Hidden Riches

strong, she knew, for her baby, for her aunt. “Whoever killed Muriel and hurt my aunt destroyed a lot of her things as well. It seems so senseless.”
    “Do the police have any leads?”
    “No.” Sharon blew out a helpless little sigh. “Nothing. They’ve been very kind, right from the beginning. I was hysterical by the time they got to her. I found her lying there on Christmas morning, and—and poor Muriel. I was really calm when I called for an ambulance and the police. And then I just went to pieces. It’s helped to talk to them. The police can be so detached and analytical.”
    Dora thought of Jed. “I know.” After a moment’s hesitation, Dora made a decision. “Would you like to know what she bought for you?”
    “Yes, I would, very much.”
    “She said that you sewed. She bought you a Victorian doorstop so you could keep the door open and hear the baby in the nursery.”
    “A doorstop?” A soft smile played around Sharon’s mouth. “A brass elephant—like Jumbo?”
    “Exactly.”
    “We found it in the corner of the living room.” Tears threatened again, but they didn’t feel so hot and desperate. “It’s just the sort of thing she’d buy for me.”
    “She picked up a doorstop for the nursery, too. A china dog, curled up and sleeping.”
    “Oh, I didn’t see that. It must have been broken. He shattered most of the gifts she’d wrapped, and a great deal of her things as well.” She curled her fingers around Dora’s. “It looked as though he’d gone crazy. I suppose he had to be crazy, didn’t he, to kill one old woman and leave another for dead.” But she shook the question away. “I’d like to take her something when I go to see her this morning. Could you help me pick something out?”
    “I’d love to.”
     
    Twenty minutes later, Dora watched Sharon get in her car and drive away.
    “What was that all about?” Lea asked. “The poor thing looked so unhappy.”
    “That was Mrs. Lyle’s niece—the woman who was attacked on Christmas Eve.”
    “Society Hill? She’s in a coma, isn’t she?”
    “She’s come out of it.”
    Lea shook her head. “It’s awful to think that someone could break into your home that way.”
    A quick shiver raced up Dora’s spine as she remembered her own experience. “Awful,” she agreed. “I hope they find him.”
    “In the meantime.” Firmly, Lea turned Dora to face her. “Back to you. Why do you look so exhausted when you had the entire day off yesterday?”
    “I haven’t a clue. I spent the entire day in bed.” With a smile playing around her mouth, Dora drew away to rearrange a collection of music boxes.
    “Wait a minute.” Eagle-eyed, Lea shifted to get another look at Dora’s face. “Oh,” she said, drawing the word out into three ascending syllables. “The light dawns. Jed.”
    Dora opened the lid on an enameled box that played the “Moonlight Sonata.” “What about him?”
    “Don’t play that game with me, Isadora. Just whose bed did you spend the day in?”
    “My own.” Then she grinned and closed the box. “And it was incredible.”
    “Really?” Lea was all ears. “Okay, spill it.”
    “Well, he’s . . . I can’t,” she realized, baffled. “This is different.”
    “Uh-oh,” Lea said, and grinned, ear to dainty ear. “Do you remember what I did the first time John kissed me?”
    “You came home, crawled into bed and cried for an hour.”
    “That’s right. Because I was scared and thrilled and absolutely sure I’d just met the man I was going to be with for the rest of my life.” The memory made her smile now, sweetly. Smugly.
    “You were eighteen years old,” Dora pointed out. “Overly dramatic and a virgin.”
    “So you’re twenty-nine, overly dramatic and you’ve never been in love before.”
    A windy sigh. “Of course I have.”
    “No, you haven’t.”
    Dora picked up a dust cloth. “I haven’t said I’m in love with Jed.”
    “Are you?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “There,” Lea said triumphantly. “My point exactly. If you weren’t, you’d say so. Since you are, you’re confused. Where is he, anyway?”
    “Out.” Because she felt she’d been outmaneuvered, Dora scowled. “I don’t keep him on a leash.”
    “Testy,” Lea said with a wise nod. “Another sure sign.”
    “Look, I’ll analyze my own feelings when I have the time.” She snatched up the cloth again and began to polish the already spotless countertop. “Ever since he came around, things have