by Diane Weiner
“I’m not hungry,” said Maddy. Chester jumped up on her lap as if to comfort her.
“You’ll be hungry later. Your lunch might not be until late.” Henry plopped a plate of pancakes in front of her. “It took me hours, you know. First I had to pick the wheat, then grind it, and squish almonds for the milk since we all know how horrible dairy is for us.”
Maddy smiled and took a bite. “Stop worrying. I’ll be okay.”
Emily, hair still wet from her shower, grabbed a cup of coffee.
“How was your run? Any dead bodies?” Henry still teased her after she’d found a corpse on one of her runs the previous summer.
“Good. I can feel it getting cooler in the mornings and I’m ready to ditch the humidity.” She speared a few pancakes. “Maddy, you look pretty. Aren’t those the jeans we got at the outlet mall?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you talk to Brooke? Nancy said she would show you around and introduce you to some new friends.”
“I don’t need to have my hand held. I’m not starting kindergarten.”
Had she not just finished a run, she’d have been on edge enough to spit back something like ‘then act like it’ or ‘lose the chip on your shoulder.’ Instead, she took a deep breath and ate her pancakes, repeating her mantra inside her head: this is what teenagers do…their brains aren’t fully formed…
“Can I walk you to the bus stop?” said Henry. “I’ll give you a big hug and kiss goodbye in front of your new classmates. That’s okay, right?”
“Ugh,” said Maddy. “I’m going to finish getting ready.”
“You’re so natural with her,” said Emily. “I wish I could relax more and stop worrying if everything I say or do is the right thing.”
“I had a lot of cousins growing up. Be yourself. She isn’t going to break.” He wished he fully believed that.
Maddy reappeared. “I’m going now. See you later.”
Emily said, “Do you have your notebook and a pen and…”
Henry interrupted. “Your lunch is on the counter. Knock ‘em dead.”
Maddy bent down to kiss Chester, then closed the door behind her. Emily wished she could run after Maddy and shadow her all day long to be sure she was safe. She wondered how it would have felt if Maddy was going off to preschool or kindergarten for the first time. If it was this scary letting go of a teenager, how did parents manage letting go of their little babies?
You won’t be embarrassed if I kiss you goodbye, right?” said Henry to Emily.
She grabbed him and said, “I’d be mad if you didn’t.”
After Emily left, Henry called the hospital to see if he was needed. The ER was quiet with the town focused on the first day of school, giving him a few hours at home to himself. He’d finished the bookshelf for Maddy and hadn’t yet started a new project. He grabbed his laptop and did some research. The story Emily had told him about Winnie’s mother and the nursing home sounded familiar. After a short while, he’d found what he was looking for.
Nature’s Vista assisted living facility in Falls Church was opened the year before the record heat wave. It received much publicity for being state of the art—energized with a newly patented hydro-solar cooling system, Splash Panels. The new system promised to be allergy free (the heated water washed away dust before it could accumulate in the duct work), environmentally friendly, and cost efficient.
Henry’s phone vibrated. “Hey, Pat. Did things pick up at the hospital?”
“Quiet as a morgue down here. What are you up to?”
“Putzing around on the computer. Pat, do you remember hearing about a nursing home in Virginia back a few years ago that was in the headlines during the Great Eastern Heat Wave?”
“Sounds familiar.”
“Ten residents died when the air conditioning unit gave out. The place didn’t report it or transport the overheated residents, because they were concerned about the risks of moving them, or so they claimed. Word was it had more to do with the financial implications.”
“Oh yeah. My broker mentioned it. Said the stock was going to shoot way up once Splash Panels proved itself. After the deaths, the stock hit rock bottom. Wasn’t there some tie in between the company and the nursing home, like the same owner?”
“Let’s find out.” Henry took a few minutes to search.
“Splash Panels. Clean, energy efficient…I remember the ads on TV. Find anything?”
“Here we go. Nope, not the same owner. At least, I can’t find the owner’s name.”
Pat’s phone buzzed. “I’ve got to go—just got a new ‘patient.’ Maybe we can get together and watch the game this weekend.”
“I’ll bring the beer and pretzels.” Henry loved a challenge and set out to find the connection between the nursing home, Splash Panels, and the deaths at the facility. Did the nursing home sue Splash Panels? Nature Vista bought a service and the company failed to provide that service. The nursing home should have sided with the patients against the AC company. He heard the key in the door.
“Emily? You’re home early.”
“I only teach one class on Tuesday, and the dragon lady went out of town for the holiday. What are you up to?”
“The hospital didn’t need me so I’ve been doing some research. You said Winnie Cole’s mother died in an assisted living facility. I found an article about ten deaths due to the Great Eastern Heat Wave at a place called Nature’s Vista in Falls Church. They were the first establishment to use Splash Panels—a newly patented air cooling system. When the system gave out, and ten people died, families of the affected patients filed a law suit against the facility and against Splash Panels.”
“And the families lost against both. I remember the case. But how does that relate to Danielle’s murder? She didn’t kill Winnie’s mother.”
“No, but I did some more digging. Danielle LaPierre was a lawyer, right? Guess who defended Splash Panels?” said Henry.
“No way!”
Henry continued. “Winnie ran into Danielle at a previous audition and realized Danielle was the defense lawyer, I’m guessing. Winnie lost her job and had a nervous breakdown after the trial.”
“So you’re saying she plotted to kill Danielle when they went to the Vermont Finals. I saw Winnie use a handkerchief at Coralee’s! I didn’t connect the dots at the time, but Kurt’s dog Prancer found a handkerchief near the crime scene. I’ll bet it’s hers.”
“You’re jumping a few pieces,” said Henry. “The police will have to prove the handkerchief was Winnie’s first. That may not be easy.”
“What about DNA?”
“Not as quick or simple as they make it out to be on TV.”
“Winnie was wearing cowboy boots when I ran into her at the inn. She’s living out in Oklahoma so it makes sense she’d have them. I’ll bet it was her boot print on the ladder.”
“I’ll call the detectives and tell them what we learned. Do you hear the bus?” He and Emily ran to the front door and held it open. Emily’s heart raced and she squeezed Henry’s hand.
“How was school?” shouted Emily, as soon as she was in ear shot.
Maddy slumped by them. She threw her backpack on the sofa and headed toward her room. Emily and Henry followed her.
“Hey, did you have a bad day?” said Emily. Trite as it was, the unedited sentiment flew out of her mouth.
“Bad? Try horrible. Try the worst day in my life since my Mom died.”
Henry put his arm around her. Surprisingly, she didn’t pull away. “What happened?”
“The kids all know each other. I’m the outsider. The only one who recognized my existence was Brooke.”
“Did you eat lunch with her?” asked Emily.
“She was with her friends. She asked, but I knew she was hoping I’d say no. I was too upset to eat anyway.”
“Did you like your classes at all?” Emily regretted the pleading tone that came out of her mouth.
“No. They put me in Algebra 1. I took that class in sixth
grade.”
“You passed it, right?”
Maddy glared at Emily. “I got an A. I also took two years of French and they stuck me in French 1.”
“Did you tell the teachers?”
Henry put his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “We’ll make an appointment with the school and get it straightened out. Maybe they never received your transcripts from Chicago.”
Chester rubbed against Maddy’s legs. She scooped him up and slammed the door of her room behind her.
This is what teenagers do…Their brains aren’t fully formed. The mantra she’d memorized from one of the stack of parenting books by her bedside failed to calm Emily this time. “The office is probably closed. I’ll call the school first thing in the morning.”
She shook inside. She was hoping beyond hope that the new school would be an easy transition for Maddy. Fiona must be turning over in her grave. Fiona entrusted her with her daughter and what should have been an exciting step—starting high school—was a disaster.
Chapter 12
Emily went for a quick run the next morning, relieved that her boss was still on vacation. Perhaps she could enjoy another day of teaching without the stress Mair Rose invoked. Although the course itself was more basic than she’d wanted, she was determined to sneak in some of the ideas she’d come up with over the summer—before she was handed a script and expected to play the part of unskilled labor.
Nancy met her in the mail room. “Don’t forget to punch the time clock. Big brother is watching.”
Emily inserted her time card, waited for the clock to read 9:01, and punched it with a flourish. “Let’s see her try to dock me the minute.”
“Did Maddy have a good first day at school?”
“No. She used the word horrible and described it as the worst day ever.”
“It’ll get better, you’ll see.”
Once Emily got in front of her class, she realized teaching this course wasn’t so bad––especially since she slanted the curriculum to fit the course she’d worked on all summer. Besides, the ego boost that came from the students fawning over their professor being an award winning author made it worthwhile.
After she finished at St. Edwards, she came home to an empty cabin.
She couldn’t stop think about Maddy and prayed her second day of school was going better than the first. Feeling helpless, she decided to make Maddy a favorite treat for after school. God, she herself was such a child of the seventies, with fond memories of herself and her sister coming home to a table set with fresh baked cookies and glasses of milk. Before her sister’s death, their mother was devoted to them and happy keeping house and cooking meals. Afterwards, she fell into a depression and Emily and her father fended for themselves. If only she’d been paying more attention, if only she’d have taken her responsibility more seriously, things would have been so different.
She had just assembled the ingredients to make carrot cake muffins, when her phone rang.
“Winnie? Did you get safely home to Oklahoma?” Emily couldn’t imagine why she was calling her.
“I know some things that might help the police solve Danielle’s murder.”
“Really? What things?” Again, Emily asked herself why Winnie didn’t call the police directly.
“It’s that boyfriend of hers—Brody Wilkerson. He was responsible for my mother’s death as well as the deaths of nine other patients.”
“How’s that?”
“He was the engineer who installed Splash Panels--the air conditioning units at the nursing home. It’s his fault. He knew it had flaws and wasn’t ready to go on the market, I’m sure of it. And Danielle defended him and his company at the trial.”
“So what’s that have to do with a motive for killing Danielle?”
“I don’t know but I feel it in my bones. Those two were all over each other when I saw them at lunch break during the trial. It was different when I saw them at the semi-final auditions. The tension between the two of them was so thick you’d have needed a cleaver to break through it.”
“Winnie, you have to talk to the police about this. I can give you the number.”
“No. If Brody Wilkerson finds out I dragged his name onto the suspect list I’ll be next. I probably shouldn’t have called.”
“Winnie? Winnie?” Emily sank into the sofa and rubbed her throbbing head. She hadn’t realized Brody and Danielle were linked to Winnie over the nursing home incident. Maybe Danielle wanted Brody to admit his guilt. But then why did she defend him and his company? Henry walked in with a bakery box.
“I picked up a black forest cake for dessert. It’s Maddy’s favorite dessert.”
“Only after caramel-mocha-chip ice cream,” said Emily. “I’m glad you’re home. I just got the strangest call from Winnie Cole.”
“Didn’t she go back home?”
“Yes, but she wanted to give me some information I guess she was too afraid to share with the police while she was here. We knew Danielle represented Splash Panels, but guess what?” She paused. “Brody Wilkerson worked for the company. He was the engineer who installed them!”
“That can’t be a coincidence. Wow, Winnie had motive to kill Danielle and Brody too.”
“I don’t think she did it. She sounded truly frightened on the phone, and if she killed Danielle, why on earth would she call me? She’d want to disappear off the planet. That’s what I’d want to do if I’d just committed a murder.”
Henry pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his contacts.
“Who are you calling?”
“Someone who knows about building codes. Mike Wiles.”
“Is he still with the city permits office? Susan’s been trying to get him to retire ever since his heart attack.”
“As far as I know. Besides, he’d still have the information.” He punched in the number.
“Mike, it’s Henry. We miss you, buddy. How are you and the family?”
“Good to hear your voice. We’re great. Susan keeps herself busy. We’re planning a trip to Disney with the grandkids next summer. And Evan’s graduating medical school in May. What about you and Emily? And your daughter?”
“All good. The reason I’m calling is that there was a murder in town and it involves an engineer who worked for Splash Panels, the company that was allegedly guilty in the failure of the air conditioning unit at…”
“Yeah, I remember the case.”
“Would an engineer be able to recognize a fault and how strict would the codes be?”
“The guidelines are strict, especially for something new like that, but some problems don’t show up until the building’s been open a little while and the systems are tested.”
“Do the code inspectors ever get, you know, paid off to overlook a problem?”
“I can’t say it never happens, especially when there’s a rush to get a building running.”
“Delays in opening are costly, right?”
“Yes, especially in the case where getting residents in means big money.”
“Okay, thanks for the info. When are you and Susan coming up here? We want you to meet Maddy.”
“I’m sure we’ll be able to get there before winter sets in. And you know you’re always welcome here in Westbrook. My love to Emily and Maddy.”
Emily was in the kitchen, putting away the muffin ingredients for another day. Henry put his phone down on the counter.
“Mike thinks it’s possible the code inspector could have been paid off so Nature’s Vista could hurry and open with the new technology, or that the problem was so subtle it got overlooked. In any case, we have to tell the police.”
“Winnie sounded genuinely afraid. I’m not sure we should say anything just yet.”
Maddy came in and barely pulled the front door behind her. She tossed her backpack on the sofa.
Emily was afraid to ask. She knew by Maddy’s demeanor that it had been another rough day. Henry ran into the kitchen and brought out the bakery box, dangling it
in front of her.
“I picked up your favorite dessert.”
“I’m not hungry.” She scooped up Chester.
Emily said, “I have an idea. Let’s go to the inn for dinner and you can play with Max. Maybe he can cheer you up.”
Maddy’s eyes brightened—or was it Emily’s wishful thinking? What lame parents. Their daughter was having a miserable time adjusting to school and all they could offer was black forest cake and a chance to play with a cat.
To her surprise, Maddy said, “Okay. I can’t wait to see Max.”
They took Emily’s Audi to the inn. The trees were turning color and beginning to blanket the roads with color. In another week or so, the tourists would be flocking here for the foliage. Having lived in New York state, Emily wasn’t overly enthralled, but watching the scenery transition from green to harvest colors, to winter white added variety to her morning runs and her short commute to work.
Coralee was behind the front desk when they arrived for dinner.
“Hey, Maddy. How’s school going? Max is going to be so happy to see you!”
“It’s okay.” She called Max and he ran to her.
“Peek out back. Noah and Franklin are almost done building the cat condo. It’s quite the architectural creation.”
“I thought they were building a cat tree,” said Maddy.
“That’s how it started. Let’s just say the idea evolved.”
The three of them opened the back door and saw what looked like the Swiss Family Robinson tree house.
“Wow, Max is going to love that!” said Maddy.
“I’m going to seal around the cracks and then all we have to do is sand and paint. What color do you think Max likes?” said Franklin.
“I don’t know. Maybe purple, so he can feel like a king.”
Henry picked up a piece of foam. “Hey, is this what you’re using?” It was identical to the piece he’d found out at the cabin.
“Yeah. It’s good stuff. Goes in semi-solid and dries like this so it’s easy to fill in the cracks.”
“Can anyone buy it?”
“They’ve got it down at the hardware store. Should stock it at the pet shop as well. I even used it to seal up a crack in a cat crate last week.”