Page 151 of Passions in Death
Shauna said nothing as they drove the short distance from apartment building to apartment building. She broke her silence when Eve pulled into a loading zone.
“I bet delivery people hate when you do that.”
Eve flipped on her On Duty light. “You win that bet.”
Under the circumstances, Eve tolerated the elevator ride to four.
Outside the apartment door, Eve waited while Shauna hesitated.
Peabody laid a hand on Shauna’s arm. “Maybe ask yourself what Erin would do.”
“She’d go in, get it done.”
Shauna unlocked the door, opened it.
“It looks so much like us,” she murmured. “Who we were together. She used to say I had all the style, she had all the color, and how frosty it was we were each picking some of the other’s up.”
Slowly, she walked around the living area.
“I was going to sell the furniture. I’d keep her paintings, and maybe a few little things, but sell the rest. That was wrong. We bought most of this together, or brought it with us from our own spaces. I was going to sell it.”
She brushed a hand over the back of the sofa. “But no, no, that’s wrong. We’d sit here, watch a vid. We’d have takeaway and sit over there and talk and talk. I thought it would feel empty, but it doesn’t. I know I can’t live here anymore, but I can take some of what we shared with me.”
She turned to Eve and Peabody. “I should’ve come back before.”
“You weren’t ready before,” Peabody said.
“I didn’t think I’d ever be.” She wandered a bit more. “Everything’s here that should be. Honestly, I don’t know what I’m looking for, or why.”
“Let’s try the bedroom.” Her eyes on Shauna, Eve gestured.
“Becca got clothes for me,” she said as she walked to the bedroom door. “Toiletries and all that. She picked up what I’d need for making the arrangements, the memorial.”
“Outfits, clothes, jewelry?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you start with the jewelry?”
“Fine, but it’s not like I—either of us—have anything really valuable. It’s mostly costume. We were going to exchange rings, so we—I—have those, but they weren’t really expensive.”
She opened a drawer. “Here they are,” she murmured. “Right here.” She opened the ring boxes, brushed a finger over each.
Then she slipped one on the ring finger of her left hand. “I have skinnier fingers.” And put the other on the middle finger of her right. “It fits well enough there. Is it just whack that it makes me feel better wearing these?”
Eve said simply, “No.”
“I’m going to wear them both. At least for a while, I’m going to wear them both. Okay.” She breathed out. “I have these sapphire studs my parents gave me for my twenty-first. It’s my birthstone. Most valuable I have, and they’re right here.”
She went through carefully, piece by piece. “Everything’s here, except what Becca brought to me. Erin has more. She has more—not expensive—just more, and I know her parents took some pieces.”
“But that’s all your jewelry?”
“Yes. Oh, well, no, now that you mention it. I have some sentimental pieces. I don’t wear them, but…”
She crouched down, opened the bottom drawer.
Then sitting back on her heels, frowned. “That’s funny. Did I move the box?”
