back.
'Dee, what's going on?'
Everyone looked up to see Ted Hysell standing in the doorway. 'What are you doin' in here?' Mrs. Fisher demanded. 'Nobody let you in!'
'The door was open,' Hysell said. Nick knew this wasn't true, but the deputy held Dee's gaze. 'Dee, I'm going to ask again. What's going on? Were you seeing Jeff Lindstrom?'
Dee's mouth quivered. Finally a tear ran down her cheek. 'Honest to God, I don't know who Jeff Lindstrom is. I was at the Lakeview, though. Not just Thursday-a few nights. But it's not what you think, Ted.'
'Then what was it?' Nick asked.
Dee sat down on the couch, her shoulders sagging, tears flowing freely. 'Ted, you remember me telling you about my niece Maggie that ran away from home? The one that's sixteen?'
'Lou's girl?' Mrs. Fisher asked. 'I didn't know nothin' about it.'
'I didn't tell you. But I did tell Ted.'
'I remember,' Ted said.
'She got tied up with this older guy. Supposed to be her boyfriend, but after a few months he tried to put her on the streets. When she wouldn't do what he wanted, he started beating on her. So she came here.'
'Wantin' money, no doubt!' This from Mrs. Fisher.
'Wanting safety,' Dee said. 'Her mother got remarried after her and Lou divorced and the new husband doesn't like Maggie. He's some big deal at a bank and thinks because she's been in trouble a couple of times, she'll ruin his reputation. Her mother let Lou have her. Lou is my brother, but he's a louse.'
'I'll drink to that,' Mrs. Fisher said, gulping to prove her point.
'That's why she ran away in the first place, having to live with Lou,' Dee went on. 'She didn't have anywhere else to go but with this guy, this creep. When he tried to turn her out, she had to get away from him. I guess I was sort of her last hope, but she'd told him about me. She was afraid he'd come here looking for her, so I put her up at the Lake view. You know, hid her away.'
'What room number?' Nick asked.
'Room number? Ten. Why?'
'Because Lindstrom's room number was eleven.'
Dee frowned. 'Was he about six feet, dark blond hair?' Nick nodded. 'I remember seeing him. He gave Maggie the eye. I told her not even to talk to him.'
If Dee was telling the truth, Wade's surveillance wasn't as keen as he claimed, Nick thought. He'd seen Dee coming out of the room next to Lindstrom's.
'So you were going to the Lakeview to see Maggie?' Ted asked, a trace of doubt in his voice.
'Yeah. I put her up there a few days. Cost a pretty penny, although it's the cheapest place in town. But I had to keep her safe till I could get something worked out for her. I wasn't having much luck. Thursday night she said she was going back to the creep. I talked her into giving me just a couple more days, but I was so upset I thought I'd die. I've always loved that girl and I couldn't bear thinking of her being a prostitute, maybe getting AIDS. I guess I was crying when I ran back to my car.'
'Where have you been for the last twenty-four hours?' Nick asked.
Mrs. Fisher leaned forward. 'That's what I'd like to know, me here dyin' all alone and you traipsin' around playin' savior to some kid you barely know and what never done a thing for you, not like me, your own mother-'
Dee said in a low, distinct voice, 'Ma, shut up.'
Mrs. Fisher recoiled, spluttering. 'Well, well I never…'
Dee looked at Ted. 'I was trying to work out things with Maggie's mother. She lives in Brantford, Canada. I went there to see her. It's not that far, but far enough so I had to spend the night. Anyway, the husband finally caved in and Maggie's mother came for her today. They're on the way back to Brantford now.'
'You realize we'll have to check this out,' Nick said.
'Yeah. I'll give you the name and phone number. Could you wait until Maggie's mom has time to get home, though? If her husband gets a call from the police, it could set him off again, make him change his mind about letting Maggie stay. They should be home in three or four hours.'
Normally Nick would have been unwilling to wait so long to verify a story, but he thought Dee was a woman of limited imagination and her story was too full of details for her to have invented it on the spur of the moment.
'I think you've answered all my questions for now,' Nick said, standing. 'I would like to talk with you again, though. Maybe tomorrow.'
'Talk to her about what?' Mrs. Fisher asked querulously.
Nick's eyes met Hysell's and the answer hung in the air. Maybe Dee hadn't murdered Jeff Lindstrom, but they still had four other victims on their hands, all children of people who had been instrumental in the destruction of a man Dee Fisher loved beyond reason.
19
'It's your bedtime.'
'I don't have a bedtime,' Paige answered.
Mrs. Collins put her hands on her hips and glared. 'You do now, young lady. After all the trouble you've caused me, you should be glad I don't put you to bed at six. And don't think I don't know your father is only keeping me until he can find someone else!' She drew a deep breath. 'Well, I've told my friends I'm quitting this job because I won't waste my time taking care of a disobedient little girl. You might have gotten away with your shenanigans before, but not now. This isn't New York City, you know!'
Paige groaned. Mrs. Collins had been going on and on like this ever since what Paige now called 'The Famous Saunders House Incident.' It wasn't bad enough that the killer had seen her and that she'd been forbidden to even talk to Jimmy for a whole month. She also had to listen to Mrs. Collins carrying on all day long! She was almost glad to go 10 bed.
'Come on, Ripley,' she said resignedly. 'We'll go read in bed.'
'You'll do no such thing! You will turn off the light and go to sleep immediately. Your father has spoiled you rotten, letting you get by with too much for too long,' Mrs. Collins harped, full of noble indignation. 'I taught my daughter to behave. She would never have sneaked out in the middle of the night with a boy. Of course, she had a loving mother to watch over her!'
The last statement was issued with an edge of reproach.
When Paige turned a stricken look on her, Mrs. Collins realized her blunder. 'Not that it's your fault you don't have a mother. It's a tragedy. I could cry when I think of what happened to your mother. Shot by those hoodlums! No doubt she sits up in Heaven every day and weeps her eyes out over the little girl she had to leave all alone and will never see again until you die!'
Paige's face crumpled. Everyone else said her mother was in a beautiful place playing a harp (which she hadn't known how to do in life) and singing and watching lions play with lambs in her spare time. Now Mrs. Collins claimed Mommy was unhappy and cried all day and would continue to cry until Paige came to be with her. It was awful. She suddenly felt guilty for being alive. Maybe she should die as soon as possible so Mommy could stop crying, but then Daddy would be sad and she would miss him and Ripley and Jimmy so much…
Overcome, Paige broke into noisy sobs. Mrs. Collins went ramrod-straight, alarm flickering in her eyes. 'Now you stop that! What if your father comes home?' She was appalled at the desolation she'd wrought, frustration turning up the volume of her voice. 'What's wrong? You don't want to go to bed? All right, you can stay up until midnight, just stop that bawling. Lord have mercy, you are the most difficult child I have ever known!'
Mrs. Collins marched back to the kitchen, muttering to herself. Paige emitted a few more ragged sobs, then lapsed into hiccups and sniffles. She turned on the television and sat down on the floor two feet away from the screen. Mrs. Collins had warned that if she sat so close, television radiation would blind her, but at the moment
