Mahjonged (An Alex Harris Mystery)

by Elaine Macko

  “Wow. That’s just the break we need,” Millie said. “If you need any more help, just give me a call.” I had a feeling Millie felt relieved I planned to concentrate my efforts in other directions rather than pounce on Mia. But Mia was still on my list of suspects until I could find out more about Penelope. And of course Judith’s name lingered on my list as well, but I saw no need to let Millie know.

  The phone in the outer office rang and Millie went to answer it. I looked at my sister and her somber expression. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d be thrilled and want to nuzzle your way into going over there with me.”

  Sam got up and walked to the window, looking out onto a beautiful day. The sky was bright blue and the air felt refreshed having been thoroughly washed by the storm. Though it was only early September, autumn was definitely in the air. I could smell it. After all, it was my favorite season and there is nothing like a New England autumn.

  Sam turned and leaned against the radiator under the windowsill. “Okay. You said they didn’t like Penelope much and they called her Pen just to taunt her.”

  “So?”

  “So. Maybe they really disliked her. I mean really disliked her.”

  “What are you suggesting?” I asked, getting up and walking over to the window. “Sam, they were in Holland. They just arrived when I showed up yesterday morning.”

  “How do you know? Maybe they were here all along and just pretending to be just arriving.”

  “Because they knew a nosy person who didn’t know Penelope very well at all was going to be driving by trying to figure out a way to get a look into the house without being seen?”

  “Okay. Stupid idea. But they still could have hired someone to kill her. I think we should find out if Els and what’s his name….”

  “Wilhelm.”

  “Wilhelm. If Els and Wilhelm knew any of our four suspects before.”

  “Well, probably unlikely but not a bad idea. I’ll try to work it into the conversation and see who they know. They did say they came here every summer. And I want to question them about their father and how he died.”

  “Why?” Sam asked. “What does he have to do with anything?”

  “Probably absolutely nothing. But I still want to know how he died, how long he and Penelope had been married. According to Judith, Penelope was on the make for a new man. Maybe the one she had ran out of money or something and she sent him over to the other side sooner than he should have left.”

  “Hmmm. Interesting theory.”

  I went back to my desk and flipped through a few files. “I need to send Millie a couple of emails and then I think I’ll get going,” I said as a hint for my sister to leave. She knew me too well, better than anyone, even John, and gave me an eye roll and a sigh added in for good measure.

  “Fine. But call me the minute you find out something.”

  “Okay, but it may have to wait until tonight if I get busy…”

  “No! The minute you find out something, call me. Or else you’ll be getting a surprise tonight in your bed. And I’ll make sure I don’t feed him or give him a bath before I bring him over. Oh, yeah, and his new teacher gives a lot of homework. Math homework. Division. Long division and other stuff,” Sam finished as she walked out of my office.

  I sighed deeply and reached for my purse. “Idioot.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Before heading over to the Radamaker house, I swung by the health club. I knew Connie taught a morning class on Monday and maybe I could just catch her before she started. I guess I must have been more eager than I thought to speak to her because I took the turn into the lot much faster than I should have and barely missed a pothole the size of Meteor Crater in Arizona.

  Despite the hole the parking lot was already full by time I pulled up. Her classes were always popular and today seemed to be no exception.

  Connie stood at the reception desk looking over a schedule when I walked in.

  “Connie. Good morning.”

  “Oh, gee, Alex. How are you?” she asked putting her hand on my arm. “What happened after we all left? Did they find out who killed Penelope?”

  “No, nothing yet. How about Bert? Are they still holding him?” I asked knowing full well Bert was a free man.

  “I picked him up late Saturday morning. They had nothing on him,” she said in a matter of fact manner that really rankled me for some reason. And what was this they had nothing on him? He broke into my house where a woman, one with whom he had some sort of beef, was killed. “That is, unless you’re going to press charges on him for breaking and entering?” Connie said.

  “I hadn’t thought about it,” I said truthfully. “I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.” I wanted to keep my options open on having Bert arrested and I could tell Connie wasn’t too happy about this.

  “Well, he doesn’t need any more trouble and if you could just drop it, for me, I would really appreciate it.”

  Her tone wasn’t all too pleading; as a matter of fact it sounded more like a warning, and once again Connie rankled my nerves. My last nerve.

  I decided to change the subject. “You know, Connie, I didn’t even know you were married let alone getting a divorce, which I’m sorry about, by the way. I’ve never noticed a wedding ring.”

  A few gym members came into the club and stood at the reception desk waiting for keys for the lockers. Connie put the pen she had been holding down and moved away from the desk.

  “We weren’t married very long and never got around to getting a ring.”

  I nodded and then decided to get right to the point. And if Connie didn’t like it, I didn’t care. The murder took place in my house and Bert broke into my house. I had every right to find out whatever I could.

  “Connie, what happened between Penelope and Bert?”

  More people came in and Connie took my arm and moved me over to where the water fountain was. “Look, it was no big deal. She would have paid him eventually. She just wanted him to fix a few things.”

  A few things? From the way Penelope’s kitchen looked yesterday, it was more than a few things and I told this to Connie.

  “Bert’s been having some trouble lately getting good subcontractors. It would have worked out.”

  “How long has this been going on? Penelope’s kitchen, I mean?”

  Connie thought for a minute. “I think she hired him about six or seven months ago.”

  “Six months? Her kitchen’s been a mess for six months?”

  “Look, Alex, it’s no big deal. He’s working on it. He has a few guys ready to go over there this week, as a matter of fact.”

  I’ll bet, I thought. And how convenient Penelope just happened to die.

  “What’s it to you, anyway?” Connie asked.

  “I’m just trying to sort things out. Someone was killed in my house, Connie,” I said before she could interrupt me. “You said something about Bert wanting to kill her because she hadn’t paid him. And guess what? She died. In my house,” I said again. “And Bert was in there all the time lurking upstairs, so, yes, I would say I have every right to know what’s going on.”

  My voice had raised a couple of octaves and a few people stared.

  “Well, like I said on Friday night, Bert can be a jerk for sure, but he wouldn’t kill anyone. It was just a figure of speech. You know how it is, Alex. He just got mad at her. And he didn’t say it to her, he said it to me one night after work. He just needed the money and she wouldn’t pay, so he got mad.” Connie ran a hand through her long hair and stood there looking at me.

  “If he’s such a jerk, why were you two laughing and having a good time on Saturday? I saw you downtown.” I hadn’t really wanted to disclose this information, but Connie wasn’t giving me anything to go on.

  “Now you’re spying on me?” Connie asked with a raised voice.

  “I’m not spying on you, and lower your voice. I was at Kruger’s and I saw the two of you on Main Street.”

  Connie put her
hands on her very slim hips and sighed. “Okay. Look, he called me to come and get him from the police station. And then we went downtown to pick up a few things.”

  “And?”

  “And what? Alex, my life is none of your business and I’m tired of this crap you’re throwing at me. The police let Bert go because they had no reason to hold him. Get it? He didn’t do anything.”

  “He broke into my house.”

  “He was just checking up on me. It was no big deal.”

  “He broke into my house!” I said more forcibly. “And he stayed up there all night doing God knows what.” Come to think of it, what was he doing up there all that time? I never checked to see if anything was missing. Bert could have been up there going through my things, stuffing his pockets with my family jewels. Okay, so I didn’t have any family jewels, but who knows what he touched. Thoughts of him pawing through my underwear drawer, I quickly pushed to the very back of my mind.

  “Alex, I have a class to teach.” Connie turned and started walking away.

  “I don’t know what Bert was up to and what exactly he was doing in my house, and I don’t know what went on between him and Penelope, but I am going to find out.” I turned and headed for the reception area.

  “Alex. Do me a favor,” Connie called after me. “Don’t take my class anymore.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  I sat in my car munching on M&Ms and wondered if I should introduce them to Wilhelm. Did the Dutch have M&Ms? I don’t think I could live in a country without them, though I did quite nicely when I went to Belgium, what with having all the croissants and pastries to take their place.

  My day hadn’t started off very well, I thought, while I sat there popping candies like an addict, which, I guess I was. I didn’t care. I needed my vice. Not only had I not gotten any information out of Connie but I probably lost her as a friend and would find I was booted out of the club the next time I tried to get in. Geesh. Plus I never managed to ask Connie anything about Liz. They had come to the party together and I wanted to find out more about her. I guess I needed to swallow my pride and search out Connie again, but I would let things settle down a bit before I approached her.

  Actually, I did get something out of Connie. She told me Bert didn’t need any more trouble. More trouble about what? She also said he had a hard time getting good contractors. I began to wonder, based on the state of Penelope’s kitchen, if Bert even had any subcontractors. And why was that? I needed to find out more about Bert’s company. But I also wanted to find out if Bert had been in any trouble with the police before.

  I started up my car, took one last teensy tiny handful of M&Ms and headed out of the club parking lot.

  I promised John I would call Detective Maroni and tell him he wouldn’t be coming in for at least a few more days and of course I forgot. A few minutes later I pulled into the station just as Jim Maroni came out.

  “Detective Maroni, good morning.”

  “Jim, please. Hi, Alex. I just tried calling your house. John was supposed to be back.”

  Jim Maroni always reminded me of Clark Kent and I really don’t know why. The hair color is all wrong and he isn’t quite as tall, but he just does and he had turned into Superman for me on one occasion and I was forever in his debt.

  “That’s why I’m here. They have car trouble, or I should say truck trouble. They’re waiting on a part. Hopefully he’ll be back in a few days. I wanted to ask you a favor. Two, actually.”

  Jim smiled. “Shoot.”

  “Probably not the best thing for a policeman to say.” We both smiled. “First, I wanted to ask you not to mention the murder to John if he should happen to call. I don’t want him to worry. I’m staying over at my parents’ home until he comes back.”

  “No problem.” Jim smiled. “And the second favor?”

  “Bert Cabrizzi. I saw him on Main Street on Saturday morning so I take it he’s no longer a suspect?”

  Jim leaned against my car and said good morning to a young officer headed toward the building. “Right now he’s just a person of interest. Other than breaking into your house, we have nothing else on him. His prints were not on the knife, and we didn’t find any footprints from his boots in the library like there were on your throw rugs in the living and dining rooms.”

  “Right. I forgot all about that. Though he could have taken them off,” I offered.

  “Well, he could have but then why would he put them back on? When he finally came downstairs he would have just carried them or left them upstairs, but he had them on.”

  “Yes, he did.”

  “Doesn’t mean he’s not involved.”

  “You mean Connie?” I asked.

  “Yeah, he could have been in on it with her and maybe she pushed the knife into Mrs. Radamaker’s back.”

  I leaned on the car next to Jim and looked at a sky filling up with thick clouds again. Right now they were mostly white with a few light gray ones thrown in. “What about his background? Connie alluded to the fact he’s been having trouble lately, though she didn’t say what kind.”

  “The state keeps a database on lots of things and one is complaints against contractors. He has quite a few. Been sued a couple of times. I don’t think he should have picked contracting as his chosen profession.”

  “Hmmm. Has he ever threatened anyone before or has any former client threatened him?”

  “Only one I’ve found so far.”

  “Penelope.”

  “Yes. Mrs. Radamaker filed a complaint with the state regulatory agency that oversees all things construction related and she contacted a lawyer. I’m headed there right now.”

  “Anybody else look good for the crime?”

  “Alex, are you detecting again? Because if you are, just let me know so I can have my Superman costume cleaned and pressed and ready for action.” He smiled but I knew he wanted me to keep out of it.

  I waved my hand. “No. No. Just curious. I mean the crime did take place in my house and it was an evening straight out of a mystery novel what with the storm and lights going out and all.”

  Jim didn’t look convinced. Nor did he answer my question about anyone else being a suspect. He said goodbye and he would be in touch. I watched him walk to his car and then I stood there wondering with a sense of dread as more gray clouds gathered above me if my argument and all my questions with Connie earlier had just put me at the top of the Cabrizzis’ hit list.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  It was just about ten and I figured Els and Wilhelm should be up by now unless they were totally jetlagged. I turned onto Penelope’s street and saw Els unloading boxes from the back seat and trunk of a car, which I assumed was Penelope’s.

  I parked in front of the house and got out. “Good morning, Els.”

  “Ah. Good morning, Alex. I was just about to call you and let you know we are ready to begin. I went and got some packing boxes and the company is going to deliver many more later on, but I wanted to get started.”

  Els once again dressed in jeans and today she wore a kind of apron over her light sweater. It looked very practical with long sleeves, and I fleetingly thought I should start wearing my apron more often. No one seemed to wear them anymore and maybe I could start a new tradition. I stood there daydreaming about what other things I could design and maybe start my own fashion house when something startled me.

  “Pepermuntballen?” Wilhelm said to me, his hand outstretched and holding several little candy balls. At least he didn’t have the bookend in his hand today.

  “Oh, you scared me. What?”

  “A peppermint candy. Would you like one?” He smiled at me and I felt certain he liked scaring the hell out of me.

  “Oh, no thanks. I’ve had quite enough candy this morning already.” I felt like running to my car and downing a handful of my own vice right now just to calm me down but I didn’t want to have to share my stash with this confection connoisseur.

  “Wilhelm, stop eating,” Els admonished her brother,
“and take these boxes inside. I do not understand this addiction with candy that he has.” Els shook her head and grabbed a couple of boxes and I followed her into the house.

  “Wilhelm will be packing up the heavy stuff in the living room and study while you and I go upstairs and go through Penelope’s things.”

  If my game-loving grandmother was here, right about now she would be shouting bingo! How lucky was this? Maybe my day wasn’t going to be so bad. I just got handed the opportunity to go through Penelope’s things. I hoped she kept the really good stuff up in her room and not down in the living room or study where Wilhelm would be working. Of course, I had no idea what the good stuff was, but I really wanted to get a look at her belongings, ghoul that I am.

  “Let’s make some tea and we can begin.”

  I followed Els into the kitchen where she had already set out a tray with a plate of cookies and two mugs. Water began to boil on the stove and she took the large kettle and filled a china pot, and then placed the pot on the tray.

  “Twice in one year. I am packing for two people who have died in one year. I will be happy to sell this house and be done with it,” Els said as she picked up the tray.

  I followed her up the stairs to a large bedroom at the front of the house. The room looked much like the living room, with a chintz-covered chair and reading light and a large bed with matching bedspread.

  “You helped Penelope pack up everything when your father died?” I asked as I poured out tea for both of us.

  “Oh, yes. She insisted upon it. Right after the service. We were only home for an hour before she dragged us upstairs and began the process of getting my father out of her life.”

  “I was under the impression Penelope was very close to your father,” I asked, hoping this might illicit Els to share her thoughts on how Penelope killed her father. Okay, they were my thoughts, but it didn’t mean they weren’t true.

  Els opened up the closet door exposing a large walk-in filled with clothing; very expensive clothing from what I could tell, and gathered up several things at once and brought them out to the bed.