M Is for Malice

then handed me the handset, mouthing the name Enid.
    I nodded and took the phone. "Hi, Enid. This is Kinsey. How are you?"
    "Not so good," she said, fretfully. "Did Myrna call you?"
    "Not as far as I know. Let me check my messages." I put a hand across the mouthpiece. "Did the Maleks' housekeeper call or leave a message for me?"
    Dietz shook his head and I went back to Enid. "No, there's nothing here."
    "Well, that's odd. She swore she was going to call you. I made her promise she would. I went to the supermarket and I was only gone fifteen or twenty minutes. She said she'd be here when I got back, but she's. gone and there's no sign of her. I thought you might have asked her to come in."
    "Sorry. I never heard from her. What's she want to talk to me about?"
    "I'm not sure. I know something's been bothering her, but she wouldn't be specific. Her car's still out back. That's what's so strange," she said.
    "Could she have gone to the doctor's? If she really wasn't feeling well, she might have called a cab."
    "It's always possible, but you'd think she would have waited to have me take her. This is just so unlike her. She told me she'd help me with dinner. I have a meeting at seven and I have to be out of here early. We discussed it in detail."
    "Maybe she's out walking somewhere on the property."
    "I thought of that," she said. "I went out there myself, calling, but she's disappeared."
    "Enid, let's be realistic. I don't think being gone less than an hour constitutes a disappearance."
    "I'm worried something's happened."
    "Like what?"
    "I don't know. That's why I called you. Because I'm scared."
    "What's the rest?"
    "That's it."
    "No, it's not. You're leaving something out. I mean, so far this doesn't make sense. Do you think she's been abducted by aliens, or what?'
    I could hear her hesitation. "I got the impression she knew something about the murder."
    "Really? She said that?"
    "She hinted as much. She was too nervous to say more. I think she saw something she wasn't supposed to see that night."
    "She told me she was sleeping."
    "Well, she was. She'd taken some pain medication and a sleeping pill. She slept like the dead, but then she remembered later that she woke up at one point to find someone standing at the foot of her bed."
    "Wait a minute, Enid. You're not talking about this woo-woo stuff..."
    "Not at all. I promise. This is what she said. She said she thought she'd been dreaming, but the more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that it was real."
    "What was?"
    "The person she saw."
    "I gathered that, Enid. Who?"
    "She wouldn't tell me. She felt guilty she hadn't said anything before now."
    "Myrna feels guilty about everything," I said.
    "I know," Enid said. "But I think she was also worried about the consequences. She thought she'd be in danger if she opened her mouth. I told her to tell the police, in that case, but she was afraid to do that. She said she'd rather talk to you first and then she'd talk to them. It's not like her to go off without a word."
    "You did check her room?"
    "That's the first thing I did. And that's the other thing that bothers me. Something doesn't seem right. Myrna's very fussy. Everything has to be just so with her. I don't mean to criticize, but it's the truth."
    "Her room is messed up?"
    "It's not exactly messed up, but it doesn't look right."
    "Who else is there? Is anybody home besides you?"
    "Bennet was here, but I think he's gone. He came in for lunch. I fixed him a sandwich and he took it up to his room. He must have left again while I was at the market. Christie and Donovan are due back any minute. I don't mean to be a bother, but I don't feel right about this."
    Dietz was giving me an inquisitive look. Having eavesdropped on my end of the conversation with her, he was suitably mystified. "Hang on a second." I put a palm across the mouthpiece. "How long will you be here?"
    "At least an hour," he said. "If you'd ever get off the phone, I might get this call from the East Coast that I've been waiting for. What's the problem?"
    "It's Myrna. I'll tell you in a minute." I went back to Enid. "Why don't I come over there," I said. "She might have mentioned something to Christie before they left for the funeral home. You're sure she didn't leave a note?"
    "Positive."
    "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
    "I don't want you to go to any trouble."
    "It's no trouble."
    I took my sandwich and soda with me, driving with one hand while I finished my lunch. I kept the chilled