knew Curt. He’s only doing his job,” Darla gently reassured her. “Remember, she didn’t come home the night that Curt was murdered, and you yourself said that she usually spent her evenings with him. It does seem a bit suspicious.”
“I know, I know,” the woman agreed, breaking into fresh sobs. “But no matter what happened, I can’t believe Tera would leave home without telling me.”
Darla handed her another tissue and desperately wished that Jake would hurry up. While she was inclined to agree with Hilda that Tera didn’t seem to fit the type, she’d heard Reese and Jake recount enough tales about unlikely killers to know that one could never say never when it came to murder. On the other hand—
“Hilda, maybe Tera did have something to do with Curt’s death,” she ventured, “but that doesn’t mean it was deliberate. Maybe they had a fight, and he tried to hurt her, and she was defending herself. Or maybe he brought her down to the basement and tried to force himself on her, and she had to hit him with the crowbar to get away. I think on the cop shows they call it justifiable homicide or something.”
“You mean, self-defense?”
“Right. And maybe she’s afraid to come home because she knows the police will be looking for her. And she won’t call you because no one can accuse you of helping her if you don’t know where she is.”
“Oh, Darla, that does make sense.” Hilda looked up from her pile of sodden tissues, her swollen eyes suddenly filling with hope. “I know she could never hurt anyone on purpose . . . but maybe if he had tried to hurt her . . .”
She straightened and reached into her handbag, pulling out a compact. “I look a fright,” she exclaimed with a glance in the small mirror. Shoving the mirror back into her purse, she got to her feet again. “Please, I must make myself halfway presentable before Jake gets here.”
Darla obligingly pointed her in the direction of the ladies’ room and then went to wait on the middle-aged executive who’d just walked in. By the time she’d sent him off with a best-selling business biography and then rang up another customer who’d come in for her weekly fix of the latest romance novels, Hilda had emerged from the restroom looking almost like her usual self.
Darla took in the woman’s deftly recoiffed hair and fresh makeup with amazement. She must have a personal stylist stashed in that purse, she thought with a wry shake of her head. Even the tracksuit looked suddenly trendier, thanks to a scarf Hilda must have found somewhere in the handbag and which now was wrapped jauntily around her throat.
“Darla, I am so sorry for dropping in on you like this with my problems,” Hilda exclaimed, the earlier quaver in her voice all but gone. “I must have faith that Jake will find Tera before the police do and bring her home so we can work this out together.”
“I’m sure she will. And even if Detective Reese finds her first, I promise you he’ll treat her fairly.”
“Perhaps.” That last was said with a shrug that seemed to speak of more than a little distrust of authority. Though, now knowing the woman’s history, Darla couldn’t quite blame her.
Bells jingled again. This time, to Darla’s great relief, it was Jake walking through the front door. She was dressed for serious investigating, her unbelted black leather duster swirling around her jean-encased calves with every stride, her stacked-heel boots effectively camouflaging her limp. A pair of mirrored sunglasses hid her eyes, and her curly black hair sprang from her head like a lion’s mane, everything combining to give Jake the look of a kick-butt anime heroine come to life.
Just what Hilda and Tera needed right about now, Darla thought with a grateful sigh.
“Hey, kid, thanks for filling in.” Jake gave Darla an approving nod before turning to Hilda. “Sorry you had to wait. I was making a few inquiries about Tera.”
“Did you have any luck?” Hilda greeted her, the crispness of her tone belied by the anxious way she was twisting her hands. “Has anyone seen my daughter?”
“So far, none of her friends have seen her since her Wednesday morning class. And I can’t find anyone who saw her after you said she left the house again Wednesday evening. Late Thursday morning is when Darla and Barry found Curt’s body, so we’ve got about twelve hours we have to account for to