Page 61 of Crumbling Truth
I waited until she nodded, her expression blank, before I moved. However badly I wanted to wrap her up in my arms, I didn’t want to risk causing some kind of reaction after handling the package. Instead, I yanked a long string of paper towels from the roll by the sink and used them to lift the box while she started washing her hands with dish soap. I took it into the garage, wrapped it in a clear trash bag, and ran into the house to clean myself up before touching my phone to call Rose.
Impatience vibrated through my veins as I retraced my steps through the house, wiping down the surfaces I’d touched beforeI could wash my hands. I did the same to Esther’s front door, inside and out, then scrubbed down the table while she stood in the doorway, fidgeting nervously with the hem of the fresh sweater she’d pulled on.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered when I tossed the last paper towel into the trash can.
I washed my hands again, then finally yanked her into my arms. She clung so tightly that I could barely draw a deep breath, but I wouldn’t let go for anything in the world. We stayed like that until the doorbell rang, heralding the arrival of the police.
Rose stood at the door beside Spruce Hill’s chief of police, a jolly middle-aged man named Roberts. When he asked Rose to take Esther’s statement while I showed him the box, I got the impression they’d planned it that way ahead of time.
A swift rush of appreciation swept over me; this was one benefit to living in such a small town. People might be all up in each other’s business, but they also took care of one another.
I squeezed Esther’s hand on my way out the door and led Chief Roberts to the garage.
“Tell me what’s going on, son,” he said kindly. We had our own history, one stretching back to my Little League days and encompassing some of the darkest moments of my life.
“I had dinner with Oliver Jimenez and Julian this evening,” I told him, though I’d already given Rose most of the details over the phone. “When I got back, the box was in front of Esther’s door. I brought it in, figured it was a gift from her parents or something she ordered online.”
He slanted me a look. “Have you met her parents?”
“No,” I admitted.
“Let’s just say they’re on the opposite end of the spectrum from yours. What happened next?”
“Esther took it over to the table and opened it. Based on the way she jumped away from it, I thought there was a snake inside.Once I saw what it was, I closed it up, brought it out here, and then scrubbed the hell out of myself and everything the box had touched. She mentioned there could be peanut residue on the outside.” I gestured to the workbench where I’d left the plastic-wrapped box.
Roberts nodded. “I’ll take it with me, see if we can lift any prints. Your folks happen to have security cameras on the premises?”
“No, but I’ll pick some up in the morning.”
“Maybe get Esther a doorbell camera, too. I’ll check with the neighbors, see if anyone else has one that might’ve caught someone walking up the driveway. Rose said there were no footprints in the snow when you got home?” he asked as I closed up the garage behind us.
“No, there weren’t. I didn’t notice exactly when the snow started, but I left here to go to Ollie’s house around five.”
“That’ll narrow down the window of opportunity quite a bit, then, since it started snowing just after six,” he mused.
I followed him to the end of the driveway, blinking away the flakes that landed on my eyelashes, and watched him peer up and down the street. It wasn’t even very late, but the neighborhood was still and silent, cloaked in darkness and swirling snow.
Roberts looked at me and casually said, “The two of you have been holed up at home together a lot lately, is that right?”
“That’s right,” I replied, waiting for him to issue the same kind of warning Oliver had, but he just nodded as though he’d already known the answer.
“Anything else I should be aware of?”
I blew out a breath, watching it crystallize in the night air. “She probably told Rose, but there were flowers on her doorstep about a week back, a bouquet of lilies. We met friends at Botticelli’s and had a run-in with one of Steve’s old friends thenight before. Esther brushed it off like it was a gift from one of her customers, but there are lilies in that box.”
“Lilies,” he repeated, looking pensive. “You know the friend’s name?”
“First name Tyler, that’s all I caught. Real smarmy little prick.”
Roberts gave a humorless laugh. “Right, I know Tyler Engels. I’ll have a word, see if it seems like he’s hung up on Esther. Seen him around aside from that?”
“At the tree lighting, but he didn’t make an approach. I appreciate you looking into things, Chief.”
“Just doing my job, son. I’ll get this back to the station and keep you apprised of anything we find out. You let me know if anything else happens. Hanson’s already working on those calls Esther was getting. Be nice to tie this all up in a pretty little bow ahead of Christmas, wouldn’t it?”
Rose came out of the guest house just as we reached the door. Esther looked slightly more composed than she had when I left her side, thankfully. I joined her in the doorway and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“I won’t shake your hands now that I’ve touched this, but you two take care. We’ll get to the bottom of this, don’t you worry,” Roberts assured us.
