Don't Be A Stranger

by Alicia Roberts

  I glanced around the sparsely furnished room – the walls were bare, with a table and eight chairs.

  I took a seat and said, “We appreciate you meeting us.”

  Edgar glanced at his watch. “You have five minutes. And then I have to leave.”

  “Ok.” I nodded, and took a deep breath. “What do you know about Esme?”

  Edgar shrugged. “She seemed like a nice girl. I didn’t really know her all that well.”

  “Really?” I said. “Because Esme’s best friend Stephanie told me that you were dating her.”

  Edgar stiffened. “I wouldn’t say we were dating.”

  “But you were seeing her. You were sleeping together, and you had feelings for each other.”

  He looked down and shook his head. I waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. I realized suddenly that the emotion I saw on his face was sorrow.

  “This must be a difficult time,” I said softly. “You’re mourning her. But you can’t do so openly, because nobody else knows.”

  Edgar looked at me. “I can’t – I can’t discuss our relationship. What else did you want to know?”

  “Why can’t you discuss your relationship?”

  “Because it has nothing to do with you and it has nothing to do with her death.”

  “But you were nearby when it happened, weren’t you? You were at Carly’s party.”

  “So what if I was?”

  Jerry and I glanced at each other. I said slowly, “You don’t want to admit you and Esme were dating. But I have friends tell me that you were. And you were at the party that night. What happened between you and Esme? Did you have a fight? Did she threaten to leave you?”

  Edgar stood up. “I don’t think this conversation is going to benefit either of us.”

  He was about to walk out when a loud buzzer sounded.

  “That’s the door,” he said. “Excuse me.”

  Jerry and I sat there and watched him leave the room. His footsteps grew softer, and then I heard him talking to someone. A woman’s voice responded, and then she laughed; a light, tinkling sound.

  I heard two pairs of footsteps walking back toward us. Edgar opened the door, and Jerry and I looked up.

  “Valerie,” said Edgar. “This is my fiancée, Mellissa Bosley.”

  Jerry and I stared at Mellie in shock, as Edgar introduced us to her.

  “Oh, I know Valerie.” Mellie turned to me. “Imagine running into you here! I thought you didn’t know my Eddie-pie.”

  I glanced at Eddie, who showed no reaction at the puke-inducing endearment.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Good seeing you again.”

  “Valerie and her partner were just leaving,” Edgar said.

  Jerry and I stood up, and I gave Edgar a look that I hoped said, “This isn’t over.”

  “Oh, I’ll walk them out,” said Mellie to Edgar. “That’ll give you a few minutes to pack up.”

  “Thanks.”

  Mellie leaned in for a brief kiss, and then turned to us again with a polite smile.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  The ride down in the elevator was agonizingly slow.

  None of us said anything, but thoughts churned through my mind rapidly. So this was Mellie’s fiancé. And Mellie’s fiancé and Esme’s boyfriend were the same person. I thought back to the sequence of events, trying to fit Mellie into the picture, and when we stepped out into the parking lot, Mellie said, “Is that old blue one your car?”

  There were only two other cars in the lot – Edgar’s vintage Ferrari, parked near the elevator and Mellie’s shiny silver Mercedes, parked a few spots away. So clearly the ugly blue Volvo was ours.

  “No,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I don’t know whose car that is. Jerry and I are going to fly home on a magic unicorn.”

  “Oh, you’re so funny, Val,” Mellie trilled. “How do you know my Eddie-pie?”

  How did I know Eddie? I would’ve known him through Mellie, but instead, I knew him through Esme. And Esme and Eddie had to keep their relationship a secret because of Mellie… Mellie, who’d been at the party. Mellie, who had no reason to want Esme around. Who knew all about my investigations into this case.

  The thoughts jumbled through my mind quickly, my brain filtering through them before I could arrange them logically.

  I froze in place and turned to look at her. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

  Mellie looked at me, confused. “What’re you talking about?”

  “You killed Esme.”

  “You’re crazy. I liked Esme – she was so friendly!”

  “Yeah. Too friendly,” I said. I wasn’t really sure about this, but I watched Mellie’s eyes narrow and knew that at last I was onto something.

  Jerry stared at Mellie. His mouth was half-open, and he looked like a gold-fish.

  “Val’s right,” he said slowly. “It was you. Val told you all about her work, and it was you! Sending us all those creepy threats.”

  Mellie shook her head. “Don’t be silly.”

  “I’m not being silly,” I said. “Esme and your Eddie-pie were a thing. He wanted to break off your engagement.”

  Mellie scoffed. “Eddie would never do such a thing.”

  Jerry crossed his arms. “Really? Because that’s not what he told us.”

  Mellie looked at us in surprise. “Why – what – I don’t–”

  “You figured if you killed her,” said Jerry, “Eddie wouldn’t leave you.”

  “Eddie wouldn’t leave me anyway,” Mellie said. “He loves me.”

  “No, he doesn’t. And you know what – I figure you stole Esme’s cellphone after killing her. It probably had logs of you calling her. And it probably had texts between her and Eddie, about you.”

  “Huh,” Jerry said slowly. “You know Mellie, I’ll bet you’ve got that cell phone at home.”

  Mellie smiled at us and tossed her hair back. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Ok,” I said. “I guess you smashed up the cellphone to make sure it couldn’t be traced. But that’s not the only evidence damning you. Once I pass this on to the NYPD and they get a warrant to search your house, they’ll find your gun. The one that killed Esme.”

  Mellie looked from me to Jerry and then back at me again. “That’s ridiculous,” she repeated slowly. “You don’t know anything.”

  “Hey,” I said, “Now that I think about it, they don’t even need the gun. They can just grab your fingerprints. I’m sure they’ll match with the prints found in that room.”

  Mellie gulped. She said softly, “There were no prints.”

  Jerry and I exchanged a triumphant glance.

  “That’s what you think,” I said.

  Mellie looked at us steadily, and then she slipped her hand into her bag and pulled out a small gun. The barrel was pointed at me.

  I tried to say something, but the words froze in my throat. I took a slow step backward. “What’re you…?”

  “I thought I could trust you, Val. But I can’t. I love Eddie and I’m not about to lose him,” Mellie said.

  From behind me, Jerry yelled, “Run!”

  I turned in time to see him running toward Mellie’s Mercedes. A shot rang out. I wasted no time in following Jerry, though I wasn’t too sure there was any point. Mellie could just corner us and kill us. I heard another shot, but once again, it missed.

  “Your gun!” Jerry yelled, from somewhere nearby.

  We reached Mellie’s car and ran to the other side. There was a loud crack and I realized that a bullet had hit the car.

  Jerry and I crouched down behind the car. I dug into my purse for my gun. My fingers wrapped around the barrel, and I pulled it out just in time to see Mellie come around the car.

  “I hit my car,” she said. “It’s all your fault.”

  “I’m a better shot,” I told her, pointing my gun at her. “I practice every week.”

  “Yeah,” Mellie said. “But I have more reason to kill you.”

  From behind her, a
man’s deep voice said, “Nobody’s killing anybody.”

  I looked up and Mellie half-twisted and looked back.

  This was my chance. In one motion, I dropped my gun, stood up and leaped forward. I landed squarely with my arms around Mellie’s shoulders, and pushed her to the ground. She fell down with me on top of her, her right arm stretched out, gun still in her grip.

  Eddie walked forward and pried the gun out of her fingers.

  Despite my heavy breathing, I could hear Mellie sobbing softly. “I’m sorry Eddie,” she said, “But I did it for us. I had to. She would’ve ripped us apart.”

  “No, Mellie,” said Eddie. “You ripped us apart.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  After Jerry called 911, the cops arrived fairly quickly. We all went to the Precinct, where we gave statements separately.

  It was almost eleven by the time we were done, and the three of us met up at a half-empty Chinese restaurant a few blocks down. Over Mai Tais and fried rice, Edgar Martinez said, “I’m sorry I thought you two wanted to kidnap me. My life’s been pretty crazy for a while, now.”

  “I’d think so,” I said, “How’d you even end up with Mellie?”

  “She seemed so normal at first,” he said. “And I thought we should get married. But then little things she did – like going shopping for Prada handbags and expecting me to pay the bill – got on my nerves. I wanted to break up, but she got all suicidal.”

  “Wow,” said Jerry. “Was she really?”

  Edgar shrugged. “I thought so. I didn’t trust her, but I also didn’t want her to kill herself.”

  “So you pretended to still love her?”

  “She said she was doing therapy,” Edgar said. “I told myself I’d end things as soon as she seemed more stable.”

  “And then you met Esme.”

  He sighed. “That was the real thing. I loved Esme more than anything, and I wanted to be with her, like a real couple. We were talking about eloping.”

  “But Mellie found out,” said Jerry.

  Edgar nodded. “She fought with me and I didn’t know what to say. And then she talked to Esme, and Esme admitted it.”

  “Wow.”

  Edgar pushed food around on his plate.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “You know none of this was your fault.”

  Edgar shook his head. “I’ll always wonder what I could’ve done differently. I should’ve talked to Mellie’s family. Made them force her to get help.”

  Jerry and I exchanged a look. There would always be a lot of “shoulds.”

  “You can’t change the past,” I said softly.

  Edgar nodded. “After Esme – after the party. I thought, what if Mellie had something to do with all of it? But then I learned they had a suspect. I thought I was the one being crazy.”

  “Well,” I said. “At least it’s over now.”

  “Yeah,” said Jerry. “For a moment, I thought Mellie was really going to kill us all.”

  Edgar shook his head. “You think you know a person. But deep down, they’re really just a stranger.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Later that night, Edgar told Esme’s family what had really happened, and Darren learned that the case was closed.

  He came over to our place the next morning, and I opened the door with a smile instead of a fry pan.

  “Can I take you out to breakfast now?” he said, and I nodded.

  “And this time,” I promised, “Jerry won’t be there.”

  Forty minutes later, Darren and I were sitting opposite each other in comfy armchairs, coffee and fresh-baked Danishes spread out on the low table before us. We’d chosen to go to a small, cozy café in the West Village. Its walls were exposed brick, the food was excellent and every now and then, the brrr of the coffee grinder rose above the hum of conversation.

  “So, you’re a successful PI now,” said Darren. “Everyone’s going to know you solved this.”

  I shrugged modestly. “I don’t know how successful I am. I mean, this was my first serious case.”

  “You’ll do great.”

  I smiled. “I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

  Darren fidgeted awkwardly in his sofa. “Speaking of confidence. I think, um, remember that favor I was going to ask of you?”

  I tried not to look wary. “Yes?”

  “I was hoping you’d let me hire you for a job.”

  “Oh.” I smiled. “What is it? Employee background check? Finding a lost pet?”

  Darren shook his head. “No. I’d like you to look into someone.”

  “Oh.”

  “She – um – I used to know her in college, back in Cornell. But I lost touch with her after that.”

  “Do you have friends in common?”

  “Sure. But I don’t want to look like a big loser.”

  “And that’s why you want to hire me. So that you can find her without anyone knowing.”

  “Exactly.”

  I sipped my coffee thoughtfully, trying not to look too disappointed.

  Well, at least I’d solved the mystery of why Darren was a womanizer – he was still pining for The One That Got Away.

  Dating in Manhattan is all about kissing frogs. You hope that at some point, one of those frogs will turn into a nice prince who’ll make you happy – but in the meantime you’re stuck with a bunch of frogs and an icky feeling on your lips.

  I’d really hoped that, despite his reputation, Darren would turn out to be a prince. Instead, I’d learned that there was more wrong with Darren than just his reputation.

  “And you still love her,” I said thoughtfully. “After all those years and all those women.”

  Darren shrugged. “I tried to move on. But… Does that make me seem too pathetic?”

  I smiled and shook my head. If anything, I was the pathetic one for thinking that he was being nice to me because he liked me: the only thing he’d been after was my discretion in finding his long-lost girl. “It’s actually kind of romantic. But what if she’s married?”

  “At least I’d know, instead of wondering forever.”

  “What if she’s living on the other side of the country?”

  “I travel all over for work. I might as well travel for… you know. Something else.”

  I smiled. Well, at least this time, I’d found that the frog was just a frog, no kissing involved.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Jerry was out when I got home – there was a note saying that he’d gone to an audition. He came back after lunch to find me watching re-runs of Friends and snacking on my microwave chocolate pudding.

  “You know,” he said, “It’s not that hard to make proper chocolate cake.”

  “Thanks,” I said, snuggling into the sofa cushions.

  “That wasn’t an offer to make a cake – I was saying you could learn to bake.”

  I gave him a morose stare and chose to ignore the advice. “How was the audition?”

  Jerry sighed. “Not that great. I suppose I might as well have some of your chocolate pudding.”

  “Too bad, I just finished it. How about you teach me to make chocolate cake?”

  Jerry eyed me skeptically. He knew just as well as I did that I wasn’t going to learn anything – I’d just hover around, lick the bowl clean, and then, half an hour later, devour half the cake.

  “Fine,” he said. “I don’t have any upcoming auditions anyway. I can afford to eat some cake.”

  I got off the sofa and followed him into the kitchen, where I tried to beat some eggs while I told him about Darren. I’d expected Jerry to make some stupid joke about how I couldn’t attract men, but instead, he said, “That sucks. What’re you going to do?”

  “What can I do? I guess I’ll try to find the girl. It’s easy work, easy money.”

  “Wow.”

  I shrugged. “It’s not how I was hoping things would turn out, but I don’t want to be so jealous that I can’t even help someone find love.”

  We were sile
nt for a few seconds, and then Jerry told me about his terrible audition. According to him, there were guys at the audition who were as good-looking as Tom Cruise, back in his heyday, and with the same amount of talent. “I’ll never be an actor,” Jerry moaned.

  A few minutes after we put the cake-mix into the oven, there was a knock on the door. Jerry and I looked at each other, and I shrugged.

  I opened the door and found myself staring at Jerry’s dad. “Kyle!” I said. “Jerry didn’t tell me you were coming over! Come in.”

  We went over to the kitchen table, and Jerry gave his dad a surprised hug. “I didn’t know you were coming,” Jerry said, echoing my words.

  Kyle said, “I didn’t know I was coming till this morning. And then I just hopped on my plane.”

  “Well, it’s good to see you,” I said. “Coffee?”

  “I’ll get it,” said Jerry, fishing around for coffee pods.

  Kyle and I sat at the kitchen table and smiled at each other.

  “I’m sure you remember the bonus,” Kyle said.

  “I do.”

  “Well, here it is.”

  Kyle handed me a check and I stared at the amount. This was real. For once, I had actual money. I wasn’t broke – I’d be able to pay my rent and my bills and do some interesting PI work.

  “I – I appreciate it.”

  “I should get a cut of that,” Jerry said, placing mugs of coffee in front of me and Kyle. “I helped.”

  “So I heard.” Kyle took a sip of his coffee and turned to me. “Jerry told me over the phone that he went with you to talk to people, and he called up his friends trying to find contacts.”

  Jerry joined us at the table with his freshly-made mug of steaming hot coffee.

  “Oh.” I tried not to look too disappointed. On the one hand, I really wanted the money. But on the other hand, I didn’t want to be too greedy – and Jerry had helped a little with the investigation. “Do you think Jerry deserves a cut?”

  Kyle laughed a deep belly laugh. “Well, aren’t you generous? If it was me, I’d be fighting tooth and nail to prove that the money was mine and only mine.”