“Of course,” Diana said.
“Can you remember the last time you saw it?”
But she couldn’t.“Most of the time, I forget it’s there.We’ve never needed it.Steven takes it out and cleans it once in a while, but I can’t remember the last time he did that.And I don’t go into his bedside drawer, as a rule.”
“So the gun could have been gone for a while.”
She nodded.“Should I be worried?”
I’d be worried if it were me, although I didn’t say so.Mendoza didn’t, either.“We’ll figure it out,” he told her.His voice was reassuring, but I’m sure she noticed, as did I, that he didn’t actually tell her she had no reason to worry.
Nine
By the timeI got to the office to check on poor Edwina—and Zachary—it was after eight.Honestly, I expected them both to be gone, but when I pulled into the lot, Zachary’s little car was parked in the corner, and the light was on inside.
I unlocked the door and raised my voice.“Hello?”
There was a scramble from the back of the office.Then the sound of nails scrabbling on the floor, and furious, high-pitched barking as Edwina rounded the corner and came for me, bat ears flapping.I took an involuntary step back.
She recognized me, though, and by the time she ran into my calves—because although her feet were no longer moving, she couldn’t stop in time—her stubby tail was wagging and her jaws were split in a delighted doggy grin.
“Hello, sweetheart.”I bent and gave her a scratch as she danced excitedly in front of me, her hind quarters wiggling in delight.Running my nails through her short fur was a little like scratching a Persian rug.
Zachary burst around the corner a second later, and took several steps down the hallway before he recognized me.“Oh.”
He slowed down, and then collapsed against the wall.“It’s you.”
I nodded.“I have a key.Didn’t you hear me let myself in?”
He looked sheepish.“Guess the TV was up too loud.”
“We have a TV?”
“I was streaming Jessica Jones on the computer,” Zachary said.
Of course he was.I decided not to say anything about it.It was after business hours, and he had stayed behind to take care of my dog.Or the dog Mendoza had given me responsibility for.Who cared if he was using the wifi?He could be watching much worse things than Jessica Jones.
“I came to relieve you,” I said instead.“Of the dog.I can’t believe I forgot about her.But I went from Franklin directly to Diana’s house, and she just slipped my mind.Thanks you for staying to take care of her.”
“It was no problem.”Zachary looked like he thought about saying something else, but then he thought better of it.
“I saw Detective Mendoza,” I said.“He came by to show Diana the drawing you helped him make.Of the Russian girl.”
Zachary nodded.“I only saw her for a minute.I’m not sure the drawing is a hundred percent.But it’s close.Did Mrs.Morton recognize her?”
Mendoza had shown the image to both us before I left, and we’d both said we didn’t know the girl.I was reasonably sure I’d never seen her before.I’d only followed Steven that one afternoon—yesterday—from the college campus to the house in Crieve Hall.She’d already been there when he arrived, and I hadn’t gotten a look at her, and then I’d followed Steven back to the university.Zachary had gone to the door alone with the pizza last night, and this morning she’d been gone.There was no reason for me to have seen her, unless it was in passing, on the street, and if so, I hadn’t realized it.
Diana had said the same.She was probably telling the truth.
“Her name seems to be Anastasia Sokolov,” I told Zachary, and watched his eyes open wide.
“The detective found her already?That was fast!”
I shook my head.“Sadly, no.I found the name.”I told him about my trip to Franklin and Araminta Tucker.“She rented the house to Steven and his ‘daughter.’”
I left out the air quotes around the last word.Zachary snorted anyway.
“You’re too young to be so cynical,” I told him.
