Pleased and ready for more, Maggie debated whether to mix up another batch of adhesive or to start the next wall of paper in her bedroom. There was only a wall and a half left to cover, she remembered; then it would be time to make a decision on curtains. Priscillas, cafés, Cape Cods … Nothing monumental, most people would say, she mused, but then she’d always left such things up to decorators before. Now, if something didn’t work, she had no one to blame but herself.

With a laugh, she reached into the box of tiles again, swearing halfheartedly as she scraped her finger against a sharp edge. The price of being your own handyman, Maggie decided, going to the sink to run water over the cut. Maybe it was time to turn in the tiles for wallpaper and paste.

When the dog began to bark, she knew that either project would have to wait. Resigned, she turned off the tap just as the sound of a car reached her. Going to the tiny latticed window, she watched Lieutenant Reiker pull around the last curve.

Why was he back? she wondered, frowning. There couldn’t possibly be any more information she could give him. When he didn’t approach the house immediately, Maggie stayed where she was. He walked along the path of flagstone Cliff’s crew had set just that week. When he reached the end, he didn’t turn toward the porch, but looked out over the gully. Slowly, he drew out a cigarette, then lit it with a short wooden match. For several moments he just stood there, smoking and watching the dirt and rocks as if they had the answers he wanted. Then, before she could react, he turned and looked directly up at the window where she stood. Feeling like an idiot, she started down to meet him.

“Lieutenant.” Maggie went cautiously down the porch steps and onto the sturdy new flagstone.

“Miss Fitzgerald.” He flipped the cigarette stub into the tangle of brush near the gully. “Your place is coming along. Hard to believe what it looked like a few weeks ago.”

“Thank you.” He looked so harmless, so pleasant. She wondered if he carried a gun in a shoulder holster under his jacket.

“Noticed you planted a willow over there.” But he looked at her, not at the gully. “It shouldn’t be much longer before you can have your pond put in.”

Like Reiker, Maggie didn’t look toward the gully. “Does that mean the investigation’s almost over?”

Reiker scratched along the side of his jaw. “I don’t know if I’d say that. We’re working on it.”

She bit back a sigh. “Are you going to search the gully again?”