Tazio ran back out, returning with the dog. Everyone fussed over him since he tried to protect his human. He loved it, of course.
Rick and Cooper arrived in a half hour's time. Tazio told them everything as she remembered it.
"Why'd you wait so long to call me!" Rick angrily said after hearing her report.
Taken aback, Tazio said, "I'm fine. It's not late."
"It may be too late for Anne."
He and Cooper flew out of the Mountain View Grille, jumped into the squad car, hit the siren and skidded out of there.
47
Although the distance from the restaurant to the Donaldson house was only eight miles, the slick roads demanded careful driving.
Twenty minutes later Rick and Cooper reached Anne's front door.
Relief flooded their features when Anne opened it.
"Are you alone?" Rick removed his hat.
"The baby-sitter's here. Come in, Sheriff. Come in, Deputy."
"Thank you." They both stepped into the front hall.
"Has anyone called on you this evening?"
Anne looked at Rick. "You mean at the door?"
"Yes."
"No. Margaret, the baby-sitter, well, her mother dropped her off. I had a few errands to run and didn't want to leave Cameron alone. This was also a way to ensure she gets her homework done. Sixth grade, and they pile the homework on these kids. Uh, won't you sit down? Come on into the living room."
They followed her in, sitting down in chairs facing the sofa where Anne took a seat.
"Mrs. Donaldson, has anyone phoned? E-mailed?"
"No. Since H.H.'s death the phone's been silent most of the time and my messages on the computer are either advertisements or from my sister." She smiled without happiness. "When people think you've murdered your husband you fall off the 'A list,' if you know what I mean."
"I can imagine," Cooper replied.
Rick shifted in his chair, leaning forward. "Mrs. Donaldson, I have reason to believe you were in Tazio Chappars's office tonight. Why?"
A long, long pause followed. "Are you charging me with, well, whatever one charges in those cases?"
"Not yet," Rick replied. "Were you in her office?"
"No." Anne folded her hands in her lap.
"Tazio has made a positive ID," he fibbed while Cooper took notes as unobtrusively as possible.
"Let her make it in court." Anne was quite calm.
"All right then. You weren't in Tazio's office tonight but if you were what would you look for?" He smiled.
"Nothing. Our relations have been cordial even when people hinted she and my husband were having an affair."
"Were they?"
"No. But any attractive single woman is suspect by those who feed off that kind of thing." A note of bitterness crept into her voice.
"H.H. worked with her on-" he turned to Cooper, "how many expensive homes?"
"Last one on Beaverdam Road, six hundred fifty thousand dollars. Delay in completion due to H.H.'s demise and weather. New move-in date, March first."
"Yes, the crews have resumed working." Anne brought her hand to her face, resting her chin for a moment on her thumb. "I'm running the business now."
"You worked with your husband prior to his death?"
"No. I know very little, but I do know the Lindsays need to get into their house. The crew keeps working, the foreman is good, and I'm studying as much as I can as fast as I can, but I expect like most else in this life you learn by doing it. I don't want to put all these men out of work. My husband built up a fine company. I've got to keep it going until I feel I can make better decisions. I don't trust myself right now."
"Do you think you can work with Tazio?"
"Of course. She's a gifted architect but now that she's gotten a taste for grand design I don't know if she'll piddle and paddle with residential design."
"Do you suspect her of wrongdoing?"
"No."
Rick leaned back in the chair, then leaned forward again. "You must suspect something."
"No."
"Did H.H. say anything to you before his death that made you question her? Or question the business?"
A very long pause followed this. "Once when I challenged him about the affair, not with Tazio, as I said, but his latest"-she shrugged-"the argument escalated, and at one point he said, 'You have no idea what goes on in my business. None. You just take the money I make and spend it. I'm under a lot of pressure. Competition, Anne. You know nothing of competition. So what if I indulge myself? Blow off steam. It's better than booze or drugs.' I thought it was another attempt at justification. Oh, the human mind is so subtle in the service of rationalization! But now, now that I've had time to think, I wonder. I'm still shell-shocked. I know that. I don't trust my emotions right now but I trust my mind. Sex, love, and lust are motives to kill. Well, I didn't kill him but there must be some women out there with those motives."
"We have questioned, uh, other women. They have alibis." Rick patted his breast pocket. The crinkle of the cellophane on his Camel pack offered some succor. He knew better than to ask Anne if he could light up.
"I see."
"Mrs. Donaldson, did he ever use the term 'double-dipping'?" Cooper finally spoke.
"No. Charging twice for the same service or materials?"
"Yes." Cooper nodded.
"No. I think H.H. was aware that some people did it. Not many. Most of the reputable firms in Charlottesville really are reputable. There's so much competition among construction firms, if someone was double-billing sooner or later the word would get out."
"But double-dipping, if one wanted to be crooked, would be a way to bypass Fred Forrest." Rick heard the baby-sitter come to the top of the stairs and then walk back down the upstairs hall.
Anne heard her, too. "Margaret, it's okay. Do you need anything?"
"Uh, Mrs. Donaldson, Mom expects me home."
"All right, dear. I'll run you home in about"-she looked at the law officers-"ten minutes."
"Thanks, Mrs. Donaldson."
"Actually, I'll take Margaret home." Rick spoke firmly. "You stay put and Deputy Cooper is staying with you."
Indignant, Anne sharply said, "Am I under house arrest?"
"Far from it. We happen to think you may be in danger and I don't want you left alone until we wrap this up."
"You're close? You're close to arresting H.H.'s killer?" Dread and excitement filled her voice.
"I think we are."
"Were you in Tazio's office to find a second set of books? Did you think she was in on it?" Rick stood up.
Anne stood up, too, and slapped her hips with her hands. "Well, if an architect were in on it, it would spread the risk, wouldn't it? It would be easier to jack up the costs, too, if, say, an architect and a construction firm were in collusion. That's not double-dipping. That's padding the bill. It could be quite elegantly done, you know." Anne betrayed a greater knowledge of the business than she had previously admitted to.
"Why Tazio?"
"Young, ambitious, very smart, rising in this world."
"Maybe you thought she was vulnerable because she's African-American. Less principled? More eager for money." Rick knew just when to slip the knife in.
"Actually, Sheriff, that thought never crossed my mind. Aren't we beyond those petty prejudices?"
"No," Rick simply said.
"Ah, well, I am." She paused. "Sheriff, I shall assume that you no longer believe I murdered my husband."
"Let's just say you're slipping down the list of suspects." He smiled.
"Then may I ask why I may be in danger?"
"Two reasons. The first is the killer's fear that-for whatever reason-you'll put two and two together. The second is that the story about being in Tazio's office will make the rounds. Why would you be there unless you were looking for something that had to do with business?"
"I never said I was there."
"You don't have to. Others will say it for you."
"One more question, Sheriff, before you leave me in the capable hands of Deputy Cooper. The toxicology report?"
Rick said, "The minute the substance is identified I'll call you. It can't be too much longer."