“I agree.” Piper nodded. “Without those diaries, we have no evidence of foul play. No murder weapon. No motive. No confession. Thepolice could ask a few questions, but that’s it. They need more to build a case and make an arrest.”
“Then we have to get those diaries back.” Kiersten gripped her mug. “Theyprovethat Richard murdered Dottie.”
“But he’ll destroy them,” Rosamund said. “He could be burning them as we speak.”
“He’ll finish reading them first,” Piper argued. “To find out how much we know. That buys us a tiny bit of time.”
“We need to get into that nuclear-fallout shelter,” Kiersten said, snapping a Ritz Cracker in half. “IknowDottie left something for us. Some kind of clue.”
Piper gave her a grim nod. “And then we take him down.”
“This is even more exciting than bingo,” Valentina whispered.
“But, honey”—Brendan put his arm around Piper—“how do we actually get inside their house and do this?”
Piper looked at her neighbors and smiled. “I have an idea.”
Chapter Ninety-One
Piper
Piper stood on her front porch the next morning holding a steaming mug of coffee. She’d come to love Miles, but she doubted she would ever come to share his love of tea.
Kiersten emerged from Rosamund’s house across the street and climbed the porch to stand beside her. A belt cinched the waist of her baggy jeans, and her cheeks had no color. Between running with Reggie and the stress of the last few days, she looked like she’d lost weight.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Piper asked.
Kiersten nodded. “We built something here. And I am not going to let thosebastardstear it down.”
Piper shot her a smile over the rim of her coffee mug. “If you keep using language like that, they’re going to revoke your Minnesota Nice badge.”
“I don’t need my badge at the moment. Because right now,thisis my home.” Kiersten looked over the quiet cul-de-sac as the morning sun climbed over the river, behind the naked trees.
“Amen, sister.” Piper clinked Kiersten’s mug with her own. “Let’s go over the plan again.”
“Okay.” Kiersten took a deep breath. “The stonemason arrives at noon to give us an estimate on fixing the sign at the entrance to the cul-de-sac. Our husbands lure Richard, Chip, and Trey out to join this meeting. When the Davis men leave their homes, I head over to Richard and Margaret’s house to search the fallout shelter in their basement and find the clue Dottie left behind. If I don’t find anything there, I go next door and search Chip’s house and try to at least recover the diaries he stole so we can go to the police.
“Meanwhile,” Kiersten continued, “you’re here on the porch, keeping watch. If Chip, Trey, or Richard tries to return to the house while I’m still inside, you’ll delay them by accusing them of stealing the diaries. Which they will deny, but the argument will buy me time to get out of the house.”
“And Reggie and the kids will be stationed right in the center of the cul-de-sac doing PE,” Piper reminded her. “If Richard, Chip, and Trey head back to their houses while you’re still inside, the kids will make a racket. And that’s your signal to leave.”
“IfI can hear all that noise down in the basement,” she added, her voice tight with worry.
“Remember,” Piper said, “their door must beunlocked. No breaking and entering.”
Kiersten nodded. “I knock softly—then I enter and do what needs to be done.”
Piper ran her hand over her ponytail. “I still think I should be the one to search the houses.”
“We discussed this.” Kiersten shook her head. “If I get caught, it’s not the end of the world. But if they charge you with trespassing or breaking and entering, you’ll never work in law enforcement again.”
Piper sighed. “It’s not a perfect plan.”
Kiersten gave her a weak smile. “But it’s the best plan we’ve got.”
Rosamund’s front door opened, and the kids ran out of her house and across the street to Kiersten’s backyard for “recess” before school started.
The adults had been up until 4:00 a.m. restoring order to the main floor of the Cleaver house so the kids could have school as usual this morning. Though they were starting an hour later than normal, it still felt like a victory to have school today at all.
