Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
I had lasagna in the oven by six and Tony came through the door just as I was pulling it out, which was either good timing or the universe being cooperative.
The kitchen smelled like garlic and tomatoes and he stood in the doorway for a moment with his jacket over his arm and the expression of a man who had not expected this and was glad about it.
“Sit down,” I said, without turning from the stove.
“Did you solve it?” I asked. “I heard the auction hall was released.”
He hung his jacket on the hook. “We didn’t solve it yet, but we did clear the auction house so they can get back to business.”
“So no arrest.”
“Not yet,” he said again, which was a different kind of not yet than the first one.
I filed that and turned back to the lasagna. He sat. My phone buzzed as I set the lasagna on the table.
Josie.
Schedule is open. Not sure exactly what time I can get there but — I’m coming for Thanksgiving. If that’s still okay.
I read it twice. Then replied.
“Josie is coming to Thanksgiving,” I said.
Tony looked up and smiled. “That’s good.”
We sat down and ate in the comfortable way of people who had gotten past needing to fill every silence. The lasagna was good. The harbor was dark and steady outside.
After a while I said, “This is going to be a lot. I mean they’re only used to holidays with me and their father or just me or just their father…”
Tony raised an eyebrow over his fork. “Are you giving me an out?”
“I’m making sure you know what you’re walking into.” Tony had me all three of them and they seemed to all get along, but still.
“I know what I’m walking into.” He said it simply, without defensiveness. “Gina. I moved a second razor into your medicine cabinet last week. I’m not getting cold feet about Thanksgiving.”
I looked at him across the table — Tony Caruso who had moved in by increments without announcement, who knew I had strange visions and saw ghosts, who had heard everything about Rosaria and asked how he could help.
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay,” he said, and went back to his pasta.
We ate. The harbor moved outside. Probably it would be complicated and fine at the same time. Most things were.
“I need to talk to you about the case,” I said.
Tony set his fork down. He had the shift he made — not dramatic, just a settling, the way a man moves from one mode to another without making a production of it. “Go ahead.”
I told him what the coven had worked through at Tammy’s and what we’d found out in our visit to Voss and Pruitt and then Lori’s chat with Eileen.
Tony listened. When I finished he was quiet for a moment, the particular quiet that meant he was giving it genuine consideration rather than loading his response.
“Pruitt is a stretch,” he said. “A pastor who wants a donation is hard to sell as a murder profile.”
“True,” I said. “But there was something about him that felt off.”
Tony nodded. “We’re looking at someone with a personal history with Halverson,” he said.
“The financial evidence doesn’t point to the desk — the cash box and safe were untouched, which argues against a straight robbery.
The personal history argues for someone who was angry and took the desk as an afterthought or a cover.
It might just be a coincidence that the killer took the desk you are interested in.
” He paused. “Halverson had several women in his life who had reason to be angry with him.”
“Tammy said he had a type,” I said. “Tall, red hair, strong opinions. Voss fits the description.”
Tony was quiet in a way that was its own kind of answer.
“She said she drove down the morning of the auction and found the police there and Halverson had already been murdered,” I said.
“We’re looking into that,” Tony said.
“The full moon is tomorrow night,” I said.
Tony’s expression settled into the one he used when my timeline wasn’t his timeline and he’d made peace with that. “I know. I’m moving as fast as I can.”
“And if you find the killer, remember your promise. We get to look at the desk.”
He took my hand and interlaced his fingers with mine. “Don’t worry, I won’t forget.”
I grabbed my phone and texted the coven group chat.
Killer not found. Pruitt visit on for tomorrow am.