Page 118 of Hell Hath No Fury

“Yes.”

“Daphne,” Eric said. “Poor kid. Left with no father, and her mother’s a mess.”

Nell sat up taller. “I want to go see her. Ashley, I mean.”

Emma and Eric exchanged a look.

“I want to give this to her.” Nell again fluttered the brochure.

“Nellie,” Eric said, his tone cautious. “I love that you want to help, but you’re not in a position to sponsor someone else. Not yet.”

“I know that. I don’t want to sponsor her. I want to give her the information and encourage her to look into this place. For the sake of her child. I mean, it seems a thousand times better than the other facilities I’ve been in.”

Eric looked to Emma again. Nell’s gaze slid to her, too, as if the weight of the decision rested on Emma’s shoulders.

“I see no reason why we can’t drop by her house.” Emma thought of her previous visit with Matthias. “Maybe we should pick up some cookies to take with us.”

Nell clapped her hands. “Perfect.” Her eyes shifted toward the door. “And here comes my ride,” she said as an orderly entered with a wheelchair.

* * *

Matthias eased his Jeep in next to the state troopers’ unmarked sedan in Fran’s narrow driveway. He had barely enough room to squeeze out of his vehicle.

At the sidewalk, Fergusson faced Matthias, glowering. “Do not make me regret letting you tag along. Lukan and I ask the questions. You stay quiet.”

“Scout’s honor,” Matthias promised, not mentioning he’d never been a Boy Scout.

Fergusson accepted the pledge and strode to the front door, Lukan one step behind. Matthias trailed at a more leisurely pace, surveying their surroundings. There was no movement from the neighboring houses, although there were likely more than one pair of eyes watching them.

Fran answered the knock on the door. Her gaze took in the two troopers and lingered on Matthias as the only one of the trio she knew. “Can I help you?” she asked warily.

Fergusson held up his credentials and introduced himself and Lukan. With a glance at Matthias, he added, “I gather you’ve already met Detective Honeywell.”

“Yes,” she said curtly.

“May we come in?”

She considered her options, none of which she appeared to like. She stepped back, allowing them to enter, but fixed a questioning gaze on Matthias. He had no problem reading her mind.What’s going on here?

Both troopers studied Fran’s collection of artifacts. Little had changed since Matthias’s visit a few hours earlier, except he did notice the horseshoe nail, skeleton key, and buckle from Emma’s farm had been added to a display on one of the side tables.

“This is amazing,” Lukan said.

“Thank you,” Fran replied, although Matthias wasn’t sure if Lukan considered it an expansive archeological collection or an assemblage of junk.

Fergusson finally faced her and gestured at her sofa. “We have some questions for you, if you don’t mind. Let’s have a seat.”

She scoffed. “If I don’t mind? Does that matter? What if Idomind?”

Fergusson gave her a wry smile. “Then you ask us to leave, and we oblige.”

Fran considered her options, shrugged, and lowered into an easy chair.

The troopers claimed opposite ends of the sofa. Matthias chose to stand, arms crossed.

“Are these all your finds?” Fergusson gestured to the displays around them.

Fran reacted with uncertainty, thrown by such a simple question, which, Matthias knew, was Fergusson’s intention. “Yes,” she replied.