She looked through the screen door at the bottom. A red-haired girl carrying a gym bag stood outside talking to one of the officers. As Kala reached the bottom of the stairwell, the gym bag hit the sidewalk with a thunk and the girl covered her mouth with both hands. Her scream filled the hallway.
Kala turned to Gundersund. “Looks like the second floor tenant just arrived home.”
The girl’s name was Becky Pringle and she’d been living in the top floor apartment for three years, two years longer than Leah Sampson had lived in the basement. They’d walked Becky upstairs into her apartment after rescuing her from a near collapse on the front steps. Kala sat with her on the couch while she cried. Gundersund signalled to Kala before leaving the room, and she soon heard the kettle boiling. He returned with a cup of tea that he placed into Becky’s shaking hands. She sipped it in choking slurps. Eventually her sobbing subsided.
“I just can’t believe it. Anybody but Leah.”
How many times had Kala heard these same words come out of victims’ mouths? Anybody but their loved one.
“We know it’s been a terrible shock, but if you can tell us about Leah, it might help us to find out who did this to her.”
“This is just unbelievable,” Becky repeated. “Leah and I liked to get together after work and have tea or something harder to drink. She was warm and funny. She was the kind of person who would do anything for you.”
“Could you tell us where Leah worked?” asked Kala.
“She was finishing up her Master’s thesis in psychology and just completed her last exam. She worked part-time at the crisis hotline on Queen’s campus.”
“Did she have a boyfriend?”
Becky paused. “They broke up about a month ago.”
“What was his name?”
“She called him Wolf. I don’t know his real name. He worked with her at the help line. I think they grew up in the same town. Do you think he…?”
“We won’t jump to any conclusions. Do you know where her parents live?”
“A little town near here, but I don’t know which one. Oh wait, she told me they sold their house and moved to Montreal. She was going to visit them at the end of the semester.”
“Was Leah worried about anything or anybody recently?”
“Yes. No. I’m sorry. My thoughts are all jumbled. She seemed lonelier after she broke up with Wolf and distracted the last few times we talked, but I wouldn’t say she was worried. She went away for a weekend last month for a break but she didn’t tell me where. We haven’t had a real chance to talk since she got back because of schoolwork or I would have asked her about her trip.”
And now they never would. Kala could see the girl was near breaking. “Okay, Becky. That’s all for now. We’ll probably come back to see you again once you’ve had a chance to take all this in. Is there somebody you can call to come stay with you?”
“My boyfriend. He lives a few blocks over.”
“Good. It’s best you have someone to be with you now. This has been an awful shock.”
They waited while she made the call. She spoke briefly and nodded after hanging up. “He’s on his way.”
Kala and Gundersund stood and headed for the door. Gundersund stopped as Kala stepped onto the landing. “Becky, how long has Bobby Hamilton lived below you?”
“About a year. Just a bit longer than Leah. She and I were hoping he’d move out so Leah could move into his apartment, but he wasn’t going anywhere soon so Leah was thinking about finding another place to live. Moving on up since she’d be done school and making money.” Becky’s voice caught in a sob.
“I can stay until your boyfriend arrives,” said Kala. She motioned at Gundersund to go on without her. “I’ll meet you downstairs in a few minutes.” She started back toward the girl on the couch.
Chapter Eight
The darkness gathered in the crevices and over the tree line the farther Kala drove west and away from downtown. She turned off the air conditioning and rolled the windows all the way down. The air smelled earthier and greener and she could almost see herself here for longer than a day. She drove past the limestone turrets and sand-covered walls of now-closed Kingston Penitentiary, continuing on past a drug store and single-home dwellings that lined both sides of the road. The pavement hugged Lake Ontario with stretches of beach and water shimmering through the trees in the moonlight. Taiku sat at attention next to her, taking in the view through the front windshield, his nose sniffing the air and the gusts of breeze ruffling his fur. Bonnie Raitt’s bluesy “River of Tears” filled the truck cab and trailed out the windows into the passing darkness of the countryside.
Fifteen minutes from downtown, Kala glimpsed the turn-off to Old Front Road tucked inside a cove of brush and trees. “Almost there, boy,” she said, and reached over to ruffle Taiku’s head. She made a quick right and drove slowly down the paved road, peering at large homes behind the oak and maple trees. A few minutes down the gently curved road, she spotted the red mailbox on a white post that marked Marjory’s driveway on the left. She’d visited the year before on a long weekend when she was stationed in Ottawa. It had been the first time she and Marjory had ever met. Tonight, Marjory had left the outside lights on to guide her way.
Kala parked the truck next to Marjory’s Subaru and leaned over Taiku to open the passenger door.
“Out you go, boy.”
She let him run down to the water and stood looking out over the lake while he snuffled through the underbrush and ran along the shoreline. The heat of the day had been broken by a breeze sweeping off the lake. Crickets chirped in the swaying sweet grass while a sprinkle of fireflies flashed in the grass near an ancient maple. The night air held the dusky scent of jasmine and roses from a garden built into the incline. Kala inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. She heard the back door open and turned in time to watch Marjory run lightly across the deck and down the steps to where she stood. Marjory enveloped her in a bear hug.
“I was starting to get worried. I thought you might have gotten lost.”
“I should have phoned but I got involved in a police call.”
“In my heart I knew that you could look after yourself.” Marjory took a step back to look at Kala. “You’re thinner than last time I saw you, but you look rested.”
They linked arms and started back toward the house, a greyish-blue two storey with a red roof. Taiku bounded ahead of them. “I’m so glad you made it tonight,” Marjory said. “I leave for Northern Ontario in the morning. I’m researching a court case that will take months.”
Kala’s heart dropped. “I was hoping we could spend some time together. When will you be back?”
“Likely not until November, and then only here for a visit. I’ll be gone a year, probably longer. I’d like you to stay and house-sit for me, that is if it suits your plans.”
“I’m not sure how long I’ll be staying.”
“When Ray called day before yesterday to tell me you were on your way, I told him that I was going to ask you to stay for a while. He said good luck with that.” Marjory smiled at her.
Kala returned the smile with a shrug. “It’s just that I don’t know where I want to be.”
A shrill whistling and the smell of marinating herbs, red wine, and beef greeted them as they stepped inside. Marjory turned, “I put the kettle on when I heard you pull in. I have stew on the stove if you’re hungry.”
“I’m beyond hungry. It smells delicious.”
Kala fed and watered Taiku while Marjory got the food ready. The kitchen was wide and bright with pine