by Diana Orgain
I recounted my afternoon for Mom. She listened, her mouth agape.
She rubbed my back. “That’s horrible. Just awful, honey. What a shock!” I let her cluck over me, taking comfort in her support.
My head was throbbing, my legs ached, and I had baby spit-up all over my blouse. Not to mention finding Michelle dead and being interrogated by the police.
Not a good day.
I rose from the couch. I needed to change and take some pain medication, at the very least. “Will you come over tomorrow?” I asked Mom.
She hesitated. “There’s something I haven’t told you as well.”
I sat back down on the couch and held my head. Had Mom’s car been broken into, too? Or worse, had someone tried to break into the house while I was gone?
“I’m seeing someone,” Mom said.
Mom dating?
My parents had been divorced for nearly fifteen years. Mother had said over and over again that she was through with men, that she lived only to have grandchildren.
“What? Who?” I stuttered.
“A very nice man. His name is Hank.”
My body surged with a strange combination of happiness and. . what? Fear? Jealousy? Was I going to have to share my babysitting mother? How selfish of me. I pushed the thought from my mind and hugged her. “And why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”
Mom shrugged sheepishly. “I wasn’t sure there was anything to tell.”
I smiled. “How did you meet?”
“Well,” Mom said hesitantly, “I put myself on Match-dot-Com.”
Mom using the Internet?
“What?” I sputtered.
“Match-dot-Com, darling. It’s a dating service. Online.”
“I know what it is. I just. . I didn’t know. . that you were. . That’s great, Mom. Really great.”
“My profile was up for about a week.” Mom made herself comfortable on the couch. “I saw his profile. I already knew he worked at the pharmacy down the street, but that’s all I knew about him. I didn’t know if he was married or anything. When I saw him online, I thought, ‘Well, I’ll be. He’s single!’ So I winked at him. They have a little thing on the computer where you can ‘wink’ at someone. It sends them e-mail from you.”
I sat there, stunned. Jim and I had bought Mom a laptop for Christmas last year. Jim had shown her how to get online. I thought she used it only to read the newspaper.
“So, I winked at Hank,” Mom continued, “and he winked at me. We e-mailed for a while. Then we thought, ‘Well, this is plain silly, we’re both in the same neighborhood. ’ So he invited me out for a cocktail.”
I stared at her. “Mom, you don’t drink.”
“Well, once in a while. . there’s nothing wrong with that,” she said defensively.
I laughed, realizing Mom was at it again, telling me a crazy story to take my mind off my problems. “I’m not judging you, Mom. Tell me more.”
“I would but you look terrible, Kate. Exhausted.”
“Not to mention I have spit-up on my blouse. Let me go change. I’ll be right back.”
Mom insisted on leaving so I could get some rest, but promised to fill me in on more Hank details later.
Laurie and I were sprawled on the floor, looking at a farm animals picture book. Mostly, I was looking at the book; Laurie was drooling.
“The cow says moo, moo,” I ad-libbed.
I heard the key in the front door and scrambled to my feet. I pulled the door open and grabbed Jim around the neck, squeezed him, and inhaled his scent. “Oh, honey, I’m so glad you’re home safe.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I found Michelle dead this morning.”
“Oh my God! Why didn’t you call me!”
“I knew you had that big presentation today and I didn’t want you to worry.”
I recounted the experience for him. When I told him I went into Michelle’s house, his eyes popped out of his skull as if he were on the verge of a heart attack.
“What if the killer was still in there?”
“I didn’t think of that. She was lying on the floor. What if she wasn’t dead?”
“You should have waited for the police or the paramedics or whatever. In your car. With the motor running.” He pulled me closer. “I’m glad you’re all right, honey. Promise me you won’t go around breaking into people’s houses, especially if there could be a murderer hiding out.”
“I didn’t break in. The door was open.”
He clutched me tighter. “And you can always call me, no matter what meeting I’m in.” His voice cracked.
I realized he was crying.
“Nothing’s going to happen to me,” I soothed, running my fingers through his hair.
“We need you, honey. Laurie and I need you.”
“Except I might collapse from exhaustion and/or starvation.”
Jim smiled, his face brightening a bit.
“Want to call El Paraiso, get delivery?” I asked.
Jim squinted at me. “Yeah. Call. I’ll open you some wine.”
“I’m not supposed to drink.”
He rose. “Exceptional circumstances call for exceptional measures. One glass won’t hurt you, or Laurie.”
Jim headed to the kitchen. My mouth began to water as I thought of a nice dinner and wine.
Wine?
Someone had drunk wine with Michelle. Her killer had to be someone she knew, since there was no sign of forced entry. She let someone in, had wine with whoever it was, and then that person had let themself out, leaving the door open for me.
I pictured George going over to Michelle’s and sipping chardonnay with her.
Wait a minute.
George preferred beer, like Jim. He’d probably consider white wine a “girlie” drink.
Could a woman have killed Michelle?
Brad’s affair! The other woman?
Why would Brad’s lover kill Michelle? If Brad wasn’t dead, then her motive would make sense. But with Brad gone, why kill Michelle?
I called after Jim, “Hey, Jim? Does George drink wine?”
Jim returned, a beer in one hand and a glass of merlot in the other. “I guess he does.”
“White wine?”
“Probably. I mean, I’m sure it’s not his favorite, but I imagine he’d drink it.”
There went that theory.
I dialed El Paraiso. “I’d like to order some food for delivery.”
The hostess promptly informed me that they didn’t deliver.
I looked up at Jim’s expectant face. “They don’t deliver.”
“I thought George was supposed to be the delivery guy?” He sighed. “What, did he quit already? Get fired?”
“She said they’ve never delivered.”
Jim’s face clouded, his mouth twisting with concern. “Why would Michelle tell you he worked there if he didn’t?”
•CHAPTER NINE•
The Third Week-Digging In
I awoke in a state of panic, drenched in sweat. I’d read that the body rids itself of extra fluids from pregnancy by sweating. What I didn’t know was if the sweating was from a postpartum symptom or from the frantic dream I’d just had about Michelle.
In the dream I’d been able to revive her. I’d asked her over and over again who had killed her. She’d clung to me, mute.
I glanced at the clock. Five A.M. Laurie and I had both finally drifted to sleep around midnight. Had she really slept five hours?
Was she alive? Panicked, I leaned over the bassinet and frantically put my hand on her tummy.
Her stomach rose slowly and evenly.
I studied her for a moment, her arms raised above her head, a gesture of pure abandonment.
Wait. Five A.M.? She was still asleep? I couldn’t believe it.
At the hospital they had instructed me to wake her for her night feeding if she slept through it.
Give me a break. Hadn’t they ever heard the adage “Never wake a sleeping baby”? No way was I going to
do it. Forget it. If she slept through her feeding, she must not be hungry.
I lay back on my pillow. The sheets crunched as if made of potato chips. I held my breath. Laurie was still out.
I shook Jim. “Laurie’s been asleep for five hours!”
“Great,” he mumbled.
“Honey, she’s been asleep for five hours,” I repeated.
“You go to sleep, too.”
I suppose new moms need to learn how to sleep through the night also.
Closing my eyes, I tried to clear my mind. Visions of Michelle popped into my head again, crowding out all other thoughts. I tried to think about something else. Laurie. Yes. I’d think of Laurie. Sweet Laurie. Innocence. Pure life.
Suddenly my breasts started to leak, soaking my night-gown. Great. Way to go, Kate.
Hold out on the baby and you leak anyway. I may as well feed her, right? Either that or lie here wet and have nightmares.
The breast pump was in the corner of the bedroom. I could get up and learn to use that. I’d need to start stocking up on milk to cover Laurie during the hours I’d be at the office.
The office? Ugh. How much longer on my maternity leave? Three weeks.
Three weeks. Twenty-one days. Five hundred and four hours. Wait. It was already 5 A.M. So that meant four hundred ninety-nine hours.
I closed my eyes. How depressing.
Wasn’t there a way to stay home with Laurie? I mulled over the question, drifting off to sleep, forgetting to feed Laurie, use the pump, or stress over Michelle and George.
It was 9 A.M. Jim had left for the office hours ago. Laurie and I lay in bed, nursing. It seemed like we’d been nursing all morning. Making up for lost nutrition throughout the night.
I felt even more drained now than I had at 5 A.M. We were about to doze off when the doorbell rang. Laurie nodded off. I groaned. I put her into the bassinet and grabbed a robe. Who could it be at this time of day?
I stumbled to the front door and peered out the peephole. All I could see was a broad chest in a blue button shirt. Definitely not UPS.
“Who is it?”
“Investigator Galigani. Is Kate Connolly in?”
The police? What now? Shouldn’t he flash his badge at me or something? Was I getting overly paranoid?
“Where’s your badge?”
“I’m not with the police. I’m a private investigator.”
“Who hired you?”
He bent down to look through the peephole. I saw one green eye peering at me. I involuntarily pulled away.
“Mrs. Avery,” he said into the peephole.
“Mrs. Avery is dead,” I said.
The eye shifted. “Gloria Avery is dead?”
Who was Gloria?
I placed the chain lock on the door and opened it two inches.
Investigator Galigani was tall, dark, and not handsome. He had a huge black mustache on a very round face. He frowned at the chain, which only succeeded in making him look mean and angry.
“I don’t know who Gloria is,” I said. “I meant Michelle Avery is dead.”
“Ah.” His face softened a bit. “Are you Kate?”
I nodded.
“May I come in, ma’am?”
There was the “ma’am” again. I glanced down at my pale green terrycloth robe. No! Why did I have to get interrogated again? Especially looking like this.
“I’ve got a newborn. I’m really tired-”
“It’ll only take a minute.”
“How do I know that you are who you say you are?”
The ends of his mustache turned up. “Here’s my card.”
What did that prove? I let his card hang between his fingers. He wiggled it at me. I took it.
“Would you like to call Mrs. Avery?” he asked. “She’ll verify that she’s hired me.”
“Do you have a photo ID?”
His face broke apart with laughter. Mustache going one way, bottom lip the other way.
I tried not to be offended. “What good would it do if she says she hired ‘Galigani’ when all I have to prove that you’re Galigani is a business card?”
“You’re right. Here you go.” He opened his wallet and shoved his driver’s license at me. “This, too.” He dug into the wallet and pulled out a worn private investigator license from the State of California issued to Albert Galigani.
“What’s her number?”
His face registered surprise. “You’re actually going to call her?”
“I’m a new mom, my car’s been broken into twice, my brother-in-law is missing, and I found my friend dead yesterday. I can’t let a stranger into my house. What if you try to kill me?”
“If I was going to kill you, I could have done it through the crack in the door. But please, by all means, call Mrs. Avery.”
He was right. He could have already killed me.
I shut the door in his face. He rang the bell again. I ignored him, got out the phonebook.
Ah! Here was an instance where actually using the phonebook would be faster than an online lookup. Okay, so maybe the books were still good for something.
I found two numbers under Avery, Michelle’s and another one. I dialed the second one.
The doorbell rang again. Let him wait.
I got voice mail. Of course. No one answers their phone anymore. I left a message. Why couldn’t anything be easy? The bell rang yet again. I opened the door with the chain in place.
“Stop ringing the bell. You’re going to wake my baby.”
He looked contrite. “Sorry. Did you reach her?”
I rolled my eyes. “No. You’re going to have to come back after I hear from her.”
Now it was his turn to roll his eyes, tilting his head back in a huge dramatic gesture. “Listen, lady,” he said on an exhale. “I got a job to do. People are unsafe, like you said yourself. Your friend ended up dead. If someone killed her, it sure as hell wasn’t me. I’m one of the good guys.” He opened his hands in an imploring gesture. “I’m trying to get to the bottom of this.”
I chewed on my lower lip. I believed him. I’d believed him from the start. But the logical part of my brain told me I couldn’t just let strangers into my house.
When had I become fraidycat Kate?
“Don’t ring the bell again,” I warned. I shut the door. I dialed the number on Galigani’s card marked MOBILE.
I watched him through the peephole. He stood on my doorstep and waited, ignoring his ringing cell phone.
“Pick it up, it’s me,” I said, through the door.
He laughed and dug his phone out of a hip pocket. “Hello?”
“What do you want to know?”
“I just need a little info. You knew Brad Avery?”
“No. Just Michelle.”
He pulled a little notebook from his pocket; scraps of paper flew out of the back. I watched him pick up the slips of paper from my doorstep, bunch them up, and shove them into his pocket. “Michelle, huh? The second wife.”
There was a first? Was that Gloria?
“You found her dead?” he continued.
“How do you know that?”
The ends of his mustache went up. He looked toward the peephole. “It’s my job to know. Are you going to open the door?”
He was right. This was ridiculous. I hung up and opened the door.
I motioned him inside. He stepped forward cautiously, eyeing me up and down.
He visibly relaxed. “You know, I’m probably more frightened than you. You know who I am and what I’m doing here. I never know who I’m talking to. For all I know, you could be the murderer.”
I opened my mouth to defend myself, but he raised his hand in protest. “I know! I know! You’re going to say you’re not. Everyone says that. I don’t think you are anyway. The guilty ones are never paranoid. They want you to march right in and start asking questions. They like to think they’re so smart they can fool you. Hell, sometimes they do.”
I gestured toward the sofa, then shoved a pillow and
a blanket to the side to make room for him. “Do you want coffee or anything?”
He shook his head and sat. “How did you know Michelle?”
“We went to high school together.”
I recounted for him the details of my finding Michelle dead. I left every single George reference out.
He tapped his notebook and squinted at me. “Why do I get the feeling you’re hiding something, Mrs. Connolly?”
I shrugged. If he wanted to know anything about George, let him ask me directly.
“Do you know anything about Michelle’s investments?”
I frowned. “Investments?”
What exactly was he getting at?
“I understand she and Brad owned a restaurant.”
I pressed my lips together to remind to myself to keep my trap shut about George. “Yup, that’s about what I know, too.”
“Ever been there before?”
“I ate lunch there day before yesterday. My car got broken into in front. I don’t think I’ll be going back.”
He scratched at his mustache. “You mentioned that earlier. Second time, huh?”
What had I said earlier?
“Something about your brother-in-law missing,” he continued.
Big-mouth Kate. “That’s right,” was the best I could muster. I closed my eyes, willing myself to focus. How much did this guy know or need to know?
Could he help us locate George?
“What do you charge?” I wondered out loud.
He squinted at me. “You want your husband followed or something?”
I looked down at my robe. “Do I look that bad?”
His face flushed. “Uh. . sorry. . that’s the most common thing people want to hire me for. Two hundred dollars an hour.”
I gagged. Obviously, I was in the wrong profession.
“You need help locating your brother-in-law?”
I stared at him.
Yes. The answer was yes. Yet I muttered, “Ummm. . not sure. .”
Galigani nodded. “You mind telling me where you were on June fifteenth?”
Was he serious? I studied his face. He studied me back.
“I honestly can’t remember. I could look it up on my calendar.”
