Everyone sat, lost in her own thoughts for a few moments.
“I think I know a way,” Harriet finally said.
“Well, don’t just sit there,” Lauren said. “Enlighten us.”
“Carla, do you still have the extra baby monitor you had when Kissa was staying at Aiden’s?”
“Yes. In fact, I have another one Terry made that filters out background noise so I can hear Wendy more clearly.”
“Do any of them use batteries?”
“Sure, all of them can operate on battery power. I think it’s one of those safety things.”
“Perfect,” Harriet said. “Do you think you can conceal a unit in whatever room Aiden and Michelle spend most of their time in?”
“Totally,” Carla said, her expression brightening. “That will make it a little easier to go back there, too.”
“Do any of you ladies have the old-fashioned kind of phone?” Jorge asked as he carried Wendy back into the living room, a pink sippy cup clutched in her chubby fingers. “You know? The kind with just a cord that plugs into a wall jack, but no electric cord.”
“We do,” Harriet said, excitement in her voice as she realized what Jorge was saying.
“Why didn't we think of that?” Lauren said. “Old school phones often work even when the power is out because the electrical power for the phone lines is separate from the regular power system,” she explained to Mavis and Aunt Beth. “Of course, that's if the phone lines are intact.”
“That will only help us if the people we're calling have them, too,” Aunt Beth pointed out.
“I passed several phone company vans on my way here,” Carla said.
“We've got more than one old school phone,” Harriet said. “I replaced the ones upstairs with a cordless set when I moved in. The old Princess models are in a box in the TV room closet.”
Lauren left the room, returning a few minutes later with a phone in each hand.
“These babies are museum-quality,” she said and set the two units on the coffee table.
“Perfect,” Aunt Beth said. “We can send one with Carla and plug the other one in here. There should be a phone jack in the baseboard there under the window.” She pointed to a spot on the exterior wall.
“There's probably a phone jack in either your bedroom or your sitting room,” Mavis told Carla. “Plug this in as soon as you get home.”
“Don't put it out in the open,” Harriet warned. “Until we know what Michelle is up to, we don't want to put her on her guard. From what I've seen of her, though, she'll never suspect you could be watching her or gathering evidence of whatever she's doing.”
“Still,” Mavis said, “it pays to be cautious. And don't take any chances. She's a mean one. She used to pick on Aiden something awful when he was a little guy.”
“I’m just so happy to be here with you guys for a little while, I’ll do anything.” Carla sighed. “It’s been a really long couple of days.”
“Okay,” Harriet said and picked up the watch Jorge had laid on the table for communal use. “Let's wait until nine p.m. to make contact. They shouldn't be looking for you to any chores by then.”
Carla looked at her like she had to be kidding.
“You call me so we won't have to worry about the phone ringing on your end when someone else is around,” Harriet went on. “If you can't get through, try again before you go to sleep.”
“And, honey, if it gets to be too much for you over there, you just call and we’ll get you out of there,” Mavis said.
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine now,” Carla said, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “I just needed some sympathy.”
“I’m going to drive you home,” Jorge insisted. “I need to see how bad the river is. If it was at the bridge when Señor Tom brought our Harriet home, I’m sure its worse now, but I need to see it myself.”
“Thank you for that,” Aunt Beth said. “I don’t like the idea of Carla driving around alone in this weather.”
“I should go back before they notice I’m gone,” Carla said. “Michelle will start screaming for me as soon as she gets hungry.”
“How’s Jorge going to get back here?” Lauren asked.
“Are you afraid you’re going to go hungry?” Harriet asked with a grin.
“Aiden will loan me a car,” Jorge said. “Let me get my coat, and we’ll be on our way.”
“Call us as soon as you can safely do it,” Harriet said again.
“Hang in there,” Mavis added. “You did the right thing coming to us.”
Chapter 14
Jorge had not yet returned when the pink Princess phone in the living room started ringing. Lauren and Harriet were straining to read years’-old issues of a quilting magazine Lauren had discovered when she was upstairs getting the phones. The light from one oil lamp and the fireplace were barely adequate to look at the pictures. Reading the articles was out of the question.
“Are you going to answer that?” Lauren asked Harriet.
Harriet gave her an exasperated look as she got up and crossed to the table by the window. Rain was lashing the windowpanes again.
“What’s happened?” she asked when she picked up the phone. “It’s nowhere near nine o’clock.” Something had to be very wrong for Carla to be making contact so soon after she arrived home. “Oh, I’m sorry, Detective Morse, I was expecting a call from Carla…Well, I…not this soon, but later. So I was surprised…I’m sorry, I’m babbling. What can I do for you?” Lauren was gesturing frantically at her. “Excuse me a minute. This thing doesn’t have a speaker option. I’ll tell you what she says after,” she told Lauren, a note of annoyance creeping into her tone.
“Yes, I was at the homeless camp earlier,” she went on.
“Who was there?” Jane Morse asked.
“Joyce Elias, a woman they call Brandy, a stranded trucker couple, and Ronald Bachman said a couple came late and left early. He didn’t seem to know who they were. I guess that isn’t uncommon there.”
“I wish I could interview the truckers. If they could prove they were out of the area on a couple of critical dates, they could be eliminated as suspects.”
“Which dates?” Harriet asked.
“Why?” Morse shot back.
“Just curious,” Harriet said.
Morse recited the three dates.
“I’m sure they wouldn’t be suspects, but Marjory Swain’s family was roaming around town, too. They said they spent the night in their car, so they could have gone to the park to use the facilities at some point, too.”
“I doubt they’re serial killers, but everyone’s a suspect in Duane’s murder until we eliminate them. Why didn’t they go to the shelter at the church?”
“I asked, and they said something about needing privacy.”
“So, they’d rather be killed in a storm?”
“Hey, I’m just the reporter here,” Harriet said.
She heard Morse sigh.
“Some days I’m amazed the human race has survived all these years. Speaking of survival, are you ladies doing okay?”
“We’re fine. My aunt has been through a lot of storms, so we were prepared. And Jorge couldn’t get home, so he’s here cooking for us.”
“Oh, good. I just wish there were some way for me to get there. The Coast Guard said the water is still too rough for us to come by boat, so we’re stuck here going over and over the slim facts we have on the serial killer. At least I brought an appliqué project with me.”
“I’d be happy to talk to the folks at the camp for you,” Harriet offered, “if that would help.”
“Let’s leave the police work to the professionals. You just make sure your aunt and the rest of the Loose Threads are okay. I’ll try to check in with you all again if this continues. On this end, they’re saying it’s going to be days before they can clear the slide. The news said they’re looking for a break in the power transmission lines, but it’s somewhere in the forest and the going is slow.”