“I did. I have been for the last five minutes, nobody answered.” She looked at the piece of paper. “What is that?”
He calmed and said, “A note from somebody in my past.”
“How far in your past?”
“Does the date September 26, 1996, ring a bell?”
It clearly did. After a little hesitation he handed her the note.
She finished reading and looked up at him. “Who could have left it?”
“The person who brought Susan Whitehead’s body here and deposited it in my bathroom. They came as a package. I guess the person didn’t want me to miss seeing the note.”
“Was she killed here?”
“No. The police think she was grabbed early this morning, killed, and then her body was brought here.”
She looked down at the piece of paper. “Do the police know about that?”
He nodded. “They have the original. I made this copy.”
“Any thoughts on who wrote it?”
“Yes, but none that make a lot of sense.”
“Was Joan still here when you found the body?”
“Yes, but she had nothing to do with it.”
“I know, Sean. I wasn’t implying that. How did you leave things with her?”
“I’m going to call her, tell her I’m thinking about the Bruno offer and I’ll get back to her.”
“So what now?”
“We go back to Bowlington.”
Michelle looked surprised. “I thought you were done with the Fairmount Hotel.”
“I am. But I want to know how an unemployed maid supported herself and who stuffed money in her mouth.”
“But you don’t know if that’s connected to the Ritter killing.”
“Oh, but I do. And the last question is the biggie.” She looked at him expectantly. “Who did Loretta Baldwin see in that supply closet?”
CHAPTER
31
I APPRECIATE YOUR MEETING with me,” said Joan.
Jefferson Parks sat down across from her in the small dining area of the inn where Joan was staying. He looked at her warily. “It’s been a while.”
She said, “Six years. The joint task force case in Michigan. The Secret Service and the U.S. Marshals were privileged to carry the bags of the FBI.”
“As I recall, you broke the thing wide open and managed to let everybody know you had.”
“Horn blowing should start at home, and I seem to have a knack for it. And if it had been a man, the credit would have come regardless.”