Aunt Clara!” Maggie ran to her aunt’s side. “Are you all right? Should we call an ambulance? Where were you? When did you get back?”
Wrapped in a blanket, Clara looked smaller and more fragile than ever. Her hair was a complete mess, standing up in little orange tufts all over her head. She had a cup of tea in one hand.
“For goodness’ sake, I’m fine,” she assured her niece. “I was sitting out on the steps, waiting for you to get home. David found me and brought me here. I seem to have lost my keys. I couldn’t even get in my own house. It’s a good thing I’m not very old yet. People would start thinking I was losing it.”
Maggie hugged her tightly, refusing to let go, as she sobbed all over her. “You should probably see a doctor. Do you know what happened to you?”
“Would you like some tea or coffee?” David asked her.
“No, thanks.” Maggie’s mind was a whirl. She wasn’t sure what to think or do next.
Did someone take Aunt Clara, or did she just wander off? Had she been hurt too, contrary to what Garrett had said? Should she bundle her into a taxi and take her to the hospital? Or maybe David would take them.
“Of course I know what happened to me,” Aunt Clara said with some irritation. “Someone kidnapped me. I’ve already bored David with this story. Can we go home now?”
“You’re sure you’re okay?” Maggie helped her aunt up. She didn’t seem like someone who’d been kidnapped. She didn’t seem scared at all. Aunt Clara took David’s arm. “Thank you for your help. It was getting a little cold out there. The tea was delicious.”
“I’ll be glad to help you to your house,” David volunteered. “I could probably carry you.”
Clara took a step back. “That’s fine. I can walk. I’m not a cripple, you know. Good night, David.”
Maggie muttered another quick thanks to her childhood friend. She and Aunt Clara left David’s house and carefully went to their own.
“Do you need help getting up the stairs?” Maggie asked her.
“Why is everyone treating me this way? I can get up the stairs. I do it at least once every day. Your uncle used to say it was good for you. Can we get inside now? I really want a hot bath and my bed.”
Maggie walked up with her aunt anyway. She opened the front door. Fanny and all the kittens were waiting for them. Her aunt stopped to talk to them for a moment, and stroked them until they were all purring and rubbing her ankles.
“How was it at the shop today?” Aunt Clara asked. “Were you very busy?”
“Okay. That’s it. You were kidnapped, and you’re asking me how my day was?” Maggie was angry and frustrated.
Aunt Clara blinked. Her mouth trembled. Tears formed in her eyes.
“I’m sorry.” Maggie hugged her. “I’m so sorry. I’ve just been so worried about you, I could hardly breathe. And now you’re acting like nothing much happened. I don’t understand.”
“I can explain.”
Maggie took a deep breath and looked down at her. “Let’s do that. Before you take a hot bath or anything else. Let’s sit down in the kitchen and talk, okay?”
“All right.” Clara’s tone was long-suffering. “I’m a little hungry. Do we have any of that soup left from last week?”
Maggie heated up the soup and put some in a bowl. Aunt Clara had removed the blanket. Outside of looking tired and a little smudged, her aunt seemed to be all right.
“Mmm. Good.” Aunt Clara had some of the soup. “I’m sure you know that Garrett and I were coming in the house when we were attacked. Someone stepped out of the shadows on the porch, and hit him in the head. I hope he’s all right. I hadn’t even thought to ask.”
“He’s fine. What happened next?”
“I didn’t see the person. Whoever it was put a hood over my head in the dark and held something to my back—maybe a gun. I’m not sure. We went down the stairs and got into a car. We drove around for a while and finally stopped. We got out of the car and went into another house.”
“And you couldn’t see anything at all?”
“No. It was totally dark. And the hood smelled bad. I was too terrified to even move. I kept wondering who would do this sort of thing to me. And I was worried about Garrett. It was awful, Maggie. I kept thinking about you and Fred. I didn’t know if I was ever going to see you again.”
Maggie could see where Clara’s calm demeanor simply masked her fear. She’d been brought up that way. A lady didn’t give into her fear. She faced it, stuck out her chin, and pretended she wasn’t afraid at all.
“I sat alone in a room for a long time, tied to a chair. I think they used stockings to tie me. The knots felt tight but didn’t chafe. I heard voices arguing, but they were muffled. I think they were in another room. I can’t be sure. I don’t know how long I was there.”
Maggie watched as her aunt finished her soup. “Were they mean to you?” It was as close as she could come to asking if the person had done anything really bad to her.
“Oh no. Not at all. I used the restroom, which was completely embarrassing knowing there was another person with me. I went back and sat in the chair again. I wasn’t tied up after that.”
“How did you get away?”
“I didn’t exactly. Someone came and put me in a car again. They dropped me off here. I tried to get the hood off fast enough to see the car, but they were gone by the time I was able to focus.”
“And you don’t know who it was?”
“No. Can I have more soup?”
“You’re not hurt?”
“No. Just hungry.”
There was something wrong with her story. Maggie couldn’t put her finger on it. She knew her aunt was lying, but she couldn’t imagine why. She ran through her words in her mind as her aunt ate.
“What happened when Garrett was knocked down?”
“I panicked, of course. I couldn’t see a thing. I turned around, and the hood went over my head.”
“And you didn’t put up a fight? Just went along with someone you knew could hurt you? That doesn’t sound like you.”
“May I have some crackers now?”
Maggie got the crackers for her aunt. “I have to call everyone. The whole neighborhood—not to mention the police—have been looking for you.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble.”
Maggie called Ryan first.
She called Frank too, not wanting any officers out on a raw night like this looking for her aunt. It didn’t take long for him to knock at her door.
“Frank.”
“Maggie.” He took off his hat and gloves. “Where is she?”
“She’s upstairs changing clothes and having a bath. She seems fine, just a little hungry and thirsty.”
“Any ideas on who did this?”
“Not that I could tell from what she said.” She tried to decide if she should tell him that she was convinced her aunt was lying. But for now, she decided to keep quiet to protect her aunt, at least until she found out why she was hiding the truth. Aunt Clara could get into trouble if the police felt as though the kidnapping didn’t really happen—or she knew who’d taken her.
That was it!
Aunt Clara knew who had taken her, and she didn’t want to tell anyone.
Who could she be protecting?
Frank nodded, his narrow face serious. “Sounds like you two dodged a bullet. I’ll have to talk to her myself. I’m glad she’s okay.”
It was as good a time as any to talk to Frank about Debbie. Maybe she could throw him off the trail of whatever Aunt Clara was hiding until she could get to the bottom of it.
“I know you’re invested in the idea that Debbie killed Donald,” Maggie said. “And I know if I can change your mind, we’ll be right back to Aunt Clara being in the hot seat. But I don’t think Debbie did anything wrong.”
Frank and Maggie sat down at the kitchen table. Fanny was asleep in her box with her kittens again. Maggie made Frank a cup of instant coffee.
“She’s got plenty of motive, and no alibi for when Donald was killed,” Frank said. “She might even be involved in what happened to Clara. What have you got that could change my mind?”
“You said yourself that it looked as though someone was trying to set Aunt Clara up for Donald’s murder—the flour, the gun at the back of the shop, and waiting until she wasn’t in the kitchen. I don’t think Debbie could have set that up as well as someone who really knows us and our routines.”
“I thought that made sense. But the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming against Ms. Black-welder. I can’t ignore it.” He stared at her with canny eyes. “What aren’t you telling me? Why do you want her off the hook?”
Maggie swallowed hard. “I don’t think she did it. I think it was someone we know.”
“Like who? If you have a suspect in mind, please share.”
“I don’t,” she admitted. “I wish I did. I have this gut feeling—”
“Gut feeling?” He shook his head. “You were talking to her at the pie shop today, weren’t you? I thought it was odd that Ryan called in a tip on where to find Ms. Blackwelder. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I only want to make sure the right person goes to jail.”
“And you think I don’t?” He sipped the last of his coffee. “Maggie, a good sob story about a murdered mother doesn’t make someone innocent—it gives them the greatest motive in the world: revenge. Don’t be so softhearted. And if you see Ms. Black-welder again, call the Durham Police.”
Frank would’ve said more, but Aunt Clara joined them. “Hi, Clara. I understand you’ve had an adventure.”
Maggie sat at the table and listened again as her aunt explained everything that had happened to her, and to Garrett. The slight hesitation was there in her aunt’s voice again. She told the same tale she had earlier. There was still something off. Aunt Clara definitely knew who’d taken her, and was covering for her.
“And you’re sure you can’t remember anything else about the woman that kidnapped you?” Frank was finishing up with Aunt Clara.
“Only what I told you. At first it was all Shalimar, you know. Then something smelled like goulash, and I realized I was hungry. How odd is that?”
Shalimar?
Maggie knew at once who had kidnapped her aunt. Lenora had reeked of the strong, spicy perfume both times at the pie shop. Aunt Clara had kept her story amazingly straight, but she’d given Lenora away.
Why would Lenora kidnap her? It didn’t make any sense. Once Frank was gone, she intended to get to the bottom of this.
Frank put away his little notebook and pen. “If anything else occurs to you, let me know. I’m glad you’re back safely.”
“So am I. Thank you, Frank.” Aunt Clara hugged him and then went to check the cats’ food bowl.
“Can I talk to you a minute, Maggie?” Frank muttered as he walked by her to the door.
She followed him, glancing back into the kitchen. “What’s up?”
“She’s been through an ordeal, especially at her age. You should think about getting her counseling. That’s what it says in our public relations handbook. She’s a tough old lady. I think she might be hiding something. She might be afraid of what will happen if she tells the truth, you know? The kidnapper might be someone she knows, someone who threatened to hurt her, or you, if she tells the truth.”
Maggie was stunned by his perception. “Thanks, Frank. I’ll check into getting her some help, and I’ll be sure to call if she remembers anything else.”
“Good night, Maggie. Let’s celebrate this last week before Christmas peacefully, huh? No kidnappings, murders, muggings, or fires.”
She agreed, and said good night. She watched him get into his car and drive away before she closed and locked the door.
Frank had seen it too. Was he also right that Aunt Clara was afraid to say what had happened? Had Lenora threatened her? How was she going to reassure Aunt Clara that everything was going to be all right and that Lenora would never be able to hurt her again?
“I’m off to bed now.” Aunt Clara started up the stairs. “Good night. Sleep well. I can’t wait to get back to work tomorrow.”
Maggie didn’t want to upset her aunt, but she knew she had to ask her again about what had happened to her. This time, she didn’t mince her words.
“Lenora kidnapped you, didn’t she? She hit Garrett in the head, and you were afraid she might hurt him again, so you left with her.”
Clara’s head popped up like a small bird’s as she turned to face Maggie. “I don’t know what you mean, dear.”
“I know you too well. And you gave it away—Shalimar. The only person I can think that you’d protect this way is Lenora.”
Her aunt sank down on the stairs. Maggie sat beside her and put an arm around her.
“Yes. She hit Garrett in the head. I wasn’t afraid for him, though I suppose I should have been. I was afraid for her. I was troubled by the look in her eyes, Maggie. I was afraid she might hurt herself. That’s why I went with her.”
Maggie drew a deep breath. “So Lenora took you to her house, right? What happened?”
“Pretty much what I told you, except I wasn’t tied to a chair. I sat in her kitchen while she ranted and raved about her whole life. I guess she wanted to feel safe in her own home going off that way. I can’t think why she went to such an extreme. I felt so sorry for her. She has always been miserable, poor thing. I didn’t realize how much she loved Donald. She saw him as her last chance for happiness.”
“What happened then?”
“Alice finally came home. She argued with her mother and then brought me home. She was so apologetic. She knows her mother needs help now. I hope she gets it for her.”
Maggie hugged her aunt. “I knew it. Anyone else would have had to fight to get you to leave the house.”
“I guess you do know me well.” Aunt Clara sighed. “I feel so bad for her. I can’t tell the police what really happened. I know Garrett will be angry and probably want to prosecute her. She doesn’t need jail, though. She needs a doctor.”
Not knowing what else to say now that she knew the truth, Maggie walked with her aunt up to bed. “You should stay home tomorrow, you know. You’ve been through a lot.”
“Whatever!” Aunt Clara waved away her sympathy. “I’ve worked with a broken leg before. Your Uncle Fred came back to work three days after gall-bladder surgery. I want to see how the potpies turned out.”
“We’ll see how you feel in the morning.” Maggie insisted on tucking her aunt into bed. She hugged and kissed her. “I love you. I was so scared I’d never see you again.”
Aunt Clara smiled and lightly touched her face. “You can’t get rid of me that easy. I’m not going anywhere until you and Ryan make me a happy grandmother. Not technically, I suppose, but the next best thing.”
“We’ll talk about that later too. I love you. Next time, call, and tell me what’s happening.”
“I do heartily swear to call you the very next time someone kidnaps me, Maggie. Good night, dear.”