Chapter Three
“There’s nothing I couldn’t have said while Peter was in here. I didn’t do anything.”
“Emily, humor me. I can’t do a good job representing you if I don’t have the facts.” Harlan pulled two pads from his briefcase and gestured toward a chair with the one he handed Sarah. “Take notes. You’re part of my team today.”
Sarah slid into the chair, staring, as was Harlan, at her twin.
“Now, Emily,” Harlan said. “Why don’t you tell us how you got covered in rhubarb?”
Emily looked at her blouse and then at her hands. Staring at them, she began to laugh uncontrollably. She held her hands up and waved her fingers, then grew more serious as she began to talk. “I guess I got it all over me when I gave Bill CPR.”
“CPR?” Harlan sat beside Sarah and made a note on his legal pad. “Why don’t you start at the beginning?”
“Bill called me to come to the Civic Center.”
“You? In the middle of the night? Why?” Sarah asked.
Emily gazed at her hands. “I was getting ready for bed, so it was just before midnight when he called and told me there was a problem at the Civic Center. He wanted me to come immediately.”
“And you went?” Harlan waited, pen posed in the air.
“Of course. What choice did I have? He was head of the Expo and part owner of Southwind.”
“What?” Sarah stared at her sister.
Emily avoided making eye contact with her.
“You two can discuss that later.” Harlan seemed to ignore the exchange between the sisters. “Right now, I need to know exactly what happened tonight. Emily?”
“I told you, Bill called and I went to the Civic Center. His car was the only one in the front parking lot. I parked mine next to his and went up to the main entrance. The glass doors were locked, so I used my passkey to get in.”
“Could you see him or anything through the glass doors?”
“No. The main lights were off. Once I let myself in, the Civic Center’s emergency lights shone enough for me to make my way through the aisles in the main exhibition room to look for Bill.”
“Aisles?”
“Right. The booths for the Food Expo were set up yesterday so the room is now divided into four rows of stalls. Each row has a central walking aisle, except for the booths in the middle of the room. Those face an eating area and open space in front of a stage. When I neared the second aisle, I called out to Bill again, but there was no answer.”
Sarah stared at her sister. “Why didn’t you just leave?”
“I couldn’t. I didn’t want to make Bill mad. So I worked my way toward the center of the room, where the Southwind booth is adjacent to the food court area.” Emily put her head into her hands.
When she raised her head, tears escaped the corners of her eyes. “He was lying in front of the Southwind booth. I yelled his name and ran to him. He didn’t move. He just lay there, holding a fork, sprawled on his back next to a smashed rhubarb pie.”
“Did you touch him?” Harlan asked.
“Yes. He was so still. I felt his neck to see if he was dead or alive.”
“And?”
“I wasn’t sure, so I called nine-one-one and started giving him CPR, like they taught us in Girl Scouts.” Emily glanced at Sarah. “Or at least taught most of us.”
Sarah leaned forward. This wasn’t the time to remember their respective Girl Scout experiences. “You mentioned someone else was in the Civic Center with you?”
“Yes. I didn’t realize it then, though. I was too busy trying to help Bill.”
Seeing the color drain from her sister’s face, Sarah put her hand on her sister’s. “Tell me.”
“Except for where there were emergency lights, it was dark and quiet. I cupped my hands over his chest and pushed, counting the compressions in my head. When I got to one hundred, I felt his neck again and checked if his chest was moving. Nothing. I put my face over his to see if I could feel any breath on my cheek. I couldn’t.”
Emily’s gaze was still directed at her, but Sarah got the feeling she wasn’t what Emily was seeing.
“Remember how we used to kid that the line of his jaw was always stiff? Well, when I rocked back on my knees, I noticed it was more set than usual. I looked at my hands and realized the rhubarb from his shirt was on me, too.”
“How did you know it was rhubarb, not blood?” Harlan said.
“I guess by smell and feel and seeing rhubarb crisp all over the place.” She shook her head. “Harlan, I honestly never thought about blood. What passed through my mind for a moment was wondering if the dry cleaner would be able to get the stains out of his shirt. It was one of those white, starched, monogrammed ones. Considering the situation, I threw that idea out of my mind and began pressing and counting again. I stopped when I heard someone else.”
Harlan raised his hand. “Could it have been one of the emergency responders? Surely they must have gotten there by then?”
“Absolutely not. They didn’t get there until later. When they did, I had to let them in through the front door. From the sound, this person stumbled into something in one of the aisles behind me.”
“If you heard someone, why didn’t you go find the person?” Sarah asked.
“I couldn’t leave Bill, but I shouted ‘Help! Please help us!’ The click of the Civic Center’s back door was the only answer to my plea.”