He wasn’t quite ready to mean those words…but he was a damn sight closer than he’d ever been. Even with this rift betweenthem.
Which he really had to address. But first… “What do you have to show me?” he asked, then took the first bite. It was even better than he’d imagined—she must have put something spicy in it, because it had a little bit of a kick. The bacon was super crunchy—and there was a lot ofit.
“This.” Leslie put a small yellow stone on thetable.
Declan looked at it for a moment before comprehension dawned. “Is that a topaz? Where did you findit?”
“Inside the side of the stair railing—where I found the velvet stole. I’d seen something glinting way down inside there, and I was trying to get it up a few days ago—remember, you were going to help me?—but then I got distracted, and I forgot about it. Until last night. I woke up at five—you were snoring on the sofa with Rufus,” she said with a bashful smile, “and I was thinking about everything—about Kristen and Marcus Levin and the prom night and the topazes, and I remembered that glinting thing. I was wide awake, so I just got up and worked on it for about an hour till I got the damned thing out from down in there. Rufus was not amused, by the way. He sat there and yowled at me the wholetime.”
“So it’s just one topaz, but you think it might be from Kristen’s necklace? From Red Eye Sal’sgems?”
“Here’s my theory,” Leslie said, and her eyes began to sparkle so brilliantly his heart squeezed. “Somehow, she ended up here after prom that night. Someone else was here too. She died—maybe it was murder, maybe it was an accident, I don’t know—but whoever was with her—and I’m guessing it was a schoolmate, because that makes the most sense to me—panicked and decided to make it look like a robbery. So he put the body in the woods without the necklace and stole and gloves, and hid them here in the house so everyone would think that’s whathappened.”
“I like it,” Declan said with a smile. “Both the breakfast and yourtheory.”
She smiled back and his heart warmed even more.Gray area. Got to find the grayarea.
“And so everything was fine until I came along and began renovating the house. And even that probably wouldn’t have worried the killer, except that I was restoring thestair rail. Which meant the hiding place would likely be exposed. Remember that photo of me in the paper? You can see that the stairway has been partiallydismantled.”
“So anyone could have seen that picture and realized his secret was about to come tolight.”
“Exactly. And if people started asking questions about what happened that night—if it became obvious that someone local was involved, probably one of her schoolmates—then everything could come to light and the murderer could beexposed.”
“And that’s why he—or she, I suppose—let’s be fair,” he said with a gesture of his fork, “broke into the house. Did anyone know that you’d found the velvet stole before the break-in?”
“I’m not sure whether I’d mentioned it to Cherry or Orbra—and if I had, then anyone could have known. You know how they are. But it probably didn’t matter because maybe he—or she—broke in so they could remove the incriminating evidence from the stair rail base and beneath the step before it was found. But it had already been found—I’d left it sitting on the table in the foyer—and so they considered themselves very lucky to be able to steal it. And I suspect the rest of the topazes were down inside the stair rail base. I just didn’t see them before—there was a lot of debris and insulation in there. And one gem, unfortunately, fell out of its setting and was left in there as a finalclue.”
“Wow. You’re a regular Nancy Drew. But the big question is…who’s the culprit? And did Marcus Levin’s death have anything to do with it? I’m thinking yes. What Orbra said last night makes sense: if Levin knew something about the murder, for whatever reason—maybe he saw someone leaving Shenstone House that night—someone who shouldn’t have been there. He might have thought nothing of it at the time, but now…if all the questions start beingasked…”
“Exactly. So that means…probably…that whoever murdered Marcus Levin also killed Kristen van Gerste thirty yearsago.”
“And whoever they are…they’re still running around here intown.”
Leslie nodded, her face sober. “The good news is…whoever it is doesn’t have any reason to break into Shenstone House anymore—or any reason to bother me. I mean, I wasn’t around thirty yearsago—”
“That’sbullshit.”
“What? That I wasn’t around thirty yearsago—”
“I know what you’re trying to say—that you don’t have any reason to be nervous or to take precautions—and you might be right. But maybe you don’t want to stay here for a while. Until everything gets taken care of and Levin’s murderer iscaught.”
Leslie’s mouth flattened. “If this is your way of making up with me by insisting I come and stay at your house,you’ve—”
“Whoa.” He held up two hands. “Just,whoa.”
She stopped all right, but the glare she gave him was sharp enough to cutglass.
“Okay, look…aside from the fact that we have to talk, and that I really damn well missed you last night, what I said was true: I don’t think it’s safe for you to stay here—by yourself—until things get taken care of. And to be honest, much as I might like to, I wouldn’t ask you to stay with me because of Stephanie. So, no, there was no ulterior motive in my suggestion. Only concern. Even fear. Jesus, Leslie…I don’t want anything to happen to you. And last night when I saw you lying here on this very table, well…my heart pretty muchstopped.”
“I’m pretty sure anyone’s heart would stop if they thought someone they knew was dead,” she said, but her lips twitched in a wry smile. “All right, I’ll talk to Cherry and Joe Cap and see what they think. I’m not about to take any unnecessary risks—I’d like to live to see my next birthday. And now that he’s infiltrated my life, I’m guessing Rufus feels the sameway.”
“That makes three of us, then.” He drew in a deep breath. “I should probably explain my…reaction the other day. When you told me about Eric andElla.”
Her eyes suddenly turned misty. “Ella?”
His heart nearly stopped. Had he screwed that up too? “I thought you said her name was Ella…I’m sorryif—”
“No, no, don’tapologize.”
