LITMIR.BIZ

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he interrupted, adding quickly, “Do you know the woman who owns this house? Her name is Vera Priestly.”

      “Know her? Oh, you mean, did I know her,” she said. “I worked for her for five years, now, didn’t I? It’s shocking what happened to her.”

      “What exactly happened?” he asked.

      She cocked her head to one side as her voice fell to an ominous hush. “You don’t know? Oh, now, mister, it’s terrible. Mrs. Priestly weren’t all fur coats and no knickers, if you take my meaning. She was a lady through and through. You ask me it was that new girl who took over for me. Run me out of a posh job, she did, and her being all—”

      “Bridget? I think some of our other guests may need attention,” the man Cody had noticed by the window said. He’d approached so quietly he caught both the maid and Cody off guard. The maid immediately dipped her head and scurried off. The man looked down his patrician nose at Cody, which wasn’t easy as Cody was easily five or six inches taller. “I’m afraid I don’t recognize you,” he said. “I’m Emerson Banner. Exactly how did you know my mother-in-law?”

      Up close, Banner’s face was crisscrossed with fine lines, his eyes were a pale, icy blue and his chin was slightly receded. He was the kind of man that raised Cody’s hackles.

      “I didn’t know her,” Cody said, taking off his hat. He’d completely forgotten he had it on. “I just heard she passed away. I know this is a terrible time to bother you, but I’ve traveled a distance. I’m looking for my wife. Her name is Cassie—Cassandra, sometimes. I was told she was employed here to help care for an elderly lady named Vera Priestly. If Mrs. Priestly died recently then it figures Cassie will be out of work.” He’d been digging in his wallet as he spoke and offered a photograph of Cassie taken the year before.

      Emerson Banner glanced at it, did a double take, then glared at Cody. The old saying If looks could kill… flashed through Cody’s mind.

      “I think you’d better leave,” Banner said, his voice as cold as Rocky Mountain snow. He tossed a surreptitious glance at the woman on the couch. Her gaze met his and she furrowed her brow.

      “I’ll be happy to go,” Cody said. “Lord knows I’m needed in Wyoming a lot more than I’m needed here. Just tell me where Cassie is.”

      Banner’s voice took on a vicious undertone. “Have you no decency?” he hissed. “This is Vera’s wake, of all things, and you have the audacity to barge in here.” He grabbed Cody’s elbow and maneuvered him through the crowd.

      A younger guy with a pleasant smile intercepted them. “Dad? Is there a problem?”

      “Nothing I can’t handle, Robert. Do me a favor and find your sister. Have her go sit with your mother, okay?” The next thing Cody knew, he was ushered out the front door.

      While he couldn’t begin to fathom what had brought on this reaction, he hadn’t put up a fuss because people inside were grieving. But the front porch was empty now and he’d had about enough. He tore his arm away from Banner’s grip and stared down at the older man.

      “Where in the hell is my wife, and don’t bother saying you don’t know her because it’s obvious you do. What’s going on?”

      Banner straightened his shoulders. “The woman you claim is your wife presented herself to us as Laura Green. I was very much against hiring her as Vera’s caregiver. The girl was not bonded nor did she have experience or references, but Vera could dig in her heels when she wanted and she was determined to help this girl out. She’d heard about her from a friend of a friend—your typical hard-luck story. Totally inappropriate.

      “It turns out my suspicions of her were right on the money. We caught Laura or Cassie or whoever she is trying to run off with my mother-in-law’s jewelry yesterday. And today we find there are several additional pieces missing. Who knows how much is gone? The police—”

      “Where is Cassie?” Cody interrupted.

      “She took off in a cab that dropped her at a bus station. No one saw her after that, but trust me, the police are looking.”

      Cody couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

      “And not just for theft,” Banner added with a tight little satisfied smile.

      “What exactly does that mean?”

      “Vera altered her will right before she was killed,” Banner said. “She bequeathed one-fourth of her assets, which amounts to over a million dollars, to your wife. She even included a phrase that covered the fact your wife was using an assumed name. If any of the others contest it, they lose their share. How do you imagine that came about?”

      “It doesn’t make sense.”

      “No it doesn’t. And that was just hours before someone broke into Vera’s room in the middle of the night and smothered her during a robbery attempt. For all I know, you were part of it, too.”

      “Listen, mister,” Cody said, stepping close and lowering his voice. “There’s such a thing as slander, you know. Unless you have proof, you’d better watch your mouth. You said my wife was caught stealing jewelry? If she knew she was inheriting money, why would she bother? You don’t make any sense. I can’t believe we’re even talking about the same woman.”

      “Though there are obvious differences now, as I’m sure you’re aware, the woman in the photo you carry and the woman calling herself Laura Green are either identical twins or the same person. I am not mistaken. Now, please leave before I call the police. On second thought, that’s not a bad idea. What did you say your last name is?”

      “I didn’t,” Cody said. He pulled on his hat and turned. Behind him, he heard the door open and close. Banner was gone.

      The guy was calling the cops? This Laura Green had to be some other woman, someone else who stole Cassie’s identity in a more subtle way than using her credit cards and flashing her driver’s license. And that meant Cassie’s fate was still unknown.

      He took a deep breath, unsure what to do now. Go home? Wait for the cops to arrive and see if they knew something? Cassie’s fingerprints would be in the house if she’d been here…

      Across the street and down at the corner, he caught sight of a woman in the process of turning away from him. Because of all the cars parked on the street, all he could see of her was from the shoulders up, but there was something about what he saw that spoke directly to him. Maybe it was the glisten of her gold hair in the weak autumn light. Maybe it was a glimpse of her profile his conscious mind had barely registered. Something.

      He hurried down the stairs and the driveway, then had to wait for a line of cars to pass by on the street. By the time he got to the point on the opposite sidewalk where he’d seen the woman, she was gone.

      He began walking in the direction he thought she’d taken. What had she been wearing? What color? He closed his eyes as he walked, trying to picture—

      Blue. She’d been wearing something blue, up by her face, at least. A scarf, a collar, a jacket…

      He was traversing a residential neighborhood filled with stately homes set back from the sidewalk. The leaves were turning, asters and dahlias were blooming. There were cars here and there, but few people.

      After a very long block, the road hit an intersection and he was given a choice of three directions. He peered down each street. Two old people walked a poodle down one, the other was empty, and on the third a figure walked away from him at a pretty good pace.

      He went in that direction. It was a woman, he could tell that much, and there might be something blue around her neck. He wasn’t sure how she’d managed to get that far ahead of him.

      What was he doing? Why would Cassie have come back to that house after the accusations that must have been thrown right in her face? Banner said she went to the bus station. The chances the woman up ahead was actually Cassie were astronomical and yet he kept walking, forcing himself not to

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