The Remains Of The Dead Part 18

The candle lifted from the floor where it had landed. Once again it hung weightless in the air, but then it moved, as if carried, over to the wall. Like a black crayon, it drew on the wall, and soon a large heart shape appeared with the name Trudy in it.

"You loved your wife very much, didn't you?" Sadie asked, and she gasped as invisible arms seemed to wrap around her and warm her in a hug. "I'll take that as a yes."

When the embrace ended she was plunged back into the glacial cold.

"From everything I've heard, Trudy was a very nice woman." Besides the fact that she screwed around on you with your best friend.

Sadie cleared her throat.

"Let's cut to the chase, then," she said, deciding to take the plunge. "I need to know for sure. Did you kill her? Did you kill Trudy?"

A single book rose from the bookcase across the room. It hung for a second, as if held by an invisible string, then suddenly it was ferociously propelled toward Sadie. It narrowly missed her head, crashing into the wall behind her.

She yelped.

"I guess that's a no." She swallowed the lump in her throat.

With a thunderous clamor, a mult.i.tude of books flew from the bookcase. They began to spin in a huge cyclone in the center of the room, creating a frosty tornado. The curtains lifted away from the picture window, twisting and beating against the gla.s.s from the force.

Sadie ducked just before the books hammered the walls in all directions. One glanced off her shin, but she was lucky. Some of the hardcovers. .h.i.t the wall with such force that they remained embedded in the drywall.

Her feet felt leaden as she slowly began to back out of the room. The granite coffee table, which probably weighed close to two hundred pounds, rose off the floor and spun like a feather before being dropped back onto the floor over and over again, until Sadie thought the sheer weight of it would surley break through the hardwood and crash into the subbas.e.m.e.nt below.

Finally, Sadie's feet found traction and she spun on her heel and fled the house. She didn't pause to lock up and she didn't stop running until she'd made it the full block over to where Maeva remained waiting for her.

"What happened?" Maeva asked. "Are you all right?"

Sadie held up a finger to beg a moment to catch her breath and gulped air into her lungs.

Maeva took a step closer and picked something out of Sadie's hair. Her eyes grew huge.

"My G.o.d, you're covered in ice!"

12.

Sadie wasn't at all surprised when Officer Mason knocked on her door late the next morning.

"Mrs. Toth called to report that someone appears to have vandalized her son's home."

"You've got to be kidding?" Sadie gasped. She didn't know if the officer bought her look of surprise, so she followed it up with, "Why on earth would someone do that?"

"Takes all kinds," the officer said, narrowing his eyes. "I just came from there and the place was trashed. Well, not the entire place. Just the living room. Stuff was thrown around and broken, and books were actually jammed into the drywall. There didn't appear to be forced entry, and since you had a key-"

She held up her hand to stop him. "Right. I had a set of keys but then turned them over, remember?"

"You could've easily made a spare set."

"Yes, and as a matter of fact I did make an extra copy of the key. It's routine for us to have at least two sets. The spare set went to the restoration company. They were to continue with the next stage of the work. They'll be handling the painting and carpet replacement upstairs, as well as fixing the hardwood in the living room. The restoration companies I use are reputable, but maybe they forgot to lock up and some teens decided to party." She was talking fast and forced herself to take a deep breath.

"I'll need the name and number of that company."

"Of course."

Sadie went to her den and retrieved a business card. She would have to call the restoration company in advance and warn them that the police would be calling regarding vandalism at the house. She would make sure they were aware that she didn't think they were at fault; the police were just doing their job. She walked back to the foyer and felt marginally guilty when she handed the card to the officer.

He looked at it and then tucked it into his pocket. Then he pulled his face down into a frown and addressed Sadie. "The Toth neighbors heard quite a ruckus there around one o'clock this morning. Where were you at that time, Miss Novak?"

"I was at home. Asleep."

"Any witnesses available to verify that?"

"My rabbit, Hairy, but besides him a friend of mine came over. We stayed up late, and since she'd had a couple of drinks I insisted she stay the night. You just missed her."

"Then I'll need her name and number as well," Officer Mason said evenly. He didn't look all that pleased that she had a possible alibi.

Sadie managed to look annoyed instead of nervous as she scratched out Maeva's private residence number and sent Officer Mason on his way.

At least it wasn't a total lie. The two women had come back to Sadie's and had drinks last night. Maeva had wanted every last detail about what had happened inside the house, and Sadie had required many shots of sambuca before she'd been willing to talk about it.

Maeva hadn't stayed the night so much as she'd just left when they were finishing discussing the matter, which had been this morning. Before she left, though, Sadie had the foresight to construct the alibi that she was certain would be required after Grant's destructive temper tantrum.

With Officer Mason's car backing out of her driveway, Sadie called Maeva to give her a heads-up.

"We did nothing wrong," Maeva a.s.sured Sadie. "So stop sounding so guilty."

"Sure." Easier said than done. "I think it's best if we don't talk again for a while. Until this whole Toth thing goes away."

"You're being paranoid."

"There's stuff you don't know," Sadie said, thinking of the slashed tires. "So far I've got people from practically every dimension out to get me, so, yeah, I'm a little freaked out."

After she hung up, Sadie showered, then washed down some aspirin with extra-strong coffee. Once she felt almost human, she headed to her office and powered up her computer. She figured that she would bury herself in alternate depths of paperwork and computer games.

She finished her filing and began playing FreeCell on her computer. Although her hand was clicking on the cards, her mind was ticking off everything she knew about Trudy, Grant, and Kent. She got the feeling that she was missing something obvious. Something just out of reach. She snagged the phone on her desk and dialed Detective Petrovich's cell line.

"Can I buy you coffee?" Sadie asked after he grunted a greeting.

"People might start to talk if we keep getting together," he pointed out.

"Since when do you care what anyone thinks?"

"I'm off at six. I can meet you at the Blue Dog at eight."

Sadie's hand was numb from FreeCell by six, so she stopped by the market to pick up some fruit and some kitty litter for Hairy before meeting Petrovich.

She found the coffee shop (converted from an old house), and when the detective showed up she was already on her second latte, which didn't help her nerves. Petrovich was dressed for casual comfort in Levi's and a leather jacket over a gray sweatshirt, but he still didn't fit in with the university crowd that filled the place. He also had dark bags under his eyes that begged an explanation, but Sadie didn't pry.

She greeted him and bought him a coffee, plain and black-nothing fancy-shmancy-and a tuna melt to go with it.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet me," she said as they sat down at a cramped table against a bright orange wall.

He shrugged. "My other choice was to spend the night unpacking."

"You moved?" Moving was enough to put bags under anyone's eyes.

"Yup. Had to." After a pause he added. "My ex is going for a bigger chunk of my cash. I needed a smaller place, so I got one about a block from here."

"Oh." Sadie reached out and covered his hand with hers. "Dean, I'm sorry. This must be a rough time for you."

"I'm good." He tugged his fingers away and added, "What do I need with a bedroom all to myself? A bachelor place is fine. More than fine." And the anger in his eyes challenged her to say it wasn't.

"Sure," Sadie said.

He clapped his hands together and changed the subject. "So, what's up? Is this about you tossing the Toth house?" He smiled at her from over his coffee cup.

"That's not funny."

"Depends on what side you're looking from." His grin widened. "From what I gather, all the guys at the station are getting quite a kick out of it. They're thinking the blood 'n' guts girl finally went off the deep end."

She winced.

"They think I've flipped out."

"Some. Others think you're just on a crime spree from seeing too much."

Ouch.

Her gaze grabbed his and held.

"I didn't steal that brooch, and I didn't toss the Toths' house."

"I'm not saying you did, although that's exactly what Sylvia Toth is saying."

Oh G.o.d.

"You know, it would be good if you just lay low and stay away from that woman."

"I intend to," Sadie a.s.sured him.

Sadie waited for Petrovich to take a sip of his coffee, then drank a little of her own. After a deep breath she forged ahead.

"I asked you to meet with me 'cause I'm hoping you'll back me up. Maybe you can put the rumor mill to rest by tossing out some facts on the situation, or at least a good character reference. Scene-2-Clean will be hit hard if word spreads I'm a vandal and a thief."

He nodded seriously. "Don't know how much help I'll be, but sure, if I hear anyone bad-mouthing you, I'll set them straight."

"That's all I ask." She offered him a bright smile.

"Of course, if we had someone else to put out there as a suspect, it sure would help."

"I'm working on that."

He shook his head. "I don't like the sound of that. Leave the investigations to us."

"I'm just trying to save my a.s.s, Dean. You know d.a.m.n well the force doesn't have the manpower to put it all out for a jewelry theft, house break-ins, or tire slashing."

"Tire slashing?" He leaned in.

"My company van had its tires slashed, and the culprit left me a message in dirt on the van telling me to back off from the Toth house."

"When did this happen?"

"A couple days ago."

"d.a.m.n it, Sadie, you should've called me!" He thumped the table hard, and her coffee sloshed out of the cup.

Petrovich dug out a notepad, and she filled him in on what few details there were.

"Best advice I can give you is to stay away from there," he said, waving his pen in her face. "Things will settle. Time will pa.s.s. Everyone will forget about the Toth situation when the next thing comes down the pike."

"Some might forget, but others won't. It only takes one to keep the rumors going. I rely on business sent my way by SPD and the ME's office. If they suspect that there's even a slim chance I'm guilty, n.o.body will send business my way. I can't blame them. I'll keep away from the Toth place, but I need you to look harder into Kent Lasko."

Sadie intended to avoid Mrs. Toth at all costs, so she was stunned when she returned home, pulled into her driveway, and saw Mrs. Toth zip her small Chevy up behind her. Now what?

Nervously, Sadie climbed out of her car and watched as Sylvia Toth approached with a look of blatant, unadulterated hatred.

Uh-oh, this can't be good.

"How dare you!" Sylvia shouted furiously as she approached. "What the h.e.l.l's your problem, anyway?"

Sadie took a step back.

"What kind of a sicko takes advantage of someone's grief by trashing their dead son's home?"

"I'm sorry to hear your son's place was damaged, but I can a.s.sure you that I wasn't the one who did it." Sadie stood her ground and met the woman's gaze. "Now why don't you go on home before either one of us says or does something we'll regret."

Sadie turned and walked to her front door, hoping Mrs. Toth would just get back in her car and drive off. She didn't. She followed Sadie and continued to shout.

"I should've known there was something wrong with you," Sylvia raged, pointing her finger accusingly at Sadie. "Anyone who's in your line of work, who gets their kicks working with blood and gore, must have something wrong upstairs."

She tapped the side of her head and then made the cuckoo sign. Sadie's blood began to percolate, and she bit down on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from screaming back. The only thing that kept her from telling the old biddy off was the reminder that the poor woman had just lost her family.