Hand of Evil

most with a brief one-or two-sentence response. Halfway to the bottom, she found a message from Velma. As she scanned down the list she saw it was only the most recent of three from the same address.

Dear Babe,

I’m thinking about all this. Waiting is hard.

VELMA

Closing that one, Ali scrolled down to the first of Velma’s e-mails and opened that.

Dear Babe,

I can’t thank you enough for putting me in touch with those very nice people at Cancer Resource. As you said, it was quite expensive, but I was able to sign up over the Internet and I’ve been assigned a caseworker. She sent me the documents needed to request all my medical records and test results from my primary physician so I could be transferred over to them. She said once I had signed the various releases, they would make arrangements to have my records sent or delivered to one of their consulting oncologists. Once they have them, they’ll make an appointment for me to have a second opinion.

Considering the way things have worked in the past, I expected it would take several weeks to accomplish all this, but the caseworker told me that

the whole idea is to streamline the process, not slow it down. So the biggest variable will be how long it takes my primary physician to release the records. I just called him and told his office manager that I expect things to be expedited on their end. We’ll see.

Anyway, thank you for sending me to someone who seems to understand that people facing a cancer diagnosis don’t have all the time in the world.

VELMA T IN LAGUNA

That was something Ali remembered from her experience with her first husband, Dean. It seemed as though it had taken forever to get lined up for the various tests and then it took even longer to get the results back, especially if the news was bad. In fact, the worse the news, the longer it took to get it.

She scrolled up the list and read Velma’s next note, one that had been sent on Thursday.

Dear Babe,

I’m still waiting. A courier is supposed to pick up my records today. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but it seems like there’s a new lump that’s right next to where they did the needle biopsy. And maybe one on the other side, too. If that’s the case, if these damned things are growing that fast, maybe the first doctor was right and there’s nothing to be done. But if I’m sick, shouldn’t I feel sick? If I opt for treatment-surgery or surgeries, chemo, or radiation-I know I’ll for sure feel sick then.

I talked to my caseworker about this. She said

the best thing to do is to do nothing until we have the information. She’s nice enough, and I know she means well, but it isn’t her body. It isn’t her life. I hate waiting.

VELMA T

After several minutes of thought, Ali finally replied:

Dear Velma,

Waiting is the hardest part. Please keep me posted.

ALI

She had just pushed SEND when her phone rang again.

“Ms. Reynolds?” a male voice asked. “My name’s Larry Marsh, Detective Larry Marsh, with the Phoenix Police Department. This is about the William Ashcroft homicide. Detective Ryan suggested we give you a call. You have some information for us?”

Ali took a deep breath. “Yes, I believe so.”

“And that would be?”

“You’ve spoken to Billy Ashcroft’s aunt, Arabella? Is she under suspicion?”

“I’m sorry. This is an ongoing investigation, Ms. Reynolds. I can’t comment on what we’re doing one way or the other. At this point the field of suspects is wide open. Do you have specific information for us?”

Trying to be helpful, Ali also wanted to be diplomatic. “Did Arabella mention that she wasn’t on the best of terms with her nephew?”

“She didn’t indicate there was any particular problem,” Detective Marsh replied.

“She probably told you he came around offering her a reverse mortgage.”

“Correct,” Marsh said. “Come to think of it, she did mention a reverse mortgage.”

“But I think there was more to it than that,” Ali continued. “I believe Billy was trying to extort money from her and threatened to have her put away in a home somewhere if she didn’t hand it over.”

“Ms. Ashcroft mentioned something to the effect that she and Mr. Ashcroft had discussed her future living arrangements,” Detective Marsh allowed. “Beyond that, however, she didn’t seem upset, and she certainly didn’t mention being threatened.”

“She mentioned it to me,” Ali asserted quietly.

“Were you privy to some kind of interaction between the two of them?” Marsh asked. “Did you actually hear what was said?”

“No,” Ali answered. “Arabella told me about it, and it sounded serious.”

“And what’s the nature of your relationship with Ms. Ashcroft?”

“Mine?” Ali returned. “We’re friends. We’ve been friends for years.”

“So you wouldn’t be in a position to benefit from Ms. Ashcroft’s financial arrangements one way or the other?” Marsh asked.

“Absolutely not.”

“And what about Mr. Ashcroft? Do you know him?”

“I’ve never met him,” Ali said. “And I don’t believe Arabella had either, prior to this week. What I do know is that there had been bad blood between Arabella and Billy’s father. Years ago she actually tried to kill him.”

“Arabella tried to kill Billy?” Marsh asked.

“No,” Ali answered. “She tried to kill Billy’s father-William Ashcroft Junior. He was her stepbrother. He’d been cruel to her, abused her, and killed her pet bird. She got even by stabbing him.”

“And this was when?” Marsh asked.

“November of 1944.”

“I see,” the detective said. “And you know about this how?”

“Because Arabella told me about it, some of it just today.”

“Let me get this straight,” Marsh said. “The two of you must be exceptionally good friends. Not only does she clue you in on her nephew’s current threat, but she also confesses to the long-ago attempted homicide of her brother?”

“Her stepbrother,” Ali said. “Bill Junior was ten or so years older than she was, and he had been molesting her for years. What finally pushed her over the edge was the death of her pet parakeet. Her stepbrother killed Blueboy right in front of her. A matter of hours later, she took after him with the knife.”

“I take it the brother-the stepbrother-didn’t die as a result of her attack?”

“No. He died several years later in an automobile accident.”

“I’m a homicide detective, Ms. Reynolds. I generally don’t deal with cases concerning dead birds-past or present. And you already told me that the stepbrother didn’t die. This ancient history is all very interesting, of course, but can you explain to me how any of it applies to what’s happening in the here and now?”

Ali had contacted the authorities with the intention of letting them know about Arabella’s diary and how she thought it might somehow be connected to Billy Ashcroft’s death. In the face of Detective Marsh’s outright derision, it wasn’t easy to plunge on, but Ali did so.

“I believe Billy Ashcroft’s murder may be connected to Arabella’s diary,” she said.

“What diary?” Marsh asked. “She’s keeping a diary?”

“Was keeping a diary,” Ali corrected. “Back when she was nine, back when this all happened. And when she found out it was missing a little while ago, she was very upset. That’s when she blurted out the story of trying to kill her brother. If you managed to read it yourself…”

Marsh was losing patience. “You said a moment ago that the diary is missing. How could I possibly read it?”

“It’s missing from my house here in Sedona,” Ali said. “It’s not missing from there in Phoenix. It was in my