“I’m so pleased to meet you dear,” said an elegantly coiffed gray-haired woman she hadn’t met, putting out her hand. Maggie knew immediately who she must be.
“You must be Jim’s mother, Mrs. Dryden,” she said, taking the woman’s hand in her damp one. “Gussie told me you’d be staying here. I’m so glad to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“You must call me Lily,” she said. “Gussie and Jim said you and your friend,” she glanced at Will, “were staying here. Jim took me to see their new house, and then brought me here to rest and dress for the party tonight. Although I’m not sure the party’s going to happen. There were telephone calls going back and forth when he dropped me off. A number of guests who’d planned to come to Winslow tonight have wisely decided not to travel until tomorrow morning.”
So that left the questions no one had answered. Why was Annie Irons here? And why was a police car parked out front?
Maggie turned in her direction. “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon, Annie.” Mrs. Irons was wearing a Burberry trench coat. Maggie’d coveted one just like it at the Short Hills Mall in September, but its price tag had been higher than her mortgage payment.
“My husband heard the governor is probably going to ask all non-essential drivers to stay home tonight. The roads are getting more treacherous every hour, and Hurricane Tasha’s not due to hit here full force until early evening,” said Annie.
Yes? So the Winslow Chief of Police sent his wife to deliver a weather bulletin? That seemed unlikely. But no one else was here. She must have come in the police car.
“The car out front is yours, then?”
She nodded. “Ike will kill me when he finds I borrowed one of the station cars, but I enjoyed our talk this morning so much I thought maybe we could get together this afternoon to chat a little more. But your friend Will told me you’d gone out, and now the storm is so much worse. If the party does go on tonight, perhaps I could get Ike to pick you ladies up in the patrol car when he takes me? Police cars are heavy, and wouldn’t skid as easily on the leaves.”
“Why, that would be lovely, Annie; wouldn’t it, Maggie?” said Lily. “Wouldn’t it be fun to have a police escort?”
“Will’s given me your telephone number, so we can be in touch. We should be hearing from the governor’s office very soon now,” said Annie. “In the meantime I’d better get the car back to the station. Maybe I’ll see you later. For sure, I’ll see you all tomorrow at the big event!” She waved, pulled her coat’s hood over her head, and left.
Mrs. Decker shook her head. “Maggie, there’s a hair dryer in your room. Can I get you a cup of tea, or anything else right now? You need to get out of those wet things.”
Maggie shook her head. “Thank you, but no tea. I want to dry off, and maybe take a hot shower.”
“You’d better do that soon, dear. If we lose power, we lose hot water, too, and with that Hurricane Tasha getting closer all the time, you never know,” advised Mrs. Decker. “I’ll be downstairs if any of you need anything. And I’ll have sandwiches, and if the power holds, hot soup in the dining room for supper at six o’clock. No extra charge. A hurricane calls for special measures. I’m guessing none of you will be going out for dinner. I just checked. All the restaurants in town have closed.”
“You’re a wonderful hostess, Mrs. Decker,” said Lily. “I’m going to lie down and maybe turn the Weather Channel on in my room. I was up very late last night flying in, and tomorrow is a big day. I wouldn’t mind at all if this to-do tonight were cancelled, to tell the truth.” She went ahead up the stairs.
Maggie put her hand out for Will’s. “Coming?”
Will hesitated.
“We need to talk. Upstairs?”
Will nodded.
Behind their closed door she added, “Give me five minutes to shower and warm up. Then we’ll talk,” she promised. “And I apologize.”
“May I eat the chips in the meantime?” he asked, holding the bag out, “since you’re setting the agenda for the next hour or so?”
“Of course,” she agreed, stripping off her wet clothes and stretching the wet sweater out as best she could on a towel on the floor. “And I hope you’ll forgive me for being such an idiot earlier. And I do have news! That pizza was worth a lot more than its weight in information. But first I desperately need that hot shower!”
By the time Maggie rejoined him, one towel wrapped around her head and one around her body, Will’d finished about a third of the potato chips.
“Cape Cod does wonderfully well by chips,” he commented, taking another handful. “But we still need to talk.”
“Will, I’m sorry.”
“So am I. But I’m serious about not liking what happened. First, though, I know you’re dying to tell me your news, so go ahead. Talk. What did you find out that was so important?”
“Bottom line? The boys talked. They told me they’d never bought drugs.”
“Of course they hadn’t,” Will agreed. “That’s your news? I could have told you that before you left.”
“But, if they’d wanted to, guess who they said they could have gone to?”
“Haven’t a clue. The Wizard of Oz. Plus, I only know a handful of people in Winslow, and if you say it’s Gussie, I will be genuinely surprised.”
“Very funny. No, not Gussie. But almost as strange. They said it was Cordelia.”
“The deaf woman who was shot yesterday morning?”
“That’s what they said.”
Will was silent for a moment. “You’re right. That puts an entirely different light on her murder. And on Diana’s father’s, too.”
“Diana told me she’d seen guns in Cordelia’s room. Now the reason for the guns makes more sense. But when the police searched the house they must not have found drugs. And if they found the guns, no one mentioned them.”
“If the guns were registered, maybe they didn’t seem important at the time. Or maybe they were somewhere the police didn’t look. When they searched the house the first time they were looking for things related to Dan Jeffrey, weren’t they? Not related to Cordelia.”
“I’d think they’d have paid attention to several guns. Especially since Dan Jeffrey had been shot. And they’d definitely have noticed if they’d found drugs.”
“True. So if the boys were right, and Cordelia was dealing, then either she’d stopped, she had a really good hiding place, or her inventory was temporarily out.”
“That would have been almost too convenient,” Maggie said. “But even if Cordelia was dealing drugs, it doesn’t tell us who killed her. Or who killed Dan Jeffrey.”
“No. But it puts her in a position to have had some unsavory colleagues. She might have owed money to her supplier. Or maybe one of her usual customers wanted drugs, and for some reason she couldn’t get them for him. Anything to do with drugs can get nasty and violent quickly. It’s not a gentlemanly sort of crime. And because of that, now that you’ve stumbled onto something critical to these murders, you definitely have to tell the police, and step away. Because when you’re talking drug violence you’re in over your head.” Will reached over and drew her next to him. “And much as sometimes you drive me totally crazy, I do love that head of yours, Maggie Summer. I want it to stay intact, and attached to these beautiful shoulders.” He gently pulled the towel away from her hair, which fell, damp and wavy, down her back. He took one strand and twisted it around his fingers, and then bent down and kissed her neck. “I love the way you stride in, wanting to conquer the world and make everything right. But, truthfully, an hour ago I was ready to strangle you. There are times it’s best to leave law enforcement to the professionals.”
“Yes, Will,” Maggie said, looking into his eyes, which looked very blue.
“I don’t want to spend the rest of my life worried about what trouble you’re getting yourself into. If I wanted to marry a policewoman or a detective, I’d ask my friend Nick to introduce me to one of his colleagues. But I want to marry you, Maggie Summer. And I want us to have a wonderful, long life together.” Will reached down and picked up Maggie’s right hand and kissed the R-E-G-A-R-D ring he’d given her.