If the woman had picked the flowers a few seconds earlier or a few seconds later….
I’m responsible for murdering another human being!
Kendall thought of the terrible grief she had caused the woman’s family, and her fiancé’s family, and she felt sick to her stomach again.
According to the newspapers, the police were asking for information from anyone who might have a clue about the hit-and-run.
They have no way of finding me, Kendall thought. All I have to do is act as if nothing happened.
When Kendall went to the garage to pick up her car the next morning, Red was there.
“I wiped the blood off the car,” he said. “Do you want me to fix the dent?”
Of course! I should have thought of it sooner. “Yes, please.”
Red was looking at her strangely. Or was it her imagination?
“Sam and I talked about it last night,” he said. “It’s funny, you know. A deer should have done a lot more damage.”
Kendall’s heart began to beat wildly. Her mouth was suddenly so dry she could hardly speak. “It was a…a small deer.”
Red nodded laconically. “Must have been real small.”
Kendall could feel his eyes on her as she drove out of the garage.
When Kendall walked into her office, her secretary, Nadine, took one look at her and said, “What happened to you?”
Kendall froze. “What…what do you mean?”
“You look shaky. Let me get you some coffee.”
“Thanks.”
Kendall walked over to the mirror. Her face looked pale and drawn. They’re going to know just by looking at me!
Nadine came into the office with a cup of hot coffee. “Here. This will make you feel better.” She looked at Kendall curiously. “Is everything all right?”
“I…I had a little accident yesterday,” Kendall said.
“Oh? Was anyone hurt?”
In her mind, she could see the face of the dead woman. “No. I…I hit a deer.”
“What about your car?”
“It’s being repaired.”
“I’ll call your insurance company.”
“Oh, no, Nadine, please don’t.”
Kendall saw the surprised look in Nadine’s eyes.
It was two days later that the first letter came:
Dear Mrs. Renaud,
I’m the chairman of the Wild Animal Protection Association, which is in desperate need. I’m sure that you would like to help us out. The organization needs money to preserve wild animals. We are especially interested in deer. You can wire $50,000 to account number 804072-A at the Crédit Suisse bank in Zurich. I would strongly suggest that the money be there within the next five days.
It was unsigned. All the E’s in the letter were broken. Enclosed in the envelope was a newspaper clipping about the accident.
Kendall read the letter twice. The threat was unmistakable. She agonized over what to do. Marc was right, she thought. I should have gone to the police. But now everything was worse. She was a fugitive. If they found her now, it would mean prison and disgrace, as well as the end of her business.
At lunchtime, she went to her bank. “I want to wire fifty thousand dollars to Switzerland…”
When Kendall got home that evening, she showed the letter to Marc.
He was stunned. “My God!” he said. “Who could have sent this?”
“Nobody…nobody knows.” She was trembling.
“Kendall, someone knows.”
Her body was twitching. “There was no one around, Marc! I—”
“Wait a minute. Let’s try to figure this out. Exactly what happened when you returned to town?”
“Nothing. I…I put the car in the garage, and—” She stopped. “You got a bad dent here, Mrs. Renaud. Looks like there’s blood on it.”
Marc saw the expression on her face. “What?”
She said slowly, “The owner of the garage and his mechanic were there. They saw the blood on the fender. I told them I hit a deer, and they said there should have been a lot more damage.” She remembered something else. “Marc…”
“Yes?”
“Nadine, my secretary. I told her the same thing. I could see that she didn’t believe me either. So it had to be one of the three of them.”
“No,” Marc said slowly.
She stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“Sit down, Kendall, and listen to me. If any of them was suspicious of you, they could have told your story to a dozen people. The report of the accident has been in all the newspapers. Someone has put two and two together. I think the letter was a bluff, testing you. It was a terrible mistake to send that money.”