The Lies That Bind

by Kate Carlisle

  “Truly, Brooklyn?” Vinnie said. “You’re the only one who was in the vicinity of all three attacks?”

  “Yes.”

  “No,” Derek said. “Gunther was there, as well.”

  “Gunther?” Shocked, I turned to him. “Do you really think your client had anything to do with Gabriel being shot?”

  “No, of course not,” he said, relaxing back in the red chair. “I’m just pointing out that you’re not the only common denominator, as you keep insisting.”

  “Okay, let’s leave Gabriel out of the equation,” I said. “So you have Minka being attacked. Then Layla is killed, and now the mysterious Mr. Soo ends up dead. They’re all connected to BABA. So we have a pot full of suspects to choose from.”

  “Well, let’s figure out who did it,” Robin said eagerly as she pushed herself up off the couch. “I’m going to get a notepad and we’re going to make a chart.”

  “I love party games,” Vinnie said.

  I laughed, then glanced over and caught Derek shaking his head at me.

  I shrugged. “Hey, it beats Trivial Pursuit.”

  “Don’t deny it. You’re in heaven,” he said in a half-accusing tone.

  “And I’m glad you’re here with me,” I said softly.

  He reached over and squeezed my knee affectionately. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

  “Suzie, aren’t they a cute couple?” Vinnie said, gazing fondly at both of us.

  “They’re freaking adorable,” Suzie said drolly. She stood and grabbed the empty wine bottle off the coffee table. “Come on, Vin, let’s get some more wine.”

  Derek tried not to laugh. I felt my cheeks burning. I’d always hated when couples made googly eyes at each other in front of their friends. Now I was doing it. I’d lost all sense of dignity and didn’t mind at all.

  “Here we go,” Robin said, walking back in with a legal pad and pen. “We’re going to solve a murder.”

  “Two murders,” Vinnie corrected, as she put a freshly opened bottle of wine on the coffee table. “Plus the attacks on your friend Gabriel and that evil cow, Minka.”

  Robin snorted with laughter and Suzie grinned with pride. “Gotta love her.”

  “Forgive me,” Vinnie said, scowling. “I should not speak ill of cows.”

  After Robin had written down the long list of suspects and motives, Derek stood and took the list from her. He studied it for a moment and a speculative gleam appeared in his eye.

  “All right, let’s do this,” he said decisively, patting the back of the red chair. “Brooklyn, darling, you sit over here so you can concentrate more fully.”

  I was suddenly apprehensive, but I brushed it off and switched chairs. I tucked my legs under me and shifted until I was comfortable.

  Derek touched my arm. “Now, I’m going to take you step by step through both Minka’s and Layla’s attacks. Will you be okay with that?”

  “Sure,” I said, hoping for the best.

  He glanced at my three friends. “You’ll all take notes and point out inconsistencies, won’t you?”

  Vinnie nodded eagerly.

  “Coolio,” Suzie said, and settled into her corner of the couch.

  “We’ll start with the night of Layla’s murder,” Derek said. “You were in your classroom, correct?”

  “Yes. The signatures had dried and we were hammering the spines to round them.”

  “Fine,” he said, hunkering down in front of me and resting his hands on my knees. “Close your eyes, darling, and think back. Who was in the building that night?”

  I thought of Naomi and Karalee, Marky and Ned. Minka was back from the hospital, although I didn’t see her until later. I assumed all her students were there with her.

  “Now, you’re in your class,” Derek murmured. “Can you see it?”

  After a moment of concentration, I could picture my classroom, the students, the smell of PVA glue.

  “Now, where were you standing?” Derek asked.

  I answered him, and we went back and forth. What tool was in my hand? Who else was in the room? Picture the students. Go around the room and name them. I did as he instructed.

  “Now you hear the gunshot,” he said. “Who’s in the room with you now?”

  “All of my students,” I said, then frowned. “No, wait. Cynthia Hardesty had left to make a phone call. And Alice had to run to the bathroom. And Gina… no, Whitney. No, wait. They’re both in the room. They scream and huddle under the table.”

  “What else?”

  “Kylie isn’t there. Did she go to the ladies’ room? And I can’t see Jennifer. But she’s probably there. She’s quiet.” I sighed. “That’s all I can remember.”

  “So, to recap,” Derek said, glancing at his own notes. “Cynthia, Kylie, and Alice were out of the room when the gunshot went off.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to picture the classroom at the precise moment. “Yes, I’m pretty sure.”

  “You hear the shot and run down the hall,” Derek continued. “There you see the body. Who’s with you?”

  “Mitchell,” I said instantly. “He wouldn’t stay in the room.”

  “Who else?” Derek asked, pacing a few feet in each direction as he peppered me with questions. “Where is everybody now? Who do you see next?”

  I went down the line, picturing Alice and Gina at the gallery end of the hall. I remembered Mitchell saying he’d assigned Ned to watch the other hallway. But I never saw Ned that night.

  I related Tom Hardesty’s display of grief and Cynthia’s contempt for Layla. And I told them about Minka stomping over and Mitchell forcing her to stay away.

  “All right, darling,” Derek said soothingly. “Now, where is Naomi?”

  I opened my eyes and stared at him. “She wasn’t there. She showed up a few minutes later. Said she’d had to run an errand. She went berserk when she saw Layla. She tried to get closer and I had to hold her back, she was so out of control.” I hesitated, then added, “It seemed over the top, but I won’t judge her on that score.”

  “What else do you remember?”

  “I remember you walking in with Gunther. He was angry, arguing with Inspector Jaglom.”

  “Yes, I remember that, too.”

  I looked over at my three friends on the couch, all in a row, riveted to their seats.

  “This is so cool,” Suzie said. “Keep going.”

  “Okay,” I said, grinning. I looked up at Derek. “If we assume that the same person attacked Minka, then it can’t be Gunther. He wasn’t in town on Monday.”

  Derek folded his arms across his chest as he pondered that for a moment. “But he was. He arrived Sunday night with three of my men. They drove him by the book arts center. He had managed to evade my men twice and I was livid. That’s why I flew in late Monday.”

  “So Gunther was already in the city?”

  “The plot thickens,” Robin murmured dramatically.

  I looked at Derek as something dawned on me. “But Gunther couldn’t have killed Mr. Soo because he was in jail.”

  “Yes, that just occurred to me, as well,” Derek said, and we smiled at each other. Were we smiling too much? Were my friends thinking, Get a room?

  To distract myself, I picked up the legal pad, sat back in the chair, and perused the list again. “So it could still be anyone.”

  “Not you,” Robin said.

  “Nope, not me,” I said with relief, and made a third column of people who absolutely didn’t do it. I put my name on that list, then added Derek’s.

  After a few fortifying sips of wine, Derek and I went through the same exercise for the night of Minka’s attack.

  I thought back to the classroom Monday night, then named the people who left the class, one by one. I remembered trying to sneak out to talk to Layla, but being stopped by Kylie, who asked for an explanation of some technique. Threading? Stitching? Something.

  “So Alice and Cynthia and Whitney are out of the room during the time Minka is attacked,”
Derek reiterated.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “That means that Alice and Cynthia are now the common denominators for the two attacks at your workplace,” Vinnie said.

  “Very good,” Derek said, winking at Vinnie, who preened with pleasure. I couldn’t blame her.

  “And Naomi,” I added. “She was supposedly in her office with the door closed when Minka was attacked. She acted perfectly dumb when she finally opened the door.”

  “She’s my guess,” Suzie said, and Vinnie patted her leg in encouragement.

  “Where did Alice go off to?” Derek asked.

  “The bathroom, probably,” Robin said, smiling.

  “No doubt,” I said, thinking back. “She’s always in the bathroom. Or off texting Stuart.”

  “Is she?” Derek said.

  Robin laughed. “You couldn’t possibly think Alice had anything to do with this.”

  “I’m not eliminating anyone yet,” Derek said thoughtfully.

  “You’ve seen me pass out over blood, right?” I said. “Alice is ten times worse than that.”

  “She is quite sensitive,” Vinnie allowed.

  “She couldn’t even lift a gun, let alone shoot it,” Suzie said, amused. “The noise alone would probably cause her to faint.”

  “But she was in Dharma when Gabriel was shot,” Derek persisted.

  “Oh, come on,” Robin said. “The girl is a wimp.”

  “Besides, she was at the spa when it happened,” I said.

  “Was she?” Derek asked, one eyebrow raised in doubt.

  “And don’t forget,” I said.“The killer would have to know how to break into a hotel room and hide those books.”

  “Can’t you just see her breaking into a hotel room?” Robin said with a laugh.

  “She is pretty thin-skinned,” Suzie noted. “She was in tears half the night we met her.”

  I looked at Derek. “It’s kind of silly to have her on the list. I mean, where would anyone as young and innocent and sensitive as Alice learn about breaking and entering?”

  “Oh, she’s not so young,” Vinnie said, sitting forward. “Her earlobes are those of a much older woman.”

  “What?” Robin laughed. “Come on.”

  “It is true,” Vinnie insisted. “My mother, Padma, is a cosmetic facialist with the soul of an artist. She has studied facial structure, bones and skin, and passed the knowledge on to me.”

  “She wanted Vinnie to open a spa with her in Mumbai,” Suzie revealed.

  “Really?” Robin asked. “Do you know how to do all that spa stuff?”

  “Yes.” Vinnie shivered delicately. “And I cannot tolerate it. Can you imagine cleaning toe jam and waxing hairy upper lips all day?”

  Suzie snorted with laughter.

  “But what were you saying about earlobes?” Derek persisted, bringing us back to the key topic.

  “Ah, yes.” Vinnie sobered. “If earlobes could talk, they would tell you that your young Alice is no spring chicken. I calculate her to be at least forty years old.”

  Chapter 18

  My mouth gaped open. Robin stared dumbly back at me. We both looked up at Derek, whose eyes were narrowed in speculation.

  We all turned to Vinnie, who sat quietly sipping her wine.

  “Is that really possible?” Robin said finally.

  “This is a well-known fact in my country,” Vinnie said offhandedly. “The headband she wears may be an aid to keep her skin taut. It is an old trick.”

  Could it have been true? Was Alice really that old? Not that forty was all that old, but she didn’t even look thirty. And now that I thought about it, her sweet, genteel wardrobe added to her youthful appearance. Was it all an act?

  And even if she was older than we thought, why would Alice kill Layla?

  “What’s her motive?” I asked. “She just started working at BABA a month ago. Layla was so nice to her, it was spooky. She was almost maternal toward her. I never saw any animosity between them.”

  “Perhaps Alice was holding something over Layla’s head,” Derek said.

  “Blackmail?” I said. “So Layla had to be nice or Alice would reveal something? It’s outlandish.”

  “Don’t forget Gabriel,” Robin said. “What could she possibly have against him?”

  “Maybe we should ask Gabriel,” Derek said, staring out the window at the moon cresting over the Bay Bridge.

  “Maybe.” I rubbed my temple where a headache was starting to throb. The idea that Alice could be a cold-blooded killer was hurting my head. I glanced at Derek. “You’re playing devil’s advocate and I appreciate that, but you don’t know this girl. She’s sweet and thoughtful. Sensitive. I just can’t see her in the role of killer.”

  “Remember Ted Bundy,” Derek said ominously.

  “Oh, come on.”

  “He was a very attractive man, by all accounts,” Vinnie said with a nod to Derek.

  “And charming,” Robin added.

  Vinnie turned toward me. “I am sorry, Brooklyn. It can’t be pleasant to realize you’ve been fooled by someone you believed to be a friend. But you must admit it is possible. Someone is killing these people. We must consider all possibilities.”

  “Yes, of course, I know you’re right.” I stared at the names on the legal pad. “But in the interest of considering all the possibilities, I’d like to reassess Naomi. She had much more to gain than anyone else, both monetarily and professionally. Or there’s Cynthia Hardesty. She hated Layla.”

  “But what are their connections to Gabriel?” Derek interjected. “Neither of those women were anywhere near Dharma on Saturday.”

  “I know, I know. I’m grasping at straws.” I stared up at him and grasped at one more straw. “It’s still possible that Gabriel isn’t connected to the other attacks.”

  “But, darling,” he said gently. “If our killer is Alice, they’re all connected.”

  “But how in the world is Alice connected to Gabriel? And what about Mr. Soo?”

  “I can’t answer those questions yet,” he said. “But we’ll start with the fact that she was in Dharma when Gabriel was shot. And she might’ve known Mr. Soo through Layla.”

  “Gabriel was shot while she was at the spa,” I countered.

  “According to whom?”

  I had to think. Alice and my sister Savannah had come running shortly after Gabriel was rolled into the ambulance. The timing seemed off. But I could ask Savannah if she’d been with Alice the entire time. I didn’t want to interrupt the conversation so I made a mental note to call my sister tomorrow.

  “Oh, hey,” Robin said brightly. “Maybe Layla was having an affair with Gabriel, and Alice was-”

  “Stop right there,” I said, thoroughly disturbed by the image. “If I hear that another man I know was having a sleazy affair with Layla, I’m going to join a damn nunnery in Tibet.”

  My friends laughed while Derek coughed discreetly. Then he laid his hand on my shoulder. “Brooklyn, how well do you know Gabriel and Alice?”

  Troubled, I sat back and considered the question. I’d made light of it in the past, but it was clear to me that Gabriel was a thief, pure and simple. High-end, gorgeous, heroic, and sophisticated, but a thief nonetheless. So why had he sought sanctuary with Guru Bob? Who was after him? I knew Guru Bob trusted him and I’d bet my father did, too. And I trusted Guru Bob and Dad. I needed to think about Gabriel awhile longer before I divulged his secrets.

  Alice was a different story. If she’d been playing me all this time, I would have no problem throwing her to the wolves.

  “All I know for sure about Alice is that she came to BABA through Layla.”

  “That’s suspicious right there,” Robin said dryly.

  “True,” I admitted, then stood up to pace the length of the couch and back. I could think better on my feet. I told them everything I thought I knew about Alice, some of which I’d already told Derek. The Catholic boarding school, the stomach problems, the conference where she and Layla first met
. “Oh, and she’s engaged to a guy named Stuart,” I added.

  “Stuart? Who would make up a name like that?” Suzie asked, mystified.

  Our chuckles broke the tension.

  “According to Layla,” I added, “Alice’s background is in arts fund-raising.”

  “Art and money,” Vinnie said sagely. “For a wily thief with a clever cover story, it is the perfect world to infiltrate.”

  I sighed. “Okay, Gabriel’s drawn to that world, too, so I’m willing to acknowledge a connection between him and Alice is not impossible. But it’s highly improbable.”

  “But why would she shoot him?” Robin said. “That’s so disturbing.”

  “Perhaps Gabriel recognized her,” Derek said. “Or more likely, Alice saw him first, recognized him, and knew she had to get rid of him before he saw her and blew her cover.”

  “To protect her band of thieves,” Suzie murmured, and her eyes widened in amazement. “It’s just like Oliver Twist. Far out.”

  “Oh, my God,” I said. “Layla was Fagin.”

  “But Alice is Sikes,” Suzie said, wagging her finger at me. “Talk about a psychopath.”

  I shivered. Bill Sikes was the personification of evil in the story of Oliver Twist.

  “It’s all speculation,” I said halfheartedly.

  “Oh!” Vinnie wiggled with excitement. “This reminds me of an old episode of White Collar with a similar plot. The bad guys dealt in Asian antiquities, but rare books would work just as well. So, Alice wants to take over Layla’s territory and Mr. Soo was Layla’s middleman. Alice had to dispose of them both in order to move her own people into place. The center where Brooklyn teaches classes was similar to the private museum depicted in White Collar. Both provide the perfect front for nefarious activities.”

  Suzie gazed fondly at Vinnie. I caught Robin’s eye and we both smiled. Vinnie was in love with American television and pop culture.

  “I guess anything’s possible,” I conceded finally, and turned to Derek. “So what do we do now?”

  “This is Derek Stone, everybody,” I announced the following night at the start of the makeup class. “He’s my ride home.”