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A sporty four-wheel-drive red Jeep was parked beside the truck.“The Jeep was also Mr.Crabtree’s.”
Closest to the door stood an antique Model T Ford.“Mr.Crabtree drove the Model T in the town’s parades.”She straightened.“Mrs.Crabtree’s car isn’t here.”
“Okay, let’s look for that window that isn’t locked.”He walked to the corner of the garage closest to the house, looked both ways and then ran across the open concrete drive and the lawn to the porch.
Felina didn’t understand why they had to run.Mrs.Crabtree wasn’t home.Still, she did exactly what Lucas had, arriving at the porch only slightly winded.They climbed the steps to the wide ground-floor porch wrapped around the house on all four sides.
Lucas started at the corner, trying to slide the windows up, testing them one at a time.
Felina tried the one closest to the back door.It didn’t budge.
Her gaze went to the door.What were the chances that the back door was unlocked?Probably nil.She walked to the door and twisted the handle.The door opened.
“Uh, Lucas,” she whispered.
He looked up from the window he was trying to open and frowned.“Really?”
She shrugged.“Yeah.”Felina waited until Lucas joined her before she entered the house.“It’s not breaking and entering if the door’s unlocked, right?”
“Still breaking and entering,” he said so softly she barely heard the words.
Now that she was inside the house, the task of searching for the costume was a little overwhelming.With all the rooms, closets and cabinets, they could be there all night.
On the other hand, the ring’s location should be easier to guess.It would be somewhere in the master bedroom, tucked into a jewelry box or drawer.
“You want to look for the costume in the closets or basement?”she suggested.
“Only if that’s where you’re going,” he said, switching on his flashlight with a red lens cover.“We stick together, or we leave now.”
A shiver of apprehension slithered down Felina’s spine.Sticking together was fine by her.“Let’s start in the master bedroom.”She led the way up the stairs, glad she’d visited the house recently and knew exactly where to go.She climbed the sweeping staircase, turned right at the top and walked to the door at the end of the hall.
Even though she knew Mrs.Crabtree wasn’t home, she stepped aside and let Lucas ease the door open to check inside before allowing her to enter.
The room was as she’d seen it the last time she’d been there, only darker, with only starlight shining through the window to guide her way.
Since Lucas had the only flashlight, she directed him.“We’re looking for a jewelry box or cabinet.”
Lucas shined the red light around the room, pausing over the dresser.They moved toward the antique and studied the mirrored tray in the middle.On it was a silver hairbrush and comb.No jewelry.
Lucas crossed the carpet to one of the nightstands on either side of the massive four-poster bed.They looked in every drawer, finding tissues, sleeping masks and several bottles of sleep aids.No jewelry.The other nightstand yielded a couple of books on historical figures of the eighteen hundreds, reading glasses and nasal strips for chronic snoring.
Lucas checked under the bed, then headed for one of the other two doors.The one on the right led into the bathroom.After checking all the drawers, with no luck, they moved to the other door.
This one led into a large room lined with shelves for shoes and purses and rods full of hanging clothes.
Lucas closed the door and turned on the light, making it much easier to see than using a red-lensed flashlight.
On the far wall were built-in drawers too shallow for clothes but perfect for jewelry.Felina hurried forward and tried to pull on the handles of the top drawer.It didn’t budge.
Lucas pointed to a brass fixture above the top drawer.“It needs a key.”
Felina’s heart sank.To come this far, find the jewelry box and be stumped by the lack of a key, how unfair was that?
Then she tried to think like the woman whose jewelry was locked in the drawers in front of her.
“I can’t imagine a woman carrying a set of keys around her bedroom,” Felina said.“She’d want instant access to her accessories without having to search too far for the key.”Felina ran her hands across the top of the cabinet and down the sides.No luck.
“Could this be it?”Lucas pointed to a hook on the wall beside the light switch.A single key hung from a bejeweled keychain.
