He was right. The thought was there. She could think of little else.
“Focus!” she told herself, as, once again, she tried to draw her mind back to what she was doing. She’d been packing up her office all day and still had a lot to accomplish before leaving Boston. She even had several things on her list that didn’t include Hanover House business or preparing for the big move. Tonight, for instance, she had a cocktail party for Dr. Fitzpatrick—or Tim, as she was starting to call him. She wasn’t really interested in attending it. She didn’t like the attention she received in those types of social situations. But he’d invited her personally, and since he was closing down his practice to relocate to Alaska and help make Hanover House a success, she felt as if supporting his birthday party was the least she could do.
She checked the time on her phone. Eight o’clock. Darn, she should’ve left already.
With a sigh, she tucked her hair behind her ears and surveyed what she had yet to pack. She had to sort through her desk and box up the contents, but she didn’t have to be out for another few days. The lease didn’t expire until the 31st.
Even with her busy schedule, she’d make it, she told herself, and hurried to the bathroom to repair her appearance for the party, which turned out to be far less crowded than she’d expected. It was only her, Tim and two colleagues she’d met at various forensic conferences, which made her especially glad she hadn’t bailed out. They talked about Hanover House, the list of psychopaths they were having shipped there, a few new and particularly gruesome crimes that were as yet unsolved and the type of person who’d probably committed those crimes. Then they talked about Jasper and where she thought he might be living these days. That he’d never been caught seemed to come up in whatever group she was with.
Evelyn would’ve left after an hour, once she’d put in an appearance. But with such a small crowd, she knew it would reveal her lack of true interest. There was no melding into the background and slipping out in a gathering of four. So she stayed for several hours despite the fact that she was dying to get home and call Amarok.
Even after holding out for so long, when she left, Tim seemed disappointed. “We were just getting started!” he complained.
“I’m moving to Hanover House before you, and have so much yet to do. I’m sorry. I’ve really got to get some sleep.”
He put his hand over hers in what she hoped was merely a “caring” gesture. “Then...should we call you a cab?”
“No. I’ve only had a little wine.”
He’d had much more, which was evident in the way he squinted at her glass. “Really?”
“It’s mostly been soda water for me,” she said with a laugh.
After she told everyone goodbye, she rushed to her car. Finally, she was free.
As she got in and buckled up, she listened to the voicemails Amarok had left. “God, you’re all I can think about. Call me,” was message number one. “I can’t wait to see you again,” was message number two. And “Damn! Are you ever going to call me back?” was message number three.
She chuckled to herself as she pulled out of the lot and used Bluetooth to call him back.
“There you are,” he teased as if she’d been missing for days. “Where are you?”
“Driving from Arlington to Chestnut Hill.” She told him about the cocktail party and that she’d almost finished packing up her office. And he told her that the parents of two young men—Chad and Tex Jennings—had come forward to turn in their sons for vandalizing Hanover House.
“So we know who did it?”
“I suspected them before, which is why I spoke to them and their parents.”
“What kind of punishment can they expect?” she asked.
“Restitution. Probably a fine on top of that. Maybe even a few days in jail.”
“Are they also the ones who cut my phone line my last night in Hilltop?”
“They claim they didn’t, but maybe they’re too scared to confess. They know they’re already in a shitload of trouble.”
“It had to be them,” she said. “There’s no other explanation for it.”
“I think so too.”
“Did they say why they did it?”
“They were just out acting stupid, which is sad, because their parents need the income they earn.”
“Is this their first offense?”
“They’ve done other petty stuff—taking a neighbor’s gnome from the yard and putting it up on the roof, skinny-dipping in hot tubs they don’t own, throwing parties that get a bit too loud when their parents have been in Anchorage for medical treatment. This is by far the most serious. Most of the time, I actually like them.”
“If it would help to have me talk to the judge at sentencing, I will.”
“We’ll see how it goes. Maybe they deserve a good scare. Maybe it’ll make them take life a little more seriously.”
“I just feel bad for their parents.”