Gone for Good by Joanna Schaffhausen

Author:Joanna Schaffhausen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

Chris likes to think he’s a genius, but he can be dumb as a sack of hair. Unlike him, Barnes has actually seen a dead body. I know what he was trying to tell us: most people need a reason to pull the trigger; others just need an excuse. If you’re one of those who needs an excuse, then you will always find one.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Annalisa called Zimmer from St. Thecla’s, and Zimmer had no choice but to call the chief of police, and he, of course, called in the FBI. She had no idea who’d alerted Don Harrigan, but he, too, showed up outside the church. The normally quiet street looked like a club scene with all the flashing blue and red lights casting frantic shadows against the high stone walls. Colin stood with the Grave Diggers, all of them guarded by uniformed officers, while the forensic techs went to work on the church. Annalisa knew they were all going to be questioned thoroughly before the night was over, just as she already knew that none of their answers would prove satisfactory. The Lovelorn killer had orchestrated this show well in advance, and if he was watching at all, it would be from a safe distance.

She strolled over to Colin, trying to look casual, and touched his arm. “Some welcome home party, huh?”

“I have dreams that look like this,” he said as he surveyed the controlled chaos. “Our house roped off with yellow tape, cop cars all over the street.”

“I’m sorry.” She gave him a sympathetic squeeze. “After they interview you, you’ll be free to take off again for Budapest or wherever.…”

He turned to her with horror. “And leave you here alone? With this?”

“It’s my job, Colin. I can handle it.” Zimmer motioned to her, and she touched Colin’s arm again, this time in apology. “I’ll be back.”

She stood facing Zimmer, which gave her a prime view of St. Thecla’s. The techs had turned the lights on inside the sanctuary, illuminating the stained glass windows from within. Their glow was muted, nothing like the view she remembered from the pews, when the strong sun poured in through the red, yellow, and blue glass, casting beams of color through the enormous hall. Even as an adult, whenever Annalisa tried to picture God, this was the image she saw in her mind: the saints lit like fire in the Sunday sun.

“You’ve positively identified the music box as belonging to Grace Harper?” Zimmer was asking, and Annalisa jerked her attention back to her boss.

“Her friend Molly Lipinski has identified it, yes.”

“And the frog is definitely yours.”

“My grandmother made it. There isn’t a second one in the world, as far as I know.”

“Then that’s it. Lovelorn has to be the guy who’s calling you.” Zimmer sounded grim, not excited, by this lead.

“I recorded the conversation.”

Zimmer turned dark eyes to Colin and the Grave Diggers. “What about the rest of them? Who are they?”

“The guy on the end is Colin Duffy, Katherine’s son. The others are members of the same amateur sleuth group that Grace Harper belonged to.

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