by Diana Orgain
“Illegal activity? Like what?”
“Like drug dealing,” I said, feeling foolish. The woman was in her seventies. What was I accusing her of?
Well, hey, hadn’t George said they were looking into going legit with medical marijuana? Maybe Mrs. Avery was involved in that campaign. I imagined her setting up shop at the country club, dealing pot to seniors.
Mrs. Avery made no effort to hide her indignation. “Do you know what you are saying, Mrs. Connolly? I have no such involvement,” she said firmly. “And neither did my son.”
“Mrs. Avery, I happen to know for a fact that there is a drug operation functioning under the auspices of the restaurant. You can’t deny it.”
Mrs. Avery’s blue eyes locked on mine. They seemed cold in a way I hadn’t noticed before. “I won’t have this kind of talk in my house.”
“All right, I’ll leave,” I said, gathering up my things.
“Have you gone to the police?” she asked.
“Not yet,” I said.
“Why not?” she challenged.
“I wanted to talk to you first.”
Her lips puckered. “Thank you for that. I didn’t have any knowledge of this drug business, Kate. In fact, if what you say is true, I’m shutting the businesses down myself. I won’t have it. I’m not that type of person. I would have thought you’d have known better by now.” She got up from the couch, nearly knocking over the tea service. “I don’t deal in drugs. My family doesn’t deal in drugs.” Her anger was building. Her voice cracked as she tried to restrain herself and she nearly spat out, “My family is very respected in the San Francisco community and the nation at large.”
“That may be,” I acknowledged. “I may be totally wrong. All I know is that drugs have been going out of El Paraiso and Heavenly Haight and somebody you appointed is in charge.”
Mrs. Avery froze. She turned on her heel and grabbed the phone from the den. “Well, we’re going to call Rich right now and straighten this out. I won’t have you thinking I’m some sort of common criminal, bandying about accusations and slandering my family name.”
She dialed a number into the cordless phone and spoke quietly into it. “Rich assured me he’s on his way,” she said.
I sat, defeated, and put my head into my hands. “How long will it take him to get here?”
Mrs. Avery pulled the glasses off her face, then served herself and me tea from the beautiful silver server that Marta had brought in. “He should be here shortly. Fifteen minutes at the most.”
I remember the glasses found at Michelle’s house.
“Mrs. Avery? How long have you worn reading glasses?” I asked.
“Thirty years now, dear. Why? Are you starting to have to push things further out to read them?”
God. Did I look that old? I had to get some sleep!
I smiled tightly. “No. Not yet.”
After about ten minutes of waiting, Rich’s car finally screeched onto Mrs. Avery’s driveway. A moment later Marta entered and announced Rich’s arrival. He came into the room and immediately approached Mrs. Avery, kissing her cheeks. He acknowledged me with a nod and a curt hello.
Mrs. Avery gestured toward the sofa. “Sit, Rich. Thank you for seeing us on such short notice.”
Rich smiled. “What can I do for you ladies?”
“I think you have a few things to explain. Show him the paperwork, Kate.”
I pushed the reports toward Rich. “Here’s a ledger for El Paraiso showing a loss. It’s dated July. And here’s a ledger for El Paraiso for the same month, showing a profit.”
Rich nodded and said, “Hmmm. That’s odd.” He sucked on his teeth for a moment, then finally asked, “Where did you get these?”
I leveled a glare at him. “I know you’re laundering money through the shop on Haight as well.”
He shook his head from side to side, putting his ear to one shoulder then the other, and jiggling his legs up and down. He looked at Mrs. Avery. “Uh, what would you like me to say, Gloria?”
Mrs. Avery frowned. “Is it true?”
“That we’re dealing drugs out of El Paraiso?”
“Yes,” Mrs. Avery said.
He looked from Mrs. Avery to me, then back to Mrs. Avery. “Yes, it true.”
Mrs. Avery paled as though she’d seen a ghost. Then as quickly as the color had drained, it returned, turning her face red with fury. “How can you do this? How can you do this to Bradley’s memory?”
“Well, Brad was the one who started the whole business, Gloria. I’m surprised you didn’t know.”
“How would I know such a thing?” Mrs. Avery demanded.
“This city is very competitive in regards to restaurants. I mean, you didn’t really think we were turning a profit selling hamburgers and frittatas, did you?”
Mrs. Avery looked stunned. I felt sorry for her. She really had had no idea.
She reached for the phone and dialed 9-1-1.
•CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR•
The Sixth Week-Revelation
When I got home, Jim was searching the Internet for job opportunities. I asked him to give Laurie a bottle while I slept. I napped two hours and woke feeling semirefreshed to a ringing phone. Would I ever wake up feeling that I’d gotten enough sleep ever again in my life?
Jim hovered over me. “Are you awake?”
“Sort of.”
“It’s Galigani.”
I grabbed the phone.
“Congrats, kid. I heard you’re responsible for a drug bust.”
“Yeah. I’d put my own brother-in-law, a new daddy, behind bars. Yippee.”
Galigani tsked. “You are not responsible for other people’s actions. Only your own. As for your brother-in-law, he committed a felony. He’s old enough to commit the crime, he’s old enough to do the time. Which we hope will go a long way toward making him a better father.”
“I hope you’re right.” I worried about Kiku and the new baby being all alone. I’d have to find a way to help her. After a moment, I said, “What about Jennifer, do you think she really did it?”
“Why not? The cops think so.”
“But she was released and now she’s pointing to Mrs. Avery.”
Galigani guffawed. “Mrs. Avery? Hell, is she reaching or what? Look, Jennifer Miller was released on a technicality. Not enough evidence for the DA to prosecute doesn’t mean ‘not guilty.’ McNearny will keep digging until he finds something the DA likes. As for you, you don’t work for the DA, so it doesn’t matter what he says. You just need to satisfy your client.”
“Something’s not right. I just don’t know what it is.”
“That happens. What I do when I’m stuck is go over all my notes again. Just read everything in your notebook and think. Sometimes the answer is right in front of you, but you can’t see the forest for the trees. It helps to get a little rest and not think about anything for a while.”
I snorted.
Galigani laughed. “How’s the baby?”
That evening I followed Galigani’s advice and tuned everything out. Jim and I watched a football game and carved pumpkins. I read every single line I’d written in my notebook and reread Galigani’s book for good measure.
Feeling no closer to solving the case, I reviewed my to-do list.
To-Do List:
1. Help Jim find a job.
2. ✓
3. ✓
4. Research day care for Laurie.
5. Prep for return to the office.
6. Stock up on pumped milk.
Depressed about having to return to corporate hell, I logged on to the computer to check e-mail. I found a note from Paula.
Kate! Sounds like you have too much going on to be healthy. Launching a new business sounds good, but girl you just had a baby for crying out loud. I’m going to have to get home soon to knock some sense into you. Either that or join you:)
Oh and about Carol? The only Carol I remember from high school was Carol Reilly, she wasn’t friends with Michelle, bu
t was she friends with Michelle’s sister? Can’t remember, high school was a long time ago and since I’m pregnant I can’t even recall what I ate for breakfast.
Baby due in three and half months, not that I’m counting!
Say hi to your mom and Jim. Kisses to the tiny one.
Love, love, love you guys! Write soon.
Inspired by Paula’s note, I searched through my garage for an old yearbook. I found the one from our freshman year and flipped through it.
Pictures of Paula and Michelle and me covered the pages.
I located our sophomore yearbook and searched the pages. There was a photo of Michelle and me in the school play. Michelle had inscribed a message in purple handwriting: “Kate, best of luck to you in the theater!”
My junior yearbook was missing. I vaguely recalled lending it to Paula. She’d probably never returned it.
I leafed through our senior book. Pictures of the prom splashed across the page.
I found a picture of Rich. There he was, with Carol Reilly. Whatever happened to her?
Then I saw it. Brad staring back at me. A pretty date on his arm. A familiar bracelet on her wrist.
I dropped the book.
Hmmm? How had her bracelet ended up in George’s bag?
I picked up Galigani from his home on Telegraph Hill. He limped to the car.
“Thanks for meeting me on such short notice,” I said.
“Hey, I’m not supposed to be out. But who listens to doctors anyway?”
I nodded and steered toward the Haight district. There was no traffic to speak of at this hour of the night. Galigani and I rode in silence. I wondered if he was falling asleep and eyed him suspiciously. He jerked his head up and glared at me.
“What?” He smiled.
“How are you feeling?”
“Fair to middling. Did you see my scar?” He opened his shirt a bit. A fresh scar crossed his entire chest.
“Ouch!”
“Funny thing is, this one doesn’t hurt so bad. It’s my leg. I’ve got a scar there that runs down the whole thing. It’s where they took the veins out to put into my heart.”
I found parking in front of the apartment house. We climbed out of the Chevy. “My legs hurt, too,” I complained.
With a pang I remembered my pain relief pills sitting on my kitchen counter.
“Too much running around for just having a baby,” Galigani acknowledged.
Who did I think I was?
He patted me on the back. “You’re doing great, kid. I knew you were a bulldog from the start.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
“Sure. Bulldogs are persistent and smart.”
“They’re also short and ugly,” I retorted.
Galigani laughed.
“If I was so smart, I would have figured this out a long time ago,” I continued.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You got no experience.” He raised his eyebrows at me. “What you need is a mentor.”
I held my breath. “You’re supposed to be retired.”
“Right.” Galigani laughed. “We can talk about the future later.”
Despite the gravity of the situation facing us, I smiled. “You got your gun?”
Galigani nodded. “Always. So should you. We’ll see about getting you a license, training, all that.”
He said “we”!
“Although we won’t need it tonight,” he continued. “She won’t try anything with both of us there. Even if we are both crippled.”
I laughed as we limped toward the apartment building.
“I don’t want to ring the buzzer and alert her prematurely,” Galigani said. “Let’s wait for someone to leave.”
We didn’t wait long. A blond man in his early twenties exited the building. Galigani grabbed the door saying, “Ladies first.”
We both hobbled up the stairs and took a minibreak outside the apartment to catch our breath.
Galigani asked, “Ready?”
I threw my shoulders back, took a deep breath, and nodded. Galigani banged on the door. The redhead opened it a few moments later. She was wrapped in a robe, her hair enveloped in a towel.
She smiled widely to see me. “Kate Connolly! What can I do you for?”
Galigani flashed his investigator badge. “May we come in? I don’t think this is a conversation you want to have in the hallway.” He walked past her without waiting for a response. I followed him into the living room.
He circled around the room, then made himself comfortable on the couch. KelliAnn and I remained standing. Galigani eyed an opened box of chocolate chip cookies lying on the coffee table. He picked up one of KelliAnn’s magazines and flipped through it casually. “Can you tell us, again, about your whereabouts on the night of June fifteenth?”
She blinked. “What are you talking about? You two need to leave or I’ll call the police.”
I watched her fidget with the towel on her head.
“We have reason to believe you were at El Paraiso,” Galigani said.
KelliAnn rolled her eyes. “Come on. My stupid neighbor killed Brad. The police know all this. They arrested her.”
“You were still in love with Brad after all these years,” I said. “You took him to the prom. You never got over him.”
KelliAnn laughed. “That’s absurd!”
Galigani jumped in. “You overhead Brad and Jennifer that night. You knew he was leaving your sister. You heard Jennifer reject him.”
“Maybe you thought you’d try a last-ditch effort to get back together with him,” I said.
The corners of her mouth twisted downward, creating a half-crazed look on her face. “This is ridiculous! You can’t come over here and accuse me of this!”
“I have something of yours, KelliAnn,” I taunted. “Something you lost that night at El Paraiso. It must have slipped off your wrist when you reached into George’s bag to take the gun you killed Brad with.”
Her eyes flashed. She blinked rapidly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You broke into both my cars, looking for your bracelet. Michelle saw it fall from George’s bags. She told you I had it, right? She suspected you were involved. Is that why you killed her? Because she’d figured it out?”
KelliAnn shook her head frantically, the towel unraveling, her red hair falling to her shoulders. “You’re wrong. Michelle killed herself. And Jennifer. . They found the gun at Jennifer’s place.”
Galigani tsked. “That would have been easy for you to plant. What with her being your neighbor and all.”
“The handyman in 101 must like you a lot, huh, KelliAnn?” I winked. “He let you into Jennifer’s place, didn’t he?”
KelliAnn snarled. “Jennifer is an ungrateful bitch. She was unemployed and pitiful when she moved here. I asked Michelle to hire her, as a favor to me, thinking Jennifer would be a good little spy. I knew Michelle and Brad had a racket going on, but I didn’t know what.”
Galigani scratched his head. “Your plan backfired. Brad fell for Jennifer.”
KelliAnn swung her hair, trying to appear nonchalant. “Please, I didn’t care about that.”
“You cared about him enough to lure his child into a lake.”
KelliAnn took a step back from me, paling. Her expression told me I had hit the nail on the head.
“You didn’t think anybody knew about that, did you?” I asked. “Svetlana confided in Jennifer that she thought someone had lured her little girl, Penny, into the lake. The way I figure it is, you ran into Svetlana and Penny, or maybe you were following them like you did George, and when you saw an opportunity, you lured Penny-”
“Or just plain grabbed her and drowned her,” Galigani said from the couch.
KelliAnn gasped, then abruptly covered her mouth.
“You must be really sick, lady,” Galigani continued. “You couldn’t stand the thought of Brad being with anyone else, much less having a child with her. You get rid of the kid, hoping Brad would bl
ame Svetlana for negligence-that’s one way to ruin a marriage. But instead of rushing into your arms, Brad finds comfort in your sister.”
“You have no proof,” KelliAnn said, her eyes flaring.
“George went to Svetlana for help,” I said. “He knew you were following him. You didn’t find the bracelet in my cars, so maybe you figured I had given it to George. One day at the pier, you cut me off in Michelle’s Mercedes. George saw you and ran. When he told Svetlana, she confronted you, is that right? She had it all pieced together. You killed Svetlana, her little girl, her ex-husband, and your own sister.”
Galigani stood. “Then you pointed the police toward Jennifer. What better motive? She kills her ex-lover and his wife, then kills her boss. Everyone has a motive to kill their boss.”
“The other day you were at Michelle’s with Rich.”
KelliAnn’s eyes grew wide. “How do you know-”
“This what you were looking for?” I pulled out the bracelet from my pocket.
She impulsively reached out to grab it. I closed my fist around it and tucked it safely away into my pocket. Now it was my turn to smile. KelliAnn stared at me, her mouth pressing into a thin line.
“I thought Rich might have been looking for the business ledgers I found. But now I get it. He’s the one who helped you get rid of Brad’s body.”
KelliAnn’s eyes darted back and forth, landing on the side table next to Galigani. On the table was a heavy lamp and a small jade phone.
Was she thinking of calling for help?
“I overheard Rich say something about a fight,” I continued. “You fought with Brad. He didn’t want you romantically. You got upset, found George’s gun, and killed him. You needed help with the cleanup, right? Rich was willing to help. Why not? With Brad out of the way, he could buffalo Michelle, Svetlana, and Mrs. Avery about the business profits and pocket more money. And you, of course, would keep quiet about all of it. If he turned you in, you’d tell the police about the drug operation. Ruin his game.”
Galigani said, “Rich probably hadn’t factored in that you’d totally lose control and kill Michelle and Svetlana, too. Who would have been next? Rich? George? Only now they’re safe behind bars.”
