A Portrait of Emily

by J. P. Bowie

  “How do you know that?”

  “He forgot some papers one night and asked me to drive them over. He was at the bar in the Seasons. He’d had a couple I could tell. Didn’t offer me one though, but then I don’t drink and drive.”

  “So on the day he was murdered…” Jeff steered her back to the topic at hand.

  “Oh right.” Dorothy giggled. “I do go off on a tangent sometimes. My friend, Marge says I confuse her sometimes the way I dart from one story to another. Just the other day I was telling her about Florence, one of the secretaries on the floor below us…” She giggled again. “There I go, Mr. Stevens. What must you think of me? Rambling on about people you don’t know.”

  Jeff gave her a smile of encouragement and waited for her to continue.

  “Well, like I said, he told me he had someone coming to see him. Sounded put out, you know, like he was annoyed, or maybe even a teeny bit worried.”

  “You think he knew the person coming to see him?”

  “I really don’t know, and it wasn’t written in his appointment book. I didn’t have a note of it so it had to have been last minute.”

  “You didn’t see anyone arrive before you left?”

  “No, but as a matter of fact, you see, I left just a teensy bit early. Maybe ten minutes or so. I was meeting my friend, Marge, for lunch, so I left early to get his sandwich before I met her.” Dorothy smiled mischievously at Jeff as if letting him in on her little secretive ways. “Well, it would have cut a good ten minutes of our gossip time.” She laughed gaily and Jeff smiled back at her.

  “Tell me, Dorothy, you don’t seem too upset about your boss’s demise.”

  “Oh, but I am,” Dorothy said quickly. “You see, I’ll be out of a job in a few days. The attorneys have asked me to stay on while they put his affairs in order, but they’re closing the business down. No one to take it over.” She gave him conspiratorial grimace, and added, “The son, you see. He doesn’t want to be bothered with it. They had a terrible fight, right here in the office just a few weeks ago about it.”

  “Really? You heard them?”

  “I’ll say. Mr. Hastings, senior that is, said some awful things to him. Then young Mr. Hastings went charging out of here, his face as black as thunder. If you ask me…”

  “Yes?”

  “He could be the murderer, the young one, I mean,” Dorothy said, with some satisfaction.

  “He does have an alibi for that time frame.”

  “Oh, he does?” She sounded disappointed. “Well, I never liked him. Couldn’t even crack a smile at me.” Her mouth pursed with disapproval.

  “Did you get along with Hastings, the elder?”

  “Oh yes, even though he was a bit tight lipped. Never talked about himself or his family. Of course, I knew things weren’t too good at home. I could hear him on the phone with his wife sometimes… That poor woman. I don’t know how she put up with his infidelities, really.”

  “Excuse me?” Jeff leaned forward in his chair.

  “You don’t know about that?” Dorothy was obviously relishing the notion she was about to impart some juicy gossip. “He was forever spending money on other girls—very young girls. Too young for him, really. It was all a bit disgusting, if you ask me.”

  “How do you know this, Dorothy?”

  “He had a drawer full of their pictures. I found it quite by chance.”

  “It wasn’t locked?”

  “Well, usually it was, but this day, I just happened to try it, and it opened, and I saw all the pictures. I was shocked, I can tell you.”

  “Did you tell the police about this?”

  “No, of course not. None of their business really. They’d just tell Mrs. Hastings about them. I couldn’t see having her upset like that.”

  “What happened to the pictures?”

  “I have them in a box file right here. I couldn’t have just anyone finding them, especially Mrs. Hastings. I guess I’ll burn them eventually.”

  “May I see them, Dorothy?”

  She looked at him hesitantly for a moment or two then gave a little shrug. “I guess so,” she said. “You seem like a very nice young man. I’m sure you wouldn’t tell poor Mrs. Hastings about them, would you?”

  “No, of course not,” Jeff assured her with a winning smile.

  “Here you are.” She handed him the box file and Jeff opened the lid. Inside were dozens of photographs of young girls, some barely in their teens. Most of them were head and shoulder shots, but some were full length, and in those the girls were nude. Jeff flipped the photos over and noted there were website addresses and phone numbers written on the backs of some of them. Quickly, he jotted those down before Dorothy could protest—but she only said quietly, “What he was doing, was wrong, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes Dorothy,” Jeff replied. “Very wrong. Some of these girls are little more than children.”

  “He was furious when he found out I had seen them. Threatened to fire me if I ever said a word. I didn’t even tell my friend Marge about the pictures. I was nervous she might blab, you know.”

  “Thank you for showing them to me, Dorothy.” Jeff handed the box file back to her. “You’ve been very helpful.” He stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and fluttered her eyelashes at him coquettishly.

  “You’re much nicer than the policemen,” she simpered. “So much easier to talk to.”

  “I hope you find a new job soon,” Jeff said as he turned to go.

  “Oh, don’t worry about me. When one door closes, another opens so they say.” She gave him a cheery wave as he left—and Jeff was sure she was right.

  His next stop was at Johnny’s office to fill him in on what he had learned that day. The attorney’s face hardened as Jeff relayed the discovery of Charles Hastings cache of photos.

  “So when Emily and Paula got too old for his taste, he started looking around for younger girls to satisfy him.”

  Jeff nodded. “Looks that way. He must have been using some kind of agency to arrange his meetings. I’ve got a couple of phone numbers and websites to check up on. I’ll let you know what I find out.”

  “Thanks. You’re doing a great job, Jeff.”

  “I aim to please. By the way, Anthony’s story checks out. One of the employees at the baths remembers him being there.”

  “That’s a relief,” Johnny muttered. “Once the police are convinced it wasn’t Anthony or Emily, they can start looking further afield for the killer.”

  “Have you considered Jerry’s involvement in this?”

  “No, I haven’t. Why? Do you think there’s a chance? Surely not.”

  “Well, Peter told me he and Jerry had a lunch date the day Hastings was murdered and he showed up pretty late. Gave some story about last minute business holding him up.”

  “Could be true. That’s a high powered business his father runs there.”

  “Of course it could, but he had just found out about what Hastings had done to Emily and he was pretty upset.”

  “Who wouldn’t be? I can imagine how he felt.”

  “So can I, Johnny. I don’t think there’s a one of us who is sorry for what happened to Hastings quite frankly.”

  “But, Jerry a murderer? No, I can’t see it, somehow.” Johnny leaned back in his chair and thoughtfully tapped his teeth with his pen. Then he looked at Jeff as he suddenly remembered something. “Jerry’s going to be at our house tonight. You guys are invited too, I almost forgot. Gloria called me a while ago and said Peter was on his way over. We’re having an impromptu barbecue to try and cheer Emily up.”

  “Great idea…”

  “Maybe you could have a talk with Jerry. You know, ask a few leading questions without him becoming alarmed.”

  “Easier said than done, but I’ll try. My gut feeling is he’s in the clear, but it won’t do any harm to check him out.”

  “Poor guy. Gloria’s invited him over for steak—and he’s the one who’ll be grilled.” Johnny chuckled at his own joke. />
  Jeff winced. “Ouch, Johnny. Don’t ever consider trading law for stand-up comedy.”

  Even though his own office was not on the way to Gloria and Johnny’s house, Jeff decided to call in there and check out the information he had copied from the backs of the photographs. He picked up his messages from his secretary, Monica, then told her he didn’t want to take any calls for the next twenty minutes or so.

  Sitting at his desk and firing up his computer, he logged on to one of the websites. As he expected, it was a “kiddy porn” site and he bristled as he read the warnings of the graphic nature of the contents should he wish to proceed further into the program. A password and identification were required or a credit card for “instant membership.” Jeff had seen these websites before when he was a police officer. He knew the kind of people they were geared to and he had no need to go further.

  Instead he dialed one of the phone numbers he had also written down. He listened as the recorded message instructed him to leave his name and phone number—he would be contacted as soon as possible. He left his name and cell number, then settled back and waited. A few minutes later, his cell phone rang.

  Without glancing at the caller ID screen he whispered, “Hello?”

  “Jeff? It’s Peter. You sound funny. Are you okay?”

  “Oh hi, Peter.” Jeff laughed. “I’m fine. I was just practicing a new phone voice.”

  “Oh, well I like your real voice better. Listen I’m running a bit late for this barbecue. Did you know we’re expected at Gloria’s tonight?”

  “Yeah. So why don’t you come here, then we can go in my car.”

  “Sounds good. See you in a few. Bye, sexy.”

  Jeff was still smiling when his phone rang again. “This is Jeff.”

  “You called me.” The voice on the other end was hoarse and accented.

  “Uh, yes I did.” Jeff felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingling.

  “What can I do for you?”

  “A friend gave me your number. Said you could fix me up with what I need.”

  “And just what is it you need?”

  “What you provide, of course. A little diversion. What do I have to do?”

  “Just what I tell you to do. We have to check you out. Be in Benny’s Bar on Harbor in Garden Grove at three tomorrow afternoon. You will be contacted there. Goodbye.”

  Jeff blew out a sigh of relief as he punched the ‘end’ button. He was definitely not going to tell Peter about this until it was over. It would just worry him and he’d probably want to come too. Instinctively, Jeff knew what he was doing had an element of danger attached to it. Anyone involved in this kind of illegal operation was not going to take a chance of being exposed. The consequences of that would mean very long prison sentences. He wondered if he should bring Detective McKenna into the loop, just in case something went wrong. McKenna’s partner, Sharpe, worried him though. He was like a bull in a china shop.

  His thoughts were interrupted as he heard Monica’s laughter in the outer office. Must be Peter, he thought, and sure enough a moment later his door was flung open and Peter bounced in.

  “Hey good-lookin’.” He jumped onto Jeff’s lap.

  “Oof! Are you putting on weight?”

  “Excuse me?” Peter gasped in mock horror. “If I am, it’s all muscle.”

  Jeff held Peter tight. “Mmm, you’re right,” he murmured. “Nice and hard…”

  “Hey,” Peter squirmed in Jeff’s arms. “We’re late already for Gloria’s cook out, so you’ll have to put all those craven thoughts right out of your head—at least for the time being.”

  “Only for the time being.”

  “You bet your sweet lips.” Peter rolled off Jeff’s lap. “Let’s go.”

  As it turned out, Jeff had no need to “grill” Jerry that night. Almost as soon as he and Peter arrived, and Gloria had thrust their drinks into their hands, Jerry approached them.

  “Can I have a word with you guys?” he asked after shaking their hands in greeting. “In private?”

  “Of course,” Jeff replied. He and Peter waved hello to Emily, then followed Jerry into Johnny’s office.

  “Johnny said we could talk in here.” He closed the door and turned to look at the two men. “I think I should clear something up. I have a feeling Peter was suspicious about my showing up late for lunch the day Emily’s father was murdered. The truth is…and this is difficult for me to say, but you know Emily told me about what her father had done to her and her sister for all those years? I just couldn’t get it out of my mind. I was angry at myself for not being kinder to Emily when she told me—and I was angry as hell at the world for letting a monster like Charles Hastings exist. I wanted to kill him, you guys. I really did!”

  Peter and Jeff looked at each other with concern as Jerry’s eyes filled with tears. Peter reached out and patted his arm to comfort him while Jeff said gently, “Go on, Jerry.”

  “His office is pretty close to mine, so I walked over there just before one o’clock. I don’t know why I did; it was almost like I was on some kind of auto pilot. I stood outside looking up at his office windows, just seething with rage—and I knew if I went in there, I would probably kill him. Luckily, I managed to get a grip eventually, so I sat down in the square there and thought things through as best I could.”

  “And you decided it wasn’t a good idea to kill your future father-in-law,” Jeff said.

  “Right. When I became rational, I realized just what it would do to Emily’s and my future together. She’d been through enough without me screwing everything up even more.” He smiled ruefully at Peter. “Then I remembered our lunch date, looked at my watch, and saw I was way late. I ran all the way to the restaurant. I guess that’s why I looked so untidy, something you remarked on when I showed up.” He paused. “You do believe me don’t you?”

  “Of course we do,” Peter said immediately

  Jeff was amused at Peter’s willingness to let Jerry off the hook so quickly. He would have to remind him later that it was his suspicious mind that had put Jerry on the hot seat in the first place. He had to admit though, that the story was credible.

  “I think that you were feeling what just about any decent human being would feel in the same circumstances. Peter will tell you, when I found out what Hastings had been up to, I was pretty pissed off.”

  Jerry breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God. I couldn’t let you guys go on thinking I could mess up Emily’s life even more. I’m just glad I didn’t make a terrible mistake and ruin everything for us both. Let’s join the others. I think I’ll enjoy this evening a lot more now.”

  They went out onto the patio where Johnny was busy lighting the barbecue and Gloria and Emily sat quietly talking.

  “There you guys are.” Johnny beamed at them “Everything kosher?”

  “Everything’s fine,” Jerry said, walking over to Emily and sitting by her.

  “I thought it best I had a word with Jerry about what we had talked of earlier,” Johnny said. “Hope you don’t mind. He told me why he was late meeting Peter and it sounded like the truth to me.” He looked quizzically at them “What do you think?”

  “We agree,” Peter said, then gave Jeff a guilty look. “Don’t we?”

  Jeff chuckled then smiled at Gloria as she walked over to them. “You look particularly beautiful tonight.”

  “What a charmer.” Gloria nudged her husband. “It takes a gay guy to appreciate a beautiful woman.”

  “I would argue with that statement, actually.” Johnny leered at his wife and kissed her neck.

  “I meant aesthetically, of course. You just want to ravish me.”

  “Lucky you,” Peter said.

  Gloria kissed them both on the cheek, then whispered, “Old Charlie’s funeral is tomorrow at two o’clock. They managed to get a hold of Paula, finally, but she says she’s not coming back for it. Patricia is on the warpath, that’s why Anthony’s not here. He said he thought he should stay with her tonight.”<
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  “Poor Anthony,” Johnny muttered. “And Paula’s finally showing her true feelings for her old man.”

  “Well, I don’t want to go either,” Gloria hissed. “But Emily’s begged me to. Will you guys come?”

  Jeff shook his head. “I can’t, I’m afraid. Too many appointments tomorrow.”

  “I’ll go, I guess,” Peter said reluctantly. “Just for moral support.”

  “Well, it’s all for show anyway. Can’t imagine there will be a big turn out.”

  Emily and Jerry joined them at that moment and Gloria changed the subject quickly. “How’s the portrait coming along?” she asked Peter.

  “Almost finished. It should be at the framers by the end of the week.”

  “That’s great,” Jerry said. “We’ll have to celebrate. But just us…” he said looking quickly at Emily. “No big party.”

  “I want you both to accept it as a wedding gift from Jeff and myself.”

  “Oh Peter, we can’t let you do that,” Emily exclaimed. “You’ve put so much time into it.”

  Jerry nodded. “Emily’s right. I did commission you. I can’t let you do this for nothing.”

  “I insist,” Peter said. “Believe me, it was a pleasure—and we’ve made some new friends in the process.”

  “Okay, you guys,” Johnny yelled. “Stand back; I’m putting the steaks on the barbie. Time to chow down!”

  § § § §

  On the way home Jeff said, “That was nice of you, to give them the portrait as a wedding gift.”

  “I look at it as a good luck charm.”

  “Meaning what?”

  “Meaning I hope it brings them all the luck they deserve. That’s all.”

  Jeff was silent for a moment then he said. “You still think Jerry’s in the clear?”

  Peter glanced at him with surprise. “Don’t you?”

  “I want to believe him, of course,” Jeff said, slowly. “But he admits to being there at the office, and if he did kill Hastings, he’d still have had to run all the way back to meet you. And he did lie about the last minute business.”