“Yeah, he was fit to be tied. Said no way were they selling his heritage.”

It was nearly five when Skye parked the Buick in her driveway. She grabbed her tote bag from the backseat and started up the sidewalk toward her cottage.

Blood. There was blood everywhere. Skye had never seen so much blood.

Skye stood transfixed on the sidewalk. Splashes of crimson decorated her door. BITCH was written in four-foot letters across the white siding.

Her eyes frantically searched the surrounding area. I have got to get a cell phone.

She backed slowly to the car, and after gaining the safety of the front seat, locked all the doors. Her heart was beating twice its usual pace and sweat poured down her face and puddled under her arms.

Inconsequential thoughts kept crowding into her mind, while the movie projector in her brain insisted on replaying the scene over and over, at different speeds, as she put the Buick in gear and tore out of the driveway.

At the police station her mother took one look at Skye and ran around the counter. She gathered Skye into her arms. “What happened? You’re as pale as milk.”

Skye took a deep breath and realized she was going to vomit. Pushing her mother away, she raced for the bathroom. She could hear May and Wally talking outside the door as she washed her face, rinsed out her mouth, and scrubbed at the front of her blouse.

“I’m okay,” she reassured them as she made her way out of the ladies’ room.

May popped the top on a can of ginger ale before handing it to Skye. “Now, tell us what happened to you.”

Wally held a chair and guided Skye into it. “Yes, what in the hell is going on?”

It took her several tries before she was finally able to explain.

The chief’s face turned magenta and the pencil he was holding snapped. “This is going to stop right now. I will not have you harassed like this.”

May held one of Skye’s hands, patting it. “Wally will take care of it. Don’t you worry.”

Skye smiled weakly. “Thanks, guys.” Turning her eyes on the chief, she said, “It has to be either Hap Doozier or Leroy Yoder. The Underwood guy who’s with the survivalist group camping behind Grandma Leofanti’s land went back to Michigan.”

“How do you know that?”

Shit, I promised Wally not to investigate by myself. He’s been so cooperative too. Hope he understands my reasoning. She looked into his angry face and said, “Well, you told me you had talked to that group and didn’t think they were involved, but I needed to check them out myself. After all, they’re right there, cheek by jowl with my grandmother’s property.”

“So you went out there on your own?” A vein popped out on Wally’s forehead.

“I had to go alone. I went as the Scumble River Elementary School psychologist checking on Perry Underwood. They’d know that wasn’t true if I had the chief of police with me.”

“And did you find out anything I hadn’t?” His voice was dangerously quiet.

“No, but Sarge did say he’d ask around for me.” Skye smiled. “He was very nice. I wasn’t in any danger.”

“Sarge, as you call him, has a record a mile long. Much of it for assaults against women and minorities.”

“Oh.” Skye looked down at her clasped hands. “I guess I made a mistake.”

“I’m very disappointed in you. I thought we had mutual trust and respect. But I see you’ve been using me.”

“No-”

“There’s nothing more to say. I told you that betrayal was the one thing I couldn’t forgive. First Darleen and now you.” He slammed his notepad shut and stood up. “Wait here.”

“Where are you going?”

“To do my job.”

While she waited, Skye kept an ear cocked for the chief’s infrequent radio reports, and started drawing up a chronological list of events. Anything to take her mind off Wally’s words. She felt numb now, and knew that later the hurt would be unbearable.

The first time his voice interrupted her thoughts, he related that there was no sign of a break-in at her cottage or any clues to the perpetrator’s identity.

Meanwhile, Skye had composed two columns. One for murder-related activities and one for pranks. The slashed tires and broken windows were definitely annoyances. The other events were lined up neatly on the other side. This latest incident had a question mark.

As she wrote, Skye remembered something she wanted to ask May. She poked her head into the dispatch area. May was flipping through a Family Circle, obviously still upset.

Skye walked farther into the room and stopped in front of her mother’s chair. “I forgot, I have a question for you.”

May closed the magazine. “Oh?”

“Yeah, do you remember Minnie dropping out of school her senior year?” Skye hooked a chair with her foot and brought it toward her.

“Yes, it was before you were born and Vince was right around a year old.” May looked puzzled.

“Do you recall why she didn’t finish?”

“Well, I was really busy back then trying to keep up with Vince and the house and all, but I believe she had sort of a nervous breakdown, and went away somewhere to rest.” May frowned. “I think Mona went along to keep her company.”

“Did you find anything in that odd? I mean, did Minnie seem to be heading that way to you?”

May chewed her lip. “Now that you mention it, at the time I wondered a little. Minnie seemed okay to me.”

“And why take Mona out of school?”

“Mona hated to miss school. She was the smart one. We all thought she’d go to college for sure, but she seemed different when she got back.”

“Different?”

“More serious. Less frivolous.”

“Did you say anything to Grandma or Grandpa?”

“Grandma just said that I had been too busy to notice Minnie’s condition. Grandpa forbade me to speak of it, and ordered me to forget it.” May’s eyes widened. “And I did until you mentioned it.”

“Wow, Grandpa must have been pretty intimidating.”

“Oh, he was, he was.” May sat silently, seemingly lost in thoughts of the past, until the phone rang. “Yes, okay, good. I’ll tell her.” She turned toward Skye. “That was the chief. He said they’re pretty sure the blood was from a deer. They found the hide and entrails nearby.”

“But no sign of who did it?” Skye got up and fetched her list. She slowly erased the question mark. Another prank.

“No, but he said there didn’t seem to be any danger and you can go home.”

“Great.” Skye sighed. “Any idea how to remove deer blood from concrete and siding?”

“Call the twins. Their husbands hunt all the time.” May went back to her post, the excitement over for now.

Skye considered her mother’s advice and decided to go one better. Not only would she consult her cousins for cleaning tips, she would invite them to brunch on Sunday.

The twins might be able to tell her something about Minnie, since she couldn’t get in to see her aunt herself, and Victoria might let something slip about Dante or Hugo. Too bad her Aunt Mona didn’t have any kids to pump for information.

It was difficult to make herself walk through the bloodied threshold of her cottage. Wally had obviously tried to wipe the worst of it off, but brownish-red streaks remained.

Bingo met her at the door demanding food and attention until a breeze carried in the coppery smell of blood. Suddenly, he danced backward, his fur standing in a ridge down his spine. He streaked out of the foyer and slunk under the bed.

The light was blinking on Skye’s answering machine when she got to the kitchen. Before doing anything else, she washed her hands and took a bottle of Ice Mountain from the fridge. After a few swigs of the spring water she sat down at the table and pushed the play button.

“Skye? This is Doc. Pulled in a few favors and got that information you wanted. Esther Prynn is living in Chicago. Here’s her address and phone.” After relaying that data Doc went on, “Haven’t had time to go over my records yet. I’ll let you know what I find.”