by Diana Orgain
Galigani smile. “My security cam caught it on video.”
“And? Is it Raymond?”
“It’s blurry, but it certainly looks like it’s him. I gave the tape to one of my police buddies last night. He said they’re going to need Sarah to identify him, but he agreed to let us talk to her first.”
“Right after hearing that her husband is a cheat, she probably won’t hesitate to point out the creep, if it was him in the video,” I said.
From Galigani’s office window, we saw Sarah pull into the parking lot. I stood and opened the office door, before she even knocked.
Sarah was a petite blonde who looked ten years younger than she actually was. Her face looked like it had never gone through puberty – in other words, she looked like a little girl rather than a forty-year-old woman. I wish I was that youthful looking.
Galigani invited her to sit, and she anxiously came over and plopped down across from him.
I sat next to her, hoping she would feel some kind of sisterhood support by my closeness.
She smiled at me sadly, letting me know she appreciated my support.
“So, it’s true then, isn’t it? Ray is a two-timer?”
Galigani worked his lip, his large black mustache going haywire. He pulled out a manila envelope from his desk drawer and drummed his fingers on it.
Next to me, Sarah inhaled sharply, and I instantly reached for her hand.
She gripped my hand gratefully and nodded at the envelope as if she was ready for the contents to be revealed.
“Kate was able to get those photographs for you,” Galigani said, as he slid the envelope across the desk. “I’m very sorry,” he added.
Sarah’s hands shook as she opened up the file and simply dumped the photographs out onto the desk. She spread them out. There were five. Morgan in her slinky negligee in Raymond’s lap. A clear shot of Raymond’s face as he embraced Morgan. And then a few of the couple that were… edgy, to say the least.
Sarah started crying, and I felt physically sick to my stomach. Before Galigani or I could offer any words of comfort, she spat out, “You know he hasn’t been home in two days? Told me he was taking a guy’s trip. He’s probably off somewhere with that stupid bimbo! Well, good riddance! I’m filing for divorce today!” She wiped her face. “Who is this woman anyways? I’ve never seen her.”
“Her name is Morgan,” Galigani said. “And, you’re saying you don’t know her?”
“No, should I?” Sarah asked, still wiping her face while attempting to control her breathing. She looked both sad and furious—a whirlwind of emotions etched across her face.
Galigani opened his mouth to reply, but Sarah cut him off, “I should have known. I don’t know why I’m shocked. I think this has been going on for months – maybe longer. First, you know, he just… stopped talking to me about things. He wasn’t lying, not really, just not telling me stuff.”
My heart lurched.
“Lying by omission,” I said under my breath, thinking about how Jim failed to mention his little incident at the bakery.
“Exactly,” Sarah said. “And, then, it just spiraled. I started catching him in lies. I found weird emails and text messages he would B.S. his way around. Then he started taking phone calls late at night – having to go to the office for unexpected reasons.”
The thought of Jim’s out of town trip last week sprang into my mind.
No, no!
Don’t go there, Kate.
That was a business trip. I was sure of it.
“I shouldn’t be so surprised,” Sarah continued. “But you think you know a person… you think they would never hurt you. That they would be honest with you. That they would take their vows just as seriously as you do. But, no. He got tired of me and just… found someone new…”
My heart raced.
Would Jim ever get tired of me?
I think about all the baby weight I’ve already put on. About what my first pregnancy did to my body with Laurie – how much worse was it going to be with twins?
Would I ever get back to even remotely what I could consider normal?
Is Jim even still attracted to me?
I tried to brush those panicky thoughts away, but they were stuck in my head. Jim’s decision not to tell me about his fight with Cassandra really bothered me – more than I realized. I knew Jim was a good man; he would never stray, but sitting there listening to Sarah say the same things about that creep, Raymond, well, it did something to my head.
I brushed it away finally. It took me a good minute to get those thoughts out of my head, but I knew the man I married. I loved him, and I knew he loved me. I wouldn’t let this crap get in my head and affect our relationship.
I refuse to go there!
“There is something else you should know, Sarah,” Galigani said, turning his computer screen around to face her. “It’s about Morgan, the woman your husband had been seeing.”
Sarah huffed. “I really could care less about her. I hope he leaves her in a few years for someone younger. That’s what she deserves.”
That was bitter, but I couldn’t blame her. Galigani cleared his throat. “That’s going to be difficult. Sarah, Morgan is dead.”
Sarah’s eyes shot open, and she froze.
Hearing that the mistress was dead was confusing news. I could see it in her face. A part of her secretly glad. Almost like she’d gotten revenge without actually having to do anything. And then that other part, the part that was plastered all over her face, guilt for feeling that way.
“Dead?” Sarah asked. “How? Why? What happened?”
“The police are still investigating,” Galigani said. “They asked me to share this video with you. It’s from my security camera. It picked up a mugging that took place last night in front of my office. The victim was a teenage boy who happened to be carrying these photos of your husband.” Galigani played the video.
Sarah’s eyes widened. It was a fuzzy shot, but even I knew who it was. I had trailed that bald creep long enough to recognize his body type. I cringed. I wished Galigani had showed me the video beforehand because watching Kenny get beat up wasn’t what I needed.
When I had left Laurie with him this morning, I had wanted to break down crying just seeing those bruises. He was a tough kid, but he was still just a teenager. A kid.
“That’s Raymond!” she shrieked and started crying all over again. “Why would he attack that boy?”
“Like I said, he stole our first copies of these pictures, but we had a backup,” Galigani said. “We believe he might have caught on to Kate – that he realized Ms. Kate had taken pictures of him and Ms. Morgan.”
“And, now Morgan is dead?” Sarah questioned, and she became pale. “You think my Raymond killed her? No, that’s not right. I know he cheated… but… no, I don’t think he would… he’s not that type of person.”
I was surprised she was defending him. I supposed she must still love him even though she was planning to leave him.
“I understand,” Galigani said. “But, he did hurt this boy.”
“Yes,” Sarah said. “That was definitely him… I can’t believe Raymond would beat up a kid! That’s not like him. He’s not a violent person.”
“Is it possible, Sarah, that Raymond believes if he covers up what happened with Morgan he could save his marriage? Would he be willing to kill her to keep you?” Galigani asked.
“Well, it’s too late for that, isn’t it?” Sarah hissed. “First I find out that he cheats and beats up a kid, and now he is a suspect in a murder case?”
“It’s not murder yet,” I said.
She glared at me.
“I…well, what I mean is we’re waiting to hear the cause of death,” I said lamely.
Sarah stiffened. “I’m not sticking around to find out. I’m done. I’m going straight to a lawyer when I leave here, and since he’s apparently the type of man who batters kids, I should probably see if I can have an officer come to the house to help me gather my t
hings in case that lunatic comes home!” She slammed her fists down. “I just… I just cannot believe any of this! I can’t believe this is happening!”
“If Raymond reaches out to you, Sarah, would you please contact one of us, or better yet, contact the police?” Galigani asked.
“Believe me, I will,” she said.
“Before you leave, Sarah, can I get you to write down your statement regarding the video that you do indeed believe that the man who assaulted young Kenneth was in fact your husband?” Galigani asked, presenting her with paper and pen.
“It would be my pleasure, Mr. Galigani,” she said and scribbled her statement down with angry tears streaming down her face. “And, believe me, sir, as soon as I see Raymond, I’m calling the police!” She dug into her purse, pulling out her checkbook. She wrote down her final payment and handed it to Galigani. “You were worth every penny!”
She looked at me. “Thank you for the pictures. Would you please email some to me? I’d like to show them to my lawyer. And, I want to have them blown up really big. I’m going to put one up on the billboard down the street from his parent’s house so they can see whose fault this divorce is without me having to talk to them.”
I couldn’t help it. I snickered. Galigani frowned at me.
Her idea was cold, but I kind of loved it. I wiped the smile from my face and said, “Of course, Sarah,” I said, trying to maintain an air of professionalism.
But come on, a billboard down the street from his parent’s house? That’s hilarious.
A small smile broke across her face. “My husband’s boss drives by that billboard every day on her way into work. Her husband cheated on her two years ago. I’m sure she’ll have a few words to say to the man when she sees it.”
At this, Galigani chuckled.
“I’ll send them right over, Sarah,” I said.
She stood up after signing her statement. She told us to forward her information to the police; she was more than happy to cooperate in the investigation.
“Sarah, my services have been retained by Cassandra’s Cookies,” I said, quickly filling her in on the details of how Cassandra had also collapsed at the party. “If I have any questions during my investigation, may I contact you?”
“Absolutely!” she said turning toward the door and waving goodbye.
Sarah left, with a bit more confidence in her step.
She had a plan to keep herself afloat after the devastating news – a revengeful one, but at least she wasn’t curled up in a ball letting the news get the better of her.
I was proud of her.
“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” I said to Galigani once Sarah was gone.
“You see all types of reactions after you have been at this for a while,” Galigani said. “Unfortunately in the PI business, cheating spouse is the most common type of case you’re going to get. Well, cheating everything, really you should hear some of the stuff business partners do to each other. Especially, starting out. Unlike you, it took me years before I got something like a murder case to go on. When you branch out and start your own practice, this is the type of stuff you can expect.”
“It sure isn’t pretty,” I said. “But, at least Sarah handled it well. For my first infidelity case, I suppose it could have been a lot worse.”
“You have no idea,” Galigani said. “One woman, early in my career, was convinced I had Photoshopped the pictures and broke a lamp in my office.”
“Are you serious?”
“Dead serious,” Galigani said. “She eventually came around, though. She even bought me a new lamp.” He pointed to the standing lamp in the corner. “It was her apology gift for overreacting. But, I really didn’t blame her. She didn’t want to believe it. I know I wouldn’t have wanted to hear it.”
“Same here,” I said.
And then without wanting to, my mind went to Jim.
Had he really been out of town last weekend with a client?
Chapter Nine
It was just one of those nights. One of those nights where no matter how hard you try, you just cannot get to sleep. Where your brain is running a million miles an hour – thinking about the next day’s to-do list, everything you didn’t get done that day, finances, babies, health, your marriage, and all things that could possibly keep you up late worrying. The thing that was most prominent on my mind that night?
Sarah.
There was just so much about our conversation that bothered me. For one, she had been so blindsided by Raymond’s betrayal. That was probably what pestered me the most about it – she hadn’t really expected. Sure, she had had her suspicions, but clearly, a part of her was expecting Galigani and me to tell her she was just being paranoid; that her suspicions were incorrect and unfounded.
But, that’s not what happened. She was shocked. And, the first thing that Sarah said she noticed that was off? Raymond stopped talking to her about everything which eventually led into him keeping more and more secrets.
I glanced over to Jim who was fast asleep beside me. His nose was scrunched up slightly, his face pressing into his pillow. He looked so… so… relaxed.
Yet, here I was trying my hardest not to have a complete and total panic attack over one single decision of his to just not tell me something. And, he was acting like it was nothing. Like he had hadn’t just planted some seed in my head. Deciding that there was just no way I was going to get any sleep that night, I slipped out of bed. I’ve never been the type of person who enjoys wasting time. If I wasn’t getting any sleep or legitimate rest, I wasn’t just going to stare up into the dark at my bedroom ceiling. I was going to get some work done.
I headed down the hall and slipped into our home office, sitting down at our desk and pulling out my laptop. Despite Jim’s reservations about his incident with Cassandra, I knew I had to look into it. Cassandra was one of the victims, and she’d been the one to hire me to begin with. Even though I most certainly didn’t suspect my husband’s involvement, I still needed to stay caught up with the police.
In short, I needed to know what had happened whether Jim wanted to tell me or not.
I felt a little funny going behind his back, but I needed to talk to Cassandra anyway. A quick Google search, and I found her email on the Cassandra’s Cookies website.
I sent her a quick note, asking if there was an appropriate time we could get together to chat, and that I had some questions regarding the case she’d hired me to solve.
While figuring out tomorrow’s meal plan online, I saw an email notification.
Cassandra had responded.
At first, I was surprised to get such a prompt response at five in the morning, but I quickly noted in her email that she was still staying in the hospital. The woman was just as wide awake as I was at the moment.
I’d been in the hospital my fair share of times, and I’d never been able to get any quality sleep there. She was probably sitting there, playing on her phone when my email had popped up.
She told me I could come by the hospital anytime because the doctor said she probably wouldn’t be dismissed until late afternoon the following day.
Just as I was about to close my laptop to start getting ready for a quick trip to the hospital, I noted Cassandra’s sign off. “Come by anytime – Cassandra Sanders,” she had written, and alarms started going off in my head.
“Cassandra Sanders…” I said under my breath. I hadn’t realized what her full name was.
But honestly, what could I have been thinking—that it was cookies?
“Cassandra Sanders,” I said again. There was something familiar about the name. I closed my laptop and stood up, concentrating for a moment. I headed over to a bookshelf and plucked one of Jim’s old high school yearbooks off one of the shelves.
After just a few moments of flipping through the book, I found the Junior’s Top Dogs page – basically all those best laughs, most likely to succeed.
And, there was Cassandra Sanders standing next to my Jim – �
��Couple most likely to get married.”
Anger flared in my chest, and I slammed the yearbook shut.
There was no denying the fact that the girl in the picture was the same woman I’d met as Cassandra. The flaming red hair of hers was a dead giveaway.
I was livid. Not only did Jim keep the fact that the police had been called on him a secret – but he had failed to mention that the bakery belonged to his high school girlfriend!
I’d never met her, obviously, and Jim really didn’t talk about her too much. He had mentioned dating a Cassandra girl back in the day, but I didn’t realize she still lived in San Francisco. And I certainly didn’t know that she was the one making me those brownies he oh-so willingly kept running out to get me.
Why hadn’t he told me?
Unless, he had something to hide?
I was definitely going to the hospital to speak to her now. If I left now I could be home before Jim even woke up. Just in case, I left him a note stating that I hadn’t been able to sleep and was going to take care of something work related.
I was vague in my note, but I figured there was a good chance he could guess who I was heading off to talk to. He probably wouldn’t be thrilled to wake up to that note, but I didn’t care. I needed answers not just for work but for my own peace of mind.
I set Laurie’s monitor next to Jim’s nightstand before getting dressed and heading out.
I sent another email to Cassandra, asking if it was okay if I dropped by in thirty minutes. Her response was an emphatic ‘yes’ followed by her hospital room number.
Once I got in my car, I texted Kenny to come over as soon as he was up just in case I was late getting home. I didn’t want to make Jim late for work watching Laurie.
Then I messaged Cassandra that I was on the way and dropped my phone in the passenger seat.
My mind was still all over the place. I was literally on my way to talk to my husband’s high school girlfriend – an old girlfriend he’d failed to mention he had obviously been talking to.
Jim never kept secrets from me.
I didn’t like it one bit.
Why hadn’t he said anything to me?
