Murder by Yew (An Edna Davies Mystery #1)(55)

Edna stared at the head, waiting for some sign of life.

“What are you doin’ here?”

Taken aback by his rudeness and the abruptness of the question, she hesitated before saying, “I’ve come to speak with you about Tom.”

“I’ve nothin’ to say.” Norm’s eyes narrowed. “Saaay,” he drawled. “You’re after the boy, aren’t you?” It was more of an accusation than a question. He rose and maneuvered his bulk around the desk, moving quickly for a big man. Taking Edna by the shoulders, he turned her around and roughly propelled her back into the hallway. After they had cleared the office door, he let go of her and strode across to the waiting room.

When he reached the middle of the big empty room, he turned and eyed her. “Where is he? What have you done with him?” He took a menacing step forward.

“Who? What are you talking about?” Edna felt her temper rising. She resented being manhandled and yelled at.

“Don’t look so innocent. You know who. Where’s Danny?”

“What are you talking about?” she repeated, more confused than angry now as she entered the room and looked around. “Danny was here?”

“You know damned well he was. I left him in this room an hour ago, playing with his trucks. Can’t watch him all the time, you know. Got work to do.” Now he sounded defensive.

“Where’s Nancy?”

“None of your business. Where’s Danny?”

A small object on the far sofa caught Edna’s eye. She moved around Norm and went to pick it up. “This is Danny’s hearing aid,” she said, holding the object up for him to see.

“Yeah, so what? Kid’s always taking that thing out and leaving it somewhere.”

She looked down at the toys near her feet. In the back of a Tonka dump truck was a pint-sized Ziploc baggie with a wrinkled picture of Tom inside. She bent to pick it up.

“He doesn’t leave this lying around, I’ll bet.”

For a minute, Norm looked bewildered. “He never lets go of that.” His eyes narrowed again, and his glance went from the photo to Edna’s face. “Say … don’t change the subject. Somehow you found out that Nancy left him with me while she talks to the undertaker. She told me to make sure you don’t get near her boy.”

“Don’t be such an idiot. I didn’t know Danny would be here. I came to see you, not him.” She held her arms wide, her tote bag suspended from one hand. “Just where do you think I’ve hidden him?” Lowering her arms, she added, “If I had him, why would I walk into your office? All I’d have to do is take him out to my car. With your door closed, you would never have known.”

As she spoke, Edna’s stomach roiled. The words brought to mind an image of the green van pulling away from the house. Don’t panic, she thought. First, make certain he’s not in the house. “Maybe he’s in the bathroom or upstairs. Instead of standing here accusing me, why don’t you go look for him? You go upstairs. I’ll check down here. If he’s not here, we must call the police.”

The expression on Norm’s face turned from outrage to suspicion, and the quickness of his action took her by surprise. Before she knew it, he’d grabbed her upper arms. She felt like she had been clamped into a vise. “I don’t know what you’ve done with him, but by God …” With those words, he shook her once, hard. Whatever else he had been about to say was forgotten as his action tore the tote from Edna grasp. The bag hit the floor with a thud, and its contents spewed across the room with clanks and clatters.

“Get away from me.” She twisted free of his grasp and knelt to pick up her belongings, fighting back tears. The tops of her arms burned where he had held her.

He walked around the floor, kicking the furthest-flung objects toward her with the side of his black boot. “Hurry up. Get your things, and get out of here,” he snarled. “You’re not to go near that boy. Understand?”

“You’ve got to look for him. We’ve got to find him.” Trying to contain her anger and fighting back tears of frustration, Edna picked up the last item, a small coin purse, and dropped it into her bag.

“This is none of your concern. I’m telling you to stay out of it and keep away from Danny.” Striding toward the open doorframe, Norm bent to snatch a small penlight from the floor. Edna grabbed for it as she sidled past him and hurried into the hall. As she tugged to pull it from between his fingers, he growled, “I don’t want to see you around here again.”

When he opened his fingers, releasing his tight hold on the tiny flashlight, Edna stumbled backwards. Shoving the object into her pants pocket, she almost ran to the front door, stopping only long enough to grab her coat. By the time she had jammed her arms into the sleeves, Norm had the outside door open and stood aside, watching her closely as she ran out into the storm, her coattails flapping.

The driving rain felt good on her hot cheeks. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so frustrated, humiliated or defeated.

Twenty

Edna rushed to her car, fumbled the key into the ignition, and peeled away from the curb without looking. Only after driving several blocks did she stop to think what might have happened if another car had come by or someone had been crossing the street. She felt her stomach churn at the idea, as the picture of Aleda’s bowed head burst into her mind. “That’s all I’d need on top of everything else,” she moaned, “arrested for running someone down.”