the table and sat down on it across from her. Kaye Slaughter had been a friend of his family for more than a decade. The only time he remembered her breaking her game face was that week in the summer of 2009 when her husband Burt had suddenly passed away. Until now, anyway. He spotted a sense of panic mixed with confusion churning in her gray-blue eyes, and an array of possible sources ricocheted in soft pings through his thoughts.
Danny reached over and touched her hand. “Take your time and tell me what’s going on.”
“Thank you, dear.” She dabbed the tip of her nose with a tissue he hadn’t noticed she held wadded in her fist. “It could be I’m just being silly. I don’t know.”
He caught Jessie’s eye just quickly enough for an exchange of shared concern, and he nearly loved her for it.
“I know I’m getting on in years, so it could just be . . .” Her words trailed away, and she sighed. “I’ve tried to convince myself it’s my imagination, but I know it’s not, Danny. I know something strange is going on over there.”
He wanted to clarify her quick nod toward the docks. “At your place?”
“Yes. Something isn’t right.”
Jessie touched the woman’s arm. “I find it’s better not to over-think things. Our instincts are pretty much dead on.”
Kaye smiled at her. “I’m not getting any younger, so when I first noticed it . . . I started to wonder if it wasn’t a warning sign of things to come. But it’s happening more and more, so . . .”
“What’s happening more and more, Kaye?” Danny interjected.
“Oh, I’m sorry. In the beginning, I noticed things seemed to have been moved around. The spatula in the drawer instead of hanging on the rack over the stove, that kind of thing. I never keep the spatula in the drawer.”
“How long has it been happening?” Jessie asked.
“A month or so, I think. Every time I drove up from Pasadena, it seemed like something else was out of place. Then a couple of weeks ago, I noticed the key to the storage cabinet in the garage was missing from the hook in the kitchen. And you’ll never guess where I found it. Right there in the lock.”
“In the garage?” Danny asked.
“That’s right. Hanging right out of the cabinet lock.”
“Have you ever left it there before?”
“Danny, I don’t think I’ve gotten into that storage cabinet since Burt passed.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound like your imagination,” Jessie said.
“I don’t think so either. And that made me more keenly aware, and I went looking for things that might be moved or missing.” She pulled a folded sheet of paper from the pocket of her trousers and ironed it open with her palm before handing it to Danny. “I made a list.”
He took it from her and skimmed the page.
Only 5 wine glasses—should be 6
Bottle of merlot
Bathroom drawer standing open
Green pillowcase
Danny glanced up at her. “You’re missing a green pillowcase?”
“Oh. No. The green pillowcase is supposed to be on the square pillow. But two weekends ago, it was on the rectangle, and the lilac case was on the square.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, but he reeled in the chuckle that simmered at the base of his throat.
Next to the TV Remote notation, Kaye had scribbled, “Still missing.”
½ laundry detergent gone
Wet towels in dryer—2 bath, 1 kitchen
Red comb out of the drawer—sitting in the shower
Anniversary necklace missing
“Anniversary necklace?” he asked her.
“Burt bought me a lovely amethyst necklace that we saw in one of those little shops in town.”
“Amethyst,” he repeated. “Is that valuable?”
“It was just a hundred dollars, I think. But the setting was very unique, and . . .” She swallowed before turning toward Jessie. “It was our last anniversary together before he went home.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Danny turned his attention back to the unexpectedly lengthy list.
Oatmeal cookies from the freezer
Neck roll missing from the guest room
Riley and Duncan’s bags
“Riley and Duncan’s bags?”
“When the grandchildren come up in the summer, they enjoy camping out on the deck,” she explained. “We keep their sleeping bags on the shelf in the garage. I mightn’t have noticed they were missing except that I thought to wash them before they’re out for the summer.”
“What are you thinking?” Jessie asked him.
Danny cocked a brow. “I’m thinking this has gone beyond coincidence or forgetfulness.”
“Really?” Kaye’s timid smile oozed grateful relief.
“I remember your schedule being fairly regimented. Is that still the case? Do you normally arrive and leave on the same day of the week?”
She nodded. “I volunteer at Huntington Memorial Hospital Tuesday through Thursday, and I generally make the drive up the mountain late Thursday afternoon and stay through most of the day on Sunday.”
“So you would normally leave tonight.”
“Around five.”
“I think you should go ahead and do that, just like always,” Danny advised. “Then I’ll do some surveillance and see if there’s anything going on. Do you have an extra set of keys to the house?”
“I can drop them by on my way down the hill,” she told him. “Thank you so much, Danny.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Let’s see what I can find out.”
Kaye stood up and smiled at him. “Oh, and it was a pleasure meeting you, Jessie.”
“Same here. And don’t worry. If there’s anything to find out, Danny’s the one to do it.”
Danny took the woman by the arm. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he told Jessie. “I’m just going to walk Kaye down the dock.”
“Take your time. I’ll clean up the rest of the dishes.”
Although
