Okay. This had turned odd now. Huck remained quiet to see where she was headed with this.
Tommy shrugged. “Kind of. We hang out sometimes, but that’s all. It’s nothing serious.”
“I see.” Laurel turned back around to face the mayor.
The mayor cleared his throat. “Why don’t you put the casserole in the fridge and grab something to eat?” It was phrased as a question but most certainly was not.
The boys cleared out.
Teri shook her head. “I’m sorry about the interruption. Are there any other questions for me? I’m rather tired.”
“Yes,” Laurel said. “We’re almost finished. I just need a little more information. Was there any indication that your sister was frightened of anybody?”
The mayor frowned. “No.”
“Yes,” his wife said instantly. She held up a hand as if to stop the mayor from speaking. “She was, Saul. She’d been getting hang-up phone calls, and she was certain somebody was following her. In addition, little things at her house were misplaced, as if somebody had been inside her home when she wasn’t there. I told her to install a security system, and I know she’d planned to do so after her writer’s retreat.”
The mayor sighed and shook his head. “Teri. Your sister was a very talented writer, which means she had an extremely active imagination. You know that. She’s always had issues.”
“Issues?” Huck asked.
Teri shot her husband a glare. “Not issues. As a kid, she had imaginary friends. Once in a while, when we were growing up, she’d think somebody around us was guilty of a crime. Just normal stuff for sensitive artist types. Lately, it was different. She was certain somebody had been in both her office and her home, just moving things around slightly. And she was sure somebody had taken a lace panty and bra set from her drawer.”
The mayor shook his head. “She was high-strung, Teri. You know it.”
“Anything else?” Huck asked.
Teri scrunched up her face, and no wrinkles appeared on her forehead. Botox? “There were flowers. All over her backyard one day. They were kind of reddish purple.”
The mayor snorted. “Flowers? That neighborhood has tons of wildflowers all the time. Seriously.”
“In the winter?” his wife retorted. “I don’t think so.”
Huck leaned forward. “Did she take pictures of the flowers?”
“Yes.” Teri drew her phone from her pocket and scrolled through, handing it over. “She said they were black dahlias and that they’re difficult to grow in the winter, even in a greenhouse. But that it is possible, and she had no idea where they came from.”
Huck looked at the photograph and then handed it to Laurel.
“Yes, those are black dahlias,” she affirmed.
He fought the urge to go through more of the pictures on the woman’s phone. “When did this happen?”
“About a week before she left to write her poems,” Teri said.
Laurel widened the picture with two fingers. “Did she file a police report?”
“No. Saul convinced her it was just a coincidence or some goofy prank by her students,” Teri said, her tone accusatory. “So she didn’t. I mean, we wouldn’t want to draw any attention to the mayor’s family, would we?”
Huck watched the interplay, not wanting to interrupt in case things got interesting.
“Mom,” Steve interjected. “You’re upset.” He stood. “I think it’s time we ended this interview for now. Obviously, my mother needs rest.”
Laurel didn’t move. “It’s our understanding that your sister was estranged from her husband.”
“Oh, for goodness sake,” the mayor muttered. “Morris and Sharon were never a good match. They fell in love on a cruise and got married on the spur of the moment. It’s shocking the marriage lasted the three years that it did. He’s a decent man, a little slow, and would never have hurt her. You’re barking up the wrong tree there.”
“Tell me about Morris,” Laurel said, watching Teri intently.
