Chase had stood in her way. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“What do you mean?” Vi drew herself up to her full height, which was more than Chase’s. She raised her perfect eyebrows just two hairs.
“Shaun can’t be trusted.”
“What do you mean? I’m not trusting him with anything. Torvald did and look where that got him.”
“You think Shaun killed Torvald?”
Vi frowned. “I never thought of that. Torvald was mean enough to kill someone, but I don’t think Shaun is. They just wanted your place.”
“Shaun wanted it?”
“I think so.”
“He turned on me and he can turn on you.”
“He turned on you? That’s not the way I heard it.”
“Vi, I need to sit down with you and tell you the whole story.”
“Yes, I’d like to hear your side. But right now I have to leave.”
She had hurried out, jumped into Shaun’s Porsche, and they had roared away.
“How lucky Dr. Ramos showed up to take Quincy,” said Anna, now in the kitchen, cleaning up from the day’s baking.
“I know. But he’d just told me, before Quincy got out and I went after him, that his next appointment was there, at his office. Then, a few minutes later, he was coming home for lunch and saw the cars at Hilda’s house.” Chase sprayed down the countertops with disinfectant and wiped them.
“Maybe it wasn’t his appointment.” Anna finished wiping the baking sheets dry and tucked them into the cabinet. “Maybe it was . . . I don’t know, the mailman? And his appointment was a no-show.”
“I suppose.” Or maybe it was the redhead, who seemed to be everywhere lately. “I hope Hilda Bjorn will recover,” Chase went on. “If she got hit in the head, I hope she’s not brain damaged.” She moved to the sink and started giving it the nightly scour.
“Are you going to visit her in the hospital?”
“I don’t think I can do that. Detective Olson didn’t seem to think I should have been in her house at all. He actually thought I was there to try to change her eyewitness account.”
“Weren’t you?”
“I was there to get Quincy!” She straightened, her scrubbing cloth dripping onto the floor.
“Don’t get huffy, Charity. I can imagine you would have tried to talk to her about what she saw, once you were inside.” Anna took the cloth from Chase, then swiped the floor with a paper towel.
Chase pulled out a stool. “Yes. You’re right. I did think it would be a chance to ask her exactly what she saw. She can’t have seen me, but she must have seen someone.”
“And that someone is the killer?”
“I’m not sure. But there’s a discrepancy between what I’m saying and what she’s saying, so that throws suspicion on me. If our stories matched, it would be much better.”
“I thought eyewitness accounts have been shown to be unreliable.”
“Tell that to Detective Olson.”
“Meanwhile, you would do well, Charity, to stay away from Hilda Bjorn, I agree.” Anna gave a last wipe of the stovetop. “So I suppose I should visit her.”
“And get her to change her story?” Chase felt a slow smile starting.
“I didn’t say that.” But Anna was smiling, too.
THIRTY
Chase stopped her bicycle in the middle of the bridge, her favorite part of the early morning ride she had been doing all too seldom lately.
“Looks like it’ll be warm again today,” said Julie, stopping beside her.
“I’m so glad you could make it this morning. We haven’t done this in ages.”
“Too long,” agreed Julie. “What with my trial and your troubles . . . Trial and troubles, sounds like a blues song, doesn’t it?”
“What do you think of your chances right now?” The testimony for Julie’s big trial was in its fifth day, having started last Friday.
“It’s hard to tell. This jury is very good at keeping a straight face and not letting on what they’re thinking. Better even than most of them are, I think.”
“Have you been able to find out anything else about that restraining order Iversen took out?”
“I haven’t had a chance to try, but I may be able to sneak a peek later this week. I did get a look at Hilda Bjorn’s file. They’ve opened a new case on her attack, of course.”
“Is my name the only one down for a suspect?”
“Well, so far, yes. But it’s very early days for that. What I want to tell you is that she’s doing well and they expect a full recovery. Did you know that she’s eighty-seven years old?”
“I’m glad she’ll be all right. But I wish she’d realize she’s wrong about seeing me right at the time when the murder was committed. Someone needs to recover her memory.”
“Grandma said she’s going to see Hilda in the hospital tonight.”
“Yes. I hope Anna can jog her recall. This will get Anna’s mind off the trial, too.”
“I think it would be better if something could get Bill Shandy’s mind off it. He’s so concerned for his rotten stepson.”
“What’s going on with his own son?”
“Rick? He’s almost worse than Marvin!” Julie picked up a stone from the bridge and heaved it over the railing. They both watched it plummet and sink into the depths of the Mississippi. “The guy has just lost another job. He only keeps them a few months, according to Grandma. He’s hitting his father up for money again. She says Bill feels so guilty because he has the money, but doesn’t think he should keep handing it out to him. He knows he should make his son grow up and take responsibility.”
“I agree. I might put it differently, though. He should let him grow up. Maybe the problem with all three of his kids is that he’s given them too much.”
“You could be right. Rick is the youngest and he’s forty-two.”
“And still asking his father for money?”
Julie nodded, staring at the swirling Mississippi below them. “At least every month.”
A pair of mallards floated by. They didn’t seem to have a care in the world.
“Still, a guy can’t be responsible for what his grown children do,” Chase said. “Poor Bill.”
“Marvin’s mother might be more to blame than Bill. Grandma says she was always urging Bill to never let her children be poor. Now that she’s dead, he feels he should honor her wishes.”
“But he can’t stand behind a son, or a stepson, who’s doing illegal things! Stealing from a charity organization that was formed to help children—that’s pretty low.”
“You don’t have to tell me. I’m on the prosecution’s side.”
“Do you have the proof to convict him?”
“Oh yes. But don’t tell Grandma. I’m trying to keep as much of this from her as I can.”
“It’s a deal,” Chase said.
“And I’m still nervous about getting you that info after your questioning. You haven’t mentioned that to anyone, have you?”
“Of course not! I’ll never do that.”
“I know. It just gives me the willies. I hope you’re completely out of this mess soon.”
“You and me both.”
When Chase returned to her apartment to change clothes for work, Quincy was acting strange. He didn’t rise from his bed to greet her, but sat licking one of his forepaws. She went to the bedroom to change, but he didn’t follow her like he usually did.
“Hey, big guy,” she said, coming into the kitchen, her shorts changed for slacks, but still wearing her T-shirt. “How about your morning din din?” She scooped out the dry diet food and topped it with her concoction. When she set it on the floor, Quincy stared for a minute, then got up and limped across the floor to his dish much more slowly than usual. Chase wondered if she should worry. When he finally got there, Chase saw that he had left tracks on the gray tile kitchen floor. Wondering what on earth he’d stepped in, she grabbed a paper towel to wipe the floor. The towel, however, showed bright red. She almost dropped it. Yes, she should worry! Quincy was bleeding!