Seeds of Deception by Sheila Connolly Page B

but he said it was too cold to do it now.”
    â€œDo you get a lot of intruders in this neighborhood?”
    â€œWell, no.”
    He’d barely finished answering when Meg pressed on. “When was the last murder here?”
    â€œNot in our time here. I can’t speak to before that, but in general there is little crime in this particular neighborhood. What are you getting at?”
    â€œDo you believe that Enrique’s death was a random event?”
    Phillip didn’t answer immediately, staring at her bleakly. Finally he said, “No.”
    Meg felt a small sense of triumph, mixed with dismay. Would she have believed him if he had said yes? “Why?”
    Her father smiled without humor. “It’s a shame you didn’t want to become a lawyer. Or maybe you’ve changed recently. You’re doing a good job of getting right to the point.”
    â€œThank you. That’s not an answer. You do know that Mother is worried?”
    â€œShe hasn’t said anything to me.”
    Were all men so clueless, or was he making a deliberate effort not to see? “Well, she is. I think she didn’t want to bother you, since you were already upset about your car. But she thinks there might have been someone in the house.”
    â€œWhy would she think that?” Phillip looked startled. “Nothing’s been taken.”
    â€œSmall details, things out of place.” Meg wasn’t about to say it was her mother’s “feeling” because she was prettysure that her father would laugh at that. “Have you noticed anything?”
    â€œI . . .” he began, then stopped himself. “All right, I’ll admit I wondered if perhaps some papers on my desk here had been moved, but nothing was missing, and it had been more than a week since we’d been here. I could have forgotten exactly where things were. I didn’t think it was important.”
    Meg pushed away from the door where she’d been leaning and dropped into a straight chair close to the desk. It was a chair she’d always hated as a child, because it had a handsome but slippery leather seat rimmed with domed brass tacks, and she was always afraid that she would slide off it onto the floor. “All right. Say there was someone in the house. Why would anyone sneak in and not take anything?”
    â€œThat I can’t tell you,” her father said, looking her in the eye.
    â€œHave you butted heads with any clients lately? Are you in debt up to your eyeballs to the casinos? Do you have a stalker?”
    â€œNo to all of the above, my dear. My clients are no more contentious than they have ever been, we are financially solvent, and I haven’t noticed anyone skulking around and following me.”
    â€œAre you holding any valuable items or documents on behalf of one of your clients?”
    â€œOf course not. Anything of significance or value I would take to a bank for safekeeping. Meg, what are you getting at?”
    She ignored his question. “Do you have any reason to believe that the accident in Amherst is related to Enrique’s death and the hypothetical break-in here?”
    â€œWhy for all that’s holy would I think that?”
    â€œI don’t know. But that’s two incidents that may have been directed toward you in a short span of time. Don’t you find that odd?”
    â€œCoincidence.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œMeg, what do you want from me? Are you bored with your marriage already and looking to create a little excitement?”
    Meg had to stifle a laugh. That was the furthest thing from her mind. “Good heavens, no. Seth and I were looking forward to a little self-indulgent downtime, away from both work and crimes. But does that mean we should just dismiss Enrique’s death as an unfortunate accident and walk away?”
    â€œNot if the facts indicate otherwise. I taught you well, didn’t I?”
    â€œI paid