She Who Watches (19 page)

“We appreciate your cooperation, Scott.” Dana slipped her notes into her briefcase. “Thank you for your time.”

“Please contact us if you have any questions or need anything from us.” Mac handed Scott a business card.

Scott's demeanor softened. “Thank you. I'm sorry if I seemed upset. If you need anything, call me. I assume you'll be in touch.”

“Yes,” Dana answered. “We'll update you as much as we can.”

“What happens now?”

“We're working on the lead you mentioned earlier,” Mac said, “regarding the letters to Senator Wilde. I can assure you we'll get to the bottom of that. We have an officer gathering background information as we speak. Even though the FBI interviewed scores of witnesses, we'll probably have to contact every one of them, and that could take a while.”

Scott nodded. “Can you tell me anything else about Sara's death? I mean—do you know how she was killed?”

Mac hesitated, trying to be careful about the way he answered the question so as not to give out too much information. “The medical examiner found no obvious cause of death, I can tell you that much. We're still running tests and waiting for more forensic results.”

“I'm glad you guys are on the case,” Scott said. “Sounds like you're pretty thorough.”

“We try to be.” Mac glanced toward the stairs. “You said Claire was still staying here. Is she here now?”

“Yeah. Allysa's at school, so she's working in the guest room. Do you want me to get her for you?”

“That would be great.” Turning to Dana, he said, “While we're waiting for her, why don't we take the computer to the car?”

When they came back inside, Claire was seated on the sofa, legs curled under her. Scott was sitting beside her, holding her hand. He let go when he realized they'd come in.

“Thanks for agreeing to meet with us, Claire,” Dana said, taking over the role as interviewer.

Scott got up. “If you guys are done with me, I'll head over to the office. Jackie tells me I have some things that need my attention.”

“That's fine.”

The interview with Claire substantiated Scott's story about finding the house empty and Sara gone. When Dana asked about her living there, Claire insisted that she was there primarily to care for Chloe and be a support for Scott, who was taking Sara's disappearance and death very hard. “I can see where you might suspect the worst,” she said, “but Allysa and I stay in the guest room, and I can assure you, Scott and I are not an item.”

“Tell me about your relationship with Sara,” Dana said.

Claire reiterated much of what they had already heard about Sara's becoming part of the family.

“How did you feel about that?”

“I loved it. Sara and I had always been close, but living together as sisters was an ideal situation.” Claire's eyes misted over. “You're wondering if I had a motive to kill her. I did not. Neither did Scott.”

“How did Sara get along with your parents?”

“Good, mostly. Sara went through some pretty tough times after her parents died, but she never acted out. I was a different story. I didn't like the political arena and left home after high school. Got married and pregnant and divorced. I had Allysa, settled down, and made peace with my parents. That's about as exciting as it gets.”

“Are you seeing anyone now?”

“No.” She sighed. “I got burned, and I'm not sure I want to get into a relationship again.”

Dana licked her lips. “Claire, had Sara ever talked to you about Scott seeing other women?”

She shook her head. “There's no way.”

“How can you be sure?”

“You're planning to pin Sara's murder on Scott, aren't you?”

“Not unless he's guilty.”

She stared at her clasped hands. “He's not. I know Scott. We've been friends since before . . .” She paused, as if wishing she could take back what she said.

“Before?”

Claire bit into her lower lip. “OK, I wasn't going to say anything because it really isn't relevant. Scott and I dated briefly in high school. I introduced him to Sara, and it was love at first sight for them.”

“And how did that make you feel?” Dana tipped her head to one side.

Mac was glad Dana was conducting the interview. She tended to have a lot more patience and sympathy than he did.

Claire smiled. “I admit I was a little jealous at first. But seeing them together made me realize they were right for each other. I moved on.”

“Sounds like Sara has had a happier life, though. Does that bother you?”

“I made some bad choices. There are things I wish I'd done differently, but . . . ,” Claire hesitated. “Look, you can dig around trying to find a motive for Scott and me, but you're wasting your time.”

“Can you think of anyone who might want Sara dead?”

“Absolutely not. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a random act. Some pervert broke into her car and got the address, and somehow got into the house. Who knows what they were planning? I don't think it was ever a kidnapping.”

“Do you know if anything was taken from the house?”

Mac wondered where Dana was going with her questions. They'd gotten the reports from the CSI team shortly after the kidnapping, and no one could determine that anything had been stolen.

Claire frowned. “It's hard to tell, you know. Scott said there wasn't anything of value.”

“You seem unsure.”

“Sara had a small collection of Native American art. No real artifacts that we know of, just items she'd gotten from her grandmother's estate.”

“Her grandmother?”

“Her grandmother lived on the Warm Springs Reservation. I think she was from the Paiute tribe.”

Mac sat up straighter. Coincidence? He didn't think so. They had another Native American connection.

Dana kept her gaze level on Claire. “What was her grandmother's name?”

“Margaret. Margaret Case.”

Dana jotted down the information. “Go on.”

“I could be wrong, but I think there might be a couple of pieces missing. Sara got the collection while she was still living with us. She kept it in her room, and then when she got married, she put the pieces in that curio cabinet over there.” Claire pointed at the rounded-front, older style cabinet with glass doors. “I was dusting the other day and happened to look inside. There are two pieces missing—a carved stone and a small beaded bag.”

Mac stopped breathing. Dana gave him a look that said,
Why don't you take it from here?

“Are you sure?” Mac leaned forward.

“There's an empty space in the cabinet where she kept them. I suppose she could have given them away or sold them, but Sara loved that stuff.”

“When did you discover that they were missing?” Mac asked.

She shrugged. “Saturday. I remember because I'd been putting off the dusting—just too many other things to do. Sara dusted every Saturday. I've been trying so hard to keep things up so the house would be perfect when she came home.”

“Did you say anything to anyone?”

“I asked Scott, but he didn't know. We thought maybe she'd put them somewhere else.” Her gaze flitted between Mac and Dana. “You're thinking I should have called the police?”

When neither of them answered, she added, “I didn't see where they could have been related to her disappearance.”

“They may be.”

“How? I don't understand.” Claire ran a hand through her reddish blonde hair.

“It may not be relevant at all,” Mac said. “Can we take a look at the other Native American items Sara had?”

“Sure.” Claire padded over to the cabinet and, taking a skeleton key from the top, unlocked the door.

“She kept this locked?” Dana peered inside.

“All the time since Chloe's been old enough to crawl.” She set the key back on top of the cabinet.

“How many people know about this collection?” Mac asked.

“I have no idea. It's no secret. Sara was proud of the collection and her heritage. I'm sure everyone who knew her knew about it.”

That narrows down the field.
“Did she have other family on her mother's side besides Margaret?”

“She may have. An aunt and some cousins, I think. I didn't know them very well.”

A whimpering sound came from somewhere upstairs.

“That's Chloe. I'd better go get her. She's learned how to climb out of her crib. I'll be right back.”

“Look at this stuff, Mac. There's a beaded handbag and some woven baskets. That pouch we found in Sara's mouth could easily have come from her own collection.”

“I'd be surprised if it didn't.” He looked at the contents of the cabinet. “The crime lab should have checked this for prints. The results should be in the file we got from the feds.”

“I don't remember seeing anything. Maybe since it was locked, they missed the inside.”

“We may have to call the lab to reprint. You have those photos of the stone and pouch, don't you?” Mac asked.

She nodded. “I gave Nate copies and kept a set for ourselves.”

“Good. When she comes back, let's show them to Claire—see if she can identify them.”

Claire came down, carrying the adorable, black-haired, round-faced little girl. Chloe hid her face in the curve of her aunt's neck and shoulder. “She's shy around strangers.”

“That's a good thing.” Dana grinned as she opened her briefcase and pulled out the envelope she'd tucked away earlier. “Claire, we'd like to show you some photos.”

Dana laid several out on the coffee table.

Claire gasped. “Those are Sara's. At least I think they are. The stone looks like hers for sure, but the pouch looks like it's torn. Sara's had a flap on it. Hers was in perfect condition. Where did you get them?”

Chloe leaned forward, her tiny hand reaching for the pictures. “Mine!”

Dana gathered the photos and placed them back in the envelope.

“Why do you have those pictures? Did Sara have the pieces with her? What happened to them?”

“We can't share that information with you right now,” Mac said. “What I can tell you is that by telling us about Sara's collection, you may have provided an important key to our investigation.”

“I wish I'd noticed sooner.”

“I'm just glad you noticed it.” Dana took her digital camera from the briefcase. “I'd like to get some photos of Sara's collection.”

Before leaving, Mac asked Claire to make a list of people who knew about the key, as well as a list of any enemies Sara might have had. He had more questions for her, but the toddler needed her attention more than he and Dana did at the moment. Mac could hardly wait to talk to Nate and hopefully learn more about Sara's family tree.

NINETEEN

C
laire watched the detectives leave and then put Chloe in her high chair, absent-mindedly filling her cup with milk and setting it on the tray.Whoever had taken Sara had taken the beaded bag and the rock. Why? What significance did Sara's heritage play in her murder? The detectives had asked her who knew about the collection. Who knew about the key?

It wasn't a secret. She'd previously considered Sara's abduction a random act. Now she wasn't so sure. A burglar might have thought the pouch and stone were valuable, but wouldn't he have broken the glass? This person knew where the key was. But that didn't make sense. No one among their family or friends had reason to kill Sara. Did they? On the other hand, how well did she know the relatives on Sara's mother's side? They didn't seem that close to Sara, but she'd never heard about any problems.

Could Sara have been involved with someone? Or Scott? She moved her head from side to side. It wasn't possible. Claire forced herself to leave her suspicions behind and focus on Chloe.

The child's dark eyes followed her every movement. She still missed her mother and would often start crying for no apparent reason. What would happen now? Claire would have to leave soon, and Sara wasn't coming home. Chloe would lose her now too. Had coming here to stay been a mistake? At the time, she'd only thought about how Chloe and Scott needed someone to take care of them. She hadn't thought this far ahead.

A lump clogged her throat. “Oh, baby doll. What are we going to do?”

Detective Bennett didn't believe her when she told them she and Scott were not a couple. She'd been honest in saying they weren't sleeping together but not so honest about her feelings. The truth was that she was falling in love with Scott Watson.

She hadn't meant to, and he probably didn't feel the same way.

But there it was. Claire set an animal cracker on the tray in front of Chloe. “Don't worry, sweetie. Auntie Claire isn't going anywhere— at least not yet. I can't leave until we find out what happened, can I?”

Chloe chewed on the cookie and then held it out for Claire to take a bite. She pretended to nibble on it, and Chloe giggled and pulled it back.

Allysa bounced in, her arms full of school things. Claire shoved aside her concerns and went back to being the mother both girls needed. She'd have to ask Scott about Sara's collection tonight. He'd know better than she did who had access to the key.

TWENTY

W
hat do you think?” Mac asked, once they were buckled in. He didn't have an opinion as yet and was still trying to digest what they'd learned from Scott and Claire.

“I'm not sure. We can't really prove or disprove anything either of them said at this point.”

“Gut feeling?”

“Scott loved Sara,” Dana said. “I believed Scott and Claire when they said they weren't sleeping together.”

“Why would you think that?”

She shrugged. “Just the look on his face when he talked about Sara. And Claire was being mostly honest.”