by Elaine Viets
They watched the last seconds of a fabric softener ad while Helen struggled to gather her scattered thoughts.
Carrie, the early-morning show anchor, said, “Lucky Double Seven brings you twice the hard-hitting local news of any other South Florida station. We’ve learned that a fifty-year-old Fort Lauderdale woman was jailed for a murder she didn’t commit. Reporter Valerie Cannata tells you about an innocent victim of misguided justice—and the private eye who saved her from death row.”
Valerie, wearing that eye-catching red workout suit, stood in front of Fantastic Fitness. She described the murder of Debbi Dhosset. “The twenty-two-year-old victim OD’d on a kind of bodybuilder’s speedball of oxycodone, fat burners and steroids.”
A photo of Debbi in her posing suit flashed on the screen, followed by the mug shot of Evie. The accused killer looked as harmless as a kitten.
“This woman, Evie Roddick, was arrested by West Hills homicide detective Evarts Redding for the murder of Debbi Dhosset. The homicide detective said her motive was revenge after Debbi threw a hand weight at her in a steroid rage while working out at the gym.
“This woman, a Fantastic Fitness employee, was convinced that Evie Roddick was innocent and proved it.” Helen was standing outside the Lauderdale City Auditorium.
Helen winced at herself on-screen. “My hair looks awful.”
“Shut up!” Margery and Phil said together.
Valerie was talking again. “Helen Hawthorne is a private eye with Coronado Investigations, a Fort Lauderdale agency owned by Hawthorne and her husband. Helen did the investigative work that helped free Evie Roddick, even visiting the woman at the Harriet Brackensieck Women’s Correction Facility of Broward County.”
The camera showed file footage of the grim jail, surrounded by razor wire.
“Coronado Investigations uncovered the true killers,” Helen said on camera. “But we couldn’t free Evie on our own. We needed you, Valerie.”
“Kiss up!” Margery said, and grinned.
“Clever move,” Phil said. “You mentioned our agency name, too.”
Now Valerie was standing in front of the gym again. “Yesterday, this reporter was at Fantastic Fitness when the actual alleged killers of Debbi Dhosset were in the women’s locker room. The victim’s two trainers came to retrieve their stash of illegal drugs, hidden in a shower rod. West Hills police officer McNamara Dorsey took them into custody at the gym. We caught the scene with the Channel Seventy-seven spy cam. Watch.”
Helen couldn’t take her eyes away as the slightly blurry footage unfolded.
Valerie continued to explain: “Officer Dorsey said steroids, a controlled substance used illegally by some bodybuilders, were discovered in a vehicle belonging to one trainer and parked on the Fantastic Fitness lot. Both women were arrested and charged with first-degree murder.”
Helen watched Tansi and Kristi being led to Officer Dorsey’s car on the gym lot amid a carnival of police lights. The scene made an unforgettable ending to Valerie’s story.
“I like that ‘actual alleged killers’ phrase,” Helen said.
“It’s awkward, but it makes the station lawyers happy,” Margery said.
“And I’m a trainee, not a full-fledged private eye,” Helen said.
“So you want a correction?” Phil asked.
Carrie, the news anchor, was back on-screen. “As of six o’clock this morning, Evie Roddick is still in jail,” she said, “but authorities promise she will be released as soon as the paperwork is completed. Ms. Roddick’s attorney, Nancie Hays, would not comment on whether her client will sue the city of West Hills for false arrest. We’ll have exclusive updates on the story as it unfolds.”
Her co-anchor, Jason, said, “That’s an amazing story.”
“There’s more,” Carrie said. “Tomorrow, reporter Valerie Cannata will tell us about the high-pressure tactics a Fantastic Fitness salesman uses to sign up new members. Here’s a preview from that special investigative piece, ‘Promises, Promises.’ ”
Helen watched a blurry spy-cam shot of the sales area and heard a man say, ‘You be nice to me and I’ll be nice to you. Extra nice. For a whole week.’ ”
“Logan!” Helen shouted. “That’s Logan, working his ‘one week free’ scam to score with Valerie. I’d recognize that scumbag’s voice anywhere.”
“That’s good, I guess,” Phil said.
“Good! It’s terrific. Logan should have been fired ages ago.”
Thumbs patted Phil’s face lightly with his big six-toed paw and meowed.
“Breakfast time, buddy?” Phil asked the cat. “Good. I need coffee.”
Thumbs crunched his dry food and his owners drank coffee in Helen’s kitchen. Phil spent a half pot of coffee praising Helen.
By her third cup, Helen said, “Today I have to tell Shelby I caught her husband with another woman. I had no idea that Bryan was having a fling with Carla. I was stunned when I opened that closet at the auditorium. So were they. I’d asked Carla if she ever got any bribe money from women asking about Bryan. She said, ‘No woman’s dropped twenties on me to find out if he’s at the gym. His wife works out here, too.’ She was the one who wanted to know when he was at the gym and she could check the computer herself. That liar.”
“Technically, she didn’t lie,” Phil said.
“She sure didn’t tell the truth,” Helen said. “Now I have to break the news to Shelby. I dread that.”
“It won’t be much of a surprise,” Phil said. “She already suspects. Shelby wants to know. That’s why she hired you.”
“I know she did,” Helen said. “I also know how much it hurts to hear that news. At least she won’t find out her husband was unfaithful the way I did. I surprised Rob in the act with our neighbor Sandy. I felt like a fool.”
“I know you did,” Phil said, folding Helen into his arms. “But you divorced him and then left St. Louis and drove until you found me here in Fort Lauderdale.”
“It wasn’t quite that simple, but I did find you and I’m glad,” Helen said. Her man smelled of cinnamon and morning coffee. She didn’t want to leave his embrace, but she pulled herself away.
“Might as well get it over with. How early can I call Shelby?”
“It’s almost seven o’clock,” Phil said, checking his watch. “That’s when she came to see us the first time.”
“Bryan’s usually at the gym around six,” Helen said. “I’ll call her now and set up an appointment for eight this morning.”
Shelby Minars refused to wait until eight o’clock for the final report. She stormed over to the Coronado Investigations office at seven thirty-five. Helen and Phil heard their client running upstairs to Apartment 2C.
This morning, Shelby was dressed for the office in a pink suit. The Red Hots toes were stashed inside black heels. Her hazel eyes burned with anger.
Shelby could barely sit still in the yellow client chair long enough to hear the news.
“He’s at the gym right now,” Shelby said. “What is that lying bastard doing? Or maybe I should say who is he doing?”
“Your husband appears to be having an affair with a woman who works at the gym as a receptionist,” Helen said. “Her name is Carla. I caught them together in a storage room at the Fort Lauderdale Civic Auditorium at seven fifty-two last night. I didn’t take photographs, but they were embracing. Carla’s blouse was unbuttoned and her pants were unzipped. So were your husband’s.”
“I don’t need photos of that cheating scum,” Shelby said. “I got the picture a long time ago. I wanted my suspicions confirmed.” She burst into tears. “I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him.”
“No, you won’t,” Phil said. He handed her a tissue. “We talked about this before. You can’t make threats like that. If anything happened to Bryan, we’d have to tell the police, and you could go to jail. He’s not worth it.”
“You’re right,” Shelby said, sniffling. “He’s not. I won’t kill him. I’ll strip him of every last nickel. Do you mind if
I make a call?”
“Go right ahead,” Helen said.
Phil was right, Helen thought. Shelby had been expecting this news. She pulled out her cell phone and called a number in her directory. “I’m on hold,” she said. “I’m calling the toughest divorce lawyer in Lauderdale for an appointment.”
There was a pause, and then Shelby said, “Nine o’clock this morning will work for me.” She snapped her phone shut.
“Here’s our bill,” Helen said. “Might as well pay it now and save yourself a stamp.”
“Good idea,” Shelby said. She wrote the check without a complaint.
“Bryan will probably spend his usual five or six hours at the gym today. That will give me time to see the lawyer, change the locks and throw his stuff out on the lawn. He can go live with that Carla. We’ll see how much she likes him when he has no money.”
CHAPTER 40
“Derek wants to see you in his office right now,” Carla said when Helen arrived at the gym that morning.
The Fantastic Fitness phone was ringing wildly. Carla grabbed the receiver and said, “Yes, ma’am. The manager is busy now. I’ll have Derek get back to you. What’s your phone number ?” She wrote it down and hung up.
The phone rang again. Carla repeated her promise to have the manager return the call, then wrote down another number, and the phone rang for a third time.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Carla said. “May I put you on hold?”
Carla stopped juggling the phone long enough to tell Helen, “You’d better get upstairs fast.”
She didn’t mention their surprise meeting in the storage closet last night. Maybe she didn’t have time. The phone rang yet again, and Carla put that caller on hold, too. The phone’s red HOLD lights were blinking like demon eyes.
Carla’s own eyes were red, and she had an ugly zit on her not-so perky nose. She also had an annoying smirk on her face.
Helen ran upstairs to Derek’s office. She’d had enough of Fantastic Fitness. She couldn’t wait to say she was quitting.
Helen never got the chance.
“You’re fired!” Derek said before she even knocked on his door.
“Fired? Why?” Helen said.
Derek stood up, outrage etched in every muscle of his body. There was no music in his Caribbean lilt now, only anger. Each word was clipped and precise. “You brought an undercover police officer into this establishment. You sneaked in that TV bitch. She brought a hidden camera inside the women’s locker room without my permission. You got two gym members arrested on this property for drug dealing and murder.”
Derek paused for a breath. He was so angry, Helen feared he’d stroke out in his office.
“And if that wasn’t bad enough, that same TV reporter also investigated my best salesman. Tomorrow, she’s going to say Logan tried to coerce her into having sex with him for a week’s free membership. What do you have to say about that?”
“It’s true,” Helen said. “It’s all true and you know it. You knew those two trainers used steroids and gave them to poor Debbi. The whole building knew why they went outside at three o’clock every afternoon. You should have barred them from the gym. But you kept silent because you wanted their trophies in the Hall of Fame case downstairs.
“You knew Logan did sleazy things to sell memberships, but you ignored the complaints. You didn’t care and you didn’t stop him. You wanted those sales.
“Poor little Evie was railroaded into jail with your help while those two steroid-using monsters roamed free in this gym. You didn’t care about that, either.
“So, yes, I did it. It was the right thing to do. I don’t understand why you’re firing me.”
Derek’s voice dropped to a deep rumble. “Because of you, I’ve lost my best salesman. Because of you, members are quitting this gym by the dozen. Because of you, Fantastic Fitness is associated with murder and drug use. Because of you, my gym gets more bad publicity with every news update on Channel Seventy-seven. That’s why I’m firing you. Besides, you’re fat. You were supposed to lose weight and you didn’t. Those are the reasons why you’re being fired. Got it? Get out. You’re fired! Fired! Fired!”
Helen opened her cell phone and said, “See that? You’re looking at TV reporter Valerie Cannata’s personal cell phone number. When I call her, she’ll listen. She got two good stories from me this week. Let’s go for three. If I tell her I was fired because of her investigative stories, she’ll plaster this gym’s name all over the television for a week. You’ll have seven solid days of local coverage.”
Helen pressed the CALL button.
“Wait!” Derek said. “Stop! Don’t call that reporter. What do you want? Your old job back? I can give it to you. I’ll even give you a fifty-cent-an-hour raise.”
“I want the raise,” Helen said, “but you can keep the job. Give them both to Evie Roddick when she gets out of jail. You promised to find her work here if she went quietly with Detective Evarts Redding. She kept her end of the deal. Now you keep yours.”
“I don’t know if she’s qualified for a job at this gym,” Derek said.
“You definitely need someone to answer the phone and take messages,” Helen said, looking at the blinking lights. “Evie’s skinny, so she’ll fit your important employment criteria.”
“There may not even be a gym for her to work at, thanks to you.” Derek sounded bitter.
“She’ll have a fresh job for her résumé,” Helen said. “You aren’t going to close next week, or even next month. Maybe if you hire Evie, you’ll get some positive press from Valerie. Evie could save this gym.”
“But—” Derek said.
“You don’t have to thank me,” Helen said. “But there is one more thing I want to make clear: I’m not fat. Got that? You’ve been spending too much time around gym rats. This is what a normal woman looks like.”
Derek managed a nod.
“Good-bye,” Helen said. “I’ll check back in a week and make sure Evie has her job. If you’re lucky, you’ll never see me again.”
Helen ran lightly down the stairs. The front door whooshed open. Helen hoped she was walking through it for the last time.
CHAPTER 41
Helen was so happy to be out of the gym, she skipped to her car. Unfortunately, the Igloo skipped, too. The Cruiser hesitated when she hit the gas pedal.
Helen checked the gauges, but they looked normal. The car didn’t make any strange noises, and it got her home. Helen hoped that meant the problem wasn’t serious. She patted the faithful Cruiser on the fender and ran upstairs to the office of Coronado Investigations.
Phil looked up from his computer and smiled. “That was fast.”
“It didn’t take me long to quit—or get fired,” Helen said. “I’m not sure which it was. Either way, I’m free of that place. One case down, one to go. You were supposed to get the fax from Sunset Palms this morning. Did Danny Boy’s sister have the clerk send those two pages?”
“I got one page. The great Linda Cerventi faxed it with her own two hands,” Phil said. “Looks like the real thing, too. It’s from Mark’s police report.”
“Where’s the second page?” Helen asked.
“She says she’ll have it this afternoon.”
“Hah!” Helen said.
“I suggested that Linda might want to watch Channel Seventy-seven, especially the exposé by Valerie Cannata. Linda promised I’d have the other page by one o’clock.”
“And you believe her?” Helen asked.
“Valerie is doing hourly updates of your story. She had live coverage of Evie leaving jail. Evie personally thanked you for saving her from death row. We’ll have that paper from Linda in time. Meanwhile, there’s plenty here. I’ve made you a copy. Read it and see if you reach the same conclusions.”
Helen sat at her desk. The page was a Sunset Palms police form, the “Supplementary Investigative and/or Disposition Report on the auto accident/suicide of Mark Behr.” It was dated July 15, 1986. The short report was writt
en in that stilted police style, as if the officer was testifying. It said:
“Reference to the above incident, Bernadette Behr, sister to Mark Behr, contacted this officer, at which time the following information was obtained from her. Bernie Behr stated that Mark had been depressed and had often talked of suicide. Bernadette Behr stated that about one or two weeks before this incident, Mark had stated something about Ahmet Yavuz being the devil and he could kill Ahmet and then himself and this would stop Yavuz and save the world.
“Bernadette Behr was asked if Mark would have killed Ahmet Yavuz if he had seen him, with Bernadette stating that Mark probably would have. No additional information was obtained from Bernadette Behr.”
The report had four boxes the police could check: “active,” “cleared by arrest,” and “inactive.” Mark’s case was checked “exceptionally cleared.”
Helen read the report twice, trying to grasp it. “I keep reading this, but I’m not sure I understand it. Go over it with me: Bernie told the police Mark was suicidal.”
“That’s what the report says,” Phil said.
“So Bernie stopped the investigation into her brother’s death,” Helen said.
“That’s right,” Phil said.
“That can’t be,” Helen said. “Gus told us his sister had stopped seeing Ahmet a week before Mark’s death.”
“Yes, he did,” Phil said.
“Mark rescued Bernie from the drug dealer’s house. Ahmet took her clothes so she couldn’t leave. Mark wrapped his sister in a bedspread and carried her out of there. The rescued Bernie didn’t want to go home to Mother, so she lived with her brothers in their bachelor apartment. She was too afraid to leave.”
“That’s what Joel told us,” Phil said.
“Is Gus lying?” Helen asked. “Did Joel lie about Bernie’s rescue ?”
“I don’t think so,” Phil said.
“Then what’s going on with this report?”
“If Gus and Joel aren’t lying,” Phil said, “then Bernie is.”
“Bernie was afraid of Ahmet,” Helen said. “She cut all ties with him. Why would she tell the police that Mark wanted to commit suicide?”
