The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds (12 page)

Shortly before noon on
Saturday, Joe Morelli arrived at Marlow House. Accompanying him was his
partner, Brian Henderson, another officer from the Frederickport Police
Department. Lily showed them both to the library, where Danielle was waiting.

Danielle stood up when
the two officers, both dressed in uniform, entered the room. “Any news?” She
immediately recognized the officer with Joe. They’d met briefly the previous
week when Joe had taken her out to lunch. Officer Henderson was much older than
Joe, old enough to be his father, she guessed.

“Nothing yet,” Joe
said. “We wondered if we could have a look at the room Cheryl was using.”

“What for?” Danielle
asked.

“Maybe there’s
something up there that might give us a clue as to where she went,” Joe said.

“Umm…okay…but there
really isn’t anything up there. The room was straightened up for the party. It
looks pretty much the same way it did before she arrived.”

“She didn’t take her
things with her, did she?” Brian asked.

“No. As far as we can
tell she just took her purse. We found her cell phone in the kitchen after she
left with Adam,” Danielle explained.

“What about her other
things? I assume she arrived with a suitcase, clothes.” Brian asked.

“Yes she did, but I
don’t see how that’s going to help you,” Danielle said.

“Is there some reason
you don’t want us to look at her things?” Brian asked.

“Of course not!”
Danielle said quickly. “It’s upstairs, come with me.”  She reluctantly led them
upstairs while dreading what they would find in the suitcase.
Damn Walt for
trying to help
, she silently cursed.

    When they got to
the Red Room Joanne had just removed the bed sheets. The mattress was bare,
save for the quilted mattress pad. “Afternoon Joe, Brian,” Joanne greeted. She
looked at Danielle and asked, “Do you want me to put fresh sheets on the bed or
just the bedspread?”

“Probably just the
bedspread for now. But I’m going to use the bed for a minute, so if there’s
something else you need to do.” Danielle walked to the closet and opened the
door. She pulled Cheryl’s suitcase from the closet shelf and tossed it on the
bed.

“This is it,” Danielle
said.

Instead of leaving the
room, Joanne stood and watched as Brian opened the suitcase.

“Oh my god,” Brian
said, wrinkling his nose. An unpleasant odor emitted from the suitcase, a
result of the damp towels in conjunction with the assortment of spilled lotions
and toiletries. Gingerly Brian lifted one item after another from the suitcase.
“This is a mess. Why in the world would she cram everything in there like
this?”

“She obviously didn’t intend
to come back. Looks like she’s stained everything in her suitcase with that
makeup,” Joe said, looking down at the jumble of fabric, now damp, stained and
smelly.

Joanne took several
steps toward the bed, looked down at the open suitcase and said, “She didn’t do
that.”

“How do you know she
didn’t?”
Joe asked

“You were here, Joe,
when I asked her about cleaning the room—the day before the party.”

“Yes. And I seem to
remember Danielle telling you not to worry about it, that Cheryl would clean
the room in the morning.”

“She also apologized to
me later,” Joanne said.

“What do you mean?” Joe
asked.

“I was up in the attic
cleaning the windows when she came up, not long after her little scene about
the room. She apologized for being rude and admitted she was upset with her
cousin. I think she really believes half of this place is hers.”

“Did she mention the
necklace?” Joe asked.

“The only thing I
recall, she asked me where the safe was.”

“The safe?” Brian
asked. “What safe?”

“I imagine she’s
talking about the safe I installed to keep the necklace until I could return it
to the bank,” Danielle said.

Joanne nodded. “Yes.”

“What did you tell
her?” Joe asked.

“I told her she needed
to talk to her cousin about that. I really did not want to get involved. Oh, I
didn’t tell her I didn’t want to get involved. I just told her she would have
to ask her cousin about the safe.”

“I still don’t
understand why you’re certain she didn’t pack the suitcase,” Brian said.

“Because on Friday
morning I came upstairs to get the brochures out of Danielle’s room to put in
the library. I noticed the door to Cheryl’s room was shut and there was a note
on it. Curious, I read the note. It said something like
private resident
or
private quarter
. Something like that, and to stay out. From what I
understood Danielle wanted all the rooms open for people to see, plus Cheryl
had agreed to clean the room. I knocked, when there was no answer, I peeked
inside. The room was a mess, clothes everywhere. Wet towels on the floor. I
decided to ask Danielle what she wanted me to do about it.”

“And what did she say?”
Brian asked.

“She never asked me,”
Danielle answered.

“That’s true, I
didn’t.” Joanne said. “I went to the library first, to put the brochures on the
table and clean up some potting soil that had spilled on the floor. While I was
cleaning up I noticed Danielle going up stairs. I figured she’d see the mess
for herself. When I was done in the library I went upstairs to see if I could
help Danielle, but she was in the bathroom taking a shower and by that time the
room was already straightened up. I just assumed Danielle cleaned the room. But
if she didn’t, I suppose someone else in the house must have.”

“Did you see Cheryl go
up the stairs? Clear view from the library door to whoever is going up and down
those stairs,” Brian said.

“I only saw Danielle
going upstairs—but that doesn’t mean someone else didn’t. I wasn’t watching the
door. Yet I’m fairly certain it wasn’t Cheryl.”

“Why do you say that?”
Joe asked.

“When I came back down
stairs I found Cheryl in the parlor. I didn’t want her to snap at me again, so
I didn’t say anything about the room. Yet, I did ask her how long she’d been in
the parlor. She said all morning. But I suppose it’s possible she went upstairs
and I didn’t see her and she didn’t mention it.”

“Was the room cleaned
up when you came up to take a shower?” Brian asked Danielle.

“I honestly didn’t
notice,” Danielle lied. “There was just so much to do.”

“Did you pack your
cousin’s suitcase?” Brian asked.

“Of course not,”
Danielle said.

“Did Lily?” Joe asked,

“No, Lily wouldn’t do
something like that.”

“Then who did?” Brian
asked.

“I have no idea, but
does it really matter?” Danielle asked.

“I’m sorry,” Joanne blurted
out. “I didn’t mean to imply Danielle or Lily were responsible for the
suitcase. People were coming and going that morning. Excuse me, I need to get
back to work.” Joanne turned and quickly left the room, shutting the door
behind her.

“In answer to your
question, Ms. Boatman, everything matters,” Brian said seriously. “Did you have
some idea that Cheryl was planning to leave Marlow House without her suitcase?”

“Of course not. Why
would you ask that?” Danielle frowned.

“That would mean you
intended for her to find her suitcase like this.”

“I told you I wasn’t
the one who put all that stuff in there. Anyway, what does any of that matter?
Even if I had done it, which I didn’t, what does that have to do with the fact
she ran out of here—with a room full of witnesses, including Joe—with the
necklace?”

“I’m just trying to get
a better idea of your relationship with your cousin.”

“I will admit I’ve
never been fond of my cousin,” Danielle said. “I would be perfectly happy to
never see her again. But that doesn’t mean I would ever hurt her.”

“No one has suggested
you hurt her,” Brian said.

“What I mean, I don’t
want anyone to hurt her. I’m frightened for Cheryl. She’s missing, and having
that necklace makes her vulnerable.”

“So you believe she’s
in danger? Who do you know who would want to hurt her?” Brian asked.

“I don’t know anyone in
particular, aside from maybe Adam. After all, he was the last one seen with
her. And I know he was interested in that necklace long before I found it.”

“What are you talking
about?” Brian asked.

“Danielle seems to
believe Adam and Bill Smith were the ones who broke into Marlow House.
Remember, Craig called me when he found the library window broken and the front
door wide open,” Joe explained.

“I don’t remember
anything about Adam and Bill being questioned,” Brian said, looking from
Danielle to Joe.

“I didn’t want to upset
Marie,” Danielle explained. “And I didn’t have any real proof. But I knew both
men heard Marie tell Ian about Walt Marlow possibly taking the necklace.”

“And because of that
you think they’re the ones who broke in?” Brian asked incredulously.

“Well…” Danielle took a
deep breath. “I decided to test my hunch. I called Bill to fix the window—the
window I believed they broke. When he was done, I told him I wouldn’t be paying
him for the repair because I knew he and Adam were the ones responsible.”

“What did he say?”
Brian asked.

“He asked me why I
wasn’t calling the police if I was so convinced he and Adam had broken into the
house. I told him I didn’t want to upset Marie and since he fixed the window
I’d consider us even.”

“What did he do?” Brian
asked.

“He just looked at me,
sort of dazed, and left. That was the last time I saw him. I found the necklace
after that and didn’t feel they were really a threat anymore. After all, everyone
knew I kept the necklace at the bank.”

“Was Bill at the
party?” Brian asked.

“No. I didn’t invite
him,” Danielle said.

“But you invited Adam?”
Brian asked.

“I invited Marie. I
consider her a friend. I understood Adam would probably be bringing her, but I
didn’t think there would be a problem.”

“Even with the necklace
here?” Brian asked.

“I figured stealing
something that everyone knows exists is much riskier than taking a treasure
that everyone assumed went missing years before. I didn’t think Adam was that
type of a jewel thief.”

“But you think he is
responsible for your cousin’s disappearance?” Brian asked.

“I’m beginning to think
he isn’t as harmless as I originally thought. She left with him. Where did she
go that night? She obviously didn’t walk back here and no one has come forward
to say they saw her.”

“I’d like to take this
down to the station, so we can look through it down there.” Brian dropped the
few items he had touched back into the suitcase and zipped it up.

“I guess that’s okay,”
Danielle said, looking to Joe for some sign of support.

• • • •

Brian tossed Cheryl’s
suitcase into the trunk of the police car. When he got in the vehicle with Joe
he asked, “Do you think this is just some publicity stunt?”

“Absolutely not. I was
there, remember? Danielle would have to be one hell of an actress to pull
something like that off.”

“She’s a good looking
woman. You wouldn’t be the first cop to be sucked into some conniving woman’s
web.”

Joe laughed and turned
on the ignition. “You’ve become jaded. And I think you’re totally off base,
Brian.”

“Have you talked to
Bill and Adam about the Marlow House break-in?”

“No. Danielle just told
me about it this morning.”

“I remember when Smith
was a teenager. Arrested him a few times for drinking. He was a wise ass back
then but never got into any real trouble. Can’t recall Adam Nichols ever being
a problem. Aside from a few of the local dads wanting us to arrest him for
seducing their daughters.”

“How old were the
daughters?” Joe asked.

“Fourteen, fifteen. As
I recall he had just turned eighteen. Had to have a good talk with him about
jail bait.”

“But you didn’t arrest
him?” Joe asked.

“Nah. He was just doing
what teenage boys do. Maybe I should have a chat with Bill.”

Joe glanced over at
Brian who sat in the passenger side of the car. “What about?”

“See what he says about
Boatman’s break-in story. If Adam really did have his eye on that necklace,
then maybe he isn’t as innocent as he professes.”

“I seriously doubt Bill
will have anything to say. As far as I can tell, Danielle’s sudden belief those
two broke in is nothing more than her imagination working overtime. She’s
grasping at straws because Cheryl and that necklace have gone missing.”