Page 20 of Dying to Read

“We know what George thought.” Rarity smiled at her friend as she tried to put together what George said and reality.Maybe that’s why Jully didn’t like George. He was watching the night administrator too closely.“But don’t they have security cameras up?”

Jonathon shook his head. “Normally they do, but that’s why Sally hired Terrance. The security cameras kept going down. And the doors didn’t lock automatically. That’s a big problem in a secure unit. People could walk in or out.”

“Has anyone talked to Terrance since Jully died? Has the problem stopped?”Shirley asked.

The grouplooked at her.

“Well, if Jully was stealing from patients, he would have needed the security off. And there aren’t a lot of staff members on-site during the night. They lean on that security system.” Shirley leaned forward. “That was one of the selling points when I moved Georgeinto the facility. He’d been sleepwalking, and they assured me there was no way he could get out of the resident hall during the night.”

“So if Terrance is making progress in fixing the system now, George could have been right about Jully. We need someone to talk to Terrance and someone to research Jully and check out his background. If he did this once, he probably did it before.” Rarity watched as Jonathon wrote her points on the whiteboard to be assigned out.

“Why don’t you tell the police about all this?” Kathy asked. “I mean, you all are normal people. If someone killed this guy, maybe he’s still trying to clean upJully’s mess.”

“We keep Drew in the mix. He’s my son and a local detective,” Jonathon explained to Kathy. “But Drew’s looking at the normal list of suspects. Like your father. He’s researching Jully too. He has a process he follows. If we find something, it gives him moreinformation.”

Holly laughed. “Yeah, we share with him, but he never shares with us.”

Sam held her hand up for a high five. “Preach, sister.”

“Now, girls,” Jonathon started.

“Girls?” Malia pointed out hiswording issue.

“Sorry, sleuthers.” He smiled at Malia. “Anyway, you know Drew is bound by law and regulation. The reason this group works is we work as a supplement to the police investigation. And that’s how it should be in a free society. We don’t want to turn into a mob.”

“We’re not mindless. We always have good reasons for questioning someone’s innocence,” Holly objected.

“I didn’t call this group mindless. I only meant…” He met Holly’s gaze, and she brokeinto giggles.

“Sorry, we were testing you to see if you’d protect Drew. We know he isn’t able to tell us everything. But we’re getting off track. What else do we need to investigate before next week?” Holly leaned into questioning mode. “We need to see what we don’t know.”

“That sounds easy, not,”Kathy mumbled.

Rarity glanced around at the group. No one would match their grit and determination. This informal book club was George and Terrance’s best bet in not getting arrested for a crime theydidn’t commit.

Chapter 8

The video didn’t show anyone that Jonathon recognized. Still, after he reviewed it several times, Jonathon asked Rarity to send him and Drew a copy of the video. Especially last Monday’s front door ins and outs. After he finished reviewing the security tape, Jonathon waited around until she was ready to leave. As they walked toward her house, Jonathon asked her, “So are you and Archer fighting?”

Rarity had been waiting for the question. “Not really. We had been talking about moving to the next step. I thought we were there, based on what he’d said earlier. Now, he doesn’t want to even beseen with me.”

“I’m sure that’s not even close to what’s going on. Drew’s holding Archer’s secrets as tightly as his current investigation.” Jonathon sighed as he buttoned up his coat. “It’s chilly tonight.”

“Good conversational changer.” Rarity picked Killer up from where he was standing in front of them. “Killer’s feet are freezing. I’m going to have to buy him some of those booties.”

“Or keep him home on long days.” Jonathon pointed out another solution.

“I used to have people to help me watch him. Terrance would take him walking or sit and watch movies with him. Or Archer would chat him up while he was making dinner. Now Ihave nobody.”

“That’s not true. You may feel lonely, but you have people.” Jonathon pulled her closer. “You always have me and Edith. We may not be blood, but we’re family, Rarity Cole, you needto know that.”

Hearing his words made her feel better. If just a little bit. Jonathon waited until Rarity was inside her house and had locked the doors. She watched as he turned around and went up the street so hecould cross over to Drew’s house.As much as he’s here,she thought,he should gethis own place.

She had wondered when someone would ask Jonathon about leaving Edith alone in Tucson so much like the book club had tonight. Edith was made of granite and steel. Rarity didn’t think anything made her flinch.

Rarity heated a batch of soup on the stove and reviewed the notes she’d taken from tonight’s sleuth club. She didn’t know what to think about a twenty-year-old murder, so she opened her laptop and tried to figure out the current victim and who he was. By the time dinner was over, she’d found out next to nothing onWilliam Jully.

Or at least, nothing that he hadn’t carefully curated about himself. He had a Facebook account with about a hundred friends. From what Rarity could tell, they were all families and friends of the memory care home residents. And his account had only started last year. If Rarity had to guess, she bet it was right about the time he took the job at Sedona Memory Care. So why now? Why had he felt a need to become virtually social now?

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