I cut in. “Because he’s dead.”
“How did you know that?”
“Finish your story and I’ll tell you.”
“Okay, so Charles Krisanski died two years ago after an industrial accident on his farm. After his death, the farm reverted to his wife, who is the next of kin. But when I started looking into it—”
“She’s dead too,” I said.
“If you already knew all of this, why didn’t you tell me! You could have saved me a lot of trouble,” Tabitha hissed.
“Finish your story.”
“Well anyway, it was odd, so I decided to go over there, this time on my own. I was expecting to see barren land or an empty plot, but when I got there, it looked like operations were in full swing. There was a big section that looked freshly farmed, with live plants and equipment, areas roped off with twine, and little green budding plants. Someone is working that land despite the fact that both the owners are deceased.”
“I told her not to go—” Thad said.
She talked over him. “I was just planning to drive by, but when I saw the land was in use, I decided to poke around. There was a weird-looking building sitting on the back of the property. It was metal siding two-thirds of the way up and then the top was all glass, which is what made it look like a greenhouse. I tried the doors but they were locked and so—”
Thad made another exasperated sound.
“Maybe it wasn’t the best idea I ever had, but I found a ladder leaning up against the side of the building and I climbed up just high enough so I could peek inside—”
Thad, unable to take her slow buildup, jumped in with the rest. “She fell off the goddamn ladder, hit the side of her head on the way down, and landed on her ankle with enough force to shoot the bone right out the side of her skin.” His voice trembled with restrained emotion. “She blacked out after the fall and because she was out there by herself she lay there for who-knows-how-long. When she came to, thankfully, she was able to reach her phone and call me. I raced out to get her because I knew I could make it faster than the ambulance.”
Tabitha had tears in her eyes now. She looked distraught at how pained Thad was over her accident, but she tried to brush over it with her trademark confidence. “I’m gonna be fine,” she said. “I admit it wasn’t my finest hour, but the important thing is, Riley, you need to look into this farm and see who is using it. Something is off here.”
“Why didn’t you just tell Carl all of this instead of going out there yourself?” I asked, shocked that she’d be so reckless.
“Exactly,” Thad muttered through gritted teeth.
“Calm down, you two,” Tabitha said. “I was going to, and I will. But you know he is going to have to do everything by the book and that’ll take forever. I just thought if I could figure out who was working the land, I could . . . expedite the process a little.” She had the nerve to smile at us. “By the way, how did you know the Krisanskis?”
I explained to Thad and Tabitha everything I’d learned about Helen Krisanski’s death and her connection to Dr. Davenport.
Tabitha, who had to be either in serious pain or majorly medicated, looked as excited as I’d ever seen her. “Maybe the daughter had a grudge against Arthur? Maybe she blamed him for her mom’s death?”
I thought about this but rejected the idea pretty quickly. Lauren had sounded more sad than angry when we spoke about Arthur earlier in the day. She didn’t seem to be hiding anything, and certainly not something as big as having killed the man I was interviewing her about. But I did agree that it was strange someone was using the Krisanski farm, given she had specifically told me they weren’t.
“I don’t think so,” I said, rising to leave. “But I’ll touch base with her again and let you know what I find out.”
I needed to talk to Carl about all of this, and preferably before my meeting with the mayor. I told them I’d take it from there and ordered Tabitha to rest, which was laughable since Tabitha had never taken an order from anybody in her life, least of all me.
Thad stood up to walk me out, but before we got to the door Tabitha said, “Hurry, Riley.”
At first I thought she was saying that because of the wedding, but when I looked at her she flicked her eyes to Thad. Suddenly her mania made more sense to me. Someone was threatening Thad’s family and she was worried he could be next. All of this sleuthing around was to protect the man she loved.
And, okay, maybe a little bit to protect her wedding, too.
CHAPTER 33
The sun was rising as I drove home from the hospital. I’d get home just in time to take Coltrane out for his morning walk, shower, and change before heading to meet Mayor Lancett. I called out to Coltrane when I walked inside, expecting him to come bounding to the door like always. But he didn’t.
“Coltrane!” I called again, tossing my purse and keys onto the entry table. “Come on, buddy. Let’s get you outside.”
Again, nothing. This wasn’t normal; it was too quiet. All of the sudden everything around me seemed sharpened into high definition. I stood still, looking around at every surface of my house. Where was Coltrane? Was someone here? There was no broken window—I could see all the way to the back of the kitchen where the deadbolt was firmly slid into place. Coltrane slept in my room with me, usually on the bed. I wondered if it was possible he was still asleep. Maybe all the excitement last night with the phone call and all had made
