Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 06 - A Season of Change (7 page)

Polly leaned forward on Jeff’s desk, putting her head in her hands. “I don’t know what to do. Is he going to escalate? Will he hurt someone? Does he know about the hotel?”

“Breathe, honey. Call Aaron or Ken and tell them what’s going on. They’ll send more patrols around at night. We’ll leave the lights on and make sure things are safe. The rooms are full, so people are wandering around at all hours and if you keep your bedroom door open, Obiwan will alert you to any sounds that are out of place. Right?”

“You’re right. And I suppose if he does any damage out at the hotel, it’s no big deal. The place is in complete destruction as it is. Damn it, Jeff. Why do things always pile on top of each other?

“I don’t know. Who should we contact? Aaron or Ken?”

“Probably Aaron. If Anita needs to come up and look at the system again, he can have her do that.”

“Doug probably wouldn’t mind it if she did.”

Polly grinned. Doug and Anita were tentatively trying to figure out how to have a relationship. They’d dated a few times in the last several months, but Doug was terribly shy about the whole thing and Anita was extremely busy. There had been a few gaming nights in the computer room here and Anita had come up to play, but they had yet to do much more than be casual about it.

“Do you want me to call him?”

“Would you mind? He’s had enough of me today. And if you call him at least he won’t assume I’ve found another dead person.”

“Eliseo told me what happened. You’ve had a bad day. I’ll take care of this. Why don’t you go upstairs, take a shower and relax.”

Polly looked down at her filthy clothes. “Am I offending you?”

“I’m not about to say that,” he laughed, “but you’ll probably feel better if you do.”

He was right. “Thanks, Jeff. I appreciate you talking me in from the ledge.”

“I’m here to take care of everything, even your sanity when necessary.”

Polly went back upstairs and opened the front door of her apartment. When she stepped into the living room, she was greeted by a very guilty looking dog and two nonchalant cats.

“What did you do this time?” she asked and glanced at the dining room table. The chicken was gone and the container and fork were on the floor. The cottage cheese container was tipped over, but she’d not had time to open it, so nothing had spilled. The apple was missing and she knew she needed to find it. She picked up the fork and empty chicken container, then looked for more signs of destruction. There was a smear of tomato on the floor leading into the kitchen. A quick swipe with a paper towel and it was cleaned up. Polly put the cottage cheese away and took out another apple. The bite of chicken had been wonderful, but the email had upset her enough that her stomach had forgotten how hungry it was.

She had a couple of hours until the boys showed up so she headed for the shower. It didn’t surprise her at all to find the apple on the bathroom floor. She tossed it into the trash can under the sink and turned on the water.

Damn. She’d forgotten to call Ben to tell him she wasn’t coming back to the hotel. Padding into the bedroom, she picked up the phone and called Henry.

“Hey pretty girl, I’m not far away now. What are you doing?”

Her voice broke, “Henry, could you tell Ben I’m not coming back to the hotel this afternoon and ask him to take the cart back to the basement and close up?”

“What happened, Polly?”

“I’m done. I can’t take any more today. I’m going to crawl in the shower and wash this damned day off of me.”

“What happened?”

“I got an email from the person who vandalized Sycamore House last fall. He’s back. I haven’t had anything to eat and Obiwan ate my chicken breast and stole my apple. I’m tired, filthy, and hungry and I don’t want to be an adult any more today.”

“You got an email? Have you called Aaron or Ken?”

“Jeff is taking care of it. I’m done.” She started to cry. “I’m sorry, Henry. Don’t worry. I’ll feel better after a shower. But could you call Ben for me?”

“I’ll go there now and take care of it myself. Don’t worry about anything. Take your shower. Make some toast and lay down until the boys show up. I’ll be by later.”

“Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Polly.”

After he hun
g up, Polly felt tears stream down her face. She figured she might as well do it in the shower, so she checked the temperature of the water, turned it up until it was almost too hot and stepped in. It was only two fifteen and she felt like she had already dealt with an eighteen hour day. This one needed to be finished.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Polly woke the next morning feeling much better. Henry had waited until the boys had gone home and come over with pizza, ice cream treats and Mountain Dew. He’d reluctantly gone to his own home after they watched television, worrying that the vandal might try something, but Polly made him leave. She assured him that if something did happen, his presence wouldn’t stop it. Today she was heading to his house to start cleaning. She could strip beds and scrub down cupboards, vacuum and dust. If that made him feel better about having his parents return to Iowa, she was glad to do it.

When she and Obiwan got to the barn, Rachel was there.

“Good morning!” Polly said, stopping at Daisy’s stall. “What are you doing here this morning?”

“I miss hanging out with Daisy, so since I’m working late tonight, I thought I’d come down and hug her. Is that okay?”

“Of course it is. I’m glad you want to be here. How did the birthday party go last night?”

“It was great! Sylvie helped me set up, but I did most of the work, so I got the tip. And it was big!”

“Congratulations.” Polly loved the idea that Sylvie, who had been barely scraping by when they first met, was now enabling someone else to find success.

The three of them fed the horses and turned them out. The morning was crisp, but held promise for sunshine and warmth as morning turned to afternoon.

Polly took Obiwan back up to her apartment and called Henry.

“Good morning, pretty girl!” he said. “How are you feeling today?”

“Much better. Thank you for taking care of me last night. I was worn out.”

“No signs of vandalism?”

“None that we’ve seen yet, so I’m hoping for the best.”

“I was worried about you last night.”

“I know, but there’s nothing we can do until we figure out who’s doing this. Do you have cleaning supplies at the house?”

“Everything is on the kitchen table. There’s a box of old rags there if you need them. Do you know where the laundry room is off the kitchen?”

“I’ll find it. Don’t worry. And it’s not like I can’t call if I have questions.”

He chuckled. “You’re right. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“It’s not often I get to take care of you. I kind of like it.”

“Can I bring lunch? I’ll even go to your place first and let Obiwan out for a walk.”

“That would be fantastic. Whenever you show up will be fine. I’ll be the girl covered in dirt.”

“I’ll still kiss your nose. Thank you again. See you later.”

She fed the animals, pulled her hair back into a pony tail and looked down at herself. It was a good thing Henry loved her. Between dog hair and horse hair, she was a mess and it would be worse by the time he saw her for lunch.

Polly opened the garage door, got into her truck and backed out onto the driveway. She waited for the door to come back down and then jammed her foot on the brake. In bright red spray paint were the words,
Pretty girl deserves this
.

“Deserves what, dammit!” Polly slammed her fists on the steering wheel. She took her phone back out and called Henry back. “I found the vandalism.” Her voice was flat. Anything else would bring
more tears.

“What happened?”

“Here, I’m sending you a picture. Call me back.” She snapped a picture of the door and sent it to him and then waited. Her phone rang. It was Henry.

“I’m so sorry. I can’t believe this is happening. Call Aaron.”

“I’ll call Ken. He took reports on the last vandalism.”

“Damn it, Polly. Call them both. How did no one see this? The place was lit up when I left last night.”

Polly got out of the truck and went over to the light by the garage door. She reached up, gave it a quick turn and it came back on. “It was unscrewed out of the socket, Henry.”

“But the lights were on in the lane and you have lights all along the back there.”

Polly walked over to the light on the other side of the garage door. It had been unscrewed as well. That one she left alone, hoping that the vandal had been foolish enough to leave fingerprints. At this point, it was all they had.

“I don’t know when I’m going to get to your house. I need to deal with this,” she said.

“Don’t worry about me. Make your calls.”

“Thanks, Henry.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m pretty much at ‘whatever.’ I don’t have a lot of emotion left for this.”

“Do you still love me?”

“I really do, but could you do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Don’t call me pretty girl for a while.”

“I promise. I love you, Polly.”

“I’ll call later. Love you too.”

She hung up and called the police station, while walking through the kitchen into the offices.

“Bellingwood Police Department, may I help you?” asked the bright voice on the other end of the phone.

“Hi. It’s Polly Giller at Sycamore House. I’ve had more vandalism.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Polly. What happened?”

“It’s just spray paint on my garage door in the back. Do you need to send someone?”

“I’ll have Ken come over. He’s out in his car right now. Will you be in the office?”

“Probably.”

“I’m sorry, Polly. I hope we find whoever is doing it soon.”

“Me too. Thanks.” She hung up and went into Jeff’s office.

He looked up from his computer. “Hey! What are you doing here today? I thought your email said you were going to be gone this morning.”

“The vandal spray-painted my garage door. Ken Wallers is coming over.” Polly dropped into a chair.

“You’re kidding! Wow, I’m sorry, Polly.”

“Me too. I’m just tired of it. So far it hasn’t been anything dangerous, but this wears me out.”

“I know. What can I do?”

“Let me sit here and whine for a minute. Actually, I’m going to call Aaron first. I’ll be back to whine in a bit.”

He smiled at her. “Let me know if I can do anything else.”

Polly went into her own office and called Aaron.

“Hello?” he asked tentatively.

“I have no more bodies,” she chuckled. “But the vandal hit my garage door last night. Ken is coming over.”

“What happened?”

“He spray painted the words
Pretty girl deserves this
and unscrewed the light bulbs on either side of the door. I had hoped that having lights on everywhere would help, but they managed to get in and do it anyway.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Well, I’m feeling just rotten enough that I’m going to make you tell me what you know about Bruce Victor.”

“We don’t have much yet. I was going to go see the coroner this morning to see if she’s had a chance to get started.”

“Does he have family here in town?”

“Yes. He had a wife and a little boy.”

“Oh, Aaron. That’s horrible!”

“It really is.”

“Can I do anything?”             

“Lydia is taking a meal over and she might like some company.”

“Did you talk to the boys and do you know when he was killed?”

“I’m still waiting on the details.”

“So it wasn’t like a gun shot?”

“Polly,” Aaron warned. “I don’t know anything yet.”

“Aaron Merritt, you’ve been doing this for a long time. You know if a man’s been shot.”

“He wasn’t shot.”

“Was he stabbed?”

“Well, yes.”

“Was that what killed him?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Polly was exasperated.

“Because that wasn’t all that happened. There are some strange bruises on him, too.”

“Like he was beaten?”             

“I don’t want you to say anything to anyone about this, do you hear me?” Aaron demanded.

“Aaron, do you know what you’re telling me?”

“Apparently too much. You are going to be the death of me.”

“Aaron, those were the two methods of murder from Lydia’s murder mystery Sunday night.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment and Polly waited while he processed that information.

“I must be getting old,” he said. “You’re absolutely right. But that doesn’t make any sense. I talked to the boys and they were in Omaha with Henry.”

“Are you sure?”

“They had receipts for dinner downtown and the hotel room. I can call the restaurant and send someone over with their pictures, I guess. But they all seemed shook up and surprised. I don’t think it’s them.”

“Well it wasn’t me and I’m pretty sure that the people who were sitting at your table are innocent.”

“Okay, okay. Now, back to the vandalism. You got an email yesterday, right?”

“Uh huh.”

“Do you still want Anita to come up and check your system?”

“She’s going to tell me the same thing as she did last fall, isn’t she? The person is using my own wireless.”

“You never know. She can always check for you.”

“Let me call her. I’m going to try to do a little matchmaking.”

He chuckled. “I don’t want to know. She’s like a daughter to me. Call Lydia when you get a chance, okay?”

“I will and thanks for talking to me.”

Before anything else could distract her, she called Lydia.

“Good morning, Polly. What are you up to?”

“I just talked to your husband and he said you were going to take something over to Bruce Victor’s wife. It seems so sad that she is all alone in Bellingwood now. Can I go with you?”

“Do you really want to?”

“No, but it seems like someone should and if no one else knows her or knows what is going on, then it’s just you and me.”

“Dearheart, that’s wonderful. I’m stirring and mixing and cooking and baking this morning and told her I would come by about three o’clock. Does that work for you?”

“I’ll be ready. What can I make?”

“You don’t have to make anything. I will have enough for her to eat for weeks.”

“How about a loaf of bread? I can do that while I wait for Ken.”

“Why are you waiting for Ken?”

“Oh, Lydia. The vandal is back and spray painted my garage door.”

“Polly, I’m sorry. Did you get another email this time?”

“Yes. I’m just so mad.”

“I’ll bet you are. A loaf of bread would be terrific. I have another call coming in. I’ll pick you up at three?”

“I’ll be ready. Come on around back and you can see my latest art acquisition.”

“Bye bye!”

Polly put the phone down on her desk and leaned back in her chair. She ran a hand over her head and tugged on the pony tail. It didn’t look like she would have much time to spend at Henry’s today. She sat back up and leaned on her desk, resting her head in both hands. What were the most important things to do at Henry’s? She needed to pull down the drapes and get them to the cleaners and strip the beds. Tonight she and Henry could empty and clean the kitchen cupboards, then tomorrow she could work on the bathrooms. Yeah. This would work.

“Polly?”

Startled, she looked up and felt her face flush. “Hi Ken.”

“I just came in from the back. Did you touch the light bulbs?”

“I did touch the one closest to Sycamore House, but left the other one alone, just in case.”

He grinned at her. “You’re a smart girl, Polly. Can Eliseo deal with cleaning up the paint?”

“I’m sure we can take care of it. Do you need anything else from me?”

“No, I don’t think so. We’ll find who is doing this, Polly.”

“I know. I thought it was over when they were gone for so long.”

“Would you consider putting cameras up?”