“Sure. I'm as curious as you are. Maybe she'll tell us something interesting.”
But when they got to Emma's apartment, they discovered that she wasn't telling anybody anything.
She was dead.
11
The apartment complex was a large, modern one, laid out and landscaped with lots of trees and ferns and winding streets in an elaborate way that made it look more cozy and private than it actually was. When Jane and Shelley noticed the ambulance and police car, they assumed at first that there had probably been an accident at the pool. But as they approached the building Emma lived in and saw two suited men who were obviously official at the door of the building, they cast quick, alarmed looks at each other.
They were stopped at the door of Building Three.
“What's happened?" Jane asked.
“Are you residents?" the taller man asked.
“No, we're visiting someone who lives in this building," Shelley replied. "Emma Weyrich in 308D."
“Would you wait here, please," the plain‑ clothes officer said firmly. He gave the other man a quick glance that clearly meant Make sure they do.
“Is Mel VanDyne here someplace?" Jane asked. When nobody replied, she added, "Tell him Jane is here waiting to talk to him.”
Mel appeared a minute or two later. "Funny, I'm not surprised to see you here," he said, half disgusted, more than half angry.
“Is it Emma?" Jane asked.
He nodded.
“Dead?"
“Very," he said. "A neighbor called half an hour ago. Said he found her cat out in the hallway. Took it home and found the door ajar. Went in and found her."
“How was it done?" Shelley asked quietly.
“A smack in the head with a small barbell-type thing. Prints wiped clean. Very tidy. No struggle. No blood. You'll have to explain yourselves, but not to me." He addressed the officer who'd fetched him. "Smith, will you take statements from these ladies? Mrs. Jeffry and Mrs. Nowack. And don't let them interview you.”
He went back into the apartment building, and Shelley and Jane gave their statement. Jane explained that Emma, whom she knew only slightly, had approached her, setting up an appointment to meet at this address at four.
She turned over the slip of paper on which Emma had written her address.
“If you didn't know her, why did you come?" the officer asked.
“Plain old curiosity," Jane admitted.
“And you, ma'am," he said, looking at Shelley. "Were you invited, too?"
“No, I just came with my friend Jane.”
“What was this appointment about?" he asked.
“I have no idea," Jane said. "As I told you, I hardly knew her. But her boss died at the deli where my son works. I was present at the time. Maybe she wanted to ask me about it. Or just have someone sympathize. I don't know."
“Sympathize?"
“It was a small office. She might have been out of a job for all I know," Jane said. She'd promised Patsy she'd tell Mel about the argument Patsy had overheard, but she felt she should tell Mel directly. "If you're through with us, I need to get home," she added.
“I guess VanDyne knows where to find you?" the officer asked.
Jane didn't like his wink-wink-nudge-nudge tone, but decided she wasn't in a strong position to get huffy. "I think so," she said stiffly.
She and Shelley went back to the car in silence and Jane drove out of the apartment complex and straight through the drive-up lane of a fast-food restaurant on the next corner. She ordered two coffees and pulled over under a shade tree a block away.
“Jeez!" Shelley said. It was the first time she'd spoken since they left Emma's.
They sat sipping their drinks in silence for a long while. "I guess the investigation into Stonecipher's death is back on," Jane said. "Mel's going to find a way to blame me."
“Jane, just think. . if we'd come early, we might have found her! If you think you're in trouble with him now, imagine what that would have been like."
“Oh, God! You're right, Shelley! We might have even stumbled into the middle of it happening.”
The enormity of this rendered them both silent again. Finally, Jane said, "I have to go home and start dinner.”
When they reached Jane's driveway, Shelley said, "Call me if you hear anything more from Mel. I just can't take this in."
“I guess the only good thing about this is that it's clearly something personal with Stonecipher's office or home life. Nothing to do with the deli. Thank heaven! Still, I wish Mike had a nice summer job in Timbuktu and none of this had ever happened.”
"Where's Mike?" she asked Katie, who was standing in front of the open refrigerator doorlooking as if she'd come to the end of a long quest and had found out that the prince really was a frog.
“At work. And Todd's upstairs on the phone with Elliot. What's for dinner? There's nothing in here.”
Jane joined her. "Somebody ate the last of the turkey, didn't they? I guess I'm going to have to do a grocery store run. Help me make a list.”
They sat down at the kitchen table and wrote down everything they'd need for the next couple days. Somehow this included a lot of soft drinks, chips, dip, and even blusher and pantyhose for Katie. Jane looked at the list, put her head in her hands. "I can't face it. I hate the grocery store. I've spent half my adult life there." ‑
“Then let's have something from the deli," Katie suggested. "I want that deviled ham sandwich they make."
“Sounds good to me. Find out what Todd wants. We'll do this grocery run tomorrow.”
Jane parked in front of the deli, surprised there weren't more cars around and disappointed that Mike's new truck wasn't among them. Conrad was at the counter. The only other customer was leaving. "I guess Mike isn't around?" Jane asked.
“No, he's making deliveries," Conrad said. "You need him? I could give you the list of addresses and you could try to catch up with him."
“No, I was just wondering. Actually, I need dinner for my family. You've ruined me for cooking.”
Grace Axton came in from the kitchen behind the counter area. "Hi, Jane. I thought that was your voice. What do you need?" Jane told her and Grace said, "Conrad, sit down and rest. I can fix these things without messing anything up.”
Conrad came around the counter and sat down at one of the little tables with Jane. He was limping. "You've hurt yourself?" Jane asked.