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“Yes. Why?”
“Because I just spent most of the last two hours talking to a handwriting expert—” Tara began.
Cat came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the living room and swung around to face Tara. “How many times do I have to tell you that I want to drop this for now? I talked to Jessy today and we have worked out everything. I have no more problems with her.”
Unfazed, Tara countered, “Do you really believe Chase scribbled those things on that paper?”
“I think it’s very possible he did, yes.”
“But what if he didn’t? Or what if Jessy manufactured it for your benefit?” Tara challenged.
“She didn’t.”
“Are you positive of that? According to Allen Thornton, the expert I spoke with, it would be relatively easy to fake something like that. All a person would need to do is take various examples of someone’s handwriting, select pertinent words or numbers, and trace over them to create a new example that looks authentic. Heaven knows, Jessy would have had plenty of opportunity to do just that, not to mention access to who knows how many notes or memos Chase might have written over the years.”
“Of course it’s possible,” Cat admitted with growing impatience.
“It certainly is. That’s why I want to see the note. Thortnon explained that amateurs often make rudimentary mistakes. He mentioned two very obvious things and suggested I look for those before going to the expense of having him examine it.”
“Tara, I told you I am not going to hire a handwriting expert or talk to a lawyer. End of discussion.” Cat held up both hands in a gesture of finality.
“If that’s your decision, naturally I will accept it.” Tara lifted one shoulder in an elegant shrug. “Although I don’t see what harm there would be in letting me look at the note. Aren’t you a little bit curious to know if it’s real or something Jessy created to fool you? If it turns out that she lied about the note, chances are she is lying about other things.”
The comment was too close to the one Culley had made. If it was only Tara who had said it, Cat would have ignored it. But she trusted Culley.
“All right, you can look at it. But you aren’t going to find anything,” she added in an attempt to convince herself of it.
Leaving the living room, she entered the kitchen and walked straight to the rolltop desk in the alcove. But the note wasn’t lying next to the phone book. She checked beneath a few more papers on the desktop.
“Can’t you find it?” Tara stood by, watching her search.
“Logan was doing some book work the other night. He probably moved it.” She looked in the desk’s many cubbyholes, then moved to the drawers.
“Don’t tell me it’s missing, Cat,” Tara stated on a critical note. “Do you realize how valuable it could be to you?”
“It isn’t missing,” Cat insisted, but she was beginning to feel a bit panicky. “I simply haven’t found it yet.” She shifted her attention back to the desktop, intending to methodically check every piece of paper on it.
“Tell me one thing, Cat: has Jessy been over here?” Tara’s voice was rife with suspicion.
Cat felt the pressure of it and broke off her search. “I don’t have time for this right now. Quint and Logan will be coming in any minute, and I haven’t started supper.”
When she moved toward the kitchen proper, Tara blocked her path. “You didn’t answer me. Was Jessy here?”
“I haven’t seen her. Are you satisfied?” It wasn’t actually a lie. Cat hadn’t seen Jessy when she stopped on Sunday.
Disappointed didn’t begin to describe Tara’s reaction to her answer. She looked positively annoyed. “That doesn’t mean she might not have slipped over here and taken it.”
Rather than admit the same thought had occurred to her, Cat simply shook her head in feigned exasperation. “I’ll look for it after supper. As soon as I find it, I’ll call you,” she promised. “Now, unless you want to peel some potatoes, I suggest you move out of the way so I can. I would ask you to stay for dinner, but I’m sure Brownsmith is busy seeing to the preparations for your evening meal.”
She brushed past Tara, crossed to a cupboard, took out a three-quart pan, carried it to the sink, and proceeded to fill it with water, conscious of the silence behind her. After interminable moments, she heard the sharp click of Tara’s footsteps exiting the kitchen. Cat waited until she saw Tara’s vehicle leave the ranch yard, then returned to the desk and resumed her search.
She was still at it when Logan and Quint came in. She was so engrossed in looking for the note that their presence in the house barely registered on her.
Logan walked into the kitchen. “I hope we have time for a shower before supper. We could both use it.”
Quint charged in behind him. “Dad said the team handled real good for me, Mom.”
But it was the word supper that did it as Cat suddenly realized that she had forgotten about it. A little rattled, she rose from the desk.
