for a day with all the trimmings. I didn’t much care either way, but I knew what it meant to Susan. After all she’d been through, I wanted to do something for her that would make her happy. I had thought getting married at her hometown church was what she wanted, so that’s what I fixed up for her. Then, when I realized she wanted something with all the bells and whistles, I fixed that up for her. Do you really think she could have drowned herself on purpose?”

“I don’t know. I was just wondering. She had no family left except a cousin she hardly knew.”

“Cousin?”

Annie bit her lip. “Um—”

“What’s this about a cousin? Susan didn’t have any cousins.”

“Well, actually, she did. I guess she never talked about this particular part of the family.”

Since it was too late to put the cat back into the bag, Annie went ahead and told him about Sandy and Susan’s grandfather and his two families.

“I had no idea. So what’s this cousin’s name?”

“Sandy. I don’t guess Susan ever mentioned her to you.”

“No. And you say she lives nearby now?”

“Out at Susan’s old house on Elm Street. Do you remember it?”

“Oh yes, I remember the house. I remember it very well. I just don’t remember any cousin Sandy.”

“She and her husband moved here almost ten years ago.”

“That’s kind of a coincidence, isn’t it?”

“Not really. Sandy tells me she wanted the house because of the family link. I guess with her connection to the Morrises being a little, um, unusual, family ties are important to her. And that unusualness was why I wasn’t supposed to say anything to anybody. I hope you won’t mention it to anyone.”

“Out here?” He chuckled. “People wouldn’t even blink at a family history like that, and I don’t know who I’d tell it to in the first place. But I give you my word, nobody will hear about it from me. So what’s this cousin like?”

“Pretty quiet. A real homebody, evidently. She works in her garden mostly. Her husband does handyman work in the area, and she keeps house. She didn’t have all that much to say.”

“Ah. A plump little housewife. That’s nice.”

“No, not plump. She’s tall and slim. Actually, she favors Susan a little bit, from what I remember anyway. There’s a definite family resemblance.”

“And what does she say about Susan? Does she think she committed suicide?”

“No. She didn’t know her very well. They only met a couple of times, but she says Susan was a Morris and would have figured out some way to deal with her problems rather than killing herself.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. Then Prescott chuckled once more. “That does sound like Susan, as a matter of fact.”