Death in A Mood Indigo by Francine Mathews

Author:Francine Mathews
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780307569394
Publisher: Bantam Books
Published: 1997-03-11T07:00:00+00:00

“I thought the worst moment was hearing about it, last night, from that policeman.” Emily was holding Roxanne’s picture, which probably dated from the girl’s senior year in high school, and her eyes were on it, bright with grief, as she spoke. “They figured out who she was when they found her purse lying somewhere in that landfill. He left her there—did you know that, Detective? Like she was garbage. My Roxie. But I was wrong.” At this she glanced up and away from them, out the window to the sea. “The worst moment was looking at her at three o’clock in the morning, at the hospital, once those police had finished with her. Saying her name out loud, and knowing she would never hear. Because then I knew there was absolutely no mistake. It wasn’t someone else’s girl they’d found. Until I went into that room, and they lifted the sheet away from her face, there was always a chance.”

“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Teasdale,” Merry said, and felt immediately and profoundly inadequate.

“Did you expect Roxanne home at any particular time last night?” Dana Stevens asked.

Emily nodded. “Yes. I thought she’d be back around eight or so. She was working on the third grade’s spring pageant after school—making scenery and so forth—and called to say she was having dinner with Lily. When the doorbell rang, I thought maybe Roxie’d lost her key, you see. That she was standing on the doorstep. But instead it was the police.”

A shudder racked her narrow body. She covered her face with her hands.

“Whom did you say she had dinner with, Mrs. Teas-dale?” Dana asked.

Emily searched distractedly in her pockets for a tissue. Merry reached in her purse and pulled out a packet of them. She pressed it into Emily’s hand. “Here. Keep it.”

“Oh, thank you, dear.” Emily blew her nose tidily and tucked the used tissue into her sleeve. “She was going to the Brotherhood with Lily Olszewski. Lily teaches the fourth grade. The two classes were sharing the skit, you see, and most of it was Lily’s idea. She’s a little older than Roxie, maybe twenty-four, and has been at the school longer.”

“I understand. Do you know where we could reach Ms. Olszewski?”

“At the school, I guess—though I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t go in today. I called her this morning and told her about—about Roxie. Lily was quite devastated, poor girl. Well, she should be. You all should be,” Emily finished, looking sharply from Merry to Dana. “Someone out there is preying on young women, and none of you is safe. I never thought I would live to see the day such things happened on Nantucket. I still can’t believe it.”

“I can’t either,” Merry said grimly. “Mrs. Teasdale, did you notice any strangers in the Madaket area in the past week?”

“Looking in the windows to see who’s home and who’s not?” the woman replied. “No, can’t say as I have. But the summer folks are starting to trickle back—ever since Daffodil Weekend—and sometimes a stranger’s nothing more than a new neighbor.

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