Chapter 27

27

I couldn't imagine leaving a Rolex watch behind, so before I'd left Eco Earth, I asked if I could see the watch. Tripp agreed to show it to me, and I snapped a few photos, sending them to Hunter so she could do some research on it. When she got back to me, I learned the watch was a current year model, with a price tag of twelve thousand dollars. I could think of only one reason such a watch would have been left behind—he had no choice but to leave it.

Had Eddy murdered Cordelia, and now he was in hiding?

After my discussion with Tripp, I knew where I needed to go next, and I drove straight to Rosalyn's house. I stood at the door for a few minutes, knocking, but no one answered, and the dog didn't bark either. I walked over to the garage, standing on my tiptoes to peer through one of the small panes of glass running along the top of it. There were no vehicles parked in the garage.

I went back to the front door and tried the doorknob. The door was locked, and the last time I'd been there, I'd noticed it had a sturdy deadbolt, one that wouldn't allow me to pry the door open without significant effort. I walked around the outside of the house, pulling on windows to see if I could get any of the latches to budge. None of them did.

As I made my way to the backyard, I spotted a shed—if one could call it that. It was old and dilapidated, and some of the wood planks had started to detach from the structure. The shed looked like it had been built around the time the house had been. And unlike the modern doors and windows of the main house, the shed had a simple latch, and no lock.

I flipped the latch open and stepped inside. It was mid-afternoon but given the shed didn't appear to have any electricity, it was hard to see, even with the door all the way open. But I could see enough—with the help of my phone's flashlight.

There were several gallons of paint resting on the dusty wooden shelves, gardening tools, a rusty toolbox, and a lawnmower. I walked over to the shelves to get a closer look, using my cell phone's flashlight to look around.

On one of the dust-filled shelves, there was a clean spot in the shape of a square, like something that had rested there in recent days was now gone.

I spent a few more minutes looking around, and, finding nothing else of note, I exited the shed. I had almost made it to my car when a black Mercedes pulled alongside, its horn beeping. The passenger-side window came down, and my mother shouted, "Yoo-hoo!"

Octavia was behind the wheel. She offered me a wave, and as I neared the car, I noticed they were all dressed up.

"Where are you two headed?" I asked.

"A campaign fundraiser dinner in San Luis Obispo," my mother said.

"You look nice."

"Thank you, dear. What are you doing at Rosalyn's house?"

"I had a few questions for her, but it doesn't look like she's home."

"Can't say I've seen her around much, but I've been a busy bee. How's the investigation going?"

I thought about waiting, speaking to her later, but so much was running through my mind, I couldn't help myself.

"Yesterday, when I was talking to Rosalyn, she told me her husband works at a company called Eco Earth," I said. "I was just there, and I spoke to his boss. Eddy hasn't shown up for work in weeks."

My mother crossed her arms. "Well, you did say you thought she'd been lying to you."

"I was hoping to get the truth out of her, but since she's not here, it will have to wait."

"Any other leads you're following up on?"

I thought about whether I wanted to talk about the notes Cordelia had left inside of the Agatha Christie novel, and I decided against it.

"Did Cordelia ever talk about any of her neighbors when you were together?" I asked.

My mother gave the question some thought. "Not too much. She seemed to get on all right with them … well, except for Eddy. She wasn't fond of him. I'm sure her dislike of him was for the same reasons I don't like him either. He's a rude man."

"What about Seth? Did she ever mention him?"

"She found him a bit peculiar."

"In what way?"

"One day he'd strike up a conversation, and the next, he ignored her. It's like he has two personalities, a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde. Well, I suppose he's more Jekyll than Hyde, or Kayla wouldn't stay married to him, would she now?"

"I guess you haven't heard," I said.

"What haven't I heard?"

"They're getting a divorce."

My mother pressed a hand to her chest. "Oh, dear. I wonder if that's what she wanted to talk to me about. She stopped by the house yesterday, but I wasn't home. I've had so much going on, I haven't made time for much else. I'll pop over later on and speak with her."

"When I spoke to Seth, he told me he was friends with Cordelia."

" Friends ? That's a stretch."

"He said he checked in on her from time to time after Marlon died, and Cordelia gave him books to read."

"I wouldn't know anything about it." She paused, then added, "Come to think of it, I saw him leaving her house … oh, I guess it would have been three or four weeks ago now."

"Did he see you?"

"Sure did. I waved. He waved back. Wasn't much more to it. He did have a book in hand, so I suppose she could have been loaning books to him, as you say. Still, it seems to me he was more of an acquaintance than a friend."

Octavia leaned over, smiling up at me as she said, "You're welcome to attend the fundraiser tonight as my guest. It's at the Balenciaga House."

"Oh, yes," my mother said. "The food they're serving will be top notch."

It was a tempting offer, but I'd had a long day, and there was still one more stop I wanted to make before heading home.

"I appreciate the invite, but I still have a bit more work to do," I said.

"You get so caught up in your cases, you don't take enough time for yourself," my mother said.

"I have one more item on the agenda for today, and then I plan on stopping for the rest of the night."

"Good, a little rest goes a long way. I'm glad I ran into you. I've been meaning to thank you for looking in on your sister."

"When did you talk to Phoebe?" I asked.

"Last night. As soon as she gave me the news about the miscarriage, I wanted to drive straight over. She said she wasn't up for visitors, though, and she just wanted to relax. It took everything in me to honor her wishes, but I did."

My mother grabbed a tissue from her handbag, blotting her eyes.

"She's going to be all right, Mom."

She reached out a hand and grabbed mine. "I know she will, because she has us, and she's strong, just like you were when it happened to you."

The conversation was taking an uncomfortable turn. Going down Unwanted Memory Lane had no appeal to me.

My mother seemed to pick up on it, and she said, "We best get going. Tell Giovanni I said hello and give Luka a big hug from me."

"Will do."

"Best of luck on your investigation," Octavia said. "I hope it will all be over soon."

She put the car in gear, and as they headed down the street, my mother leaned her head out the window, blowing me a kiss as she shouted, "Tootles!"