that fear had taken over everyone. For all that her mother had been locked in a trunk long ago, the discovery was new. The fear was new.
At eleven she dozed off and woke at one with a jolt. Since ten she’d had no calls, but several texts and emails. None of them were from Nate or Rowan, Elaine or her father, so she ignored them.
She wanted to call Nate but she didn’t want to wake him. At least she hoped he was sleeping somewhere.
As she fumbled her way to bed, she wondered what was going on. Had one of the visitors to her house stolen the Chinese bowl? What made Nate ask about it? Was it related to her mother’s murder?
She didn’t sleep well and woke early. She managed to occupy herself until 10:00 a.m., then she left. She docked her boat at her house and went up the stairs. Right away she saw that Nate hadn’t been there.
She called him and got a message that his voice mailbox was full.
It took some doing but she made herself calm down. She ate a portion of one of the casseroles and tried to think about what to do. If these were normal circumstances, she’d call Frank. But he wasn’t here. She couldn’t call her dad. He was under enough stress without her adding to it.
She drove to the sheriff’s office. Calm, she told herself. Don’t panic, don’t cause anyone else to panic. Nate had probably slept in one of the jail cells. He’s probably just fine—and he’d bawl her out for showing up.
She hoped that was what would happen!
The office was busy—and Della was running it. She was barking orders at one of the young deputies. When she saw Terri, she said, “Where is he?”
Terri put on her best fake smile. “At home reading Uncle Frank’s files. He won’t be in until later. He sent me here to get something.” She tried to look exasperated. “But he didn’t tell me what it was. You have any idea what he needs?”
Della stared at Terri for a full ten seconds before responding. “I gave him a package from his mother. It was a book.”
“Other than that,” Terri said. How did she pull this off without upsetting anyone? Should she say, I think Nate is missing? I think he found something and went after it? Would gossipy Della tell the press? The headlines would be Chain Saw Killer on the Loose. “What else?”
Della wasn’t one to let go of the topic. “He was really, really interested in the book. He went outside to make a call. He didn’t tell me who it was or what it was about but I saw that it was a Connecticut area code. Then he called you and asked who all the people were who went to your house.”
Terri’s fists clenched so hard her nails bit into the palms. Della the snoop. Della the spy. “Where’s the book?”
Della had it on her desk. It was a thick volume about Chinese antiques.
Terri tried to keep her eyes from widening. “This is probably what he wants. Thanks.” She started out the door but turned back. Della was staring at her, calculating. “You’d better not say anything about—”
Della cut her off. “I’m a deputy now. The days of this town getting free information out of me are over!”
That’s one way to look at it, Terri thought but didn’t say. She just nodded in agreement and hurried out of the office, the big book tucked under her arm. She drove down the road, then pulled to the side before she opened the book.
It took only minutes to find what Nate had seen. There was a full-page photo of her Chinese bowl. Not one like it but hers. The dent in the base was clearly visible.
Under the photo, the caption explained that the bowl was old, rare and valuable.
What interested Terri was that in the margin was a handwritten name—Monroe—and a phone number. She guessed that the area code was for Connecticut. Della must have been so busy bossing the poor deputies around that she’d missed seeing the notation.
Terri called and asked for a person by that name. Monroe turned out to be the curator of a small museum.
He told her she was the second person to call him that day to ask about the bowl. Yes, it was a man who’d called, said he was the sheriff of a town in Virginia. The bowl had been stolen and Mr. Monroe gave her the