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I’d never seen Denise move so fast when she saw Earl Lipinski standing in Ruth’s doorway.
“Earl,” I said, hoping the surprise in my voice sounded pleasant as opposed to alarmed. “What are you doing here?”
His eyes raked over all three of us. “I asked first.”
Denise was standing next to Aidan, her back toward us, blocking him from view. When she spun back around, she was holding his ID lanyard, a triumphant smile on her face. “We found it!” she announced.
Earl furrowed his bushy brows. “Found what?”
“His ID,” Denise said, waving the lanyard in the air. “He dropped off some meds for Ruth earlier this morning. Didn’t you, Aidan?” She nudged him with her elbow.
He blinked. “Uh. Yeah.”
“Realized he lost his ID and thought it might have been here in Ruth’s apartment. He knew she would be headed down to the dining room for lunch and he didn’t want to disturb her meal.”
Earl’s gaze bounced from me to Denise. “Why are you two here, then?”
I spoke up. “I noticed Ruth’s door was open. I thought she might have forgotten to close it. Or maybe that it didn’t latch when she left. You know what the heat and humidity can do to the doors sometimes.”
“And you?” Earl asked Denise.
Her eyes widened. “Uh, I was helping him.” She pressed herself closer to Aidan. “He’s...he’s a little near-sighted.”
“Where are your glasses?” Earl asked Aidan.
“He wears contacts,” Denise said quickly. “And one tore. Right?”
Aidan looked like a deer caught in the headlights but he somehow managed to give a faint nod.
I smiled brightly at Earl. “What are you doing here? Looking for Ruth?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Just here to water her plants.”
This was unexpected. “You take care of her plants for her?”
Earl chuckled as he walked into the apartment. “Hardly. I had a large vegetable garden at my old house. Lots of flowers, too. I miss growing things and when I found out how many plants Ruth had, she invited me up to see them. She told me I could come by and take care of them, help her water and such, if I wanted to.”
“Why don’t you have your own plants if you like them so much?” I asked.
“Cat,” he said bluntly. “I have a cat that thinks every indoor plant is her own personal pasture.” He brightened. “But Ruth planted some grass for me.” He pointed to one of the windows in the living room, and I noticed a few small plant pots with tender green shoots sticking out of them.
“That’s grass?” I asked.
He nodded. “She doesn’t want me to take them until they fill out a little. Otherwise Molly will just tear the roots right out.”
It was probably safe to assume Molly was the name of his cat.
“I see,” I said. I glanced around the room. Denise was sweating bullets and Aidan looked a little sick to his stomach. “Well, we’ve found the ID so I guess we should get going. Denise, they probably need you in the dining room.”
Earl picked up a small plastic watering can tucked under one of the end tables. He walked it into the kitchen. “I’ll let myself out,” he told us.
He turned the faucet on, his back toward us.
There was nothing left to do but leave Ruth’s apartment.
As soon as we were in the hallway, the apartment door pulled closed, Denise whirled on me.
“I am calling. Now.”
Aidan was standing next to her, his eyes wide as he gazed down the hallway. “Now might not be the best time,” he murmured.
“And why is that?” she snapped.
Wordlessly, he pointed.
We looked toward the staircase. Something that looked an awful lot like smoke was billowing slowly toward the ceiling.
“What in the world—?” Denise said, but she was cut off.
Because every smoke alarm in the building had suddenly chimed to life.