The Diva Runs Out Of Thyme Part 21

"Are you absolutely sure it was Craig?"

"Not a doubt in my mind. He wore running shoes and a big sweats.h.i.+rt from Georgetown U."

That cinched it for me. Craig left here to run and clearly ran over to the hotel for some reason. But there were major holes in Andrew's theory. "Why did Craig kill Simon?"

"Because . . ." Andrew raised his index finger. ". . . I haven't figured out that part yet."

A major omission. "If Craig meant to kill you, and Mars was never a target, then why are you following Mars?"

"In case I'm wrong."

Sounded like he had as much confidence in his theory as I did. Still, Craig's behavior disturbed me. He washed the clothes he wore when Simon was killed and he went back to the scene of the crime the next morning.

Andrew sipped coffee so deep in thought that he paid no attention to the tinny ringing in his pocket.

"Andrew." I tapped his knee. "Isn't that your cell phone?"

"Oh!" He flipped it open. "Hi, dear." He jumped up and placed his plate and mug on the counter. "Stay there but outside." Panic registered in his voice. "I'll be home in a jiffy."

He snapped the phone shut. "Vicki went out for groceries and when she came home, the house had been ransacked!"

TWENTY-TWO.

From "Ask Natasha" : Dear Natasha, My mother insists that a host should always provide a toothbrush for each overnight guest. Do I leave them in the bathroom in the package unopened? On their pillows? It all sounds sort of dime-store tacky. Should I provide toothpaste, too?

-Hopeless Hostess in Harrisonburg

Dear Hopeless Hostess,

A luxurious bathroom basket should await each of your guests. I roll fingertip towels and washcloths of long-staple Egyptian cotton and place them in the basket along with one new and unopened battery-operated toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. Gentlemen receive a tiny bottle of aftershave and ladies get perfume. Don't forget a loofah and a personal bottle of scented shower gel. In the summer, it's extremely thoughtful to add powder. I always include a magnolia-scented soy candle and a carved soap, both in my signature color of robin's-egg blue, for guests to take home.

-Natasha I dashed to the den, poked my head in, and whispered to my parents, "Give my Ford's Theatre ticket to June. I'll fill you in later." Without waiting for a response, I rushed to the front door to catch a ride with Andrew.

When we arrived at their house, Vicki sat on the stoop, the collar of her fleece jacket turned up against the wind. Andrew parked in haste and ran up the walk to the town house before I'd managed to remove my seat belt. By the time I reached them, Andrew held Vicki in a bear hug.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

Andrew released her and Vicki placed a hand on her chest. "My heart's still pounding, otherwise I'm fine. How lucky that they'd left by the time I came home. At least I think they had. The cops are in there now and I imagine we'd have heard if they discovered anyone in the house."

I followed them inside. The lovely dining and living rooms were a mess. Sofa cus.h.i.+ons lay on the floor. Drawers hung open and shards of a lamp spread across the hardwood floor.

"Mrs. Winston?"

I turned out of habit, but Wolf meant Vicki.

"Can you tell if anything is missing?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't been upstairs yet."

"When we're through fingerprinting, I'd like you to do a thorough inventory."

"I a.s.sume your presence means you think this is related to the murders in some way," I said.

Wolf pulled a pen from his breast pocket. "These days I respond to anything involving a Winston."

He'd been so curt today that I wondered what was up. Had I done something to offend him? When we'd first met, he'd been sweet with Mochie. What happened to change his demeanor? I wished he would open up and tell me what he'd learned.

"Do you realize that Natasha and Mars are also staying here?" I asked.

The news startled Wolf. "Anyone else living here?"

While Vicki answered Wolf, Andrew pulled me aside and whispered, "Do you think it could have been Craig?"

"Sorry, but he's touring museums with Hannah. I think she'd notice if he left her."

Andrew snapped his fingers. "I may have to rethink my theory."

No one had closed the front door, and when I turned around, Natasha stood in the doorway, her large eyes taking in the situation. Vicki spotted her and rushed to Natasha's side to explain. Panic registered on Natasha's face and she bolted for the stairs, but Wolf blocked her.

"Not yet. When the officers are finished, I'd appreciate knowing if anything is missing."

Natasha backed away from him as though he'd threatened her.

Wordlessly, she tugged me outside. "Every time I think nothing could possibly get worse in my life, some horrible thing like this happens."

Her shoulders slumped and I felt sorry for her. I was going through similar troubles, but at least I hadn't lost my home and no one was stalking me.

"They're going to use this opportunity to search our stuff, you know. No warrant needed." She groaned.

I patted her shoulder and wondered what kind of stuff she had that worried her.

"Sophie, you have to help me. This situation with June is becoming serious and Mars closes his eyes to it. He refuses to see that she's confused and needs help."

Her statement caught me off guard. Considering the magnitude of Natasha's other problems, I expected her to forget about June. In any event, I wasn't going to let Natasha talk Mars into moving June to a nursing home.

"She's behaved normally at my house." Most people didn't talk with the ghosts of their siblings, but I hoped Mom was right about that. Maybe a lot of people did it in private.

Natasha squared her shoulders and placed her fists on her hips. "I stopped by Nordstrom to buy new clothes, since the smoke from June's fire rendered everything unwearable, and I found her in the teen section buying clothes completely inappropriate for a woman her age."

"Like what?"

"Like lacy tops and frilly skirts."

"You'd rather see her dressed in somber prints and black orthopedic shoes?"

"She bought a silk slip!" Natasha's nostrils flared.

I didn't understand why a silk slip indicated a disconnect with reality. "What's wrong with that? The expense?"

"It's s.e.xy!"

At the risk of further annoying Natasha, I couldn't help laughing. Thanks to the colonel's attention, June felt good about herself. Instead of thinking about holing up in a nursing facility, June had romance on the mind.

"What if she were your mother? Would you feel the same way then?" I regretted my words immediately. Natasha had always been sensitive about her mother. They couldn't be more different.

"Why do I bother thinking you're my friend? You're impossible." Natasha stomped to her car and drove away.

Guilt kicked in. We all nursed stress as a result of the murders and the investigation. At the moment, poor Natasha probably felt everything in her life had gone haywire and there wasn't a thing she could control and put back on track. She needed help.

I strolled up the steps and into the foyer, where Wolf spoke with Andrew and Vicki. Mars would hate me, but Natasha's life might be at stake. I would never forgive myself if she was killed and I hadn't said anything. "Wolf, someone is stalking Natasha."

Simultaneously, Vicki, Andrew, and Wolf said, "What?"

Mars probably hadn't had a chance to tell Andrew and Vicki about the stalker. They, more than anyone else, deserved to know now that Natasha would be staying with them.

"Nina and I have seen him twice."

"This is terrible!" Vicki's hand flew over her mouth in terror.

Wolf squinted at me. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Nina called you. She reported him to the police the first time and said she thought they blew her off. The second time I heard her leave you a message."

I could tell Wolf was angry with himself. He'd probably been working long hours on the murders and hadn't paid enough attention to his voice mail. His ears burned red and he strode away.

Andrew took a deep breath. "This changes everything." He looked at Vicki. "Was the guest room ransacked, too? The burglar might have been looking for something in Natasha's possession." Without Wolf there to stop him, the self-appointed detective pounded up the stairs.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked Vicki.

"Just a little shaken. I'll be fine. Thanks for coming over with Andrew. I'm worried about Natasha, though. A stalker! She never said a thing to me about it."

"Now that she's staying with you, maybe you can talk with her privately and find out what's going on."

Vicki promised to tell me if she gleaned anything from Natasha. When Wolf called Vicki from another room, I decided I was only in the way and said good-bye.

I walked the ten blocks home, glad for a few minutes alone. Porch lights flicked on as darkness settled over Old Town. Each block seemed worthy of a Christmas card picture as warm lights began to glow inside the ancient homes. As I ambled up my block, Mars arrived in Bernie's rental. I waited for him to park and we walked to the house together.

"Did you know someone broke into Andrew's house?"

Horror crossed Mars's face. "Was anyone hurt?"

"I just came from there. Everyone's fine."

In spite of my a.s.surances, he called Andrew on his cell phone. When he snapped it closed, he said, "What's happening to us?"

Daisy and Mochie demanded our attention the moment we opened the kitchen door. Dressed for an evening at the theater, my parents and June waited for Hannah and Craig in the kitchen. Bernie leaned against the counter, a half-eaten sandwich in his hand.

"Hear you have an admirer." Mars hugged his mother.

June's cheeks flushed. "Maybe a little bit."

"Is he going to the play with you tonight?" he asked.

"They're sold out. We tried to get a last-minute ticket but couldn't." June turned to me. "Are you sure you don't want to go, dear?"

"I can go anytime. I'd rather you had fun. What did the colonel say about Simon?"

"He never came right out and admitted he went to the hotel. However, he confirmed that the lovely young woman who lost her leg is his granddaughter. A terrible tragedy. She taught mountain climbing in the summer and skiing in the winter. Very athletic. It looked like she would win the contest on Simon's show."

Dad fidgeted in his chair. "They'd rigged some sort of contraption over a dramatic gully that the contestants had to cross. A rope snapped when she was on it; somehow her leg tangled in the rope and it cut off the blood supply. They couldn't save it."

"The colonel blames this on Simon?" asked Mars.

"He thinks the show was rigged," said June. "The problem is that the rope disappeared so there's no evidence. Simon claimed the remaining contestants burned the ropes in a cleansing ritual that night. The colonel has been doing research to try to prove that Simon's crew staged his granddaughter's accident."

"That's horrible." I cringed at the thought. "She could have died. Losing her leg was bad enough."

"Simon was always ruthless. He left chaos and death behind him everywhere. No honor or decency or regard for human life. Money drove everything he did." Bernie couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice.

I finally posed a question that had been nagging me. "Do you think he asked me out to irritate Mars?"

"Could be." Mars laughed. "But I wouldn't have killed him over you, honey."

"So what happened with Natasha today?" I asked Mars.

"You won't believe this. She went to a soup kitchen."

"To contact someone." I'd tried so hard to believe Natasha couldn't have killed Simon. Had she hired someone to kill him? Had she hired Otis to find a paid a.s.sa.s.sin for her?

"It looked like they knew her. She put on an ap.r.o.n and dished out dinner. I don't know what to make of it."