The Girl Next Door

by MacDonald, Patricia

  “Officer,” she said calmly. “What is this woman doing here?”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m getting her out of here.” He grabbed Nina roughly and twisted her forearm behind her back. Jamming his gun back in the holster, he reached for the handcuffs on his belt.

  “That’s all right,” said Gemma pushing down the plunger on the syringe. “No harm done. Just finishing up here.”

  “Andre,” Nina screamed.

  The man on the bed started, and his eyes opened slightly. “Nina,” he whispered.

  “Could you get her out of here?” Gemma asked, frowning.

  “Right away,” said the cop. He jerked Nina back by her shackled arms, but she strained forward with all her might, the cords on her neck standing out. “Don’t you get it? She’s trying to kill him. Andre …”

  Andre was gazing at Nina from the bed with a puzzled, faraway look. “What?” he asked.

  Nina was overcome with horror as she saw Gemma pull the syringe out of the tube.

  “There we go,” Gemma said. “Just something to help you sleep.”

  Andre lifted his right hand from the blanket as if to reach out to Nina.

  Nina held his gaze and screamed at him over the curses of the officer as he attempted to drag her away. “Andre, pull the IV out of your hand!” Nina cried. “Do it. Pull it out! Now!”

  “Are you crazy?” the cop said.

  For a moment, Andre looked confused, and then, in one fumbling movement, he reached over to his left hand, ripped off the tape, and tore the IV needle from the back of his hand. Blood spurted up and showered down on the thin white blanket.

  “Jesus!” cried the cop. “He did it.”

  Nina sagged in relief against the officer who was restraining her.

  Gemma’s face drained of all color. She looked at Nina with hatred in her eyes. Then she picked up the needle and tried to find a way to jam it back into Andre, who was turning away, shielding himself from her jabs with panic in his eyes.

  “Wait a minute,” said the cop. “Wait a minute. You. Nurse. Let me see that ID badge again.” He let go of Nina and started toward the bed. Gemma stood frozen, staring at his approach. “All right,” he said. “Hand over the ID.”

  Gemma hesitated for a second, grabbed the IV needle, and jabbed it into his outstretched palm.

  Shocked, the officer cried out and yanked the needle from the fleshy part of his palm. Gemma fled the room while Nina, handcuffed, was helpless to stop her. “Get her,” Nina shrieked at the cop.

  The cop looked up from his assaulted hand, the whites showing around his eyes. “I can’t. I can’t leave him alone … I’ll call,” the cop said.

  The officer picked up his two-way radio and began to yell into the static that there was an assault on the witness and the suspect was loose in the hospital. As he began to describe Gemma into the radio, Nina, still handcuffed, lurched toward the bed and gazed helplessly at Andre. “Are you all right?”

  He reached out for her and grabbed the edge of her jacket in a feeble grasp. “That was the one,” he said. “The one at the motel. Calvin opened the door and said, ‘It’s Bones.’ I thought it was some sick joke. Then she came in with a gun and started shooting.”

  “I know,” said Nina.

  “You know her,” Andre said.

  Nina nodded miserably.

  “She would have killed me just then,” he whispered.

  “Doc, is this going to kill me?” the cop demanded, holding out his palm for Andre to see.

  Andre shook his head. “No. But you better have it looked at.”

  The officer heaved a sigh of relief. “All right,” he said angrily, coming up behind Nina and unlocking her fettered wrists. “You have to get out of here right now.”

  “But …” Nina looked helplessly at Andre. The door to the room opened and three more uniformed officers entered, their guns drawn.

  “Here,” the cop yelled. “Clear the room. Everybody out but the witness. Get this woman out of here. Now.”

  A NURSE’S locker in the hospital basement was found broken open and rifled through. An orderly admitted that he let a woman matching Gemma’s description into the nurses’ locker room when she told him that she had forgotten her key. The hospital was searched, floor by floor and room by room, but Gemma had escaped.

  Nina and Patrick were escorted to the police station, where they met with detectives. In response to their questions, Nina revealed all that she had discovered about her father’s search for Calvin Mears. As Nina recounted what she had learned from Lieutenant Hagen and her brother Jimmy, Patrick stared at her.

  “Wait a minute,” he interrupted her. “Are you trying to imply that Gemma killed Calvin because she was the one he saw leaving the house the night Mom was killed?”

  The senior detective looked at Nina with interest. “Well?” he said.

  “What else can I think?” Nina asked faintly.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” cried Patrick. “Duncan killed Mom. He was just looking for someone else to blame.”

  Nina turned on her brother angrily. “Patrick, when are you going to wake up? How can you still insist on Dad’s guilt with what we now know about Gemma? Are you so determined to hate him that you can’t admit you were wrong?”

  “I don’t accept that,” Patrick insisted. “What reason would Gemma have to do that? To kill Mom?”

  “I don’t know,” Nina admitted.

  “It can’t be,” Patrick said stubbornly. “I’ll grant you she’s a liar. God help me, I’ve known that for a long time. I’ve lived with her for twelve years. But, a killer …”

  “Mr. Avery,” the senior detective interrupted him, “that’s not even a question. We know that your wife is a killer.”

  For two more hours, Nina and Patrick were grilled, until the police were satisfied that they knew nothing about Gemma’s murderous activities. Patrick was informed that the police had a warrant and were on their way to search his house. Patrick, who was sitting with his head in his hands, looked up and said dully, “Make sure you send somebody who speaks Spanish. The housekeeper doesn’t speak any English. She’ll be freaked out.”

  The detective thanked him politely and went out to make sure they had a Spanish speaker on the search crew.

  “Just like Elena,” said Nina. “Why didn’t she get someone who speaks English?”

  Patrick stared blankly ahead. “So they couldn’t keep track of her lies.”

  “Dad told me she was lying,” Nina said. “He understood what she was saying in Spanish to Elena, and he told me Gemma lied about it.”

  Patrick shook his head. “I wondered why she let Elena go.”

  “Let her go? I thought … She told me Elena’s sister was in an accident in Panama and she had to go back,” said Nina.

  Patrick turned and looked grimly at his sister. “Do you get it now? It’s everything. It’s a compulsion. It took me years to even realize …”

  Nina returned his stare. “Do you think that’s why she killed Dad?”

  Patrick’s gaze was anguished. “That’s what they think, isn’t it? That Gemma killed him. And Mom.”

  “Of course it is,” said Nina flatly.

  The detective reentered the interview room. “All right, you can go. Two of our officers will accompany you. The Hoffman police are cooperating with us and they will be watching both of your houses tonight because there is a possibility Mrs. Avery will try to return home, seeking refuge. If she should show up, don’t try to reason with her. She is most likely armed, she is desperate, and she should be considered extremely dangerous.”

  Patrick’s shoulders began to shake and he seemed almost too weak to stand up. Nina tried to comfort him and helped him to his feet, wondering all the while what he was feeling for his wife, now that he knew she was a killer. Was there still love there? Had there ever been? “Come on, Patrick,” she said gently. “We have to go. The boys need you now.”

  NINA thanked Officer Kepler, who had accomp
anied her to her aunt’s house. “I’m just going to have a look around the outside,” he said.

  “Please do,” said Nina, ushering him in and taking off her coat. “Can I get you something? A cup of tea?”

  “No thanks,” he said, but he smiled at her appreciatively. He switched on his flashlight and started around the side of the house.

  I’m going to have one, Nina thought. She went into the kitchen and put the kettle on. She could see the beam of his flashlight through the windows, roving across the backyard and around the garage in a jerky motion. Nina was glad to have him out there. She doubted she would sleep tonight. Not until she knew that Gemma had been apprehended. Patrick had promised to call the moment there was any news of Gemma’s arrest.

  While she waited for the kettle to boil, Nina went down the hall, opened the door to her great-aunt’s room, and looked in. Aunt Mary was propped up on her pillows, dozing, the bedside light still on. She didn’t want her aunt to wake up, but she noticed that her window was open a few inches, and Nina wanted to be sure that the house was locked up tight. She tiptoed over to the window and began to slide it shut as quietly as possible.

  “Nina?”

  Nina jumped and put a hand on her chest. She turned and looked at her aunt. “God, you scared me,” she said. “I thought you were asleep.”

  “I was dozing,” said Aunt Mary. “What are you doing?”

  “Just closing the window,” said Nina. “I thought it seemed a little chilly in here.” Nina did not want to tell her the real reason she was concerned about an open window.

  “I like the fresh air,” Aunt Mary said in a groggy voice. “They keep that nursing home sealed up so tight.”

  “I know, I know,” said Nina, “but you don’t want to get a chill. You just got home. I don’t want you going back to that place.” Nina lowered the window and reached for the lock, which resisted her efforts to turn it. “Damn. I must have gotten this thing stuck when I painted.”

  “Oh, that lock is always stubborn,” said Aunt Mary. “Where have you been all day, dear?”

  Nina felt the lock give, and she turned it and then jiggled it. She decided a half-truth was her best option. “I went to see Jim,” she said. “In the hospital.”

  “Gemma’s in the hospital?” said her aunt. “But she was just here earlier.”

  Rubbing her hands together, Nina turned back to her aunt. “Not Gem. Jim.”

  “Oh, it sounded exactly like you said Gem,” said Aunt Mary. “What’s wrong with Jimmy?”

  Nina’s arms prickled with gooseflesh.

  “Nina? What’s wrong with Jimmy?”

  “He had an accident,” said Nina, distracted.

  “Will he be all right?” her aunt asked.

  “I hope so,” said Nina.

  “Nina,” Aunt Mary exclaimed. “Is that a light out there in the backyard?”

  Nina turned and looked. It was Officer Kepler’s flashlight, still searching. “Oh, probably just somebody looking for their cat. I’ll go take a look,” she said. “Can I get you anything?”

  “No,” said her aunt. “I’m fine. I’m gonna read my book.”

  Gemma. It sounds exactly like Jimmy. Nina went down the hall to the kitchen, thinking about what Jimmy had told her. That their father had heard their mother whispering his name when Duncan found her on the living room floor, dying. Gem, Nina thought. It would sound just like Jim on the lips of a dying woman.

  She opened the kitchen door and peered out into the darkness. “Officer Kepler?” she called out softly. “Is everything all right?”

  The officer emerged from the darkness of the backyard onto the patio and switched off his flashlight. “All clear,” he said. “Let me have a quick look inside.”

  “Everything seems fine, but be my guest,” said Nina. “Let me just tell my aunt you’re here.”

  The officer went through the living room and climbed the stairs. Nina heard him opening closet doors and sliding back the shower door in the bathroom. Nina went down the hall to her aunt’s room. She opened the door and stuck her head in. “There’s a policeman here. He’s just having a look around because there’s been a prowler reported in the neighborhood.”

  Aunt Mary lowered her book and looked up over the top of her reading glasses. “Oh my goodness,” she said.

  “Don’t worry,” said Nina, forcing herself to smile. “Everything’s okay.”

  Nina pulled the door shut and went back down the hall, entering the kitchen just as Officer Kepler was emerging from the basement.

  “Everything seems to be fine,” he said. “I’m going to go now, but the Hoffman police will be watching the house. You sleep well, now.”

  “Thanks,” said Nina. “I appreciate it.” She walked him to the front door and waved to him as he got into his squad car. Then she closed the door behind him and locked it. The teakettle whistled, and she turned off the burner and poured herself a cup. As she started to carry it into the living room, she noticed that Officer Kepler had left the light on in the stairwell leading to the basement. She walked over to switch it off. As she pulled open the doorway, she heard a thud. It sounded as if it came from the basement.

  Nina’s heart began to hammer and she stood, undecided, at the top of the stairs. You’re being paranoid, she told herself. The cop just looked down there. There’s nobody here. But it was difficult not to be paranoid after what she had seen and learned tonight.

  Just turn off the light and shut the door, she thought. It’s nothing. Part of her wanted to go downstairs and look. Part of her knew she would not be able to forget the noise, even though rationally she knew it was probably her imagination working overtime. But it was foolish to go down those stairs. There wasn’t even a light down there that worked. Nina stood at the top of the stairs, hesitating, and then she had an idea. In one decisive movement, she switched off the light in the stairwell, closed the door, and locked it. Then she dragged a chair from the kitchen table to the staircase door and wedged it under the doorknob.

  “All right,” Nina said defiantly. “If you’re down there, stay down there.”

  She turned back to the stove to pick up her teacup.

  Gemma was standing in front of her, her eyes wild, a gun in her hand. “I’m not down there,” she said. “I’m right here.”

  32

  THE shock buckled Nina’s knees. “Jesus, Gemma!” she cried.

  Gemma smiled slightly. “Sorry,” she said. “I was in your aunt’s closet. She was sleeping when I came in the house so I slipped in there. Now she’s asleep again.”

  The thud. She’d heard a thud. But not a gunshot. “Is my aunt alive?” Nina cried. “What did you do to her?”

  Gemma’s smile faded. “I hit her with this,” said Gemma, indicating the gun butt. “I had to knock her out. I just tapped her. Her head’s like a little egg.”

  Nina’s lip trembled, thinking of her frail, gentle aunt. “I want to see her. Let me see her.”

  “Not right now. Right now you have to help me,” said Gemma.

  “Help you? Why would I help you?” Nina cried. “You … you …”

  Gemma shook her head. “Don’t say anything nasty, Nina. I can’t take that from you. Now look. If you help me, I’ll leave. And you won’t be killed.”

  For a moment, Nina felt a reckless indifference to her own fate. All she could feel was hatred. “You are crazy,” she said. “That’s it. That has to be it. You have to be insane. Nobody could do the things you did …”

  “Stop that, Nina!” Gemma cried, and shook the gun at her. “Do you think I won’t shoot you? Do you think I’m bluffing?”

  Nina shook her head slowly and struggled to calm herself down. “No,” she said. “I don’t think that. I know better.”

  “All right,” said Gemma, her voice quavering. “All right. So. I know that I need to get away from here and I can’t do that unless you help me.”

  “Why did you shoot Calvin Mears, Gemma? And Andre? Was it because Calvin saw you that nigh
t? You killed my mother, didn’t you? Did my father figure it out? Did you kill him, too?”

  Gemma pursed her lips and looked away. “This is not a conversation, Nina. I don’t want to discuss anything with you. Just do what I say. I have no quarrel with you, Nina. I don’t want to have to kill you.”

  “You had no quarrel with my mother. My mother was always kind to you,” Nina cried. “She worried about you. She used to say how she felt sorry for you, because your father was always away and Didi was obsessed with wedding frippery. My mother cared for you …”

  Gemma shook her head. “That wasn’t real. As it turned out. Look, I haven’t got time for this, Nina. Neither do you. Now listen. First I need money. Whatever you’ve got in the house. Your old aunt probably keeps some under the mattress. And then I need a car. I know the cops are out there. You may have to drive some distance with me, until we’re out of their sight.”

  Nina felt a stillness come over her. She made a decision. “I’m not going to do a thing for you until you tell me. I understand certain things. I understand that Calvin saw you that night. But he probably never thought much about it until my father questioned him. I imagine you killed my dad when he confronted you. But why did you kill my mother? I found her body that night, you know. I slipped in a puddle of her blood. I have had more nightmares than you could count. You have to tell me the truth. I won’t budge unless you do.”

  Gemma looked at her indignantly. “You have nightmares?” She shook her head. “You? You don’t know anything about nightmares.”

  Nina stared at her, trying to conceal her loathing. “Tell me,” she said.

  Gemma hesitated and then shook her head. “No. No. I’m not getting into this with you. Let me just say this. Your mother only pretended to care for me. When it came right down to it, she turned on me.”

  “How did she turn on you?” Nina asked quietly.

  “Oh no,” said Gemma. “Don’t think you’re conning me into telling you some secret. Because I am too smart for you.”