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Obviously, that didn’t happen. No, Henry was over sixty miles away, probably enjoying his afternoon off by watching a football game, or maybe heading up to Payson to go fishing. He certainly could have had no idea that Calvin and I were pursuing our own investigation here in Mesa.
One that seemed to have hit pay dirt, although we didn’t have any concrete evidence that NancyAnne Nielsen had had anything at all to do with her ex-husband’s death. Plenty of motive, true, but….
We climbed into our car and headed back to Sara’s house so we could return the key.
“Should we tell her?” I asked after we were back on the road.
“About Jeffrey’s ex and child?”
I nodded.
“For now, I wouldn’t,” my husband replied, then flickered a glance in my direction before returning his attention to the busy streets around us. “Unless they were romantically involved or something.”
“They weren’t,” I replied, my tone emphatic.
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure,” I said. Yes, I was just going on Sara’s remarks on the subject, but if she’d been lying, she was awfully good at it. If my damn auras hadn’t taken a powder, I might have been able to see hers and get a much better read on what she was really thinking and feeling, but for now, I’d just have to go on body language and her general demeanor to form an opinion.
Calvin didn’t offer any protests, which relieved me to no end. He knew I generally had good instincts about people even when their auras weren’t involved, so there was no reason to believe Sara had pulled the wool over my eyes in this particular case.
Soon enough, we were parking in front of her townhouse. I got out and went to the front door, and rang the bell. A moment later, she appeared, expression curious.
“Did you find anything?” she asked.
“Not really,” I replied, telling myself it was just a little white lie. “But we fed the fish and locked up. Do you know what’s going to happen to them?”
“Oh, I’ll keep going by and feeding them until one of us hears from his family,” Sara said. “A couple of people in the dance community have already put together a GoFundMe to help cover funeral costs, that kind of thing, and if Jeffrey’s family doesn’t want to deal with the fish, I know a guy here in Gilbert who can probably take them.”
That news was a relief. I hated the thought of the fish dying of neglect…or, possibly worse, getting flushed when someone decided they were too much trouble. At least it seemed as if Sara and her fellow members of the dance community were doing what they could to make the best of a bad situation.
“Thank you for doing that,” I said. “And thanks for the key.”
“But you didn’t find anything,” she said, and I allowed myself to shrug.
“I know. But at least we tried.” I paused there, then sent her a smile I hoped looked genuine. “And we fed the fish.”
She smiled back, an expression that also seemed a little forced, and I figured it was time to go. I waved goodbye and headed down the front walk to the spot where Calvin waited for me at the curb.
We’d uncovered one of Jeffrey Sellers’ secrets.
I couldn’t help wondering how many others he’d been hiding.
10
’Til Death Do Us
Because it was a Sunday and therefore they were a little short-staffed at the San Ramon police station, Calvin said he’d bring up the subject of NancyAnne Nielsen with his deputy the next morning, since Ben Ironhorse, the one person employed by the tribal police who was a true genius with computers, would be there.
“I know it’s a little bit of a delay,” he said as he bent to kiss me on the cheek. “But I’ll have Ben working on it first thing.”
“It’s fine,” I replied, even though I wasn’t sure exactly how “fine” any of this was. We’d headed into the living room when we got home so I could sit in my favorite armchair and put my feet up on the footstool there. Of course, I didn’t get much of a chance to relax before Sadie came bounding up so she could settle herself in my lap, but that was all right. With the dog parked there and showing no signs of going anywhere else anytime soon, that meant Calvin would have to be the one to go into the kitchen and get me a drink of water, which of course he did as soon as I made the request.
He returned with the glass and handed it to me, saying, “That definitely wasn’t a wasted trip, though, which is something. I have to admit, I was worried we might not find anything of any use.”
“Me, too.” I sipped the water gratefully; yes, I’d had water to drink in the car, but there was just something special about a fresh glass of ice water handed to you by your gorgeous, thoughtful husband. “But if I’d only talked to Sara, I wouldn’t have learned much. It was a huge help being able to look at Jeffrey Sellers’ files.”
“That’s for sure.” Calvin paused there, his expression thoughtful. I was sure I wasn’t the only one to notice there hadn’t been a computer on the desk in Jeffrey’s shabby little office. Had he used a laptop, bringing it back and forth from work?
