by Elaine Macko
“Yes, I can see this happening. Money is a powerful motive. Perhaps Andrea has already talked with an avocat, you know, the one who goes with you to court.”
“Lawyer.”
“Oui, a lawyer. I always forget that word. Perhaps Andrea meets with one and is told if a biological child is found, then bye-bye money. At that point she makes her plan. She has only to wait for an opportunity, and voila! One presents itself when her father arrives in Connecticut.”
The door of the campaign office opened again and Annie and I paused for a moment to see who was on the way out. The young guy I had talked with yesterday walked out and crossed the street and got into a small car.
“Excuse me, Annie,” I said, as I reached across her and took a small bag of M&M’s from the glove compartment. My last. I needed to restock. “Okay. Next is Christine. Hunter is quite the catch, at least on the surface,” I said, remembering his altercation with his friend in the bar. I dropped a few candies into Annie’s hand and took a couple for myself.
“Mr. Spiegel goes to see Christine, she doesn’t think much about it, but then she calls Hunter and he gets her all riled up about what his parents would think. She’s already on pretty shaky ground with them and knows they wield a lot of power with their son. Mr. Spiegel comes back, and this time Hunter is there. Both Christine and Hunter claim Mr. Spiegel left, but who’s to say he didn’t come back a third time and either one of them or both of them followed him, killed him, and dumped the body. It would be easy with both of them doing it together.”
“And then we have her parents. If Mr. Spiegel kept pursuing Christine, it would eventually come out that she was adopted, and that her biological mother was an addict. Her parents did not want this for their daughter. They wanted her to have a marriage to this rich young man. Perhaps they lied to us and confessed to Christine about her adoption. If she in turn told Hunter, it would be one more reason to be rid of Mr. Spiegel,” Annie said.
I nodded. I liked it. “What about Jerome Perry? I don’t see him being good for this, and neither do the police, but it wouldn’t be the first time they got it wrong. Sure, someone from the office could have called him to say that Mr. Spiegel was going to be in Connecticut, but did anyone in the office know?”
“I agree with this assessment,” Annie said. “Mr. Perry seemed to be very involved with himself, so much that would he even give Sheldon Spiegel a second thought? He must know it was his own actions and bad work that got him fired and nothing more. I thought him to be the kind of person who would be on to the next thing right away, and from all the phone calls he received while speaking with us, he is a man with lots of contacts, no?”
“He’s probably this very minute working on his next big thing. No, we can cross him off our list. What did you think of Mandy Aiello?” I asked.
“I liked her. She is a hard worker and is trying to make something of herself.”
“Do you think Mr. Spiegel’s claim would threaten her business in any way?”
Annie pursed her lips and used one finger to push her eyeglasses back in place. She took the bag of M&M’s from my hand and shook out a few more. “No, Alex, I do not think so. She is not close to her family, and if she were to find out her mother is not her mother, well, I think she would be upset, yes, but perhaps intrigued as well. I do not think it would lead her to murder.”
I felt the same about Mandy. I didn’t think she killed Sheldon unless there was something amiss in her life that Shirley hadn’t uncovered yet.
“That leaves the Shalts, the brother, and Martha Aiello. Jerry has a motive if you want to consider a lifetime of envying his brother. The Shalts may have a motive if they discovered Nurse Kathy switched the babies either by accident or on purpose. Mrs. Shalt would definitely want to protect her sister from a lawsuit and possible jail time. So that leaves the politician.”
Annie reached over and touched my arm. “And there she is, no?
I looked over at the campaign office. Martha Aiello had just turned out the lights and was now on the sidewalk, locking the door.
“And there she is. Let’s go see what she has to say for herself.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Martha Aiello turned at the sound of our approaching footsteps. The look on her face was pure panic, and then she recognized me and I was surprised to see the panicked look remained in place.
“I’m afraid you’ve caught me at a bad time.”
“Really? Looks like you’re headed home for the evening. The other day we got distracted before you could give me your thoughts on Mr. Spiegel and his claim that his child was switched at birth with another, perhaps your very own daughter.”
“Look, Ms. Harris, I didn’t tell you much because there’s nothing to tell. The man was obviously mistaken and that was that. Now, really, I’m late for—”
“That café over there is still open and I would love something warm to drink. Won’t you join us, Ms. Aiello,” Annie said in a soothing tone she had probably perfected from years of working with the sick. I had much to learn from Annie Willix.
Martha Aiello reached down and picked up the briefcase she had rested against the building while she had locked the door. She heaved a heavy sigh and adjusted a chunky necklace artfully draped around her long neck. “Fine. But only because I know if I don’t talk with you now, you’ll only come back and I don’t need this right now.”
We crossed the street and walked to the end of the block. The café was packed with students, but we managed to find a small table in the back. I ordered three herbal teas and three scones and carried it all back to our table on a tray.
“Annie and I haven’t had any dinner yet, and you look like you could use something to eat as well. This is Annie, by the way. She’s helping me sort through this mess.”
“Hello, Annie. Thank you, Ms. Harris, I am rather hungry. I forgot to eat lunch today.” Martha broke off a piece of a vanilla scone and savored it before taking a sip of the hot tea. “I needed this.”
“So, why don’t you start by telling us exactly what happened when Mr. Spiegel came to see you. And you can leave out all the comments about my lack of fashion. It was a brilliant misdirect, by the way.” I gave her a smile to show there were no hard feelings.
Martha had the grace to smile back. “It wasn’t all misdirected. You really could benefit from a different hair color and some nice pieces of jewelry, and Annie, have you ever thought of a pair of glasses with a wild colored frame? It would do wonders for your eyes.”
“Are we done?”
Martha put her hands up in an I-give-up motion. “Okay, fine. So, Ms. Harris, ask your questions.”
“You can call me Alex. After Mr. Spiegel left your office, you were very upset for the rest of the day. Why?”
“How did you know— Kurt.” Martha shook her head and pursed her lips. “His mother and I went to college together. That’s the only reason he’s working for me—that and the fact his father is an idiot—and that’s not going to last much longer.”
“Don’t get mad at Kurt. I can be quite pushy when I want to be. Now, back to Mr. Spiegel.”
Martha touched the corners of her mouth with her thumb, removing a few crumbs from the scone. “He came in with that nonsense about switched babies. He had already been to see my daughter. You’ve met my daughter. Do they look anything alike? Of course they don’t,” Martha said, not waiting for my answer. “That’s because they are not related. I said the same thing to him. I asked him point blank, ‘does Mandy look like you, Mr. Spiegel? Like your wife?’ Of course not. He conceded the point and left shortly after that. I feel for the man, but he had the wrong girl with Mandy, but I am curious to find out exactly what went on at that hospital.”
“Then why the bad mood? Kurt thought you seemed pretty upset. Does it have anything to do with the campaign?”
I had obviously struck a nerve because Martha Aiello’s skin went white. She picked up her tea and took a sip.
“It does, doesn’t it? How could
Mr. Spiegel have anything to do with you running for mayor?”
Martha continued to hold the cup. She took another sip and then placed the tea on the table. “Mr. Spiegel didn’t have anything to do with my campaign. Nothing at all.”
“But?”
Martha took a deep breath. “But nothing. New Haven needs me. I’ve worked the last twenty years to get to this point and I will be a damned good mayor. I’m not about to let some crazy man with wild ideas upset things.”
I waited for a couple of students to push by our table and then I focused on Martha. “And how would his wild ideas have any bearing on your campaign?”
“Oh, please.” Martha gave me the same look she had probably leveled at Mandy on numerous occasions. “Every little piece of dirt affects a campaign. This is politics. This is what my opponents wait for.”
Annie put up her hand. “I am sorry, but I do not understand how the possibility of a switched child would upset your work, especially because as you already said, you are certain Mandy is not the switched child of Mr. Spiegel.”
Martha fidgeted in her seat. “I just don’t need this now. I’ve dropped a few points in the last week, and any little thing might ruin my chances. I have some ground-breaking plans for this city,” Martha said as she pounded the table with her fist, “and that man and his obsession, well, I wasn’t about to let him get in my way.”
“So you killed him?” Annie stared at Martha with wide eyes.
Martha drew her head back and gave Annie a murderous gaze. “Are you crazy? Of course I didn’t kill him. I told him to get out and never come back.”
A few of the students looked up from their laptops and then quickly turned away when Martha leveled her stare at them. I thought my sister had the scary school-teacher look down, but this lady could teach Sam a thing or two.
I put my cup down and shook my head. “Sorry, I don’t buy it. If that’s all that happened you wouldn’t have been so, well, cranky, the rest of the day like Kurt said. There’s more to this story and you might as well tell us because this stuff has a way of getting out, and I have a way of finding things.” Or my good friend Shirley, the private investigator did.
Martha put her elbows on the table and cradled her head in her hands. “Shit. How come everything is falling apart?”
“Falling apart how?” I persisted.
“Okay, look,” Martha began, looking back at me. “If he continued to pursue Mandy, either he or she might, well, might find out some things. Things for which I have gone to a great deal of trouble to hide. Things that would mean nothing to anyone else, but in the wrong hands during a campaign, could be misconstrued and would probably end my career altogether.”
“Like what?” Annie asked.
“Do I have your word that none of this will go any further?” Martha looked straight at me.
“Mrs. Aiello, I can’t promise you that. My husband is the officer on this case, and if what you tell me might have some bearing on why Mr. Spiegel got killed, I’ll need to tell him. But he’s a discreet guy and if it isn’t relevant it will go no further.”
Martha sighed. “Jesus. Sins have a way of always catching up with you, don’t they? Did Mandy mention anything about her father when you spoke with her?”
I shook my head. “Only that he died a long time ago.”
“Yeah, well, he didn’t. He’s in prison. Embezzling and manslaughter. But she doesn’t know that and I want to keep it that way.”
Annie gasped. “Sorry. Please continue.”
Martha lowered her voice and Annie and I leaned in to hear her better over the din of the café.
“We lived in Maine after the girls were born. When Don went to prison I moved down here to start over. Aiello is my maiden name, but because my mother remarried after my father died, she has a different last name and Mandy and her sister just accepted Aiello as their father’s name. I never corrected them. You see, I was never actually married to Don. He was a charmer, that one. I followed him to Maine against my mother’s wishes. He was starting up a law practice. It was his partner that he killed. It was a big scandal up there, but it was a small town so the news never got this far. I told all my friends that he died. I even told my mother that.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through all of that, but I don’t see how it would damage your chances to become mayor?”
Martha looked at me and then smirked. “You obviously know nothing about politics. This is what my detractors live for. I’m just surprised they haven’t dug it all up already, but maybe my poor-widow-raising-two-kids-alone angle has softened their stone-cold hearts. And there’s more. I found some money after Don went to prison. Not a lot. But I’m sure it was ill-gotten gains. I took it and used it for a down payment on a small house here. I had two kids to support and I sure wasn’t going to be getting anything from Don. I told everyone it was from the life insurance policy after he died. I told my mother Don died of a heart attack, that he always had a bad heart. Don was an only child. His mother was dead and his father lived in Oregon. I never met the man. So it was easy to get away with the lie. I guess I probably should have given the money back, but who was I going to give it to? His partner? He was dead and he was single. I had kids and I needed to start over.”
“You do realize you’ve just given yourself a motive for murder?” I asked.
Martha spread her hands in the I-give-up motion again and just shook her head. “My campaign’s not going so well right now. I’ve been living with this over my head since I tossed my hat into the ring. I’m glad to have it off my chest, if only to you, but I did not kill that man. And if anyone thinks I did,” she said pointedly to me, “they’ll have to prove it. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going home, and I’m going to stay up all night if I have to and see how I can get some momentum going before it’s too late.” Martha stood up.
“Before you go, can we change topics for a second?” I said quickly before she had a chance to leave.
Martha sighed, rolled her eyes, and sat back down. “Make it quick. I have a long night ahead of me if I plan on staying in this race, which I do.”
“Okay. Tell me about your stay in the hospital when Mandy was born.” I watched Martha settle back into the chair and I could swear I saw her face soften. Maybe she wasn’t as hard as she pretended.
“I had a nice easy pregnancy. I was one of those women that actually liked being pregnant. I felt good. I didn’t gain too much weight. Of course, I was young, in love and our prospects looked good until, you know, Don had to go and kill his partner,” Martha said with a wry tone. “Mandy came right on schedule, and even the birth was easy. She just popped out.”
“Do you remember Mr. Spiegel?”
Martha blew out a long breath. “Kind of. In a vague way. He and Don talked on the day I went home, I remember that. And some other guy, too. Tall skinny thing. Kind of nerdy. Don’t remember his name.”
“What else do you remember about your hospital stay? Anything out of the ordinary happen?”
“You mean did I see someone go into the nursery and switch a couple babies around? No. But now that you’ve got me thinking about it,” Martha said, as she leaned forward and nodded her head. “There was some commotion one night. Don was just getting ready to leave and we heard some guy acting crazy. There were loud voices so he stayed with me until things got quiet again. But the next morning when he came to pick Mandy and me up, he said he saw the guy out in front of the hospital. The security guards had just escorted him out when Don got off the elevator, and he kind of expected the man to be really weird. Maybe homeless. Don stayed back a bit because he didn’t want to go outside with this nut standing there, but Don said the minute the guy left the hospital and the security people were gone, he just walked down the street all normal. Wasn’t acting crazy like what we heard from my room. And I remember that Don looked at me that morning and said that he wondered what the guy had really been up to, and why he came into the hospital. It was strange. But no, Don didn’t see
any baby hidden under the guy’s coat or anything. We just thought the whole event was odd. Now, I really do have to go.”
“One more thing. Okay, two. Do you have a description of the guy? And do you own a gun?”
“I don’t remember Don giving me a rundown on the man’s looks other than to say that he was probably in his late twenties, maybe. I never saw him. And to answer your next question, no I don’t own a gun. People have too many accidents with guns.” Martha got up and this time she walked out of the café.
Annie looked at me. “What do you think of all that? And what do you make of her saying that if we think she killed Mr. Spiegel, we’ll have to prove it? Was that a challenge? Do you think she did kill him?”
“I think Martha figures her luck lasted about thirty years on her secret and maybe it will hold out a bit longer. Being mayor is the most important thing to her right now. But it’s interesting what she said about the man who came onto the maternity ward. I’m almost one-hundred percent certain he was there on purpose, but that doesn’t get us any closer to discovering who put him up to it. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that the murder of Mr. Spiegel is connected to the vagrant in the hospital.”
“But the murder, Alex? Do you think Martha killed Mr. Spiegel and hopes to get away with it, at least for now?”
I took a last bite of my scone and tossed the rest in the trashcan next to our table. “I’m not sure, but we may have just been dealt the poor widow angle. It worked for her once, why not keep it going. She may have been telling us the truth about not having a gun, but at the same time the woman is out a lot at night, so who knows.”
We left the café and walked back to the car. I was tired and hungry. And I had just added another very good suspect to my ever-growing list instead of clearing off a name.
