A Fatal Slip (23 page)

“Do you really think she wants to talk to me right now?” Given our earlier conversation, I doubted she’d welcome me if I popped up on her doorstep as she was packing her bags.

“You’re probably the only one she’ll listen to.”

Blast it all, I didn’t need this complication, but I didn’t want Kendra slamming me all around Maple Ridge, either. Then it hit me. What if I’d come too close to the truth, and Rose was using my warning as an excuse to take off before the sheriff came to the same conclusion and started asking her some hard questions about her involvement with the murder? Had I actually pushed her hard enough to make her escape?

Kendra’s voice brought me back to reality. “Are you going over there, or are you just going to stand here all day?”

“I’m going,” I said.

“It’s about time,” she said.

I headed for the Intrigue, and as I walked along the River Walk, I thought about getting one of my friends from the Firing Squad to back me up, but there wasn’t time. If I waited for someone else to show up, Rose might already be gone.

Her car was still in front of her place when I got there. I was having major second and third thoughts about confronting her alone. I sat out in the Intrigue and called Bill, but he must have been in the workshop, because he didn’t pick up. I tried Butch next, but he wasn’t answering, either. I nearly hung up when his voice mail kicked in, but instead I said, “Butch, it’s Carolyn. I’m at Rose Nygren’s, and I think there’s a chance that she might have killed Charlie Cobb. If you get this, I might need you.”

I was ready to call Jenna when Rose came outside, carrying a suitcase in one hand and a garment bag in the other. She threw her clothes in the back of her car, then walked over to me.

I got out, wishing I’d grabbed some kind of weapon to defend myself along the way. Then I realized I had my car keys in my hand. Grasping them in my fist, I let each jagged edge slip out between my clinched fingers. I might not be able to do much damage to her with my makeshift claw, but at least I’d go down swinging.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Haven’t you done enough damage?”

“We need to talk,” I said as calmly as I could manage, hiding my hands behind my back.

“I’m through talking with you. In fact, I think I’m through with this inbred little hamlet that doesn’t even deserve a name. I’m leaving.”

“You bought your building. How can you just leave?”

“I’ll sell it, with everything in it. I have to get away, can’t you see that? I need a fresh start somewhere else.”

“Are you really that upset, or are you just using this little tantrum as an excuse to get away from Sheriff Hodges?”

No matter how many times I told myself never to poke a bear, I still managed to do it with alarming regularity. Today was clearly no exception. Rose took a step toward me, and I got ready to defend myself. Instead of attacking me, though, I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. “I can’t stand it anymore, Carolyn. How does Bill do it? Half the town thinks he’s a killer.”

“The difference is, most of us know he’s not.”

“I’m not, either,” she shouted. I looked around us, but her street was deserted. Just great. There’s never an audience when you need one.

“Take it easy,” I said. “Nobody’s accusing you of anything.”

“No, but you’re one breath away. I can hear it in your voice. You should be more like Nate Walker. He’s offered me sympathy through this entire mess, not a handful of accusations and innuendoes.”

“Nate knew about you and Rick?” I asked. “I thought you were keeping your relationship secret.”

Rose said, “We were trying to, but Nate found out. At least he thought he did.” Rose frowned, then added, “Funny thing was, he spotted Charlie and me together, and Nate immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. We were talking about Rick, and Nate thought we were dating instead. It took forever to set him straight, but once I did, he promised not to say anything about Rick and me.”

“Where did Nate spot you with Charlie?” I asked.

“Why is that important?”

I had an idea, but I didn’t want to say anything just yet. “Come on, Rose, I need to know.”

“We were leaving my shop one night, and Nate was sitting on the bench in front of my place along the brook. Why?”

“Do you remember when it was?”

Rose frowned, then said, “I’m pretty sure that it was the night before Charlie died. Why?”

Had Nate been stalking Charlie Cobb, waiting for a chance to exact his revenge, or was the meeting just a coincidence? “Hang on a second, Rose, I need to make a phone call.”

“Go ahead and call whoever you’d like, but I’m leaving as soon as I finish packing. If you’re not finished by the time I am, that’s just too bad for you.”

I got my phone out of my purse and dialed Sandy’s number. Why hadn’t I thought to check that out before? She answered on the fourth ring.

“Sandy, it’s Carolyn. I need a favor.”

She said softly, “I’d love to help, but I’m in the middle of something right now.”

“This can’t wait,” I said.

“Hang on a second.” After two minutes, Sandy came back on the line. “Carolyn, I hope this really is important, because I’d hate to get fired for blowing my boss off like that.”

“I wouldn’t have asked you otherwise. Do you keep records of who checks out the microfiche?”

“Yes, but that’s near my desk, so if anyone used it, I’d know about it. Besides, I’ve got the key, remember?”

“This is important. Has Nate Walker been by there in the past two weeks?”

Sandy paused, then said, “No, I thought of that, but I can’t remember him ever visiting the library, at least not that department.”

“But you don’t work all the time, do you? Would you check your log? I’ll hold.”

As I waited for Sandy to come back on the line, I watched Rose haul another armload of personal things to her car. It appeared that she was absolutely serious about leaving town. I’d feel horrid if I was the cause of it, but I’d have to look at it as collateral damage. Bill’s reputation was at stake, maybe even his life, and our ability to keep living in Maple Ridge was on the line, even if Sheriff Hodges decided not to arrest him for murder. Tongues would keep wagging and people would keep speculating, regardless of the truth.

Rose waved a final farewell to me, and I called out, “Where are you going?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Are you coming back?”

“I sincerely doubt it.”

Before I could ask her anything else, she was gone. I hated to see her leave, but now that she wasn’t my prime suspect, I could hardly throw myself in front of her car to stop her.

Sandy came back on the line. “Sorry I took so long. You’re right. He came by one night I wasn’t working.”

“Check the date.”

I held my breath as she said, “It was two nights before Charlie Cobb was murdered.”

That was half my theory proven, and now it was time for the other half. “Does the log give the dates of the material he checked out?”

There was silence on the other end, then Sandy said, “It was the same time frame I looked up myself later. He was reading the newspapers for the month after his wife died.”

“So he saw Charlie’s DUI arrest before the man was murdered?”

“He had to,” Sandy said. “Carolyn, I’m so sorry. I just assumed I’d know if he’d been by.”

“It’s not your fault. You can’t be there every hour the library’s open. You deserve a life, too, you know.”

“What are you going to do? Do you really think he’s guilty?”

“I’m pretty sure of it. Now all I have to do is get the proof I need.”

She hesitated, then asked, “You’re not going to confront Nate by yourself, are you?”

“No, I’m not that crazy. After we hang up, I’m calling the sheriff and telling him what I found out. He might ridicule me for snooping, but he’s got to check it out. I’d expect his visit in about an hour, if everything goes according to plan.”

“Call him as soon as we hang up,” Sandy said as my telephone started beeping. Blast it, I’d forgotten to recharge it yet again. “Sandy,” I started to say, hoping to get her to call the sheriff for me, but my telephone died before I could finish. I wasn’t going to be able to call Hodges, but I wasn’t that far from his office. Maybe that was best anyway. At least if I talked to him face-to-face, he couldn’t hang up on me.

I got into the Intrigue and had just put the keys in the ignition when I heard a voice behind me. “You just couldn’t stop snooping, could you, Carolyn?”

I didn’t have to turn around to know that Nate Walker was sitting behind me. I felt a nudge in my neck as the knife in his hand tweaked me.

Chapter 13

I could feel a trickle of blood run down my neck. “Ouch. That hurt,” I said. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Don’t play coy with me. I heard your entire conversation with that nosy librarian. You couldn’t just leave it alone, could you? I had a feeling you’d finally twig to what I did. I’ve been following you around town for days. The sheriff was never a threat. If it makes you feel any better, you were the only one I was worried about. After I take care of you, that librarian is going to have an accident herself. You were too smart for your own good.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered, but at the moment all I could think about was the knife still pressed against my neck. I started to dab at the blood with a tissue, but Nate snapped, “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“If blood gets on my blouse, it’ll ruin it.” Why on earth had I said that? It was the craziest thing in the world to complain about at the moment.

Nate wasn’t amused. “If you don’t do exactly what I say, it’s going to get a lot more blood on it. Start the car.”

I kept my hands in my lap. “I need to know where we’re going first.”

He said, “Do you really want me to cut you again?”

“Take it easy. I’m going.” I started the Intrigue, but I kept it in park.

Nate snapped, “What are you waiting for?”

“I still need a direction.”

He paused a minute, then said, “Take Compton Road out of town. And don’t try anything, Carolyn. This knife might slip and go in a little farther.”

“I’ll do what you say,” I said as I started driving. Compton led out of town straight into the woods. There were too many places Nate could kill me and leave my body, and it would take the sheriff forever to find me. I couldn’t afford to let things get that far. I knew I was a goner if I listened to everything Nate said, and surprisingly, that helped. After all, if I was going to die anyway, which was starting to look like a near certainty, I might as well take him out, too, if I could manage it. I was sorry I wouldn’t be able to say good-bye to my husband or my two sons, but I hoped they’d be proud that I’d died fighting.

“Slow down,” he ordered. I wanted to mash the accelerator to the floor, but we were going through downtown, and there were people out shopping, enjoying the day, oblivious to the drama unfolding in my car. It was too risky to try anything just yet. I didn’t mind the thought of taking Nate out with me, but knowing I had hurt an innocent bystander would be too much to live with, even if only for a few seconds.

I asked softly, “How did you finally figure out that Charlie was probably the one who killed your wife?”

“I’ve been struggling to put Winnie’s death out of my mind since she died, but you and those two biddies brought it all to light again. I’ve never stopped thinking about how she died, but I suddenly realized I hadn’t approached the problem very systematically. I was in some kind of a haze that just wouldn’t lift. That’s when I thought about searching through old newspapers to see if there was anything that might be related to what happened to her that night. Charlie Cobb’s DUI stood out.”

“The sheriff must have suspected the same thing,” I said.

“There was something that wasn’t in the papers. Evidently Charlie got a girlfriend to lie about his whereabouts that night, and Hodges bought it.”

“How do you know that?” I asked, glancing back at Nate in the rearview mirror. I almost wished I hadn’t. His eyes were black and empty, as if Nate’s soul had already left his body.

“Charlie told me everything just before he died.”

I hadn’t even considered the possibility that Charlie Cobb had actually talked to his murderer before he died. “So you didn’t just sneak up on him and hit him with that brick?”

“Give me some credit, Carolyn. I had a suspicion but no proof. I decided to talk to Charlie, to hear what he had to say for himself. The fool broke down crying, if you can believe that. He said he’s been waiting since it happened for that tap on the shoulder. He was almost relieved that he didn’t have to hide it anymore.”

“So you killed him,” I said.

“What was I supposed to do? Take him to Hodges and have him confess again? Where did that leave me? Knowing the sheriff, he’d botch the arrest and Charlie would go free. No, Winnie’s blood cried out for vengeance, and it was my job to give it.”