“Like what?”
“Like lacy tops and frilly skirts.”
“You’d rather see her dressed in somber prints and black orthopedic shoes?”
“She bought a silk slip!” Natasha’s nostrils flared.
I didn’t understand why a silk slip indicated a disconnect with reality. “What’s wrong with that? The expense?”
“It’s sexy!”
At the risk of further annoying Natasha, I couldn’t help laughing. Thanks to the colonel’s attention, June felt good about herself. Instead of thinking about holing up in a nursing facility, June had romance on the mind.
“What if she were your mother? Would you feel the same way then?” I regretted my words immediately. Natasha had always been sensitive about her mother. They couldn’t be more different.
“Why do I bother thinking you’re my friend? You’re impossible.” Natasha stomped to her car and drove away.
Guilt kicked in. We all nursed stress as a result of the murders and the investigation. At the moment, poor Natasha probably felt everything in her life had gone haywire and there wasn’t a thing she could control and put back on track. She needed help.
I strolled up the steps and into the foyer, where Wolf spoke with Andrew and Vicki. Mars would hate me, but Natasha’s life might be at stake. I would never forgive myself if she was killed and I hadn’t said anything. “Wolf, someone is stalking Natasha.”
Simultaneously, Vicki, Andrew, and Wolf said, “What?”
Mars probably hadn’t had a chance to tell Andrew and Vicki about the stalker. They, more than anyone else, deserved to know now that Natasha would be staying with them.
“Nina and I have seen him twice.”
“This is terrible!” Vicki’s hand flew over her mouth in terror.
Wolf squinted at me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Nina called you. She reported him to the police the first time and said she thought they blew her off. The second time I heard her leave you a message.”
I could tell Wolf was angry with himself. He’d probably been working long hours on the murders and hadn’t paid enough attention to his voice mail. His ears burned red and he strode away.
Andrew took a deep breath. “This changes everything.” He looked at Vicki. “Was the guest room ransacked, too? The burglar might have been looking for something in Natasha’s possession.” Without Wolf there to stop him, the self-appointed detective pounded up the stairs.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked Vicki.
“Just a little shaken. I’ll be fine. Thanks for coming over with Andrew. I’m worried about Natasha, though. A stalker! She never said a thing to me about it.”
“Now that she’s staying with you, maybe you can talk with her privately and find out what’s going on.”
Vicki promised to tell me if she gleaned anything from Natasha. When Wolf called Vicki from another room, I decided I was only in the way and said good-bye.
I walked the ten blocks home, glad for a few minutes alone. Porch lights flicked on as darkness settled over Old Town. Each block seemed worthy of a Christmas card picture as warm lights began to glow inside the ancient homes. As I ambled up my block, Mars arrived in Bernie’s rental. I waited for him to park and we walked to the house together.
“Did you know someone broke into Andrew’s house?”
Horror crossed Mars’s face. “Was anyone hurt?”
“I just came from there. Everyone’s fine.”
In spite of my assurances, he called Andrew on his cell phone. When he snapped it closed, he said, “What’s happening to us?”
Daisy and Mochie demanded our attention the moment we opened the kitchen door. Dressed for an evening at the theater, my parents and June waited for Hannah and Craig in the kitchen. Bernie leaned against the counter, a half-eaten sandwich in his hand.
“Hear you have an admirer.” Mars hugged his mother.
June’s cheeks flushed. “Maybe a little bit.”
“Is he going to the play with you tonight?” he asked.
“They’re sold out. We tried to get a last-minute ticket but couldn’t.” June turned to me. “Are you sure you don’t want to go, dear?”
“I can go anytime. I’d rather you had fun. What did the colonel say about Simon?”
“He never came right out and admitted he went to the hotel. However, he confirmed that the lovely young woman who lost her leg is his granddaughter. A terrible tragedy. She taught mountain climbing in the summer and skiing in the winter. Very athletic. It looked like she would win the contest on Simon’s show.”
Dad fidgeted in his chair. “They’d rigged some sort of contraption over a dramatic gully that the contestants had to cross. A rope snapped when she was on it; somehow her leg tangled in the rope and it cut off the blood supply. They couldn’t save it.”
“The colonel blames this on Simon?” asked Mars.
“He thinks the show was rigged,” said June. “The problem is that the rope disappeared so there’s no evidence. Simon claimed the remaining contestants burned the ropes in a cleansing ritual that night. The colonel has been doing research to try to prove that Simon’s crew staged his granddaughter’s accident.”
“That’s horrible.” I cringed at the thought. “She could have died. Losing her leg was bad enough.”
“Simon was always ruthless. He left chaos and death behind him everywhere. No honor or decency or regard for human life. Money drove everything he did.” Bernie couldn’t hide the bitterness in his voice.
I finally posed a question that had been nagging me. “Do you think he asked me out to irritate Mars?”
“Could be.” Mars laughed. “But I wouldn’t have killed him over you, honey.”
“So what happened with Natasha today?” I asked Mars.
“You won’t believe this. She went to a soup kitchen.”
“To contact someone.” I’d tried so hard to believe Natasha couldn’t have killed Simon. Had she hired someone to kill him? Had she hired Otis to find a paid assassin for her?
“It looked like they knew her. She put on an apron and dished out dinner. I don’t know what to make of it.”
“Maybe she spotted you and drove there on purpose to throw you off,” suggested Dad.
“Or maybe she works at the soup kitchen every week when she disappears. But why keep it a secret?” Mars gazed at us like we had answers.
“She’s looking for her father,” Mom said quietly. “You were so young, Sophie, I don’t think you understood the impact on Natasha. She was only seven when he left. Her mother couldn’t afford the mortgage on their pretty house over on Elm Street and she couldn’t sell it without his signature. The bank foreclosed and her mother filed for bankruptcy. I’m certain Natasha felt it was her fault he abandoned them; children so often do.”
“But that happened over thirty years ago,” I protested.
“Don’t you understand? His leaving was the driving force in her life. That’s why she strives, to this day, to be so perfect. It’s also the reason she always competed with you.”