Angel Sleuth

by Lesley A. Diehl

  “I think I recognized the driver of the car. The sun was reflecting off the windshield, but…”

  “Maybe we should call the police.”

  “And say what? Someone nearly hit me while I was stepping off the curb. Happens all the time in the city. Why would the police be interested?” She peeked through the curtains on window overlooking the street.

  “But it was someone you knew!”

  “Maybe. Or maybe it was the product of an overly active imagination not exercised much in the past few weeks. Anyway, I don’t want to get into it with New York City’s finest.”

  They ordered Chinese take-out, popped a video in the VCR and spent the evening watching a movie that didn’t capture Kaitlin’s attention. She knew she was bad company and regretted not being more fun. She did manage to get Roslyn to agree to join Mother and her for brunch.

  * * *

  The phone ringing at five in the morning changed brunch plans.

  Mac’s voice came over the line, pulling her out of a troubled sleep.

  “Thought you’d like to know. Will Jameson is in the hospital. Some guys jumped him outside the bed and breakfast where he was staying, dragged him behind a dumpster, and beat him up. Not an hour later someone called Caroline’s room and told her she’d get the same thing as Will if she didn’t return to California. She’s pretty hysterical about the whole thing.”

  Leda dead, a bump on the head, and a near miss with a car. Will’s beating, and Caroline threatened. How could she see Aldensville as the village of longevity and good health any longer?

  Chapter 16

  And then there was the good news. When Kaitlin called her mother on the phone, she told her that a close friend had an accident and was in the hospital. She didn’t have to see Mom this trip and be forced to confess she wasn’t writing, she had no boyfriend, she found Mary Jane and Jeremy interesting, sometimes comforting, but always confusing, and she was snooping into areas that seemed to get her into trouble. No. Mom did not need to know all of that, and now she wouldn’t have to. Hooray.

  When she returned from the city, she met with Mac, Mary Jane and Caroline in the small coffee shop attached to Caroline’s motel. She could tell Caroline was anxious to take action in locating her father, but Kaitlin hadn’t a thought about how to begin the process.

  “Maybe you should return to California and let the police and your lawyer handle the settling of Leda’s estate. It might be safer,” Kaitlin said.

  “I can’t leave now. I have to track down my father.”

  “The locals decided that Will’s beating and the threat to Caroline were more than they could handle, especially since the events appeared to be related somehow to Leda’s death. So they turned the whole investigation over to the state authorities. Maybe it’s time to tell them about that bump on your head and the crazy driver in the city,” Mac said.

  “No, I don’t want to bring undue attention to the residents at ARC. They’re too vulnerable. And I can’t be sure that Hiram was driving that car. Meantime, you keep an eye on Caroline.” She checked her watch. “I gotta run. I’ve neglected my ombudsman duties. ARC is one place to begin tracking down Leda’s past. I’m sure she talked with some of the residents there about her life, and I’m tight with several. I’ll have a chat with them today. Why don’t you come too, Mary Jane? You can visit some of your favorite people there and see what you can find out.”

  “What can I do?” asked Caroline.

  “You might want to visit Will in the hospital and see what you can get out of him about Leda’s past.”

  “He’s not in great shape, I hear. Isn’t that a little insensitive? Picking his brain while he’s recovering from being battered?”

  “Mac, how about you do it? You’re a retired cop. You know the routine.”

  Mac smiled and reached for Caroline’s hand.

  “Let’s go, dear. I’ll teach you how to play interrogation.”

  * * *

  Kaitlin pulled her car into the parking lot at ARC late in the afternoon. Mary Jane headed for the lounge where many residents met before dinner.

  “I’ll see what I can find out, but then I have to head down the hill. Jeremy’s out with some friends looking for Dessie. Maybe they’ve found her,” she said.

  Kaitlin picked up the concern in Mary Jane’s voice. It made her mad. What good was it being a guardian angel if you couldn’t take care of your own son?

  “Isn’t there something you can do to find her?” she asked.

  “I told you before. Some things are out of my purview and finding pigs is one of them. I protect people. And only the people I’m assigned to. I wish it were different.” She turned left, her long Technicolor skirt swinging rhythmically with each step she took.

  Mollified by Mary Jane’s explanation, Kaitlin sighed and nodded. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed. See you back there.”

  When she couldn’t locate Paul in his apartment or in the dining room, she headed toward Lily’s room.

  She ducked into the public restroom on the way to Lily’s. Bethany Nappi, Jeremy’s favorite intern, stood leaning against the sink when Kaitlin exited the stall.

  “Waiting for me? What’s up?”

  “You need to get out of here.” She twisted the front of her sweater in her hands.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I was wrong to try to bring you into this. Leda suspected something was going on, and look what happened to her. And now her nephew. Get out of here. Get someone else to do the ombudsman job.” Bethany turned to leave, but Kaitlin grabbed her arm.

  “You know something, don’t you?”

  “That bump on the head was just a warning. You could get something worse.”

  “You were the one who wrote me the note, weren’t you? You’ve got to tell me what’s going on here.”

  Bethany twisted her arm free of Kaitlin’s grip and ran out of the room. Kaitlin tried to pursue her but bumped into Mr. Toliver in the hall.

  “Problems?”

  “Uh, no. Not really.” She watched Bethany flee down the hall and turn the corner toward the back of the building. “Just making a rest stop before I head on to Lily’s room. I was looking for Paul and thought he might be visiting Lily this afternoon.”

  “I wouldn’t know about that. I just got back from a trip to the city, a meeting of the board of directors of ARC, you know. We’re very fortunate to have members on the board from some major corporations. They like to have me there when they hold a meeting. The personal touch.” He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, his hands clasped behind his back, spelling a posture that said he was oh so pleased with himself.

  “Well, good evening then.” Kaitlin headed down the hall to Lily’s room.

  “Uh, Ms. Singer, there’s been some concern over your upsetting the residents here.” He cleared his throat and continued rocking.

  She stopped, turned and walked back toward him. The nervous arrogance of the man was beginning to piss her off, but she was curious about what he had to say.

  “Oh. Have there been complaints from residents?”

  “Not in so many words, but…”

  “Or from staff or volunteers?”

  “Oh, no, just general talk. You know how it is in these places. Something in the air.”

  “Could you fill me in on what that something might be, if not spring? Or early summer?”‘

  “No, not really, but please be careful when you bring up Leda’s name around here. Some of the residents didn’t like her much. Felt she was too snoopy. Tended to make mountains out of molehills. Reminding them of her creates difficulty. Just today, Dr. Baldo had to up the dosage of Lily’s medication because she was so agitated.”

  She wasn’t about to ignore his implied accusations.

  “Are you saying Lily was upset about Leda? I’ve been gone for several days, so I doubt it was me that agitated her. Perhaps one of the staff, a volunteer, or maybe she heard something about Leda’s nephew.”

  “W
hat about her nephew?”

  “Oh, you haven’t heard? Someone beat him up last night. He’s in the hospital.”

  Toliver’s mouth dropped open, and he reached for his throat as if protecting his neck.

  “Oh God.” Toliver turned on his heel and ran toward his office.

  * * *

  Paul let her into Lily’s room. The two of them were engaged in a game of two-handed pitch. Paul’s teapot and two cups sat on the table between them. If Lily were agitated, Baldo’s medication must have done the trick. She seemed quite happy and appeared to be beating the pants off Paul.

  “Ha! You’re in the hole bad. Down fifteen points to my plus ten. Give up, Paul. You’ll never catch up.”

  Paul returned to the table and threw in his cards. He signaled to Kaitlin to take his seat. “We finished the tea, but I can make another pot.”

  “No, thanks. I was checking in to see how everyone was getting along. I just had the most interesting conversation with Toliver.” She repeated his negative comments about Leda and his reaction to the news about Will Jameson.

  “Stupid man,” said Paul. “He can’t get anything right. Everyone here loved Leda. And we love you, too. Dr. Baldo dropped by this afternoon and suggested Lily might benefit from some valium to relax her when she got all excited about the bridge tournament next week. She told him to go stick it. Those were your very words, were they not, Lily?”

  “Old fool can’t tell the difference between glee and agitation. I told him the nurses were giving me the wrong cholesterol medication, and that got him real agitated. He said he’d check into it. We’ll just see what they bring me in here to take tonight. ’Scuze me.” Lily made for her bathroom. “You make that tea too damn strong.”

  Kaitlin shared with Paul her concern that something might not be right with Lily’s medication. She had left Dr. Baldo a note over a week ago relating to him her discovery that baby aspirin had been substituted for Lily’s cholesterol medication. Confirmation from Lily about the mistake would have troubled him.

  “Something funny’s going on. Keep your eyes open and let me know what you see. But be careful. Whatever it is, people who snoop around are in danger,” Kaitlin said.

  “You think this is all related to Leda’s death, don’t you?”

  Oh, yes, she did. Her next move was to find Bethany Nappi and get her some place where she would feel safe talking with her.

  As she was walking out the back doors of the building, she spied a red Corvette parked under the oak tree over by the picnic table. She ducked back in the building and rounded the corner by Toliver’s office. If anyone came in or out of this door, she wanted to see who it was, especially if that person headed toward the Corvette.

  She waited near Toliver’s door and could hear voices inside but couldn’t make out the words. The door opened several inches, and the visitor’s voice became distinct.

  “Get rid of that intern. She’s nothing but trouble, and I want her out of here. Today. Hear me? Get rid of her.”

  Bethany was in danger! Kaitlin wanted to rush off and warn her, but she had to know who was talking. She remained in her hiding place.

  A man dressed in a dark suit exited Toliver’s office. He stopped and straightened his lapels, ran a hand over wavy black hair, and pushed through the back doors. She’d never seen him before, but he strode up to the Corvette, opened the driver’s side door, and took off with wheels spinning.

  She needed to get home and run these events past Mac. Her inclination was to call Bethany and warn her about the conversation overheard in Toliver’s office, but she wanted to know Mac’s take on the situation. Maybe learning she was in danger would convince Bethany that she should talk to the police if she didn’t want to tell Kaitlin what was going on at ARC.

  Kaitlin parked her car in the driveway and dashed into the house. Mac, Caroline, and Mary Jane were there already, seated at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Mac and Mary Jane were holding pinky fingers across the table. She related the events at ARC to them.

  “Much as you hate doing this, you need to inform the police and let them handle the situation,” Mac said.

  Kaitlin started to argue with Mac, but she knew he was right.

  She dialed the local police station. Officer Hendricks answered the phone, evidencing his usual lack of enthusiasm when she identified herself. He recommended she come down to the station. Until Kaitlin showed up to tell her story, he said he wasn’t willing to take further action with Bethany or her parents.

  “She may be in danger. The guy told Toliver to get rid of her,” Kaitlin said.

  “Just get down here.”

  “Want us to come with you?” asked Mac.

  “You go with her, Mac. And Caroline,” said Mary Jane. “Did you forget? Jeremy and I are off to Albany for a caregivers’ meeting. Our ride should be here soon.”

  “There’s no sense in anyone else going with me. This is my concern,” said Kaitlin. She hugged Mary Jane, yelled a goodbye up the stairs to Jeremy, assuring him she would take good care of the animals and grabbed her backpack. Off to confront the local constabulary once again, a meeting she didn’t savor.

  She walked, turning over in her mind what she would say to Hendricks so he would believe the urgency of her concern for Bethany. She had difficulty focusing. She hadn’t known Mary Jane and Jeremy were exploring other positions. She thought she had them with her for the entire summer. Was she happy for them? Yes. But she also felt sadness they might leave her sooner than she thought.

  Officer Hendricks was waiting in his office. He pointed to the wooden chair across from his desk. The bored expression on his face said she’d better tell him a believable story.

  “Shoot. And make it brief.”

  She sat down and relayed what she’d heard and seen outside Mr. Toliver’s office. When she finished, Hendricks’ face remained unchanged.

  “Uh, huh. And you want me to do what?”

  “I want you to arrest someone, I guess. It’s your job. You should know what to do with this. Find out the identity of the guy talking to Toliver and arrest him too. For attempted murder or whatever.”

  Hendricks appeared unmoved by both her story and her plea for him to spring into action, so she tried another approach—her most winning smile and a more convincing line, or so she hoped.

  “I don’t mean to tell you your business, of course, but I also must tell you that Bethany left a note in my car several weeks ago asking to meet with me privately. When I showed up for the meeting, someone hit me over the head.”

  “She hit you over the head?”

  “No, Bethany didn’t. Someone else hit me over the head.”

  “Where’s the note?” he asked. “I’d like to see it.”

  She felt like an idiot. Where was that damn note?

  “I’ll look for it.”

  Hendricks grunted. “Find it.”

  Kaitlin was sure Mac and Caroline knew something was wrong when she entered the door. How could they not? Her hair was a mess and she was sweaty and breathing hard. She must have looked like a woman possessed. She tossed her backpack on the floor inside the front door with a “Damn Hendricks!” then settled into a kitchen chair and calmed down enough to tell them about her visit to the police station without too many expletives thrown into the story.

  The phone rang just as she ended the tale. Toliver was on the other end of the line.

  “I just received a call from Officer Hendricks. From what he told me, it seems you got the wrong idea about something you overheard here earlier today. I’m not angry at you, but I am disappointed that you didn’t come to me first with your concerns. And, of course, horrified that you would eavesdrop on my conversation. I’ll just have to forgive that, given your state of mind.”

  “My state of mind. What about my state of mind?”

  She mouthed Toliver’s name to Mac and Caroline. Mac nodded and scurried up the stairs, signaling her he intended to listen on the bedroom extension.

  “You sh
ould have come to me first. Isn’t that what a good ombudsman would do?” asked Toliver.

  “Uh…”

  “The individual in my office was Dr. Robert Sardino. He’s on our board of directors, and he was speaking about Miss Nappi. You’re quite right about that. Earlier in the day, the board examined the internship program and decided to terminate those students who were not working out well. I had to leave early to get back to ARC, so I wasn’t party to their final decisions.” He paused long enough that Kaitlin thought the connection had been broken.

  “Are you there, Mr. Toliver?”

  “Ah, yes. Someone just came into my office, that’s all.” Or, more likely, someone was there directing his conversation.

  “As I was saying… Dr. Sardino was in the area on business in the afternoon and was kind enough to stop by and let me know the recommendations of the board. The members wanted Bethany Nappi removed from work at ARC.”

  “May I ask why?”

  “That’s a personnel matter. I’m not free to discuss it. Just know that the board has the welfare of the residents in mind and does only what is best for them.

  “And those letters to Leda that Officer Hendricks now has in his possession, well, I thought we covered that before. As I told you when you asked me about the letters, old people, like others with mental problems, sometimes believe what isn’t true. They often think someone is taking their things when they merely forget where they placed an object.”

  His tone changed from matter-of-fact, to nasty.

  “I’m sure that’s happened to you, hasn’t it? You forget things from time to time, don’t you?” He cleared his throat. Again. And then again.

  “I explained all of this to Officer Hendricks, and he’s quite satisfied that Miss Nappi was never in any danger. I’m sorry to hear that someone attacked you on our property. You should have brought that to my attention. I assure you, your safety and your mental health are of concern to us here at ARC and to the local authorities.” With that, he hung up.

  Chapter 17

  She heard Mac click off on the upstairs phone and then his footsteps as he returned to the kitchen.