As she was reading about the successful hospital benefit, there was a knock on the door. She didn’t recognize the usual pattern Heather made. Lucifer was at the door, the hair on his back standing almost straight up, tail switching back and forth.
“Who is it?” Michelle asked as she went to the door.
“Honolulu Police,” was the answer.
Michelle peeked out and was surprised to see a uniformed officer standing at her door. She released the chain to open it. “It’s okay, Lucifer,” she whispered to the cat, knowing he would attack if he perceived a possible threat. She didn’t need a lawsuit from a maimed policeman.
She wondered if a cat had ever been accused of a violent attack against a person, and didn’t think so. Dogs, of course, but there was always a first time for anything.
The young policeman smiled as she opened the door wide, “I don’t need to come in. I apologize for knocking on your door so early. Just wanted to ask you some questions, since you live on this side of the building.”
“Sure,” Michelle said.
“Late last night a woman fell or jumped from the top of the building. Did you hear or see anything.”
Michelle shook her head, startled, “No. That’s awful. Do you know who she is?”
“Her name was Wendy Houser. She was staying with Omar Satinov.”
“Oh my God,” Michelle exclaimed. From the policeman’s use of the past tense, she understood that Wendy was dead. “I saw her last night.”
As Michelle explained about seeing Wendy while returning a gift to Omar, Heather appeared behind him at the door. She looked at the policeman and said, “Have you been up all night?”
He nodded, “Pretty much.”
“You two know each other?” Michelle asked.
“We met last night,” Heather said. “Mike and I saw Wendy fall while we were sitting on my balcony. Scared the sh... snoodles out of me.”
Michelle almost laughed. Heather was trying to keep from revealing her potty mouth with the policeman there.
Heather continued, “So Mike called the police, and Tom,” she gestured to the officer, “interviewed us about it.” She shuddered. “It was just awful.”
“Come in,” Michelle said. “Sounds like you both could use some coffee.”
As she went into the kitchen she said, “I bet neither of you slept much.”
There was a simultaneous “No,” from Heather and Tom.
“Sit down, I’ll be just a minute,” Michelle said. “It’s already brewed.”
As they sipped coffee, Tom asked Michelle questions about her interaction with Wendy the night before. He requested she go to police headquarters to make a statement. She might have been the last person to see Wendy alive.
When he left, Michelle went into the kitchen and got more coffee for Heather. “I gave Wendy the diamond last night. She might have opened the envelope.”
“She did,” Heather said. “We saw it in her hand when Mike and I went down to the pool area to see if she could still be alive. We saw Omar slink over and take the diamond before the police got there.”
“Whoa, creepy. She was holding it when she fell to her death?”
Heather nodded. “Yeah. Must have been.”
“I know something happened to you and Mike, as well.”
Heather shook her head.
“Come on. I knew it the minute I saw you, when I came down to get the necklace last night.”
Heather explained about the door of the glove compartment falling open and the near fatal collision when Mike was driving her home. “You were standing by the passenger side of the car, so you didn’t see the scrapes and the bumper that was smashed.”
“Okay,” Michelle said. “You’ve got to stay away from me now. This situation is getting too risky.”
“No way. You can’t be serious,” Heather protested.
“I have to consider my mind a dangerous place. I had a vision of you wearing that necklace. I knew the dress you would be wearing, even though I’d never seen it. You could have been hurt or killed. I won’t take any chance of putting you in further danger.”
“You’d never—and you don’t have the diamond any more, just supposing it is cursed, or has some nasty vile evil spirit...or something strange and weird.”
“It isn’t negotiable,” Michelle said with finality. “But it’s only ‘till Omar’s back in jail.”
“This isn’t cyberspace. You can’t just unfriend me, like I’m some casual Facebook friend.”
Heather looked so hurt Michelle was immediately saddened. “You’re my best friend, Heather. I’m scared of putting you in jeopardy.”
“That’s just what Mike said,” Heather said, pouting, almost under her breath.
“He’s right. You better go,” Michelle said. “Take the paper with you. There’s a darling picture of you and Mike inside.”
Heather immediately brightened. “Really? He’s still asleep.” She started pawing through to the society page. “Wow. This is great!”
“He stayed over?”
“On the couch, unfortunately,” Heather answered, still gazing at the newspaper picture. “You should see him sleep. He has eyelashes to die for; the blackest, thickest and longest you’ve ever seen. And he’s half Hawaiian, so he has this beautiful skin, like he has a light tan all over. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see all over.”
Michelle was laughing.
“See he didn’t want me to be alone after the shock of—well you know. He insisted he’d be perfectly fine and comfortable on the couch.”
Damn, Michelle thought, she would sure miss Heather while waiting for Omar to be incarcerated. She was glad, though, Heather finally seemed to have found a man she liked.
“And I really think he might be a genius,” Heather said as they walked to the door. “He thought the diamond was real. He has a master’s degree in geology as well as the doctorate in meteorology and he was quoting all these complex formulas about how diamonds are made, and how hard they are and everything.”
Michelle had never heard Heather gush about a man before. It was so cute. She opened the door. “You better
