Page 54 of Dying to Read

“Rarity, you’re a good friend.” Shirley glanced at the empty doorway. “And so is Terrance. I can’t give him more than that right now.”

“Then tell him that and let him deal with his feelings. He misses you.” Rarity rubbed Shirley’s back. “Life is short.”

Shirley nodded and stood. “You’re right about that. We know that lesson better than others. I’ll think about what you said, but right now, let’s get this done. Then I’m taking you to lunch at Carole’s. I need some carbs I didn’tcook myself.”

When they came back for the last load, Rarity stripped the sheets off the bed. There were envelopes in the corner of the fitted sheet. She unwrapped them and then sat back down. “Shirley, look at these.”

Shirley took one and opened it. “I’m not sure I want to know what’s in these. It looks like a woman’s handwriting. It’snot George’s.”

“I can read them if you want.” Rarity put her hand over Shirley’s as she pulled out the letter.

“Seriously, I’m not sure this could get any worse. Besides, Lizzy’s not here anymore and I haven’t heard about any new girlfriends.” She scanned the letter. “This is from Lizzy, but the letter’s not to George. It’s to a guy named Billy. Could this be William Jully?”

Rarity opened a letter and nodded. “I think so. It talks about meeting in her room at night and how she’s trying to hide how happyshe is from the nurses and her family. Maybe George took these from Jully’s office.”

“You don’t think Lizzy could have killed him, do you?” Shirley tucked the letter back intothe envelope.

“No, but it gives Drew someone different to look at besides Terrance.” Rarity tucked the letters into her tote. “I’m not sure George will remember he even had these, but if he does, tell him that they got sent back to Lizzy.”

“What are you doing with them?” Shirley grabbed the sheets and put them into a pile. The room was empty and ready for the next resident. The aides would clean it and take the sheets to the laundry.

Rarity followed her out of the room that George had been banished to after William Jully’s death. “I’m dropping them off to Drew. After lunch, of course.”

As they were driving to Carole’s, Rarity saw a man walking down the street. He was on his phone, and he turned into the Sedona Hotel as she focused on him. He looked like Kevin. She shook her head and turned back in her seat. It was the second sighting of the man who looked like her ex this week. She was going a little crazy. That was all.

Shirley glanced over at her. “Are you all right? You look like you’veseen a ghost.”

The description fit. A ghost of her past. Rarity smiled and relaxed in the passenger seat. “I think I’m worn out. I’ve been working too much and not relaxing. I didn’t even swimthis morning.”

“I know you’re worried about Archer and then we’ve got these two mysteries on our hands.” Shirley turned the car into Carole’s parking lot. “You need to find a hobby that helps you de-stress. Like crochet. Or baking.”

“Swimming does that. I’ve got Killer to walk. And I went to the quilt show this weekend. I’m trying to keep busy.” Rarity rattled off the ways she’d spent hertime this week.

Shirley got out of the car and waited for Rarity to meet her in front of the restaurant. “Staying busy isn’t the same as relaxing. You need to find something where you stop thinking about everything going on around you. For me, it’s baking. I get lost in the process. Of course, the downside is I have way too many sweet dishes and food in the house for one person. Maybe I’ll drop off a cake to Terrancelater today. To thank him for being so nice to George. He always liked having male friends. He used to be part of a standing Saturday morning golf game, but now they’ve all moved away. Of course, I don’t think George could golf now.”

Rarity thought that Shirley needed someone to cook for, but she wasn’t going to bring that subject up. “Let’s go find a table.I’m starving.”

* * *

Drew met Rarity at her house at about three. They were currently sitting outside on the deck and Killer was on his lap. She’d gone through what she’d found out about Lizzy and George and even Daisy being friends with Caleb Ender. She showed him the photo. He sipped his tea and put his notebook away. “It’s something. I mean, the only thing linking Terrance to the murder right now is he was at the memory care place that night. He admits to fighting with William Jully about George. He also told Jully that someone inside was turning off the security system. It wasn’t a computer problem; someone was specifically turning it off. Terrance said he was going to put a camera in the mechanical room to catch whoever was doing it. Jully told him it was a violation of patient privacy and forbade it. Then according to Terrance, Jully told him to leave the facility. That it was late and the residents had already been upset enough with the dogs all over the place.”

“Jully wasn’t happy about the pet visits. He yelled at Gretchen when Archer and I arrived that night.” Rarity leaned back in her chair. “He didn’t like anyone there at night besides the small staff they keep on-site. And if all the scuttlebutt about Jully we’ve been hearing is right, there was a good reason. He was trolling for women he could romance into giving him money.”

“That’s horrible.” Drew had a habit of rubbing the top of his head when he was thinking, and he did it right then. “I’ve been trying to contact Lizzy’s sister and see why they moved her. It might have been because they wanted her closer, but my gut and these letters are telling another story.”

“I think Sally found out. That’s why she threw away Ruth Agee’s file. She didn’t want anyone to find out what he was doing. It would put her as an administrator in a bad light, right?” Rarity stood and started to pace on her deck. “But someone else knew. It might have been Marsha Graves that Sally was talking to that day atthe festival.”

“Maybe, but then why would Marsha tell you about Jully’s bad deeds?” Drew flipped through his notebook. “No, there’s another player here we haven’t found. I need to reinterview all the staff at Sedona Memory Care. Thanks for filling up my week.”

“The sleuthing group could go over and help you.” Rarity stepped inside and grabbed the iced tea pitcher from the fridge. The look on his face when she came out was priceless. “Stop, I was kidding, kind of.”

“You, my dad, and your group are going to give me a heart attack one of these days, I swear.” He rubbed Killer’s head while Rarity refilled his glass. “Maybe you and I should take off for a long vacation. What do you think, buddy? Leave your mom and the book club to do my job while we rent a boat somewhere and go fishing?”

“I’m not sure Killer likes fish.” Rarity smiled as she sat back down. “Besides, he loves investigating, don’tyou, big guy?”

Chapter 22

Monday morning, Rarity did all the things she’d been putting off all week. She swam, cleaned her kitchen, made a shopping list, and thought about William Jully. Had he been a fox in the henhouse? If so, Ruth Agee couldn’t have been his first victim. Maybe there were others where he was listed in their wills or on the probate order. She texted Holly to see if she could search by his name.

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