Murder in a Cape Cottage by Maddie Day

Author:Maddie Day [Day, Maddie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2022-06-23T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

After spending a bit of quality time with my parrot in the parsonage the next morning, my mood was only a little lifted. The clouds that had brought the dangerous precipitation still lingered. The dark way I felt matched the day. Still, I’d gotten myself up and washed and was determined to make headway on whatever I could learn about Della and Manny.

I drove Miss M—very carefully—over to Westham Village again at around ten. The world was encased in ice. The Westham road crews had been out salting, sanding, and scraping all night, from the looks of it, bless their hardworking and sleep-deprived hearts.

Sirens wailed, but I didn’t encounter whatever emergency vehicles they came from. I hoped someone hadn’t slid into a ditch or, worse, into another car. I had to be extra careful that didn’t happen to me.

My mission here was to corner Al and ask more questions about his uncle Manny. I’d poked around a little more this morning online but hadn’t really found anything additional about either the male corpse or the Boa Sorte. On the thread, Flo had said she’d mount a search once she got into work. I’d added a request to look into the cycling club founded a hundred years earlier by Sarah Winslow, and to find out if she had a brother.

Inside the facility, I identified myself to a young woman at the front desk and asked to speak with Al.

“I’m afraid he’s out,” she said. “Can I help you with anything else?”

Rats. Pivot, Mac, I told myself. “Um, sure. I wondered if I could have a chat with Richard Ruhlen. His son”—I crossed my fingers behind my back—“said it would be fine.”

“Of course. You know he goes in and out of being present, mentally.”

“Yes.”

“That’s fine, then. He’s back in the solarium. He loves it there. Do you need me to show you where to go?”

“Thank you, but I can find it. I was there a couple of days ago.” I made my way to the plant-filled room. The clouds from last night’s storm hadn’t cleared. If anything, the brooding, slate-colored sky looked like it was about to dump more wintry mix on us. So the solarium wasn’t as light as it had been, but it was still a lovely, peaceful space.

The only person in it was the same man I’d seen when I was here with Ursula. He again sat in a wheelchair near the side, but today he was awake, wearing a narrow knit tie under a V-necked sweater.

I flashed back to my conversation with Flo’s mom. Twice she’d glanced at this man, once when she’d spoken of Richard, but I hadn’t made the connection.

He raised a quavering hand. “Hello, young lady,” he called to me. “I expect you’re here for my history lesson. Or were you going to sing today?” He beckoned.

I smiled and sat across from him. “Mr. Ruhlen, my name is Mackenzie—”

“It is not.” He scowled. “What kind of a name is that for a girl? No, I know you’re my darling Sarah.

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