Page 35 of Eldritch

“Yes.”

She sent him the photos.

“Wow,” he said after a moment. “Was the door to the kitchen closed while you were cleaning the other room?”

“No. Well, it certainly wasn’t closed when I got to the kitchen and found the mess.”

“Baffling. But I still think there’s got to be a reasonable explanation. I’ll call Clarice, too, and ask her about secret passages.”

Her next words came out on complete impulse. “You also want to ask her if she’s made the biggest mistake of her life hiring our company.”

He sighed. “Busted.”

“Okay, I suppose that’s fair. You don’t know me. Any of us. And it isn’t as if Clarice has known us for a long time.” She stopped pacing and stared out of the windows to the terrace. “I won’t take offense if you do background checks on us. You’d want to protect Clarice’s interests. That’s a part of who you are. The cop in you.”

All of that came in a rush. This was about the time people shut down or freaked out that she’d hit a few, if not all, of the points. He’d call bullshit or wouldn’t say anything. The sky hung low with more dark clouds. Perhaps another storm would arrive soon. Her mood sank with it.

He said, “You’ve got me pegged. I’m tempted to prove you right. My cop sense, though, tells me you aren’t lying about any of it. But I’m not so sure about the three other women you work with.”

“I trust Letisha with my life. We’ve known each other since we were four years old. Pauline is problematic. Our relationship is iffy. Maria hasn’t worked for us that long. I did a cursory background check on her before I hired her, and it didn’t come up with anything weird. I did the same with Pauline back in the day. They’re solid people.”

“What’s iffy about Pauline?”

“I don’t know that it matters.”

“It matters if she’s the one trying to sabotage your business.”

“You really were a cop.”

He chuckled. “Yep.”

“Pauline is rough around the edges. She tries to intimidate people. But I don’t think she’d go this far to cause and issue.”

“As a cop, I found many people didn’t want to tell me the truth. It’s refreshing when someone does.”

“How do you know I’m telling you the truth?”

“There are two types of liars. The people who vomit everything and are babbling like they can’t get the words out fast enough. Then the people who won’t tell you a damned thing. You’re not either of those people.”

Part of her felt comforted he trusted her. The cynical part of her didn’t want to trust her own judgement no matter how good it had proven in the past. After all, she’d trusted Taggert at one time, right?

No. Deep down, she hadn’t. She’d just ignored her intuition.

“Well, all right then,” she said.

“I want to help you figure out what is going on at the house. If you’ll allow me. And if Clarice will allow it. I’ll check with her.”

Relief settled inside her. Taggert would’ve barged in and taken over. Doug seemed to understand boundaries.

“Sounds like a deal,” she said. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll call you back after I touch base with Clarice.”

They signed off.

A creaking sound behind her made Sybil swing around. Letisha stood at the terrace door. Letisha came outside and closed the door. Sybil gave her the lowdown from Doug.

Letisha smiled and put her hands on her hips, looking like the cheerful friend Sybil knew when fibromyalgia didn’t steal Letisha’s grin.

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