Peter Decker 3-Book Thriller Collection: False Prophet, Grievous Sin, Sanctuary

“Oh, don’t stop on my account. Just keep going. Pretend I’m not here.”

Lilah growled, “He needs to talk to me alone.”

“Alone?” Davida leaned in close and whispered a stage aside into her daughter’s ear. “Is he trustworthy?”

Lilah closed her eyes and answered yes.

Davida patted her hand. “Well, if you think you’re in good hands, I’ll be on my way. I’ll speak to you as soon as you’ve returned to the spa. Do come home soon. This place is dreadful. A little wallpaper would certainly go a long way.”

“Why don’t you talk to the hospital’s administrator about it?”

“Girl, I don’t talk to anyone unless it’s a dire emergency. My children excepted, of course. Freddy tells me he’s checking you out this afternoon.”

“Yes.”

“Lovely.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead. “I’ll just leave the makeup here. Should I send more cover-up with Freddy this afternoon? After all, who knows who’ll be watching?”

“Do whatever you want, Mother.”

“Do try and rest, Lilah dear.”

“I’m trying.”

“Good-bye, dear.”

“Ms. Eversong,” Decker said. “I’d like to talk to you about your jewelry.”

Lilah shook her head. “It wasn’t what they were after, Peter. Believe me.”

“I believe you, Lilah,” Decker said, “but they took the jewelry anyway. With a good description, I might be able to track down some of the pieces and find these monsters.” He turned to Davida. “Is there somewhere we can talk while Lilah’s describing her assailants to the police artist?”

“You saw the thieves!” Davida said, clapping her hands. “Wonderful! Wonderful!”

“I didn’t see them, Mother. I imaged them.”

Davida stopped applauding. “Oh. That’s nice, dear.”

“Imaged them very clearly!”

Davida stood and brushed a piece of imaginary dirt off her dress. “Very good, dear.” She turned to Decker. “I suppose I might be able to wait for you inside the limo in front of the hospital.”

“That would be perfect.”

She smiled, offered Decker her arm. “Accompany me down the hall, Sergeant.”

Decker looked at Lilah.

“Go ahead.”

Lilah was barely suppressing her rage. And here he was, caught between a rock and a rock. What happened when two rocks were rubbed together? Lots of friction, sometimes fire.

Decker said, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Lilah didn’t bother to answer.

When they were halfway down the corridor, Davida said, “Surely, you don’t believe her imaging crap, do you?”

“I think she might be trying to tell me something and imaging is a safe way for her to do it.”

Davida brushed off the suggestion. “That child. I do love her. But she is simply full of it—she and her brother. Although Freddy hasn’t claimed to be blessed with the powers, God help us all.” She let out a deep chuckle. “But I do love her so. Of my four children, she’s the most like me, so I suppose it’s natural for me to favor her. Such a fanciful girl. I did so want her to become an actress and follow in my footsteps. There’s no predicting children, Detective.”

Decker didn’t answer. They walked several moments without talking.

“What a trauma!” Davida said. “For all of us! Sergeant, I’d really like my so-called garbage back. That’s really what the thieves must have been after. Poor Lilah. No doubt she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But she doesn’t seem too badly hurt now, does she?”

“Not on the outside, at least.”

“Outside is all that counts, let me tell you, my young man.” She lowered her veil. “Shit comes and shit goes, but as long as you look good, who cares? Look at me. No one really knows how old I am. And I intend to keep it that way.”

Whatever gets you through the night, lady, Decker thought. “Ms. Eversong, what do you know about your late husband’s memoirs?”

“Only that Lilah has an inflated picture of her father and what his memoirs are worth. Oh, I’m sure they could fetch maybe five to ten thousand dollars on the open market—”

“Lilah felt she could sell them for three hundred thousand—”

“That’s nonsense! But why burst her bubble? Forget about the memoirs. Concentrate on my jewels. As I stated, I have other pieces, but I really would like to find that brooch.”

“What kind of value are we talking about?”

“Oh, maybe a million total. The brooch is the most expensive piece. That alone is worth a quarter million. The rest are dribs and drabs. Twenty thousand here, thirty there.”

“Ms. Eversong, do you have the combination to Lilah’s safe?”

“To the outer safe only,” Davida said. “It’s where the jewelry was kept.”

“Anyone else know the combination to the outer safe?”

“Obviously, someone did.”

“Did you give the combination to anyone?”

“No.”

“Do you know the combination to the inner safe, Miss Eversong?”

“That, my young man, is exclusively Lilah’s bailiwick.”

“And that’s where she kept the memoirs?”