Page 67 of Little Empty Promises

Had Eddy murdered Cordelia, and now he was in hiding?

After my discussion with Tripp, I knew where I needed to go next, and I drove straight to Rosalyn’s house.I stood at the door for a few minutes, knocking, but no one answered, and the dog didn’t bark either.I walked over to the garage, standing on my tiptoes to peer through one of the small panes of glass running along the top of it.There were no vehicles parked in the garage.

I went back to the front door and tried the doorknob.The door was locked, and the last time I’d been there, I’d noticed it had a sturdy deadbolt, one that wouldn’t allow me to pry the door open without significant effort.I walked around the outside of the house, pulling on windows to see if I could get any of the latches to budge.None of them did.

As I made my way to the backyard, I spotted a shed—if one could call it that.It was old and dilapidated, and some of the wood planks had started to detach from the structure.The shed looked like it had been built around the time the house had been.And unlike the modern doors and windows of the main house, the shed had a simple latch, and no lock.

I flipped the latch open and stepped inside.It was mid-afternoon but given the shed didn’t appear to have any electricity, it was hard to see, even with the door all the way open.But I could see enough—with the help of my phone’s flashlight.

There were several gallons of paint resting on the dusty wooden shelves, gardening tools, a rusty toolbox, and a lawnmower.I walked over to the shelves to get a closer look, using my cell phone’s flashlight to look around.

On one of the dust-filled shelves, there was a clean spot in the shape of a square, like something that had rested there in recent days was now gone.

I spent a few more minutes looking around, and, finding nothing else of note, I exited the shed.I had almost made it to my car when a black Mercedes pulled alongside, its horn beeping.The passenger-side window came down, and my mother shouted, “Yoo-hoo!”

Octavia was behind the wheel.She offered me a wave, and as I neared the car, I noticed they were all dressed up.

“Where are you two headed?”I asked.

“A campaign fundraiser dinner in San Luis Obispo,” my mother said.

“You look nice.”

“Thank you, dear.What are you doing at Rosalyn’s house?”

“I had a few questions for her, but it doesn’t look like she’s home.”

“Can’t say I’ve seen her around much, but I’ve been a busy bee.How’s the investigation going?”

I thought about waiting, speaking to her later, but so much was running through my mind, I couldn’t help myself.

“Yesterday, when I was talking to Rosalyn, she told me her husband works at a company called Eco Earth,” I said.“I was just there, and I spoke to his boss.Eddy hasn’t shown up for work in weeks.”

My mother crossed her arms.“Well, you did say you thought she’d been lying to you.”

“I was hoping to get the truth out of her, but since she’s not here, it will have to wait.”

“Any other leads you’re following up on?”

I thought about whether I wanted to talk about the notes Cordelia had left inside of the Agatha Christie novel, and I decided against it.

“Did Cordelia ever talk about any of her neighbors when you were together?”I asked.

My mother gave the question some thought.“Not too much.She seemed to get on all right with them … well, except for Eddy.She wasn’t fond of him.I’m sure her dislike of him was for the same reasons I don’t like him either.He’s a rude man.”

“What about Seth?Did she ever mention him?”

“She found him a bit peculiar.”

“In what way?”

“One day he’d strike up a conversation, and the next, he ignored her.It’s like he has two personalities, a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde.Well, I suppose he’s more Jekyll than Hyde, or Kayla wouldn’t stay married to him, would she now?”

“I guess you haven’t heard,” I said.

“What haven’t I heard?”

“They’re getting a divorce.”

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