Page 25 of Dirty Looks

The color had leached out of Molly’s face and she gripped her rolling pin like a weapon.

“Little Evie?” Molly asked. “It’s not possible. I’m telling you she was right as rain when I saw her last night. Isawher.”

“What time was that?” I asked.

“Around five o’clock,” she said. “Ms. Kitty didn’t need me to stay late. She said just leave the soup on the stove and they’d help themselves. But I brought the tray up to Evie anyway so Ms. Kitty didn’t have to carry it. She was feeling poorly herself, so I thought it best they eat upstairs.”

“Did you speak to Evie?” Martinez asked.

“Of course,” Molly said. “She was feeling much better. Told me she didn’t want the soup, and she wanted a hamburger instead. But I told her that was foolish and she’d cast it back up again. She was out of bed playing as if she’d never been sick.”

“What about Kitty?” Martinez asked.

“She was the one who didn’t look so good, and I told her so meself,” Molly said. “She was afraid the whole staff would getsick, but I told her that was nonsense. I’ve never been sick a day in me life. But Ms. Kitty told me to have Astrid dismiss the others and send them on home. Ms. Kitty said the house was quarantined until Wednesday at the earliest. That’s why no one came in today.”

“Except for you and Ms. Nielsen?” Martinez asked.

“I have a job to do,” she said haughtily. “A little illness isn’t going to stop me. And I expect it’s the same for Astrid and anyone else who has more than fluff in their head.”

“How long has Mr. Lidle been gone?” I asked.

“He left Sunday just after Evie came to stay,” Molly said, pursing her lips. “Said he had too many important meetings this week, and couldn’t afford to be sick. Democracy hanging in the balance, or some such nonsense.”

“He didn’t seem concerned about Kitty being taken to the hospital when he called about the dinner party?” Martinez asked.

“He seemed put out about it, sure,” Molly said. “But like I said before, this isn’t the first time Kitty has taken to bed with a drink or two. I figured she made herself a hot toddy and overindulged. I’m sure Mr. Lidle thought the same. But he said this dinner was important and there would be dignitaries dining with him. He wanted escargots and beef Wellington on the menu. And a soufflé for dessert.” She rolled her eyes. “Like ye can just whip one up easy as ye please.”

Molly bit her lip nervously and her voice wavered. “Have you checked to see if Evie’s hiding? She loves her games, does Evie. It might have scared her to see Kitty sick or tipsy. Not many people know about her drinking.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “But we’re sure. I was able to identify her from dental records. Her parents have been notified.”

Molly’s face drained of color and she dropped the rolling pin with a thunk onto the counter, her legs wobbling. Martinez took a step forward to try and steady her but she waved him off.

“I need to contact Mr. Lidle,” she said. “He doesn’t know about Evie. I’m sure of it. He would have said something. He wouldn’t have been so insistent about the dinner party.”

“We’ve already spoken to him,” Martinez said. “He knows about his granddaughter.”

Her mouth tightened in a thin line.

“Officer Walters is going to sit with you to make sure you’re steady on your feet,” Martinez said. “And then we’ll come back and talk with you some more.”

She bristled. “Of course I’m steady on me feet. I’m going to put on a pot of coffee. Ye can help yourselves to it if ye like.”

“We appreciate it,” Martinez said.

I didn’t know about Martinez, but I wasn’t about to drink anything from a house where we’d just taken cups into evidence.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Martinezand I found ourselves in the breakfast room with Astrid a few minutes later. Like the rest of the house, the room was mostly glass and had a partially glass ceiling like a sunroom. The table was rectangular and black and there was a monstrosity of a flower arrangement sitting in the middle. On a sunny day, it was probably a very nice room to sit in, but with the rain pounding against the glass I felt like I was in a house designed by Morticia Addams.

“Have a seat, Ms. Nielsen,” Martinez said, letting her sit at the head of the table.

“I saw a news alert about Evie after the EMTs took away Ms. Kitty,” she said, her hands twisting in her lap. “I saw about the girl in the park early this morning, and I thought how bad it was to have such a horrible crime so close, and how sad it must be for the family to know they’d lost a child.” She sucked in a shaky breath. “I didn’t realize the child would be ours.”

“It was after noon when you made the 911 call,” Martinez said. “Didn’t it strike you odd that you hadn’t seen or heard from Mrs. Lidle?”

Astrid was already shaking her head. “Not at all,” she said. “Ms. Kitty doesn’t like to be disturbed before noon. I almostdidn’t come in at all today because she told us to take the next two days off, but then Molly called and told me about the dinner party and I knew I needed to prepare the house for guests. I arrived just after ten.”

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