by Albert Simon
Chapter 17
Wayne was there within ten minutes and led Rosie away in handcuffs. He gave Henry a sad look as he put Rosie into the back of his Crown Victoria and told him he’d come by on Monday morning. Henry turned to go back inside and put the dinner makings back inside the refrigerator. He wasn’t hungry anymore. He collected the glasses and went out to the pool to get the bowl of chips from the table. He looked at the pool where just an hour ago his life had a new beginning or so he thought.
He grabbed the unopened bottle of wine, got into his car and drove over to Mrs. Icklebee’s house on Calle Rolph, knocked on the door and went inside for a late afternoon drink. She was doing well and he spent a few hours talking with her about the loss of loved ones and getting on with life.
Sunday was a wasted day. Henry swam laps, though when he first walked out of his room and looked at the pool, he thought he would never go in it again, but he did. He got on his computer to see if he could buy a photograph of Rudy Vallee on eBay. Rosie had touched him in a way that no other woman had since Irma. He had to admit that she changed his life, and while he didn’t have any pictures of her, he thought a photo of Rudy Vallee would be a memento he could live with. He didn’t bid on the one that was being offered by “Big Red” in Riverside County, California. He’d seen that one for sale yesterday afternoon before he went grocery shopping. He bid on one from a guy out in the U.K. who was selling it for ten British Pounds, he bid twenty five, he was determined not to be outbid like Thornbird.
Wayne called in the afternoon to see if he was doing ok. He told Henry that Rosie had signed a confession and had asked for a psychiatrist and would probably plead insanity. Wayne said he would come by at ten on Monday; he wanted to hear how Henry had figured everything out.
Charles came back late Sunday afternoon and Henry briefly told him that it hadn’t worked out between Rosie and him. Henry also said that Wayne and the vice squad were going to investigate the Sons of Dionysus, Charles said he would help them in any way that he could. Henry suggested that Charles sit in when Wayne was there Monday morning, that way he could tell both of them everything that happened. They took Saturday’s steaks and vegetables out of the refrigerator and the two friends ate a quiet meal by the side of the pool.
He was about to go to bed, when he emptied out the pockets of his shorts. He found his wedding ring and remembered picking it up from the table by the pool and dropping it into his shorts pocket on Saturday afternoon before Rosie came over. He looked at it, looked at his finger and started putting it back on. As it started to go over his knuckle, he slipped it off again and walked over to his office and put it in the pencil drawer of his desk. He closed the drawer and said “to new beginnings” to himself.
Henry was up before the sun on Monday. He swam laps, showered and went to his office, where there was an email from the Feds asking for help profiling a case in Oregon. A couple of kids were murdered while they slept in their tent. He did some research, but what he was reading wouldn’t stick and after a while he gave up and made a fresh pot of coffee.
Wayne showed up at ten o’clock, smelled the fresh pot and poured himself a cup of coffee. Charles had been pacing around since eight, he’d heard a little bit from Henry yesterday but he was dying to hear the entire story. They took their coffees and sat down outside in the shade of the large umbrella by the pool.
“So how did you know?” Wayne started the conversation off asking.
“Well, of course I didn’t for a long time, but a bunch of coincidences fell into place all at once.” Henry smiled.
“Like what?” Charles leaned forward in his chair not wanting to miss anything.
“From the very beginning, when I heard how hard Rex Thornbird worked and how many hours he put in every day I wondered why his office had not called the police when he didn’t show up for three days.” Henry began.
“Obviously it would have been Rosie who would have called and she couldn’t without giving everything away.” Charles smiled at having figured that out.
“Exactly, she expected Janet Icklebee’s sister to find the body, when she didn’t because of her unfortunate car accident, Rosie couldn’t exactly call the police to report a body in a house on Granvia Valmonte.” Henry explained. “Then I heard from Jerrie Mungo that Thornbird had been seen around town with her, and I didn’t want to believe myself, for selfish reasons, that they were a couple.”
Wayne added, “In her confession she said that Thornbird rejected her, apparently she knew about his extracurricular activities as well. You didn’t want to believe that Rosie and Thornbird were together because you had a giant crush on her.”
“I don’t know about a giant crush, but I will admit that I had some, well, feelings for her. When I found his gay kiddie porn collection at his house – relax Wayne, Charles knows all about it – I knew that Thornbird had an elaborate façade and Rosie was part of it. I suspected then that there was no romance between Rosie and Thornbird; he wasn’t interested in her in that way at all. I started thinking then that they were in on the real estate scam together, but I didn’t really want to believe it. I confronted her with it during dinner and she denied it. I feel like an idiot, I was really duped by her.” Henry shook his head at what he considered his own stupidity.
“So when you found the lipstick in Thornbird’s place, that’s when you knew she did it?” Charles was at the edge of his seat again.
“No, I didn’t, not yet. At that point I had heard that maybe Thornbird didn’t like women, so I thought that perhaps he was a cross dresser and I actually thought it was his. I think my first clue was finding a Rudy Vallee picture for sale on eBay when I was on the Internet on Saturday morning. But even then I didn’t put it all together, not until I found Rosie’s matching lipstick in my guest bathroom yesterday did I know for sure.” Henry took a sip of coffee.
“Did you suspect Janet Icklebee at all?” Wayne asked.
“You know, I did for a few moments. She had all those pictures; they’re all about the same size as what we think was at the house. She was small enough to hide in the utility closet in the house. Thornbird screwed her when bought the house that she and her husband had built and I thought she blamed Thornbird for her husband’s heart attack. Janet certainly is strong enough, even for an old lady, but she couldn’t have done it. She’s a nice woman who has experienced a lot of loss in a short span of time. I spent the afternoon with her on Saturday and this morning I called the grief counselor that helped me out when I first moved here, he is going to go over to see her this afternoon.” Henry said.
Wayne shook his head. “You know we searched Rosie’s condo and found a laptop computer that belonged to Thornbird. From a first look it has a lot of information in it on Thornbird’s illegal activities. The lab guys have it for analysis and the vice guys say it will be very helpful in their investigation.”
“You know, I was surprised when I found his secret stash of videos, but it does explain a lot, including his split from his original wife and why he was so secretive about his lifestyle, I mean being gay in Palm Springs is just not a big deal. I also knew he had to have a laptop around somewhere, I just didn’t know where it was.”
Just then the doorbell rang. Charles jumped up to get it.
“Don’t say anything more until I get back, and by the way, being gay anywhere shouldn’t be a big deal.” He yelled over his shoulder as he walked into the house.
“The other thing we found during our search of her place was the photograph of Rudy Vallee that was in the house. There was still dust on the top of the frame.” Wayne told Henry.
Henry nodded. “Yeah I’m not surprised; I thought you might find it there. Saturday morning before Rosie came over, I was looking around on the Internet for information on Thornbird’s extracurricular activities and on a lark I went to eBay and searched for a Rudy Vallee photograph. There was one being offered by a “Big Red” in Riverside County. Like I said, I should have picked up on it right away, but I was still denying to myself
that she could be involved.”
“When she confessed, we asked her about the picture, and she said selling it was the only way that she was going to get back some of the money that Thornbird owed her.” Wayne explained.
“That seems kind of odd, that picture is only worth about ten bucks or so, but then people do odd things.” Henry shook his head again.
Charles came walking back to the pool with a box.
“It’s addressed to you Henry; it’s from Mountain View, California.”
Henry looked puzzled at the package. “I’m not expecting anything.”
“Oh for goodness sake, let’s open it.” Charles said setting the box on the table. He pulled the tape off the outside and there was another box inside with a note on top. He handed Henry the letter and started opening the second box.
“To one American from another – please stay in touch.” Henry read out loud.
“Look, it’s a brand new cell phone!” Charles exclaimed.
“It’s from Amit Anchula that certainly was very nice of him.” Henry looked at the note.
“And this is cool; the invoice says that the monthly service bills are going to go to Anchula’s accountant – no charge to you!”
“Well Henry, welcome to the modern world and here’s to new beginnings!” Wayne raised his coffee cup in a toast. “Yes, to new beginnings.” Henry lifted his cup and touched it to Wayne’s.
###
Albert Simon has been writing most of his life, creating and illustrating his first book in his native Dutch at the age of seven. Since then he has written technical papers related to the function of distributed databases and numerous short stories. His essays have been published in the local newspaper, but he finally found his voice in the Henry Wright Mystery series that he is now producing.
He is a member of the California Writer’s Club and the Mystery Writers of America. Simon and his wife, Berlynn, have four daughters and live in the Sierra Nevada foothill town of Tuolumne when not vacationing in Palm Springs. For more information on the Henry Wright Mystery series, please visit https://www.desertdreaming.com.
