Just This Once

by Diana X Dunn

  “Ghastly, aren’t they?” Their hostess smiled as she too sank into a chair. “I’m Serena Stone, in case you couldn’t guess. Sorry about the chairs. Matthew shops with his wallet rather than sense. These were the most expensive he could find so we had to have them. I’d rather sit on the floor.”

  She smiled an engaging smile and then slipped off her chair to sit at Blake’s feet, her legs curled under her. Julia watched as the Serena tossed her long hair and smiled up flirtatiously at Blake.

  “You don’t mind, do you?” she purred, turning slightly so that Blake had an excellent view down the front of her shimmery nightgown.

  Julia watched the scene unfold coolly. Serena was undeniably beautiful. From the report, Julia knew she was thirty, but she looked closer to twenty with long, slender, graceful limbs that she curled around herself seductively. She was about Julia’s height, but her legs seemed impossibly long in the short gown. That gown was now riding up her thighs as Serena folded and unfolded herself under Blake’s watchful eye.

  Now Serena licked her lips and pouted innocently at Blake. “Did you have more questions for me?” She breathed the sentence out slowly, making it sound like a proposition somehow.

  Blake, to his credit, simply raised his eyebrows and then turned to Julia.

  “I believe my associate, Julia, would like to discuss some issues with you,” he said calmly, defusing the woman’s weapons in a stroke.

  Serena frowned and Julia noted anger flashing in her eyes as she turned them toward her. Julia watched, fascinated, as the woman blinked twice and a smooth mask settled over her face. It was the sort of trick she herself had mastered years earlier and it set off warning bells in Julia’s head.

  “Did you have some questions for me, then?” Serena repeated the question, this time looking at Julia with a friendly and engaging smile on her lips. She had turned on the floor so that her back was to Blake. Julia could only guess what Blake was getting an eyeful of from the slightly stunned look on his face.

  “I understand that your whereabouts are verified for yesterday morning,” Julia spoke in disinterested tones. “I was just hoping you might help us build up a picture of Cassie Knight. Anything you can tell us about her and about anyone who might have wanted to hurt her would be helpful.”

  Serena frowned and looked puzzled. “I thought her husband was found standing over the body with the knife in his hand,” she told Julia.

  “Not exactly,” Julia answered dryly. “At the moment we are pursing several lines of inquiry and we need any information that you can give us.”

  “I must have missed your name and rank,” the woman was looking thoughtful now as she studied Julia.

  “I’m Julia Randall, a special consultant with the Homicide Department. I hope you don’t mind my asking you questions?”

  Julia watched annoyance flicker over the woman’s face. “No problem,” was what she said, but it was clear to Julia that she would prefer to talk to Blake rather than her.

  “Good, so what can you tell me about Cassie and Alex Knight?”

  As Serena composed an answer, the door swung open and Matthew Richards stumbled into the room.

  “I took some Clear-Head,” he announced proudly. “I’ll be all right in just a minute or two.”

  Extreme irritation flashed over Serena’s face before the smooth mask dropped back down. “Sit down and be quiet until you feel better,” she ordered.

  Matthew sank down on a rock hard couch and leaned back, closing his eyes. Within seconds he was snoring quietly. Serena scowled and then blinked twice again, her perfectly composed expression slipping back into place.

  “Sorry, we didn’t have a great night last night. Matthew got it in his head that the murderer was going to come after him next so the only way he could get any sleep was with Chillax. But he is getting too old to do so many drugs and it takes him ages to recover from it.”

  Serena had risen to stand next to her partner while she was speaking and she directed her words at Blake who nodded sympathetically.

  “Why would he be worried about the killer if you both thought that Cassie’s husband was the guilty party?” Julia asked.

  “Matthew is just a worrier,” Serena turned big innocent eyes on Julia, playing for her sympathy. “He worries about everything and anything.”

  Julia nodded slowly, pretending to understand. “So what can you tell me about Cassie and Alex Knight, then?” She repeated her earlier question, determined to regain control of the interview.

  “Not very much.”

  With her partner in the room, Serena seemed less inclined to flirt outrageously with Blake. Instead of returning to the floor at his feet, she perched gently on the edge of the couch where Matthew was sleeping. She turned clear eyes onto Julia and finally seemed to focus on answering the question.

  “We moved in about four years ago, when Matthew got a job at Masters and Mason, the big architectural firm downtown. They’re determined to rebuild New York and they hired a number of talented architects to help realize their vision. Matthew and I met in Chicago where I was an unsuccessful actress and when he asked me to move with him here, I was happy to get away.”

  “I didn’t ask about you and Matthew,” Julia pointed out. “I asked about Cassie and Alex Knight.”

  Serena stiffened, but continued. “Cassie was already living next door with Peter when we moved in here. I didn’t even know she was married to someone else until fairly recently. Matthew and I were both busy with work and didn’t really socialize with the neighbors. Cassie invited us to parties now and then, and sometimes we actually went, but all we really did was make small talk.”

  Serena’s eyes moved from Blake to Julia and back. Julia met her look with a blank stare. After a moment Serena continued.

  “About a year ago, I suppose Cassie came over to see me. She was upset and she just needed someone to talk to, I guess. I was off work with the flu and I suppose I was better than nothing.” Serena trailed off, looking over at her sleeping boyfriend as if for support.

  “And what did Cassie want?” Julia asked impatiently.

  “I’m not sure I should be doing this,” Serena countered. “I don’t want to get anyone into trouble.”

  “If what you tell us has nothing to do with the murder, it won’t go any further than this room. If it does have something to do with the murder, you should want us to know so that we can solve the case. You don’t want the murderer getting away with it, do you?” Julia asked.

  Serena shook her head and looked from Julia to Blake and back again with fear and fragility written all over her face. “She came over because she was upset. She said she had just had a huge fight with her husband. She said he’d threatened her because she wouldn’t agree to a divorce.”

  Julia glanced at Blake, wondering what his take on the story was.

  “Go on,” she urged, “what else did Cassie say?”

  “That’s just it,” Serena sighed theatrically, “she wouldn’t say anything else. She just said she wanted a bit of company and then, after a cup of tea, she left again. The next time I saw her, I asked her if everything was okay and she insisted that it was. We never mentioned the topic again.”

  “What exactly do you do?” Julia asked.

  Serena looked surprised at the sudden change of subject. “I work in advertising,” she said finally.

  “From acting to advertising, was it a difficult change?”

  “Not really.” Serena frowned, “but what does that have to do with anything?”

  “Sorry,” Julia looked sheepishly at her. “I was just wondering what it was that you did. You certainly have the looks to be an actress.”

  Serena looked pleased at the comment, but waved it away. “I did, ten years ago, but it is a difficult life and I decided I would be happier doing something more steady.”

  “You must be quite successful. This is a lovely home,” Julia replied.

  Serena looked around the room as if she had never seen it before. �
��I suppose we do pretty well, Matthew and I, but we both work too hard and never seem to find time for each other. I suppose most successful couples have the same problems.”

  Julia nodded and opened her mouth for her next question when Matthew suddenly sat up.

  “Wow, I feel lots better,” he announced, looking from one face to the next. “Did you want to talk to me or just Serena?”

  Julia bit back a laugh. Now fully alert, the man was unmistakably attractive. His eyes, now clear, seemed to sparkle with mischief and fun and Julia found herself smiling at him in spite of herself.

  “First question,” she offered him, “why would an architect live in such a dull house?”

  Serena looked surprised at the question, but Matthew simply smiled back at Julia and answered immediately. “The house is my boss’s idea of a joke,” he told her.

  “Please explain.” Julia requested.

  “When Masters and Mason offered me the position here, they offered me a penthouse apartment in one of their new apartment complexes downtown as part of the relocation package. Just before I moved from Chicago, though, someone offered them a huge amount for that very apartment. Loving money above all things, they sold the apartment and then scrambled to find me an alternative. My boss, Henry Mason, is an excellent salesman. He spent half a day selling me on the suburban dream idea. A whole house, all to myself, with three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, my very own yard to plant things in, et cetera. It all sounded idyllic from my tiny apartment in Chicago. Then, when I finally got to New York, I was handed the front door code for this lovely little slice of hell.”

  Matthew looked around them with disgust. “An entire street of identical houses, each stamped from the exact same mold. The layouts are done in such a way that it is totally impractical to try to change the rooms around, every wall is supporting something so you can’t actually take any of them down, and the lots are so small that building any addition is practically impossible.”

  He shook his head as he looked around again. “My only consolation is that the architect that designed them, and I use the term design loosely, got fired for his tragic efforts.”

  Julia found herself liking the man, in spite of his fondness for illegal substances and his taste in women. “Why not move?”

  “I was given the house as part of my employment contract. Within months of arriving in New York, property prices began to soar again. While this place has increased in value in spite of itself, it hasn’t kept pace with inner city apartments. Basically, we can’t afford to move.”

  Julia nodded, knowing only too well how housing prices in the city were skyrocketing. “But you seem to live very well here,” she argued, looking around again at the expensive audio and video equipment that were dotted around the space. Original artwork graced the walls and even the couple’s pajamas looked expensive.

  “I suppose we should spent less on life’s luxuries and save up for a better place,” Matthew agreed tiredly. “But while this place is horrible, it is a roof over our heads, after all.”

  “What did you do when Serena told you that Cassie had been threatened by her husband?” Julia asked in a conversational tone.

  Serena looked surprised at yet another sudden change of direction. Matthew blinked as his, still slightly befuddled, brain tried to keep up. “Um, did she tell me that Cassie had been threatened?” he asked Julia.

  “Didn’t you mention Cassie’s visit to your legal partner?” Julia challenged Serena.

  “Cassie asked me to keep everything confidential,” Serena answered smoothly, her voice calm though her eyes glared at Julia.

  “And that incident, a year or so ago, was that the only time you shared confidences with Cassie?”

  Serena put on a thoughtful face and then nodded slowly. “Yes, at least I can’t remember any other occasions where we talked at all, really. I was usually at work all day and Matthew and I keep busy on most weekends as well.”

  “And Matthew, did you ever have any personal conversations with Cassie or with her husband, Alex, or with her partner, Peter?”

  Matthew looked thoughtful for a long minute. Finally, as Serena gave him a nudge, he answered. “Aside from small talk at parties, I don’t think I ever spoke to the woman. I don’t remember ever speaking to Peter either. I don’t think I even knew there was an Alex before yesterday.” Matthew frowned now.

  “What is it?” Julia asked, wondering about the serious expression on his face.

  “Well, sorry, but it just seems sad,” Matthew shook his head slowly. “We’ve lived next door to them for four years or so and I barely knew them. I know big cities are like that, but it just seems wrong somehow in the leafy suburbs.”

  Serena made an impatient noise and drew Julia’s attention once more. “And how about you, Serena, how well do you know Peter Henderson?” Julia asked.

  Even with years of training, Julia wasn’t entirely sure what she saw flicker over Serena’s face before the mask slid back. It could have been nothing more than a trick of the lighting, but Julia didn’t think so.

  “I knew him enough to say hello and not much else,” Serena told her. “It does seem really sad now, but at the time it just felt normal.” Serena leaned back on the hard couch and covered her eyes with a hand, apparently overcome by events.

  “So neither of you knew her husband, then?” Julia pushed a bit more.

  “I didn’t even know she had one,” Matthew answered.

  Julia just watched Serena. After a moment the other woman sat back up and answered.

  “After Cassie’s visit, I made a point of watching out for him,” she admitted. “I made sure I knew what sort of transport he drove, and I checked whenever there was one parked on their driveway to see if it was his. I never saw it parked there.” She shook her head impatiently. “If only I had been home yesterday morning, I would have seen it. I might have been able to do something to stop him.”

  Blake cleared his throat now after his long silence. “You mustn’t blame yourself,” he told Serena soothingly. “If he was intent on killing her, he would have done so no matter what you did. And if you’d confronted him, he might have killed you as well.”

  “Assuming Alex Knight was the killer, of course.” Julia’s voice was sharp.

  Blake looked startled. “Sorry, yes, of course.” He stood up now.

  “I think we have taken up more than enough of your time for today,” he told the couple. “We will probably have more questions, but I think we will leave them for another day. You both need to get your mind off murder and enjoy the rest of your weekend.”

  Julia frowned as she stood up. She had a number of further questions for both halves of the couple.

  “I might just stop back later today or tomorrow,” she told the pair. “If you don’t mind, I’d really like to talk to you about your impressions of the other people in the neighborhood.”

  “Come back anytime,” Matthew smiled at her. “I’m sure we both want to do whatever we can to help solve the case.”

  “Thank you.” Julia gave him her most brilliant smile and was childishly pleased to see Serena scowling in the background.

  “I’ll just lock up behind you,” Serena muttered, ushering them to the door.

  Blake thanked them both again formally and then they were on their way. This time Julia made sure she had her bag with her.

  “Well, that went well, didn’t it?” she said when they were back at the end of the drive,

  Blake looked at her for a minute. “Let’s go over to the mall and get some lunch,” he suggested finally. “We can discuss the interviews we’ve done thus far and work out a plan for the rest of the day.

  Ten

  Julia was silent as she followed Blake the short distance to the mall. His quick pace and firmly set shoulders suggested to her that he wasn’t very happy. Julia suspected that he didn’t appreciate some of the questions that she’d asked the last couple.

  The mall was busy with weekend shoppers, but it was
still early for lunch and the cavernous food court was only sparsely populated. They both grabbed sandwiches from one of the virtually identical vendors and found a quiet table in a back corner. Blake ate half of his sandwich before he began.

  “I take it you didn’t like Serena Stone,” he said.

  “I want to see her profile. There’s something about her that bothered me.”

  “I think that was fairly obvious,” Blake’s tone was dry. “Personal feelings shouldn’t enter into it. She has an alibi and no obvious motive.”

  Julia ignored him as she punched the woman’s name into her M-ped, ignoring her lunch, as well.

  Blake ate his sandwich in silence, watching Julia work. After several minutes, Julia sat back with a sigh of frustration.

  “Her life story is exactly what she said it was,” Julia told Blake.

  “What did you expect?” Blake asked.

  “Something off, something slightly not quite right. Something. There’s something wrong there.” Julia ran her hand through her hair distractedly.

  “We’ve already found one person living on Lilac Court who has a totally changed history. Are you suggesting she’s another?” Blake’s tone made it clear that he found the idea unbelievable.

  Changing identities was difficult and costly. The chances that two women living on the same short street in a big city suburb had the ways and means to do so were statistically highly unlikely.

  Julia shrugged. “If it was the work of the same guy, I would recognize it,” she told Blake. “Maybe I just didn’t like her, so I’m chasing ghosts.”

  Blake frowned. “That doesn’t sound like the Julia Randall I know and love,” he told her. The look on his face suggested that he regretted the words as soon as he’d said them.