Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 05 - Life Between the Lines (3 page)

“He what?” Polly gasped. “No. Freakin’. Way!”

“Well, it might make sense,” Jeff said.

“It makes no sense at all. This is Bellingwood, not Des Moines or Ames, not even Boone or Webster City. I’m not putting video cameras up. People come here to get away from the insanity of things. I’m not monitoring their every move. No way. Big Brother doesn’t live at Sycamore House. I don’t ever want to hear you suggest that again.”

“Umm, whoa! Okay, I didn’t. It was the Sheriff.”

“Aaron Merritt would feel better if I had armed guards around here all the time. It’s bad enough that because I have a cool piece of technology with the keys, people’s movements can be tracked at all.”

Jeff put his hands up in defense. “I’m not pushing it. I’ll just leave this hot button issue alone
now.”

“Okay. Good idea. So … Eliseo was able to clean the floor upstairs?”

“Yeah. I called Aaron first. Eliseo is working in the auditorium right now and I think Jason is helping him.” Jeff smiled when he said that. “They’re good for each other.”

“You’re right. They really are. I’m glad there’s someone in Jason’s life that just lets him be a boy.”

Jeff turned to leave her office, “You should call Lydia Merritt. When we spoke this morning, she told me not to let you get too busy before you phoned her.”

Polly rolled her eyes. “Sometimes friends are a little overwhelming. I’ll call. I promise. But I’m calling Henry first.”

“Smart girl,” Jeff laughed. “Oh, and I told the guests that they were safe. I made something up and told them the murder was personal, not random. Here’s hoping it wasn’t a lie.”

Polly brought her computer to life after he left, then dialed her cell phone. It went to Henry’s voice mail, so she told him she would call later and dialed Lydia Merritt.

“Hi, Lydia. I hear you’re looking for me,” Polly laughed.

“I know I drive you crazy, but I worry about you.”

“Did you have to sic Jeff on me too?”

“Is that what he said? That brat. I called him about Halloween decorations. I wanted to make sure that we were on the same page for Beggar’s Night.”

She was planning to decorate the foyer for the kids. Since Lydia lived on the edge of town they never had kids show up and she’d always wanted to do a haunted house. She coerced Beryl Watson to help and they were bringing ghosts and witches to Sycamore House.

Polly chuckled, “He made it sound as if you were circling the wagons.”

“No. I might have asked if you had come downstairs yet, but I knew you’d call when you could. I’m sorry you had to deal with last night alone.”

“Lydia, that’s probably the most difficult thing about it
all. When I finally relaxed, I really did feel alone. I knew that Aaron and his team were out in the foyer, but I was all by myself.”

“I wish I would have come over with him. He wouldn’t let me, but I could have forced my way into the car.”

“It’s fine now. I was just being a cry baby.”

“You had a man die on you. I don’t think you reacted inappropriately.”

“Thanks for that. What time did Aaron come home?”

“He hasn’t been home yet. I’m headed down to Boone with his lunch and a change of clothes. He has a long day ahead of him. Would you come over for supper tonight? Henry isn’t back until tomorrow, right?”

“Actually, he won’t be back until Monday. He’s doing something with his sister tomorrow afternoon.”

“Have you talked to him yet?”

“I called, but had to leave a voice mail.”

“Come over tonight. Just come hang out with me.”

Polly paused and thought about it. “Let me text you later, okay? I don’t know what the rest of the day is going to bring.”

“That’s fine, dear. I’d love to have you, though.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“I’ll let you go. I love you, Polly. Take care of yourself today.”

“I love you too, Lydia.”

They hung up and Polly opened her browser and clicked on the email tab that popped up. She smiled as she saw one from Sal Kahane. They had been roommates and best friends in college and in one short trip to Iowa, Sal managed to fall for the local veterinarian.
Mark Ogden had fallen just as hard for Sal and the two of them were trying to figure out if they could ever make their relationship work. Sal lived in Boston and Mark wasn’t planning to leave Iowa. He’d gone out in September to spend time with her and when he got back, told Polly he could never live in in that city. There were way too many people confined in a small space.

Sal intended to surprise him in just a couple of weeks. Sycamore House’s Anniversary Ball was set for the Saturday after Beggar’s Night and this year the theme was a Black Masque. Invitations had been sent over a month ago so people could begin gathering costumes and masks
and Polly could hardly wait.

“Hey, girl. I’m all set to fly out. I’ve shipped my costume to you, so hold on to it for me, will you? I’ve got the rental car scheduled and I will just drive up that afternoon. I can’t wait to see you again. Who knew I’d be spending this much time in Iowa! Do you have a room for me yet?”

She had planned to put Sal in the middle room after Thomas Zeller vacated it. If they had to do a lot of work in there to get it back into shape, she wasn’t sure it would be ready.

“Jeff?” she called.

She heard him sigh loudly and then footsteps as he crossed over to her office. “Why do you do this to me?” he asked. “Come see me. Don’t yell at me.”

“Why not?” she laughed. “You always respond.”

“My mom never let us get away with yelling up and down the stairs. If she caught us, there was punishment.”

“Well, I didn’t have any sisters or brothers, so it was never a problem at my house. It looks as if you are going to have to re-train me
. Good luck with that.”

“Whatever. What did you need?”

“I was going to put Sal in Thomas Zeller’s room, but now I don’t know if it’s going to be ready. Do you have any ideas?”

“Something in the addition will be open if that room isn’t ready. No worries. I’ve got your back.”

“What would I do without you?” Polly winked at him.

“Yell at an empty office.”

He spun around and walked out.

“Jeff?” she called again.

“What now?” He poked his head back in her office.

“Thank you.”

CHAPTER THREE

After the day she’d had, Polly wanted nothing more than to stay home and spent time on video chat with her boyfriend. Boyfriend. It still sounded odd.

Henry Sturtz had gone from being Polly’s contractor, to friend and then
boyfriend in the course of the last year. When she looked forward to doing this rather than spending the evening with anyone else, she knew she’d been hooked.

He was in Ann Arbor, and when they had talked earlier, he was frustrated because Lonnie was dragging him to some of her favorite antique stores. He couldn’t say no to the girl and this time she had him measuring her kitchen because she had a bright idea for new … well … old cupboards. They scoured the shops for cupboard doors, knobs and hinges. Lonnie wanted nothing to match exactly and planned to paint cupboard doors as long as Henry built the carcasses. Polly had laughed at his frustration, which caused him to growl back at her.

Then Polly had called Lydia and begged off spending the evening at her house. After she and Henry finally said good night, she wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. She was looking forward to Sunday morning in the barn with the promise of an early trail ride.

The familiar trill of the video ring tone had Polly scrambling to bring up the chat window. She clicked the button to share video and in just a few moments, saw Henry’s face smiling at her.

“Hi there, hot stuff,” she said, winking at him.

“Hi there yourself. How are you?”

“I’m fine. How was your day?”

He laughed. “Let me show you my day. Care to take a walk?”

Polly considered herself a child of the technology age, but she still couldn’t believe how cool some of it really was. Henry walked outside to his truck.

“Look,” he said, “Look at this crap I’m bringing back with me.” He panned the phone over the bed of his truck.

“What in the world do you have in there?”

“I have the strangest conglomeration of cabinet doors and drawer faces you could imagine. I’m supposed to make something cohesive out of all of this.”

“You didn’t say no again, did you?” Polly grinned.             

“You know I don’t do that very well.”

“I’m never going to commiserate with you if your biggest problem is saying no to your sister. She knows you will do whatever she asks, so she keeps asking.”

“No pity?”

“None.”

He dropped his eyes, “I can’t say no. This will be attractive when we’re finished,
but it’s going to be a pain in the butt.”

“Well, when you figure out how to say no, I’ll figure out how to feel sorry for you.”

“I thought you were supposed to be on my side.”

“Hah. I’ll always be there, but I can’t guarantee that I won’t
be laughing at you, too.”

“That seems fair
,” he sighed. “How are you? I can’t believe that I’m out of town again when your life turns upside down.”

“I’m doing fine. It all seems really surreal.”

“Does Aaron have any leads yet?”

“None at all.” Polly said. “And I seem to be missing a guest. Her stuff is here, but she’s gone. The guy on the other side of Thomas was passed out drunk in his room last night. Aaron was hoping that my key card system might tell him who went in and out, but it isn’t enough information. The killer could have come in with anyone and we’d never know.”

“Can you upgrade your system to give you more information?”

“I’m not monitoring Sycamore House just because this happened, Henry. I can’t let paranoia
turn us into Orwell’s 1984.”

“Okay, okay. That makes sense, but at the same time, wouldn’t it be safer if you had a record of things happening there?”

“No! I’m not doing it.”

“Got it. No excessive monitoring at Sycamore House. So … back to surreal. Polly, you had a man die in your house last night. How are you doing with that?”

She shook her head. “It was awful. Henry, I’ve never felt so helpless. At first I didn’t know what was happening and then I realized I couldn’t do anything to help him. Even before I had my wits about me, he died. Then there were people everywhere and then Aaron sent me in to my apartment and then I fell apart.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

“I wanted you to be here. I felt so alone.”

“Polly, you’re killing me!”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you feel bad about this. That’s not it at all. I missed you. I hate to admit that when things fall apart, you’re the first person I want to talk to.”

“You could have called me.”

“I wasn’t going to wake you up just to cry all over you. I managed to get through it.”

“You can always call me.”

“I know, but it was stupid early in the morning and I didn’t want to wake you up.”

Henry actually growled. “How would you feel if I didn’t call you when something awful happened around me?”

“I’d be mad at you,” she said, a bit petulantly. “I’m sorry. I should have called you. That was silly of me.”

“It really was. I thought we were past all of this. I’m not just a fair-weather friend. I’m here through all of it. Even if it is stupid early and you have your ugly crying face on.”

“I’m ugly when I cry?”

“Well, you aren’t as pretty as you are right now. You can work up a good set of red eyes and snotty nose.”

She threw a cat toy at the screen, then realized the camera was on top of the screen.

“That wasn’t very effective, now was it?” he laughed.

“Leave me alone.”             

“So, what can you tell me about Thomas Zeller? What does Aaron have to say about this?”

“Aaron hasn’t talked to me yet. He asked a few questions, but I don’t know what might have led to Thomas’s murder. At least I don’t think I do.”

“You really can’t think of anything?” he pressed.

“I really can’t. We talked about a million things this last month. He told me a little about his life before and after all of the drugs.” She stopped and looked at Henry. “He was going to Hollywood next month. I can’t believe he doesn’t get to go now. He was looking forward to it. He couldn’t wait to be a celebrity, talking to reporters and sitting through casting calls. He had so much life ahead of him.” Polly sighed and slumped, then yawned.

“Am I boring you?” Henry asked.

“No, I don’t think I completely made up for the sleep I lost last night. Would you mind if I walked away for a moment and got changed for bed? I’ll take you in there with me and when we’re finished talking I can fall asleep.”

“That’s the sweetest offer I’ve had today,” he said. “I’ll do the same thing. Meet me back here in five minutes?”

“You have a lot of confidence that it doesn’t take me long to get ready for bed.”

“You’re my efficient, pretty Polly. Do you need ten?”

“No,” she giggled, “Five will do it.”

Polly left the laptop on the coffee table and went in to her bedroom to change into a fresh pair of pajama bottoms and a sloppy t-shirt. She slipped her arms into her robe and tied it around her waist.

“I’m picking you up? Are you back yet?” she called out as she walked to the computer. There wasn’t any answer, so she assumed she had moved faster than Henry in getting ready for bed. When she picked the laptop up, his grinning face greeted her.

“I’m here, are you?” he asked.

“I was just picking you up so I could take you to bed.”

“That sounds promising.”

“Stop it,” she scolded. “Just stop it.”

Polly settled into the bed with the laptop on her lap. Obiwan jumped up and got comfortable beside her. She yawned once and then again.

“You stop that,” Henry said, “You’re making me tired.”

“I know, but I can’t stop!” The laptop moved on her lap when Luke jumped up and tried to settle himself between her stomach and the computer.

“What’s this?” she asked as she felt something hard and sharp in her pocket, then she said, “OH!”

“What’s oh?” Henry asked.

“Oh is this!” Polly pulled a small USB flash drive out of the pocket of her robe. “Thomas gave this to me last night just before he died. I completely forgot about it.”

“What’s on it?”

“I have no idea, but he told me that it was only for me. Henry, I feel so stupid. How could I have forgotten about it?”

“You were thinking of a million other things this morning and you were probably in shock
too. What’s on it?”

“I don’t know. Let me plug it in.” Polly inserted the USB drive into her computer and waited for it to load. She giggled.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, I had this thought that all of a sudden my screen would explode in light and sound like it did in the Whoopi Goldberg movie,
Jumpin’ Jack Flash
when she finally figured out the key so she could have a conversation with a spy. It was silly then and it would be even sillier now.”

“I suppose …”

“Tell me you’ve seen the movie,” she laughed.

“No. I can’t say I ever have.”

“We’re fixing that when you come home. It’s one of my favorites! I’m a little black woman in a big silver box.” Polly started to cackle.

“What?”

“I can’t repeat lines from movies to save my life, but that’s just one of my favorites.” She continued to laugh, and then she drew in a breath. “Wow. There are a lot of folders on here. I’m never going to be able to dig through all of this.”

“What are you seeing?”

“Tons of folders and there are more folders inside of those. There are manuscripts and jpegs and PDF files.” She looked into the camera at the top of her screen. “Henry, I’m never going to get through all of this. And before he died, he told me to ‘find him.’”

“Who is him?” Henry asked.

“I don’t know. I figured it was his killer, but it could be anyone. Was he looking for someone? I don’t have any context for this massive amount of information!”

Polly’s voice
got higher as she started to panic.

“Polly. Slow down. You don’t have to figure this out tonight. You can take your time with it.”

“But, what if he was killed because of this information? Should I give it to Aaron?”

“What exactly did Thomas say to you when he gave you the drive?”

“I hardly remember. I was watching this poor man bleed to death in front of me and trying to stop Obiwan from getting into it and making a mess and trying to call someone for help and oh, Henry, I don’t remember!”

“Breathe. Calm down. Shut your eyes.”

Polly closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths.

“Now what did he say to you?” Henry asked.

“He told me that it was for me. It wasn’t for anyone else and I was supposed to find him. That’s all he said, Henry.”

“Do you have space on your laptop?”

“Sure. I have a ton of space on here.”

“Copy the data to the hard drive, then tomorrow morning, put it on your drive downstairs. You don’t want this to be the only copy. I don’t know what he has given you, but I’m not comfortable with you being its keeper. Please call Aaron in the morning and tell him. Let him have the drive.”

“Aaron’s going to think I held this back on purpose.”                           

“Oh, come on. No he’s not. He knows you better than that. He also knows what you went through this morning. You don’t want to call him tonight, do you?”

Polly checked the time. It was ten fifteen. “No, I don’t want to wake him, especially since there are no dead bodies this time.”

Henry chuckled. “You know, someday I’m going to be there when the …” he stopped talking and began laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Polly asked.

“You won’t even believe it.”

“What?”

“I owe you dinner.”

“Okay. Awesome, but why?”