Ida Belle nodded. “It’s different from our usual fare. I’m sure you’ve done everything you could. Taking care of people has always been your gift.”
Marie gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you, but this time, I don’t feel I’ve lived up to my calling. I appreciate you guys filling in for me. I sat a chicken out to thaw this morning before I heard and I need to do something with it or it will ruin. And I ran out without a shower.”
“And you need a break,” Gertie said. “It’s rough on the heart to sit in a house of mourning, especially without company.”
“Yes,” Marie agreed. “Myrtle is coming this evening when she gets off from work. We’ll probably stay the night, just in case.”
“I’m surprised he’s allowed to stay here at all,” I said, “with it being a crime scene.”
Marie flushed. “There was a bit of a row over that. Carter wanted Nolan to leave, but I cut him right off. Where is Nolan supposed to go? No one else’s home is set up to handle Nolan’s needs. I suppose one of those hotel rooms with the proper equipment is possible, but why should the man leave a place that can accommodate all his needs and move to a place that can only accommodate some?”
“Not to mention that it would hardly be appropriate for people to sit with Nolan in a hotel room,” Gertie said. “I’m glad you were here to talk some sense into Carter.”
“I know he’s just doing his job,” Marie said, “and I appreciate that it’s not optimum for people to be here while they’re trying to look for clues and take fingerprints, or whatever, but Nolan’s situation isn’t optimum either, and I didn’t want him to have even one more thing to worry about.”
Ida Belle patted her on the back. “You did fine. The master bedroom is the biggest concern and that still leaves the entire downstairs to live in. Go on home and get refreshed. Nothing will happen to Nolan on our watch.”
Marie gave us all quick hugs, then headed out. We heard voices drifting down the hall and I assumed Carter and Nolan were at the back of the house, which probably contained the kitchen. Ida Belle set out down the hall, and we found Carter sitting at a kitchen table, talking to Nolan. He looked up as we walked in, first a bit surprised, then I saw a flash of irritation that he quickly tried to mask.
Nolan’s expression was almost blank, like his entire face had gone slack. He looked toward the doorway when we entered, but I don’t think he really saw us. It looked as if he was acting on instinct but actually staring right through us. His face was pale and he had dark circles beneath his eyes. I noticed his hands shook slightly. He didn’t resemble at all the cheerful man I’d met the day before.
Gertie went over and squeezed Nolan’s shoulder. “We’re so sorry,” she said. “Marie needed to run home and see to some things before she comes back this evening. We’re here to help until she returns. We’ve brought you a casserole and some fixin’s. We’ll be in the living room when you’re done in here.”
Nolan managed a slight nod but didn’t speak or even look up at her.
“Don’t go upstairs,” Carter said.
Ida Belle gave him a dirty look. “Of course not.”
We sat the food on the counter and headed back into the living room.
“Does he think we’re idiots?” Gertie asked.
“No,” I said. “He thinks we’re interfering. I figured he would.”
“Of course we’re interfering,” Ida Belle said. “But that’s neither here nor there.”
She walked to the center of the living room and looked up the stairs. “I wonder,” she said.
“About what?” I asked.
The stairs were positioned at the back wall of the living room, across from the front door, and went straight up where they connected with a hallway. There wasn’t a balcony, so you wouldn’t be able to see someone on the second floor of the house unless they were at the landing.
“I wonder why he didn’t go back out the window,” Ida Belle said.
“It was faster to leave by the front door,” Gertie said. “Running downstairs has to be quicker than scaling down that trellis. Not to mention the risk of the trellis breaking.”
“I suppose so,” Ida Belle said, “and I guess we have to assume he had a car parked somewhere nearby. Coming around from the backyard would take up more time. But still, what if Nolan had been armed?”
“Watching television in his own living room?” I asked.
Ida Belle raised one eyebrow. “When you’re home alone watching television, where is your gun?”
“If I’m alone, it’s next to me on the couch,” I said. “If I’ve got company, then it’s on my body. But you can’t compare Nolan to someone like me. I’m hardly the norm. Neither are you and Gertie. I know she has a rifle under her couch cushions. It puts my butt to sleep if I spend more than ten minutes on it.”
“You’re right about the differences,” Ida Belle said, “but how could the killer know that for certain?”