Chapter 23

Treading lightly, I approached the sofa. What if she had died? My heart pounded as I neared. But Jacquie wasn’t on the sofa or the floor.

I let Frodo off his leash. Turning slowly in a complete circle, I scanned the room. There was no sign of her. None! The only key that she had been there was poor Peaches, crouched in her carrier.

I couldn’t help wondering if the refrigerator really had a short. It was vaguely tempting to touch it to find out, but something had certainly knocked Jacquie for a loop. And Alan was on the way. I would know soon enough without taking the risk of touching it.

I opened a French door and ventured into the garden. It was dark as pitch in the corners. If Jacquie were out there, I couldn’t tell. But she wasn’t in any of the logical places, like at the dining table, or in a chaise lounge. I checked the gate, but the bolt held the door securely closed. She couldn’t have left that way because the bolt could only be closed from the inside.

I returned to the carriage house, closed the door behind me, and made sure it was locked. I stood quietly and listened. I heard nothing but the ticking of my clocks.

With my cell phone securely in hand, I grabbed the heavy fireplace poker and tiptoed up the stairs slowly. Frodo didn’t appreciate my caution and sprang ahead. The lights were off, so I flicked them on as I went.

When I reached the top, I felt an utter fool. There was no one in the bedroom, under the bed, in the closet, in the bathroom, or behind the shower curtain.

I perched on the side of the bed. It couldn’t have been a dream. I was still dressed in the clothes I had worn to work. It was like a locked door mystery. Except it wasn’t. Jacquie could easily have left by the front door of the carriage house. But I had unlocked it when I returned, hadn’t I? Maybe I had thought it was locked, but it wasn’t?

If she left by the front door, then she might not have made it very far in her weakened condition.

I scrambled down the stairs, still looking around in case she had collapsed somewhere. I grabbed my flashlight and was out the door with Frodo on his leash again. This time, I took great care to be sure the door was locked.

Flashlight on, I hurried out to the street. The streetlights were bright enough to see if a person were lying on the sidewalk. Still, I walked along, shining the beam in the bushes and gardens close to the sidewalk. After a couple of blocks, I crossed the street and repeated my search on the other side, going past the mansion in the other direction for another two blocks.

I was officially certifiable. I had lost my mind. Jacquie was missing, but there wasn’t a reason in the world that she would have turned up in my kitchen. How could she have gotten in? Why would she have even tried?

The short. The short would be my test. If there were a short in the refrigerator, then I would know she had been there. That was logical. I wouldn’t have known about it any other way. If the refrigerator had nothing wrong with it, then well, I was hallucinating or dreaming or something.

Feeling a hair apprehensive because either way something was very wrong, I strolled back to the carriage house just as a truck pulled into the driveway.

A tall, slender man stepped out. “Are you Florrie?”

I held out my hand and shook his. “Thank you so much for coming at this late hour.”

“Not a problem. Technically I’m retired, but I have a few old clients who call me now and then. Gets me out of the house. Where’s this refrigerator?”

I unlocked the door and showed him in.

“I always liked this place with the beams and all those French doors. Don’t find gems like this in town too much anymore.” He walked over to the tiny broom closet and opened an electrical box. “It didn’t flip the circuit breaker like it should have if there was a short.” He reached inside, and I heard a click, which I presumed was the breaker.

“You’ve been to the carriage house before?”

He smiled at me. “Honey, I wired this whole building back when it was built. There’s not a thing I don’t know about it.”

As he pulled out the refrigerator to look at it, I realized that I wouldn’t have known his name if Jacquie hadn’t told me. I would have found it in the Rolodex, but I had known it before I went to the mansion. That was proof of her presence.

“So you knew Jacquie,” I said.

“Lovely woman. My favorite of all Maxwell’s wives.” He looked over at me and winked. “I think she was Maxwell’s favorite, too. It’s a real shame that they parted. Didn’t like the third wife one bit. For all his money and advantages in life, Maxwell was always very down to earth. Never has put on airs or acted superior like some wealthy people do. I sure hope somebody figures out who murdered his nephew. One thing’s for sure—it wasn’t Maxwell.”

He grew quiet for a moment. “How’s your friend?”

“I think she’ll be okay.” It wasn’t a lie. I hoped she would be fine.

“She’s very lucky. This could have killed her.”

“How can something like that happen?”

“Looks like somebody crossed the wires. Either someone didn’t have a clue what he was doing or”—his eyes met mine—“someone did it on purpose.”

“I open that refrigerator all the time!”

He nodded. “It’s perfectly safe now. You don’t have to worry.”

I hesitated to ask, but I had to know the truth. “Just to be clear, the crossed wires were probably like that for a long time? But the shock only kicked in now?”

Alan looked me straight in the eyes. “When is the last time you opened the refrigerator?”

“Early this morning.”

“Have any workmen come in today?”

“No. This is beginning to sound like some kind of intentional hit.”

His eyes flicked toward the fridge. “I’d guess that someone rigged the wires between the time you opened the door this morning and the time your friend touched the door tonight.”