“That,” she said with a smile, “sounds like a line you’ve used before.”
“But tonight I actually mean it.” He looked down at her empty champagne glass. “Let me refill that for you. If you promise not to disappear.”
She handed him the glass. “Thanks for saving me the pain of hobbling to the bar.”
“Back in a flash. Tell T. rex to behave himself.”
Off he went with her champagne glass, striding with the confidence of a man who knew his way among the tuxedoed crowd. Just as she lost sight of him, the PA system hummed to life.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! I’m George Gilman, chairman of the benefit committee. I’m delighted to see so many people here who care about this museum and all the ways it enriches our city, inspires our children, and awakens our wonder in science …”
Maura’s two-hour shoes had just about reached their limit. She leaned against a pillar, trying to take the pressure off her numb toes, as George Gilman finished his introductions. The museum director took the microphone and began to talk about their mission as educators and scientists, all things Maura deeply believed in. Her eyes stayed on the speaker, but she scarcely registered his words because she was distracted by the buzz of the crowd, the flushing of her own skin. And by the attentions of a certain stranger.
Suddenly he was back beside her. “Here you go,” he whispered, placing a full champagne glass in her hand. “What did I miss?”
“The introductions.”
“T. rex didn’t make a pass?”
“He’s been a very good boy,” she said as she sipped.
“Have you eaten dinner?”
“The canapés were a meal in themselves.”
“I arrived too late to sample any. So …”
“So?” She looked at him.
“When the speeches are over, let me take you someplace for dessert.”
He was staring at her as if he thought she were dessert. The champagne made her feel bold, even reckless, but something she glimpsed in his eyes made her hesitate. She took another sip, giving herself a moment to weigh his invitation.
“We’ve only just met, Eli.”
“True. But I have the special gold dot,” he said, tapping his name tag. “Does that count for something?”
Now she had to smile. If ever there was a place to meet a respectable man, it would be a Museum of Science reception. Whatever she’d earlier glimpsed in his eyes, whatever had pinged some internal alarm, was no longer visible.
“After the speeches,” she said.
“Of course. That is why we’re here.”
“And then I want to hear more about you. What else you do besides supporting causes.”
“Over dessert. And I know just the place. A French café, right in this neighborhood. Strawberry tarts as good as any in Paris. And it’s close enough to walk to.”
“Ouch.” She looked down at her shoes. “Don’t even say that word.”
He nodded sympathetically. “I can arrange alternative transportation. Pumpkin. Limousine. Stretcher.”
“Even the pumpkin sounds good.”
Now the evening’s featured speaker took the microphone. A distinguished climate scientist from MIT. Maura drained her champagne to steel herself for the doom-and-gloom lecture sure to come. Shrinking polar ice caps and disappearing phytoplankton. Even though she wore only a silk halter gown, the room felt warm and suddenly airless.
“… and how can we as a country sensibly respond to these global challenges, given our schools’ latest test scores in science?”
Maura looked at the other attendees. Was no one else feeling overheated? All around her were women in jewel-colored gowns, appearing cool and collected.
She felt a steadying hand on her arm, and looked up into Eli’s face.
He took her empty champagne glass and set it on a nearby tray. “I think you need some air,” he said.
“… and that is where we find ourselves today, in a nation rapidly being eclipsed by scientific powerhouses now rising in Asia, where …”
The sun burned through her eyelids. Maura turned her head, trying to escape the glare, but it shone down on her face like a heat lamp, hot enough to scorch her skin. Her mouth was dry, so dry, and her head hurt. And the damn phone kept ringing and ringing.
She opened her eyes and squinted at the sunlight blazing through the living room window. Why am I not in bed? She struggled to focus on her surroundings and saw her coffee table, the Persian rug, the bookcase. Everything where it usually was. Except for me. How did I end up falling asleep on the sofa?
The phone stopped ringing.
Groaning, she sat up and immediately had to drop her head as the room seemed to rock. Doubled over, her face resting in her hands, she realized she was still wearing her evening gown from the Museum of Science reception. The silk was thoroughly wrinkled from being slept in, and one high-heeled shoe was lying under the coffee table. Where the other shoe was, she could not remember.
She could not remember a lot of things. How she’d gotten home. How she’d made it through her front door.
Slowly she straightened again, and this time the room stayed steady. She spotted her purse on the floor, with her keys lying beside it. I must have driven myself home, she thought. Unlocked my front door, and collapsed onto the sofa.
Why can’t I remember any of it?
She stood up, reeling like a drunken woman, and stumbled down the hall into the kitchen. There she drank two full glasses of water, gulping it so greedily it dribbled down her chin and splattered her silk dress. She didn’t care. Thirst quenched at last, she propped herself against the countertop, feeling steadier. Stronger. Her head still throbbed, but she was awake enough now to feel the first prickles of fear. The kitchen clock read eleven thirty-five. It was a Sunday, but even on weekends she never slept this late.
What happened to me last night? Why can’t I remember?
She looked down at her dress. Except for the wrinkled fabric and the fresh water stains, it appeared intact. She was still wearing her pantyhose, although a fat run had streaked its way up her left stocking. She hadn’t been robbed, since her purse and keys were in the …
My purse.
She hurried back to the living room and scooped up her evening bag. Inside it, she found her business card case, lipstick, and wallet. The wallet was unsnapped. With a rising sense of panic she flipped it open and was relieved to see all her credit cards; only her driver’s license was missing. No, there it was, lying loose at the bottom of the purse.
The doorbell rang.
She turned, heart suddenly pounding. Could the answers be waiting on her front porch? Though she had just downed two glasses of water, her throat felt parched again, this time from anxiety, as she opened the door.
Detective Jane Rizzoli pulled off sunglasses and frowned up and down at Maura’s evening gown. “Isn’t there some rule about formal wear before noon?” she asked.
Maura lifted a hand to her throbbing head. “Oh, God, Jane. I’m so confused.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what’s wrong.”
Jane stepped into the house and shut the door. “You look like you need to sit down,” she said, guiding Maura to the sofa. “I’ve been calling you for the last hour. Where were you?”
“Here.” Maura looked down at the white cushions and suddenly gave a laugh. “Right here, in fact. This is where I woke up.”
“On the sofa? Must’ve been a wild night.”
Maura closed her eyes against the headache. She didn’t have to look to know that Jane was eyeing her with a cop’s unrelenting stare, exactly what Maura didn’t want to face right now. Head in her hands, Maura said, “Why are you here?”
“You didn’t answer your phone.”
“It’s Sunday. I’m not on call.”
“I know that.”
“So why were you trying to reach me?” Her question was met with silence. Maura lifted her head and foun
d herself looking straight into Jane’s eyes. It was Maura’s job to wield a scalpel, but now Jane was the one doing the dissecting, and Maura didn’t like being on the receiving end.
“I just came from a death scene,” said Jane. “Olmsted Park. A body was found on the bank of the Muddy River, just south of Leverett Pond.”
“It’s not my case, not today. Why are you telling me about it?”
“Because we have reason to think you might know him.”
Maura sat up straight, staring. “Who?”
“That’s just it, we don’t know. There’s no wallet, no phone on the body. At the moment he’s a John Doe.”
“Why do you think I know him?”
“Because we found your business card tucked into his breast pocket.”
“He could have it for any number of reasons. I give my cards out to anyone who does business with—”
“Your home address was written on the back, Maura.”
Maura sat still for a moment, struggling to think through the cloud of confusion that still hung over her. She seldom gave out her personal information to anyone—not her phone number, and certainly not where she lived. She valued her privacy too dearly. “This man,” she said softly. “What does he look like?”
“Dark hair. In his forties, well built. I guess you’d call him good looking.”
Maura’s head lifted. “What was he wearing?”
“Funny you should ask that,” said Jane, looking at Maura’s evening gown. “He’s wearing a very nice tuxedo. At least, it was nice, until someone sliced him up with a knife.”
Maura lurched to her feet. “Excuse me,” she gasped, and made a run for her bathroom. She barely made it in time and dropped her head over the toilet just as she started to retch. Nothing but water came up, every drop of those two full glasses she’d gulped down so quickly. She was left weak and shaking, and she barely heard Jane knocking on the door.
“Maura? You okay, Maura?”
“I’ll be—I’ll be out in a minute.” Maura rose unsteadily to her feet and stared at herself in the mirror. Her usually sculpted hair was in disarray. Her face was sickly pale, with one bright streak of lipstick smeared across her cheek.
The dead man was wearing a tuxedo.
She turned on the faucet and washed her face twice, scrubbing away every trace of makeup. Bent over the sink, splashing her cheeks with water, all of a sudden she remembered a face. A man with dark hair, smiling at her. She remembered swirls of color, women in evening dresses standing around them. And a glass of champagne.
She stood up straight, water dripping onto her gown. A gown she never wanted to wear again. She unzipped it and shed the silk. Peeled off her pantyhose and underwear, desperate to get it all away from her because it felt dirty. Contaminated. Even as she threw the clothing into the corner, she knew it was evidence, and she could not wash it. Not yet.
Nor could she take a shower.
In her bedroom, she dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, but as soon as they touched her unwashed skin, the fresh clothes felt soiled, because she was. Or might be.
When she walked back into the living room, she found Jane talking on the cell phone. Jane took one look at Maura’s face and quickly hung up.
“I want to see the body,” said Maura.
“He’s probably en route to the morgue right now.”
“Do you have a photo?”
“Yeah. I took one because I thought you might need to look at it.” Jane found the image on her cell phone, but paused before handing it to Maura. “You sure about this?”
“I need to know if it’s him.” She took Jane’s cell phone and stared at the dead man’s face. Remembered how that same face had smiled at her as he’d placed the champagne glass in her hand. And she remembered the name tag with the gold dot. “Eli Kilgour,” she said.
“That’s his name?”
“Yes. I met him last night, at the Museum of Science reception. He’s a donor.”
“Okay, so we’ve got a name.” As Jane took back her phone, her eyes were still on Maura. “Now you want to tell me the rest of the story? Because I can see there’s more.”
“I need to go to the ER, Jane.”
“Are you sick?”
“It’s possible—I need to be sure …” Maura moved to an armchair and sank down. “I don’t think it happened. But I need to be examined. For rape.”
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t remember!” Maura dropped her head into her hands. “I don’t remember how I got home. I don’t remember falling asleep on the sofa.”
“What do you remember?”
“The reception. Meeting him. We left the museum and I was feeling dizzy. I remember we were in the parking garage, and then …” She shook her head. “After that, I’m not sure.”
“Somehow you did manage to get home. Is your car here?”
“I haven’t looked.”
Jane walked out of the living room; seconds later, she was back. “Your car’s not in the garage.”
“But my keys are right there.” She pointed to the floor.
“Someone drove you here. Someone unlocked your front door and got you to the sofa.”
The same someone who drugged my champagne? Who’s now dead from stab wounds?
Jane placed a comforting hand on Maura’s shoulder. “I’ll drive you to the ER now, okay? And I’ll need your clothes. What you wore last night.”
“On the floor, in my bathroom. Everything’s there, my underwear, my stockings.” Maura sighed. “I know the drill.”
“You also know that I’ve got a problem, Maura. The guy you just happened to meet last night turns up murdered. And you can’t remember how the evening ended.”
Maura looked up at her. “I guess we’ve both got a problem.”
Jane was accustomed to seeing Maura poised and in control, the Queen of the Dead unruffled even by the horrors that landed on her autopsy table. So it was a shock to see how vulnerable Maura looked, sitting on the ER exam table, dressed in a hospital paper gown. Maura flinched as a needle pierced her vein and dark blood streamed into the specimen tube.
“That’s for the drug screen?” asked Jane.
“Dr. Murata ordered a number of blood and urine tests” was all the nurse would say as she unsnapped the tourniquet, taped gauze to the puncture site. “And that should do it. As soon as you sign the discharge form, you’re free to go, Dr. Isles. We’ll call you when the lab results come in.” She walked out with the blood tubes, sliding the privacy curtain closed.
“Thank you, Jane,” Maura whispered. “For staying with me.”
“Feel better?”
“Yes. Now that it looks like I wasn’t …” Maura’s voice trailed off before she could say the word. “I just wanted to be certain.”
“Nevertheless,” said Jane, “we’ll need to hang on to your evening clothes, as well as all the collected trace evidence.”
Maura frowned. “You’re keeping my fingernail scrapings?”
Before Jane could answer, her cell phone rang. “Excuse me,” she said, and walked out. Kept walking until she was well down the hall, where Maura couldn’t hear her. “Rizzoli,” she answered.
“You know that name you gave me, Eli Kilgour?” said her partner, Detective Barry Frost.
“You reach his next of kin?”
“Even better. I reached him. Mr. Kilgour’s alive and well and living with his male partner on Beacon Street.”
“Male partner?”
“You got it. He said he is a donor to the Museum of Science, but he couldn’t make it to the benefit because he had another engagement. The man Dr. Isles met last night must have picked up a badge from the ones remaining on the table.”
“Classic way to crash a party. But in that crowd, it carries risks. You’d think folks in their circle would know each other.”
“I called the museum, and they’ve pulled the security tapes for me. They had four hundred guests last night, so it’d be easy to slip in among so many
people. He must be an old hand at this, if he comes dressed in a tuxedo. Hell, I don’t even own a tuxedo.”
“So we’re back to square one. Who is our dead John Doe?”
“Dr. Isles was with him last night, and she has no idea?”
“She says she can’t remember what happened. What about Maura’s car? Did you find it?”
“Yeah. It’s still in the museum garage, where she says she parked it last night. It was locked, nothing unusual about it.”
“If her car was left at the museum, he must have driven her home.”
“So where’s his car? There wasn’t any vehicle near the body,” Frost pointed out.
She thought about the geography of Boston, and realized that if she drove directly from the Museum of Science to Maura’s house in Brookline, the death scene would be right along the way. She didn’t like where that line of reasoning took her. It led to the possibility that John Doe was killed and dumped en route to Maura’s home. It meant she was with the killer when it happened.
Or she was the killer.
“Check the cars in Maura’s neighborhood,” Jane said. “Any vehicle that doesn’t belong.”
“You’re not thinking that …”
“We have to, Frost. We have no choice.” She glanced up as Maura emerged, now dressed, from the exam room. “Right now, she’s our only suspect.”
* * *
The vehicle was parked across the street from Maura’s residence, a black Buick LaCrosse with Massachusetts plates, registered to Christopher Scanlon of Braintree. None of the nearby neighbors knew anything about the car, only that it was already parked there when they woke up that morning.
“Unlocked. Keys still in the ignition,” said Frost. “And look what’s down there.” He pointed to the floor beneath the passenger seat, and Jane’s heart dropped when she saw the woman’s high-heeled shoe. It was the mate to the shoe she’d seen under Maura’s coffee table.
“Tow truck’s on the way now,” said Frost. “Once they get it back to the lab, I’m gonna bet CSU finds her fingerprints in there as well.”
“Oh, man. This gets worse and worse.”
“If this were anyone else, we’d be reading her her rights.”
The Rizzoli & Isles Series 10-Book Bundle Page 308
