r was lifting my suitcase into the trunk.
“Clara, don’t get into that car yet,” she whispered.
I smiled, confused.
“Did I forget something?”
“You didn’t.
They think you did.”
Evelyn subtly nodded toward a gray SUV parked half a block away.
She told me she had watched Eric’s mother, Eleanor, his sister Sarah, Sarah’s husband Richard, and a man she did not recognize carrying a leather briefcase get out of the vehicle and walk toward my side entrance.
“Trust me,” Evelyn said quietly.
“Go back through the garden mudroom.
Leave the lights off.
And just listen.”
I canceled the Uber, claiming an emergency had come up, then circled around the back of the house.
Using my spare key, I slipped inside.
I moved up the rear staircase and entered the bathroom connected to the master bedroom.
Through the central air vent and the open glass shower door, every voice downstairs carried clearly.
I saw shadows moving in the hallway outside.
Then I heard glasses clink.
Eleanor spoke first.
“Finally, Eric.
You’re doing something useful.
