Crowned and Moldering

“Right. At least he credited Lily with some ability to run a business.”

We talked for another few minutes. Sean told me that after Lily talked to Dismal Dain, she never mentioned her goals to anyone again. Only a few other people already knew she was trying for a scholarship, including Sean, who always tried to encourage her despite his own troubles at home.

I squeezed his shoulder. “I’m going to call Eric and find out what Dismal had to say.”

Sean hesitated. “You don’t know for certain that he’s the guy they were looking for.”

“Who else could it be?”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, it’s got to be him. I wonder how the chief found out about him being Lily’s counselor.”

“Probably from Denise.”

“He talked to Denise?”

“Yeah, he went by her house. Mr. Jones left school in a hurry to be with her.”

“Oh, man. That’s a drag.” He lifted his shoulder in a helpless shrug. “But she was Lily’s best friend, so it makes sense. I’ve talked to her a bunch of times over the years, you know, when something new came up that I thought might finally lead us to Lily. But Denise never really knew anything.”

“That’s too bad.”

“So, what’re you going to say to the chief?”

“I’m not sure yet. But I wouldn’t put it past Dismal to lie to Eric about Lily, so I want to set the record straight about what a miserable counselor he was.”

Sean grabbed my arm. “Whatever happens, Sha

“I will, Sean.” I grabbed him in a hug. “Don’t worry. We’re on the same team here.”

“Okay.” He let go of an anxious breath. “I know. I trust you. Thanks.”

*   *   *

Instead of calling Eric on the phone, I decided it would be more effective to talk to him face-to-face. So while the guys took a lunch break, I drove over to the police station in hopes of finding him in his office. Instead, I ran into him on the sidewalk outside the glass double doors leading into the station.

“Sha

I almost laughed. He didn’t look suspicious exactly, but I could tell he was wary. “Do you have a minute?”

He checked his watch. “Barely. What’s up?”

“I saw you at the high school this morning.”

There was that scowl I’d grown so fond of. “What were you doing there?”

I gave him a pleasant smile. “I had a meeting with the principal to sign some papers.”

“Papers?”

I almost laughed at his wary tone. “Yes. I bid on a school-construction job and just found out this morning that I got it.”

“Hey, great. Congratulations.”

He sounded genuinely happy for me—and very relieved, probably because it meant I wasn’t there to investigate Lily’s murder. I joined him as he walked toward the parking lot where his SUV was parked.

“Anyway,” I said briskly, “I saw you there, of course, and I noticed you walking into the counselors’ offices.”

I watched his jaw clench. “What’s your point, Sha

I reminded myself that it was his job to be distrustful and tried not to take his attitude personally. “Remember how you asked me to give you some background information on the people who were around when Lily was in school?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, when I saw you, it stirred a memory of someone who was a really bad guy.”

“And who was that?”

“One of the counselors. Darren Dain. Lily had him as her senior adviser.”

“How do you know that?”

“Sean told me. And I had him, too, for a brief period. He was a real creep. I was assigned to him my freshman year and he said some awful things. And I know he gave Lily some really stupid advice, too. They should’ve fired him a long time ago.”

“So, you think I should arrest him?”

My eyes widened. “Can you?”

“No,” he said flatly. “Giving bad advice doesn’t make him a killer, Sha

“Neither does extinguishing kids’ hopes and dreams, but he did that, too.”

We reached his car and he pulled out his keys. “I appreciate your passing along that information.”

He reached for the door handle, but I blocked his way. “Look, my main point in coming to see you was to let you know I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Dismal lied about Lily. So if you want the truth, you should talk to me or Sean. That’s all I’m saying.”

Eric breathed in and out and seemed to relax a little. Nodding, he said, “I appreciate it, Sha

“Oh, I forgot that Tommy was assigned to him, too.”

Eric leaned his elbow against the driver’s door. “Yeah. His advice to Tom was to open a tune-up franchise.”

“Oh, my God.” I had to laugh. I’d never had a chance to hear what Dismal had advised him to do with his life. But that was more proof that the counselor was totally off base on everything. If he’d known Tommy at all, he would’ve realized that Tommy didn’t know squat about cars. In fact, I was the one who used to change his motor oil. I gave Eric a sheepish look. “If you think that’s bad, he . . . he told me I should wear a dress more often and . . . and open a beauty shop.”

He did a double take and then his eyes narrowed. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Exactly.”

He held up his hands in mock surrender. “You’ve convinced me. I’m going to arrest him right now.”

“Thank you,” I said, laughing weakly as he jumped into his car and started the engine. But as he pulled out of the lot, my smile faded. Darn. I really, really wish he wasn’t kidding.

Chapter Seven

I spent the rest of the day scraping wallpaper off the living room walls at Emily’s house. It was the best kind of job to do whenever I wanted to forget everything. Like the fact that Dismal Dain would not be spending the rest of his life in jail. I just couldn’t get Eric to take the evil man seriously.

While wallpaper removal was the perfect job to zone out on, it was also the worst task of all when it came to rehabbing a house. This was especially true of Victorian homes, which were built in an era when wallpaper was worshiped and often applied to walls in every room in the house—and occasionally on the ceilings, as well.

Back in the day, when it came time to redecorate a room, instead of scraping off the old wallpaper, an owner would simply cover over the existing wallpaper with a new pattern. It was just easier. So 150-some years later, when I’d come along to renovate a place, there might be as many as six layers of wallpaper to remove. But even if there was only one layer and it came off easily, the glue residue would often remain on the wall in sticky, streaky, gooey brown globs. That was when we’d start pulling out our hair in frustration.

There were a number of different methods for removing wallpaper. Some people believed in good old vinegar and water. Some might add a portion of fabric softener to the mix. Some swore by scrapers or sponges. Any or all of these might work for a small job.

Douglas had grown up working construction jobs with his father, and his preferred method of removal was to use an industrial-strength garden sprayer that he filled with equal parts hot water and fabric softener. He’d spray a wide section of the wall with the liquid, wait about five minutes, and then start scraping. Often a sheet would peel off in one large swath. Once the wall was dry, he would go back and scrape off the glue.

The trick with spraying all that water was to not allow the liquid to sit too long before removing the wallpaper. Victorian walls were constructed of lath and plaster, and if that much moisture seeped into the wall and sat there for too long, it would damage the plaster.