One of the charms left in the mouth of a victim was a miniature cigar, and in light of the other suspicions leveled against her father, she had simply wanted to check out his stash…and maybe get rid of it, so the police didn’t have any other circumstantial evidence against Randolph.
Jack followed her line of sight to the cigar box and nodded in mute understanding. In a shared glance, he telegraphed that Marquez didn’t have to know…for now.
“When I walked in,” Carlotta continued, “the room felt different—cleaner, for one thing. I could smell antiseptic. Then I noticed the scrubs and recognized them as the ones Michael had been wearing when he jumped off the bridge.”
Maria looked incredulous. “How could someone have been living in here and you not know it?”
Carlotta bristled. Maria had accused her of being a little clueless in other areas of her life before—like when it came to knowing things about her best friend, Hannah Kizer, for example. The woman must be convinced that Carlotta was oblivious to everything going on around her, and at the moment it was hard to argue the point. “I dust in here occasionally, but normally the room is closed off. There’s really no reason for me or Wesley to come in here.”
Jack walked over to inspect the door leading out to the deck. “This is how Lane got in and out?”
“Probably. We keep that door dead-bolted, and it was unlocked when I came in.”
“Are there signs that he was in other parts of the house?”
Carlotta squirmed. “Uh, yeah. He did…chores.”
Maria arched a beautiful eyebrow. “You mean, like washing dishes?”
“And…laundry. And running the vacuum and…I think he might have mopped the kitchen floor.”
Maria laughed. “He was doing housework, and you didn’t notice?”
Carlotta gritted her teeth. “That’s right. Are you annoyed, Detective, that this doesn’t fit the profile you worked up for Michael Lane? You did say he’d kill me if he got the chance. Obviously, you were wrong.”
“Lucky for you,” Maria said pointedly.
“What’s with the masks?” Jack cut in, nodding to the two colorful masks lying on the floor—a dog and a cat.
Carlotta stooped to retrieve them. “Peter brought them. He was wearing the dog mask when he came up behind me. That’s why I used the stun baton—I didn’t realize it was him.”
Jack frowned. “Why the hell was he wearing a dog mask?”
“It’s a scene in a movie,” Maria said, snapping her fingers.
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Carlotta murmured, fingering the masks. The scene where Paul and Holly steal masks from a toy shop during their day-long love splurge. Her favorite scene, and Peter had remembered.
Jack looked utterly lost. “Does this have anything to do with our crime scene?”
Carlotta shook her head and backed away. “I think I’ll let you two do your job. I’ll be in my room if you need anything.”
She turned and walked back down the hall to her bedroom, thinking of what she needed to pack. Her skin crawled anew at the thought of Michael strolling through their house, ransacking drawers, eating snacks and watching TV. Had he stood over her while she slept and considered finishing her off?
She walked into the girlish room that hadn’t changed much since they’d moved in after her parents had lost their big home in the exclusive area of Buckhead, after her father had been fired from his job at an investments firm where he’d been accused of bilking clients. She hung the masks on the corner of her dresser mirror, then went over to the white four-poster bed to pull out a suitcase from underneath it, then set the bag on top of the coverlet. She’d be glad to get away from this room, away from this town house for a while. Staying with Peter would be like going on vacation…as long as she could keep things between them from moving along too quickly.
Carlotta removed clothes and shoes from her closet, packing the suitcase as tightly as she could, wondering how long she would be away and how this one decision might change her life forever.
At a rap on the door, she turned to see Jack stick his head inside. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.” She turned back to her task of removing underwear from her dresser drawer.
“Going somewhere?” Jack asked.
She folded a pair of red lace panties and set them on top of the pile of clothes. “Peter invited me to stay with him for a while, and I accepted.”
Jack picked up the red panties between thumb and finger to study them. “You’re moving in with Ashford?”
“No,” she corrected, still folding underwear. “I’m staying with Peter until things settle down around here.”
“Until I catch The Charmed Killer?”
She nodded and instinctively wrapped her hand over the charm bracelet she wore. The charms were supposedly prophetic, but so far, they’d only proved to be disconcerting. After all, a killer was on the loose using the trinkets as his signature.
Jack pursed his mouth. “I think it’s a good idea.”
She gave a little laugh. “I thought you might since you said I should marry Peter.”
“That’s not why I think it’s a good idea.” He brought the panties to his face.
Carlotta snatched them away. “Then why?”
He shrugged, unfazed. “Because I’m sure that palace of his is a fortress. You’ll be safe there. Which means I can investigate The Charmed Killer without worrying about your pretty ass being in harm’s way. I’m sure Ashford will keep you busy with polo matches and dinners at the country club.”
“Does this mean I won’t be seeing you?”
“You’ll miss me, huh?” Then he was suddenly serious. “Carlotta, I’m liaising with the GBI and your name keeps popping up in the investigation. We’re going to have to get you cleared, although this new development with Lane is a big step forward.”
“You think Michael is The Charmed Killer?”
“We’ll have to double-check the time line, but right now, he’s the best suspect we have.”
“But Shawna Whitt was murdered before he escaped from the hospital.”
“We don’t know exactly when Lane escaped, and we still don’t know if the Whitt woman was murdered. Since she was cremated, we may never know.”
“But the charm in her mouth—”
“Could’ve been placed there postmortem. Maybe Lane broke into her place and scared her so badly she had a heart attack, then he placed the charm in her mouth. Or maybe he heard about the death and the charm after he escaped from the hospital and decided to adopt it as his signature. Who knows how a crazy man thinks?” Jack wet his lips. “All I know
