Robyn giggled and shook her head. And then her face grew sad.
“Seriously—what a terrible thing, to leave behind such a legacy. I don’t think I’ve met a single person who is genuinely saddened by his death. I’m already fretting over what to say in his eulogy. I can honestly say that he worked hard for the vestry, and took seriously his responsibility of stewardship, but beyond that, I confess, I am stumped.”
“Have you seen his house?” I asked.
“I’ve dropped him off there a time or two, but no, I’ve never been inside.”
“I suspect it’s unchanged since his wife’s death,” I said. “Perhaps some of the oldtimers can tell you more about her—from her portrait, I suspect she was a kind person. And he bought expensive cat food for his cat, in spite of being disappointed in her mousing abilities.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I can use all that.”
“Go out and look yourself,” I said. “You’ll get a better sense of the man. The key’s taped to the underside of the mat.”
“I will,” she said. “Thank you. I’m tempted to go over there right now.”
“Why not?” I said.
“Because first I’ve got to find Riddick and tell him I’m taking the rummage sale out of his hands.”
“Mother can’t possibly schedule anything till January,” I said. “Why not wait till after Christmas to tell him?”
I could tell from her face that she was tempted.
“No,” she said finally. “I think I’d rather not have it hanging over me. And your mother needs to be able to start planning and organizing without any secrecy. Besides—”
We both started slightly on hearing a door slam in the distance.
“Front door, I think,” Robyn said. “I suppose the crime scene tape is down. People will start coming for events.”
“We don’t have any scheduled here for tonight,” I said.
Just then Riddick came into view. He glanced into the doorway and nodded to us.
“I see you heard the news,” Robyn called out.
Riddick stopped and turned.
“I heard we finally got our church back to ourselves,” Riddick said. From the way he was glowering at us, I wondered if he was blaming me and Robyn for all the unfortunate events that had disturbed his normal routine. And then he put his hand up and massaged his temples, wincing, and I realized that maybe he was just still feeling his migraine.
“All the congregations have their churches back, and everyone’s Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services can go on as planned,” Robyn said. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
Riddick nodded glumly and turned to leave.
Robyn took a deep breath, gave me a brisk nod, and stepped out into the hallway.
“If you have a moment, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about,” I heard her say.
She and Riddick disappeared into her study. I silently wished her luck and turned to leave.
Chapter 35
I felt surprisingly cheerful on the way home. Or maybe it wasn’t so surprising. The chief had solved the murder, and Lightfoot was probably already in custody. Caleb and Ronnie had undoubtedly learned their lessons, which meant the pranks would almost certainly come to an end. I would probably see Randall at Michael’s performance tonight, and could apologize to him for casting any aspersions on his cousin Duane’s character.
My spirits fell a little when I arrived home and found Horace dashing out of our front door, chewing on a sandwich.
“I thought you’d be down at the station with Jerome Lightfoot,” I said.
“So did I,” Horace said. “He’s flown the coop. Probably sometime last night from what his neighbor said. We’re all doing double shifts until he’s caught. I just dropped by to grab a bite on my way out to search Caerphilly Creek.”
He dashed back to his cruiser.
Rose Noire was standing in the doorway, waving to him as he hurriedly took off.
“Poor thing,” she said, as I came in. “He’s going to miss Michael’s show.”
He was also going to be scouring the county for a dangerous killer in twenty-something weather at a time of year when most people would rather be indoors with their families preparing for the upcoming holiday. But I was glad to see she had her priorities straight.
“How is everybody?” I asked.
“Michael is in his office doing his vocal exercises,” she said. “The Baptist ladies have finished and taken all the new curtains and seat cushions over to the church. They’ll be back tomorrow to clean up and take away the sewing machines. Rob and the boys are in the playroom, watching cartoons. Michael’s mother is in the kitchen.”