Mysteries of Holt House - A Mystery (27 page)

It was inside the front cover.

“Amelia,

On the occasion of our Tenth Anniversary, I give you
this gift. With your love of quotations, I know this book will bring you hours
of enjoyment. I love you, darling.

George”

The only books I’d seen that belonged to
the Holts’ were the business journals. None of their literary books had been
left at the house. How could this particular book have surfaced like this? Amelia’s
book of quotations made me feel vulnerable by its mere presence. I knew
instinctively this was no longer just your average, everyday killer we were
dealing with. He’d been involved in Amelia’s life in some way, and he seemed to
be mistaking me for Amelia.

I flipped through the book, looking to see
if anything would give me a clue. There were several quotations underlined, and
I spotted the one I received in one of the notes, about woman being man’s game.
Had Amelia underlined it, or had the killer done it? I shoved the book back
into its space, afraid to look any further, not wanting to touch it. I turned
abruptly and left the room, going to watch out the front window, willing Mike’s
return.

No
, I thought.
I’m not going to tell him today. It can wait until
tomorrow. I don’t want to ruin the day by bringing up the notes, or any of the
rest of it
.

Returning to my room I tried to rest, but
all I could do was stare at the ceiling. I had an almost uncontrollable urge to
cry, due partly to illness, partly to frustration, and partly to fear. After a
few minutes of feeling sorry for myself, my gloom turned to anger. I wanted to
fight back, but I didn’t know how.

Someone knocked on my door and I jumped
up.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Lucy.”

“Come in.”

“Sharon and David are back,” she said.
“They said they saw Mike on the road and he’s on his way home, too. Ted is back
and J.T. came in a few minutes ago. I thought we’d have an early dinner, if
that’s okay. You wanna get up now?”

“How long have I been in here?” I asked.

“About an hour. Did you finally get some
sleep?”

“No, but I feel okay.” A deep, dry cough
made a liar out of me. “Well, I feel better than I did, anyway. I’ll be out in
a few minutes.”

“Okay.” She gently closed the door behind
her when she left.

I got up and ran a brush through my hair,
freshened my make-up and got out a dress. I decided to chuck my jeans for the
day. After all, it was Christmas. I still had plenty of good dresses and shoes
left from when I worked for the law firm.

Sometimes I missed my job as a legal
secretary, and this was one of those days, but then I remembered the stress,
the frustration, and the ever constant flow of rush projects, and those
thoughts reaffirmed that I made the right decision in leaving the job. What did
I have now? Stress and frustration, but they were a different kind and would
eventually go away – I hoped.

I picked out a tight-fitting pastel green
dress – I’d gained a few pounds since leaving the job – and beige shoes. The
bodice was loose and pleated, hanging over the tight skirt. I looked in the
mirror and felt satisfied, so I joined the others.

Entering the room, I noticed Mike looking
at me with approval and admiration in his eyes.

“Well, I’ll be,” J.T. said. “Under those
jeans there was a real lady hiding out.”

I was embarrassed by his remark and
immediately decided to change my recent dress habits.

“Kelly,” he said, noticing the expression
on my face, “that was meant as a compliment.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“If you’ll all take a seat, I’ll serve
dinner,” Lucy said.

J.T. and Ted looked at each other, and
J.T. took Lucy by the elbow and led her to the table.

“Mrs. Daley,” Ted said, “J.T. and I have a
Christmas present for you. Sit down.
We’re
going to serve
you
for
a change.”

“But – ”

“No arguments,” J.T. interrupted. “Okay,
you may have cooked the meal, but we’re serving it.”

“Lucy, sit. And Merry Christmas,” I added,
getting into the swing of things. I hadn’t known the men were going to do this,
but it touched me that they’d thought of it.

I was awed by the fact that Ted was taking
part in this, and extremely pleased. J.T. was right when he said we were almost
like a family.

Josh made a point of pulling out the chair
next to him for Lucy, and David and Sharon sat together at the far end of the
table. Mike sat next to me and gave my hand a squeeze under the table.

We were all turkeyed out after our
Thanksgiving meal, so Lucy and I had decided on ham for this occasion. Along
with the ham we had green beans in mushroom sauce, scalloped potatoes, stuffed
celery, deviled eggs and other side dishes. After J.T. and Ted finished
serving, they sat down and joined us. It was a delicious meal. When we finished
eating, J.T. and Ted cleared the dishes while the rest of us retired to the
living room.

“I could get used to this very easily,”
Lucy said, leaning back and relaxing. “Yes, like J.T. said, I may have cooked
the meal, but they’re doing the hard part – the cleanup.”

“Dinner was delicious,” I said, reaching
over to pat Lucy on the back.

“Thanks. Poor J.T. looks like he’s ready
to burst. He outdid himself this time. I’ve never seen him eat that much
before.”

I excused myself after a while so I could
take another pill and some cough syrup. The kitchen was clean, and J.T. and Ted
were missing. I returned to the living room just in time to see them enter the
house, covered with snow.

“Hi there,” J.T. said, barely able to hide
a smile. “Guess what? It’s snowing again.” He looked like the cat who’d
swallowed the canary. He was up to something.

“So I see,” Mike said.

“I think we ought to open our gifts now.”
J.T. reminded me of a small child, his eyes bright and excited.

“Okay,” I said, laughing. “Who wants to
pass them out, as if I didn’t know?”

“I will,” J.T. volunteered.

We’d brought Jem inside and he sat quietly
by my knee, looking like he was afraid we’d put him back outside. He was so
quiet that he made me wonder if hoped we wouldn’t notice his presence.

Sharon loved the necklace I gave her, but
I couldn’t understand why she laughed until I opened my present from her and
discovered, what else, a necklace. I joined in the laughter, and we each put on
our necklace. Mine had a small gold key hanging from the chain.

“It’s a keepsake to remind you of your
boarding house,” Sharon explained.

Lucy had crocheted afghans for Sharon and
me. I wondered where she’d found the time. They were multi-colored and
beautiful.

When she opened her music box she was
speechless for a moment. “You girls are really something. Thank you!”

“Hold it,” J.T. said, interrupting the
gift exchange. “I can’t wait any longer.” He motioned for Ted to follow him.

We were all quiet, not knowing what to
expect. I glanced at Josh. His jaws were tight and he was sitting forward in
his chair. Mike looked like he was ready to jump up and run after the two men.
I placed a restraining hand on his arm. J.T. and Ted hurried out the front
door, returning with a large box.

“This is from me to all of you,” J.T.
said. “I had to assemble it myself this morning.” He sounded so proud of
himself. They set the box on the floor and Ted helped J.T. lift out a large
wooden case with a country scene carved on the lid.

“What is it?” I asked.

J.T. sat it on its end and opened the lid.

“It should be attached to a wall,” he
said. “It’s a game board. See the target inside? I’ve got the dart guns
upstairs. Or you can
throw
the darts if you prefer.”

I laughed and coughed.
Dart
guns. I
felt a surge of relief flow through me, and glanced at Mike and Josh to see
their reaction. They looked relieved, and Josh actually began to laugh. I was
glad I’d talked him into waiting for his discussion with J.T.

“That’s got to be the best gift ever,” I
said, meaning every word.

“I’ll put it up tomorrow,” Mike offered.

“I’ll help,” Josh volunteered.

“I didn’t think you guys would be
this
excited,” J.T. said, “but I’m sure glad you all like it. I went into town to
buy it, and there you were, Kelly, parked right outside the store. I tried to
act like I didn’t see you.”

I laughed before we opened the remaining
gifts.

Ted and J.T. seemed to be pleased with the
books I’d bought them, and Josh grinned from ear to ear as he studied his
seascape.

Mike opened the two presents I’d bought
for him. “These are great! You gave me things I really wanted. No one has ever
thought to give me anything related to my coin collection before. Thanks.” He
was grinning from ear to ear, and I was exhilarated.

I opened Mike’s gift last. It was a
beautiful ski sweater, blue with a stripe of Indian design around the neck and
down the sleeves.

“There’s a second part to that present,”
he said, “but you can’t have it until you’re feeling better.”

“A second part?”

“A ski trip. I’ve made plans for us to go
to Aspen.”

“Oh, Mike, that’s wonderful,” I said. “I
don’t know what to say.”

I heard Sharon make a strangled noise
behind me and turned to see what was wrong. Her cheeks were rosy and she was
crying. David was hugging her, and I could see a small jewelry box in her hand.

David took the ring out of the box and
slipped it on her finger. I began to cry right along with her.

“What’s wrong with you?” Mike asked.

“”My best friend just got engaged.” I was
surprised he even had to ask, but then he was a man. “What a Christmas gift!”

“Are you hinting?” he asked.

“Of course not. Men!”

“Women!” he said, grinning.

Chapter
Thirty-four

It turned out to be one of the best
Christmases I could remember, even with the black cloud which seemed to be
hanging over all of our heads.

I went to the kitchen to refill the small
punch bowl, and said a silent prayer while I was there, giving thanks for the
day and adding a couple of requests regarding Mike. I couldn’t help myself
after seeing Sharon’s ring.

We finally broke things up around ten
o’clock. My medication seemed to be working, since I didn’t feel as tired as
I’d thought I would. Sharon and David remained in the living room talking,
while everyone else went their own way. Josh and Lucy retired to the kitchen to
relax with a cup of coffee, and Mike said he’d meet me in my room in ten
minutes.

I took my gifts to my room with me,
setting them on my bed. Ted had given each of us a box of candy, and I set the
box on my dresser before I turned toward my bed. I slowly turned back to the
dresser, realizing something was wrong. Although I shouldn’t have been, I was
startled to see another note.

Not tonight, of all nights
, I thought.
You have to ruin Christmas, too?

I picked it up and read:

“Amelia,

Did you enjoy your Christmas? I hope so, because it could
be your last. ‘I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of
saying I cannot forgive.’

Henry Ward Beecher

Life Thoughts

I cannot forgive you, Amelia. Sleep well.”

Mike knocked on the door and walked in
when I didn’t answer.

“Now what?” he asked, when he saw the look
on my face.

“Read this!” I shoved the note into his
hand and coughed.

“That’s it. Come on, we’re going to see
Josh.” He took hold of my hand and pulled me along, none too gently, not giving
me any choice in the matter. “No more fooling around.”

Josh and Lucy were still in the kitchen.
He showed Josh the note and Lucy read it along with him.

“Who came out to the kitchen tonight while
we were in the living room? Anyone remember?” Mike asked.

“Well, of course Ted and J.T. were out
here doing the dishes,” Lucy said.

“I remember Ted coming later for a glass
of water,” I added.

“I came in here myself,” Josh said. “I
snacked on some of the leftovers.”

“And J.T. was here a second time. I think
he might have been snacking, too,” Lucy said.

“I remember David leaving for a while. He
said he was going to get something from his room. I think it was Sharon’s
ring,” I said. “He’d have to go through the kitchen to get to his room.”

“Well,
that
really narrows it down,
doesn’t it,” Mike said, disgustedly. “What do we have to do, put a guard in the
hall? This is ridiculous.”