“Thanks, Chief,” Danielle said before ending her phone call. A moment later, Danielle set her cellphone on the coffee table and looked at Walt.
“What did he say?”
“He was glad I called him, but like we thought, nothing he can really do about it. The only one who saw her in our house was Max, and the chief is reluctant to use the testimony of a cat.” Danielle added an eye roll to the last sentence.
“No surprise. Anything new on the murder?”
“No. But I’m not sure I want to go shopping today. Maybe we can go Monday? Or perhaps later this afternoon?”
Walt reached over and patted Danielle’s knee. “Whenever you want.”
“Thanks. I’d like to do a little research on our new neighbor. The chief is going to send me everything he has on her.”
Walt frowned. “What kind of research?”
“The chief said she’s from California. Not sure if she was born there, but if she was, I should be able to find her birth certificate on one of my genealogy websites. I want to see if she has a twin out there. That would explain how she was seen in Portland at the same time Heather saw her next door.” Danielle let out a sigh and then added, “I wish Marie and Eva would get back. It would be nice if one of them could hang out with Olivia for a while and see what she’s up to.”
“Have Edward and Heather gone to the morgue yet?” Walt asked.
“They were just leaving when I called him. Betty’s spirit wasn’t there.”
“Is he bringing Heather home?”
Danielle shook her head. “No. He’s taking her over to Betty’s house in case she’s there.”
“If they don’t find her spirit at her house, she’s probably already moved on,” Walt suggested.
“That’s what I’m thinking. Where is Eva when we need her?” Danielle grumbled before standing up to go to the desk where she had left her laptop earlier.
Danielle spent the next thirty minutes on her computer. Finally, she looked at Walt and said, “I can’t find her birth certificate. I can’t find much of anything, actually. While she obviously uses the internet—or she wouldn’t have borrowed our password—I don’t think she’s on social media.”
“I thought everyone was on social media.”
Danielle grinned at Walt. “I guess not everyone.”
Walt returned her grin.
“I was thinking we should probably tell Lily and Ian about our new neighbor’s penchant for walking into houses uninvited. You want to go over there with me?”
Danielle joined Lily on the sofa while Ian sat across from them on the recliner. Nearby, Walt absently played trucks with Connor on the floor while he and Danielle explained what had happened that morning with Olivia Davis. Sadie, Ian’s golden retriever, curled up by Walt’s side, her head resting on his knee.
“She just walked into your house without knocking?” Lily asked after Danielle finished telling them about Max witnessing Olivia in Marlow House before they returned from breakfast.
Walt shrugged. “Maybe she heard Marlow House has an open-door policy for its neighbors. It’s not like anyone else knocks before they come in.”
Danielle rolled her eyes at Walt and said, “Well, they rarely come in through the pet door.”
“She came in through the pet door?” Lily asked.
“She must have. I locked the kitchen door before we met you for breakfast this morning. Max saw her in the side yard, walking toward the kitchen. He didn’t actually see her enter the house. But that’s where he saw her go when he was upstairs, and then when he came downstairs, she was already in the house,” Danielle explained.
“You really need to figure out what to do with that pet door. Especially now, with a killer out there. We all need to keep our doors locked, but it doesn’t help if people can get in through the pet door,” Lily said.
“I know.” Danielle let out a sigh.
“I think it’s time to invest in one of those locking pet doors,” Ian said.
Lily glanced at Ian. “Oh, the ones where you have a remote gadget on the collar that automatically opens the door when the pet gets near it?”
Ian nodded, and Danielle said, “I’ve always been hesitant to put a collar on Max. Not safe for a cat if he’s climbing on a tree.”
“You can buy break-away collars,” Ian reminded her.
“Then he couldn’t get back into the house,” Danielle countered.
Their discussion ended when Sadie’s ears perked up, and then she leapt up and ran to the front door, barking.
Instead of yelling at Sadie to be quiet, Ian got out of his chair and followed her to the front door. After a few minutes, he returned to the living room with Kelly and Joe by his side. The moment Kelly spied Walt and Danielle, she abruptly stopped walking and said, “Oh, you’re here.”
“Hi, Walt and Danielle. How are you feeling, Danielle?” Joe asked, ignoring Kelly’s less than friendly greeting.
“Since morning sickness became a thing of the past, pretty good, thanks.” Danielle flashed them both a grin.
Kelly looked at Joe and said, “Maybe we should come back later?”
“Hey, you aren’t interrupting anything,” Ian assured his sister.
Kelly looked at Ian. “It’s just that we need to talk to you about something. Alone.”
Danielle and Walt exchanged quick glances before Danielle stood and announced, “Actually, Walt and I were just getting ready to leave, anyway. We’re going to town and order our cribs.”
“Cribs, as in more than one?” Joe grinned. “While I understand twins are more work, I forgot you have to buy two of things like cribs, highchairs, and car seats.”
Kelly looked at Lily and said, “I guess you’re going to have to buy those things, too.”
“Yep. Connor will be about old enough to move out of a crib when the baby comes.” Lily glanced briefly at Connor and then looked back at Kelly. “But we decided to buy a new crib. We don’t want Connor to feel like the new baby took his bed. We’d like him to adjust to this change without giving him unnecessary reasons to feel jealous. It would be different if he had been out of the crib a while before the baby’s arrival.”
“Yeah. Jealousy can be a bad thing with siblings,” Kelly muttered.
After Danielle and Walt left, Lily took a seat on the floor with Connor while Kelly and Joe sat on the sofa where Lily and Danielle had been ten minutes earlier.
“So what’s going on?” Ian asked.
“Joe and I had a long talk last night,” Kelly began. “And we’re moving the wedding up to March.”
“March?” Lily asked. “An outdoor wedding in March?”
Kelly looked at Lily. “We decided we’re not having a beach wedding.”
“But we appreciate your offer to have it here,” Joe added.
“Is this because I’m expecting?” Lily asked.
Kelly didn’t answer immediately. Finally, she said, “In a way. There is no way we can expect you to host a wedding here during your last month of pregnancy. And once Joe and I started discussing it, we realized we really didn’t want to wait until summer to get married. We only pushed it out that far so we could get married on the beach. But we’d like to get married sooner.”
“Where are you going to get married?” Ian asked. “March is only two months away. What does Mom say?”
Kelly smiled sheepishly. “I haven’t said anything to her yet. And I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t tell her until I have a chance to break it to her. It’s not like we’re planning a huge wedding. It’s just close family and a few friends.”
“I have an idea,” Lily said. Everyone looked at Lily. “How about having it at Pearl Cove? They do private events mid-week, and it has a magnificent ocean view. You would get your beach wedding while being indoors, out of the rain. Not a beach wedding exactly, but you will be able to see it while you’re exchanging your vows.”
Kelly chuckled. “Yeah. I wish. But Mom and Dad are on a fixed income, plus they’re building a house, and even though Joe and I are paying for half the wedding, that would still be over our budget, especially if Joe and I want to buy a house.”
“I was thinking Ian and I could pay for it. It would be our wedding gift to you.”
Speechless, Kelly stared at Lily. Finally, she asked, “Why would you do that?”
Lily shrugged. “Well, you are Ian’s baby sister, and he adores you.”
Kelly looked at Ian, who sat quietly, smiling at his wife.
“That would be too expensive,” Joe said. “We couldn’t accept that.”
“Sure you could,” Ian said. “I think it’s a great idea.”
“Come on. It will be a beautiful place for a wedding. We can stay dry from the rain while still having a magnificent ocean view. And I’ve heard the food on their catering menu is amazing. I’ve always wanted to go to a wedding at Pearl Cove. But before we do this, there is only one condition,” Lily insisted.
Curious, Ian looked at his wife, wondering about her condition.
Kelly frowned. “Umm, I’m not saying we’re accepting the offer, but I am curious about the condition.”
“Me too,” Ian muttered.
“I want to approve your menu. And the reason for that, I don’t want you cutting corners by picking the less expensive menu options. Since I’ve moved to Frederickport, I’ve heard about the amazing appetizers on Pearl Cove’s catering menu. Items they don’t offer on the restaurant’s regular menu. I’ve always wanted to try things like their caviar canapes, or the prosciutto-wrapped persimmons with goat cheese, the lobster dumplings, oh, and that seafood and vegetable platter I’ve heard about! Of course, that’s just the appetizers. You’ll have to decide what to have for the main entrée, with beef, seafood, and vegetarian options for the guests.”
Ian chuckled. “It’s the baby.”
Joe looked at Ian. “What do you mean?”
“When Lily was pregnant with Connor, she went through a ravenous stage,” Ian told him. He then looked at Kelly and said, “You need to accept Lily’s offer. After all, she is pregnant. Do you want to deprive her of all that gourmet food?”
Olivia Davis stood at the master bedroom window, looking down at Beach Drive. She had watched a car pull up to the house across the street from Marlow House, and then minutes later watched as Walt and Danielle Marlow had come out of that house and then crossed the street to return home.
When talking to Walt Marlow earlier that morning, she had the strangest feeling he knew she had been in Marlow House before he and his wife had returned home. But that was impossible. There was no way he knew she had been in the house; she was just being paranoid. But she blamed it all on Heather Donovan. Ever since her first encounter with Donovan, everything she once believed no longer made sense. Perhaps it had been a mistake to return to Frederickport.