Murder Is Private

by Diane Weiner

What’s this? Susan picked up a newspaper clipping. She read the story. It was about a viola that had been found in a farmhouse in Salzburg. The Austrian couple at the Disney World gift shop had talked about recovered stashes of hidden instruments stolen by the Nazis during the war. I didn’t know Celia was interested in history. She jumped when the bell rang, interrupting her sleuthing.

  Susan was still upset over her confrontation with Audrey. She was angry, and was having a hard time getting over it. What can I do? I’m surely going to run into Audrey soon. She again considered leaving. Then what? Never talk to Audrey again? No, she’d have to swallow her feelings for now and make peace with Audrey. She had to pretend everything was hunky-dory.

  After the morning classes, Susan went to smooth things over with Audrey. Evan would be leaving the next day, and she didn’t want him to be upset about last night’s argument. She stopped by Audrey’s office. Audrey was on the phone.

  “It’ll be fine. It’s still our secret. No one will know,” said Audrey. She turned around in her chair and jumped when she saw Susan. She quickly ended the call. Another secret phone conversation? What was Audrey up to?

  Audrey smoothed her dress. “Susan, is everything alright?”

  “Audrey, I wanted to talk about last night.” Susan’s stomach churned.

  “I’m sorry if you thought I was being pushy. It’s hard for me not to dive in and grab the reins.”

  “I understand, but it’s too much. I can’t snap my fingers and think of you as my mother… my children’s grandmother.” Angry words shot from her mouth before she could stop them. “Besides, I’m still hurt that you abandoned me at birth.”

  Audrey froze, her eyes wide open. “Abandoned? Really? That’s how you see it? Susan, giving you up was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I had no choice.”

  “You had a choice. Your family had money. Why didn’t they hire a nanny to help raise me in the mansion you grew up in? Did you even ask them if you could keep me?”

  “Hardly a mansion. I didn’t ask because I had no choice. I never would have won that fight. I was a disgrace to the family. Teenage daughters from respectable families didn’t get pregnant.”

  “I was a disgrace to your family?”

  “That’s not what I meant. I cried every night after I gave you up. Every birthday I wondered how you were celebrating. I’d have given anything to have kept you.”

  Susan wasn’t buying it. “And my father? He could have helped!” She was shouting now.

  Audrey matched Susan’s increased volume. “I told you, it was a summer fling. I never even told him I was pregnant! What would have been the point?”

  “He could have helped convince your parents to keep me.”

  “It wasn’t like that back then, Susan. You don’t understand. It was a different era.”

  There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” said Audrey. “Lynette and Evan, what a nice surprise.”

  “We heard shouting. Is everything okay?” asked Lynette.

  “Yes,” said Susan. “Everything is fine,” said Susan through her clenched jaw.

  “Mom, Evan and I came by to eat lunch with you. Let’s eat outside. Audrey, do you want to join us?” Susan crossed her fingers and hoped Audrey would decline.

  “No thank you; I’ve got too much to do. I’m trying to expand our list of potential donors. Not easy,” said Audrey, crossing her arms tightly across her chest.

  “Let’s go eat in the arboretum,” said Susan. “There are benches and we can enjoy the scenery.”

  George, the sleazy son of a … was trimming trees in the arboretum. Branches were falling everywhere. One even flew back and hit him in the nose.

  “George, can you take a lunch break?” said Lynette.

  “I can sit for a while. Didn’t bring a lunch.”

  “George, how long have you worked here?” said Susan. She wanted to add and how long have you pretended to be a cop? She stopped herself.

  “A few years. Before that, I worked for a landscaping company.”

  “Do you want some of my sandwich?” asked Lynette.

  “No, thanks. I need to get back to work.” When he stood up, something fell out of his pocket. Susan bent down to pick it up.

  “George, you dropped something,” said Susan. “Looks like medication. Be careful not to lose it.” Or you won’t be able to sell it.

  “Thanks.” George snatched it from her and stuffed it in his pocket. He stormed out of the arboretum.

  “What’s with him?” said Evan.

  “He didn’t want me to see what he dropped,” said Susan.

  “And did you?” said Lynette.

  “Sure did. It was a prescription bottle. I even caught the doctor’s name. Dr. Jacobs.”

  Chapter 32

  After school, Susan searched on her laptop for information about Dr. Jacobs. There were several in town. She went through each doctor’s webpage to see if something jumped out at her. One was a gynecologist. Nope. One was a pediatrician. Strike two. She was about to give up, when she noticed there was a Dr. Jacobs who worked at Trinity Village.

  Dr. Paul Jacobs. He’s an internist who also owns a practice in town. Why was George, a tanned, muscular, youngish man, seeing a doctor? If she walked across the street to Trinity Village, maybe she’d learn more.

  Susan nearly gagged from the odor of cleaning fluid when she walked into Trinity. A custodian was waxing the floors. Another sprayed Windex on the glass. The receptionist was munching on a juicy apple as she typed on her computer. She recognized Susan right away.

  “Mrs. Wiles! I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed hearing your chorus Thursday night.”

  “It’s been a pleasure working with such talented students.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “I’m looking for a doctor. Being new here, I could use a suggestion.”

  “What kind of doctor?”

  “My back has been acting up, and my allergies are killing me. Oh, and the heartburn from all the Mexican food I’ve been eating lately…”

  “Sounds like you need a general doctor. We have an excellent internist here. His name is Dr. Jacobs.”

  “Is he here now?”

  “No. He has an office nearby though. Let me give you his information.” She scribbled down the information, and handed Susan a piece of note paper.

  “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” Susan stuffed the paper into her purse.

  I have time before dinner. Maybe I’ll go take a look. Outside Trinity Village, she flagged down a taxi.

  The driver rolled down his window and turned down the roaring mariachi music. “Where to?”

  “Do you know where this is?” She handed the address to the driver.

  “Yep. It’s across town.”

  She slid into the sticky back seat of the stuffy cab. Her hips ached as the cab bumped over railroad tracks and into an older section of town. Brightly painted, wooden houses stood in contrast to the bare, brown lawns, littered with car parts and empty beer bottles. The cab pulled into a strip mall with faded exteriors and missing roof tiles. Doesn’t look like a place I’d choose to go.

  She got out of the cab, telling the driver, “Wait for me. I’m just going to take a quick look inside.”

  “Okay, but the meter’s running, lady.” He turned up the volume on the radio.

  Half of the stores were vacant. A Laundromat, a Mom and Pop Pharmacia, and Harry’s Hoagies remained. A wooden shingle outside the doctor’s office read specializing in pain management. Don’t all doctors manage pain? Now it is a specialty? Perhaps it’s a Florida thing.

  Inside the generic office, the waiting room was packed. The stench of cigarette smoke and body odor made Susan reluctant to breathe. She scanned the seats. A few women were dressed professionally, with expensive haircuts and designer purses. Two men in plaid shirts appeared to be construction workers. Others looked and smelled like they’d wandered in from the homeless shelter. There was a beautiful medical tower just a mile from
school. Why did George come all the way out here to see a doctor?

  She got back into the hot taxi, wishing the driver would hurry up and turn on the air. Then, she saw someone she knew. Why is he here? she wondered. Marshall/Marco, the nurse from Trinity, came out of a back entrance carrying a large, cardboard box. He put it into the trunk of his car which was parked in the office lot. Does he work here with Dr. Jacobs? Susan adjusted her bifocals. It was definitely him.

  “Where to, lady?” The cab driver’s breath reeked of garlic. Susan was nauseated.

  She directed the driver to Audrey’s house, happy the taxi ride was done. She let herself in, and saw Audrey and Evan huddled together on the couch.

  “Evan, I wish you could stay longer,” said Audrey.

  “I’ll be seeing you soon. By summer’s end you’ll be sick of me.”

  Audrey glanced over at Susan. Then she said, “Evan, remember what I told you last night. Weigh all the possibilities carefully. I never should have been so pushy about you coming to Florida this summer.”

  Susan came over to them and said, “I appreciate that, Audrey. Whatever Evan decides, his family––his whole family––will be cheering from the sidelines. Evan, do you need help packing?”

  “I got it. I learned a scientific approach to packing a suitcase to capacity. You can find anything on YouTube these days.”

  “Go for it, Evan.” She turned to her mother. “Audrey, does George have any sort of health problems?”

  “Not that I know of. Why do you ask?”

  “A bottle of pain pills fell out of his pocket earlier. I was just wondering.”

  “He hasn’t mentioned anything to me.”

  “If you or George need a doctor, where do you go?”

  “There’s a state of the art health complex down the road that takes our school insurance,” replied Audrey. “Best place for healthcare. That’s where I took Lynette to get her cast removed.”

  “Would there be any reason to travel to another part of town to go to a doctor? Any at all?”

  “No. People come here from all over the state to be seen at that facility.”

  “One more question. Have you ever heard of a pain management specialist? Don’t all doctors manage pain?”

  “Susan, Florida is notorious for its pill mills. There are some sleazy doctors out there who make money by prescribing pain pills to patients who don’t need them. The patients start with a real need––say back pain from a car accident. Then they wind up getting addicted. A reputable doctor wouldn’t prescribe those things indefinitely, so they find a doctor who is willing.”

  Dr. Jacobs fit the bill, thought Susan. Now she understood why those upper class women were sitting in his office. They probably needed help they couldn’t get from their own doctors. It was time to make an appointment for herself. Her back was giving her trouble these days.

  Chapter 33

  Saying goodbye to Evan was always difficult. Despite the “We’ll support you whatever you choose” conversation, she desperately hoped he would wind up in New York this summer.

  She called Dr. Jacobs’ office from school. A chipper receptionist with a high-pitched voice answered on the first ring.

  “Hello, I was wondering how soon I could get in to see the doctor. I’m visiting from out of town and I’m having terrible back pain. Yes, I’m a new patient. Susan Wiles. 3:00? Great! I don’t have insurance but I’ll pay cash. Thanks; see you then.”

  Remarkable, she thought. Can’t believe I got a same day appointment. He must be anxious for new patients. As soon as I mentioned pain, the receptionist spit back an appointment time.

  Like last time, Dr. Jacobs’ waiting room was packed. Again, they included a good percentage of well-dressed, professional looking clients. They had to be really desperate to come to this run down office. Susan scanned the room. That woman has a Coach purse, she thought. She shouldn’t be here. The waiting room smelled like dirty laundry, making Susan wish she had a can of Febreze stashed in her ginormous purse.

  She flipped through year-old issues of People magazine, and watched Judge Judy on the ceiling-mounted TV for over an hour before an overweight nurse in pink scrubs called her back. She put her hand on her lower back and shuffled into the exam room. Then she waited some more. When the door finally opened, Susan saw a short, middle-aged gentleman with dark hair. He wore wire-rimmed glasses, and a stethoscope hung from his neck.

  “Hello, I’m Dr. Jacobs.” He extended his hand. “How can I help you today?”

  Dr. Jacobs was personable enough. He did a lot of nodding and agreeing as she told her story of debilitating back pain. In fact, he was so sympathetic, he wrote her a prescription for Percocet on the spot.

  “This should do the trick.” He ripped a script off his pad and handed it to her. “Come back if you need more.”

  Conveniently, the office had an in-house pharmacy so she could leave with a full bottle. While waiting for her prescription to be filled, she once again saw Marshall, the male nurse. This office, Trinity Village, the pier, the arboretum … all pieces of a complex puzzle. Think, Susan. How do they they fit together?

  Susan thought the receptionist at Trinity might be able to give her some information. When she walked in, she was greeted with a warm smile.

  “Susan, what’s up? Can I help you with anything?”

  “As a matter of fact, I just came from Dr. Jacob’s office. I wanted to thank you for the recommendation.”

  “Happy to help.”

  “When I was at his office, I saw that male nurse who always comes to the concerts here. The one with the snoring wheelchair patient. Does he work with Dr. Jacobs at his office, too?”

  “You mean Marshall? The one with the scruffy beard? He only works here, as far as I know.”

  “How long has he been at Trinity?”

  “A while now. Works a lot of overtime.”

  “Do you know where he was before he came to Florida? I’m only asking because my mother has a friend with a gorgeous granddaughter, who can’t seem to find a date. She spotted him at the concert the other night and thought he was cute. Told her I’d do a little snooping.” Susan surprised herself with how easily she could fabricate an impromptu story when she needed to.

  “Let’s just take a look at his personnel file,” said the receptionist. She started to pull a folder from the filing cabinet. “I shouldn’t be doing this.”

  “You’re trying to be helpful. It’s not like you’re stealing his social security number or anything.”

  “I guess you’re right.” She pulled out the folder. “He worked in a hospital in Atlanta before coming here. Before that, he was in Memphis. Before that, Nashville.”

  “He’s a young guy. Why did he job hop so frequently?”

  “Don’t know. He has glowing references.”

  A delivery truck pulled up to the front door. The receptionist excused herself. “I need to show them where to put these boxes. I’ll be right back.”

  Susan took advantage of the time alone with the file. She took pictures of the entire file with her phone. She wondered if these references had been checked. She quickly closed the folder when she saw the receptionist coming back.

  “Every week it’s a different delivery man. Always have to show them where the supplies go,” she complained, going back behind her counter. “Anyhow, let me know what happens with your mother’s friend. If they wind up getting married, we get the credit!”

  Susan laughed. “If this doesn’t work, I’m suggesting she audition for The Bachelorette. By the way, does this Marshall fellow usually work nights? How does it work? Are the nurses assigned to specific patients?”

  “He generally works evenings and over-nights. Covers the patients on the first floor.”

  “I’ll have to arrange a chance meeting one night after one of the concerts for my friend’s granddaughter. I’d better be going. Have a good evening!”

  “It was fun talking to you. Stop by anytime.”

  Chapter 34r />
  Time to check those references. After dinner, Susan pulled out her laptop. She started by checking out Marshall’s nursing degree. He was a graduate of New Valley College in North Florida. She checked the state database. Marshall did have a nursing degree. Okay.

  Lynette snuck up behind her. “Mom, what are you up to now?”

  Susan was caught off guard. “Nothing.”

  “Mom, why are you on that database?”

  “It’s the nurse from Trinity Village. Something’s fishy about him. First, he snuck around the patients’ rooms while they were empty. Then, he locked me in the closet. I spotted him on campus, and at Dr. Jacob’s office.”

  “Who’s Dr. Jacobs?”

  “A bottle of pain pills fell out of George’s pocket. He grabbed them like he was hiding something. I found out the doctor who prescribed them works at Trinity. He also has a private practice across town. Guess what, Lynette? He’s a pain management specialist. Ever hear of such a thing?”

  “I have. Maybe George got hurt on the job. It’s not so farfetched that he might need a doctor.”

  “Yes, but there’s a state of the art facility less than a mile from here. Jacobs’ office is in a run-down strip mall way across town.”

  “How do you happen to know that?” Lynette crossed her arms and frowned at her mother.

  “My back was hurting, so I…”

  “I know where this is going. Why can’t you mind your own business, Mom?” demanded Lynette. “What does this have to do with Celia? Not that I want you snooping around for info about the murder either.”

  “Celia and Trish were close,” said Susan. “Celia made an appointment to see Kevin’s partner the day before she was killed. I think she figured out where Trish got her drugs. I think it involves this Marshall, Kymani, George, Alonzo…maybe Dr. Jacobs too.”

  “You think one of them killed her?” Lynette asked sincerely. There was no doubt her mother was on some sort of trail.

  “Yes. Have you gotten anything back about the tam tam mallet?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Lynette, can you ask Kevin to run a background check on Marshall? Just in case my hunch is right.”