Chapter Six – The Past will find you
There were three bedrooms in Elizabeth Masters' house, and Rae had started in the main bedroom, I guess it was the Masters' master bedroom.Rae had long ago got used to going through people's belongings, but somehow this was different. Although Rae hadn't known the woman she liked and respected her husband, and he was just down the hallway. Rae could see the strain in his eyes, and hear it in his tone, and she knew that he was finding the whole experience extremely taxing. With a sigh she checked her watch, it was a little after six and, making a decision, Rae closed the drawer she had just begun to search and made her way to where she knew John Masters was sitting going through a box of bills and receipts.
As she went to enter the small office-like area of the living room Rae saw him wipe at his eyes, and so she backed off and decided that she would go visit with the nosy neighbour for a little while, she would have to speak with her, and getting it over with quickly suddenly seemed a real good idea.
"I'll be back in a bit; I'm just popping next door." Rae called out as she left the house, not waiting for a reply she knew wouldn't be forthcoming.
Mariana Ortega must have been watching out of the window because no sooner had Rae rapped on the door than it opened and the woman was standing there, a welcoming greeting on her lips. "Detective, what a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you? Would you like to come in?" She stepped back and Rae entered a busy but spotless hallway.
Everywhere Rae looked she saw photos. Some were of animals, dogs mostly, small Yorkshire Terriers, at least that was what they were called in England, and as she processed this Rae became aware of a small dog sniffing round her feet. "Hey, you're a cutie aren't you?" Rae looked down at the small creature, which, she noticed, had a diamond collar.
"Oh, Snugsy, you are dribbling on the Detective's shoes."
Rae tried to repress a shudder, and surreptitiously dried one of her sneakers on the back of her jeans and glared at Snugsy, deciding that cutie might get the bootie before she was finished.
"I need to talk with you, Ma'am, is there somewhere we could have a chat?" Rae pulled her ID out and then her notebook so that Mariana realised that she was there on official business. It seemed to succeed, but only in turning the woman into more of a gibbering idiot than before.
"Oh, oh, of course, yes, now, where should we go? The living room is my favourite, no, you'll need someplace to lean, maybe the rec room, that has a table, but it is so warm in there still, we could go into the kitchen, but it seems too rude to speak to you there…"
"The kitchen would be just fine." Rae smiled what she hoped was a reassuring smile; she needed information from this lady, and didn't want to scare her.
"Well, all right then, and it does mean that little Snugsy Wugsy can join us. You'd like to come with Mommy, wouldn't you?" Mariana changed her voice when she spoke to her pet, who was now being held under her arm like a small purse. Rae wondered for a moment what Steve would have made of Elizabeth Masters' neighbour and her tiny rat-like animal. Then she watched as the woman made her way to the back of the house and followed her.
The kitchen, Rae had to admit, was a beautiful room. It was very large, and the floor and the counters were marble. The units were pine, and the walls without cabinets on were white and rough. Every now and then there were brightly coloured plaques or plates. The whole effect was bright, clean and well cared for. Slightly away from the work units was a huge pine table, and it was here that Rae and Mariana made themselves comfortable. "Can I get you a drink before we start?"
"A cold drink would be nice, thank you." Rae opened up her pad and made a few notes at the top of the page, and waited. A minute or so later Mariana sat back down and Rae began to speak.
"Elizabeth was already living next door when you moved here?"
"That's right, and she was just so welcoming, she brought me a bouquet of flowers when I arrived, and I made her a cup of tea. I didn't see that much of her, but we always spoke if we saw each other in town, or when we were doing yard work, that sort of thing."
Rae had already worked out that Elizabeth was the type of woman who didn't suffer fools gladly. She had a feeling that Mariana would have come under that heading as far as the Chief's wife was concerned.
"Do you have any idea why someone would have wanted to kill her?" Rae looked up from her pad.
"No, no, oh, no, I have … I have no idea. She was a strong lady, I couldn't believe it when I heard, I was so sad, so very sad." Mariana leant over and pulled a Kleenex from the box which was resting on the counter behind her. Gradually she gathered herself together again, and began to speak once more. "You know we always had a nice time when we were together, she was such a polite lady, very reserved, she didn't talk much, but we … we always enjoyed each other's company. Most people are so rude to me, I find, even on the committees I'm on, but Elizabeth, she … she never was. I am going … going to miss her so much." The tears started again then, and Rae knew she would have to be very patient.
"When was the last time you saw her?" It was almost five minutes before Rae asked her question, and even then she had to wait for a moment while her companion gathered herself together.
"About … about a week before she was going to see John."
"See John? You mean her h … brother?" Rae almost tripped over her words as she remembered that, as far as Mrs Ortega was concerned, the real identity of John Masters was still a secret.
"Yes, that's right, I guess you can't call him by name can you, as he's your boss, would you rather I called him something else too?"
"No, Ma'am, that's fine, I just don't think of him by his Christian name, is all." Rae was beginning to wish that she had left this interview to a uniformed officer.
"What did you just ask me?" Mariana had the look of worried martyrdom which Rae imagined wore pretty thin pretty quickly.
For a moment Rae had no idea what she had just asked, but she managed to draw herself back into police mode and get a grip of the situation once more. "When did you last see Elizabeth Masters?"
"It was about a week before she was going to see John, as I said. I was working in my yard, I had some beautiful succulents that needed attention, and I had planned to spend the afternoon out there. She came over and asked me what I was doing." Rae's hand was flowing across the pad, she had always hated shorthand, but she couldn't deny it came in real handy. "I told her about some of my more successful plants. I exhibit them you know, dear." Once again the woman stopped talking and Rae nodded her head. For some reason the fact that Mrs Ortega showed her plants didn't surprise her at all.
"I could tell she had something on her mind, and so I stopped what I was doing and we sat on the bench and chatted for a while. We were both on the committee of a couple of organisations, the local operatic society, and the drama society. We hold a week of plays and recitals every year; it raises a lot of money for neighbourhood charities. Elizabeth wanted to know if I had the accounts for the last financial year for the drama society. She said that she had looked everywhere and just couldn't find hers. Well, I pride myself on always being able to put my hand to everything and so it didn't take long before I was able to give her what she wanted, and then we chatted a little more and she left." Mariana paused for a moment and Rae could see that she was collecting herself. "I didn't get a chance to speak to her again, I didn't even get to say goodbye." She sniffed again, and the dog, seeing her owner was upset pawed at the chair until Mariana bent down and picked her up and then the little animal snuggled up to her, and Rae smiled, she had a feeling that Snugsy was Mariana's only real friend.
"How do you know that she was going to Los Angeles?"
"Because she had said to me that she needed to go and see John. Elizabeth didn't often travel into LA, in fact it only happened about once or twice a year, but that is definitely what she was going to do."
"And you're sure she said that she needed to see him."
The woman across the table from her sat and thought carefully, and Rae took the chance to drain the liquid from her glass. "Yes, I'm sure, she said 'I need to go and see John, so I won't be around much next week.' Then she asked me about the accounts she had mislaid."
"And they were for the drama society for the last financial year, yes?" Rae looked up from her notes.
"Yes, I can double check my file if you would like, the disc will be missing." Mariana stood up as she spoke, and as Rae nodded her head she moved into the living room. As was the case in Elizabeth Masters' house one part of the living room had been turned into a small office. The rooms both had a deep alcove, caused by the large fireplace one side and the front window the other, and a computer desk seemed to fit nicely into it. Rae stood back a little way as Mrs Ortega opened the desk and took out a black zip up case. "I have all the figures on the computer, so I can check anything if I need to, although I have to say I've never had to yet, and then I keep a back up copy. That was what I gave to Elizabeth." Rae watched as the case was unzipped and then Mariana showed her where the disc would have been.
"How was the disc marked?"
"Pardon?"
"The disc, what did it have written on it?"
"Oh, it looked like this," Mariana handed Rae the disc case, "they are all marked in the same way. It would have said 'DSFs 2002/3'"
"DSF?" Rae thought for a moment, "Drama Society … figures."
Mariana nodded. "Good girl."
"Do you think you could let me have a copy of what was on the disc? I have no idea whether they have any bearing on the case, but if they do, it will save me bothering you again." Rae smiled and waited.
"Of course, dear, but trust me you are no bother. You're welcome any time."
Rae just carried on smiling and waited while the computer was booted up, the file found and then printed out. Once that had been done Rae politely said her goodbyes and took her leave. As she was moving down the path she heard Mariana's voice, "Goodbye, Detective," and then, as the woman was going back in, "well, wasn't that nice for Mommy and Snugsy? What a lovely visit." Rae shook her head, there was no doubt that the woman was lonely, but there was also no doubt why.
Steve had left Community General and headed straight for Bob's. He was working until closing time, and as they had recently seen another surge in business he was considering putting a 'help wanted' ad in the paper. Tonight though, it would be just like most nights, waiting tables, cashing up and cleaning. Steve hoped that he would be able to put Jesse back on the schedule before long, but he knew that this week would be out of the question, at least until Rae got home.
The restaurant was very busy for a Monday night and Steve sighed. It was good that they were still so popular, but it made for long shifts, and very little sleep.
"Hi, Steve, you weren't hoping for a quiet night were you?" A young waitress called Nadine smiled at her boss as she saw him. Nadine was about nineteen years old, and had been the last person hired for the restaurant. She was a friendly girl, and the customers seemed to like her.
"It would've been nice, no chance then?"
"Nope, we just took a booking of a table for ten, they're coming in a half hour, so that will tie up the back end of the place for most of the evening, and the Radcliff's haven't come in yet."
The Radcliff's ate at Bob's every Monday evening and were usually there for an hour or two. They had been coming in for as long as Steve could remember, and were almost, as Mr. Radcliff himself said, part of the furniture. Steve always made a point of speaking with them if he was working, and he knew that Jesse did too.
"Want me to call you when they come in?"
"Yeah, that would be good, and if you need another pair of hands out here I'll do that too. If not, I'm gonna be scheduling shifts and checking the mail; all the exciting stuff. Making sauce by the look of this crowd as well, I guess."
The night progressed smoothly, and it was a little after eleven when Steve finally locked up the restaurant and went back to his car. The party of ten had been a group of surfers who had spent the day on the beach and were planning to drive back to Fresno through the night, or part of it. They had been a noisy but charming group, and Steve knew that Nadine had enjoyed serving them, and she had certainly done well in tips.
As he sat in the car Steve realised that he hadn't called Jo. Checking his watch he noticed, with a sinking feeling, that it was eleven in LA which meant it was one in the morning in Texas. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, saw the screen blinking at him, and read two missed calls. For a moment he wasn't sure what to do, but then he decided that he would risk it. He would either get a sleepy Jo or a grumpy Jo and he could live with that risk. Pressing in the number for her phone he leant back against his seat and waited.
Jo had spent an hour in her room before she felt calm enough to come back down stairs, but the rest of the day had been difficult to say the least, and she had retired back to her room just after ten. Jo had spoken to Michael and Daniel, but Steve hadn't been home. She had tried Bob's but kept getting the busy signal and in the end, after trying his cell phone twice, she had got ready for bed, taken one of the books that Rae had bought her at the auction out of her suitcase, climbed in between the cool cotton sheets and tried to forget the hurt she was feeling.
The chirruping sound began to intrude into her dream and Jo looked around the beach she was standing on wondering where the noise was coming from, then suddenly she realised what it was and sleepily reached out for the small flip phone that was on her nightstand.
"Jo Sloan."
"Honey, it's Steve, I'm sorry did I wake you?"
"Mmmm, what? Oh, yeah, but that's alright." Jo peered at the watch on her arm, and saw the luminous dial showing ten past one. "Is everythin' all right? It's mighty late to be callin' me."
"Everything's fine, I was busy and I forgot, I'm sorry."
"See, I've not been gone twenty-four hours an' I'm forgotten already!" Jo tried to stifle a yawn, but wasn't really successful.
"Jo, I'll go, but I just wanted to say goodnight, and I love you."
"Mmm, me too. G'night." Jo was so tired she just clicked the phone off, put it down and went straight back to sleep. Steve, still sitting in a parking lot in Los Angeles, looked at the now dead cell in his hand, smiled and shook his head, when his wife was asleep, she really didn't wake up until she had hit the showers. He knew that in the morning she would have no recollection whatsoever of their conversation, but he was still glad he'd called.
Rae had spent the last full day in Santa Barbara helping the Chief make a note of all the things that were going to the charity organisations, putting financial records into the metal file cases he had brought with him, and making sure that there was nothing further in the house that could help her in her investigation into the death of Elizabeth Masters. Rae had checked for the financial records that the dead woman had been unable to find, but so far hadn't had any luck. The Chief had decided that he needed far more time than he had allowed to go through the entire house, and so he planned to come back again the following weekend. Rae hadn't wanted to come back up herself, she knew that she needed to be with Jesse and her girls. She was due to work the Saturday, but not the Sunday, and so she had asked if she could be excused, and to her relief that had appeared to be no problem.
By mid afternoon the following day, which was a little later than planned, the car was packed up with the things that John Masters was taking back with him, Rae had some more bank statements and financial records to go through, and she knew that most of the next day would be spent doing that and investigating the second murder Steve had picked up the first day she had been away.
They had driven back in almost total silence, but it hadn't bothered either of them. Rae was perfectly at ease now with the information she had gathered, although a little concerned at what Steve's reaction would be, and how she was going to keep it all close to her chest while carrying out the investigation, but she knew she could cope with that.
John Masters had let the car drive him back to the station. He knew the way without really thinking about it, and his mind was full of other things. He had never told anyone the things he had told Rae over the past few days, and he was surprised at how much of a burden had been lifted from him.
When the idea of an exchange scheme for police officers had been suggested to him, John Masters would be the first to admit he had been sceptical, but the day that Reagan Yeager had walked into his office he had known she would be a success. He hadn't realised, of course, just how much trouble she would get herself into, but he could see instantly that she was a good cop, and she had never let him down. As he pulled up at the end of a line of depressingly stationary looking traffic John allowed himself a glance at the woman next to him, he wasn't surprised to see that she was fast asleep, and as there seemed little chance of them moving for a while he let his mind wander back to the first day they had met.
The knock on the door had been made by Bob Mills, the desk sergeant at North Hollywood, and Chief Masters had waited a moment or two before answering.
"Come."
"Excuse me, Sir; Detective Inspector Reagan Yeager of Scotland Yard is here to see you."
"Thank you, Sergeant, will you please show her in?" He had stood up and watched as a tiny woman had entered the room, and wondered just how she would cope on the rough streets of Los Angeles. "Thank you, Sergeant, that will be all." The desk sergeant, as had been his habit, had stayed just slightly longer than necessary, hoping to get a little more information than he was entitled to, but the door had closed immediately on the words and then the two of them had been alone, and he had looked at her, noticed a steely determination coupled with a little fear in her eyes, and known that she would be just fine. "Detective Inspector Yeager, please sit down."
"Thank you, Sir." The woman had sat in the chair opposite him, and he had wondered what she was thinking. Her face told him nothing, but he didn't feel shut out in any way.
"Has it been explained to you that you will liaise with myself while you are here? Normally it would be the station captain, but I would rather that you dealt with my office."
"Yes, Sir, I was told that, and it isn't a problem. I am, however, completely trustworthy, or I wouldn't have been picked for this assignment." He could see that his words had caused the Englishwoman to bristle slightly.
"Yes, yes, I realise that, and didn't mean to imply otherwise. I have sent one of my best officers to London, and it is my understanding that they have done the same in sending you here. You will be partnering with one of the most experienced detectives in this precinct, and I wish to keep myself apprised of your full six or twelve month stay." The length of the secondment hadn't been formally agreed, both forces preferring to see how the women involved felt after about five months before making a final decision.
"I don't intend for this to be a short stay, Sir. I have made arrangements for a year's visit and that is how long I plan it to be."
Her voice had been firm and decisive, and for a moment he had wondered about his own daughter, she would have been a little younger than this woman in front of him, but if he and Elizabeth had stayed together, if fate hadn't dealt the hand that had snatched his family from him, would she have been a confident, self assured policewoman like Reagan Yeager? Pulling himself back to the moment he had nodded his head. "I think I ought to get your partner up to meet with you, his name is Steve Sloan, and he is a homicide lieutenant."
Rae had smiled then, and it had been very infectious, and he had found it difficult not to grin inanely at her.
"Homicide, wow!"
"I take it then, Detective Inspector, that I have surprised you. Detective Banks worked homicide; it seemed natural to slot you in the place she had left vacant."
"I see, I had no idea what department she was from, and I certainly didn't know that I would take her place, even though she is taking mine."
The next five minutes or so until Sloan had arrived had been small talk, and the temptation had been so strong to admit that he had worked in London, had in fact lived there for quite a while, but he had been able to resist it, and when the door had opened on the woman's new partner the moment was lost completely.
The traffic in front of him began to move and as his car eased forward Rae stirred and rubbed her eyes. "Oh, sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night; I guess it's catching up with me."
"We should be back to the station in about ten minutes or so."
"Thank you. What time is it?" Rae had checked her watch and saw that it was a little after five. "I guess we caught the rush hour, huh? Which is a really daft thing to call it, we are hardly rushing now are we?" Rae saw the beginnings of a smile on her boss's face, "Stupid language!"
The Chief just nodded, until he had disappeared into his memories he hadn't realised how much Rae's accent had changed. She still wouldn't be accepted as an American born and bred, but she wouldn't be spotted as a Londoner any more either.
"Would you mind if I called Jesse? Just to let him know I'll be a little late?"
"Of course not, Detective."
The call made, the Chief's car had been silent again until it had drawn into the parking lot at the precinct, and he had eased into his reserved spot. Rae had unstrapped herself, and pulled her bag out from the back seat before looking at her boss.
"I'll get started on the research to go with what I found in the morning, I hope that I will be able to solve this soon so that it doesn't cause you any more pain than it already has. And I promise you if I can keep your revelations secret then I will do so."
"Thank you, Rae. I'm leaving town again in the morning, but I'll be available next Monday to discuss your findings so far."
"Yes, Sir." With that Rae headed into the station, stopping only to put her bag in Tom's trunk and within twenty minutes she was back out again and on her way to the hospital.
Jesse had received a call from Rae to let him know that she would be arriving back from Santa Barbara about an hour later than planned, and would call in on her way home. He'd tried to sound enthusiastic, although he wasn't sure if he succeeded or not, and he knew that he would also try to seem pleased to see her.
He had been working for about eight hours when, just as he was signing out a patient at the desk in the ER he heard footsteps behind him, and before he had the chance to turn, planning to put a smile on his face as he did so, he felt a pair of hands as they were placed over his eyes.
For a second Jesse fought down the panic, he knew who it was, so there was no problem, and then knowing what he should do, what she would want him to do, he turned, eyes closed and began to kiss her.
Rae had parked Tom in the parking lot with a smile. She'd had her new car for two weeks now, and still no one had noticed. It was exactly the same as the first one, except, of course, for the number plate. Rae wondered how long it would be before anyone would say anything, or whether she would burst before then and ask if anyone cared.
Running her fingers through her hair, and trying to tell herself that Jesse really would have missed her, she made her way into the main entrance of the hospital and waited for the elevator. It seemed to take an age to arrive, and Rae could see from the display that it had travelled down to the ER and back again to get her. There was no one else with her in the car and so she leant against the wall and tried to relax, put the last few days behind her and behave as Jesse wanted her to, and give him some leeway.
All that was forgotten though as she exited the elevator and saw her husband … in the arms of another woman, kissing her deeply. "Jesse!" Rae's voice came out loud and she could hear the shock in it.
Jesse heard his name being called and opened his eyes. "Susan … Rae? Susan!" Jesse looked at the woman he had just kissed, and then his wife, standing in stunned silence by the elevator, and then back at the woman in front of him, he had missed her so much. "No, Rae, wait." He realised that his cry was belated, and then he heard the ping of the elevator as Rae disappeared and although he made his way, a little hesitantly, over to it and banged on the doors there was no way to call it back.
She couldn't believe it, she knew that he'd been distant with her, hadn't wanted her to touch him, hug him, anything, but another woman? She had never thought that the reason was another woman. With tears almost blinding her Rae made her way back to her car, put it into drive and, wiping her eyes on her sleeve, sped out of the parking lot, not bothering to think where she was going, but knowing that she had to get away, as far away as she could, from what she had just witnessed.
Jesse had pressed the button on the elevator, but it had returned empty, and knowing that he wouldn't be able to catch her now, and, if he was honest, not sure if he wanted to, he had turned with a smile to the woman by the desk, moved back towards her and taken her hand in his. "Susan, what are you doing here? You should have called."
"I wanted it to be a surprise. How are you?"
"I'm fine… shocked to see you, but fine."
"Ooh, I would have said pleased to see me, actually." Susan smiled, and Jesse remembered what she used to do to him. He checked his watch.
"I need to make a call and then I can take a break, would you like a coffee?"
"Sure, that would be lovely." Susan smiled and Jesse just looked at her, she had left him, married someone else, so have you, remember, but it was so good to see her. Jesse looked at the phone in front of him on the reception desk and picked up the receiver, he stood holding it for a minute or two knowing he should call, but having no idea what to do or say once he had done that. He knew he had hurt Rae, that she had seen him kiss someone else when he was married to her, but he just couldn't deal with his wife right now, she made him think of things he didn't want to dwell on, remember things he needed to forget, no it was better if he didn't call, he would talk to her, but later, he'd talk with her later. Finally with a heavy sigh he put the receiver back down and smiled at Susan again. "You ready?"
"Yeah, but what about the lady in the elevator? She seemed upset."
"She'll get over it," at least he hoped she would. "Besides I'm on duty right now, and you aren't naïve, you know who she is."
"I have no idea who she is. Jess, I have spent the last God knows how many years solving the back problems of the people of Kuwait. I haven't kept in touch with anyone, I guess I left too suddenly for that, so who is she?"
Jesse had felt his heart lighten with every word. She knew nothing, nothing of what had happened, "No one, not that you need to worry about now anyway, I'll tell you about her again. Come and have a drink, I want to hear all your news." And then without another word he pulled her with him towards the doctor's lounge, and the other members of staff in the ER watched them go in stunned silence.
The attic at the Walters ranch was, Jo knew, larger than most peoples' homes. The actual house itself was enormous, having ten bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, games rooms, music room, in fact Jo had a feeling that any hobby you chose there would be a room ready and waiting for you to do it in. The attic covered the same area as the house and was also split up into rooms. Jo stood just inside the main doorway and looked around her, she had no idea what was up here, but it was all hers. Jo's grandmamma had been delighted when Jo was born, and the fact that she was a girl was an added bonus. When Jo had arrived in Los Angeles after travelling the world she had found that her grandmamma had passed away and she was now the heir to all she had owned.
David had been given the company to run, but Jo was the major stockholder. That way Florence Walters had reckoned that neither of them would be in a position to do anything drastic without agreement from the other. Everything else, apart from various personal items, had been left to Jo. All the property, and there was an enormous amount of it, bringing in more money each month, stocks and shares in both successful and not so successful companies, Jo also owned land not only in Texas but in California too. She even had a stake in film companies and Broadway theatres.
All of this meant that, if she chose to, she could throw David and Miss Prissy Knickers out of the ranch and move in herself and there was nothing he could do about it. Jo knew however, that he loved the house, and she had already decided to give it to him as a wedding present. But not before she had cleared the attic, and so she stood, hands on hips, looking at over a hundred years of … well, she wasn't sure yet what it was.
With a deep sigh Jo began to move across the first room, at least everything was kept neat and tidy. It was clear though that none of the boxes had been opened in a very long time, and she had a feeling that the further back through the rooms she went the older the containers would become. For a moment Jo sat down on a conveniently sized crate and thought of her husband. She loved him more than she thought possible. He had totally changed her life and she knew that now it had a meaning, a purpose; she was no longer just a rich girl floating along on a tide of dollars, she was a wife, a mom and she had a reason to wake up each day. It hadn't been lost on her that until she was married she hadn't even considered turning out the attic in LA, and she knew that without his support she would never be doing what her grandmamma had asked her to, which was, albeit reluctantly, investigate her parents death.
"An' sittin' here won't get you anywhere near the end of the attic, let alone where grandmamma wanted you to be, so get movin' girl." Jo stood up, brushed the dust off her jeans, pulled a scarf out of her pocket and tied it around her hair, then she opened the door to the room just in front of her, turned on the light and continued her journey into the past.
After what seemed like hours, although in reality she didn't how long she'd been driving, Rae pulled Tom off the road and into a parking lot by the beach. She had no real idea where she was, but that didn't matter. Her phone was in her pocket, but it had remained silent for the entire journey, he didn't even call me. Rae thought about the woman in her husband's arms. Susan, he called her Susan, and he said her name first, and last, he said it twice to my once. Suddenly her phone began to ring and she jumped. The display said 'Steve' and so she picked it up, looked at it, opened it, and barked into it. "Not now, Steve." And then she closed it down and threw it out of the car window with all her might and collapsed onto the steering wheel, sobbing.
Jo had investigated nine rooms, and she thought she knew how Howard Carter had felt as he worked his way through Tutankhamen's tomb, it didn't matter to her what was in the boxes she just knew that they were all treasures. She had been a little disappointed that four of the rooms had been completely empty, but she could also tell that they had always been that way, and she guessed that even a hoarder like her grandmamma would have been hard pressed to fill every inch of attic space.
Jo had decided not to open anything, but label and number it all and ship it back to LA. That way she would be with Steve and Daniel, and she would have the benefit of Michael's help too. Michael, Jo wondered idly whether his legacy was here somewhere? She had no idea what it was, but she hoped that she would find it. Jo moved towards the last door and pressed down the handle. To her surprise it was locked. None of the other doors, apart from the first one had been sealed in this way, and her curiosity was piqued.
Jo tried the handle a couple more times, but it was definitely locked, and so she began to make her way back towards the main entrance to the loft, she needed to get a pad and some labels, then she could begin the mammoth task of removing all these packages. The journey back to the first room seemed to take a far shorter time than she had imagined it would, probably because she ignored the empty rooms, and she moved towards the door with a smile. The smile disappeared however, when she realized that this door too was now locked and, as she had left the key in the outside of it, she had no means of escape.