The President's Daughter - Mariah Stewart [115]
“She didn’t say. I . . . I didn’t think to ask. . . .”
“What can you tell us about Mrs. Dillon? What did she look like?”
“Oh, she was maybe in her late forties or her early fifties. It was hard to tell. She was petite and blond and quite well dressed. Very attractive. She came in and asked for Dina. Said she had some work she wanted Dina to look at, that she’d heard that Dina was good. She left a number for Dina to call. . . .”
Simon and Norton exchanged a long look.
“Do you happen to have the number?” Simon asked.
“It might still be at the shop. Do you want me to go down and see if I can find it?”
“Yes, that would be very helpful. We’ll call you back in five minutes at the shop.” Jude switched off the phone, then studied the faces of the two men.
“Who?” she demanded.
“This Mrs. Dillon isn’t really a customer, is she?” Betsy asked softly.
“We don’t think so.” Simon reached for her hands.
“Is she the person who tried to kill Dina?”
“It’s very possible.”
“Do you know who she is?”
“We believe we do.”
“Who?” Jude repeated.
“Sarah Decker,” Simon told her.
“Who?” Betsy frowned. “Who is Sarah Decker?”
“Sarah Hayward Decker.”
“Graham’s daughter?” Jude gasped. “Graham’s daughter . . . ?”
Norton nodded.
“How do you know this?” Jude’s knees began to quiver, and she backed into the sitting room and folded into the nearest chair. “How can you be sure?”
Simon related his theory.
“She killed Blythe, and now she wants to kill Dina,” Betsy said. “We can’t let her. . . .”
“We have to call the police.” Jude started for the phone when he’d finished. “They—we—have to start looking for Dina now. Right now. . . .”
“On the way up I called Sarah’s home, but no one answered. I then called her mother’s home in Rhode Island, but the housekeeper told us that Celeste was in D.C. at her son’s home. When I called Gray’s, the nanny told me that Gray and Jen took Celeste to dinner and the theater for an early birthday present.”
“Was Sarah with them?”
“She was expected but never showed up. Julian is at some must-attend function at the Academy, and the nanny said that they assumed that perhaps Sarah got her nights mixed up and went with Julian, but that after the Haywards left for dinner Julian called Gray’s to see if Sarah was with them.”
“I’m calling the police.” Jude reached for the phone.
“And tell them what, Jude?” Philip reached out and took her wrist gently.
“That Dina is missing and that we think Sarah Decker is trying to kill her.”
“That’s a serious charge to make, Jude, when we don’t know for certain,” Simon told her.
“I think that you must decide exactly what—and how much—you want the police to know before you make that call,” Norton cautioned. “Remember that the press—”
“I don’t give a damn about the press. I don’t give a damn about who knows what. All I care about is Dina’s safety.”
“Jude, believe me, we’re all concerned about Dina’s safety.” Simon stood and took the phone from Jude’s trembling hands. “But first things first. Before we call anyone else, we need to call Polly back. If she’s found that phone number, the police will need it.”
“You’re right. Besides, Polly’s been waiting for way more than five minutes, and she must be getting quite anxious. Especially since she has no idea of what’s going on.” Jude’s fingers flew over the phone’s keypad, punching in numbers. The conversation was brief.
“Polly can’t find the slip of paper with Mrs. Dillon’s phone number on it.” Jude fought back the panic that was threatening to engulf her. “I told her to call back if she locates it. She was going to go look through the trash bag in the back of the store, but she’s not sure that the trash from yesterday wasn’t already picked up.”
Norton stepped forward