Chapter Twenty-One Her

Chapter Twenty-One Her

Present Day

The steady stream of alarm-ignoring unwanted drop-in visitors and the threat of an impending police search made me twitchy.

A walk of the property seemed in order. Not that it was a quick process. Three acres filled with lots of bushes and flower

beds perfect for hiding a potentially incriminating bat took more than a few minutes to search.

The temperature had finally dropped as New York started its march into fall. A patchwork of red and orange foliage lit up

the yard and lined the town’s streets. The fiery colors contrasted with the early October gray clouds. I’d slipped an oversized

sweater over my T-shirt to ward off the chill as I checked for obvious signs of evidence planting.

The most likely place had been the three-car garage or one of Richmond’s two vehicles sitting untouched in there. The area

had the benefit of nooks and shelves and cabinets. Someone could hide the bat, even stick it under a car seat, where it would

be found but not easily. One of those clever hiding places the police would think to check but the person framing me might

believe I wasn’t smart enough to avoid.

I didn’t find anything. Before I tore apart the house for a sec ond time, I headed for the two outbuildings on the property. Neither sat near the house. Both provided ample opportunities to hide shit.

One building was a fancy-looking shed that housed the garden equipment. The other was a greenhouse. It was in pristine shape

but empty because Richmond didn’t care about flowers and Kathryn never had the chance to move in and fill it.

A tour of the shed didn’t turn up much. I now knew I’d inherited a riding lawn mower and lots of shiny probably-never-used

tools, but neither of those things pointed me toward the bat.

The greenhouse had a pitched roof and tinted glass walls. Glass everything. Benches outlined the internal space and an empty

table ran down the middle of the twenty-foot-long structure. Some empty pots and heaters. Nothing too exciting. Still, the

cabinets around the sink at the far end of the building needed a quick check.

I walked along the wooden floor, scanning the area for hidden spaces. Buckets, a watering can, and assorted sprays and bottles

under the sink were the only sign there was once life in here.

Frustrated and hungry, I spun around to leave and glanced up to see if the sun had bothered to come out. All the vents on

the ceiling were closed. A hanging shelf about five feet off the ground ran down each of the long sides of the greenhouse.

After a few steps I saw it. A sliver of something peeking above the shelf lip on the right.

I balanced on the bench and stretched up. The second my hand touched the wood I knew what it was. The bat.

One look at it and I saw the bloodstains.