Lenny was concerned about the chimney that had nearly landed on Jack. They seemed to dismiss it, but Lenny didn’t.
He knew that it had been blown up by someone who knew about explosives. Lenny would have called his old friend Harvey and asked him how it was done, but in ’91, he accidently stepped on one of his own wires. To Lenny, it was obvious that Jack—not someone else—had been the target. But why? What did someone gain by taking out Jack? Did it have to do with his father? From what Lenny had heard, Roy was capable of anything. Hitting Derek Oliver over the head? Sure. But sawing his skull open? No. That took a fetishist. Someone deeply disturbed. Someone who would have shown signs of that inclination from a young age.
So far, Lenny had seen nothing like that in any of the people lurking about the big old place.
Andlurkingwas the key word. They all seemed to be up to something in secret. He’d seen Lea—the love of Randal’s life—rummaging in the Palm Room. She was opening books and shaking them. Looking for what?
The movie star went up and down the back fence like she was searching for fire anthills. If she stepped on one in those little sandals she wore, she’d be sorry. Reid was using a weed whacker to cover the way he was searching the grounds. What were they all looking for? And if it was something so important, why hadn’t they come here years ago when the house was empty?
The only person he actually liked was Rachel, and that was because the boy, Quinn, liked her. In Lenny’s experience, kids were like dogs. They liked people from their hearts.
But Sara didn’t like Rachel, and Lenny couldn’t figure out why.
He thought Sara needed to calm down. But then, the two couples, Randal and Lea, Jack and Kate, were so enamored of each other that everything was being dumped onto Sara. As far as Lenny could see, all she wanted to do was to go somewhere quiet and write in her notebook. He’d seen her hurrying from place to place and writing as she rushed. She had too many ideas in her mind to concentrate on just one thing.
This morning as she was rushing through the kitchen, she asked him, “What’s a good male name that starts with G?”
“Graham,” he said.
“No, can’t use it. That’s Reid’s name. I learned a long time ago not to use the names of people I’ve met. They like to thank me for using them in my book, then tell me I owe them 50 percent of whatever I was paid. Oh crap!” She was looking at her watch. “I have to go. Keep thinking of names,” she called over her shoulder as she ran out of the kitchen.
Through some excellent sleuthing, if he said so himself, he found out that Sara had divided suspects and assigned each person to an interview. Good! Give them a job so they help.
Unfortunately, Sara had taken Rachel. He knew that wouldn’t be done fairly. He was sure she’d try to be neutral, but she would take her ill feelings into the interview.
That bothered him, but there was also the fact that all of them were so frantically running from one place to another that they were missing things. They’d even set a time limit on the interviews.Learn everything there is to know and be back here by fourwas their creed. Right. And each suspect was going to be honest and truthful. What a joke.
Sara had asked him about “the boy with the lawn mower.” Lenny had no idea who she was talking about. Early in his life, he’d learned to never let anyone know he hadn’t a clue about whatever was being asked. His dad had taught him that. “Act responsible and you’ll be given responsibility, which leads to knowledge—which contains secrets. Knowing secrets is the to key to it all.”
When Sara asked, Lenny acted like he knew all about the kid with a lawn mower. But he was actually shocked. How had he not heard that loud machine? Especially since it would have been going just at dawn? The only person he’d ever met who slept as little as he did was Sara. If she was outside, it was probably barely daylight.
He’d told her he’d take care of it. But who was the kid, and where was he?
Lenny went outside to look for him, but he was distracted when he saw Barbara Adair skulking about. He followed her. Three times he had to hide from the movie star. What was she looking for? She was made up like she was going before a camera and had on some outfit that should have been labeledSummer in Capri.Did she have a lover? Jack and Randal were taken so that left young Reid. To be fair, he was probably only a few years younger than Mrs. Adair.
Following her without being seen wasn’t easy. Lenny’s head injury had affected his entire body. He could no longer “disappear” as he used to. He couldn’t slide into doorways, stoop under staircases, or dive through windows as he easily used to do. But Barbara was so intent on whatever she was searching for that she didn’t see him. Lenny was tempted to test her concentration by stepping in front of her, but he didn’t.
Whatever she was seeking, she didn’t find it. Instead, she and Randal went off to lunch. Jack and Kate also went away. Separately.Can they bear to be apart for two whole hours?Lenny thought. He’d never come close to being in love and seeing those four obsessed with one another made him glad of it.
When Lenny went back inside, Sara was like a house that was about to explode: agitated and hyperactive. He heard her call the local tearoom and order food to be delivered. What they had in the house wasn’t good enough for her?
When she asked Lenny if he’d seen Rachel, he said no—and he knew he had todosomething. The way Sara was now, she’d probably have Rachel arrested before she even started to ask questions.
Then an odd thing happened. As Randal and Barbara drove away from the front of the house, in the back appeared a young man Lenny had never seen before. He was impressed and annoyed at the same time. That the boy could hide from him was startling, and it made Lenny feel old and incompetent. He was losing his ability to see all while not being seen.
Lenny lost no time in going after the boy. He was a young man, early twenties, but to Lenny that was a child. “Sara needs you.”
He looked blank, like he’d never heard of her.
“Sara? Solving the murder?”
The boy’s eyes widened. He was a good-looking kid. Dark blond hair, blue eyes. He looked like he’d been fed nothing but “good for you” food all his life.
“You know anything about VHS machines?”
“Sure. My dad—”
Lenny put his hand up. He didn’t have time to listen to a life story. “You’re to go with Sara to an old-age home and connect the system. They’re researching some guy named Harry Adair. Ever hear of him?”
