about in a few months, after they remove the pins and she goes through rehab.”
I blinked numbly. “My maid of honor can’t walk?”
“The wonderful thing is, not one house was destroyed. That pesky twister hopped over the residential district completely, so you can tell the Teigs, and the Stolees, and everyone else that there’s no need to rush home, because their property is just fine. It’s the rest of the town that’s been declared a disaster area.”
“Disaster area?”
“You’ll notice such a change, dear. But like your father was telling Lars this morning, some of those buildings were so old, they needed to be torn down anyway.”
I winced. “Did a lot of the buildings collapse?”
“All of them, dear. Windsor City Bank. Holy Redeemer Church. Skaartvedt’s Roto-Rooter and Used Books. The funeral parlor. The bridal shop where you ordered your dress. Main Street is still there, but it’s pretty much buried under rubble.”
My vision dimmed. My head went fuzzy. “What about Ashgrove?”
“If the tornado had lifted up a hundred feet sooner, it would have been fine.”
“It’s gone?” I asked weakly.
“Flattened.”
“Oh, God, Mom. How can I get married? I have no church, no dress, no reception hall, no maid of honor!”
“Don’t you worry, sweetheart, I have it all figured out. Are you sitting down?”
“No, but…hold on.” I rounded the corner toward the sauna. “They probably have chairs in—”
I tripped over something and went flying into the opposite wall with a bone-jarring thunk .
“Are you sitting down yet?” my mother chattered away. “I’m going to arrange everything while you’re in Scandinavia. New church, new dress, new reception hall. I’m so excited, Emily. It’s going to be even better than before.”
I turned around, my back pressed to the wall for support. Portia Van Cleef lay faceup on the floor, body inert, eyes fixed, tongue lolling from her head. She was wearing the fuschia-and-plum necklace that Jackie had admired in the Aarikka store today, with one tragic difference.
Someone had used it to strangle her.
I let out a cry that could wake the dead.
“You should hear her, Bob,” my mother gushed to my father. “She’s thrilled with the idea.”
CHAPTER 5
“ A t nineteen-hundred hours you had dinner reservations at Raffaelo, where Ms. Van Cleef ordered the chicken breast with Swiss vegetable cakes.”
“We would have eaten earlier,” April Peabody informed the policeman in charge of establishing a time line for Portia’s activities, “but Portia insisted on stopping at a little jewelry store to buy a necklace she’d seen earlier. Who knows why she was so taken with it? Not her signature style at all. It was made of wood, for God sakes.”
I’d given my statement to the chief investigating officer an hour earlier, but I was so rattled that I’d decided to attend the informal inquiry being held in the hotel’s conference room rather than return to my room. Annika had knocked on doors, rousting everyone, so all the guests were present and accounted for, except for Jackie, who was mysteriously AWOL.
“You left the restaurant around twenty-one-hundred hours,” Officer Rajanen continued. “Did your entire group walk back to the hotel together?”
“We sure did,” said Joleen Barnum. “Me and Jimbob were a little afraid of getting lost, so we never let anyone out of our sight. Wasn’t easy with Reno leading the way, though. He walks so fast, no one can keep up.”
“He does it to show off,” claimed June Peabody. “He doesn’t want anyone to forget he’s a world-class athlete. I’m surprised he’s not wearing his medals.”
“I thought about packing them,” Reno quipped, “but they would have put my luggage over the weight limit.”
“Enough with the wisecracks,” August Manning chided. “How about showing a little respect for the dead?”
“Did you try callin’ Jackie on her cell?” Nana whispered to me.
“I
I blinked numbly. “My maid of honor can’t walk?”
“The wonderful thing is, not one house was destroyed. That pesky twister hopped over the residential district completely, so you can tell the Teigs, and the Stolees, and everyone else that there’s no need to rush home, because their property is just fine. It’s the rest of the town that’s been declared a disaster area.”
“Disaster area?”
“You’ll notice such a change, dear. But like your father was telling Lars this morning, some of those buildings were so old, they needed to be torn down anyway.”
I winced. “Did a lot of the buildings collapse?”
“All of them, dear. Windsor City Bank. Holy Redeemer Church. Skaartvedt’s Roto-Rooter and Used Books. The funeral parlor. The bridal shop where you ordered your dress. Main Street is still there, but it’s pretty much buried under rubble.”
My vision dimmed. My head went fuzzy. “What about Ashgrove?”
“If the tornado had lifted up a hundred feet sooner, it would have been fine.”
“It’s gone?” I asked weakly.
“Flattened.”
“Oh, God, Mom. How can I get married? I have no church, no dress, no reception hall, no maid of honor!”
“Don’t you worry, sweetheart, I have it all figured out. Are you sitting down?”
“No, but…hold on.” I rounded the corner toward the sauna. “They probably have chairs in—”
I tripped over something and went flying into the opposite wall with a bone-jarring thunk .
“Are you sitting down yet?” my mother chattered away. “I’m going to arrange everything while you’re in Scandinavia. New church, new dress, new reception hall. I’m so excited, Emily. It’s going to be even better than before.”
I turned around, my back pressed to the wall for support. Portia Van Cleef lay faceup on the floor, body inert, eyes fixed, tongue lolling from her head. She was wearing the fuschia-and-plum necklace that Jackie had admired in the Aarikka store today, with one tragic difference.
Someone had used it to strangle her.
I let out a cry that could wake the dead.
“You should hear her, Bob,” my mother gushed to my father. “She’s thrilled with the idea.”
CHAPTER 5
“ A t nineteen-hundred hours you had dinner reservations at Raffaelo, where Ms. Van Cleef ordered the chicken breast with Swiss vegetable cakes.”
“We would have eaten earlier,” April Peabody informed the policeman in charge of establishing a time line for Portia’s activities, “but Portia insisted on stopping at a little jewelry store to buy a necklace she’d seen earlier. Who knows why she was so taken with it? Not her signature style at all. It was made of wood, for God sakes.”
I’d given my statement to the chief investigating officer an hour earlier, but I was so rattled that I’d decided to attend the informal inquiry being held in the hotel’s conference room rather than return to my room. Annika had knocked on doors, rousting everyone, so all the guests were present and accounted for, except for Jackie, who was mysteriously AWOL.
“You left the restaurant around twenty-one-hundred hours,” Officer Rajanen continued. “Did your entire group walk back to the hotel together?”
“We sure did,” said Joleen Barnum. “Me and Jimbob were a little afraid of getting lost, so we never let anyone out of our sight. Wasn’t easy with Reno leading the way, though. He walks so fast, no one can keep up.”
“He does it to show off,” claimed June Peabody. “He doesn’t want anyone to forget he’s a world-class athlete. I’m surprised he’s not wearing his medals.”
“I thought about packing them,” Reno quipped, “but they would have put my luggage over the weight limit.”
“Enough with the wisecracks,” August Manning chided. “How about showing a little respect for the dead?”
“Did you try callin’ Jackie on her cell?” Nana whispered to me.
“I
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