by J A Whiting
A smile moved across Nicole’s face. “Okay. Good.”
“Do you want to go ahead or should we think about it some more?” Claire asked.
“As long as Tony and Augustus think it’s a good contract, then I’m ready to move forward.”
For the next forty-five minutes, the foursome went over the contract together and incorporated and added their changes to those the attorney suggested, and when they were finished, they were pleased with the outcome.
“You both came up with things I wouldn’t have thought of.” Claire thanked Tony and Augustus for their help and Tessa came into the store just as they were finishing up. The Corgis wiggled at the sight of her and hurried to greet the woman.
“We went over the cookbook contract,” Claire said. “I think we’re all set with it.”
“So it’s a go?” Tessa eyed the two young woman as she went to give Tony a kiss.
“It’s a go,” Nicole said with a wide smile.
“Wonderful. We can make our dinner together this evening a celebration.”
Tony left the door open from the market’s storage room to the walled courtyard so the dogs could go in and out as they wished while the group went out for dinner.
Walking along the brick sidewalks, Tony and Augustus led the way to the Common as the women had a discussion using quiet voices.
Claire said, “Jenny Harrington believes that Grace was after her boyfriend. She thinks Grace was flirting with him and leading him on, but that’s not what we’ve heard from others.”
“Grace’s colleague from school was out with her at a pub one night when Grace received text messages from Jenny’s boyfriend asking her to meet him. Grace told her friend that Martin had been aggressive in texting her and that she was upset by his attempts to get-together with her,” Nicole reported.
“Grace’s friend from the yoga studio shared similar information with us,” Claire told Tessa. “Martin pressured Grace to see him. He badgered her at a restaurant-bar when they were out with Jenny and Harry. Martin had the nerve to flirt with another woman when he was on a date with Jenny.” Claire shook her head in disgust.
Tessa sighed. “Martin is a man with no values or morals. He also lacks impulse control. When he sees an attractive woman, he is unable to regulate his emotions and desires, and allows himself to behave in a way that dishonors the person he is supposed to be with. He could be dangerous.”
“There’s a problem with Grace’s former boyfriend, Harry Parker,” Claire said. “Another colleague of Grace’s went out with her to get a bite to eat. Harry showed up and caused a scene. He had to be escorted out of the place by security.”
Tessa said, “This is another person who thinks his wants are more important than those of the people around him. Was he drunk when he made his appearance at the restaurant?”
“I don’t know,” Claire said. “Claire’s colleague didn’t mention anything about that.”
“What do you think about Jenny blaming Grace for Martin’s attention to her?” Nicole asked.
“It’s an easy out. Jenny doesn’t want to look too closely at the man she’s interested in if she can blame his poor behavior on Grace.” Tessa was quiet for a minute. “There are three suspects here. Martin, Harry, and Jenny.”
“Do you think the person who killed Grace is the same one who was buzzing her apartment from the front door that night?” Nicole asked.
“I do. The person was obviously trying to frighten Grace by continuously buzzing her. Was there a video camera at the front door? One that allowed Grace to see who was at the front of the building?”
“No video camera,” Claire said. “And the intercom to speak from the apartment to the front landing wasn’t working. It was broken and hadn’t yet been fixed.”
“Where did Harry say he was that night?” Tessa’s face was serious.
Claire said, “He worked late and then went to a bar in the North End to meet a friend for a drink. Then he went home.”
“Did the police look at phone records? Do the records match what Harry said about his whereabouts?”
“The records show that Harry was at work when he said he was. The records also show him in the North End, but the area is compact and the records can’t pinpoint where exactly Harry was. The bar was near Grace’s building.”
“Do the records show Harry at home later?”
“The records show cell towers pinging him at home around 1am,” Claire explained. “His phone seems to have been turned off between 10:30pm and 1am.”
Tessa tilted her head to the side. “Convenient? Is it coincidence that Harry’s phone was off during the time someone took Grace from her apartment?”
“That’s an important question that we don’t have the answer to,” Nicole said.
“And Jenny and Martin were in New Hampshire,” Tessa said.
“Yes, but Jenny returned to the city that night and wouldn’t tell Ian why,” Claire told Tessa. Something buzzed in her head for a quick moment. “When Jenny was asked if she told Martin she was returning to Boston for a few hours, she said something like she didn’t have to report to him her every move. I take it she didn’t tell him she went back.”
“How did she get back?” Tessa inquired.
“She took a car service.”
“All the way from New Hampshire?”
Claire nodded.
“Why not take the train … or the bus?”
“The car was probably the quickest way to come back. She didn’t have to travel on their timetables. She could leave and return when she was ready,” Claire surmised.
“Why the heck would she come back? She was only gone away for three or four nights,” Nicole said. “What was so important that she had to hurry back to town?”
The three women stopped walking and stared at one another.
“Jenny owns a car, but she didn’t drive it to Portsmouth,” Claire said. “She left it here on a side street.”
Nicole leaned forward excitedly. “Can Ian see if there are security cameras in that neighborhood that might show Jenny’s car parked on the side of the street? If there are cameras, Ian can check to see if the car was moved on the night Jenny came back.”
“Good idea. Maybe he checked on that already,” Claire told them. “I’ll ask him about it.”
“When you’re speaking to Ian,” Tessa said with a grave expression, “ask him if Jenny, Harry, or Martin had access to a gun.”
Claire’s heart sank. Did one of those people really kill Grace? Is there someone we’re overlooking? Is the killer someone we don’t yet suspect? Is the murderer someone we have yet to meet?
“Hey, Blondie,” Tony called to Claire from a half-block away. “What are you three doing back there? Are you coming to dinner with us or are you making your own plans?”
“We’re coming.”
The women stopped talking about the case and hurried along the sidewalk to catch up to Tony and Augustus.
“Save your yakking for the restaurant,” Tony said. “You’ll be all talked out before we even get there.”
With a grin, Claire moved between the men and slipped one hand through Tony’s arm and one through Augustus’s. “That’s why I love you both. You’re always looking out for us.”
18
Claire walked to the coffee shop where she was meeting Harry Parker when a red convertible sports car pulled into the parking spot at the curb and Harry got out.
“Oh, hi.” Harry shook hands with Claire and they went inside.
“I thought you drove an old Honda?” Claire asked.
“I did. I traded it in. I always wanted a convertible and after Grace died, I asked myself why I was waiting to get the car I wanted. Life is short. I don’t want to put things off all the time.”
After ordering coffees and taking them to a high-top table near a bank of windows, they settled into their seats.
“Is there news?” Harry looked hopefully at Claire.
“I’m sorry I don’t have any news. The
investigation is ongoing.”
“Are the police close?”
“I don’t have that information, but you can contact Detective Fuller for an update,” Claire explained pleasantly.
“I spoke with the detective yesterday. He asked if I’d be able to talk with you today. He didn’t have anything to report about suspects in the case.” Harry stirred cream into his coffee. “It’s disappointing. How can I help?”
“How have you been doing?” Claire got the sense that Harry wasn’t that broken up about Grace’s death.
Harry’s face was serious. “The incident has changed my outlook on things. It’s been a wake-up call for me. There are things I’ve always thought about, the car, for one. Another is to live in a warmer climate. I had a phone interview a few days ago. I’m flying out to San Diego tomorrow to speak in person about a job as a pharmacy manager. My plan is to move to California, work for a couple of years, and then apply to teach at a university. I want to travel and pursue some hobbies, and working the long hours I do prevents me from those things.”
Although Claire could understand making changes after a tragedy, she thought Harry was too cheerful and full of enthusiasm. She wondered if he was burying his sad feelings over Grace and covering them up with new plans and adventures. “What hobbies do you enjoy?”
“I love kayaking. I’ve recently taken up archery and I enjoy going to the firing range.”
Claire’s senses perked up at this comment.
Harry’s face tensed and he backtracked quickly. “I don’t have a gun. I never hunt. I wouldn’t kill anything. I only do target shooting and skeet shooting.”
Claire nodded to make him feel less nervous with the hope he wouldn’t clam up or be more guarded in what he told her. “I have friends who enjoy skeet shooting. Do you have other hobbies?”
“I run and bike. I like being outdoors. I’d like to take up tennis.” Harry sighed. “I want to enjoy my life. It can be over so fast.”
“You have a good attitude.” Claire smiled at the young man. “I don’t think most people give much consideration to how they want to live their life.”
“Grace’s death has had a big impact on me,” Harry said. “I wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and can’t fall back to sleep. I have trouble concentrating and focusing at work.”
“This is normal after someone experiences a loss,” Claire explained.
“I suppose so.” Harry drank from his mug and set it down on the table. He glanced out the window to the street. “So many things are out of our control,” he muttered.
“You told me previously that you met your friend, Linda Moore, for a drink the night Grace was killed.”
Harry turned to Claire with a hard look on his face. “So?”
“I’m trying to get a clear timeline,” Claire said evenly. “What time did you meet your friend?”
“As soon as I got off from work at the hospital.”
“You finished work for the day around 9pm?”
“That’s right.”
“And then you went to the bar to meet Linda?”
“Right.”
“What time do think it was when you arrived at the bar?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t keeping track of the time.”
“How long would you say it takes to walk from the hospital to the bar?”
Harry took a long breath. “Fifteen or twenty minutes.”
“You must have arrived just before 9:30 then?”
“That sounds about right.” Harry fiddled with his mug.
“You also mentioned that Grace contacted you around 10pm about the buzzing at her door. Does that time sound like it’s correct?”
Harry gave a nod. “Yeah, I’d say so. Maybe it was a little later than that.”
“Grace didn’t try to contact you again? There wasn’t a missed call from her, a text you didn’t see until later that night?” Claire asked.
“She didn’t try to contact me again.”
“And you didn’t try to contact her?”
Harry leaned back in an almost challenging pose. “No, I didn’t.”
“Do you see your friend, Linda, often?”
“Not that often. Every couple of months or so. We want to keep in touch.”
“Where does Linda work?”
“She works in Boston, in the Longwood area, at the cancer hospital.”
“Have you two ever had the chance to work together?”
“You mean for the same facility? No, we never have.”
“Is Linda your age?”
“She’s a couple of years older.” Harry looked Claire in the eyes. “Why so many questions about Linda?”
Claire ignored the man’s question. “Did you ever date her?”
“What? Of course not. She was married when we were in school. She had her twins right after we graduated. We’re friends, that’s all.” Harry’s expression soured. “What are you implying?”
“Nothing at all. I’m trying to get a sense of your relationship. Linda lives with her family in the North End?”
“That’s right.”
“Did Linda know Grace?”
“They’d met. Grace and I and Linda and her husband would meet for drinks sometimes.”
“Did everyone get along well?”
“Sure, why wouldn’t we?”
Harry was becoming annoyed and impatient with the questioning and Claire worried he would get up and leave before she’d finished.
“Did you happen to walk by Grace’s building on your way home after having drinks?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“I wondered if you might have seen anyone lurking around outside. Someone who might have been giving the building more attention than seemed normal. Maybe someone looking up at the windows, things like that.”
“I didn’t go that way.”
“It wouldn’t be out of your way to go that way, right? Did you walk Linda home?”
Harry stretched his neck like there was a kink in it. “No. We went our separate ways after we left the bar.”
“Did you wonder how Grace was doing? Did you wonder if the person buzzing Grace’s door had gone away?”
“No. I forgot about it.” Harry looked down at his mug. “I’m not proud of that.”
“Why did you walk home in a less direct way? Wouldn’t leaving that pub take you by Grace’s building?”
“I don’t know why I went the way I did. I didn’t think about it. There are more ways to get to my place than taking the street in front of Grace’s.”
“Do you know some of Grace’s cohorts, her colleagues in her master’s program?”
“I met a couple of them once in passing. I didn’t really know them.”
“We’ve heard that you ran into Grace and one of her colleagues at a bar-restaurant one evening,” Claire said.
“Did I?” Harry was acting nonchalant.
Claire chose her words with care. “We heard there was somewhat of a scene.”
Harry’s eyes narrowed. “A scene?”
“You were loud.”
“Was I?”
“You were asked to leave the bar,” Claire told him.
Harry shook his head. “That’s an exaggeration.”
“We heard a security person escorted you out of the establishment.”
“That’s a load of garbage. I’ve never acted inappropriately when I’ve been out socializing.”
“Were you out socializing that night?”
Harry’s facial muscles tensed. “Yes, I was.”
“You had words with Grace and her friend?”
“I don’t recall.” Harry stretched his arm over the back of the chair next to him.
“What we’ve been told is that it wasn’t by chance that you came upon Grace that night. The witness believed you may have followed them to the bar.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Did you come upon them casually? You didn’t know they were there until you entered the place?”
“Were you meeting someone in that bar? Is that why you were there?”
“I was meeting someone later. I was on my way to the other restaurant, realized I was early, and decided to get a drink before going to meet my friend.”
“Why that particular bar?”
Harry shrugged. “I like it there.”
“Did you go there with Grace?”
“Sometimes.”
“What did you do when you saw Grace and her friend there?” Claire asked.
“I walked over to say hello.”
“And then what happened?”
“Grace didn’t seem pleased to see me. Her friend said some things I didn’t like.”
“What did he say to you?”
“I don’t remember. It was rude, whatever it was.”
“And how did you react?”
“I got angry. My intention was to simply say hello, but they made me angry. I said some things back to them. I wasn’t polite.”
“Were you too loud?”
“I didn’t think so.”
“Why did security escort you from the premises?”
Harry shook his head. “A security person walked by us and Grace asked him for his help. I thought she was out of line, just trying to get me into trouble. She didn’t have to make a big deal out of it. It was her word against mine.”
“And her friend’s word.”
“Same thing. They could say what they wanted and the bouncer would believe it.”
“If you weren’t doing anything wrong, it doesn’t seem like the bouncer would make you leave.”
“A woman told the bouncer I was being aggressive towards her. Of course, the bouncer would take her side of things.”
“Do you remember any part of the conversation you had with Grace and her friend?”
“Really? No. They made me angry pretty quick. They were dismissive of me. It was clear they didn’t want me around. It was rude.”
“Since you and Grace had broken up recently, do you think Grace and her friend were wrong to want to be left alone?”
Harry leaned forward and glared at Claire. “Of course, they were wrong.”
