Weave of Absence (23 page)

Bunny rolled her eyes. “And that's exactly why I'm here, you silly woman. Why did you have to go and blab about your valuable silverware? Everyone is talking about it. Don't you know there's a thief in town? That was like inviting him to come over and rob you.”

“What silverware?” Matthew asked.

“Er, Marnie has an antique set of Paul Revere sterling silver flatware,” I said. “It's worth a fortune.”

“You should have kept that a secret,” Bunny continued. “You just got your flag stolen, and now you might lose your silverware too.”

Matthew frowned. “What is she talking about? Your flag was stolen?”

I'd been so intent on having a romantic evening that I'd forgotten to tell him. I quickly updated him on this morning's events.

“I know damn well who took it,” Marnie concluded. I elbowed her. “Ouch.” She glared at me, rubbing her arm. “It was Melinda.”

“We don't know that,” I said.

“Of course we do. It had to be someone who was inside the library when the electricity went out. And she was there.”

“Whether it was Melinda or not,” Bunny cut in, “you can't just keep that silverware in your closet. What you need is a safety-deposit box at the bank. That's where you should keep it. What if someone broke in and hit you over the head?”

“Bunny's right,” Matthew said. “It would be bad enough to get your silverware stolen, but you could end up dead.”

Marnie gave her an epic eye roll. “Oh, for God's sake, Bunny. I don't have anything worth more than a hundred bucks in there.” She nodded toward the open door. “I only said that to trap the thief.”

I slapped my forehead. “So much for that plan,” I said. “It's not going to work if you tell everyone it's a trap.”

“Hey,” Bunny said, “I take offense at that. I'm not just ‘everyone.'”

“Of all the stupid ideas,” Matthew said, throwing his hands in the air. “Why did I have to fall for a woman who's hell-bent on getting herself killed?”

Bunny and Marnie froze on the spot, and turned to look at him.

Marnie's eyes lit up. “Did I just hear you say you're—”

“You fell for me?” I said, cutting her off.

He looked embarrassed for a moment. “All I mean is I care for you, as a friend.”

“Oh, for God's sake,” Marnie exclaimed. “Will you two quit beating around the bush. You love her and she loves you. There. I said it. Now, can we get back to business? I want to catch myself a thief and get my flag back.”

Bunny looked from Matthew to me, and back again.

I rolled my eyes. “Honestly, Marnie, stop your kidding.” And the discomfort in the room dissipated.

“Let's all go home,” Bunny said. “Tomorrow we'll do our utmost to squash those rumors.”

“That's the only intelligent thing I've heard since I got here,” Matthew said. “The only problem with that is the thief might be planning to rob you tonight. Here's what we'll do. You all go home. I don't want anybody getting into trouble.” He gave me a meaningful look as he said this. “I'll stay and watch the house.”

“But this is my house,” Marnie said. “And my flag. I should be doing the stakeout.”

“And my painting,” Bunny added. “I think we should all stay.”

“I agree with Matthew,” I said. “If anybody shows up, it'll probably be earlier during the night rather than later. The robbery at the Longview was around one o'clock in the morning. Marnie, you come and stay at my place for tonight.”

“If nothing happens by two or three o'clock, call me,” Marnie said. “I'll come and take over.”

“I'll do that,” he replied. His tone told me he had no such intention. He came closer. “I guess that's one more sleepless night for me. Thank goodness I have my buddy here with me.” He scratched Winston's head.

“Sorry,” I said.

“Now go.”

“I walked over,” Bunny said.

“Come on, we'll give you a ride.” We piled into Marnie's rental car.

As soon as the doors were closed, I said, “Does anybody know where Melinda lives?”

“I do,” Marnie said. “It's only a couple of blocks from her shop. Why?”

“I think we should stake out her place too. If we're right and she's planning to rob Marnie, we should be there and warn Matthew when she leaves.”

“Brilliant,” Bunny said. “Let's go. I wouldn't miss this for the world. The minute the bitch leaves, I'm going in to look for my painting.”

“That's breaking and entering,” I said. “You can't do that.”

Marnie gave me a sideways look. “Get serious, will ya? As if you've never sneaked into somebody's house before.” There was no point in denying it.

Soon we were on the highway, heading for Belmont. Marnie turned right after we passed the city limits, and then came to a stop across the street
from a white clapboard house with navy trim. It was set on a large lot with gorgeous landscaping. “This is where she lives,” she said, as she turned off the headlights.

“It looks expensive,” Bunny said, voicing my thoughts.

“Is that her car?” I pointed to the small red car in the driveway. “If it is, then she's not the driver of the blue car that belonged to the intruder.”

“If it is, it must be new. She used to have a blue car,” Marnie replied.

“If she's stealing expensive paintings and antiques, and selling them on the black market, she can afford a fancier car than that,” Bunny said.

“If she's the thief, she probably wouldn't want to attract attention to herself by driving an expensive car,” I said. “We'd better park a bit farther down the street.”

Marnie turned on the motor and backed up. Just as she switched it off again, the front door opened and a woman stepped out. It was Melinda. Marnie grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

“Look, she's going to the trunk of her car.”

We watched as Melinda carried groceries into the house.

“So much for catching her carrying stolen goods,” Marnie said. “Unless she stole that baguette that was sticking out of the bag.”

“The evening is young.”

Time went by, and soon we'd been sitting in the car for more than an hour. “I don't know about
you two, but I'm getting bored here,” Bunny complained. “I think I'll go home.”

“You'll have to take a cab,” Marnie said, “because I'm not moving from here until we catch her in the act. I have a feeling something is going to happen tonight.”

Bunny sighed. “Fine. But whatever it is better happen soon. I don't know how much more I can take of this.” She snapped her fingers. “Let me out. I'll go look through the windows. Maybe I can see something.”

“Don't be silly. I'm sure she's got everything safely hidden.”

“In that case I'll see if I can get in.” Before anybody could comment, she swung the car door open and hopped out.

“What is she doing? Is she crazy?” Marnie said. “She's going to get caught.”

A moment later, a small blue car turned the corner and came to a stop in front of Melinda's house. Bunny dove behind a bush. The driver's door opened and Liz Carter stepped out, dressed like a cat burglar.

We watched in silence as Liz threw a satchel over her shoulder and made her way to the front door. Seconds later Melinda let her in.

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” Marnie said. “Melinda and Liz are working together.”

“It's possible. But it could also be totally innocent.”

“Innocent, my behind,” she said. Before I could
think of what we should do, the front door opened again, and suddenly Liz Carter strode over to the bush where we'd last seen Bunny. Bunny stood up and went with Liz back into the house.

“Oh, shit,” I said. This looked like trouble. “You stay here and call the police. Or better yet, call Matthew.” I opened the door and jogged across the road to the house, slipping along the side of it. I tiptoed to a window and peeked inside. It looked into the living room.

Melinda was seated on the sofa with her back to me. Across from her, Bunny sat on a love seat, facing the window where I was. Liz was nowhere to be seen. After a minute of frantic waving, I realized that with the living room lights turned on, Bunny would never see me. I half crawled, half crouched along farther toward the back of the house, ruining my lovely dress in the process. I peered through one window after another until I spotted Liz, making coffee in the kitchen. And the domestic little scene shifted to one that made my heart race. She was fishing through her shoulder bag, pulling out a container—the same type of container the police had retrieved from Marnie's garbage can.
Cyanide!
She dropped a spoonful into the pot and stirred.
They're going to poison Bunny!
I snatched my cell phone from my pocket and pressed speed dial for Marnie.

“Where's Matthew? Shouldn't he be here by now?” I whispered.

“I only called him a few seconds ago. He's probably still at least ten minutes away.”

“When he gets here, tell him that Liz just put cyanide into a pot of coffee. They're planning to poison Bunny.” At that moment, Liz picked up the tray and left the kitchen. “Gotta go,” I said. I kept my phone turned on and slipped it into my pocket. With any luck Marnie would still be able to hear everything that was said. I ran around to the front and sneaked a peek through the living room window.

“She's pouring the coffee. Shit. I have to do something.”

Through the glass, I faintly heard Liz tell them the coffee was decaf. “So you don't have to worry about insomnia.”

“I sure hope you can hear me, Marnie,” I muttered. “And that you'll step in to save me if I need it.” I scrambled for the front door, took a deep breath, and rang the bell. The door swung open and Melinda appeared.

“Della.” She leaned out and scanned the area—
looking for witnesses
? “What in the world are you doing here? It's late.”

I pushed past her and went straight to the living room. “Bunny,” I said, trying to sound cheerful, “I've been waiting forever. You were supposed to come right back. What's taking you so long?” Bunny stared at me wordlessly.

Standing next to her, Liz was staring at my feet. “What happened to your shoes?”

I looked down. They were muddy from traipsing through garden beds. “Now, how could that have happened?” I said. “I'm so ditzy sometimes. Come on, Bunny. Maybe you can afford staff, but I have to get up for work tomorrow.” Bunny started getting up, but Liz placed a firm hand on her shoulder and pushed her back into the sofa.

“Not so fast.” She turned to me. “Do you know what I caught your friend here doing?”

Melinda answered. “She was casing my house. I think she was going to come back and rob me later.”

“That's ridiculous,” I said.

“I'm not making this up,” she said, incensed. “Liz caught her spying through the window.”

“Let's go, Bunny. We don't have time for this.”

Before she could move, Liz reached inside her bag and pulled out a gun. She trained it on me. “Go sit by your friend.”

Whoa.
When somebody points a gun at me, I do as told.

Melinda gasped. “Liz, what are you do—”

“Quiet, all of you. Let me think.” She seemed stuck in some terrible mental struggle. She swung to face Bunny. “I asked if you were by yourself, and you said yes. Now, is there anybody else out there?”

“She wasn't lying,” I said, avoiding a direct answer. “I told her I was leaving, and I did. She didn't know I would come back.” Liz hesitated, still in turmoil.

Melinda took a step toward her. “Calm down, Liz. Let's not do anything we'll regret. Put your gun away and let's talk about this.”

Liz looked pensive for a moment, and then nodded. “You're right,” she said, slipping her gun into her pocket. I would have felt better if she'd put it back in her bag. As it was, it would take her no more than a split second to pull it out again. “I don't know what came over me,” she continued, sounding remorseful. “I've never overreacted this way. I guess I'm just paranoid because a killer is on the loose. I should know that you and Bunny wouldn't harm a fly. I'm so sorry.” For all her seeming contrition, I felt certain she would pull the gun back out in a nanosecond if cornered.

“Let's all just sit down and have a cup of coffee,” Melinda continued in a placating tone. “Della, why don't you pour for everyone?” I picked up the pot with shaky hands. From Melinda's reaction I guessed she wasn't a part of this, whatever
this
was. I wondered if she was adding one and one and coming up with two, the way I had. I poured and offered the first cup to Liz.

“Why don't you start with Bunny?” Liz said. I handed the cup to Bunny, sending meaningful glances at the cup and shaking my head imperceptibly. Panic flashed through her eyes and I knew she'd understood.

“So, if you weren't reconnoitering in order to come back and steal from me,” Melinda said in a
conversational tone as I offered her the next cup, “what were you doing?” Bunny threw Liz a worried look. Liz's eyes narrowed.

“Maybe I'm wrong,” Bunny said, sending another nervous glance toward Liz, “but I thought Melinda was the thief who took my painting. I just wanted to look and see if I could figure out where she might be hiding it.”

“You thought I was the robber? Why would you think I had anything to do with that? I'm a baker, not an art thief!” Melinda exclaimed. She sounded so shocked that I began to think she was innocent of the robberies too.
That would mean . . .

“But you were standing right next to the display when Marnie's flag was stolen when the power went out,” Bunny said.

“Oh, so now you're accusing me of stealing that too. For your information, I was nowhere near that display when the lights went out. I was clear across the room by the printing press.”