Dan stood in front of the clock, staring first at it then at the key. ‘Tell all that to me again.’
Mary started as Joy seemed incapable of speech. Joy had been very offhand about crashing a crime scene when no one was around, but now that the police were actually back she was a mass of quivering fear. Mary wasn’t, but that didn’t mean she was happy she’d been caught where she shouldn’t have been.
‘Joy forgot her purse in all the commotion, and when she realized she didn’t have it, she also realized where it was. She couldn’t drive because her keys were in it, so she called me. By the time we got here, all your people had gone.’
‘I got that part. I also got the part about Agnes. Tell me about the clock again.’
‘It was back. I couldn’t believe it but there it was. I picked it up and the bottom almost fell off. It only has one screw holding it. Then I tipped it a little and the key fell out.’
‘And that’s it?’
‘Should there be more?’
Dan sighed. ‘You might want to tell me what you thought you were doing handling evidence.’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, Dan.’ Exasperation was getting the better of her. It had been a long and terrible day, and she wanted to go home and have her tea. They should have called the station before letting themselves into the church hall but it had all seemed so easy, so innocent. It had turned out to be anything but. ‘I didn’t know it was evidence. It was a donated clock that had gone missing and suddenly turned back up. I thought it was odd, not critical.’
Dan looked at her, then at Joy, then down at Millie, who seemed bored sitting by Mary’s leg, doing nothing. ‘When did you realize it might be something I’d like to know about?’
‘When the key fell out.’ She shifted her weight and looked around. A chair would be most welcome about now. ‘That’s when I realized what must have happened.’
Dan ran his fingers through his hair and looked at her without expression. Joy, he ignored. ‘What do you think happened?’
‘That whoever took the clock knew it contained something but not what they found. They didn’t know what to do with it, so they just brought it back here and left it.’
‘That’s one possibility. If you’re right, I’m going to further guess there will be only your fingerprints on the clock or the key.’ He paused. ‘I wonder what they thought they’d find.’
Mary could only shake her head.
‘All right.’ He stood up straight, laid his hands gently on Mary’s shoulders and turned her toward the door. ‘You look all in. Go home. I’ll take Joy home, then I’ll drop this …’ he indicated the clock and the key, ‘… off at the station. Then I’m also going home. It’s been a tough day.’
Joy clutched her purse to her bosom. ‘In a squad car? I’m not driving up to my house in any squad car.’ The horror in her voice would have made Mary laugh any other time.
Right now, Mary was so tired all she could think of was her reading chair and her mug of by now-cold tea. Could you heat up already brewed tea? She planned on trying.
‘You’ll be in the front seat, Joy,’ Dan told her with a straight face. ‘I’ll even let you turn on the siren.’
Joy didn’t seem to see the humor in that statement, but riding in the front seat seemed to soothe her. Dan escorted them both out to the parking lot, making sure the door was locked behind them.
‘Seems to me there are way too many keys to this building floating around town.’ He looked at Mary. ‘You might want to talk to Les about rekeying it.’
Mary nodded. She opened the door of her car for Millie, who jumped in and crossed to the passenger seat. Mary followed her, inserting the key in the ignition. She waited until Dan and Joy had pulled out then followed. All she wanted was to get in her front door and collapse. No phone, no visitors, just her and Millie and, before too long, bed.