The Maid's Diary(61)

Through the frosted glass panel that runs the length of the door, Daisy sees the shadow of the maid approaching. She opens the door.

The woman jumps back and gasps in surprise. She was busy at the lockbox.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the maid says. “I thought—” She points to the lockbox that Daisy and Jon installed specifically for the cleaning service. “I was told there was usually no one home and that I should use the key. My apologies. I should have knocked to be sure.”

“No worries. I’m about to leave. I just wanted to meet you.” She smiles. “My name is Daisy.”

The woman looks tense, leery.

Aha! The maid is up to something. Daisy can see it, feel it. Her pulse quickens.

The maid’s gaze drops to Daisy’s belly. Daisy defensively puts her hands over her baby tummy.

“Congratulations,” the maid says.

Daisy nods. “And your name is?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Sofia. Sofia Ramos. Nice to meet you.” The maid offers her hand.

Disappointment stabs through Daisy. Her name is not Kit.

As Daisy leans forward to shake her cleaner’s hand, she says, “I wanted to ask if you’ve seen my necklace. It’s a diamond pendant. The diamond is set in a gold teardrop shape. I usually leave it on—”

“Oh, I’m not your usual maid. I’m the replacement—the new one.”

“What?”

“Your usual maid, Kit, has a conflict in her schedule. Holly assigned me. I’ll be servicing Rose Cottage going forward.”

Daisy’s heart skips a beat. “Kit?”

“Yes.”

“Kit who?”

“I’m not sure what Kit’s surname is. I’m pretty new with Holly’s Help. I haven’t met all the employees yet.”

“Oh.”

“Is there a problem?”

“No—no, I . . . Kit has done such a great job here at Rose Cottage, I—I might like to send her some flowers. With a personalized note. Do you perhaps have an address or phone number for her?”

Sofia frowns. “I don’t. I’m sorry. You could try calling the Holly’s Help office?”

“Yes, yes, I will definitely do that.”





DAISY


October 28, 2019. Monday.

Three days before the murder.

After being foiled in her attempt to corner the maid named Kit, Daisy repairs to a café downtown. She orders a chai latte and sits at a table near the window. She watches pedestrians huddling in their jackets as they lean into a blustery fall wind, dead leaves being trampled under boots.

She decides to bite the bullet. She reaches for her phone, looks up the Holly’s Help website, and calls the office.

“Holly’s Help, Sabrina speaking. How may I direct your call?” The voice is high pitched and annoyingly sunny.

“Can I speak to Holly McGuire, please?” Daisy says.

She is put on hold for a few moments.

“Holly here.”

Daisy sits upright. “Hi, Holly, I’m Daisy Rittenberg, one of your clients. One of your employees, Kit, has been cleaning our home—Rose Cottage—and I understand she’s been replaced. I was wondering what happened?”

“With Kit? Oh, she had a scheduling conflict. We juggled the roster. Is everything okay with your new cleaner?”

“Great so far. I just met her this morning. I was wondering if you could tell me what Kit’s last name is?”

There is a moment of silence. Holly says, “Why? Is there a problem?”

“Not at all. Kit has been doing an excellent job. We are sorry to lose her. We want to send her a bouquet of flowers with a personalized note as a thank-you, and I realized I never got her surname.”

“Thank you. Kit always has such great feedback. We get so many referrals through her. It’s Kit Darling.”

Daisy’s pulse quickens. She writes “Darling” on her napkin. “Do you have an address for her? So I can have the flowers delivered to her home?”

“You can just send them here to our head office. I’ll make sure they get into her hands. Thank you so much.”

“Wait, please, it would be so much more special for her to be surprised at home, don’t you think?”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Rittenberg. While it’s a lovely idea, it’s not policy to give out the personal information of our employees.”

Daisy tries again, but Holly refuses to give additional details on her employee. Daisy curses to herself, thanks Holly again, and hangs up.

Immediately she opens a browser on her phone and starts searching for “Kit Darling” online.

She finds a New York–based model named Kit Darling. She finds lots of other Kit Darlings—a veterinarian, a research scientist in the UK, someone named Kit who has completed several ultradistance marathons, a romance novelist from Arizona named Kit Darling, but no one who appears to be a maid in Vancouver.

Daisy returns to the Holly’s Help website and opens the “About Us” link, hoping to find photos of the maids. But there is only a photo of Holly McGuire and her happy admin staff.

Daisy absently chews her lip, thinking. Then she remembers Vanessa also uses the Holly’s Help service. She phones Vanessa.