The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder (36 page)

The police were gone, although yellow police tape still fluttered in the wintry wind. The brush along the side of the river was seriously flattened out where Serena’s vehicle entered the water. Even if we hadn’t seen the distinctive clump of broken branches on the WINY broadcast, we would have known that this was the spot. She must have been struck, and spun partway around before she headed straight into the water at high speed.

Jack and I stood there on the frigid snow-covered roadside, stamping our feet. The Hudson is deep and dangerous at this point. Puffs of our frozen breath decorated the air in front of us. I said, “How long do you think it took for her to land in the water?”

“Seconds. Not enough time to get out if she was buckled in, but an eternity once she realized what was going to happen to her.”

I shivered and not just because of the Siberian landscape that had taken over poor old Woodbridge.

Jack said, “I guess I do feel sorry for her. That was an awful way to die. I think it would take minutes under water. It would seem like forever.”

“What about Mona’s theory that she’s not dead?”

Jack shook his adorably spiky head. Sometimes it’s hard to believe he’s a philosopher of sorts. “There would have been footprints or marks from the impact of her body if she’d flung herself out and let the Hummer go in without her.”

I said, “If that happened right there in the middle of the road where the car headed straight into the water, any signs would have been quickly eliminated by cops and the elusive witnesses, even though there’s not much traffic around here. It’s so farfetched. How would she get away? It’s miles from anywhere. Can you imagine Serena Redding walking back to town? Oh wait, what if she had an accomplice?”

Jack thought for a second. “To do what exactly? Oh, you mean pick her up once she got out of the car, and then ram the car into the river and make it seem as if someone had killed her?”

“Exactly.”

“But what good will it do for her to appear to be dead?”

“Mona believes that it’s intended to target her. She’s convinced that Serena will reappear miraculously and then claim that Mona tried to kill her.”

“We both know that Mona’s behavior is bizarre.”

“No arguments on that, Jack. But didn’t you tell me to open my mind for the truth?”

“I did, but—”

“Then let’s not close our minds before it’s too late.”

“Fine. So to sum up what happened: Either Serena’s dead and her body has yet to surface, or she’s alive and hiding out for some purpose, which might be to incriminate Mona. Or she’s alive and hiding out because she’s afraid of whomever tried to kill her. Might be Mona; might be someone else.”

I exhaled. “Way too many choices. And we still don’t know whether Serena had changed her ways.”

Jack shivered in the wind. “That complicates it, but even so, I can’t think of any other alternatives. That’s a good thing, because it’s hard to know what to do with what we have.”

I gazed out over the cold and deadly river. Was Serena down there? I leaned into Jack as we turned and trudged back to the SUV. I was glad of his friendly arm around me. That felt good. But it didn’t change the fact that we were just good friends. Or that I would soon be moving.

“If Serena hadn’t changed her ways, and I don’t believe for one minute that she had, then considering that might help us figure out what is going on.”

“Accept it, Charlotte.”

“But how do we even know it was her driving? Maybe she wasn’t anywhere near that river. Maybe she had an accomplice. Maybe—”

“Let it go.”

Jack and I took some time to pick out a replacement cell phone for me after that. It had lots of nice features and a touch screen, plus I was able to keep my old number. It was an easy and pleasant task compared to everything we’d been grappling with that week. After that we headed for the Woodbridge Police Station and sat lurking in the Mini, waiting for Dean Oliver when he pulled into the police department parking lot to begin his shift. I used the time to enter all my contact numbers into the new phone. Jack spotted Dean arriving. “Here he is.”

I hopped out and scampered across the lot.

“So,” Dean said as I tapped on his window. “What is it now? I’m not supposed to talk to you. Remember?”

“This is something completely different. Just a quick word about Serena Redding. I was wondering if there’s any way she could be alive.”

“What?” That took him by surprise.

“Seriously. Do they have a body?”

He shook his head. “They don’t have to find your body to know that you’re dead if you shoot into the Hudson in winter conditions. Give me a break. There’s no way she survived.”

“Makes sense.” I nodded. “I suppose that witnesses confirm that she went in?”

He frowned. Didn’t care for the direction this chat was going in. “There were no witnesses to the accident, but she didn’t survive. Trust me.”

“I saw the Hummer being pulled out. She wasn’t in it.”

He shook his head sadly. “They think she was able to open the door and get out, but when you’re under water you can lose all sense of direction. It’s deep in that section of river and it would have been dark. Hypothermia would set in very fast, maybe a minute. No one saw her.”

“How do you know it was Serena driving that vehicle? Maybe it was some unlucky joyrider who stole it and—”

Dean stared at me like I’d sprouted horns or something. “She was seen. Okay? Enough of this.”

“But you said there weren’t any witnesses.”

“They came along minutes afterward. But they saw her before. There was a young couple whose GPS had misdirected them. The county changed the names of some back roads a bit back and the online maps haven’t caught up yet. They were parked about a mile away, trying to get back to VanKleek Road. They’d been all over the place, just missing it. So they were checking their print map and one of the locals stopped to give them directions. They all saw Serena drive by.”

“How did they know it was Serena?”

He sighed. Deeply. “They saw a woman of her description drive by, not going too fast.”

“They described her to you?”

“That’s right and they were able to identify her from the photograph that her husband provided.”

“I don’t know if I would notice that much detail if a person in a monster car like that sailed by me. And it was late, wasn’t it?”

Dean rubbed his upper lip. Finally, he said, “The two couples were out on the road talking and she practically ran them over. They had to jump out of the way.”

Ha. That was the Serena I knew, not Mrs. Goody Two-Shoes. “That sounds like her.”

“Whatever. All four of them saw this battered red compact car zoom down, right after the Hummer. It almost killed them.”

I realized that I was being scattered with all this murder and mayhem. My normal routines were disrupted, my thinking was chaotic, and there was no way to simply relax and enjoy a Saturday afternoon. I said as much to Jack.

“And other people are even worse off than I am. I have to keep that in mind.”

He glanced at me warily.

“So I think we should check on Haley again. She’s the one who is in danger.” I tried calling her using my new cell, but no one answered.

“She’ll be at home, resting,” Jack said. “No one is likely to attack her there. The weapons of choice seems to be vehicles.”

“True. But don’t forget Dr. Partridge.”

Jack sighed. “Let me guess where we’re going. Although she probably needs to be left alone.”

“Just a quick visit to be sure. But first Kristee’s Kandees for something to take with us. I lost some excellent fudge when the Miata went over the escarpment.”

Aside from being gleeful over Serena’s apparent death, Kristee had no news or information. I got out of the shop as fast as I could. Jack had stayed in the car.

As we drove into Haley’s driveway, we saw Brie sitting alone on the front steps. She jumped to her feet and stomped up the stairs to the house. She turned to glower at us and headed into the house, slamming the door so hard that it rattled.

“Haley won’t sleep through that,” I said.

Haley was awake and her bruises were starting to bloom. She now had two black eyes from the impact of the crash.

I didn’t waste time. “You shouldn’t be here alone.”

“I’m not alone. Brie is with me.”

“You both need protection.”

She sighed. “You’re right. I’m going to put this house on the market and go stay with relatives as soon as I can. I have cousins in Pennsylvania.”

From upstairs, Brie shouted, “Well, I’m not coming with you.” A door slammed again.

A flash of pain crossed Haley’s battered face. “She’s so angry. I can’t say I blame her.”

“Why don’t we find you both someplace to stay that’s not quite so isolated? Can you even get out of here in an emergency?”

“I have an old beater that Randy kept for errands. It’s ancient, but it runs. And my cousin and her husband are on their way from Pennsylvania to help me. They’ll be here later tonight. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, but you still have to be careful. Promise me that you’ll call me if anything odd happens at all. No matter how small. And dial 911 too. You are the last one of your group alive, Haley.”

She nodded and stared at me out of swollen eyes. “Believe me, I am aware of that. But I must have left my phone book in the van with . . . You know what? Maybe I don’t deserve to be alive.”

Jack said, “Your daughter needs you, even if she doesn’t realize it just now. You have to stay safe for her. Take my number too.” He scrawled both numbers on a scrap of paper.

As tears welled up in Haley’s eyes, she reached over and gave me a powerful hug. Jack got one too.

I felt depressed and hopeless as we drove off into the misty darkness. It wasn’t until we were halfway back to town that I remembered the black-and-white fudge. I was truly not myself lately.