This was news to Amie. “Were there any signs of a break-in?” she asked, remembering Grayson saying he hadn’t seen any.
“No,” Andrew said in a tone that indicated he was doubtful of the robbery theory. “But if she forgot to lock up, that might have been why she went back.”
“Do you think that’s what happened?”
A half-hearted shrug. “She hasn’t done it before, to my knowledge,” he said. “But her manager, Raina, left the store a little before her. She said Savannah seemed distracted; bothered about something. If that was the case, I suppose it’s believable that she’d forget to lock the doors. Or the back door, at least.”
“But do you think that’s what happened?” Amie pressed gently.
Andrew dropped his eyes to the table. “I just don’t know.” Taking in a deep inhale, he straightened. “Anyway, that’s what’s been keepingmeawake.” He took a small sip of tea. “I’m sure I’ve had many people reach out with condolences, but I haven’t looked at my phone since Tuesday morning. It all just feels too overwhelming right now. But you’ve been a good listening ear. Thank you.”
Amie felt a stab of guilt. She hadn’t been asking questions just out of the kindness of her heart. Then again, shewastrying to figure out who killed his wife, which was something she assumed he’d appreciate if she was successful.
Pushing down the guilty feeling, she smiled. “Of course.”
In the silence that followed, Amie scrambled for a way to lighten the mood. This man had invited her in for tea, saying he couldn’t sleep due to thinking about how his wife was murdered, and there she was, making him think about how his wife was murdered.
“I’m sure she would’ve really appreciated the memorial,” she finally said. “The flowers were beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Andrew said with a small smile. “Savannah chose them herself. That was one of the things I could never talk her out of—her weekly flower order.”
Amie stiffened, remembering Savannah yelling at the flower counter employee. She’d never paid much attention to what the woman had been yelling about, despite hearing her so many times. But hearing Andrew say “weekly flower order” triggered a memory (multiple memories, technically) of her yelling that exact phrase.
“Care to share what’s been keeping you awake?” Andrew asked kindly. “Could help.”
Amie didn’t know where she could begin to explain everything that had been keeping her awake, even if she wanted to. “My life’s just kind of … a mess.” She shrugged. “Nothing I can solve overnight, but my brain’s still determined to try.”
Andrew nodded knowingly. “Brains tend to have way too much faith in our ability to do things, huh?”
“Yeah.” Amie folded her hands around her mug. The further the moment got in her rearview mirror, the more she had trouble believing that for a few minutes she had actually begun to wish she was back in the time loop. The notion frightened her, for some reason. She didn’t want to think about it anymore.
“May I ask about the trip wire?” She tilted her head toward the front hall of the apartment.
“Ah,” Andrew said sheepishly. “It’s silly of me, I know. Savannah always used to say I was too paranoid. But with her murderer still out there and us not knowing why they did what they did …”
He trailed off, the corners of his mouth turning down as he wrestled with his emotions. Shaking his head, he said, “I just don’t know what to expect. I don’t like not knowing what’s coming next.”
“I know how you feel,” Amie said. Then she added, “A trip wire is pretty smart thinking. What happens if it’s set off?”
Smiling, Andrew stood. “I’ll show you.”
Amie followed him back to the hallway, where he pointed to a tall, pedestal-like table that sat near the corner. On top of the table sat a large white vase with blue floral designs, a fresh bouquet of flowers resting inside.
“Hold on to that vase, will you?” Andrew asked, crouching down.
Amie dutifully picked up the vase, the flowers tickling her nose as she did so.
“When someone walks through it …” As Andrew tugged on the wire, the table began to tip.
“The vase would fall and break,” Amie finished, understanding.
Andrew released the wire, and the table thudded back into place. “Figured the mess of the vase breaking would be worth it if it manages to warn me of an intruder.”
“Pretty smart,” Amie commented. She returned the vase to its table as he straightened back up.
“If I was smarter,” Andrew said, leading them back to the kitchen, “I would’ve remembered that I also set up a wire in the entrance to the bedroom.Thatone was meant to trip up anyone who might try to enter.”
He chuckled to himself as they sat down again. “Instead, it caught me leaving my room to make tea. Not very smart of me.”
