Bones of a Feather - Carolyn Haines [18]
Gunny nodded. “He already is. These ladies”—he indicated Tinkie and me—“have some questions to answer before I send them home.”
“Lie down,” Tinkie told Eleanor, leading her to the stairs. “We’ll stay here. I promise. Any news at all, and I’ll get you.”
“But you haven’t had any rest, either,” Eleanor said.
“It’s okay. We’re fine.” Tinkie almost pushed her up the stairs.
When the door to her room clicked shut, I turned to Gunny and relayed what I’d seen during the haunted tour.
“Someone was on that cliff top? You’re sure?” he asked.
“I didn’t see a person, but something as large as a human body doesn’t just hurtle off a cliff by itself.”
“Let’s take a look.” He strode out the door.
At the edge of the bluff the wind was still kicking up, a contrast to the perfect summer sunrise. Golden peach light pushed against the blue of night. The river glinted like molten silver.
“Whatever it was came from there.” I pointed to the south, where the bluff protruded over the water. I wasn’t great with geometry, but the object had struck the water, not land.
We started that way, but Gunny waved us back. “Let me check for footprints.”
It wasn’t likely he’d find anything in the thick Saint Augustine grass, but Tinkie and I held back. He knelt down and brushed at the grass. “Take a look at this,” he called.
A slash in the ground looked as if someone had struck it with a golf club or some type of mallet. “A horse did that,” I said. “A horse that’s been shod.” I pointed to a trail of marks that gouged the grass.
Gunny looked up at me. “Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“The Levert sisters said it had been years since horses were kept on the property, but the gardener said one is running loose,” Tinkie volunteered. “He thinks someone couldn’t feed it, so they turned it out in the woods.”
“And it just gallops around Briarcliff?” Gunny was skeptical.
“Until someone catches it, or it bolts out in front of a vehicle on the road, or gets injured and bleeds to death.” I knew I had to do something about the horse before I left Natchez. While horses are large, imposing creatures, they are incredibly fragile. And they have no ability to fend for themselves if they’re dumped out.
“Do you think it’s possible the horse threw its rider over the bluff?” Gunny asked.
I hadn’t thought of that scenario. I calculated the distance from the hoofprints to the cliff. “It’s possible. But who would be riding a horse in a peignoir?”
“Excellent question.” Gunny rose to his feet. “I suppose I have to call out the search and rescue and see if we can find a body in the river.”
“I’m not going to tell Eleanor that,” I said. “I don’t believe Monica would be out here riding a horse in her nightgown, so I don’t think Eleanor needs to know about the flotilla. If you find something, would you contact me or Tinkie?”
“I will.” He shifted his gaze from Tinkie to me. “What do you think happened to Ms. Levert?”
“I don’t have a theory yet. We don’t really know the sisters.”
“Monica has a … reputation in town. When Eleanor called, I didn’t come out because Monica’s been known to … spend the night elsewhere. And then rub the wronged wife’s nose in it.”
Gunny was doing his best to be circumspect. I thought to follow up that statement, but Tinkie spoke first. “Do you think the person who took the necklace abducted Monica?”
“To what purpose?” Gunny asked.
“Ransom?” She frowned. “Except there’s been no ransom request.”
“Yeah, get back with me when one comes in.” Gunny was almost condescending.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense.” Tinkie put her hands on her hips. “People don’t just disappear, and Monica is waiting for half of a four-million-dollar payday. She wouldn’t just leave two million behind. Even if it weren’t for the money, she wouldn’t disappear and leave her sister to worry.”
Tinkie’s logic, when it involved money, was infallible. Perhaps it came from having a banker husband and a bank owner for a father. “She’s right,” I said.
“But there’s been no ransom demand.” Gunny wasn’t buying a kidnapping. “And she’s been gone, what?