Chapter 5 - Curiosity kills the Cat

When Ellen Robertson returned home that evening she found her husband in the kitchen. The domestic sight of him fighting with red pasta sauce that was spilling all over the range made her chuckle.

"Are you all right? she asked after he had stopped cursing.

"I think so," he answered and looked up to her. "I just saw the news. They say Moore was murdered. Did you know?"

"I do… I found him. Someone's stabbed him." she said and decided to leave out the fact that John Silver had accompanied her.

Will dumped the dirty pot in the sink. "Are you okay?" he asked, worried.

"I am," she confirmed. "I didn't faint when I saw the blood, which can be considered real progress."

"That's not what I mean." He ran his fingers through his short, brown hair, before he crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes fixed onto the floor he said. "This has to stop. Dead people everywhere."

"I'm not the one who killed them," she clarified.

"No, but obviously people get killed because of you."

Her eyes narrowed. "Listen, Moore was the one who offered me the file not the other way round. I'm barely responsible for his death."

Will sighed. "That's not what I wanted to say. I'm sorry. But you have to agree that this is becoming too dangerous."

"I know it's dangerous," she gave in and decided to change the subject. "Did you talk to your father?"

He nodded. "I did. He says he doesn't know where Laura is. He thinks you should call the police."

"That's all he said?"

Will shrugged as he cleaned his hands with a kitchen towel. "More or less."

"I see. As always he's a true force of nature." She turned around and left the room. Will stared at the mess on the kitchen counter and decided to call the delivery service.

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Tuesday

After Perry had left the hotel suite for a meeting with John Silver, Della was alone, but before she could start making some calls and enquiries, an errand boy knocked at the door and delivered a huge bouquet of flowers. Gerbera and roses were her favourite flowers and the idea that Perry had arranged this surprise for her made her smile. She lavishly tipped the boy and looked for the card hidden within the blooms.

The smile froze on her face when she realized the flowers had been sent by Robert Nichols.

Please call the number on the back.

Love, Robert

During the last couple of days she had done her best to ignore the slight headaches, the hint of cold sweat on her skin, and the exhaustion. All the things that usually meant nothing, but felt threatening when she concentrated on detecting them. She knew Robert meant well - too well, but she had other things on her mind these days. She didn't want to feel like some looming beast was sneaking up on her, when they were mourning Stephan and chasing his murderer.

The telephone rang and she was grateful for the diversion.

"This is Ellen."

"Oh, hello," Della greeted her while she put the card into the top drawer of her desk. "I'm afraid Perry isn't here."

"That's just fine. It's not him I wanted to talk to. It's you."

"Oh…" Della was surprised and instantly on guard. "What can I do for you?"

"Actually I'm going to ask a big favor of you, but since I can't reach Audrey Pratt, I thought of you."

"Audrey?" Audrey Pratt was Laura's loyal, but naive secretary. Someone who had never stopped supporting Laura, no matter what she did.

"Yes, seems she has vanished from the face of the earth as well. Listen, could we meet as soon as possible? I really need the help of someone who knows Laura well."

Della looked at her watch. She wasn't sure she knew Laura well, but she was also curious to find out what Ellen was up to."Why not…"

"Fantastic! I'll pick you up in half an hour."

Della hung up and sighed. It was a really morning full of surprises.

#######

Della regretted her decision as soon as she realized where Raven was taking her.

"You want me to help you to search Laura's desk?" she asked.

"If we want to find her we need to know what she was up to before she met the Bishop and if we're lucky, we find something in her natural habitat," Ellen explained. "I'm not doing anything the police wouldn't."

That much was true. "And how do we get in?" Della asked, wondering if Ellen had a crowbar in her trunk.

"I have a key for the house."

The surprise must have been written all over her face, because Ellen chuckled. "Even Laura has her weak moments. She gave me one last autumn after it was obvious, Glen wouldn't move back in with her."

"Yes, it seems she's full of surprises," Della remarked dryly. "Why did you ask me to come with you? Why not Will or Perry?"

"You are a woman and you know how Laura operates. Perry's smart, but when it comes to Laura he's half blind and half deaf."

Della prefered not to comment Ellen's assessment although in her opinion it contained a lot of truth.

Together the women approached the front door and Ellen unlocked the door. A glance at the alarm system told her, the alarm was deactivated.

"Either someone's in here or Laura has returned."

"Who has the code for house?" Della asked and let her eyes travel along the hallway.

"Aside from Laura and me? Audrey and the housekeeper. It's changed every three weeks."

Ellen stepped forward and looked around. The house seemed empty, but then she discovered a white purse on a table in the middle of the foyer.

"I guess a burglar wouldn't leave their purse on the table," she said and Della heard the relief in her voice.

"I guess not." Was it Laura? Della wasn't keen to meet Laura and answer the inevitable question of why she of all people was at her home.

Reluctantly Della followed Ellen through the empty rooms until they reached Laura's study. The door was ajar and Della could overhear two voices from the inside.

"I think that's Glen," Ellen stopped in her tracks. "Last night Will told me he talked to him, but he wasn't eager to get involved."

"Maybe he changed his mind," Della suggested.

"Let's find out."

For a moment Ellen considered knocking, but then she decided against such ceremony and simply barged into the room. The surprise was on her side, because the two people behind the desk looked up as if they had been caught red-handed. One of them was indeed Glen Robertson and the other person was Audrey Pratt.

######

After his short meeting with John Silver that gave him a short report about the events surrounding Elliot Moore's death Perry returned to his hotel suite, expecting to find Della waiting for him - except she wasn't. Aside from a bouquet of flowers on the desk he found a note from her.

I'm out meeting with Raven. Call you as soon as I can.

Della

Puzzled, he stared at the message. What was Ellen up to and why did she call Della instead of him? He shrugged and once more his eyes fell on the beautiful bouquet of pink flowers. Since he hadn't sent them someone else must have done so. For a second he thought of the flowers Glen Robertson had once sent to Della, but discarded the idea quickly. Just as Laura, Glen had disappeared. He was probably licking his wounds after his marriage had gone down the drain.

There was no card in the bouquet, but Perry knew Della long and well enough to know she wouldn't leave it for the hotel staff or anyone else to read. His hint was confirmed when he opened the top drawer and found the small, white envelope with her name on it.

He drew a deep breath and told himself she wouldn't mind if he read the card, before he opened it. They had no secrets from each other and it was just a matter of time before she finally agreed to move in with him...

You're fooling yourself, a voice in the back of his mind whispered. Don't do it. He opened the card and found a telephone number he didn't know and couldn't place. It was the short message on the back that shocked him.

Love, Robert

Who was Robert? He went through every name, every men, she had ever told him about, but couldn't remember any mention of someone named Robert. For over a minute he simply stared on the card. The message was written with a typewriter, so the man, whoever he was, had probably ordered the bouquet. That didn't change its nature though.

Love, Robert

He put the card back where it belonged and closed the drawer. Curiosity killed the cat and he had just fallen off the tree and been hit by a truck. Now it was his problem to deal with it.

####tbc####