Murder by Yew (An Edna Davies Mystery #1)(36)

“I’ll call you as soon as I get home,” Edna promised and headed for the foyer, lifting her coat from the rack by the door. “Stop worrying. Nothing’s going to happen to me.”

Thirteen

Phyl-lis, Phyl-lis, Phyl-lis,” the windshield wipers seemed to taunt her.

As she left Boston, Edna had been preoccupied by traffic and lights and detours until she reached the interstate. Then, trying to plan how to secure the house against a major storm, she thought about Albert and what he would do. This made her remember that she had forgotten again to phone him last night. Did he miss her as much as she missed him? Was he thinking about her, or was he having too good a time with Dr. Isaacs? I’ll call as soon as I get home, she thought. It was about then that the wipers began their ceaseless chant as rain beat down on the car.

The weather got worse as Edna neared the Rhode Island state line. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel as she fought to keep her Buick on the road. Momentarily blinded each time a passing car or truck sprayed the windshield, she began to wish she had stayed with Starling. Too late now, she scolded herself.

For a moment, she thought about turning on the radio to find out what the storm was doing, but she decided not to take her hands from the wheel or her eyes off the road, not even for a second. Sticking to the far right lane, she made slow but steady progress, reaching home two hours later after a drive that should have taken no more than forty-five minutes. It was nearly noon, but the rain and dark clouds made it seem more like late afternoon.

Pulling into the detached garage on the north side of the house, Edna grabbed her overnight case and tote bag and hurried along the path to the back of the house, entering through the mudroom. Puddles of water formed on the wood floor from rain dripping off her coat as she shrugged out of the wet wrap. She sat on a small bench to tug off her overshoes and was tousling the water from her hair when a sudden, loud banging on the door beside her made her jump.

Who on earth would be out in this weather? she wondered, reaching over to turn the knob. Mary blew in with a gust of wind and a sheet of water, holding something tucked into her raincoat. Jumping to her feet, Edna grabbed for the door as a large, black dog slipped into the house and, shaking his lustrous coat, proceeded to spray everything and everyone around him.

“Hank?” Edna said, shouldering the door shut against the raging gale. “What’s Hank doing here?”

As Edna was exclaiming about the dog, Mary opened her wet slicker, and Benjamin jumped clear, leaped onto the bench Edna had just vacated, and began to straighten his own coat with long laps of his tongue.

Edna laughed, trying to take it all in. “Don’t tell me you’ve been out walking in this storm.”

“Nope. Saw your car pull in. Thought you might be worried about Benny, so I brought him home.”

“Benjamin,” Edna corrected automatically. She was grateful but protested, “You should have called. I would have driven over to pick him up.”

“Phone’s out.”

“Oh, no.” Edna moved to the electric switch beside the door to the kitchen and flicked it up. “The lights are on. The electricity isn’t out.”

“Not yet.” Mary seemed to be enjoying herself. “It’s only the phone lines so far. I don’t know if we got flooding or if a car hit a pole or what, but the phone’s been out for almost an hour.”

“What’s Hank doing here?” Edna reached down to pat the dog’s wet head.

“Nancy brought him over yesterday. She’s asked me if I would keep him for a few days. She says he’s upsetting Danny.”

Edna frowned. “Upsetting Danny? I would have thought he’d be good for Danny. Hank’s a connection to his grandfather.”

“Actually, I think it’s Nancy who’s bothered by having the dog around. She told me that Hank keeps wandering around the house looking for Tom. She can’t get him to settle down, and I think it’s making her edgy.”

“I can only imagine how much he misses his master.” Edna stooped to scratch Hank’s ears and rub beneath his collar. “It’s hard for all of us, big fella, isn’t it?” Straightening and turning to Mary, she said, “Come. Take off your coat. I’ll heat up some soup and make a pot of tea.” The words were scarcely out of her mouth when she heard the front doorbell and looked at Mary with a frown. “Who could that be?”

“One way to find out.” Mary shrugged off her coat and hung it on a peg beside Edna’s.

Grimacing at the obviousness of Mary’s remark, Edna hurried to open the front door, then immediately wished she hadn’t. Dee burst past her, shaking a partially collapsed and dripping, bright-red umbrella. “Wow, what a storm. I thought I saw you driving through town.” She looked at Edna from beneath the hood of a black rain cape. Edna’s face must have reflected her feeling of unwelcome surprise because Dee said quickly, “I was going to call first, but the lines are down. I came by to invite you to have lunch with me.”

“Hi.” Mary had come up behind Edna, bent over as she held Hank by his collar.

After the two women had been introduced, Mary said with a smile, “And this is Hank.”

Ignoring the redhead, Dee spoke to Edna. “What about lunch?”

“Lunch?” Mary seemed oblivious to Dee’s slight as she looked from her to Edna. “We were just going to make lunch, weren’t we, Edna?”