LITMIR.BIZ

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the foyer and into this room last night. I went out the same way.”

      “Then let’s take a look around. Are there other valuables beyond what’s in the safe?”

      “I keep a few pieces of jewelry in my room. There’s silver that’s kept in the pantry.”

      Liz led the way upstairs. She knew it would be evident when they walked into her room that she hadn’t shared it with Larry. There were no masculine belongings, just antique perfume bottles and cosmetics on the dressing table, gowns in one closet, her suits and casual clothes in another. The carpet and iron bed were white, the comforter white with sprigs of violets. Gauzy white curtains billowed at the open windows. It was a very feminine room and not nearly as large as the master suite down the hall. It had suited her as a girl, and she had retreated to it when she no longer wanted to share a bed with her unfaithful husband.

      Walker surveyed the room without comment, waiting while she checked her jewelry box.

      “Everything is here,” she said when she’d counted the few pieces of antique jewelry that had sentimental value to her. The far more expensive treasures, the ones Larry had lavished on her after each affair, were in the safe downstairs. Those, too, had been accounted for—not that she’d cared.

      “Let’s see if the silver’s where it’s supposed to be,” Walker said.

      “It’ll be closer if we take the back stairway,” Liz told him. It was the way she’d slipped downstairs in the middle of the night for cookies as a girl, the way she’d sneaked outside to meet Tucker as a teenager. Even now she almost expected to find him waiting for her just outside the kitchen door.

      He wasn’t.

      Every piece of silver, much of it from famed English silvermakers of the eighteenth century and earlier, was exactly where it belonged, gleaming on the padded shelves of a special silver closet in the pantry. As a girl, Liz had been awed by the display. She’d even liked the rainy afternoons when she’d sat at the table helping the housekeeper polish every piece. She’d loved imagining tea being poured from this very service by some distant ancestor in London hundreds of years before. She’d read every book in her grandfather’s library about the gracious way of life from which she was descended.

      Dreaming about a bygone era was a far cry, however, from wanting to live in it. She had balked at the old-fashioned constraints her grandfather had placed on her, stolen every opportunity to break free so that she could follow Tucker on his adventures. He had given her back the childhood that the tragic death of her parents had stolen.

      Tucker would have given her the world if she’d let him. But Larry had come along with his charm and his prospects. Her grandfather, one of Larry’s staunchest political supporters, had encouraged the two of them to spend time together. He’d believed they shared the same ideals. After several lengthy conversations, Liz had come to believe it, too.

      For her, those talks had been intellectually stimulating, nothing more. Spending time with Larry had been the first thing she’d ever done of which her grandfather had totally approved.

      Later that had been a huge incentive to say yes when Larry had proposed, that and the promise of the fairy-tale wedding of which every girl dreamed.

      “Mrs. Chandler?”

      She snapped her attention back to Walker Ames.

      “Is all of the silver here?”

      She nodded.

      “Okay, then, unless you discover something missing, I think we can safely rule out robbery as a motive. I’d appreciate that list of names as soon as possible.”

      “I’ll do it this afternoon,” she said.

      “Good. Where can I pick it up?”

      She was startled by the question. “I can’t stay here?”

      “Not for the time being,” he said. “Once we’re sure all the evidence had been gathered, we’ll release it, and you can move back in.”

      “Will I be able to take a few of my things?”

      “Of course. I’ll wait while you get them, then I can drive you wherever you’d like to go.”

      “I came with Tucker. I’m sure he can take me…someplace.”

      The deputy looked as though he disapproved, but he said only, “I’ll check with him while you pack. I can have one of the deputies go up with you.”

      “That’s not necessary,” she began, but then she saw the look on his face and sighed. “That will be fine.”

      When Walker had gone off in search of someone to accompany her upstairs, Powell tucked a finger under her chin. “You did just fine. I need to get back to Richmond. Will you be okay?”

      “Sure.”

      “If they call you in for more questioning, don’t go until you contact me. Understood?”

      “Yes.”

      “And I’ll want to see whatever paperwork you give the police. Make me a copy of those lists and fax it down.” He handed her his business card. “The number’s on here.”

      “Thanks for coming, Powell.”

      “No problem.” He gazed into her eyes. “One last piece of advice. Steer clear of Tucker. I know you trust him, but his loyalties are bound to be divided.”

      “Tucker would never do anything to hurt me,” she said with absolute confidence.

      Powell regarded her evenly. “He once thought the same about you.”

      Liz shuddered, despite her conviction that Tucker would always be on her side. Was it possible that he would turn his back on her just when she needed him the most? And how could she blame him if he did?

      5

       T here was some sort of uproar over at Swan Ridge. King spotted the commotion on his way back to Cedar Hill. There were police cars and media vans everywhere, plainly visible from the highway. Probably another one of Lawrence Chandler’s press conferences, King concluded. And he’d probably hired all the local off-duty cops to work security. The man did like all the trappings of celebrity.

      King was tempted to venture onto the grounds and see for himself what Chandler was up to, but the prospect of bumping into Mary Elizabeth kept him away. He hadn’t been able to look the woman in the face without getting riled up since she’d gone and broken Tucker’s heart. If it had been up to him, she’d have been chased out of the county, but, sadly, the law wouldn’t permit him to run her off. Tucker had explained that on more than one occasion when King had expressed the view that her presence was a blight on the community.

      So, instead of going on up to Swan Ridge, King drove on, only to find a bit of commotion at his place, as well. His daughter was pacing back and forth across the veranda with some sort of bee in her bonnet. The instant she spotted him, she came flying down the steps and all but tore the door off the car and dragged him out.

      “Have you seen the news?” Daisy demanded.

      “Where would I see it?” King inquired testily. “I’ve been in town all morning.”

      “And nobody said anything?” she said incredulously. “I can’t believe it! For once, the gossip hot line in Trinity Harbor is actually running behind the TV news.”

      “Slow down, girl. Take a deep breath. I’ll get us both a glass of iced tea, and you can tell me what’s got you all hot and bothered.”

      “There’s no time for that,” she said, shoving him right back toward his car.

      “Will you make up your mind?” he grumbled. “Am I going or staying?”

      “As soon as I tell you, you’re going,” she said fiercely. “And I’m coming with you.”

      “Where?”

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