A half smile tugged the edge of Bragg’s mouth. “Guess we’ll see. In the meantime, I’ve a warrant to search Sara’s house.”
“Let’s do it.”
Minutes later the Rangers were in Bragg’s car driving toward the west end of town where lush trees lined rich green grass-covered lawns. It took money to keep landscaping alive and connections to get around water restrictions.
As it turned out Sara Wentworth lived about a mile from her parents’ place in a small, gated community. The homes weren’t as large as the estates in her parents’ area, but they were some kind of pricey. He could work a lifetime and not be able to afford this kind of neighborhood.
He’d never aspired to live in this world. There was something to be said for living simple and remaining flexible. He’d never worried or thought about roots. Until now. It could have been Mitch’s arrival, but he suspected it had more to do with Greer. She’d stirred feelings in him. He didn’t know if those feelings would settle, but he half hoped they’d keep churning.
They walked up to the large front door and found it locked. He glanced next door and spotted an older woman out on her front porch. She held a watering can but was more interested in the Rangers than her plants.
Bragg and Winchester made their way toward the gray-haired woman, who wore a pink sleeveless blouse, long black shorts, and a pink-and-black belt with matching shiny flats.
Touching the brim of his hat, Bragg reached for the star badge clipped to his belt. “My name is Ranger Bragg, ma’am, and this is Ranger Winchester. Was wondering if we could ask you a couple of questions, Mrs. . . . ?”
“Mrs. Vivian Thomas.” She set down her watering can and removed pristine gardening gloves. “I heard the news about Sara. Her mother was here this morning clearing out boxes. She was beside herself, poor woman.”
Frustration knifed Bragg. If the Wentworths had already been here, then they’d come right after his morning visit. “You know what was in those boxes?”
“She said it was clothes for the funeral. Sara’s mother is always controlled and an expert planner so I wasn’t surprised by her visit.”
“But the visit stuck in your mind for another reason?”
“Some of the boxes didn’t have clothes in them but papers. And they also took her laptop computer.”
“You know what kind of papers?”
“I asked but she pretended she didn’t hear. I wanted to press, but it didn’t seem right, considering.”
“Don’t suppose you have a spare key to Sara’s house, do you?” Bragg asked.
“I do. I would water her plants for her when she traveled, and she took care of mine when I was gone. We single girls have to stick together.” Her head tilted. “You have a warrant?”
Bragg reached in his back pocket and pulled out the order signed by the judge. “I do, as a matter of fact.”
She took the paper and read it carefully before handing it back. “If I don’t give you the spare key, how will you get into the house?”
“We’ll find a way.” Bragg smiled but suspected it didn’t look friendly.
“Rangers are resourceful,” Winchester added.
She considered the two. “You’re not going to break anything or tear things up while you search, are you?”
“We always do our best not to.”
Frowning, she considered them before nodding. “Wait a minute while I get the key.” She closed her front door and left them to wait on the front porch for a minute before she returned with a key hooked to a key chain with a tennis ball on the end. “This will get you in the front door.”
Bragg took the key. “Appreciate the help, Mrs. Thomas.”
“Least I can do. I’ve never known anyone to die like she did. Terrible. She had a lot to live for.”
Winchester nodded. “Did she ever give you a reason to suspect she’d want to end her life?”
“She was always smiling when I saw her. And she liked to date around. A lot. Until she met her fiancé a few months ago. A whirlwind relationship, but they were happy.”
“Any of those dates ever cause her trouble?” Bragg asked.
“Not that I saw. But it was hard to keep up. Different one or two each week until that Fenton boy. That’s her fiancé. He’s a lawyer.”
“How’d they get along?” Winchester asked.
“He’s polite. Helped me move a planter once, and he was always opening the door for Sara.”
“See anyone around her house that didn’t belong?”
“No. The only one around other than Michael was her contractor. She hired him last week to do the addition on her house. She was going to add a sunroom. He was in the yard the other day taking measurements. He rang my bell because she was supposed to meet him. But she didn’t show.” The woman frowned. “He wanted a key to the house but I wouldn’t give it to him.”
“When was this?”
“Three days ago. Monday afternoon. When she came home that night I told her about the contractor, and she was upset she’d forgotten. Said it had been a bad day.”
“Did she say why the day was bad?”
“She didn’t say. But she was upset. Rattled.”
Bragg nodded. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Sure. Let me know if there is more I can do.”
“You can count on it.”
They strode next door and Bragg slid the key into the lock. It turned easily and the front door slid open. Both Rangers pulled rubber gloves on their hands before Bragg switched on the entry light.
The polished marble entry sparkled in the light and still-fresh flowers filled a gilded vase in an arched alcove. The entryway opened to a large living room carpeted in white. The furniture was covered in white damask and the walls painted a soft blue. A crystal chandelier hung from the center of the living room. This room fed into a dining room showcasing a long antique table surrounded by straight-back chairs custom-fitted with more white fabric.
The kitchen was equally as pristine as the first two rooms. The solitary sign of life was a juice glass, still half full, lipstick marking the glass’s rim.
He imagined Sara standing at this sink Tuesday morning, drinking her juice as she stared out the window. No sign of coffee, but if she’d been too rushed to finish her juice she’d likely taken her coffee to go. A woman who liked success and money didn’t have time to linger.
“Lot of space for one gal. And she was adding on.”
Bragg shrugged. “Never professed to understand the rich.”
They moved through the house, finally settling in an office located off her bedroom. A fancy French desk dominated the space. There was a frilly sofa built for style, not comfort, and country landscapes on the walls. All perfect and all so damn sterile.
Bragg eased into a delicate chair behind her desk and opened the desk drawer. The contents were in disarray as if someone had gone through them. “Neighbor said the mother was in the house.”
“What kind of papers would she want that badly?”
He searched through a stack of receipts to the right of a white blotter. “Hell if I know. I can tell by these receipts Sara Wentworth liked to buy furniture. Has four pieces on order.”
“Likes to shop. Dates lots of men. Adding to a space that does not need it. Jo would have a field day with those symptoms.”
“Restless and troubled or just spoiled and bored?”
“Maybe sitting still gave her too much time with her thoughts and she wasn’t comfortable in her own head.”
“Maybe she just likes nice things.”
“Maybe.” He didn’t sound convinced.
He found a receipt for wine. Sun Valley wine. The only brand he knew because he’d remembered it from Greer’s party. The wine Louis made at his winery. “Greer says she’d not talked to Sara in twelve years, but Sara bought a good bit of wine from a winery that uses Bonneville grapes.”
“An odd coincidence.”
Bragg shook his head. “I’d be willing to bet it wasn’t.” He studied
the vineyard’s simple logo. “Greer said Sara called herself Joan at the camp, whereas Greer never tried to hide her identity when she was at Shady Grove. And a motivated searcher could have found Greer because she kept her last name.”
“Why find Greer after all these years?”
“Good question.” Bragg flipped through more papers on Sara’s desk finding no notes, correspondence, or e-mails. All he found were monthly bills. He glanced under the desk and saw the double outlet in the floor. The lamp cord on the desk snaked into one whereas the other was empty. “Mrs. Thomas said Sara’s mother took the computer.”
“So what do you think Momma is hiding?” Winchester asked.