Part 19 (1/2)
He laughed at that comment. ”Welcome to my world. Do you have any more ideas that I don't know about?”
”More than I can list,” I said. ”Right now, I think just about everyone in town had a reason to want Joanne dead. It's a pretty sad testament to her life that it ended like that, isn't it?”
”She chose to be the way she was,” Zach said. ”n.o.body made her into the person she'd become.” There it was: that hard edge that my husband hid so well most of the time. His world was nearly devoid of gray, seeing mostly in black and white. That stance had eased somewhat since he'd retired, but it was still there, and we both knew it.
”We don't really know that, do we?” I asked.
”I suppose not,” Zach replied, ”but I'm not going to waste any time worrying about it. It's getting close to lunch,” he said as he looked at his watch. ”Do you have any plans?”
”Actually, I'm as free as a bird,” I said. ”Where would you like to go?”
”Someplace that has pie,” Zach answered. ”For some reason, I'm in the mood for pie.”
”Is that going to be the main course, or do you have the self-control to wait until dessert?”
Zach was about to answer when his cell phone rang. After a few brief comments, he said, ”I'll be right there.” After he hung up, he said, ”Sorry, North needs me.”
”Is there a break in the case?” I asked, hoping beyond any reason that this ordeal was about to be over.
”No, she has another lead she wants to follow up on, and she thinks I might be able to help her.”
”What is it?”
”I couldn't say,” Zach answered.
”You aren't allowed to, or you don't know?”
He grinned at me. ”A little of both, I guess. See you later.”
And then he was gone before I could get anything else out of him.
It appeared that I was destined to have lunch by myself.
AT THE MOMENT, I JUST DIDN'T FEEL LIKE BEING AROUND people. I made myself a sandwich back at the cottage and started thinking about Rob, and all of the other folks from Parson's Valley that I'd interrogated about Joanne's murder recently. It was a good thing that I had no ambition to run for mayor, because I doubted I could get more than two votes at the moment. I hadn't made anyone happy with my investigation, and someone had even gone so far as to threaten me. I decided it might be time to take another look at the note I'd gotten, so I reached up to the top of the bookshelf in our living room to take it down and read it again.
The only problem was that it was gone.
I GOT OUT A CHAIR AND CHECKED AGAIN, JUST TO BE SURE I hadn't shoved it back when I'd checked on it, but all I found when I looked was a disturbed layer of dust. Besides telling me that I had to be a little more thorough the next time I dusted, it also told me that at least it had been there at one point and that I hadn't imagined it. But where could it be now? Was there a possibility that Zach had moved it? I checked every tall spot in the house, dragging the chair around with me as I went, but I had no luck finding a trace of it.
Even though I knew Zach was working with Captain North, I took a chance on calling him in case he'd moved it.
The phone went straight to voice mail, which meant he'd turned his phone off. I left my question for him, hung up, and then resumed my search.
I had my head under our bed when my phone started quacking.
”Hey,” I said, a little out of breath from scrambling around for my phone.
”No reason to panic about the note,” he said. ”I've got it.”
”Why? Did you change your mind about showing it to Captain North after all?”
”I did,” he admitted. ”I would have told you about it, but she called before I had a chance.”
”It's not a problem. What did she say?”
”She thinks there's a chance it's legitimate, but mostly she's not reading a whole lot into it.”
I thought about the implications of that statement. ”That's not very rea.s.suring, is it?”
He paused, and then said, ”I took a shot. At least she knows now.”
”You're right, there's always that.”
My phone beeped, and I said, ”I've got another call. Can you hang on a second?”
”Sorry, I've got to go. Talk to you later.”
He hung up, and I hit the b.u.t.ton for call-waiting.
I wasn't sure who I expected to be calling me, but I was still surprised to hear my Uncle Barton's voice on the other end of the line.
”How nice to hear from you,” I said after he identified himself. ”I was just thinking about you the other day.”
”Good thoughts, I trust,” my uncle said.
”Always. How's business?”
”Busy, tedious, and at times consuming,” he answered. ”In other words, just about the same as always.”
”But still profitable, right?”
”Always.” He laughed as he said, ”Savannah, I miss being around you.”
”I know, sometimes Charlotte seems a world away. I don't even get to Hickory very often, and it's half the distance from us that you are.”
”No need to worry. Thomas is doing well,” Uncle Barton said.
”Have you spoken to him recently?”
”We talk every Thursday afternoon,” he said. ”I thought you were aware of that.”
”It's news to me. That trip to Alaska really brought you two closer, didn't it? I'd love to go someday myself.”
”What a brilliant idea. Why don't we go now?” he asked.
From anyone else, I would suspect they were teasing, but my Uncle Barton had the means to drop everything and fly across the country at a moment's notice.