Will held up his keys. “I assume we’re going somewhere?”
“I’ll explain along the way,” said Maggie. “I haven’t told you everything that’s been happening in Winslow.”
Will sighed as he followed her out the door. “My dear lady, when do you ever?”
Chapter 28
Medical Plants.One of a series of illustrations of plants grown for medicinal use, from The Practical Home Physician, 1883. This page illustrates Dill (to increase breast milk and cure colic), Peppermint (for intestinal gas), Spurge-Laurel (a poison), and Black Bryony (for constipation). 6 x 9 inches. $35.
Maggie and Will had to park several houses down Apple Orchard Lane. The driveway and street were filled by two police cars, an ambulance, and a van marked CRIME SCENE UNIT.
Not to speak of several neighbors, whose cars (and one bicycle) were driving slowly through the area, and one WBZ-TV Boston van that must have been in the area, since it had reached the scene so quickly.
Maggie and Will tried to avoid them all.
The first barrier they ran into was a patrolman Maggie hadn’t seen before. “Sorry, folks. This is a crime scene. No one’s admitted. No sightseers. Go home. Or at least stay on the street.”
“I’m Maggie Summer. Diana Hopkins called me. I’m a close friend of the family. That poor girl has no one!” Maggie chattered. “Chief Irons knows who I am.”
The cop hesitated and pulled out his phone. “Chief, woman name of Maggie Summer is out front. Says Ms Hopkins called her. What do you want me to do with her?” Pause. “Okay.” He turned to Maggie. “You stay here. The chief’s going to send someone out for you. He says the Hopkins girl’s really upset; maybe your being here will calm her down.” He looked at Will. “I don’t know about you, sir.”
“He’s with me,” said Maggie.
The patrolman shrugged.
A few minutes later another policeman came out of the house and beckoned to Maggie. She took Will’s hand, and pulled him with her.
“Who’s this?” asked the policeman.
“My friend Will,” said Maggie. “I’m sure the chief will say it’s all right.”
The patrolman didn’t look convinced, but let the two of them follow him.
Diana was standing at the side of the house, out of view of the street. Her face was pale, and she was clasping a glass of water as though she would never let it go.
She looked up as Maggie came around the corner. “Maggie!”
With that word the tears she’d been holding back began flowing. Maggie reached out and took the glass from her shaking hands and handed it to Will. “I’m so sorry, Diana.”
She put her arm around the girl and let her sob.
Finally Diana stood back. She looked questioningly at Will.
“This is my friend from Maine, Will Brewer.”
“Right. Your guy. I remember. I just didn’t want him to be a plainclothes cop or something,” Diana said. “Maggie, you’ve got to help me. The police won’t let me into the house. They keep saying it’s a crime scene. I called 911 and you, but now they’ve even taken my cell phone away.” She began to sob again.
Maggie dug in her bag and handed the girl some Kleenex.
Diana blew her nose. “It’s all horrible. I don’t know what to do. I should never have come here. I should have stayed in Colorado.”
“This isn’t your fault,” said Maggie, hoping she was telling the truth. Could Diana’s arrival have triggered events that ended with the deaths of two people? But how?
“Even if it had nothing to do with me, I wouldn’t have known about it. I was beginning to cope with Dad’s death. I’d almost finished getting the estate settled. I thought I’d take a break. Take a vacation. See the country a little. And instead…” Diana started sobbing again.
Will was looking down the slight hill at the scrub pines and grasses that were above the beach where, Maggie assumed, Cordelia’s body was. Several uniformed police officers were walking around, looking at the ground. Looking for evidence, Maggie assumed. Of what? Of whom? So far she hadn’t seen Ike Irons, but he must be here, too. These must be state police. Ike had said he had a small staff, and the place was full of cops.
“What happened, Diana?” said Maggie. “What did you tell the police?”
“What I said on the phone,” she said. “I got up, and went down to get coffee. Cordelia wasn’t there. I checked and she wasn’t in her room, so I assumed she’d gone for a walk on the beach. She likes to do that in the morning. So I drank my coffee and decided to join her. Have you ever been in back of our house?”
Maggie shook her head.
“There’s the yard, just below the porch, where there are a few bushes, but not too many, because the land is pretty sandy.” Diana pointed. “Cordelia has a small herb garden there in a sort of deep box. This time of year there’s nothing left except some mint and parsley and dill. Beyond that there’s a narrow stone path that leads to the beach. I found her near the end of the path, in the beach grass.” Diana’s tears were still flowing, but she wasn’t sobbing. “It was awful. She was just lying there. I knew she was dead, right away.”
“Did she have any wounds?”
“There was blood. She was lying on her face. I think she’d been shot in the back of her head. There was a…hole.”
“The back!”
“It looked as though she’d been coming back toward the house, from the beach, and someone’d shot her. She fell so one of her feet was on the path and the rest of her was in the grass.” Diana was silent. “It was so peaceful down on the beach. I stood there for a moment, right over her. I could see the water, and the beach. The gulls were crying, that mournful way they do, and the waves were coming in. I felt like I was in a movie; as though if I backed up and went back to the house and started the morning again it would all be different.”
Maggie put her hand out on Diana’s arm. “But it wasn’t.”
“No. It wasn’t. All I want is to be away from this place. Horrible things happen here, Maggie.”
Maggie was trying to think of something suitably comforting to say when Jim came striding purposefully down the hill in their direction.
“Diana, I’m so sorry. Gussie called to tell me,” he said, nodding at Maggie and Will, but focusing on Diana. “Have you talked to the police?”
“I showed them where I found Cordelia’s body. That’s all. I can’t even get my backpack or clothes or telephone,” said Diana, clearly ready to begin sobbing again. “Tell them I need my backpack!”
“Remember: I’m your lawyer. I’ll take over from here. Don’t talk to any of the police from now on. Let me do that,” Jim said firmly. “I’ll see what I can do about your backpack.”
“Good morning, Jim,” said Ike Irons, joining them. “We seem to be running into each other a lot this week.”
“I heard my client was having a difficult morning and came to join her,” said Jim. “I understand you have some personal things she’ll need.”
“We’ll need to keep this whole property clear for our investigation,” said the chief. “I was about to ask Ms. Summer and that friend of hers,” he gestured toward Will, who was being ushered up the hill toward the road by another policeman, “to leave. I’d like to talk to Miss Hopkins. Since she was the person closest to the deceased, and she found the body, she’s a person of interest. I have some questions for her.”
“Which she won’t be answering right now, when she’s in such distress, and won’t be answering at all unless I’m with her,” answered Jim. “In fact, Ms. Hopkins and I were about to leave. When you need to speak with her, you know how to contact me, and I’ll make sure she’s available. We realize you need to make the house and grounds a crime scene for now, but that means she can’t have access to her personal belongings. Could she take her backpack and telephone with her, Ike? With the storm coming, I’d guess you want to get this crime scene, especially the grounds, wrapped up as soon as possible. I’ll guarantee Ms. Hopkins won’t be leaving town in the next couple of days.”