She shook her head. “He was probably in one of the on-call rooms or sleeping. This is all out of context. Besides, my father would never send me these horrible messages and threaten me. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“But you’re alive, aren’t you? There’ve been sinister messages for you, but there’s been no attempt on your life. Why?” He was being relentless.

She pressed her lips together and said nothing.

“Maybe your father only wants it to look like you are the next target to throw us off track. Maybe you aren’t a target at all.”

“I refuse to listen to this any longer. My father adored my mother,” Kate said, eyes blazing as she looked at him.

Anderson flipped his notebook closed and returned the pen to his inside jacket pocket. Kate thought she saw a flicker of pity in his eyes as he got up from his chair, but it disappeared so quickly that she wondered if she’d imagined it.

He put his hand out, and she reluctantly took it in hers. “I’m very sorry,” he said, as they shook. “I know this must be hard for you. I’m just looking for answers, and I go where the questions lead. I hope you understand.”

“My father is innocent.”

He cocked his head to one side. “Just be careful.”

She hadn’t been lying when she said that her father would never have murdered her mother, but she couldn’t imagine him screaming at her either. And why had her mother wanted to change her will? Guilt washed over her at the disloyal thought. No. He wasn’t capable of that. And she was sure he wouldn’t taunt her and try to push her over the edge.

She’d talk to Molly and get this sorted out quickly. Kate googled the housekeeper’s name for her phone number, and then punched it into her phone. After several rings a man’s voice came on the line. “Hello?”

“Hello. This is Kate English, Mrs. Michaels’s daughter. I wonder if I might speak to Molly Grassmore.”

“I’m sorry. She’s not here. Can I take a message?”

“When do you expect her?”

“She’s out of the country. She left yesterday. Won’t be back for a month or two.”

Kate clutched the phone more tightly. “Who am I speaking with, please?”

“I’m her nephew. I’m house-sitting for her.”

“I see. Thank you.”

She hung up, her thoughts racing. Her parents paid their household staff well, but since when did Molly have the kind of money to leave the country for a month or two? Had her father sent Molly away to keep her quiet? Or maybe Molly had killed Lily, and she’d gone to the police to put suspicion on Harrison. It was pretty convenient for her to be unavailable for questioning now. Although why would Molly have killed her mother?