Catherine Coulter - Born To Be Wild

She looked ready to crumble again, and Jack now took her hands and squeezed them between his. “You’re doing great. So there was nothing at all to alert you or Lucy during the night?”

She screwed up her face in concentration, but in the end, she had to shake her head. “No, we didn’t hear any unusual noises during the night. The house creaks, but all older houses do.”

“You got no impression when you spoke to her last evening that Mrs. Hildebrand was unusually depressed or worried, pick up on anything unusual that could explain her suicide?”

“She had a great deal to be very sad about, we all know that. But I didn’t expect this of her, Chief.”

He arched an eyebrow at her.

“My grandfather killed himself. With him I knew something was terribly wrong, it was like he was waving a red flag for several days before he stuck a gun in his mouth. I didn’t sense that from Mrs. Hildebrand.” She drew in a deep breath. “I can’t believe she managed to do this, Chief.”

He patted her arm. “Thank you, Susan. Take Lucy back to the station. I’ll speak to her later. Keep a lid on this, all right?”

Jack stepped back into the bedroom and looked around one last time. He’d learned long ago never to jump to a conclusion until all the facts were in. He would have to wait until the autopsy was done. But he wondered. Had Mrs. Hildebrand been overcome with remorse for poisoning her husband, and opted to kill herself? Unless, a voice said in his head, unless she thought her suicide would mean I’d close the case, and she was trying to protect her daughter . But he shook his head. If that was the case, where was the suicide note? And if it was a murder, it was extremely well done. Dammit, why hadn’t this case come together for him before this happened? Why did everything still seem scrambled behind a veil?

It was close to an hour before Jack opened the living room door. The three friends sat side by side on a lovely overstuffed cream sofa, speaking quietly. He wanted to go to Mary Lisa, try to tell her everything was going to be all right, but it wasn’t the time. “I’m sorry this is taking so long,” he said.

“No problem, Jack,” Elizabeth said, with remarkable calm. “Do what you have to do. We’ll be here.” He saw she was holding both Lou Lou’s and Mary Lisa’s hands. Mary Lisa didn’t look up at him. She was looking inward, probably still seeing Mrs. Hildebrand, still unable to accept it. Lou Lou looked up at him, no, beyond him. He wondered when he’d see the vivacious smart-mouthed women he’d come to like so much.

He said, “I’m sorry the three of you had to find her. That had to be very tough.”

Mary Lisa raised her eyes to his, back for the moment to the world of the present.

John Goddard appeared in the living room doorway beside him. “I’ve been on the phone to Dr. Hughes, Jack.” At Jack’s nod, he turned to the three women. “You guys all right?” But his eyes were on Elizabeth, and he walked to her like a homing pigeon. She smiled up at him. “Yes, John, we’re fine.”

“We should get you all out of here,” John said. “There might be media, especially if they find out Mary Lisa is here.”

“You’re right,” Jack said. He cursed under his breath, streaked his fingers through his hair, making it stick straight up. He looked out the wide front window. Neighbors were standing in their yards, a clump of them directly across the street huddled together. At least a dozen cars were still in the Hildebrand driveway, some climbed onto the curb in front of the house, one even parked on the grass. He couldn’t, at that moment, think of anything that could possibly be worse.

He walked over to Mary Lisa and held his hand out to her. She took it and stood up, and he pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry, really sorry you had to find her.”

She pressed her cheek against his neck. “It was pretty bad.” She swallowed down a sob. No more falling apart. It wouldn’t help anything.

“I want you to go back to the inn, okay? Please, stay there until I can get back to you.”

She leaned back in his arms, studied his face. “All right,” she said finally, “but I need to go see my parents soon.”

Mary Lisa stepped quietly into the living room. Her father was holding her mother, her head on his shoulder, and he was rocking her. He looked up, gave her a strained smile. Slowly, he eased her mother back.

“Mary Lisa is here, Kathy.”

Kathleen Beverly looked worn, somehow hollowed out, her makeup smudged, her eyes red-rimmed and vague. She looked toward her daughter and said, “I don’t think there’s enough luncheon meat for you, Mary Lisa, since you didn’t give us any warning you were coming to lunch.”

“I’m not here for lunch, Mom. I came to tell you how very sorry I am about Mrs. Hildebrand.”

Kathleen said, not looking at her, “How very nice of you.” She cleared her throat. “I understand you were the one who found her.”

Mary Lisa nodded. “Yes, Lou Lou and Elizabeth and I. It was-very bad.”

“You saw her hanging there?”

Mary Lisa nodded, mute for a moment. “One of the deputies said you went to visit her last night.”

George Beverly waved his daughter to a chair, but he didn’t look away from his wife’s face. “I wondered where you’d gone last evening. So, you went to see Olivia?”

“What is this? Are the two of you ganging up on me? I find it interesting you are questioning me, Mary Lisa, as if you cared about what’s been happening with us in Goddard Bay all these years.”

George Beverly cut in, his voice sharp. “Kathleen, I know this has been a terrible time for you, but please watch how you speak to Mary Lisa. She is your daughter, and you will strive for a little kindness, a hint of civility at least, if kindness isn’t in your repertoire.”

“I’m sorry if I’ve let the cat out of the bag, Mother. I was hoping I could learn something about what happened. Olivia Hildebrand was your best friend. Did you have any hint she’d do this?”

George Beverly looked up to see Jack Wolf standing in the living room doorway. How long had he been there? Probably long enough, George thought. He waved him in. “Please come in, Jack. We were just waiting for my wife to answer that question you heard. Do be seated, have some tea.”

He soon had Jack sitting opposite his wife, the steam from the hot tea wafting up beside his hand. “Mrs. Beverly, I’m very sorry for your loss. But please go ahead. Did Olivia Hildebrand give you any warning about this?”

Kathleen Beverly shook her head, all the while seeming to study a painting on the wall, a Dutch countryside scene with its requisite cows and shepherd and hazy light. “How very wise the lot of you think you are. Olivia was my first close friend, my only close friend, really. Of course I was worried for her. The fact is, she didn’t kill anyone. I think that breakdown she had this week was staged, because she was trying to protect her daughter. Why don’t you arrest Marci, Jack, instead of sniffing around Mary Lisa?”

They all looked at her, astonished.

Then Kathleen shrugged, impatiently wiped the back of her hand over her eyes. Her mascara was badly smeared. “She’s gone. It doesn’t matter now.”

“I’m very sorry, Mom. I know she meant a great deal to you.”

Kathleen raised her head, stared at Mary Lisa, through her really. She slowly stood up. She was wearing a light cream V-necked sweater with a cream silk blouse and a pair of darker linen trousers. But today, when she stood, she didn’t look beautiful and rich, in control of her world. She looked at each of them. “Marci killed both her husband and her father and her mother. You need only find the proof.”