*
True to his word, Jefferson Meeks waited in front of the Nethercutt mansion the next morning as Kate and Meg arrived a little before seven. He climbed out of his nondescript white van as Kate and Meg debarked from their blue one. Mrs. Baxter's place showed closed curtains and no lights, but Kate couldn't tell if the house was uninhabited or the woman chose to sleep late since she didn't have to report to a job. Regardless, she wanted to see inside the cottage again.
"I've worried about not first getting approval of your expenses," Kate said to Meeks.
"No problem." His voice sounded even gruffer in the early morning. "Spoke to Mr. Walker myself late yesterday evening. Told him your concerns and what surveillance I thought necessary. Like was said last night," he nodded toward Meg, "the man told me to just send a bill to his office."
"I have the key, but not the security code." Kate trailed the other two to the front door, everyone's arms laden with notebooks and cases holding the paraphernalia of their respective professions. "Did he happen to mention that as well?"
"Nope, but it doesn't matter," Meeks replied. "I got here about ten minutes ago and did a reconnaissance through the windows. The security system isn't activated."
Sure enough, when Kate opened the door the alarm remained silent, and everything appeared exactly as the previous afternoon.
"You think Walker's security team really came by?" Meg asked, waving a hand at the panel. "Or were his promises yesterday all talk?"
"Doesn't matter." Kate smiled at Meeks, "We came prepared."
He grinned. "I'll do some inside recon. See if anybody's been up to any foolishness in the nighttime hours." He pulled a clipboard and pen from his heavy briefcase before leaving it by the door. "A few diagrams will help the process, too. Gotta note where cameras can do the most good."
Meg removed her backpack and withdrew a thermos and cups. "Want coffee before you start?"
"Naw." He shook his head. "In surveillance you learn to begin the day with at least a pot, and my morning punched in a couple of hours ago."
"Remind me never to join his profession," Meg said to Kate, as she handed over a full cup.
"You and me, both." She led the way back into the parlor, and added, "Enter my web, the spider said."
"Huh?" Meg joined her on the settee, their knees inches from the carved rosewood coffee table.
Kate waved a hand. "I'm beginning to get superstitious about this room."
Meg was quiet for a moment and sipped her coffee. "The action does all seem to start whenever you're in here. From the tea with Amelia where you unwittingly became a suspect, to the heir gathering where we witnessed Thomas's and Danny's devastation over not getting the flowers, to yesterday and the ominous door slam and eventual death mask in the van."
Kate laughed shakily. "Glad to know I'm not the only one seeing patterns."
Leaning to pat her friend's knee, Meg reassured, "We're going to get to the bottom of this, Katie. Come on, let's think. I decided on a few things last night to ask Valerie, like exactly what she did do on the way to and from her bathroom trip yesterday."
"Yes, after finding the mask every action seems suspect, but there's no proof she did anything. Besides, why leave the mask where we could easily replace it right after discovery?"
"Beats me, but I'll certainly be tagging along anytime Miss V. takes a future potty break."
"I'm sure she'll have something to say about that."
Meg grinned. "Don'tcha just bet."
They heard Meeks make his way across the floor over their heads.
At least I hope it's him.
An irrational sensation struck Kate. "This is going to seem silly, but I feel like the parlor is laughing at me."
"At this point you're right to feel paranoid."
"Something else." Kate stood still, waiting for her jumbled thoughts to clarify, and an image of the cursed death mask hit in a strong and worrisome way. "What if the mask was left on the seat so we
would
immediately bring the thing back into the house?"
"What do you mean?"
Kate pulled white cotton gloves from her pocket. "We're using these while we work to keep from damaging anything we touch, but we took them off yesterday as we left."
"I don't follow."
"I wasn't wearing gloves to take the mask back inside." An icy chill slithered along her backbone. "The death mask and my fingerprints are hanging on the conservatory wall right now. At least I hope they are."
Without another word, the two jumped and raced to the rear of the house. At the entrance to the conservatory, the horror was apparent even before the women skidded to a stop. A large empty spot, highlighted by a silver hanging hook, revealed the worst.
"Gone!" Kate wailed. "You know what this means don't you?"
Meg nodded, "Someone wanted one of us to touch the mask."
"No. The blasted thing was left in my seat. He or she wanted my prints on the mask, and I delivered everything exactly as ordered. How could I be such an idiot?"
"You're no idiot, Katie, just conscientious." Meg wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"We were caught up in the moment and wanted to quickly minimize the damage."
"And made everything worse." A lump grew in Kate's throat.
"Made what worse?" Meeks's rumble startled them from behind.
Kate blinked back angry tears and filled him in on the latest situation. His expression hardened. "You need to call the police, little lady." He offered a clean handkerchief to Kate. "You're right to worry about what folks will think, but this isn't anything to mess around with here. Someone's setting you up for some serious shit."
"What could be more serious than murder? They've already set me up for that."
"Uh-huh, but getting tagged again is going to make the suspicions much harder to get away from," Meeks replied.
Kate glared at the empty spot on the wall.
I've had just about enough. It's time to kick butt and take names.
"What do you suggest for a next step? Other than me wearing gloves all the time?"
Meeks crossed his arms and looked like a huge god of thunder. "Soon as I get through today, think I'll mosey back over to your house and set up some more cameras."
Ever pragmatic, Kate asked, "How much will they cost?"
He shook his head. "Pay me whenever you can. This isn't any time to be quibbling about what you can afford to have installed. The way I see it, you can't afford not to have as many eyes as possible watching your back. Be they human or electronic."
*
Before the police arrived, Meeks and the women went over exactly how much of the tale needed retelling.
"Say you recognized the mask was gone because you had to straighten it yesterday," Meeks told Kate. "They'll assume then it was crooked on the wall, and you won't need to go into any more detail."
"That really is the truth," Meg assured Kate. "It was hanging a little off-center yesterday before you straightened it."
"Yeah, but only after I'd re-hung the cursed thing."
Meeks frowned. "Exactly what the police do not need to hear. You were in the house. You were commissioned to do a job. You touched things. Nothing more; nothing less. That way if a crime is committed later and something else you've touched is found on the scene, there's a logical explanation for your fingerprints. Are we clear?"
"Absolutely," Meg said.
Kate nodded.
"Okay, fine." He pulled out his cell phone. "I'll call this in." He frowned. "One last thing, Kate. Don't look so damned guilty."
This time Lieutenant Johnson used the spotless kitchen for an interrogation room. Upon arrival, he separated the three of them, leaving Kate's interview for last. As she finished, Johnson tapped the notebook page with his pen and nodded. "Your statement matches the others, Mrs. McKenzie. We'll call the insurance company about a photograph, and, if none is available, use the description you've provided to check local pawnshops, antique vendors, and all the online auctions."
"The mask wasn't the first thing stolen." Kate crossed her fingers under the table as she held back the items currently in hers and Meg's possession. "Amelia's stepdaughter—"
"Yes, yes." He sighed. "I've spoken at great length to various members of the deceased's family about missing items. Everyone seems ready to offer a favorite suspect to blame for the disappearances."
"Well, seeing as you already know—"
"Thanks for mentioning it." Johnson's response came as automatic, and his attention returned to the notepad.
She rose from her chair. "If that's all—"
"One more question, Mrs. McKenzie." Johnson leveled his gaze her way. "Do you have any idea why someone wanted to steal that particular mask?"
Kate remembered Meeks's earlier warning
"don't look so damned guilty."
She stood straighter and forced her breathing to remain steady and calm. "No, sir, not a clue."
The kitchen door flew open. Valerie, angry and loud, cried, "I'm the last to find out something was stolen, huh? Goes to prove your compulsory search yesterday was less than worthless."
The expression that flashed across Johnson's face seemed both sly and interested. "I'm Lieutenant Johnson of the Vermont State Police. And you are?"
"Valerie James." Glowering, she shook his hand.
"Please tell me everything that happened yesterday, Ms. James."
Valerie's ire immediately changed to a smile.
Turning to Kate, he added. "Thank you, Mrs. McKenzie. That's all for now."
What kind of fresh hell will she get me into? Damn!
At least Valerie had taken off in the Miata yesterday before they'd found the mask in the van. Lost in thought, Kate didn't realize she'd stopped right outside the kitchen, obviously within eavesdropping distance, until Johnson walked over and swung the door closed. Heat rose to her face as the officer in the front foyer stared at her. Another uniform stood guard at the top of the stairs. She was almost to the parlor when Johnson delivered his final shot, opening the door to call, "One last thing, Mrs. McKenzie."
Kate turned.
"Don't even think about leaving town."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
How Busy People Save Time
(Cover during presentation at Book Nook)
1
) Budget time just like money
:
a) Buy monthly items (diapers, pet food, razor blades, etc.) through Amazon subscription for automatic ship and money savings.
b) Sign up to have payroll checks directly deposited.
c) Use automatic and online bill paying options.
d) Don't wait in line; buy stamps from USPS web site or many grocery stores.
2)
Plan menus
:
a) A month of planned menus allows more efficient shopping and storing.
b) Sign-up for online coupon sites, and check saving strategy sites like www.couponmom.com.
c) Buy on-sale items ahead, but don't overbuy for items you won't soon need.
d) Post preprinted grocery list on refrigerator, checking items as you run out.
3)
Other monthly shopping
:
a) Buy supplies and staples for your home on a monthly basis—weekly sale ads can save money, but also entice more shopping and spending.
b) Plan wardrobe needs and homework project supplies ahead, then make a big trip to shop early in the month to avoid costly and time consuming Eleventh Hour maniac runs.
c) Use online shopping, especially when shipping is free—but don't let S&H charges discourage purchases, as they eliminate travel costs and parking problems.
d) Send gifts and flowers over the Internet.
e) Look to future needs—buy a bit ahead each month; save time and money.
f) Organize the year's receipts together, by store, in one big envelope or file, and have no difficulty finding one if a purchase must be returned.
4)
Regular administration tasks
:
a) Keep a bill-paying station stocked with checkbook, envelopes, pens, and stamps.
b) Use preprinted return address labels or purchase a customized self-inking stamp.
c) Set up regular timeframes to pay bills and mark each on a master calendar—if all are due at the same time, call and get due dates modified to accommodate your payday budget.
*
Impossible as it seemed, the morning's events had a high probability toward getting even worse. Beyond their contract to babysit and bluff Sophia's stooge, with Johnson interviewing Valerie there was no telling how she might turn the tables to incriminate Kate and Meg—inadvertently or otherwise. Even the strongest reason for taking the job, to return incriminating items, backfired spectacularly, possibly disastrously, with the vanished mask carrying her fingerprints.
Worst of all, the crew's inventorying duties hadn't moved to the second floor, so she hadn't yet been able to unobtrusively return the ebony box and ivory fan to their rightful spots. Nothing offered a good reason for Kate to slip up there when Valerie and Meeks were around. She had gotten the items into the house, however, and hidden them under the dusty potted fern in the parlor, rearranging the frolicking gnomes for added camouflage. But until the pilfered items regained their true places upstairs they pointed a guilty finger her way. The surveillance cameras added another layer of concern, despite their obvious good.
What really irritated her was the missed opportunity to return the purloined items with the death mask the previous afternoon, after Valerie left and before the video monitors moved in.
Should have
. But twenty-twenty hindsight was useless in the face of the resulting panic to get the mask back into place on the wall. The ebony box and ivory-silk fan had flittered out of Kate's mind as quickly as New Years' diet resolutions.