“I don’t know. It makes as much sense as anything else, and I’m sure they’d be happy to close the case. If you’re lucky, there’ll be some evidence, if they know what to look for. And if you’re very lucky, you, the museum, Caitlin, and Hadley will be exonerated, and the exhibit goes on as planned. Hadley, you’re going to have to repeat what you’ve told us to the police, but I doubt that it will go public-unless you decide you really want that kind of publicity.”
“I think not,” Hadley said. “I’d like to come out of this with some shred of dignity. We’ll just call it a tragic accident, due to an electrician’s error, and he’s already paid the price. Is that acceptable to you, Arabella?”
“I agree that would be best, Hadley.”
“I don’t suppose we can do this in time for tomorrow’s paper?” Hadley said.
The woman was a piece of work. “Unlikely,” I said. “Besides, we-or Arabella and you-need to talk to the police before you call the news folks.”
“All right,” a subdued Hadley replied.
I needed to clear my head. Had we really figured out what had happened-and come up with a noncrime? I took a candle and walked into the hall and pulled open the door a crack to check the weather. I had expected to see ice. What I hadn’t expected to see was the massive tree trunk that spanned the road we had arrived by, and a few sparking wires that it had brought down with it.
“Uh, guys?” I called over my shoulder. “I don’t think we’re going anywhere tonight.”
CHAPTER 32
Why was I not surprised that Hadley gave a small shriek from what sounded like pure frustration? But it was pitch black; the entire neighborhood was dark. I turned and made my way back to the living room. Luckily Nolan had held on to the flashlight he had been using.
“Tree down?” he asked.
“Big one, across the road. I guess we’re stuck.”
“I don’t want to stay here,” Hadley whined. “Can’t we go to a hotel or something?”
Was I the only person who wanted to strangle the woman? “No, Hadley. Unless you have a helicopter handy, we can’t get out.”
“Does that fireplace work, Hadley?” Nolan asked.
“What?” Hadley looked around the room as if she was surprised she had a fireplace. “Oh, I guess so. I know I’ve used it, but not lately. Why?”
When she didn’t say more, Nolan prompted, “You might like some heat tonight. Would you have any wood for it?”
“Oh. Maybe in the garage? It’s at the other end of the house-there’s a door leading from the kitchen.”
“I’m on it. Do you have any more candles or such? Those are almost out”-he pointed to the still-flickering but quickly fading candles on the coffee table-“and I don’t want to leave you all in the dark.”
Finally Hadley roused herself to action. “Yes, I think there are some in the desk. I’ll get them.”
In short order she had retrieved more of the same short, squat candles and a lighter. I suppressed the image of Hadley and her man-of-the-moment enjoying an intimate candlelit interlude in front of the dying fire. At least we had light.
“Grand. I’ll go check out the wood.”
“I’ll help,” Jason volunteered, disentangling himself from Caitlin. Maybe he’d had enough drama for the moment. The two men disappeared down the hallway, Nolan’s flashlight bobbing in front of them.
I waited a few moments for Hadley to take charge-it was, as she had pointed out, her house-but she seemed lethargic. Finally I said, “Hadley, we may be in for a long night. We’d better plan to sleep here, preferably in this room, if Nolan finds any wood. You have blankets, pillows?”
Hadley sniffed. “I guess. I don’t have a lot of guests.”
Why did that not surprise me? “Well,” I said patiently, “why don’t you go collect what you have? And what about food?”
“I don’t know.”
Maybe it would be faster to strangle her now. “Do you have a gas stove?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Because if it’s gas, we can light it manually, so at least we could have something hot to eat and drink.”
“Oh. All right. I’ll go get the blankets and stuff.” Hadley picked up a candle and went down the hall, toward the other end of the house.
When she was out of earshot, I sighed. “Arabella, Caitlin, I do not know how you put up with this woman. She seems to switch between demanding and helpless at the drop of a hat.”
“I will say it was always difficult to pry a decision out of her. Are we really stuck here, Nell?” Arabella asked.
“I’m afraid so. I don’t know how long it will be before they send someone out to fix the wires, and even then they’ll still have to get the tree out of the way. So, yes-it looks like we’re having a slumber party.”
“With s’mores?” Caitlin asked, and I thought I could detect a bit of a giggle in her voice. I think it was the first time I’d heard her say anything remotely funny in the time I’d known her.
I gave her a smile. “I doubt that Hadley’s larder runs to marshmallows, but maybe we can scrounge up something to eat. Let’s go see.” I picked up another candle and led the way down the hall toward the kitchen.
There we met Nolan and Jason, emerging from the dark garage, each with an armload of wood. “This is most of it, but it’ll do for now,” Nolan said. “Where’s herself?”
“She’s looking for blankets. Can you get a fire started?”
“Not to worry. The first ten years of my life, we had nothing but turf to keep us warm. I’ll see to it.”
“All right, then-food.”
Fifteen minutes later we were huddled in a tight half circle in front of the small fire that Nolan had built. Well, most of us were: Hadley maintained a distance, perched on a chair behind us. She had come up with a motley assortment of blankets, and we were noshing on the rather eclectic mix of items we had found in her refrigerator and cupboards-mostly crackers, olives, and cheese, plus a couple of shriveled apples. It would do for now, and since we had all missed dinner, we weren’t complaining.
“This certainly is an unlikely turn of events, don’t you think? All of us camped out here?” Arabella said.
“No,” Hadley replied bitterly. “If anything can go wrong, it will, at least if I’m around. This whole mess was my fault. I knew it was a bad idea to keep flogging poor Harriet, but that’s what my publisher wanted, and I couldn’t argue. I am sick unto death of that little rodent.”
“Hedgehogs aren’t rodents,” Caitlin commented. “Didn’t you do any research?”
“Ha! Market research, more like it. My editor wanted something small and cute but that hadn’t been done to death, and, presto, a hedgehog was what I got.”
“But you’ve done so well with Harriet,” Arabella said. “This house, renown, book tours.”
“This house is mortgaged to the hilt, and my royalties are down to four figures a year. Unless Harriet becomes the first animated hedgehog vampire rock star, preferably with psychic powers, I’m broke.” She stood up abruptly. “I’m tired, and I want to sleep in my own bed. Everybody’s got enough blankets and pillows and all?”
“We’ll be all right,” Arabella said. “I guess we’ll have to wait until morning to see what our options are for getting back to Philadelphia.”
“Fine. Good night.” Hadley picked up a candle and disappeared toward the other end of the house. The rest of us tried to make nests with the quilts and pillows we had. Since the floor was carpeted, it wasn’t too uncomfortable, although I certainly wasn’t used to sleeping on the ground-or with a crowd. Jason stayed close to Caitlin, while Arabella and Nolan staked out opposite sides of the room.
I was dozing off when Caitlin said quietly, “I’m sorry, Mother.”
“For what?” her mother responded.
“For getting in touch with Dad, behind your back. I just wanted a chance to get to know him.”