The Trap (13 page)

To my surprise, he answered the phone instead of Myrtle.

“This is Julie Hollister,” I told him. “Did you get the lab results back on the paperweight?”

“You again,” he said. “Don’t bug me about lab reports. The lab’s always on overload. The report could take a couple of weeks.”

“Then why have you allowed Mr. Barrow’s body to be taken to Houston to be buried?”

“It’s not up to me where somebody’s buried,” he said.

“If he was murdered by being hit with that paperweight, then the medical examiner should be called in,” I insisted.

“You can read my report. Barrow fell. He hit his head on the fireplace and died. That’s it.”

“You can’t be sure until you get the lab report.”

He let out a long sigh. “I’m sure it was an accident, just as I’m sure you’re being a pest. Knock it off. Don’t bother me again. Understand?”

I didn’t answer. I just hung up the phone. What kind of law enforcement officer was he, anyway?

For the rest of the day I stayed close to Gabe, uncertain whom I was protecting him from. I had no idea. Again, I wondered why the only law enforcement person around wasn’t helping at all.

Late Sunday afternoon Mabel telephoned Glenda.

“The police found Mabel’s gold bracelet in that same flea market in San Antonio,” Glenda said as she rejoined us in the living room. “Good thing Harvey had had her name engraved inside it.”

“Did the police find out who brought the bracelet to the flea market?” I asked.

“Not to my knowledge,” Glenda said. She piled up pillows at one end of the sofa, then sank into them as she added, “Mabel was positively crowing and believes her ring was stolen too. She thinks it proves she isn’t getting so old that she’s forgetful.” She shrugged. “As some of us thought.

“My amethyst bracelet must have been stolen too. I’ve looked everywhere and can’t find it.” She sighed as she added, “We’ve never had to lock our doors up here. We’ve lived here for nearly two years, and it’s only lately that we’ve had thefts.”

Mentally I went over the items that had been missing: Betty Jo Crouch’s gold watch and blue topaz ring. Mabel’s bracelet and ring, Glenda’s amethyst bracelet, Ann Barrow’s diamond ring and her husband’s cuff links, Uncle Gabe’s Dime Box bank filled with dimes.
Probably there were other items we hadn’t heard of yet because their owners hadn’t missed them.

There was no way to fix the times of the burglaries, because the owners of the stolen items didn’t know when they were first missing. There was no way to connect the thefts to the deaths of Mr. Crouch and Mr. Barrow. The theft of Uncle Gabe’s Dime Box had happened days after his fall on the stairs. I was totally confused. I needed to confer with Robin.

I made grilled chicken, steamed rice, and asparagus vinaigrette for dinner. Glenda and Gabe loved it. I took advantage of their TV watching to boot up my laptop and contact Robin. My buddy list informed me that she wasn’t online, so I decided to write her an e-mail. As I typed in her screen name, I thought of summer Sunday afternoons in Santa Monica and groaned with jealousy. Robin would probably be at the beach. I forced myself to stop the agony. There was no way I could be in California until the summer was over. And while I was here in Texas, I had to make sure that nothing terrible happened to Uncle Gabe.

I typed in the jewelry thefts and the possible times at which they might have taken place. And I told Robin that Luis had found the paperweight. It hurt to do so, but I even told Robin about stumbling into Luis in the dark and how now I wasn’t sure I trusted him.

After I clicked on
Send Now
, I went into the e-mail that had been sent to me. There was a letter from Mom, of course, who asked again about the ginkgo biloba and ginseng tea because I hadn’t answered and Uncle Richard was still worried, and she hoped I realized that it wasn’t good for Richard to worry right after
having bypass surgery. Then Mom passed along Aunt Ellen’s suggestion that I work out a gentle exercise program for Gabe. In the morning Ellen would send, by overnight delivery, a book from some health clinic and wanted me to be sure to set definite times each day for the exercise program and keep a record.

“Oh, right,” I muttered as I clicked on
Reply.
I assured Mom that there was no ginkgo biloba or ginseng tea in the house, and that I’d suggest the exercise program and do it only if Uncle Gabe agreed.

I was about to turn off my computer when I heard the familiar jingle and the instant message box popped up.

Another jingle, and a second instant message box popped up over the one set up by PDQ.

Robin immediately clicked off, but PDQ’s screen had vanished, so, as I had promised, I sent Robin an instant
message to tell her I was available. She came back on immediately.

While I was getting ready to answer, Robin wrote POS and signed off. I shut down my laptop and sat there, trying so hard to think that I was giving myself a headache.

The telephone rang, and I automatically began to reach for it, then dropped my hands into my lap. I shouldn’t answer someone else’s telephone.

“Julie! It’s for you!” Uncle Gabe’s bellow could probably be heard down the hill.

“Thanks,” I called, and picked up the phone. “Hello?” I said.

“Hi. It’s me—Ashley.”

“Oh, hi. Are you coming over tomorrow for a swim?”

“I wish I could, but Gran says no. Not with the memorial service and all,” Ashley said. “How about Tuesday morning?”

“Tuesday will be great,” I told her. I paused for a moment, then decided to come right out with what I had in mind. “Ashley,” I said, “why don’t you like Luis?”

Her voice dropped, and I could barely hear her. “It doesn’t matter. It’s a personal thing.”

“I’m not trying to be nosy,” I told her. “I’m just trying to figure out … that is, I mean …” I took a deep breath and said, “Last night I saw him standing by our carport in the dark. He told me he had come to see me, but he hadn’t rung the doorbell, and he’d left his truck down the road. What I’m trying to tell you is that I’m confused about him. I thought that since you knew him …”

My words hung in the air, unanswered, until Ashley finally said, “If you don’t believe Luis, then why do
you
think he was there?”

“I don’t know,” I said. I had no way of knowing whether Millie Lee had told her about the thefts that had been taking place on the ranch. As far as the possibility of murder was concerned, I’d confided some of what I thought to Luis and Deputy Foster, but I was
reluctant to tell Ashley my suspicions—especially over the telephone.

I went back to safe ground. “I’ll make something great for lunch on Tuesday,” I said. “Do you like chicken salad?”

“Sure,” Ashley said. “I like just about anything. Except brussels sprouts.”

“Too bad,” I said. “That’s what we’re having for dessert. That or creamed spinach.”

Ashley giggled and said, “Maybe I’ll bring my lunch.”

“Not this time,” I answered. “I promise. My chicken salad is delicious.” All tension between us was gone now, and I said, “I’m glad you’re coming, Ashley. It will be great to see you again.”

“Thanks for inviting me,” Ashley said. “I like visiting your aunt and uncle, too. They make me feel like family.”

“Speaking of family,” I told her, “wait until you hear what my family has decided I should do—start Uncle Gabe on an exercise program! As if he’d agree! I just wish my bossy aunts and uncles would stop telling me what to do.”

Since I expected Ashley to laugh along with me, I was surprised when she said quietly, “Maybe an exercise program for Mr. Hollister would be a good idea.”

“Just try to convince Uncle Gabe of that!” The silence on the phone was uncomfortable, so I tried to lighten the mood by asking, “Are you sure my aunt Ellen didn’t pay you to agree with her?”

“I’ve got to go,” Ashley said, and I heard her phone click off.

“What is the matter with her?” I asked aloud as I
placed the phone on its charger. I had hoped to have Ashley as a friend, but I couldn’t figure out her changeable moods.

I walked into the living room and perched on the sofa next to Glenda. I felt a strong need to prove that Ashley was wrong and I was right.

“Aunt Ellen is sending you an exercise book,” I told Gabe. “It should arrive on Tuesday. She wants me to set up a regular exercise program for you.”

I waited for Gabe to explode and refuse the whole idea, but he just grunted and tucked his chin against his chest.

Glenda smiled sadly at me. “You take such good care of us, Julie,” she said, “but exercise just isn’t Gabe’s cup of tea. Mine, either.”

Guilty because of my secret delight that I’d been right and Ashley had been wrong, I couldn’t meet Glenda’s gaze. “Okay,” I said. I jumped up and walked toward the hall to the bedrooms. Why did my family do this to me? I’d known Gabe wouldn’t cooperate with any exercise program.

A short while later, as the sun was setting, I made sure that Glenda and Gabe were safely watching TV and left the house to visit the observatory. Three cows ambled into the drive, their hooves clattering on the asphalt. They stopped and watched me, curiosity on their faces.

“Go away. Shoo!” I said, once again aware that cows were a lot larger than I had imagined them.

They took a few steps toward me, and I bolted toward the stairs, reaching them and scrambling halfway
up before the cows took a few more inquisitive steps in my direction.

“Go away,” I said again. “Go make yogurt or ice cream or something.” I unlocked the door, stepped into the observatory, and carefully locked the door behind me. I didn’t think cows could climb stairs, but I felt better with a solid door between us.

The red-streaked brilliance of a Western sunset nearly took my breath away. I forced myself to remember that I was here to survey what I could see of the ranch. Red became coral and gold, then swirled under the horizon, disappearing as blackness took over. One by one, then in bursts and bunches, stars sparkled overhead. However, I hadn’t come to the observatory to look for stars. I had another purpose in mind. With the observatory lights out, I watched the panorama beneath me. I saw how brightly the clubhouse was lit and remembered the posted notice for a Sunday-evening buffet.

Headlights snapped on down by the pool and a dark sedan left the parking lot. It turned up the hill to the left instead of taking the road that ran down to the entrance of the ranch. I couldn’t make out the car, but it had to be Damien’s. On Sunday the pool was open until nine, and it was now close to nine-thirty. I wondered where he was going.

The Crouches’ house was dark. One of Glenda’s friends at church had mentioned that Betty Jo Crouch had already left the ranch and her house would soon be up for sale. The furniture wouldn’t be moved until she had found a place to live in Beaumont.

I could get only a glimpse of the Barrows’ house, but all the rooms were lit up. Was Mrs. Barrow alone?
Were her family members with her? Did she have any doubts that her husband’s death had been an accident?

Someone on horseback—probably Cal—circled the cows that had followed me, turning them back down the drive. They strolled off, Cal and his horse behind them. I watched them until they were out of sight.

Cal’s appearance made me think. It wasn’t just Luis whom the residents of Rancho del Oro were used to seeing around their property. Cal and his cowboys must be familiar to them too. They all had access to the homes, with those pitiful locks, and could have committed the thefts, but they wouldn’t have a reason for murder—a motive, as Robin had called it. There had to be a motive, she had said.

I sat in the observatory for at least a half hour, trying to think, until I saw headlights return to the pool. The sedan parked. The office lights went on, then off a few minutes later, and the sedan drove away toward the right on the road leading out of the ranch. Where had Damien gone? I wondered. And why did he return to the pool office for such a short time? To pick up something he’d forgotten? Or to drop something off?

I let out a discouraged sigh. How could I possibly find out?