Murder Is Private

by Diane Weiner

  “Calm down, Audrey,” said Lynette. “We’ll find her. She was on foot. She couldn’t have gone far.”

  “She’s not here,” said Evan, after they had checked the school grounds.

  “Let’s try the beach. She sometimes takes walks there,” said Lynette.

  They pulled around the back of the auditorium, facing the beach.

  “Which way?” asked Evan.

  “I don’t know. Let’s go toward the pier.”

  “It’s so dark. Good thing you thought to bring a flashlight,” he said.

  Lynette and Evan ran through the sand of the deserted beach. Raindrops pelted their faces.

  “You look toward the water; I’ll look toward campus,” said Lynette. Her phone rang.

  “Audrey, did Mom come home?”

  “No. I was hoping you’d found her. Maybe we should call the police.”

  “Tell you what. Call Kevin. His number’s on the fridge under the Las Vegas magnet.”

  “Come on, Evan!” cried Lynette. “Audrey’s calling Kevin. Let’s keep looking.”

  They ran farther toward the pier. A flash of lightning illuminated the sand.

  “Lynette, stop!” He scooped something out of the wet sand.

  “What is it?”

  “Mom’s bracelet! The one I made for her at summer camp when I was ten.”

  Lynette shone the flashlight at the sand. She bent down and examined the shiny, beaded bracelet. “You’re right. It’s Mom’s.”

  Chapter 25

  Susan’s legs were too numb to tread water any longer. She held her breath, then floated, face down in the water to conserve energy. Didn’t they refer to this position as the ‘dead man’s float’? She shook the image out of her head. Every time the water moved, she jumped, certain she was about to be dinner for a shark. Not a single boat had passed during the entire time.

  I’ll never see my family again. Was helping Audrey worth dying over? She pictured Mike watching TV in his recliner. He had no idea how close he was to losing his wife for good. He’ll be devastated when he hears she died in the ocean, chasing criminals. Lynette would say, “She couldn’t just mind her own business. I told her sleuthing was dangerous and should be left to the professionals.” Annalise would have no memory of her grandma at all. Susan made a bargain with God. “God, if you let me live, I promise to leave the detective work up to the police from now on. I’ll just sit home and knit baby blankets for the rest of my days. I’ll even donate the baby blankets to the homeless shelter, and I’ll volunteer at the soup kitchen.”

  She closed her eyes and prayed to the Holy Mother, comforted by envisioning her Mom as her guardian angel, protecting her. She prayed to that saint who protected the lost. What was his name? Was it Saint Christopher? She hoped she’d gotten it right.

  She opened her salt-swollen eyes. What was that? Something floating, just out of reach. She didn’t know if she had the strength to kick, but gave it the old college try. She doggy paddled toward it. Was it a piece of wood? As she got closer, she realized it was a broken oar. She grabbed onto it, appreciating its buoyancy just when she was completely drained of energy. Hugging it to her chest, she thought once again about Mike and Annalise. And Lynette and Evan. She had to live to see her son graduate from medical school.

  A light shone from above. This was it. She was about to meet God face-to-face. Then she heard a sound. It didn’t sound like a choir of angels. It sounded like a helicopter. She looked up and saw that it was one! Her heart beat quickened. The chopper got louder and brighter as it came closer. The pilot had a megaphone.

  “Mrs. Wiles, is that you?”

  “Yes, yes it’s me! Thank God you’re here!” she cried, kicking harder, trying to stay above the water while she waved to the pilot.

  “We’re coming down with a basket! We’ll pull you up!”

  Susan, afraid of the ski-lift on the bunny trail, didn’t hesitate under the circumstances. The rescue worker helped her into the stretcher-sized basket. Over the sound of the helicopter blades rotating, she heard the pulley hoisting her up. Once safely inside, she sat up and looked out at the ebony ocean. Had she really been in the middle of that? The helicopter landed on the beach. Kevin rushed over and threw a blanket around her. Lynette grabbed her.

  “Mom, look at you! Thank God we found you alive. Are you okay? What happened?”

  Susan still tasted the salt water as she spoke. “I was in the auditorium. Someone grabbed me from the steps. They pushed a gun into my back and forced me out to the pier. Then they threw me into a motor boat. After that, I was hurled into the water. I don’t know how long I was out there but it felt like days.”

  “Oh, Mom! What if they’d killed you? How many times have I said to be careful? How many?”

  “I’m sorry. I just went into the auditorium. I didn’t expect this,” Susan mumbled, ashamed.

  Susan was lifted into an ambulance. Audrey and Evan ran to her side. Evan was cradling a sleeping Annalise. The doctors insisted that Susan stay in the hospital overnight for observation. As much as she preferred to go back to Audrey’s, she didn’t have the strength to argue.

  “Good thing Kevin has connections. He got the Coast Guard to respond immediately. Otherwise, you might still be out there,” said Lynette.

  “Something strange is going on,” said Susan. “Listen to this. I saw a man bring a suitcase to a motor boat. Just before that, the lights from the third floor of the auditorium flashed, like some sort of signal. And, this is really weird…” Susan began.

  “You mean weirder than flashing lights and a man carrying a suitcase to the beach?” interrupted Lynette.

  “Yes,” declared Susan. “There was music. Violin music coming from upstairs in the auditorium. I was on my way to see what it was when I was attacked on the steps.”

  “And you’re thinking illegal weapons, or drugs? Human trafficking?” asked her daughter.

  “Or passports or who knows what. Kevin has to follow up on it!” Susan demanded.

  “You mean you’re leaving it up to the police?”

  “I don’t have the strength to deal with your sarcasm right now, Lynette.”

  George burst through the door. “Susan, are you okay? Mother told me what happened.” His hair was mussed and he was out of breath. Susan was touched by his brotherly concern.

  “I’m fine now. Just tired.”

  George was wearing gym shorts, and a t-shirt that smelled fresh from the laundry. Oddly, his athletic socks were dry, but his sneakers were wet through and through. If he’d gotten caught in the rain, why would he change his clothes, but not his shoes? When he turned and walked out, she saw that the back of his hair was wet. Had he been down at the beach? Did he have anything to do with her attack? She fell asleep wondering.

  Chapter 26

  Susan woke to the sound of the partition curtain snapping shut. They were putting a patient in the other bed. She heard voices.

  “One, two, three, lift.”

  “Hook up the cords. Let’s get the monitors going.”

  “Are you comfortable, ma’am? The nurse will be in in a few minutes with pain meds.”

  Susan stayed quiet. She didn’t want to get into a conversation in the middle of the night, even though her natural curiosity made her wonder from what malady her roommate was suffering. She rolled over and went back to sleep.

  The clanking of the breakfast tray woke her hours later. She smelled coffee.

  “Brought you some breakfast,” said the nurse. “Let’s sit you up.”

  Susan clicked the remote until she found the Today Show. For years, she’d harbored a secret crush on Matt Lauer. She ate her cold scrambled eggs and toast. The nurse was talking to her roommate in a chipper voice.

  “Here’s your Percocet. Eat first or you might feel nauseous.”

  “Yeah,” said the patient in the other bed. “Yeah. I know.”

  After the nurse left, her roommate started the conversation.

  “I’m not taking any
damn pills. My niece got addicted to these things. Took years of rehab to get her over it.”

  “If you’re in pain,” said Susan, “you should take them. A few days won’t hurt. I took those after I had my C-section years ago. I never got addicted.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I could get good money for these out on the street.” The woman laughed with the hoarse voice of a smoker.

  Susan shook her head. Pain pills, no. They could harm you. Cigarettes, fine.

  Later, the doctor made his rounds and told Susan she could go home as soon as the discharge papers were ready. The Today Show was over, so she flipped through the TV stations, settling on Dr. Oz. He was her hero. He’d worked at Columbia University in New York City, where Evan was going to spend his summer. Maybe someday Evan would have his own TV show, Susan thought. The Dr. Wiles Show. Had a nice ring to it.

  “Help!” cried her roommate. Susan heard alarms going off. The nurses rushed in. The doctor came with paddles. Just like on TV. “Clear!” Shock. Wait. “Clear!” Shock. Wait. Then she heard the doctor say to call it. “Time of death, 9:33 a.m.”

  Susan couldn’t believe it. Ten minutes ago she’d been having a conversation with this woman. Now, she was dead. Thankfully, they wheeled the body out of the room quickly. Although she was getting used to the sight of dead bodies, the thought of rooming with a corpse for any length of time caused her to shudder. She felt sad for the family members who were about to hear the news.

  Susan waited––patiently at first, not so patiently as the day wore on. How long did it take to draw up discharge papers? She heard the nurses clearing the nightstand and changing the sheets on the other bed. One nurse was either new, or maybe a nurse in training.

  “What do we do with these?” she asked.

  “This is a personal perscription. She shouldn’t even have this here. Oh, well, too late to worry about it now. I’ll just take this to the pharmacy for disposal,” replied the senior nurse.

  “Do we have to sign it in or something?”

  “There’s a log,” said the other, “but it’s mostly the honor system. No one checks. A crooked employee could pocket these and no one would be the wiser.”

  Finally, a nurse came in with Susan’s discharge papers and instructions. Susan would take the rest of the week off from school to rest. Audrey and Lynette came to pick her up.

  “Here, Mom,” said Lynette. “I know how bad hospital food can be. I brought you a bagel.”

  “And here are some dry clothes,” said Audrey. She handed Susan a tote bag. “There’s a toothbrush in there too. I always keep extras in the house.”

  As soon as Susan walked through the front door of Audrey’s house, she scooped up Annalise and covered her with kisses. Family was precious. She remembered how she’d felt in the middle of the ocean when she thought she wouldn’t see her loved ones again.

  Later that afternoon, Kevin dropped by the house.

  “Are you feeling better?” he asked Susan.

  “Much. It’s good to be out of that hospital.”

  “Mrs. Wiles,” he began, his tone more serious. “I need to turn in an official report of the attack. You said you went into the auditorium because you saw flashing lights and heard violin music, correct?”

  “Yes. I couldn’t imagine who was playing it.”

  “Before that, you saw someone hand a suitcase to a motor boat driver, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  Lynette walked into the living room and continued the story for her mother. “And instead of high tailing it out of there and calling the police, or even her detective daughter, she figured she’d just capture the bad guys all by herself!”

  “Yep. That’s just what happened,” said Susan, contritely. “Really, Lynette! You should be proud having such a brave and selfless mother.”

  “She certainly was fearless,” suggested Kevin.

  “Don’t encourage her,” said Lynette, sighing reluctantly.

  “I need something to drink,” said Susan. She went into the kitchen for some water, and overheard Kevin talking to Lynnette.

  “The pills were mostly Xanax,” he reported, “but in one bottle, there were several pills that the lab couldn’t identify at first. Turns out they were a specialty mix of tranquilizers and anti-anxiety drugs. If Trish had taken more than she did, the dose would have been lethal.”

  Susan came back into the living room sipping a glass of water.

  “Kevin, did you ever hear back from the lab about the pills the student gave me?”

  “Mom! Don’t pretend you didn’t just overhear our conversation. I’d forgotten you were right in the next room.”

  Susan persisted. “In any case, do we know anything further?”

  Kevin answered, “These pills were not prescribed by a doctor, Mrs. Wiles. Some were legit, but those homemade concoctions? No doctor would prescribe those.”

  “Trish’s roommate said Trish had issues with performance anxiety,” Susan added.

  “Then Xanax would have helped,” said Kevin, “but she should have gone to a doctor. She was risking her life taking those. She’s lucky she didn’t die.”

  “You think she got them illegally?” asked Susan.

  “Drugs are always an issue in high schools. Over the years, we’ve picked up some of the little guys, but not the major sellers,” replied Kevin.

  “Then you do think drugs were being sold in the arboretum?” asked Susan.

  “Maybe. You said you saw a wad of cash. Someone buying drugs wouldn’t have a stack like that unless they were buying a huge quantity to resell.”

  “Kevin, maybe it’s time you talked to Trish,” said Susan.

  Chapter 27

  Susan was glad to be back at school. It was lunch time, and she had a great story to tell to her captive audience––Gabby, Alonzo, and Schwartz. Schwartz munched on a piece of Matzo, reminding her it was Passover.

  “So how long were you out there?” asked Gabby. She leaned toward Susan as if to catch every word.

  “Hours, but it seemed like days.” Susan stretched the word hours like a piece of taffy. “I was afraid it was the end! Makes you appreciate life when you think you’re going to die.”

  “You heard violin music in the auditorium?” asked Alonzo.

  “The Albinoni Adagio.”

  “Sad piece. I heard it played in the courtyard of a castle in Salzburg years ago. Haunting. I wonder who was playing it?” said Alonzo.

  “That’s what I was trying to find out. Curiosity killed the cat, so they say. Only by the grace of God I’m not dead.” She crossed her arms over her heart.

  “Speaking of water, it started raining on my way over here. Hope it lets up,” said Gabby.

  “At least I’m prepared,” said Alonzo. He pulled a frilly pink umbrella out of his bag.

  “Great color for you,” said Schwartz.

  Gabby giggled.

  “It was Celia’s.” He looked at the floor. His tone became somber. “She lent it to me. I never had the chance to return it.”

  After an awkward silence, Gabby said, “Let’s check the weather. I was going to hold my student book club outside this afternoon. I may need to bring it inside.” She turned on the lounge TV.

  “Cloudy with a ninety percent chance of precipitation. The rainy season is upon us,” said Schwartz.

  “Indoors it is,” said Gabby.

  The weather report was followed by a human interest story. It started with a panoramic view of Warsaw. The camera zoomed in to an art museum.

  “Hey, I’ve been there!” said Schwartz. He pointed at the TV.

  “Turn it up,” said Alonzo.

  The cameras cut to the interior of the museum. The newscaster said, “This painting, stolen from a Jewish art collector’s home by the Nazis, was discovered yesterday in the attic of a Polish farmer who’d recently inherited the home from his grandfather.”

  “How fascinating! Hidden away all these years,” said Susan.

  “I’ve seen similar stories,
” added Schwartz. “Many valuable items were stolen from us Jews during the war. My grandparents fled Prussia to escape the Nazis and left behind everything. Walked away with only the clothes on their backs. Burns me up to think Nazi soldiers strolled into their abandoned house and stole their valuables. Jewelry passed down through the generations disappeared in a flash. My grandfather’s coin collection, Oma’s fine china….” Schwartz’s face was lobster red.

  “At least, your grandparents escaped,” said Gabby.

  “Just in the nick of time. So many lost so much more.”

  “On that sad note,” said Alonzo, “Time to start orchestra rehearsal. Susan, your group is singing at Trinity Village tomorrow night, right?”

  “We sure are. I’m glad they were well prepared before I missed those school days.”

  “The chorus always sounds great. Celia used to…” Schwartz’s eyes filled with tears.

  “I know, Schwartz. Hard to imagine the chorus without Celia,” said Alonzo. He gave Schwartz a pat on the back before turning to Susan.

  “I’ll be there tomorrow night. I’m sure it will be great. Let me know if you need anything.”

  After school, it was still raining as Susan headed back to Audrey’s. As she passed the arboretum, she saw George holding a leaf blower. Am I crazy to wonder why a gardener would try to blow wet leaves in the rain? Audrey had said she raised George well, but Susan was beginning to think that all that fried food she’d fed him had inhibited his intellectual development. If Audrey had raised her, who knew how she might have turned out? Maybe she’d have had a career flipping burgers instead of teaching.

  She then noticed Kymani sitting on a bench, talking to the male nurse. She shielded her face with the umbrella to avoid being recognized. This was the second time she’d seen those two engrossed in conversation. And she’d seen Alonzo talking to both of them too. George blew his leaves right in front of the bench where they were sitting. To her surprise, he even stopped and talked with them. They didn’t appear to be strangers.