The busy supper hour was over, and the diner was half empty. The hostess led me to a booth beside a window in the main dining room. I glanced through the menu and had no sooner put it down when my waitress, a middle-aged pleasant woman who knew me by sight, appeared at my side.
“A grilled chicken breast over a Greek salad and decaf coffee, please.”
“You got it,” she said with a smile, and hurried off to put my order in.
I unzipped my parka and headed for the ladies’ room past the long counter in the adjoining room. I’d reached the cashier’s station when I heard a familiar giggle. I retraced my steps and glanced down the row of booths I’d just passed. Sure enough, there was Felicity.
She didn’t notice me because she was gazing adoringly into the eyes of the young man sitting across the table. He had his back to me so all I could see were broad shoulders and curly black hair, but they was enough to tell me he was one hot-looking guy. How did Felicity manage to attract the likes of him? I bIinked away the unkind question and told myself I wasn’t being fair. The girl was slow, but she was pretty and very sweet.
Felicity said something to her companion. He must have found it amusing, because he began to laugh, a genuine mirthful sound. He turned his face for a moment, allowing me see his profile. I covered my mouth in time to stop my gasp.
The man with Felicity was Johnny Scarvino!
I ran to the bathroom and scrubbed my hands while I tried to calm my agitation. How could that be Johnny Scarvino when Johnny Scarvino was dead! According to Brian, he’d been shot in a holdup.
Of course it wasn’t Johnny Scarvino! Felicity would never spend time with the person she feared the most in the world. She wouldn’t be sitting in a diner, laughing and talking as though he were a close friend.
Only it was Johnny Scarvino sitting with Felicity. I knew because I’d seen him the night of the baby shower.
I felt like Alice in Wonderland finding herself in one preposterous scene after another. My head began to spin. I leaned against the tiled wall in keep from falling. All my suppositions were wrong. I thought of Josephine Tey and the psychology of studying faces. Johnny Scarvino looked like a nice guy, so maybe he wasn’t the villain.
Maybe Felicity was as fake as her name. What if the childlike, fragile person I knew and liked was nothing more than an act?
What if Felicity had killed her boyfriend and Tim?
What if she and Johnny Scarvino worked together?
I washed my face and hands and returned to my booth as the waitress was bringing over my salad. I forced myself to take a bite of chicken, then discovered I was ravenously hungry. I glanced at Felicity and Johnny across the room. They were conversing in low tones and she no longer looked happy. A few times their voices rose with emotion, drawing glances from the other diners. Finally, Felicity shook her head vehemently at what he was saying.
“No, I don’t believe you!” she shouted, and ran out.
Johnny put money on the table and chased after her.
I wanted to help, but had no idea what I could do other than call Brian. Brian, who had told me Johnny was dead.
I finished eating and paid my check. I stepped outside, shuddering as a blast of cold wind hit me in the face. It was only early December. I dreaded to think of all the cold weather we were in for the next few months. As I backed out of my parking space, my headlights caught the couple in the car beside me. It was Felicity and Johnny. He was holding her in his arms as she sobbed her heart out.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
At ten o’clock, Joy climbed into my car. She set down a large thermos of coffee, fastened her seatbelt, and rubbed her hands with glee. “All set! Let’s find out what going down at the warehouse.”
I drove slowly. “Where did you tell Mike you were going?”
“I told him the truth.” Joy scrunched up her face. “Maybe I shouldn’t have. He laughed and said I’d be home in fifteen minutes.”
“I suppose we will be,” I said as we passed the Roberts sisters’ house. No lights were on. No car was in the driveway. “This isn’t a stakeout, is it?”
“I guess not, at least not for long.” Joy yawned. “I’m too tired to stay out late. Been up since six.”
“I saw Felicity at the diner with Johnny Scarvino,” I said as I turned right.
“Did you?” I heard the smile in Joy’s voice. “Do tell.”
I did. After a long minute, Joy sighed. “It sounds like he was telling her a few home truths, truths she didn’t want to hear, judging by her tears.”
I laughed, embarrassed. “At first she looked so happy. I was beginning to think everything I liked about her was all an act. What do you think he was telling her?”
“Could be about her sister. Or their father.”
I pressed my lips together. “Brian told me Johnny Scarvino was dead. Killed in a shootout.”
“Interesting.”
I stopped at a red light and faced Joy. “He lied to me.”
“It sure sounds that way.”
“Bastard,” I muttered.
“And you’re angry?” Joy asked. She sounded puzzled, as if she really didn’t understand.
“I can’t have a relationship with someone who lies to me,” I said peevishly.
“I don’t see the problem,” Joy said reasonably.
“Thanks.”
“No, really. Sounds to me Scarvino’s part of an ongoing investigation, and they needed him out of the picture till today. Brian must have had strict orders from above to put out the word that Scarvino was dead.”
I frowned. “Why would Brian be involved with New Jersey gangsters?”
Joy shrugged. “Cases cross over state lines all the time. Maybe this group of thieves has ties to New Jersey.”
I remembered Brian’s hesitation when I’d brought up Johnny’s name.
“Makes no difference. He shouldn’t have lied to me. He should have trusted me.”
Joy burst out laughing. “Because you’re now a member of the Nassau County Police Department?”
I gritted my teeth. “Thanks for seeing it from my perspective.”
She didn’t bother to answer. We rode in silence. When we were five or six blocks from the warehouse, Joy exclaimed. “Look at that!”
In the distance to the right of us the sky was lit up like the Fourth of July. “They’ve started without us,” she mumbled.
I had to slow down because traffic was moving at a snail’s pace. Because of the curve in the road, I could see the bright lights were coming from the warehouse parking lot. Ahead of us, several cop cars were parked helter-skelter, blocking the road. I opened my window and heard someone shouting orders above lots of yelling and cursing. A uniformed officer instructed us to pull over to the side of the road.
“Sorry. Police business. You’ll have to turn around.”
I opened my mouth to ask what was happening, when Joy delivered a sharp jab to my ribs. She smiled sweetly as the cop.
“Certainly, Officer. We don’t want to get caught in the crossfire.”
He nodded and watched me make a U-turn, then directed other cars to do the same.
I’d driven a block when Joy barked out, “Stop!”
The brakes squealed as I obeyed.
“Hang a left and park.”
Again, I obeyed and stopped at the curb of the first house on our right. A few neighbors were walking toward the main road, asking each other what was happening.
“No crowd yet,” Joy murmured. “It must have just gone down. We’ll get out and cross through backyards.”
Minutes later we’d worked our way to the back of the pet supply warehouse. I blinked at the bright lights shining on the parking lot and the thieves’ warehouse, making everything as visible as it would be in the noonday sun. My eyes were drawn to the huge moving truck jutting out from the open doors of the warehouse. Several uniformed officers were overseeing the parade of handcuffed hoods being led into the paddy wagon.
“Recognize anyone?�
� Joy asked.
I shook my head. “It’s difficult because they’re all looking down. Yes! There’s The Giant!”
He was escorted out of the warehouse, kicking and cursing. One of the cops prodded him into the wagon.
“Any sign of Corinne, dressed like one of the men?” Joy asked, grinning.
“Unfortunately, no.” I scanned the faces of the police higher ups. “I don’t see Brian here, either.”
“He’s a homicide detective. I wouldn’t expect him to take part in this.” Joy gestured with her chin. “See the truck? They were all set to move the stolen goods out of state. This bust was done right! They caught them in the act.” Pride rang in her voice.
We continued watching until the last of the gang was loaded into the police wagon, then we walked along the edge of the road to my car.
“Did it work so well because they had someone undercover working with the gang?” I asked.
Joy grinned. “I’d put my money on your Johnny Scarvino.”
Amazed, I gaped at her. “Johnny? But he’s one of them!”
She laughed. “‘Cause his father was?”
I nodded.
“The force gets some of its finest officers from The Families.”
“Hard to believe.”
A blanket of gloom settled over me, and I said nothing else as I drove home. I was unhappy because what I’d expected hadn’t taken place.
I told myself I should be glad the police had caught the thieves red-handed, putting an end to the burglaries in the area. They’d be brought to trial, and most of them would do time.
Instead, I was despondent because Corinne wasn’t at the warehouse, along with The Giant and his cronies. Was I so fixated on her guilt, so certain she was a criminal because I found her obnoxious and wanted to see her punished? Was I flat-out miserable because my assumption was wrong? For all I knew, Johnnie Trevino had been their boss.
“Hey!”
I shot up with a jolt. We were back in Joy’s driveway, where I’d driven on auto-pilot.
“Lexie, are you all right?” she asked, sounding concerned. “Want some coffee?”
I shook my head. “Tonight they caught some bad guys, but we still don’t know who killed Tim and Len Lyons.”
“We don’t, but that doesn’t take away from the big bust. And who knows? Maybe one of the guys in that crew will know something about the murders. If they do, they’ll use it in exchange for a shorter sentence.”
I forced a smile. “That sounds promising. If they know anything about it.”
“They might. For all we know, Len was one of the gang, and Tim had his own connections with the underworld.”
I hugged her good-night and drove home. Puss came to greet me as I entered the house from the garage, welcoming me with head butts as if I’d been gone for days instead of hours. Of course he had an ulterior motive. He gobbled down some of his new treats and begged for more. I obliged him, telling myself my obsession with the stolen goods warehouse wasn’t a total waste. Puss got something for my troubles.
My cell phone rang. I ran to retrieve it from my pocketbook, which I’d left on the hall bench. I grinned when I heard Brian’s voice.
“How are you?” he asked.
“Fine. I just got back from witnessing the big bust.” All the excitement must have triggered something in my system because suddenly I was starving. I made a beeline for the kitchen and peered into the freezer.
Brian chuckled. “So I heard.”
No ice cream. I checked out the pantry. No cookies. “You have spies everywhere,” I complained.
“Not really. I’m down at the station doing paperwork. One of the guys called in to give us the lowdown. Mentioned he’d seen you and Joy on the scene.”
“And we thought we’d kept a low profile.”
“The guys didn’t care, as long as you and the other looky-lous kept out of the way.”
I opened my mouth to complain about his lumping Joy and me with the other rubberneckers, when the sound of two women shrieking at each other came from outside. I switched off the lights and ran to the kitchen window but couldn’t see anyone.
“Gotta go,” I said breathlessly.
“What’s up, Lexie?” Brian demanded.
“Talk to you later,” I said and disconnected. The land phone rang, but I ignored it.
Felicity and Corinne must have been going at it hammer and tongs in their backyard. Why outside? The temperature was in the low forties. I ran up to my bedroom and flung open the window, but couldn’t make out more than the occasional phrase Corinne spit out like acid.
“...ungrateful bitch...” “You’ll come crawling back….too late...”
“I can’t stay here with you another minute,” Felicity answered in her little girl’s voice.
I didn’t catch what nastiness Corinne spewed back, only Felicity’s shocked response, “No, Corinne. You mustn’t!”
Though I knew Corinne would vent her anger at me the moment I showed my face, I couldn’t allow her to go on abusing her sister. I grabbed my parka, slipped out the front door, and edged along the bushes separating our backyards. I’d keep out of sight until I figured out the most diplomatic way to convince Corinne to lay off her sister.
Cajole? Threaten police intervention?
“I know it’s the truth because Johnny told me.” Felicity’s voice rose defensively. “And I believe him!”
That earned her a roar of sardonic laughter from Corinne, followed by a string of curses. Felicity must have repeated what Johnny had told her in the diner, and Corinne let her have it with both barrels.
It wasn’t a gun Corinne held on her sister, but a Bowie knife. She stood behind Felicity, her sister’s hair wrapped around one hand, the other hand wielding the blade at her sister’s throat. I gasped. From Jesse’s brief obsession with knives and daggers when he was fifteen, I knew just how lethal a Bowie knife could be.
Thank God Corinne hadn’t heard or noticed me inching closer. I had to stop her from killing Felicity, though how I was going to perform that feat remained a blank in my mind. Corinne’s expression was somber. Tragic. Medea came to mind. The woman in pain who causes more pain. I expected to see helpless terror in Felicity’s face. Instead, fury burned in her eyes.
“You killed Leo! The only man who ever loved me!”
Corinne let loose a jeering laugh that sent shivers up my spine. “Loved you! That idiota didn’t love you! He figured if he latched on to the boss’s sister, he’d get more than his share of the take. I did you a favor by getting rid of the scum.”
Felicity turned her head until the blade cut into her skin. “Nooooo. Leo didn’t work for you.”
Again that derisive laughter. “Who else would hire that numbskull? Robbing people he knew. I would have let him go years ago, except his father worked for the family.”
Felicity bowed her head. “I didn’t know. He never said.”
“Hah! I’m sure there was plenty he didn’t tell you. For instance, your dumb Leo had a gambling problem. He owed me big time.”
Corinne must have eased up on her grip, because Felicity sank to the ground. “He wanted out of all that.”
“Never an option. Leo had to repay his debts.”
Like a bullet, Felicity shot to her feet. She spun around and put her hands around Corinne’s neck. “You shouldn’t have killed Oscar, Cathy.” There was madness in her voice. Why hadn’t I ever noticed?
Caught by surprise, Corinne released the knife. I watched it fall to the ground.
“Oscar was ill, Frannie.” Corinne’s tone remained clipped. “I put the creature out of its misery.”
Felicity scowled at her sister. “You enjoyed killing him. I saw in the photo.” She pursed her lips. “I suppose you killed Tim, too.”
Corinne shrugged. “Leo must have told him I was behind the robberies and the bank job. Tim made the mistake of trying to blackmail me.” She snorted. “What a joke! Trying that on me!”
“Poor Sadie.” Felicity�
��s hands went limp. “You ruined her life”
“Sadie,” Corinne dismissed her with a wave of her hand. “How long was she with Tim? A day? A week? She’ll get over that by Christmas.”
She crouched down to retrieve the knife. I considered running at Corinne and grabbing it from her. I had surprise on my side, but Corinne was a killer. She wouldn’t hesitate to stick the blade between my ribs.
Too late. Corinne was standing again. She held the knife in her right hand behind her back. Felicity stared at Corinne, apparently unconcerned about the whereabouts of the knife. It dawned on me that both sisters were crazy, each in her own way. Was it their genes? Their upbringing? Finally, Felicity said what had been troubling her the most.
“Worst of all, you killed our parents! You deserve to go to prison for that!”
Corinne’s laughter rang out. “John killed our parents. Have you forgotten the trial? Why we’re living here in Ryesdale? John’s in prison for the rest of his life.”
“No, you killed Mommy and Daddy. You hated him for being so mean to us. Johnny told me.”
“Johnny’s dead.”
“He isn’t,” Felicity insisted. “I saw him. He told me everything.”
Corinne grabbed her sister’s hair, twisting her around so that they were in the same position as when I came upon them.
“You’re crazy, Frannie, you know that?” Corinne said in her sister’s ear. “I told you, ‘Don’t listen to him. Be strong.’ But you let Daddy get to you.”
Felicity’s sobs grew stronger. “I wanted him to love me, but he always pushed me away. He said we were useless because we’re girls.”
Corinne’s voice turned harsh. “Our own mother was no better. She should have protected us from his anger. His cruelty. That’s why I killed them. I did it for us!”
“You shouldn’t have!” Felicity began to cry, sniffles and moans turning into wrenching sobs. “Mommy tried to help.”
“She sent us away! To that cold place where everyone hated us.”
I watched transfixed as Corinne let go of Felicity’s hair and pulled her sister against her chest. She hugged Felicity, all the while never loosening her grip on the Bowie knife.
Murder the Tey Way: A Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mystery (The Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mysteries 2) Page 23
