“She was supposed to. That’s why I waited. She called and told me she would, but she never showed up. I need the furniture gone to get this place cleaned up. Can’t do much with it here.”

Thomas didn’t mention that Samantha was now dead. And Stanley didn’t seem to know. “Who took Jeanne’s belongings?”

“Her nephew,” Stanley said.

After a quick glance in the living room and kitchen, they headed to the bedroom. Val hesitated in the doorway, taking a deep breath. She jumped when she felt someone grab her arm.

It was Gwen.

“We should go in,” Gwen said. Val nodded.

Thomas and Jack were standing in the closet. As Val and Gwen walked across the room to join the men, Val’s gaze lingered on Francine’s bed. It was a bare mattress only. Bloody teeth on the pillow flashed through her mind. As quickly as the memory entered, she pushed it aside for now. Though she was most interested in the teeth, what was in the closet is what brought them all to Eastville today and she hurried to see it.

On the ceiling, faint traces of fingerprints could still be detected around a piece of drywall, obviously added as a patch. It seemed fairly new. “Did you do this?” Jack asked Stanley.

“I never fixed that,” Stanley said. “Francine must have done it herself.”

“Why would Francine be doing it? Why would she be placing drywall?” Thomas asked this time.

Stanley shrugged his shoulders. “Beats me. She never said anything about it needing to be fixed.”

“It’s a very small piece, probably no more than a foot. You don’t need to be a carpenter to manage that. It looks like it was replaced because of water damage.” Val pointed out parts of the ceiling around the patch that had brownish yellow discoloration. “I’ve done this type of work myself before. It’s not that hard to do.” She had no choice but to do some of her own home repairs. With no money to spend on a handyman, she had become knowledgeable on home maintenance. It’s amazing what can be learned on the internet.

“But still, why do it herself when she has Stanley here to do it for her?” Thomas said.

He led the pack out of the bedroom and down the hall to the linen closet. Once he opened the door, Val could easily see the area in question. A part of the wall had been altered. Not once but twice.

A small section had been cut out and replaced with new drywall. And then later it had been cut again and patched a second time. This second patch was obvious. The two pieces had a slightly different color. One was darker, suggesting a time span between alterations.

“This one’s different.” Val pointed to the lighter section. “It’s newer.”