by Elaine Macko
******
As it turned out, Brian Jankowski had nothing to say about Jenna because he wasn’t home. After I knocked on his door, an end unit in a small community of attached homes, and got no answer, I walked back to my car. Maybe he was gone for the summer on a European vacation. Did principals get the entire summer off like teachers? I had no idea. The man could be a million places. While I sat there, letting my car’s air conditioning comfort me while I decided what to do next, I had an epiphany. The man was at the grocery store, or, more accurately, had just been at the grocery store. I deduced this not because I have psychic powers I never told you about, but because he had just pulled into his driveway and was now taking a bag of groceries and a large watermelon from the trunk of his car.
“Are you Mr. Jankowski?” I called as I locked my car door and quickly ran up the walk.
“Yes, I’m Brian Jankowski. How can I help you?”
“I’m Alex Harris. We’ve actually met a couple of times. Kendall and Henry Daniels are my niece and nephew.”
“Oh, of course. Nice to see you again.”
“I was wondering if I could speak with you about what happened to Mr. Sanjari?”
“I take it this has something to do with your sister. How is Sam? I heard that the police arrested her?”
“Can I help you with something?”
“Sure, grab that other bag.”
I took the other bag of groceries out of the trunk and closed the door.
“Come on inside. There’s ice cream in there.”
I followed Mr. Big into the house. We entered straight into the living room. At the back of the house was the kitchen. It was all actually one long room with beautiful hardwood floors, a nice sectional sofa, big screen TV, and a few pictures on the wall. The kitchen looked like it had been recently updated. There was a staircase that divided the room in half with kitchen and dining on one side and living room on the other. It wasn’t very big but it was a nice, neat space.
“Have a seat while I put this stuff away. Can I get you something cold to drink? Iced tea or lemonade?”
“Lemonade sounds good,” I said.
Mr. Jankowski poured two large glasses of lemonade. He placed one in front of me and took a big gulp from the other.
“So, your sister? Is she okay? I talked to the police when they came to the school. They spoke with everyone, but who would have thought they would settle on Sam. Call me Brian, by the way.”
“She’s fine, thank you. It was all a big mistake. I guess she had some words with Mr. Sanjari the morning before he was killed and it got back to the police.”
“That would be the work of Mary McCarthy,” Brian said as he put a number of items into the freezer. “She has a great kid, but she likes to stir the pot and get attention. Knowing her the way I do, she probably exaggerated what she heard between your sister and Victor and made the police think it was worse than it was. And she volunteered the information, they didn’t ask. I saw her run after one of the detectives as they were leaving. I know what Vic was like and your sister is not the only woman at the school that he bothered.”
“Brian, I actually wanted to speak with you about something else.”
“Sure. What is it?”
“Are you Mr. Big?”
Chapter 36
Brian stood perfectly still. “Who told you that?”
“Maddi, Jenna’s sister, found Jenna’s diary. There was an awful lot in it about a man she called Mr. Big.”
Brian lowered himself onto the stool next to mine. He ran a hand through his thinning blond hair and looked at me. “Yeah, I was Mr. Big. Jenna thought it was funny. She really liked that show about the single women in New York.”
“How did the affair start?” I asked.
“She and Victor were separated. I would never have started anything if she hadn’t been. We used to meet at various hotels. She didn’t want my neighbors to see her until we had everything sorted out. I loved her and I think she loved me. I wanted her to divorce Victor and we could start a new life with Moshi. I was willing to relocate to get away from Victor.”
“But she got back with him?”
Brian took a deep breath. He looked like he was trying to control his anger. “He begged her to give it another try. I told her to just walk away, but she had Moshi to consider. She said she would never forgive herself if she didn’t give her marriage one more try, but I think she knew it was over. I wanted Jenna and Moshi to come live with me, but she told me that even if she left Victor for good, it would be on her own terms and that she would take care of herself. She was independent and wanted Moshi to be that way, too. I think she had enough of being under Victor’s control for so many years.”
“Along with the diary, there was quite a bit of cash,” I said.
Brian nodded his head. “That figures. Jenna was a planner. If she was planning on moving, she would have been prepared. Maybe that’s why she got back with him, so she could save up more money. I really believe she was going to leave him soon, this summer maybe, but then she told me that he planned a nice getaway. I don’t think she wanted to go, but she was probably trying to do the right thing.”
“Were you two still seeing each other all this time?” I asked.
“No. Once she got back with Victor, our affair stopped, but we were still friends. I cared about her and she needed someone to talk to. I’m certain she would have left him. She and I would have been together now. Probably not living together like I would have liked, but we would have been dating and building a life. But she went to Maine with Victor and she never came back. Excuse me.” Brian went into a little powder room off the kitchen and came back with a couple of tissues. “Sorry.”
“Her sister thinks Victor killed her. She wants me to try and prove that. Did you ever think Victor killed Jenna?”
“Everyone thought that. It was the perfect crime, wasn’t it? No witnesses. Out in the middle of nowhere. I hated seeing that guy every day dropping Moshi off. It was almost like he was taunting me.”
“Did you know that before he and Jenna went away, they took out life insurance policies?”
Brian’s pale face went from flesh tone to red almost instantly. “Then it’s true. He did kill her. He got what he deserved!”
“Do you think he knew about you and Jenna?”
“I don’t know. I told Jenna not to keep a diary, but it was something she did since she was a kid. She liked to write down her thoughts. She said she had a great place to hide it and he would never find it. But he must have. Sometimes when he would drop his daughter off, I’d catch him looking at me. If he found the diary, then he knew Jenna had an affair. Maybe he was just checking me out to see if I fit the bill. He never said anything, though. He never confronted me. But I’ll bet that’s why he arranged that trip to Maine. He found that diary and he killed her. But how do you prove that?” he asked me in a skeptical tone.
“I don’t know that I ever will be able to prove it,” I said.
“Jenna would have never wanted Moshi to be raised by Vic and that mother of his. If you ask me, Victor getting killed is the best thing that could have happened for Moshi. Maddi and Hal are great parents, very active at the school. They’ll take good care of her. I really did love Jenna. I would have taken good care of them and the three of us could have had a wonderful life. I would have done anything for Jenna.”
I left Brian in the kitchen and as I walked back to my car I had to wonder if that included killing Victor.
Chapter 37
It was getting late and I was hungry. I headed for home with one more stop to go. If Victor had indeed found Jenna’s diary, that might be considered a pretty good reason for him to kill her. Of course, none of this would probably ever be confirmed, but it might help Maddi move on knowing the truth about how her sister died. Maybe the police would even re-open their investigation, but with Victor dead, they may not want to bother. But still, I wanted to know if Victor had any idea about what Jenna had written, and if he
did maybe he confided in his mother.
The Sanjari house stood quiet. It looked sad somehow, and I wondered if Maddi would have a hard time selling it. No crime actually took place in the house, but if it turned out Jenna was also murdered, knowing that both the previous owners were killed might put off potential buyers. Or maybe encourage others. There were all sorts of ghouls out there.
I rang the bell and heard nothing. I was about to leave, but remembered how Ruth had passed out the last time I was here. Maybe she was inside and needed help. I tried the door knob but the door was locked. I tried leaning over the railing to look in the front windows, but couldn’t quite reach, and from the ground they were too high for me to see through. I walked around to the back, and that’s when I noticed the back door was open. I crossed the patio and entered the kitchen. A noise was coming from somewhere down the hall. I should have called out, but the noise seemed furtive somehow, not like an occupant would make. I made my way quietly toward it to a small room that looked like an office. I looked in and saw a young woman rummaging through the drawers of a desk.
“Can I help you with something?” I asked. I didn’t think the woman was Delilah Sanjari. She was too young. She looked up at me and put her hand to her chest.
“Oh my God! You scared the daylights out of me.”
“Who are you and what are you doing in the Sanjaris’ house?”
She stuck out her chin. “I could ask you the same thing. You don’t look old enough to be Victor’s mother.” She was a tiny little thing, with an adorable haircut like the actress Michelle Williams.
“I was looking for Ruth. And you?” I reached into my purse and pulled out my cell phone. Of course I had to turn the darned thing on and by time it powered up this pixie could be long gone.
“Hey! No need to call anyone. I was like, just looking for my things. I think I’ll be going.” She tried to move past me.
“Not so fast. You still haven’t told me who you are.”
“Fine. My name’s Elizabeth Applegate.”
“Nice to meet you, Elizabeth Applegate. What were you doing going through these drawers?”
“I told you. I was looking for my stuff.”
“And why would your stuff be here?”
“Because, you know…forget it. It’s not here, so never mind.”
I still had the phone in my hand. I looked down at it and poised my finger over the nine.
“Okay. Okay! I just wanted to get my stuff that I left here. Since Vic died, I was afraid someone might find it and it was private, you know, like just between me and Vic. I didn’t want his mother or daughter to find it.”
“What was private? What are you talking about?” I asked.
“The pictures. The ones Vic took of me.” She looked at my left hand. “You’re married. You know, like pictures.” She tossed me a shy smile.
I tossed her a blank look.
The smile disappeared and the eyes rolled. “The nudies. I didn’t want anyone to find the nudies.”
I shook my head. “Victor Sanjari took nude photos of you?”
“Gee, pervert. It wasn’t like that! We were like dating. Victor and I were in love.”
Chapter 38
Victor. Dating. Nude photos. In love. These were words I wasn’t expecting to hear together. All I could think of for the moment was why would this young woman, who had to be no more than twenty-two or three, want to date Victor Sanjari? And how long had this been going on?
“You were dating Victor Sanjari? You were in love with him? We are talking about Victor Sanjari, the man who was recently murdered, right?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. Gee, lady. You make it sound, like, nasty or something.”
Lady? I wasn’t even forty yet, for pity’s sake.
“Alex. My name is Alex. Sounds better than Lady.”
At that Elizabeth smiled.
“So how long were you and Victor together?”
“About six or seven weeks.” She held up her hand. “I know, not a long time, but, well, like we just clicked, you know. He wasn’t like any of the other guys I’ve dated. He was older and knew how to treat a woman.”
“We’re really talking about Victor Sanjari?” I should have Elizabeth speak to my sister and Maddi to find out how Victor treated women.
“I know who I’ve been dating. He was a great guy and someone killed him. How is that fair? Why would anyone want to kill him? We had plans.” A tear escaped her eye and she sniffled.
“What kind of plans?” I asked.
“He wanted me to move in here with him, but first he needed to find a place for his mother.”
So Mr. Annunzio was right when he told me about hearing Victor and Delilah arguing over Ruth.
“Did you see Victor the night he died?”
Elizabeth shook her head and her eyes misted over. “He was supposed to meet me at a restaurant in New Haven. I’m living there with a friend for the summer. I go to UCONN. Anyway, he never showed up. I sat there for like forever, and then I ordered dinner thinking he’d walk in while I was waiting for my food, but he never did. I had them box it up and then I drove here, but I didn’t see his car. Lights were on and I could see an old lady walking around. He didn’t want me to meet his mother yet, so I just left and went home.”
“How did you find out that he died?”
“My roommate told me Thursday morning. She saw it on TV. When he didn’t show up for dinner on Tuesday night I called him and it kept going to voice mail. I didn’t know what to think. I thought maybe he was, like, mad at me, or something came up with his mother. He said she was a handful. And then Kara told me he was dead.” Elizabeth sniffled and used the sleeve of her cotton shirt to wipe away a tear.
“So you decided to come and find your photos.”
“Uh-huh. I didn’t want anyone to see them. Victor used one of those cameras where you get the picture right away. He didn’t want them on his phone because his daughter might see them. We were just playing around. You know how it is when you’re newly in love.”
Yeah, the Lady could still remember the good old days when she didn’t call her husband Detective.
“How did you two meet?”
“I was waitressing at a private party Victor attended. I walked over to him with a tray of wine and he grabbed a glass and gave me a smile. He had a great smile. A while later I passed him again and he took another glass. This time a champagne cocktail. We chatted a bit and he gave me his card before he left and told me to call him, so I did.”
“And what will you do now?”
“I have a summer job at The Food Co-op and I teach crafts to kids at a community center a couple of afternoons a week. And then school starts up again. I have one more year.”
“No family?”
“They live in Europe. My dad’s in the military.”
“Well, if you’re done with your search, I think we should get out of here,” I said. I stared at Elizabeth, and that’s when I heard a voice that wasn’t coming out of her mouth.
“What the hell is going on? Who are you people? Don’t move. I’m calling the police.”
Chapter 39
I had been so engrossed in Elizabeth’s story that I never heard anyone else come in.
Two women stood by the entry to the small room in which Elizabeth and I now stood. I recognized Ruth, still in sweat pants and a tank top, though in a different color than the one she had on yesterday. The other woman had on a long calico skirt with a long-sleeved black turtle neck top despite the heat. Over that she wore what looked like a crocheted vest that went down to her knees. It was in the same thin yarn my mother used to use to make tablecloths and doilies. To complete the look she had a cross body bag made from an assortment of brightly crocheted squares draped across her front.
I put a smile on my face and tried not to look like a person who was just caught inside another’s home without permission.
“You must be Delilah,” I gushed. “I’m Alex Harris and this is Elizabeth App
legate. I came by to see Ruth, and when she didn’t answer the door I came around back to make sure she was okay. And look, here you are, Ruth.” I threw my arms out in a welcoming gesture. “You look good!” It sounded inane, but it was the truth, I did come by to see Ruth, though the looking good part was a gross exaggeration.
“I don’t know you,” Ruth Sanjari said.
“Yes, you do. I stopped by yesterday. Remember? I had a few more questions for you.”
“And her?” Delilah pointed to Elizabeth. “Who’s she?”
“Ah, just a friend. She was with me. We were out shopping when I remembered a few more things I wanted to discuss with Ruth.” I saw no reason to get the kid in trouble.
“That’s right, and you know what, Alex, I just remembered I’m late for…something. I’ll call you. It was fun.” Elizabeth took off like a shot and was out the back door before I could stop her.
Darn! I wanted to talk with her some more, but hopefully I could track her down via her job or school. I turned back to the two Sanjari women and smiled.
“I still think I should call the police,” Delilah said. “You can’t just come into people’s homes like this.”
Despite the fact that at some point Delilah Sanjari had felt at one with her Indian heritage, her looks were more in line with a throwback to hippie days in San Francisco. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a thin ponytail trailing down her back, and her skin was tan and lined, making her look older than she probably was.
“Well, technically it’s Moshi’s house and Maddi is the guardian, and I know for a fact that she wouldn’t mind my being here.”
Delilah put a scowl on her face, clearly not happy about the ownership of the home. “What did you want to ask my mother?”
“I wanted to know whether Victor ever mentioned to either one of you anything about finding a diary. Jenna’s diary.”
“He told me he found some money in her underwear drawer under those little panties she liked to wear. Didn’t sound like much to me, but he never said nothing about any diary. Delilah, where’d you put my cigarettes? Got nothing to drink in this place, at least let me have a smoke,” Ruth said.
