Diane got up and tried looking out a slit in the closest window. She could just see a sliver of ground. Maybe she could pry the boards off this window. There was something she could see out there if she could just get the right angle. She tried to remember the image she saw driving up to the building. A field? A pond? Not that anything outside could help her in here.
‘‘Come lie down beside me. You said we needed to eat and drink because it would be our last opportunity. That’s also true of rest,’’ said Kingsley. ‘‘You don’t have to sleep. Just rest.’’
He was right. She was just using up energy. She put the chair by the door just so they could hear the noise if someone opened it. Kingsley scooted over and Diane lay down. It was not a comfortable bed and she was tense. She tried to relax.
‘‘I implemented a plan just before Rose came in the door,’’ she said.
‘‘Oh? What was that?’’ he asked.
‘‘I put my cell phone under the chest of drawers,’’ she said.
‘‘That’s such a clever plan. I wish I had thought of it,’’ he said.
Diane started to laugh. So did Kingsley. The bed shook.
‘‘Please,’’ he said. ‘‘It hurts to laugh.’’
‘‘Joey didn’t take our cell phones because we get no service out here and he thought they were useless to us. What he didn’t think of was the GPS. Mine has a chip in it.’’
‘‘That’s right. Mine does too.’’ He reached in his pocket and dug it out. ‘‘Maybe if we put it somewhere. Or maybe I should just put it back in my pocket. If both our phones turn up missing, they might get suspicious. You can say yours was in your purse.’’
Diane tried to relax, and it must have worked because she was awakened by the sound of the chair scraping across the floor.
Chapter 50
‘‘Were you trying to keep us out? That was pathetic.’’ It was Joey. He had Rose with him.
Diane sat up. Kingsley stayed lying down. ‘‘I would like you and Agent Kingsley to join us in
the dining room.’’
It wasn’t Rose. That was Clymene.
Kingsley noticed the difference too. He sat up beside Diane.
‘‘Clymene,’’ said Kingsley.
‘‘My name, as you apparently know, is Iris. That is what I prefer to be called.’’
‘‘Hey, you untied him....’’ began Joey.
‘‘Hush, it doesn’t matter,’’ said Iris.
‘‘As you may notice, Joey has a gun, and he’s rather reckless with it, so don’t try anything,’’ she said.
Iris stood aside and let them pass. Diane toyed with the idea of jumping one of them, but the last time she’d tried something like that, she had gotten Kingsley shot. She was hoping that going to the main house would afford other opportunities that were less risky.
The inside of the house was much like the outside. It was not decrepit, or shabby chic, or even gently worn. It was a showplace. There was no one particular style, just high-end furniture that looked comfortable and was beautiful to look at. There were vases of flowers everywhere, as well as pictures of flowers. All irises, lilies, and roses. In her mind’s eye when Carley’s grandmother was telling them about the family, Diane had pictured the house having dark rooms. The house wasn’t dark; it was well lit and bright. She wondered whether Iris brought that to the house or it was always this lovely. With grounds that looked the way theirs did, and the house so clean, they had to have help. That made Diane feel more optimistic. There had to be other people around.
‘‘What was that place we were in?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘A place of contemplation,’’ Iris said. ‘‘Please . . .’’ She gestured toward a door.
It opened into a dining room. There was a long, light oak table with matching buffets and china cabinets. Iris’ sisters were putting food on the table. All three sisters were dressed alike. Diane thought they were a little old for that.
‘‘Rose said you had eaten, but you may want to eat again. All of us are great cooks,’’ said Iris.
‘‘I’m not really dressed for dinner,’’ said Kingsley.
Iris smiled. ‘‘We will forgive you.’’
‘‘Neither of us feels very well,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Please, let’s be honest. You’re afraid that I’m going to poison you,’’ said Iris.
‘‘Yes,’’ said Diane, ‘‘there is that. We are also sick. Your brother knocked both of us unconscious and shot Kingsley.’’
‘‘Point taken,’’ said Iris. ‘‘Please sit down. I’m interested to know how you found me. I don’t mind telling you I’m impressed,’’ she said. ‘‘I had such a good plan.’’
‘‘And it worked for a long time,’’ said Diane. ‘‘But with a little Internet research it’s amazing what you can do.
They all sat down and the three sisters and Joey filled their plates with some very delicious-smelling roast beef, potatoes, and roasted asparagus.
‘‘Are you sure?’’ said one of the sisters. She smiled. ‘‘I’m Lily. We haven’t met.’’
Carley’s grandmother was right. They were like three peas in a pod. They looked so much alike. Except that Iris had a small scar near her hairline and her nose was slightly crooked. She had been knocked around.
‘‘Why did you kill Rev. Rivers?’’ said Diane. ‘‘He was a very nice man and he genuinely liked you.’’
The three sisters looked at Joey. He looked at his plate.
‘‘It was an accident,’’ he said. ‘‘I’d never hit anyone before. I did better with these two,’’ he said in his own defense.
It worried Diane that they were being so forthcoming—as if she and Kingsley weren’t going to live anyway. But the more information she could get, the better. And who knows? Perhaps conversation with them would open a rift among the sisters.
‘‘You are right. He was a nice man and he kept his word to me. He was only meant to be knocked out. I regret that he was killed.’’ She paused to eat some of the food on her plate.
‘‘I’m interested in how much you know,’’ said Iris. ‘‘Agent Kingsley, you aren’t looking too good. Rose said you were in an accident—besides being shot, I mean.’’
‘‘Yes,’’ he said. ‘‘Little Joey’s drug made me fall asleep at the wheel,’’ he said.
Iris looked at Joey and he seemed to slink down in his seat.
‘‘Why did you drug him?’’ said Iris.
Joey looked at Rose, and she smiled at him.
‘‘Well, their table had another waitress. They were very picky about me waiting on someone else’s table. The best access I had was with doing the refills for their waitress. I couldn’t be sure which glass was going to Diane, so I had to drug both of them.’’
‘‘That was one of the first clues,’’ said Diane. ‘‘That was how we found out there was a ringer among the wait staff. The restaurant was the only place both of us could have been drugged. Then I discovered his name—Bobby Banks—and there was a Bobby Banks in my apartment building....’’