Chapter Thirty-Seven
This time it was Emily’s turn to comfort her sister. She guided Sarah away from where she stood fixated on the door. Neither of them spoke. Emily began returning RahRah’s abandoned toys to the cardboard box.
“It isn’t fair!” Sarah said.
Emily looked up and nodded. She added the unopened bag of food to the top of the box.
Sarah watched her sister but didn’t offer to help. “That witch doesn’t want RahRah because she loves him. She only wants him for his money.”
“His money?” Emily stood and wiped her hands on her jeans. “Did I misunderstand you?”
Sarah grabbed a tissue from the box on the windowsill and blew her nose.
“Our furry friend has money?”
“According to Harlan, RahRah is loaded. In her will, Bill’s mother left RahRah the carriage house and established an animal trust that provides for him to be pampered and cared for the remainder of his life.”
“So what was he doing living with you? Was this his slumming period? I wouldn’t consider this living with royalty.” Taking the bag of collars from the box, she crowned herself with one of RahRah’s jeweled collars. Scooping the dropped toy mouse from the floor, she held it as a scepter.
Sarah was amused at how the makeshift tiara sat firmly askew on her sister’s head. It caught the light as Emily pranced around the room, but Sarah’s smiling mouth quickly tightened into a flat line as she thought about RahRah.
Emily stopped dancing. She dropped her crown and scepter back into the box. “I’m missing something. Didn’t RahRah live here until five minutes ago?”
“Yes.”
“Well, this doesn’t look like the carriage house and it would seem that your check must have been lost by the post office.”
“It was delivered into Bill’s bank account. Mother Blair’s provision for RahRah’s care was simply another thing Bill neglected to mention.” She dabbed her eyes with the used tissue. “You know, I should be mad about everything Bill cheated me out of, but I really don’t care. One part of me is in shock and can’t believe Bill’s gone. At other times, I feel like good riddance, he got his comeuppance. I only wish the same fate for Jane, but I don’t want RahRah to suffer because of her.”
Emily scrunched her eyes at her sister’s harsh words. The worry lines in her forehead became more prominent. “I wouldn’t say that too loudly. You never know when making a threat might come back to bite you.”
“Now you’re the one being dramatic. Em, for someone who can be so take charge, you definitely have a histrionic flair.”
“And you have a way with words. Histrionic?”
“It’s simply a synonym for dramatic.”
Emily arched her eyebrows. “Really?”
“Okay, sometimes I spice up what I’m saying, like some of the things I said about Bill during my divorce, but be honest, you do that with the names of your recipes.”
“You’ve got me there.”
“Look at it this way. I enjoy playing with words like some people enjoy playing with jewelry.”
“That’s because you don’t have any.”
“Tell that to Peter and Jane. According to them, I’m supposed to have hidden a diamond bracelet somewhere.”
“Wait a minute,” Emily said. “Maybe the bracelet has been in plain sight.”
“Are you accusing me of taking it, too?”
“No.” Emily pulled the bag of collars out of the box. She poured the bag out on the floor and searched through them until she found the one she’d used as a tiara.
“What are you doing?”
Emily waved the collar at Sarah. “Maybe the bracelet’s been here all along?” She handed the collar to Sarah, who stared at it and frowned before throwing it back into the box.
“Good thinking, but the diamonds in Mother Blair’s bracelet are far bigger. That’s probably why Jane wants it so badly.” Sarah picked up another collar. “Maybe Mother Blair separated the stones into different collars to hide them for some reason.”
The two flipped through the rest of the collars, but nothing else caught their eye. Frustrated, they put them back into the box.
“Look at the time.”
Sarah glanced at the wall clock. “It’s only eight twenty.”
“I know. I’ve got to get a move on and get to the Expo.
“Considering the fire, are you going to even bother with the booth?”
“Yes. I called Marcus while you were sleeping.”
“How is he?”
“Grumpy and ready to be discharged. He wanted to go to the restaurant before going to the Expo to see what he can salvage, but the fire marshal hasn’t declared the area stable enough for anyone to go anywhere near it until tomorrow. I told him to sit tight. Jacob can always handle the emcee duties.”
“And you?”
“There are only five hours until the contest. Not only do I have prep work, but there is a ton of stuff to do to make sure the Southwind booth is ready when the Expo opens at eleven. Want to come along?”
Sarah laughed. “Are you asking for my help?”
“No, not this time. We’re the only ones allowed to touch our contest dishes from prep to finish. I thought you might want to nose around a bit. Check out the other cooks and our neighboring booths again.”
“Thanks, but I’ll keep my nose to myself until contest time. I think any sleuthing we do at the Civic Center should be done together.”
“I’m going to be too busy to play detective.”
Sarah realized that was true. With Chef Marcus in the hospital, Emily, rather than Jane, was taking responsibility for the efficient operation of everything and everyone in the Southwind booth, plus her contest entry. Sarah felt torn. She had promised Peter to stick to Emily’s side, but she couldn’t see how Emily would ever be alone at the Civic Center. And while others watched her, it would be such a great time to run by Harlan’s office and do a few things. After all, Harlan didn’t usually work on Sundays.
Sarah tried to think how she could warn her sister without violating Peter’s confidence. “If you don’t really need me, it would be a great time to justify my paycheck by typing a response brief I know Harlan needs filed by four on Monday. Considering the confusion of this week, he’ll be thrilled if we don’t go to the wire with it.”
“Fine. You go to the office.”
“I will if you promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Until your presentation, you won’t go anywhere in the building without staying in at least one person’s sight, if not two.”
Emily laughed. “I thought Mom was on vacation. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be too busy to wander anywhere. When are you leaving?”
“Right behind you.” Sarah flipped the light switch off as she followed Emily out the door. “I don’t have any reason to hang around my apartment today.”