I frown. “If she was so paranoid, why take her on the yacht?”
“It was really strange.” Jack rubs the back of his neck. “She went through a few days of euphoria. She was laughing and happy and back to her old self. Then she locked herself in her room and I could hear her crying but she refused to open the door. I called the psychiatrist and they just told me to watch her. When she finally opened the door, she was acting normally again. I made sure Sue watched her closely over the next week or so. It was as if someone had waved a magic wand and she was back to normal. I wanted to give her some encouragement so I arranged the celebration for our wedding anniversary.” His gaze met mine. “I would never have taken her out on the yacht if I’d believed she was a danger to herself. Nothing happened during the evening that pointed toward her taking her own life.”
Everything he said followed the diary entries exactly. She had stopped eating the food and was having an affair with Tom. She wasn’t taking the drugs causing her hallucinations and unstable personality. When she broke up with him, she cried and then pulled herself together. I look at him. “Do you believe she considered that your marriage was over or did you make it clear to her that there was a future for the both of you?”
“I was positive with her all the time.” Jack shakes his head. “She, on the other hand, spent most of her time accusing me of having affairs. I don’t think she ever truly loved me and yet she was jealous of my time with other people. The psychiatrist mentioned that she had narcissistic tendencies so perhaps that was just part of her personality. She needed to be the center of attention all the time.”
I gather my courage and clear my throat. “Did you ever suspect that Laura had an affair and that was why she had a sudden change in personality? She was getting the attention she craved and when it ended, she cried for a day and then pulled herself together and decided to keep going?”
“How the hell did you know about her affair?” Jack stares at me with an incredulous expression on his face. “I’ve never spoken about that aloud. Of course I knew about the affair; I was sleeping right next door. I’d need to be some kind of fool if I believed it took Tom an hour to deliver takeout.” He barks a sarcastic laugh. “She was just using him like she used everybody but he was smart enough to walk away after a day or so.” His eyes flash with anger as he looks at me. “Did Tom tell you? I’m surprised, because he values his position in the firm and would know you’d tell me.”
I shake my head. “No, Tom didn’t tell me. Laura did. She wrote everything in her diary. I found it in the attic. The thing is, Jack, I believe either someone was drugging her with a hallucinogenic—” I squeeze his hand “—or it came from something she was using, maybe a hand lotion, or cosmetic. It must be something you don’t use. Did she buy things from overseas, maybe?”
“A diary? She never mentioned a diary. What diary and what does it say?”
I touch his arm. “I found it in the attic; it covers the months before she died. She believed someone was drugging her. It’s allin there. It’s a tragic story of her losing her grip on reality.” I meet his gaze. “Do you want to read it?”
“No.” Jack wiped his mouth with his hand as if removing a taste from his lips. “I lived it.”
I nod. “Now about the cosmetics?”
“Yes, she purchased tons of lotions and cosmetics from wherever we traveled.” He frowns. “It must be something she used because no one here would poison her. Why would they? What did they have to gain?” He shakes his head. “Laura died and nothing has happened in this house to anyone else, nothing has changed. I haven’t been seduced by any of the staff, or poisoned. Maybe you’re clutching at straws.” He closes his fingers over my hand and rubs his thumb over the back. “Have you considered that maybe she was just crazy?”
I nod. He makes sense but I need to collect Laura’s cosmetics, creams and lotions. I want to get them tested for possible drugs or side effects. I look at him. “To put my mind at rest, would you mind if I had her used cosmetics tested for possible drug contamination?”
“If it makes you happy, go for it.” Jack smiles at me. “As far as I’m aware, nothing’s been touched in her dressing room since she died. I don’t have a clue where to send them for testing. I’ll ask Ruby to search for a laboratory.” He sighs. “If Laura was using contaminated cosmetics, it would solve many unanswered questions.”
I need more information. “Just one thing, the argument you had with Tom the night Laura died…was that fueled by his affair with Laura?”
“Yes and no.” A muscle twitches in Jack’s cheek. “I knew about him and Laura, and I didn’t really care. It was an insult to my ego but I’d deal with it. She was sick and he made her better. No, it was seeing him lip-locked with Ruby on the yacht. It just made me mad a guy can use women like that, and I exploded. Iused the non-fraternization rule to get him out of my house but I needed to keep an eye on him, so I kept him in my employ. It was Ruby’s idea. She figured he might cause problems being fired after I argued with him, publicly. Keeping him on full salary and giving him an apartment to live in rent free squashed all that.”
I nodded. I feel he is being honest with me. “That was a good idea. Thank goodness you have Ruby.”
“Now can we stop talking about Laura?” Jack raises both eyebrows. “I want to show you some of the houses in this area listed for sale.” He pulls a thumb drive from his pocket. “Why don’t we take our coffee into the sitting room and I’ll slip this into the TV.”
I meet his gaze. “You’ve found houses for sale? So soon? I can’t wait to see them.”
“If we see something we like, I’ll make an appointment to view them next weekend.” Jack stands slowly. “It’s not something I want to rush into, Willow. We must be sure it’s the one for us.”
I refill our coffee cups and hand one to him. “I want to be sure too.” I give him a long look. “I don’t want to end up writing a diary because the house drove me insane.”
FORTY-ONE
SATURDAY
My intention to spend the entire weekend with the children ended abruptly when I discover Jenny is taking them to the circus. My acute fear of clowns means that I can’t walk past a flyer for a circus with a clown face on it, let alone go inside the big top. I take Jenny to one side and make sure she doesn’t purchase anything with a clown face on it and bring it back to the house. With Jack ready to head out the door to play golf, I kiss him goodbye and watch him and then the children drive away. I walk into the kitchen and find Amy and the other housemaid I rarely see, Lucy, unpacking the dishwasher and stacking the shelves. They both look at me as if I’m a Little Green Man just landed from space. “I need a pair of disposable gloves and a plastic storage container of some kind. Maybe twelve by twelve?”
“The storeroom is through here.” Amy leads me to the back of the kitchen. She slides open a door to reveal a wide room with shelves all around
Inside is like an Aladdin’s cave, with everything imaginable packed on the shelves. It’s brightly lit and I follow her to an area housing boxes of disposable gloves. We move on to another shelf where there is a variety of plastic storage containers. I select a box of gloves and two containers. Back outside in the kitchen, Iturn to Amy. “Come with me. I’m going to collect a few things from Laura’s dressing room and will need your assistance.”
As we climb the stairs, I notice Amy’s reluctance and turn my head to look at her. “Did you work here when Laura became unwell?”
“Yeah, I was here.” Amy flashes me a dark look. “I started working here when I was seventeen. She became very difficult just before the accident.”
I can almost feel her hesitation to enter Laura’s dressing room. She hangs back, looking all around as if her old mistress is going to jump out of one of the closets. “I know it’s spooky in here but I want you to put on a pair of gloves and help me collect any of the makeup and other things that Laura used. Don’t bother with the unopened bottles of lotions or face cream; place them inside the plastic containers. Don’t open them or smell them. Some of these were purchased overseas and I believe they might be contaminated. I’m going to have them examined by a laboratory to find out if there was anything in them that might have caused her erratic behavior.”
“It smells like her in here even after all these years. She just about bathed in perfume. I could smell her coming.” Amy sighs as she collects the cosmetics on the dressing table. “I doubt you will find anything.” She carefully loads the creams and lotions into the box.
