Katie walked into the house just as Walter and Adrian Chesterfield entered through the front door. Her breath caught involuntarily at the sight of the handsome assistant. Instantly, thoughts of his lips on her skin, his hands on her body, filled her imagination.

"Mr. Barrington. You're home." Katie barely looked at Walter. She turned her gaze to the younger man and her face burned with secret, shameful thoughts. "Mr. Chesterfield."

"It's Adrian, please." He smiled, a confidently rakish look that made her doubt her thoughts were actually secret, after all. "It's good to see you again, Katie."

"It's good to see you, too." She blushed and turned quickly back to Walter. "Mrs. Music asked me to tell you she will be late on Friday."

Walter nodded and pointed toward the study. Adrian nodded to her politely as he went to that room, but his eyes still implied such impolite thoughts that it was hard to breathe. Walter lowered his voice. "Marcus Jones is on the way here to talk with you again. Where are the children?"

"Why does he need to talk with me?" Katie felt a small panic forming. What had the police found out? Did someone know that Davicus was here? Did someone know about Bill? "I've told him everything I know. I don't know why he wants to—"

"He doesn't know what to do." Walter shook his head. "So he's just doing the same thing over and over. It's the same thing he did two years ago."

"But Mr. Barrington, I—" Katie started.

Walter put his hand on her shoulder. "It'll be okay, Katie. Just tell him what you know."

She nodded, but her stomach still felt cold and full of rocks.

"Where are the children?" He looked past her at the staircase.

"They're..." Katie collected herself. "They're in the family room playing a video game."

"Good. They'll likely not even look up, much less come out here." Walter nodded soberly. "I don't want them to be upset."

"What should I do?" Katie looked over Walter's shoulder at the window next to the door. A dark sedan pulled into the circular drive in the front.

Walter turned. He opened the door and waited for Officer Jones to get out of the car. He cast Katie a look and then said, under his breath, "Might as well just invite him in."

"Walter." Officer Jones greeted him and stepped inside. He looked at Katie. "Miss Gallagher. Just the person I wanted to talk to."

"Please do come in." Walter turned and motioned to the sitting room.

Officer Jones looked at Katie and held out a hand. "Ladies first."

Katie took a seat on the sofa near the window. "Is there news about Clarissa's attack, Officer Jones?"

He shook his head. "Nothing solid. Miss Barrington says she can't remember what happened."

"I see." Katie looked down at her hands.

Officer Jones moved to the table near the bookshelf. He leaned against it. "Miss Gallagher, if you can remember anything else about what happened..."

"Just what I told you before..." Katie shifted nervously. "I followed Clarissa outside and found that man was waiting for her."

Walter shook his head. "I can't believe she would just leave with him."

"I know." Katie nodded. "Like I said before, I think she was being coerced in some way."

Marcus Jones consulted his notebook. "And you're sure you don't know this man?"

Katie shrugged. "Well, I've been in town less than a month, so I don't know if he was a local or not."

Jones paused and looked up from the notebook. "Was?"

Katie looked down at her hands. "What?"

"You said was." The officer said firmly. "Why did you say that? Do you know something you're not telling me?"

Katie's heart raced with the fear that she had given away too much. She willed her voice to be calm, tried to play it off coolly. "I used the past tense because it was something that happened in the past. I probably should have said is."

"That seems like something a teacher would know." Officer Jones' tone was not quite accusing.

She shrugged, tried and failed to look him in the eye. "I'm only human."

"You're not here to evaluate her grammar, Jones." Walter snapped. "Ask your questions and then get back to finding the criminal who tried to kidnap my daughter, please."

"He should be fairly easy to find." Katie suggested. "He was viciously attacked by a wolf. He was probably really hurt. Did you check the hospitals?"

"Well, that's the thing. No one with animal bites or scratches of any kind has shown up at any medical facility in the county." Marcus Jones watched her face carefully. "And there's also no evidence of any sort of attack in the spot you showed me."

"What?" Katie swiveled to look at Walter. He looked equally confused. "What do you mean there's no evidence?"

Jones raised his eyebrows. "No blood. No torn clothes. Nothing that would indicate a struggle."

Walter took a step toward her. "Katie, are you absolutely sure of what you saw?"

"Yes, of course." Katie nodded. That made no sense. There should be something...

"And you're sure the animal was in the mausoleum when you opened the door?" Jones pressed.

"Yes." She nodded. She would remember that low growling in the dark for the rest of her life. "I'm sure it was."

"I don't understand." Walter paced a few steps. "How did it get in there? And then shut the door on itself?"

Katie shrugged minutely. "I... I don't know."

Officer Jones tapped his pen on his notebook. "And why didn't it attack you?"

She shrugged again, an even smaller movement. "I don't know."

A thought seemed to occur to Walter. He motioned to his neck. "Katie, are you sure it didn't bite Clarissa? She has bite marks..."

"I'm sure it didn't." Katie shook her head. She didn't know if Bill had mentioned the bites before, but she had to give the officer an answer. "But I did notice the wounds on Clarissa when she was unconscious in the mausoleum."

Jones nodded and wrote something down. "Where do you think she got them, if not from the wild animal in the mausoleum?"

"I don't know." Katie said quietly. "That man?"

"He bit her?" Walter was outraged.

Jones was calmer. He kept his eyes on Katie. "Why would you think he bit her, Miss Gallagher?"

Katie shook her head. "Well, uh..."

Walter protested. "Those were not human bites."

Officer Jones shot Walter a look. "Let her answer, please."

"I don't know." Katie sighed. "I didn't see how she got them. I just thought that was the only way."

Jones said nothing. He wrote something in his notebook.

Katie frowned. "Clarissa is sure she doesn't remember?"

Walter shook his head. "The doctor says she might be blocking the trauma. She might remember something later."

"Mr. Barrington, I'm so sorry." Katie twisted her hands in her lap. "I tried to stop her from leaving the house..."

"It's not your fault, Katie." Walter's voice was softer now. "I should have put a stop to it myself."

Officer Jones turned to Walter, his anger just barely showing through his professional manner. "You should have called the police when you first saw someone trespassing on your estate. Or when he started stalking your teenaged daughter. And then again when he attempted to kidnap her."

"Yes. We should have done all those things." Walter sighed deeply. The regret and self-recrimination was evident on his face. "I was certain we could handle things on our own."

"Look, Walter. I understand you wanted to keep your personal family matters personal. But now we're dealing with a criminal act." Officer Jones' voice softened a little. "I want to catch this pervert, but I feel like you all are not telling me everything."

Katie felt awful. She was not, by nature, a good liar. "We are, sir. I promise."

"Very well." Jones sighed. "If it's all right with you, Walter, I'd like to talk to your handyman again."

"Yes, of course." Walter seemed beaten. "Katie, would you mind asking Bill to join us here in the drawing room?"

"Not at all." Katie stood, relieved that her part was over for now.

"And Katie?" Walter called to her as she reached the door. "Let Adrian know I'll be in presently. We have some paperwork to go over before tomorrow morning."

"Of course." Katie stepped out into the hall. She was both excited and unnerved at the prospect of going to talk with Adrian Chesterfield in the study. Just the two of them.