Kate closed her phone. There seemed to be a moral in this, but she didn’t know what it was. When you want something, don’t go after it at the cost of other people? Was that it?
When this gets done, Kate thought,I’m going to visit the woman. I want to see her before the devil rises up to take her down to where she deserves to be.
It was when Kate stood up, ready to leave, that she remembered why they’d come to the cottage. Sara knew a hiding place that was in the cottage. Did it hold something? Where was it?
Twenty-Four
When Sara left the cottage, she was moving fast. It felt good to have told Kate what happened to her. It made her see that a big part of the pain she’d buried inside her for so many years was because of the mindset of the times. Rape was always a woman’s fault, and men suffered no repercussions.
She shook her head to clear it. She needed to think about now, not the past. She saw Reid on the far side of what was left of the large estate. He was shoveling mulch around some trees. Lenny had said, “It’s as though he knows he owns the place.”He sure does seem to believe that, Sara thought.
Since she’d been around Jack and Kate, she’d learned to keep her phone with her. She backed up against a palm tree, with Reid in sight, and sent a text to her brother. He would know how to handle what she needed to tell. She gave a brief description of where there was a hidden compartment in the cottage. It was behind a wooden panel and it was insulated as a drinks cooler. Mr. Lachlan used to put a couple of cold beers in there for Cal. “If you’re old enough to do a man’s job, you’re old enough to have a beer,” he’d said.
When that was done, she went to Reid. “Hi,” she said.
Turning, he smiled at her, but he kept shoveling.
Sara didn’t want to waste time. “Who do you think should inherit this place?” She kept her eyes on him as he paused to look toward the back of the house.
“I have no idea. James Lachlan died years ago. Wouldn’t the new owner have taken over by now?”
She didn’t answer his question. “Did your grandmother ever talk about this place?”
Reid stopped work, used a bandanna to wipe the sweat from his face, and leaned back against a tree. His eyes took on a dreamy look. “Other kids were read fairy tales, but all I wanted to hear about was this house and what went on in it. Grans used to tell me of the lavish parties. My grandfather was a handsome man, so he was allowed to attend and dance with the ladies. No matter how old they were, he led them onto the dance floor. Their diamonds sparkled like a thousand candles.”
Sara was blinking at the deep emotion in his voice. “And Alish?” she asked softly.
“She was never invited, but my grandfather used to sneak her a plate of food. He made sure she got the best of all that was served. She’d sit outside and watch through the ballroom windows.” He seemed far away, living in that long-ago time.
At last, he gave a sigh and came back to the present. “I’ve decided I should show you something.” He held out a piece of old fabric. It was torn on the edges, and about four inches square. There were giraffes printed on it.
Sara took the fabric and looked at him in question.
“On the night Derek Oliver disappeared, I found it stuck in the doorframe of the nursery. I didn’t think anything about it at the time. I was like everyone else and happy the man was gone.”
She held up the fabric. “Who does it belong to?”
“My sister. Ask Kate. She liked Greer’s giraffe shirt.” He paused for a moment. “The night Oliver disappeared, Grans came here. She got my sister, took her to the airport, and sent her to Scotland.”
“Why?” Sara asked, feigning ignorance.
“I don’t know—and I can assure you that I asked. I loved my sister, but suddenly she was gone. I never saw her again. Years later, we had a funeral but it was a closed coffin. I didn’t even see her then!” He nodded toward the fabric. “I stuck that in a box in my bedroom at Grans’s house and forgot about it, but being told a body was found has made me remember things.” He stared at Sara. “You don’t think my sister did anything, do you? She always had, uh, problems, so Grans kept her isolated. She wasn’t allowed near other people, especially children. Grans even toldmeto stay away from her. Sometimes I got the idea that my sister was...dangerous.”
Sara started to put the fabric in her pocket and he nodded okay. “I don’t know the answer to any of that. For all that it seems that we solve murders, we have to report everything to the sheriff. I’ll certainly tell him about this.”And I’ll tell Gil everything, she thought. “Where is Rachel?” She watched him closely, and his expression showed surprise, but something else that she couldn’t identify. Anger?
He grimaced. “Don’t ask me. I got dumped.”
The way he said it made her smile.
“Not enough money, I guess.”
“Did you tell her about your successful company and that you are just pretending to be the lowly gardener?”
When he grinned, Sara had a flash that there was something familiar looking about him. “I’m old-fashioned. I wanted her to love me, not my bank account. Have you ever felt that you live in the past?”
“All the time,” Sara said.
“Did you know that Rachel was friends with the young man of the family who used to own your house? He was rich, so he was one of the candidates for her to marry. What was his name? Alexander?”
