Murder by Yew (An Edna Davies Mystery #1)(60)

“Yeah. Stupid, wasn’t it?” Dee shrugged. “After five days of driving, I was sick to death of him. You spend enough time in a car with someone, you get to know them real well. I knew before we hit the Mississippi that Bobby and I would never last.”

“What about him? How did he feel?”

“Bobby was too busy looking around him to know what was going on inside the car or inside my head. He didn’t have a clue that I was planning to leave him as soon as I got the chance. I was going to ditch him when we got to California.”

“What happened?”

“He got this notion in his head to go exploring. Wanted to go down a little nothing of a road. We had left Albuquerque and were out in the middle of nowhere, and he wants to go down some dirt track. Said he wanted to see where it went. I said ‘You’re crazy. The road goes nowhere,’ but he said it had to go somewhere, and he wanted to see. Well, here we were on this dusty old turnout, and pretty soon, he stopped the car and got out. Said he had to take a leak, he’d be right back.

“I don’t know if he forgot them or what, but he left the keys in the ignition. He never did that. When I saw them, it was like a voice talked to me. You know, a little voice inside my head told me to take off. This was my chance. Shouldn’t have married that jerk in the first place. Only reason I did was to get out of this town. I knew he’d marry me if I told him I was having his kid. Stupid jerk.”

Edna felt the horror return as she listened to Dee’s story. “You just left him out on that deserted road, no food or water?”

“Yep. I got behind the wheel, turned that car around and took off. I think he ran after me for a while, but heck, he couldn’t run as fast as I could drive. Left him in the dust. Should have run over him first, made sure he was dead.” She pouted. “I never figured he’d make it out of there alive.”

“How do you know he did?”

But Edna wasn’t to hear Dee’s answer because just then, Zach walked back into the room. Behind him was Shoes, Beverly Lewis’s missing brother.

Twenty-One

“Where’s the boy?” Dee leaped to her feet and turned on Shoes.

Edna’s head was spinning. Here was Beverly’s brother, whom the police hadn’t been able to find. Here was Zach Linden, whom the police were watching, and Dee, who had just admitted to killing Tom Greene and maybe even his long-ago friend Bobby. What was going on?

“He got away from me.” Shoes’s voice was high and whiny as he added quickly, “There’s too many places down there for him to hide in, and there’s not enough light. I can’t find him.”

Still trying to sort out the strange relationships in her mind, Edna was slow to pick up on what they were saying. “Danny? Are you talking about Danny?” The words tumbled out as she pictured again the green van pulling away from Norm’s house. Then her attention focused on the three sets of eyes that had turned her way.

“Here’s someone I bet could find him.” Dee motioned Edna forward. “Take her with you and go back and get that kid.”

Thinking only of Danny, Edna moved quickly, following Shoes toward the door beside the fireplace. She almost didn’t notice Zach fall into step behind her, so concerned was she about Tom’s grandson.

The door they passed through opened to a narrow hallway that ended in a large, professional-looking kitchen. In the middle of the ceiling hung a wrought iron rack strung with copper pots and stainless steel utensils. Below it stood a rectangular butcher block table. The stainless steel, double doors of an oversized refrigerator reflected back ghostly images as the trio marched, single-file, past the center island.

On the far side of the kitchen, Shoes stopped in front of a door and bowed his head as if listening for a sound. He paused briefly before turning a skeleton key beneath the doorknob, then stepped aside to let Edna precede him down rickety wooden stairs into a dank, dimly-lighted, cold cellar.

As she approached Shoes, a hand reached out over her shoulder, palm up. “I’ll take that key,” Zach said from behind her.

“Why?” Shoes looked startled and dismayed.

“Wouldn’t want her to overpower you and get out. You just holler when you’re ready, and I’ll unlock the door.”

Reluctantly, Shoes pulled the key from the lock and dropped it into Zach’s outstretched hand. “I’m going to need a flashlight,” he said sulkily.

At these words, Edna remembered the penlight she had grabbed from Norm as she’d run from his office. Moving her hand cautiously over the pocket in her slacks so as not to draw attention to herself, she felt for its shape. Still there. It hadn’t fallen out when she sat down. The small victory gave her a brief moment of pleasure.

“You don’t need nothing. Stop whining, and get down there.” Zach nudged Edna and Shoes forward through the basement door. She heard the lock click as she felt her way gingerly down the steps with Shoes close behind. When they reached the hard-packed floor, she discovered what Shoes had been talking about. The bare bulb hanging from the ceiling at the foot of the stairs shed little light in the junk-filled basement. She pulled the penlight out of her pocket and turned it on.

“Where’d you get . . . “ Shoes sputtered.

“Shhh.” Edna hissed. Muffled sounds were coming from somewhere to her left. Was it Danny? Tipping her head and listening intently, she tried to pinpoint where the faint noise was coming from. Slowly, she circled behind the creaky wooden steps. Weaving through broken chairs, bureaus with missing drawers, lamps without shades and miscellaneous other discarded items, she followed the sounds until she was behind an old oil-burning furnace.