“Just like the ones you got before,” he said. “That’s the trouble with the cold weather.”
“The cold weather? What do you mean?”
He wiggled his fingers at her. “Almost everybody is wearing gloves, so nobody leaves fingerprints.”
She sighed. “Now what?”
“This isn’t much to go on. Has anybody been telling you not to snoop around?”
“My daughter tells me that all the time, but she’s in Texas right now, and I don’t think she has anything to hide regarding Susan’s death.”
He chuckled. “Anyone else?”
“No more than usual. And only friends I know too well to suspect.”
“Maybe they’re friends who think you need a friendly warning. It’s not all that threatening, you know.”
“I hope it’s not. It’s a little vague, like the other one.”
“You got a sandwich bag or something I can put this in?” He turned the note over and then back to the front. “A big one would be nice, so I don’t have to fold it up more than it was.”
She went into the kitchen and got him what he asked for, and he tucked the note inside.
“I’ll dust this one for prints, too, but I can guarantee you there won’t be any.”
“Maybe we’ll get lucky with this one.”
“We’ll see. Anyway, if you think everything’s secure here, I’ll head on over to the office.”
“Thanks, Roy. Let me know what you find out.”
She went to the door, holding it for him, and he handed her his card.
“That’s got my home and cell numbers on it. I want you to know you can come to me if you need anything—anything at all. Or if you’re just afraid to be home alone or something. I don’t mind keeping an eye on you, if you’d like.”
“That’s sweet, Roy. It really is. But I’m all right. It’s nice to know you’re just down the street though.”
So much for deflecting rumors.
He grinned as always. “ ‘To protect and to serve,’ right?”
“Thanks.”
“Oh, and remember to not say anything about this to anybody. We always like to keep something back that nobody knows about so we can make sure we’ve got the right guy if we catch him.”
“All right. I won’t say anything.”
“Not even to Alice.”
“But, Alice—”
“No, not to anybody. I mean it. If it gets out, it might scare the guy off. Or worse, it might make him do something stupid. So far, this has been pretty mild stuff. No threats. Nothing specific. We don’t want to push him into something worse.”
Annie nodded. “I’ll keep it quiet. You just let Chief Edwards know about it.”
“I’ll take care of everything. Don’t worry.”
He went whistling out to his car, and soon she was alone in the house. More than ever, she wished Wayne were with her.
****
Let the dead rest in peace.
Why couldn’t she do just that? But it still didn’t make sense. Susan was gone. She had no family left except Sandy Maxwell, and nobody in town knew about that relationship. Was there something about the family that maybe Sandy didn’t want anyone to know?
That couldn’t be it. If Sandy hadn’t told her about it, Annie wouldn’t know there was a family connection in the first place. Besides, she wasn’t looking into their family history, just Susan’s death, and there was nothing to tie Sandy to that.
Annie rubbed her eyes. She needed to just drop the issue and get back to her regularly scheduled life. Susan was gone. It didn’t matter.
Let the dead rest in peace.
Maybe she wouldn’t drop the issue. Not quite yet anyway. There was still the anonymous prankster, or worse, to be found. Chief Edwards said he would be looking into the matter, but he hadn’t been too encouraging. Resources in a little place like Stony Point were probably stretched too thin already to make a minor nuisance a priority, and it was likely that Roy was spending way too much time on it as it was.
But obviously, someone did care about Annie’s investigation. She had to know why. If there was some indication that Susan’s death was more than just an accident, maybe it would give her a clue about who might want something like that kept secret.
Before she lost her nerve, she dug out Archer Prescott’s cell phone number and dialed it. It took him four rings to answer.
“Mr. Prescott? This is Annie Dawson.”
“Annie. How are you?”
“I’m fine. I’m sorry to bother you, but—”
“Now what did I tell you? I said you were welcome to call me anytime.”
“Well, yes, Mr. Prescott, but—”