Valerie Wolzien - Death In Duplicate

Brett nodded. “It’s sad, but it’s better not to trust everyone than to end up with a tragedy.”

“That’s true,” Shannon agreed.

Susan had a horrible thought. “Oh, no! You’re going to leave Chrissy and the babies, aren’t you?”

Shannon smiled. “I keep telling your daughter that I’m hanging around until Ethan and Rosie go to college,” she answered. “But I suspect Chrissy and her husband won’t need me that long. After this job, I’ll go back to P.I.C.C., but not until this job is over. Working with babies has been a lovely change. And I’ve been thinking that it might be nice to start a day care center on Perry, one that’s connected to P.I.C.C. Our residents would love to be around babies and small children on a regular basis, and I’ll bet there are lots of parents on Perry who would be thrilled to have some professional care for their children.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Susan agreed.

The back door opened and there was a commotion as the dogs dashed through the kitchen and into the hallway. Rock and Roll bounded up to the second floor and Susan shuddered as the newel post at the bottom of the stairway shook. Clue, more sedate than the younger dogs, walked slowly into the living room, over to Shannon, and rested her big golden head on the nurse’s lap. Shannon scratched the dog and frowned. “I was afraid to take this job. I didn’t want to come back to Connecticut. Those last few months at P.I.C.C. were horrible. My parents would have been devastated by the deaths there. I just wanted to get away and forget it all.”

“So why did you take the job?” Susan asked. “Didn’t you know Chrissy and Stephen might end up living here?”

“Yes. But, to tell you the truth, I knew Mike was still in the area and I wanted to help him if I could and… well, Stephen’s parents told me about you.”

“And you thought I might help your cousin,” Susan guessed.

Shannon looked over at Brett then at Susan and then back down to the dog. “Stephen’s mother said you were friends with the police in Hancock, and I was hoping you might influence them to… well, to overlook Mike’s involvement out at P.I.C.C.”

“It sounds to me as though your cousin doesn’t need that type of interference,” Brett said.

Shannon looked up and smiled at him. “I don’t think so either. I… oh, I’d better get up to the nursery,” she said as the twins’ nighttime duet began.

“Call me if you need my help,” Susan said.

“And I’d better get going. Mr. Kincaid’s lawyer is probably still making a fuss, and I want to check in with the officer I left with Donald Baines at the hospital, and Erika has left a half dozen messages on my phone. She says she has fabulous news for me.”

“Maybe she’s pregnant again,” Susan said, standing up to see her guest to the door.

Brett glanced up toward the stairway where the twins’ wails had become even louder. “I doubt it. I think one baby at a time is all we can deal with.”

“Maybe,” Susan agreed, opening the door for him. “Unless, of course, they’re both as wonderful as my amazing grandchildren. Or…” She glanced over at Shannon. “Or you’re lucky enough to find the perfect baby nurse.”

IT WAS TOO MUCH TO ASK THAT ETHAN AND ROSIE WOULD allow their grandparents to sleep through the night two days in a row. At five-thirty the next morning, Susan and Jed were sitting at their kitchen table waiting for the first drop of coffee to fall through the filter. Clue was still upstairs, probably sprawled on her back in the middle of their bed. The mastiffs had been put in the backyard a few hours earlier. Chrissy and Stephen had last been seen at four AM trudging a well-worn path between their bedroom and the nursery, yawning and exhausted. The sound of the washer being turned on in the basement proved that Shannon was busy down there.

No one expected the phone to ring.

“Who the hell would be calling at this hour?” Jed asked, reaching for the phone. “Susan, if this call has anything at all to do with another murder, I want you to promise me that you’ll ignore it.”

“Don’t let Chrissy hear you talking like that in the same house as your grandchildren,” Susan warned, moving over to the coffeepot and pouring out her first cup of the day as Jed answered the phone.

“Hi… Hey, I thought you were walking around England… Last night? Really? Well, it’s been a little busy around here… They’re wonderful and growing right before our eyes. When are you coming to see them? Anytime. Oh, of course… but I think I’d better let Susan explain…” Jed passed the phone to his wife. “Your mother.”

“Hi, Mom,” Susan began, prepared to extol the many virtues of her grandchildren for as long as her mother wanted. But she was rudely interrupted by a great-grandmother who had more on her mind than the future generation. Susan listened for a few minutes and then began her explanation. “I know you’re not… I have no intention… Of course, I don’t think… Never, I promise you… Never. You don’t have to worry about that… I… Mom?… Mom?… Mom?” She pressed the OFF button and handed the phone to her husband. “She hung up on me. I can’t believe it. She hung up on me!”

“It’s probably a little disturbing to come home after a long vacation and find letters in your mail saying that your daughter is trying to have you admitted to a nursing home,” Jed suggested.

“I didn’t realize P.I.C.C. would contact her,” Susan said. “They’re up awfully early.”

“Hon, it’s almost noon in London. They’re probably a little jet-lagged as well as acclimated to living in another time zone. Your mom will calm down as soon as she’s seen her great-grandchildren.”

“I forgot to ask her when they’re coming to visit.”

“Today. They’ll be here around dinnertime. At least that’s what I think she said,” he added, yawning. “Lord, company tonight. Do you think we’ll have time for a nap this afternoon?”

“A nap? Jed, my parents are coming. I have to clean and cook and…” Her list was interrupted as she imitated her husband’s action, yawning for so long that her eyes began to water.

“They’re coming to see Ethan and Rosie, not to check under the bed for dust or make sure you’re cooking gourmet meals these days.”

“You’re right. And we’ll go out to dinner. I wonder if the small party room at the inn is free. That way the twins won’t bother anyone else. Let’s see. How many of us are there?”

“Eight.”

“We could invite Jerry and Kathleen and their kids,” Susan said.

“Twelve.”

“And Brett and Erika and Zoe. Jed, isn’t it wonderful that they’re buying a new house and letting Chrissy and Stephen rent their place for a year?”

“Fifteen,” Jed said, still counting. “And it is wonderful. But, remember, Brett and Erika said their place was too small for them, so I doubt that a four-person family-with two humongous dogs-is going to be happy there for long.”

“But it gives me… us… them time to find something bigger in the area,” Susan said happily. “How many is that?”

“Fifteen,” he repeated. “Actually, sixteen. I assume you’re going to include Shannon?”

“Of course. She’s going to see Mike, but I’m sure she’ll be back for dinner.”

“Is this the Mike that I’ve heard so much about in the past twenty-four hours?”

“Yes, she’s meeting him for breakfast. He called last night and agreed to speak to Brett. Of course, if he had talked to the police as soon as the deaths out at P.I.C.C. were discovered to be murder, everything would have been much easier.”

“Why do you say that?” Jed said, looking a bit more awake now that he’d had some coffee.