Page 51 of Gumbo, Ghosts, and Deadly Deception
Teddy, who was still glued to my side after his ordeal, made a small sound that somehow managed to sound reproachful.
"Even your skunk thinks you screwed up," Hollis said.
"Okay, I get it. I made a mistake. A big one. But someone did break into my house today, and they were looking for something specific."
"How do you know?"
"Because they didn't take anything valuable. My laptop was sitting right there on the kitchen table, and they didn't touch it. Same with the cash I keep in the drawer, or any of the obvious stuff a regular burglar would go for."
Hollis frowned. "So what do you think they were looking for? And why tie up Abigail?"
"More journals, more documents. Anything that might connect them to what happened to Francine Darrow. I think they panicked when they got interrupted by Abigail and her ex."
"Or they were looking for you."
The thought sent a chill down my spine. I liked it better when Hollis didn’t take me seriously. "What do you mean?"
"They grab your guest, tie her up, lock your pet in a closet. Maybe they were planning to wait for you to come home."
I hugged Teddy a little closer. The idea that someone had been in my house, had threatened my guest, had terrorized my skunk made all of this far too real. It made me feel sick and furious in equal measure.
"So what do we do now?" I asked.
Hollis was quiet for a moment, studying my face. "We process the scene, dust for fingerprints, interview your guest more thoroughly once she's feeling up to it. Standard police work."
“Harper, what about the camera upstairs?” Maggie said. “Pull it up on your phone.”
“Of course!” I hurriedly pulled out my phone. “Give me a second.”
There was no sound on the video because I hadn’t wanted to violate my guests’ privacy. Given the limitations of the angle, all I could see was Abigail coming out of her room and going down the hallway. Instantly disappointed, I showed it to Hollis. “There’s nothing there. They must have gone up the servant stairs at the back.”
He watched it silently, then just handed my phone back.
"What should I do?" I asked him.
"You stay out of it. I mean it."
That stung, but I deserved it. "Hollis, I know I screwed up. But I'm not going to just give up and pretend none of this happened."
"Your guest is safe, your skunk is safe, and whoever broke in didn't actually take anything. Maybe it's time to let sleeping dogs lie and not push your luck."
I thought about Delia, dead in my bathtub. About Ginger, fighting for her life in a hospital bed. About Francine Darrow, missing for forty years.
"Because sleeping dogs have a way of waking up and biting you," I said. "Delia DuMont came to me for help. She trusted me with her last message, and I'm not going to break that trust by giving up at the first sign of trouble."
"Even if it gets you killed?"
Well. I mean…
"I’m not going to get killed," I said with a bravado I didn’t really feel.
Maggie made a sound of total exasperation.
Hollis stared at me for a long moment, then shook his head. "You're as stubborn as your aunt was."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It wasn't meant as one." He stood up. "Harper, I'm serious. Stay away from my uncle, stop playing amateur detective, and let the professionals handle this."
