Garden of Secrets Read Free Page B

anyone else near this room?” Joe asked. “In the hallway or on the stairs?”
    The maid hesitated for a moment, her gaze darting from him to the mayor and then to Charlotte. She lifted her hand, pointing right at Charlotte. “I saw her.”
    “Charlotte?” Robert asked in surprise. “What were you doing up here?”
    Charlotte stiffened, obviously hearing the accusation in the mayor’s voice. “I was looking for a bathroom. I was in the hall when the lights went out. I didn’t see Theresa.”
    “Are you sure? You never liked her,” Robert said, suspicion edging his voice.
    “That’s not true,” Charlotte said, paling under his harsh words.
    “Theresa didn’t want to invite you, but she felt she had to because her grandmother and your mother are friends. She said you’d been horrible to her sister. That you’d always been jealous of them.” His voice rose as he took a step forward.
    Joe moved quickly between them. “You need togo to the hospital with your wife. Let us take care of the investigation.”
    Robert hesitated, then said through tight lips, “You find out who did this, Silveira. I want to know who almost killed Theresa.”
    “I will.”
    Charlotte let out a breath as the room cleared. Her eyes were worried. “Joe, you don’t think I had anything to do with this, do you? I’m not a thief, and I would never attack someone.”
    “Is there bad blood between you and Theresa?” he asked curiously. He had never heard of anyone not liking Charlotte.
    “Her sister, Pamela, and I didn’t get along in high school, but that was a dozen years ago. Theresa and I aren’t best friends, but we’re civil to each other. She did invite me to the party. I think she wanted to show off her house and her diamonds, but that’s just who she is. I doubt half the people here are really her friends.”
    He knew Theresa well enough to agree with Charlotte’s assessment. While he’d managed to maintain a good working relationship with the mayor, he was very aware that while the Monroes thought they ran the place, there were many people who thought they should be run out of town. Unfortunately, the only person in the vicinity of the attack, according to the maid’s recollection, was Charlotte.
    “Why did you lie about your reason for coming upstairs?” he asked.
    She bristled at his words. “I didn’t lie.”
    “You’re hiding something. What is it?”
    She gave him an irritated look. “Fine. I wanted to leave the house before midnight, but there were too many people between me and the front door when the countdown started. So I came up the stairs, thinking I’d find a bathroom and wait for a few minutes and then go.”
    “It’s a New Year’s Eve party. Why would you leave before midnight?”
    Her cheeks grew warmer. “I had my reasons.”
    “I need a better answer.”
    “That’s all I have.”
    He gave her a long look. “Who were you running away from, Charlotte?”
    She stared back at him. “Do you really want to know?”

T WO
     
    Joe’s gut clenched.
Did
he want to know? He’d been walking a fine line with her for a long time.
    On his way to the party, he’d been thinking about changing that. Soon he would be officially divorced, single for the first time in more than ten years. It was both terrifying and exhilarating to know that he couldn’t possibly predict what would happen next.
    Charlotte cleared her throat. “Never mind. You wouldn’t understand.” She glanced around the room. “It looks like someone searched the room. Do you think the thief took more than what Theresa was wearing?”
    “Quite possibly,” he said shortly. This wasn’t the time to think about his personal life. “Why don’t we go into the hall?” He led her into the corridor, careful not to touch anything. He needed to preserve the crime scene.
    “What happens now?” she asked.
    “We’ll take names, statements, fingerprints, andsearch the guests before they leave. Everyone who was here at the time the