Free All Murders Final! by Sherry Harris Page B

had complained or broken the rules. And I had tons of pictures stored on it. I wondered when I’d last backed the thing up. Maybe everything was accessible instead of gone.
    â€œIs there anything on it that someone would want it for?” CJ asked.
    â€œNothing I can think of. It’s more the inconvenience and expense of replacing it if you guys don’t find it.”
    â€œYour renters’ insurance should cover it,” Pellner said.
    My nonexistent renters’ insurance. But I didn’t want to admit that in front of CJ. “The deductible is probably more than the computer.” I walked into my bedroom, CJ and Pellner in tow. I picked up my purse and looked through it. “My credit cards are all here. I don’t think I had any cash, or at least not much. Why wouldn’t he grab my credit cards?”
    â€œI don’t know. You keep saying ‘he.’ Are you sure it was a man?”
    I thought for a minute, going back over what had happened. “I just assumed it was, but I don’t know that for sure.” I opened the top drawer of my dresser. The small amount of cash I kept there was missing. There was an empty space in the back corner of the drawer and it left an empty place in my heart. “I had about forty dollars in cash in the drawer. It’s gone.”
    â€œAnything else, Sarah?” CJ asked.
    I looked him in the eye. “My wedding ring.”

Chapter 10
    Pellner looked back and forth between CJ and me then left the room in a hurry. Maybe the fact that my wedding ring was gone was a sign my relationship with CJ was over. CJ was only here because I was one of the townsfolk he had to protect. I moved to follow Pellner into the living room.
    â€œSarah, wait,” CJ said. “I’m sorry.”
    â€œBecause I’m one of the townsfolk or because of us?” I asked. The two steps separating us had never felt farther.
    â€œChief?” Pellner called from the living room.
    CJ glanced toward the door and then back at me before he walked out of the room.
    I pulled my cardigan tighter around me and followed him.
    â€œCan you find someplace to go for a couple of hours?” CJ asked me. “This is still a crime scene.”
    â€œYou’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. “Where should I go?” I thought about Seth, but he was probably at work. Why did I think of Seth before friends like Carol or Laura?
    â€œYou can come to my place.” Stella stood in the doorway. Her dark green eyes stood out against her paler than usual olive skin. “And then you can explain what’s going on.”
    â€œI’ll explain now, because they”—I cocked my thumb at CJ and Pellner—“want to go through the empty apartment.”
    â€œYes, with your permission, Stella, we’d like to take a look around,” Pellner said.
    Pellner and Stella had known each other since high school. They’d even dated at one point, but Stella hadn’t wanted to settle down as Mrs. Scott Pellner and had pursued an opera career instead. Her own demons had eventually chased her back here to Ellington.
    â€œCan I at least grab my purse?” I asked CJ after Stella led Pellner over to the empty unit.
    CJ nodded and followed me into my bedroom. I was beginning to feel like a suspect. CJ leaned against the doorjamb, arms folded, watching me. He didn’t move when I picked up my purse. Now for the lecture. I waited. But instead of a lecture, he reached out and trailed a finger down my cheek.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said. Then he turned and left.
    Sorry for what ? I wondered.
    * * *
    I ended up going to the doctor. The bump on the head and the headache scared me enough that I let Stella drive me over. Living alone made me wonder what would happen if I keeled over in the middle of the night. How long would it be before anyone noticed I was missing? One thorough exam, a few hours, and a scan or two later, I walked out