Chapter 15 #2
“Because she’d tell me what she thinks I’ll want to hear, and you’ll tell me the truth.
” Drew picked up a book and scanned the back.
“Oh, the plate on the truck came back to a young man who’s an assistant for one of the film crews.
He said he hadn’t moved the truck since they’d arrived in Sedona.
But when we went to look at it, he said he thought it had been moved.
He’d parked near the back of the hotel lot.
Now it’s parked in the front row. With the keys inside.
And he’s missing a leather glove. We’re dusting the truck for prints. ”
“So anyone could have been driving. Darby told me that it’s been quiet.
I don’t know if that’s because you had a car there, or for other reasons, but I know she’s getting tired of all the company.
Darby’s a private person, which is one reason I don’t think she’ll actually go through with this bed-and-breakfast idea with her friends.
It would mean that she’d have people in her house twenty-four seven.
” She tapped her fingers on her lips. “Malia was with her last night. Let me give her a call.”
She went to the back room to call Malia, who confirmed that Darby hadn’t had an issue for a few days. “I’m staying tonight. Then Katie’s here for the weekend. We need to assign people again starting Sunday. Unless Drew thinks it’s done?”
“I’ll ask him.” Rarity came back into the shop after letting Malia know that she’d call her before Sunday. Then she told Drew and Jonathon what Malia had said. “Should we take off the police car and see if things change? And if not, give Darby back some privacy?”
“As long as you’re convinced that she’d say something if it starts up again. I don’t want to be playing armchair detective on this thing, if there is a thing.” He set the book down. “I’ll take this. I’m not feeling good about not knowing the why behind these things.”
“Darby takes everything in stride,” Rarity commented. “I’m worried too. Until we find out why someone was stalking her, and why they stopped, I’m not going to rest easy.”
“Okay, so we’re on the same page. Now, what do you know about Mason?” Drew asked as Rarity snuck a peek at Jonathon.
“Haven’t you been keeping your son in the loop?”
He shrugged. “I’m gone, he’s gone. We don’t have time to talk like we used to.”
“Dad, please don’t tell me you guys have this all solved and are planning a takedown tonight?”
“Okay, I won’t tell you,” Jonathon said; then, as Drew’s face turned beet red, Jonathon added, “Calm down. We don’t know anything we haven’t told you. Did the syringe get tested?”
Drew sat down at the table. “Fine, here’s what we know.
The tests on the syringe haven’t come back yet.
Mason’s lawyer is stonewalling; he says the executor and the sole heir are out of town.
As soon as they come back, he’ll set up a meeting.
I only knew about the pet spider because I had a friend who lives nearby and got me the phone number of the house sitter. ”
“I still think it’s weird that he had a spider as a pet. Revenge for the Attack of the Venus Spiders could have been his next movie if he’d lived.” Rarity needed a cup of coffee.
“Don’t even joke about that. These movies have all been strange, right?
” Drew said as the bell over the door announced a customer.
“Anyway, I’m going to recommend that we take the detail off Darby.
If anything happens that’s even a little bit out of the ordinary, let me know and it’s going back on.
At least until this film festival is over.
I still feel like there’s a connection.”
“And we’re sure the Scotland guy is out of the picture?” Rarity asked, watching Drew’s face as he answered.
Drew nodded. “I watched the interview with his local cops. He was embarrassed about how he acted. He said that he thought they had a connection. But he admitted he pushed. His new wife is trying to train him better. At least that’s his story.”
“I keep going back that it’s attached to Talia. That the stalker thought Darby was her.” Rarity pointed out her logic.
“That’s possible, unless you get close. Then you can see the difference in age.
But size, hair, looks, it all fits. Talia, Darby, Mason.
Is it just a coincidence that they were all here in town at the same time?
” Drew had pulled out his notebook from his pocket and was drawing circles on circles, forming Venn diagrams. “Anyway, I need to get to work. Let me know if things change.”
Rarity handed Drew the book he’d been looking at. “Let me know how you like it, and I’ll put it on the Staff Recommends list. We don’t have many male reviewers.”
“Thanks, but I can buy the book.” He tried to hand it back to her, but Rarity shook her head.
“Sorry, I’m not taking it back.” She stood and backed away from Drew’s outstretched hand. “Tag, you’re it.”
“And you’re a nut, thank you. I’ll send you the review as soon as I’m done.” He held it up as he exited the store, his version of a wave.
She kept going back to Darby. The Talia theory was strong.
One, they looked alike, and two, Darby had stopped getting threats.
So why would someone try to break into Darby’s house?
They must have followed her there. But why would Talia have a house in Sedona?
She was only here for the film festival.
She had a lovely California home that Rarity had seen on Facebook.
So if this stalker was smart, they’d be looking for Talia in one of the upscale hotels.
Shirley had come in for her shift and was reviewing the children’s shelves.
The good thing about hiring smart people was that they took responsibility for their assigned areas.
The Mommy and Me class kept Shirley looking for trends in picture books and elementary chapter books.
Katie handled the middle school and high school or young adult book ordering.
She needed to ask Darby what section she wanted to take over.
She had such wide interests, like traveling, the Scotland section, and real estate.
Something was niggling at Rarity’s brain as she thought about the Talia and Darby connection. The house.
She went to the local short-term rental site and searched for houses with a pool and eight bedrooms. She thought Darby’s castle had at least eight. There were a lot of houses in Sedona that had pools, but eight bedrooms? That was different.
She came across three, including Darby’s castle, but a note on the top said Currently Not Available.
Darby had rented the house out when she was in Scotland. That was why the stalker had thought it could be Talia.
One mystery down. Or one part of one mystery. She wrote the information down in her murder book and then went back to ordering books. She needed to restock before the next festival.
Now, she just needed to find out who had been stalking Talia and why.