by Marja McGraw
“This is too confusing for everyone,” she continued. “Just call me Meredith.”
We all sighed in relief. It had been confusing.
“Mary and I had words because she sent him away, but I guess it really was the best thing she could have done.”
“Can I ask a question?” Mikey stood and faced us.
“Go ahead, Ace. You might as well.” Chris seemed okay with Mikey getting involved in the conversation.
“Why didn’t you notice that the goon at the restaurant looked like Gabriel last night? How come you didn’t notice the way he looked until today?”
Meredith looked sad and Mikey noticed.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I prob’ly shouldn’t have asked that.”
“No, son, it’s a good question.” Meredith motioned for him to come stand by her. “My eyes aren’t that great anymore, for one thing. I noticed a resemblance, but last night I figured it was just wishful thinking. To this day I miss Gabe.”
Her eyes seemed to tear up, but she blinked and I decided it was my imagination.
“Besides, he was too young to be Gabe.”
Jasmine tipped her head and watched Meredith closely. “But he did show up at your house, and you saw that there really is a resemblance, right?”
“Yes. I think I need to go home now.” Meredith looked tired.
“We have more questions,” May said.
“I’m sure you do, but they’ll have to wait.”
Meredith turned to me. “Would you mind walking home with me?”
“Of course I will.” I stood and held out my hand to help her up.
Everyone was quiet until we walked out onto the porch, and then the voices created a dull roar.
Meredith held my hand while we walked.
I glanced at her face, and for the first time she looked her age. Yes, she was tired.
“Your husband was awfully quiet around those women,” she said.
“They intimidate him.”
She started to laugh. “I can understand that. They don’t intimidate me, but they sure wore me out. I was expecting simple questions, not things that would dredge up the past.”
“Meredith, this is about the past. They brought up something that I’ve thought about, too. Are you sure he was a cop?”
“Not anymore. I just don’t know. I took him at his word for all these years. But, then, I was in love with him. Maybe there’s more mystery surrounding who he was than I ever admitted to myself.”
“I think Chris is going to do some research on Gabe. Maybe we’ll learn more. Just hang in there.”
“Not much else I can do, Pamela. Please tell your friends that I really appreciate their interest. And tell them I’ll answer more questions later.”
I walked Meredith to her door, reminding her to lock up tight, and I said we’d check in on her later.
“And if you see that Mercedes again, please call us right away.”
“I will.”
I walked home slowly, trying to picture the Black Butterfly as a killer. I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t believe for one moment that she was a hit lady. I smiled to myself when I realized I’d thought of her as the Black Butterfly.
Chris and Mikey were waiting for me on the porch.
“They’re thinkin’ up more questions, Mom. They liked the one I asked, too.” Mikey enjoyed being involved. I just didn’t want him to become too involved.
“Why don’t you get your things together so you’ll be ready to go home with Grandma and Grandpa,” I suggested.
He nodded and walked into the house.
“Pamela, I may have made a mistake by asking the ladies to consult with us,” Chris said.
“No, honey, I think they’ll add something to this case.”
“Case? You’re calling this a case?”
“Well, it is. Besides, I don’t know what else to call it. Are you still going to do some research to see if you can find out anything about Gabriel?”
“As soon as the pack leaves.”
I thought about his description of the ladies. “That’s a good name for them. I wonder if Jasmine and your mother will have a tiff about who’s the leader of the pack.”
Chris rolled his eyes, making a point of aiming the look in my direction. “You know my mother will be the leader, no matter what it takes.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind. Jasmine may be aggressive, but no one beats your mother in that area. What are they up to now?”
Chris shrugged. “Like Ace said, they’re dreaming up more questions. It seems like everything they think of leads to something else.”
“That makes sense.” I hugged Chris and said, “Let’s go inside, Junior.”
“Don’t call me that!” He smiled, regardless of what I’d called him.
“Sometimes I can’t help myself.”
“Did you ever ask Meredith for the notes she received?”
I’d forgotten about those. “Yes, but she couldn’t remember where she put them. I’ll remind her later today. Why don’t we invite her over for dinner? Let’s get her out of the house and divert her attention from the past. From what I’ve seen of her, she’s lived a fairly normal life until now. This must be difficult for her to deal with, don’t you think?”
“Yeah. And that’s a good idea about dinner, too,” Chris said. “Call her after the Sunshine Ladies leave.”
“You know, your mother really is a ringleader. If there’s anything to be thought of with relation to Meredith, she’ll think of it.”
“Uh huh.”
We went inside to find the ladies standing and picking up their purses.
“Ma, where’s Dad? I just realized I haven’t seen him around here.”
“He went for a long walk about an hour ago. He said we wore him out and he needed to rest his pea brain. He called it a pea brain. I’d never say that.” Judith looked out the front window. “Here he comes now. By the way, don’t call me Ma. It makes me sound like an old woman.”
“Kinda like Junior makes me sound like a kid?”
“Touché.”
My father-in-law entered the house, taking in the fact that the women were getting ready to leave. He looked relieved. “Are you ready to go home, Judy?”
“In a minute, sweetie. I have to give Jasmine directions to our house.”
The look on my father-in-law’s face was priceless. It was a look of pure terror. He shook it off, picked up the pad of paper, and drew a map for the Church Ladies. “Haven’t you been to our house before?”
“Not that I can remember,” Jasmine said.
He handed her the map, picked up Mikey’s backpack, and what I now thought of as The Pack, left.
Chris let the dogs in and sat down on the couch.
“Just you, me and the dogs,” Chris said with awe in his voice. “How often do we have this much peace and quiet?”
The phone rang and I heard a thud when Sherlock raced into the kitchen.
Chapter Fifteen
I picked up the phone, leaving Chris sitting quietly on the couch, and heard Meredith’s agitated voice.
“I was going through that box again and remembered the envelope I found. There was a letter in it. I want you to read it. Gabe may not have been everything I thought he was.”
“Meredith, Chris and I want you to come to our house for dinner. Bring the letter and those threatening notes with you. He’ll come down and walk you up here around five o’clock. Will that work for you?”
Sounding impatient and annoyed, she said, “Yes, but… Nevermind. You can read everything when we sit down together.”
I rubbed Sherlock’s head where he’d run into the wall and returned to the living room.
“I’m glad we don’t have to go to the restaurant tonight,” I said.
We were usually closed on Sundays, but we’d made an exception because of a large party that wanted to come in.
“Our employees are aces. They’ll take good care of everything. I think I’ll call and ask them to wa
tch for anyone who looks like the goon. If he shows up, I may drive in to jaw with him. Maybe I can get the lowdown from him, but I doubt it. It’s worth a shot, though.”
“I might go with you. Maybe we can gang up on him.”
Chris chuckled and patted my knee. “Yeah, we make a great gang of two, don’t we?”
“We could invite your mother and the Church Ladies to go with us.”
Chris’s chuckle turned into a groan.
“Joking! I was joking, sweetie.”
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “You need to take some joke lessons.”
It had turned into late afternoon without me even noticing. We kicked back and relaxed for about half an hour before I decided I’d better figure something out for dinner. I had some leftover roast so I decided on hot roast beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes and a veggie. Of course, we’d start off with a salad. Easy peasy. Thank heaven for microwave ovens.
At about a quarter to five Chris walked over to Meredith’s to escort her back to our house.
Before he left, he said, “Are you sure we should have her walking to our house so much? She’s no spring chicken, you know.”
I almost rolled my eyes, but once again caught myself in time. “She’s in better shape than I am. Besides, the exercise is good for her.”
She was ready and waiting.
They had no Mercedes sightings on their walk, which was really very short. She only lived a few houses away. And my husband was worried about her walking too much?
Meredith handed me three pieces of paper and an envelope. “The envelope contains the letter I told you about. The other pieces of paper are the threats I received. At least, I think they’re threats.”
She roused my curiosity. Initially she’d told us that the first three notes were threats, and now she didn’t sound as sure.
“Let’s eat dinner first and when we’re done we can read the letters.”
She looked disappointed.
“If we get right into the letters, we’ll put off dinner. I know Chris needs to eat. I heard his stomach rumbling.”
Meredith glanced at Chris.
He nodded, letting her believe he was too hungry to wait.
We waded through dinner with Meredith telling a few lighter stories about her time in Las Vegas. I was thankful that she wasn’t stirring up memories that would depress her or make her fearful.
“That was the best roast I’ve ever had,” Meredith said, “but then I’m not the best cook around. Mary used to do all the cooking and she sure knew her way around a kitchen.”
“You must miss her.” I spoke softly, trying to read the expression on my neighbor’s face. “I wish I’d met her.”
“Oh, she passed on before you moved into the neighborhood. I think I already told you that.” She smiled. “I recollect her having a crush on Seth, from next door. He never returned her interest though. He’s a very shy man. In fact, she practically threw herself at him, but it just scared him off.”
“I thought you said she passed away before you moved into the house,” I said.
“No, she lived here. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Chris and I cleared the table. I’d do the dishes later.
We sat down at the table and I picked up the letters, handing two to Chris and making a point of keeping the envelope and a note for myself.
I read the first note twice. I could be interpreted as a threat, and yet it could be taken in a different way. I would just depend on your point of view.
“We’ve searched for you for years. You’ve managed to stay under the radar, but then your picture was in the newspaper. Prepare yourself for a surprise, whether you want one or not.”
“I have mixed thoughts about this note, Meredith. I might think it was from Gabriel, but it says ‘we’. It’s kind of cryptic, and yet it’s not.”
I looked at Chris and handed him the note.
“What about the notes you read, Bogey Man?”
“More of the same, just different words.”
He handed all three notes back to Mary. “What did the writer mean by saying you stayed under the radar?”
Meredith looked both defiant and embarrassed at the same time. “I’ve been off the grid since I left Las Vegas. Everything we did was in Mary’s name. Her parents left her a tidy sum of money, so we never lacked for anything. For all intents and purposes, I was dead and gone.”
“So no one, except Mary, had any idea that you were still alive?” I asked.
“Nope. She introduced me to neighbors and the like as her sister, and I went by the name of Susan. I made a point of not getting to know anyone other than the neighbors. There were a few times I wanted money of my own, so I found odd jobs where I was paid under the table. Usually it was when I wanted to do something for Mary, like at Christmas, and I wanted to pay for things myself. She was a good woman, and she really was more like my sister than my cousin.”
“So you managed to remain anonymous for all these years.” I was amazed.
She nodded. “As far as the gov’ment is concerned, I’m Mary.”
“How did you manage that when she died?” Chris asked.
“I buried her as Susan.” Her eyes teared up. “I hated doing that, but there was no family left so it didn’t matter to anyone but me.”
“How did she die?” I asked.
“She was standing in the kitchen, making sandwiches. I heard her fall and when I ran to her, she was already gone. When the paramedics came, I gave them Susan’s name. Even her doctor didn’t know the difference. She’d found one who didn’t ask for so much information. She gave him Susan’s name and he never questioned it. She had a heart problem, so no one asked any questions on the day she died. Of course, I believe she really did die of a heart attack.”
“What about Seth?” Chris asked. “He must have wondered about you taking Mary’s name.”
“Seth was always getting the two of us mixed up. It wasn’t an issue.”
I was amazed that they’d gotten away with so much, but then I recalled another case we’d worked on where a woman assumed someone else’s identity long before identity theft was understood.
Almost as though she’d read my mind, Meredith said, “Things were different way back then. People weren’t nearly as concerned about things like having the proper identification or a social security number. It was more of a live and let live society.”
I brought myself back to the present. “These notes could be from Gabe, you know. The thing that bothers me is the reference to ‘we’.”
“That bothers me, too,” Meredith said. “If the notes were worded differently, I probably wouldn’t be worried, but like I told you, the mob never forgets. Yes, I know I’m getting old, but I’ve kept tabs on some of the people who were in Las Vegas when I was. Most of them have died out, but a few are left. Even if they’ve forgotten things, their kids would know it all and they could be trying to settle an old score.”
“I don’t think that’s likely,” Chris said. “There’s got to be more to the story, or they wouldn’t bother with you. What aren’t you telling us, Mar – Meredith?”
She wiggled around on her chair uncomfortably.
“Meredith?” I figured Chris was right. There was more.
“I…”
She paused, not wanting to tell us.
“I… They tried to turn me into a hit lady. I think they were testing me. They gave me a gun and a target.”
I was speechless.
Chris wasn’t. “What did you do?”
Meredith sighed. “It was another woman. They seemed to think she’d betrayed them in some way.”
“And?” Chris wanted the whole story.
“I drove her out to the desert and told her what was going on. I told her to get lost and never show her face again. She was so scared, and so was I. I gave her directions to get back to the road and told her to hitchhike back to L.A. and to get on a bus and go as far as she could. Before she left, I made her
give me her purse and her jacket. After she was gone, I cut my arm just enough to get some blood to rub into the jacket – proof that I’d done the job. I tried to cover all the bases.”
“Did you ever hear anything about her again?” I asked.
“No. For all I know, she never made it out of the desert. But at least I gave her the chance.”
Meredith deflated right in front of our eyes.
“I never even told Mary that story. How could I? I wasn’t a bad person, honestly. I did what I had to do to survive.” Her voice held a note of pleading, asking forgiveness.
I patted her shaking hand. “Did they ever ask you to do anything like that again?”
“Yes, but that’s when I met Gabe and he took over my life. The Black Butterfly had a reputation though. It was one I couldn’t really live with and yet still care about myself.”
Chapter Sixteen
Mary was pretty shaken and excused herself to use the powder room.
“If you need anything, let me know,” I said.
She nodded and left us at the table.
Chris closed his eyes and dropped his head. He shook himself and sat up straight. “Do you believe her? Could she be making all of this up?”
“I believe her. She was too upset when she told us the story to be lying.”
“So who’s after her? The mob or Gabe?”
“Ya got me,” I replied. “It could go either way. Oh! I need to read the letter in the envelope. Maybe that’ll tell us more.”
I pulled the letter out of the envelope and noticed Gabe had signed it. It had obviously been written recently. The handwriting indicated that he might be shaky. From age or from nerves? Or both?
I read it aloud so Chris would know what was going on.
Dear Meredith,
You may be wondering why I had the box with your belongings delivered to you. It was the only way I could prove to you that I’m still alive, which is more than you did for me. For over fifty years I thought you’d died. It felt like I searched for you for a lifetime, but you were nowhere to be found. Then I saw your picture in the newspaper and my heart dropped to my feet.
