Murder by Proxy (17 page)

“How do you know about Wayne? Did Grant tell you Wayne was involved with Anita?” Ernie sounded as irritated as she felt.

“No. He doesn't know I spoke with Wayne and apparently hasn't made the connection between you two. I met your son at the office this afternoon when I took some lunch to Grant. It was Wayne who told me about Anita, and his feelings are pretty easy to read.” She wouldn't let Ernie change the subject. “Why haven't you told me about him before?”

More silence before she finally heard him sigh. “Wayne has nothing to do with her. He has repeatedly refused to help me with the investigation, so there was nothing to say. He isn't relevant to our case.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I just told you, I've already talked to him about it. He said he hasn't seen her since her parents' funeral, and I believe him.”

“Oh?” She felt her temper begin to rise. “So, you take your son's word for it, but you don't believe my son?”

“I know my son,” he replied, but his voice sounded apologetic.

“And I know mine.” She realized her voice had risen and stopped to take several deep breaths. When she felt calmer, she said, “Did Wayne tell you that he thinks this Yonny person might know where she is?”

“He mentioned the guy. I'm not sure how much weight I put on Wayne's opinion. I know he tends to be less than rational when it comes to this woman, but I had planned to check it out. I've been trying to locate Yonny since Lia's funeral. Finally found out this afternoon where he's staying. I'm going up there tomorrow to see if I can catch him at home.”

“South of Boulder. It's a small town up a dead-end canyon, about a half hour or forty-five minutes from here. It's at the entrance to Eldorado Canyon State Park where serious rock climbers hang out.”

“Was Lia a rock climber?”

“Yes. That's how she and Yonny met. Apparently, he was teaching her some technical climbs.”

Her interest was stirred. “I'd like to go with you when you talk to Yonny. Grant is working in the morning, and I'll ask a neighbor to look in on Karissa and Jillian,” she said, thinking of Sudie. “I can probably get away by eight, and I think it'll be okay if we're back by one o'clock.”

After making arrangements to meet in the Safeway parking lot early the next morning, Ernie told her that he had spent a good portion of the afternoon at the impound lot where he convinced his mechanic friend to look over the Colliers' car again. The initial police investigation had determined the brakes failed when acid from the battery ate through the lining. The cause of the hole in the battery was believed to be a small nut that had gotten wedged beneath the case. Constant rubbing of the two objects eventually wore a tiny opening in the battery casing. On more careful examination, however, Ernie's friend found that a hole had been drilled in the same spot—had purposely been drilled and the nut left beneath the casing, probably to distort the entry site.

She gasped at the news. “So someone actually did deliberately sabotage the car?” She realized too late that her voice had risen again.

Not answering, she waited to hear Grant's bedroom door shut before speaking again. In a softer voice she said, “Have you told the police?” Even though she had insisted on Ernie's re-examining the car, she was stunned to hear that she might be right. The silence on the other end of the line lengthened. “Ernie?”

“Look, if they reopen this case as a possible homicide, I'm off it. The police will start looking for Anita, and I'll never get near her. What if they decide to hold her on suspicion of murder? Her great-aunt will die without seeing the only relative she's got left, and all that money will go to some veterinarian.”

“But won't you get into trouble for not reporting what you've found?”

“I'm not hiding anything. My friend stayed after hours to help me out. Officially, she was off the clock and out of there. She said she could give me until Monday morning before she has to file a report.”

“That means …” Edna began.

“Yes,” he cut in. “That means we've got only two more days to find Anita.” At that moment, Edna heard a woman's voice in the background. Ernie said, “Look, Edna, I gotta go. I'll fill you in on the rest tomorrow.”

She quickly reaffirmed the time they were to meet and disconnected the call, her mind trying to sort through all that he had just told her. She had slipped beneath the covers and was reaching to turn off the bedside lamp when her phone rang. Hurriedly picking it up before the jingle disturbed anyone else in the house, she spoke barely above a whisper. “What is it, Ernie?” She was certain he was calling back because he'd forgotten to tell her something that couldn't wait until morning.

“Edna?”

“Albert?”

“Who's Ernie?” Albert sounded put out. “Is that who you've been talking to for the past hour? I was trying to reach you and kept getting a busy signal.”

She glanced at the clock. She couldn't have been on the line more than twenty-five minutes, but she let Albert rage. He had no patience with telephones and usually didn't even bother to call back when a line was engaged.

“A detective?” Albert seemed to be shouting. She moved the phone away from her ear. “You mean a police officer?” But before she could answer, he went on, “Where were you that you met a detective?”

“No, he isn't a policeman, and I met him at a funeral,” she replied.

There was a slight pause. “What funeral? Whose funeral?”

“A young woman who worked for Grant. He wanted me to go with him. I think he needed some family support, and Karissa certainly couldn't go.” Remembering how Lia's father had bent to kiss his wife's cheek, she felt the lump in her throat she had experienced in the chapel. “Oh, Albert, it was so sad. All I could think of was that she was only a few years younger than Starling.”

“What was a detective doing at the funeral? How did this girl die?” Typically, Albert ignored her sentimentality.

“She was killed in a hit-and-run, but Ernie is looking for someone else who works with Grant and who seems to have disappeared. He was questioning several people at the chapel, not just me.” She thought Ernie probably had spoken to others attending the service.

After a brief pause, she heard her husband expel a long, slow breath and flinched, anticipating his next outburst.

Instead of shouting, though, Albert began to laugh. Soon, he regained his voice. “You do manage to pick up strange people in weird places, Edna. I'll say that for you. Why did he think you would know anything? Did you tell him you're only visiting and you'll be returning to Rhode Island soon?”

The wistfulness of his last remark made her realize how much she missed him. He might not be perfect, but she did love him.

He, in turn, sounded more relaxed, now that his humor had been restored. She didn't question his mood change. Feeling relieved, she proceeded briefly to tell him why a detective was looking for Anita Collier. She knew he would launch into a lecture about how she mustn't trust strangers, so she was careful not to mention her interest or involvement in the case.

Intending to distract him, she said, “You remember, Dear, Anita was the one who was so kind to Michele and Jillian when the family first came to Colorado.”

He replied with some impatience, “No, I don't remember, but that doesn't matter. How's Karissa?”

Still thinking of Anita, she wished she could make Albert understand her concern about the missing young woman but thought she'd just make a muddle of explaining about the answering machine, the automatic paycheck deposit and bill payments as well as the ongoing customer orders. She knew her husband shied away from anything that smacked of modern technology or cyberspace. He wouldn't see things as she did, that a life could go on, but unless you made physical contact once in a while, how would anyone know you still existed, that you weren't just some virtual being.

“Karissa's fine.” She felt deflated. She would like to be able to talk to her husband about her concerns but realized the futility of trying to do that when he was so far away.

She let the silence grow, caught up in her thoughts, until Albert said, “Benjamin misses you. He's constantly under foot, and he's taken to sneaking up in the middle of the night to sleep on your side of the bed.”

She laughed at an image of her cat waiting until he heard Albert's snores and then leaping quietly onto the bed. Normally, the cat wasn't allowed in the upstairs rooms. “I miss you both very much. It'll be nice to get home once the baby arrives.”

She and Albert caught each other up on news from family and friends for the next several minutes before finally hanging up. Even though she was tired from her active day, she didn't fall asleep immediately. She was thinking about the tiny hole someone had drilled in the Colliers' car battery.

Fifteen

Early the next morning, Edna was awakened by the phone jingling next to her ear. Feeling groggy and only half awake, she mumbled, “Hello.”

“Edna, it's Ernie. Sorry to wake you, but I only have a few minutes. I'm at the hospital.”

His words wiped the rest of her sleepiness away and brought her upright. “Hospital? What happened? Are you all right?”

“It's not me. My wife's had a seizure. I've been here since two, and the doc just told me I can see her now. Called to say I won't be meeting you like we planned.”

She looked at the digital clock on the bedside table. Six-forty-two, it read. Her mind began to whirl. If they don't see Yonny today, they might lose their last chance of finding Anita. The police would take over on Monday and wouldn't like tripping over amateurs in their search for a missing person or a possible murderer. She couldn't help but think that the authorities, once they learned of the hole drilled in the car's battery, would view the heiress as a prime suspect in her parents' deaths. She picked up the small pad and pencil she kept on the nightstand. “Give me directions. I'll find Yonny and talk to him.” She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.

“No, Edna. Thanks, but this is my responsibility. I'll get away later. Maybe I'll be able to get up there this afternoon.”

She heard the reluctance and fatigue in his voice. “Nonsense. You should stay with your wife. She needs you.”

It didn't take much more persuading for him to give her directions to the little dead-end canyon located south of Boulder off Route 93, which was also known as the Foothills Highway, he told her. He finished by saying, “I don't know the exact address, but it's somewhere along Artesian Drive, the street that runs along the north side of the creek. The town is small so just about anyone who lives there should be able to point you to the right house.”

After disconnecting the call, she rose, showered and dressed, all the while going over in her mind what she would say to Yonny, if she found him. It would be best to get to Eldorado Springs as early as possible. She imagined that a young athlete wouldn't hang around home on a Saturday morning. Before leaving her room, she took a deep breath, trying not to think about how she would be deceiving her son in not telling him about her hurried trip to the mountains.

As it was, she didn't have to face Grant. When she walked into the dining room, Karissa and Jillian were talking in low tones over glasses of orange juice. Three empty cereal bowls lay on the table.

Jillian scooped up her cereal bowl and stacked it with the other two before hurrying to the kitchen. As she dashed off toward the living room, Karissa called out, “Please keep the sound down.” She smiled at Edna. “The baby got us up early this morning, but I didn't see any reason you should get up at the crack of dawn too.”

“That was very thoughtful of you, but there's something I want to do this morning.” She glanced toward the kitchen and the door to the garage. “Has Grant already left for work?”

“Yes, a few minutes ago. You just missed him.”

Edna made herself some toast and poured a cup of coffee before returning to sit at the table. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“Fine. I feel really good, as a matter of fact. Once the baby settled down again, that is.” Karissa rolled her eyes, but there was a twinkle in them, Edna noticed.

“I have an errand to run today. Do you suppose Sudie would come over to stay with you and Jillian?”