“Hi, Patty!”
“Oh, my gosh… Beth! What are you doing here?”
“I’m on a layover and hoped I could crash here with you girls. So much more fun than hanging with the crew I was assigned. Ugh. What a bunch of downers!”
“Of course!” I said. “Come in. Donna! It’s Beth!”
Donna hurried out from the kitchen. “Are you staying with us?” she asked as she embraced our friend.
“I hoped to!”
“We’d love to have you,” Donna said, taking her bag. “Patty and I will take the bed and you can have our couch.”
“It’s very comfortable,” I said, following the two into the living room. “I don’t mind sleeping on it one bit.”
As we chatted about where she’d flown in from, I twisted my hands in my lap while uneasiness continued to swirl around me. We’d just discovered our apartment had been violated and yet, we acted as if nothing had happened. I tuned them out as I glanced around the space, my stomach churning with worry. Who had been there? And why? Nothing seemed to be missing. Donna had left some gold earrings out on the dresser and they’d remained. Our coin jar still overflowed on the nightstand. We didn’t have much of value, but none of it had been taken.
“Did you catch your killer yet, Patty?” Beth asked, bringing me back to the conversation.
“No, but she’s hanging out with an FBI agent,” Donna said.
Beth grinned and nodded. “Wow! How impressive. What does he have to say about all of it?”
“The case is still in the investigation stage,” I said. “But I think he’s got his sights set on Charles’ friend, Wayne.”
“What do you think?” Beth asked.
“There are a lot of other suspects who need to be looked into,” I replied with a shrug. “I don’t think Wayne did it.”
“Someone broke into our apartment today,” Donna blurted, and the mood between the three of us suddenly became heavier and more serious. Smiles faded and the air seemed to become thicker.
Beth arched an eyebrow, but then grinned and rubbed her hands together in excitement. “Really? Oh, gosh, I’m glad I decided to invite myself over. Tell me about it!”
When Donna had finished the tale, Beth’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Are there any signs of someone forcing their way in?”
“No,” I replied.
“So, did you lock the door when you left, Patty?” Beth asked.
I shook my head. “I can’t remember.”
“She’s got a terrible memory,” Donna said. “Can’t remember names, especially.”
“Okay, let’s pretend that you didn’t lock the door,” Beth said. “Who would come in here and straighten up?”
I met Donna’s gaze and both of us shrugged.
“That’s the part the doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “Nothing was taken.”
“Very strange,” Beth said. “However, I do wish someone would break into my apartment and clean.”
Despite the heaviness of the conversation, the three of us giggled.
“If you did lock the door, who has a key?” Beth asked.
“Charles does… or did, I mean,” Donna said. “I didn’t give a key to anyone else. What about you, Patty?”
“No.”
“Is it still in his apartment?” Beth asked.
“As far as I know,” I said.
“Do you have a key to his place?”
“We do!” Donna said. “What are you thinking?”
“Let’s go over and see if it’s still there,” Beth said. “At least we’ll know if the key’s been stolen. If not, you can grab it. If it has, you better talk to your super and get some new locks.”
“Don’t you think we should call the police?” I asked.
Beth shrugged, then stood. “It’s up to you, but my guess is that all they’re going to do is take a report. Nothing was stolen and whoever was in here cleaned up your apartment, which, as far as I know, is not a crime. It’s just weird.”
“They locked Ringo in the bathroom,” I said when the cat jumped onto Donna’s lap.
“I don’t think anyone can go to jail for that,” Beth replied. “What law was broken?”
She had a point.
“Come on,” Beth urged. “Let’s go check out Charles’ apartment.”
I grabbed Charles’ key from the kitchen, and the three of us filed out into the hallway to find Mrs. Wilson leaving her place.
“Hello, girls!” she said. “What’s going on in your exciting lives?”
I introduced her to Beth, then said, “Our apartment was broken into. Well, sort of.”
“Oh, my word. Tell me what happened!”
Donna repeated the story, then said, “We’re going to see if our key is still in Charles’ apartment.”
“What a good idea,” Mrs. Wilson said. “I’ll go in with you, if you don’t mind. Do you girls have a key?”
“Yes,” I replied, holding it up.
“Okay, good. I was going to give you mine if you needed it.”
We filed into the apartment. I had expected a blast of cold, stale air as I’d experienced before when I entered with Bill, but none came. Had someone recently been in there?
“Our key is right here,” Donna said, pointing at the key rack hanging over the toaster oven in the kitchen. She held it up and I noted it had been labeled with a tag containing our names written in Charles’ neat handwriting.
“Let’s take that back,” I replied.
“Can you? Would that be considered part of a crime scene or something?” Beth asked.
“No, it’s no longer a crime scene,” Mrs. Wilson said. “The police released it. There’ve been plenty of people rummaging around in here.”
I recalled we’d found Claudia with a flashlight and she’d been very upset that we’d discovered her. “Have you seen someone else?” I asked.
“Karen was here earlier,” Mrs. Wilson said.
“Did you speak to her?” Beth asked.
“Just a quick hello to see how she was.”
“Do you think she would have broken into your place?” Beth asked.
“I don’t see why,” I replied. “I’ve never had any problem with her. Have you, Donna?”
She shook her head.
“I did mention to Karen that you were helping with the investigation,” Mrs. Wilson said. “Also that the FBI had been here.”
Beth and I exchanged glances. “If I’m remembering all the players correctly, Karen is the girlfriend, right?” she asked.
I
