Page 35 of Alibi for Murder
“I think I’ll clean up the mess upstairs and call it a night.”
He frowned. “It’s been a strange day. You handling all this okay?”
“Sure.” She backed toward the door. “Thanks again for everything. Really. You’ve done so much.”
He smiled, making her heart react. “No problem. Goodnight.”
“G’night.”
What she didn’t tell him was that she was totally exhausted with all of it. She had realized she didn’t know very much about her parents and the final year of their lives. But now she was certain she had no idea what really happened to them either. What little she did know from that time didn’t feel like the truth anymore. But she was certain her grandparents would never have lied to her.
They couldn’t have known. She refused to even entertain the idea.
Allie wasn’t sure what she actually knew at this point. But she intended to find out.
Upstairs, she started with the closet. Rehanging clothes and tidying shoes and scarves. Her mother’s two favorite handbags went back on their hooks. Every single item made Allie miss these people she’d scarcely known so much more. She missed her grandparents too.
It wasn’t easy being alone. Funny, she hadn’t really noticed so much until now.
This time with Steve and tonight’s dinner with his family had been a stark reminder of what she was missing.
By the time her parents’ belongings were put away, she was dragging. Steve paused at the door. Evidently he’d finished up downstairs. At one point, she’d felt certain she heard him talking. He’d likely had calls to make.
“Need any help?”
“It’s done.” She surveyed the room. She’d put the framed photographs back where they belonged as well as the little trinkets her mother had cherished. Sadly, she only knew these things because her grandmother had told her.
“Did you notice anything missing?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Whatever the intruder was looking for, it obviously wasn’t here.”
As she walked toward the door, she noticed something on the floor just under the edge of the bed. She leaned down and picked it up. It was another photo of the mystery couple. What in the world was it doing on the floor? She turned it over, and their names were written there.
Lucille and Dennis Reger.
Mrs. Talbert and Steve’s mother had been right.
Allie studied the photograph. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this one.” She passed it to Steve. “My grandmother was very meticulous with photos. She kept them all in albums or frames. None were ever loose like this.”
As Steve examined the photograph, a thought occurred to Allie. “Maybe,” she suggested, “the intruder didn’t break in to take anything. Maybe to leave something.”
“A clue he thought you might need.”
Allie nodded slowly, her attention fixed on the couple in the photograph. “Maybe he thinks we need a little help.”
“Or he’s playing with us,” Steve countered.
The kind of playing, Allie realized, that got people killed.
Chapter Nine
Monday, June 9
Chicago
Colby Agency, 8:00 a.m.
The elevator doors opened, and Allie stepped into the lobby of the Colby Agency.
