Part 24 (1/2)
”I know. I think I just threw up in my mouth.”
Mills wrinkled his nose. ”All right, we'll add Reid back to the list of suspects.”
”Good call, 'cause I think he's guilty. Guess what, honey, I'm riding the Cheney Train again!”
”The what?”
”Don't mind my husband. His good night's sleep has rendered him completely annoying. Anyway, now that we're all on the same page regarding suspects, there's just one nagging question left, and I'm afraid I might be the only one who can answer it-well, me and Perkins, that is.”
”What question is that?”
”Nick, you remember how Bunny rushed out of the store that night?”
”Of course I do. I just about wiped out a shelf of Spam and corned beef hash trying to avoid her cras.h.i.+ng into me.”
”She was talking about something just before she ran off ... it was you, Sheriff.”
”Come on, now,” Mills said sharply. ”Haven't we already been through this?'
Stella waved a dismissive hand. ”No, no, I don't mean it that way. She was talking about you but looking at something behind me. Something she saw or something she was talking about-or a combination of the two-struck a chord somehow. That's when she stopped what she was doing and hurried from the store. I'd like to try and re-create that scene if I could, so I can see exactly what she saw at the time.”
”'Fraid you'll have to wait 'til tomorrah. Perkins is closed on Sundays.”
”To most of us, perhaps. But I'm sure the Windsor County Sheriff might be able to finagle a special opening.”
”Maybe.” Mills downed the remainder of his cup and looked at Nick. ”Is she always like this?”
Nick looked at the sheriff and replied tiredly, ”You have no idea.”
CHAPTER.
17.
WEDGED INTO THE cab of Sheriff Mills's pickup, the Buckleys and Mills made a brief stop at the Windsor County Sheriff's Department before making the drive uphill to Weston's house.
Upon reaching the gravel-lined driveway, the trio exited the vehicle and wended their way through the yellow tape to the front door. As he had done the day before, Nick pressed the thumbpiece of the bra.s.s front door handle. This time, however, the door would not budge. ”It's locked!”
” 'Course it's locked,” Mills affirmed. ”Don't want the whole town tramping through here.”
”Yeah, but yesterday it was unlocked.”
”You sure?”
”Positive.”
”I don't see how that could be. I know I locked this place up Friday night.”
”And I know I left it unlocked yesterday.”
”It was unlocked, Sheriff. I even double-checked it,” Stella joined in. ”We wanted to make sure we left everything the way we found it.”
”Then that would mean that someone either broke in ...”
”Or they had a key.” Stella made no mention that only two of their suspects could have had such an object.
”Looks like we'd better go over this place with a fine-tooth comb. You see anything out of place, you tell me,” the sheriff instructed as he took the house key from his pocket and opened the front door.
Stella and Nick stepped into the cool whiteness of the main foyer and made their way upstairs. Everything, from Weston's impressive collection of audio and visual equipment to his medicine cabinet full of restoratives, curatives, and elixirs, appeared to be intact and untouched. After a thorough exploration of the upstairs guest bedrooms produced the same result, Nick and Stella headed back downstairs to report to Mills.
On the way down, Stella whispered to Nick, ”There are only three people who might have a key for this place. Weston's housekeeper, but no one's even mentioned her as a suspect, or if she even had one. Mills is the second, most likely Weston's copy.”
”And Weston's girlfriend, i.e., Alma, would have had another. Maybe we should have kept an eye on Mills instead of letting him search alone?”
”It doesn't matter now. The killer was already here-whatever he or she was looking for is probably gone.”
”But we haven't noticed anything missing.”
”We'll check downstairs.”
They walked into the kitchen, where they found Sheriff Mills rummaging through an island of cherry cupboards topped by a slab of dark gray granite. He stood up as they entered the room. ”Find anything?”
”No,” Nick replied. ”Everything seems to be the same as we left it.”
”Nothing moved, taken away, or added,” Stella clarified. ”At least, not that I noticed.”
”Didn't see anything down here either. Guess we were wrong about someone having been back here.”
”Someone was here, Mills,” Nick rationalized. ”And they came here for a reason. We might not be able to see what that reason is, but there has to be one.”
Her suspicion of Mills renewed, Stella tried to throw him off course. ”Probably just Crazy Maggie searching for her treasure.”
Mills raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips together to imply that the Maggie scenario was a distinct possibility. ”I'll go check the cellar, though, just in case.”
As Mills disappeared through an interior door, Stella walked toward the front of the house.
Nick ran after her. ”Where are you going? Shouldn't one of us go down there with him?”
”You go; I'll be right back. The ladies' room beckons.”
As Nick returned to the kitchen, Stella retraced her steps into the foyer, pausing only to turn into the gray and stainless-steel powder room she had broken into less than twenty-four hours earlier. Closing the door behind her, she flipped on the light switch.
The sight revealed by the soft white glow of the vanity bulbs made Stella freeze in her tracks. ”Nick! Sheriff Mills!”
She heard the sound of running footsteps as the two men scrambled out of the kitchen and through the foyer.
The door flew open.