A Room with a Brew

by Joyce Tremel

  “You know, don’t you?” Rhonda said.

  I glanced down at my waist. Rhonda’s arm through mine was positioned so no one could see she had a gun. “Know what?” My voice sounded calm to my own ears. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t be an idiot like my sister. I can see it on your face. As soon as Paisley mentioned money, the wheels started turning in your head. We’re going to take a walk down that hallway and find Bruce.”

  My gaze swept the room. Victoria was ranting at Jake, and Tommy was with Candy and Paisley. I even looked for Felix—he was by the fake Vermeer talking to one of the museum curators. Manny was no longer with Felix. He must have gotten tired of being ignored and left. I didn’t have any choice but to go with her. Hopefully, someone would notice I was gone before long.

  When we reached the door to Philip’s office, Rhonda shoved me into the room.

  Philip’s eyes opened wide when he saw the gun in Rhonda’s hand.

  “We have a problem, Bruce.” Rhonda nodded her head toward me. “She knows.”

  “That is a problem.” He reached under his jacket and drew his own weapon. “Both of you—over there.” He pointed to the other side of the room.

  Philip and I moved behind his desk and stood against the wall. His face was pale.

  “There’s more,” Rhonda said. “Paisley is here.”

  Bruce swore. “And you left her out there? Are you nuts? This is just great.” He swore again. “Once she sees it, she’s going to tell everyone.”

  “She already did. No one believes her. They all think she’s crazy.”

  “But for how long?” Bruce asked. “It’s only a matter of time.”

  Philip had recovered from the shock a bit. “Would someone please tell me what’s going on?”

  Neither Bruce nor Rhonda answered him so I did. “Your Vermeer is a fake.”

  “Where did you get such a ridiculous idea?” Philip said. “It’s been authenticated by several experts.”

  “Your experts were wrong,” I said.

  He shook his head. “It’s not possible.”

  I wasn’t going to convince him right now. I looked around the room searching for a way out of this mess. The office was large and I thought it must do double duty as a workroom. There was an oblong banquet-like table on the other side of the room where three unwrapped paintings lay. Bruce paced back and forth in front of the table.

  “Wearing a track in the floor isn’t going to help our situation,” Rhonda said.

  He stopped. “We need to get rid of these two and get out of here.”

  Philip’s face whitened again. For some reason, I felt strangely calm considering one or both of them had killed Doodle—and possibly Rhonda’s husband. Maybe it was the fact that there was still a roomful of people a short distance up the hallway, some of whom would be wondering where I was.

  “That’s not a good idea,” I said.

  “Shut up,” Bruce said. “It’s all your fault we’re in this position.”

  “How is it my fault?”

  “Because you wouldn’t mind your own business,” Bruce said. “You hired us to play at your party. That should have been the end of it. Instead you asked questions that were none of your business, you showed up at her brother’s funeral, you showed up at our concert, you even showed up at Rhonda’s house. I don’t get it. Why do you care about any of it?”

  “Maybe because someone died,” I snapped. “Two people, as a matter of fact.” I couldn’t stop myself. “Which one of you killed Doodle? Or was it both of you?”

  “My brother was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Neither one of us killed him,” Rhonda said. “Right, Bruce?” He took a second too long to respond, and a look of horror crossed Rhonda’s face. “You didn’t.” She leaned against the desk. “Tell me you didn’t murder my brother.”

  Bruce stared at the wall. “I didn’t have a choice. He was going to quit.” He looked at me. “He found out your father was a cop. He said he was going to tell you everything so you could pass it on to him.”

  I’d never guessed that was the reason. I had been so wrong thinking it had been about Candy and Felix.

  Suddenly, Rhonda pointed her gun at him and fired.

  And that’s when all hell broke loose.

  • • •

  The sound of screaming came from down the hall. Rhonda dropped the gun to the floor and fell to her knees. I nudged the gun out of her way with my foot. Philip stood frozen against the wall. The first person through the doorway was Felix, of all people. He glanced quickly at me and Philip, then went directly to Bruce.

  Jake was right behind Felix, followed by Candy, Tommy, and Paisley. Jake gathered me into his arms and I clung to him. I’d been okay up till then but now I was shaking. Paisley knelt beside her sister and put her arm around her. Bruce must have still been alive because Felix had removed his jacket and was pressing it against his abdomen. I said a quick Hail Mary that he survived.

  Police and paramedics arrived within minutes and everyone was ushered out of the room so they could work on Bruce. An officer helped Rhonda to her feet and had her sit in the chair at the desk. He took possession of both weapons.

  Jake and I moved to the far end of the hall away from the gallery. “Are you all right?” he asked.

  I nodded. “I’m okay.”

  “Hearing that gunshot and not knowing where you were scared me half to death,” he said.

  “Only half?” I gave him a little smile.

  “Don’t ever do that again, O’Hara.”

  “I didn’t do it on purpose, you know.”

  “What the hell happened?” he asked. “Why were you back there? One second you were in the gallery and the next I didn’t see you anywhere.”

  I told him.

  “So Bruce killed Doodle,” he said when I’d finished.

  “Rhonda had no idea what he’d done.”

  “But she was still involved in the art fraud. What about Paisley?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think she knew her brother was producing forgeries—at least as far as I could tell by her reaction to seeing the Vermeer. I mean the fake Vermeer. Speaking of which, where’s Victoria?”

  “I don’t know. The last I saw her, she was talking to one of the museum people.”

  The paramedics brought Bruce out on a stretcher just then and we watched them wheel him down the hallway. He was still alive. I saw Candy and Tommy in the gallery as the stretcher rolled past and I suggested to Jake that we join them.

  Candy enveloped me in a bear hug when we reached them. If she’d held me any tighter, I would have suffocated. I extricated myself as gently as possible. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. I smiled when she said the same thing Jake had, “Don’t ever do that again.”

  I had to repeat my story and I imagined I’d be doing that for some time.

  Felix had just come down the hall and entered the gallery as I finished, and when he saw us, he abruptly turned right. He took two steps and stopped. A few seconds later, he turned around and headed toward us. Candy clutched Tommy’s arm as if waiting for the worst. Instead of the confrontation I’d expected, Felix smiled. “Hello, Catherine.” He nodded to Tommy. “Thomas.”

  “Hello, Josef. It’s nice to see you again,” Candy said, like she was greeting an old friend.

  A deep, friendly laugh erupted from Felix. “It’s nice to see you, also. I believe we have a little catching up to do.”

  That was an understatement if I’d ever heard one.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  By the time we were released by the police, it was after midnight. Mitch Raines had been the detective who caught the call and he hadn’t been happy with me. He was going to have to get over it. I did what I thought was right, and the only thing I would change would be to have kept Rhonda from shooting
Bruce. From all accounts, though, he was going to survive.

  Candy insisted we come to her house after we were allowed to leave. Felix was going to join us. I was tired, but there was no way I was going to miss hearing what he had to say. When we arrived, Candy was in the kitchen making tea, and Tommy was pouring whiskey over ice into two glasses.

  “Might as well make that three,” Jake said.

  “Splendid! How about you, Max?”

  “None for me.”

  Jake followed Tommy to the kitchen to get another glass and some ice. Felix was studying the photos on the mantel.

  “Do they bring back memories?” I asked.

  He sighed. “Yes. It was so long ago, but sometimes it seems like yesterday.” He turned around. “I apologize for being so gruff with you over the last two weeks. It was necessary.”

  I told him I understood, but I wasn’t sure I did—at least not until I heard the whole story.

  Jake, Tommy, and Candy returned to the living room. Candy poured tea for the two of us and we got comfortable. I sat on the sofa beside Jake and leaned into him.

  Candy spoke first. “I don’t mean to be blunt—”

  I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

  “That’s enough out of you, missy.” She shook a finger at me and turned back to Felix. “Why are you in Pittsburgh? You’re the last person I expected to see here—or anywhere for that matter. And where have you been all these years?”

  Tommy interrupted. “Perhaps we should let Josef tell it in his own way, love.”

  “I’d appreciate that. But I will answer your first question,” Felix said. “I was sent here on assignment last year.”

  “Assignment?” Jake said.

  “Yes. I’m mostly retired now, but I’ve been with Interpol for many years. I’ve been tracking a series of art forgeries for the last few years, and after coming to many dead ends, a good lead brought me here.”

  “But you’ve been here for a year. Why did it take you so long?” I asked.

  Felix smiled and glanced at Candy and Tommy. “The young are so impatient.” He continued. “I needed to build trust with those involved. And the forgeries aren’t always easy to spot. Doodle was extremely talented. With this latest piece, he fooled half a dozen experts. It takes time to produce a work of art to match the masters. Bruce and Rhonda didn’t understand that. They pushed him to the limit and he’d finally had enough. He wanted to paint his own works, not copy someone else’s. He was going to turn himself in. He made the mistake of telling Bruce he was done. And, well . . .” He didn’t need to finish.

  “What about Rhonda’s husband?” I asked. “Did Bruce kill him, too?”

  “I wasn’t able to determine that,” Felix said. “I’m hoping that Bruce will fill in some of these gaps when he recovers.” He drained his glass and leaned back in his chair. “If that answers that first question, I have a tale to tell.”

  Boy, did he ever.

  “I’m sure Catherine—I’m sorry—Candy, told you about what happened those last few months in Prague.”

  I nodded and Jake said, “Yes.”

  Felix stared at his hands then looked up at Candy and Tommy. “You thought that I’d betrayed you, and I thought that you’d betrayed me. It turned out it had been the KGB that had betrayed us all. I had worked hard for Dubcˇek, helping to institute the few democratic reforms we could. When he was removed and Communists took power again, I didn’t know what to do. I convinced the new government that I was on their side while still hoping things would change again. At least I had thought they were convinced. For a while I was able to feed correct information to you but the KGB became suspicious.”

  “What about the bug in our flat?” Tommy asked. “We assumed you placed it there.”

  Felix shook his head. “It wasn’t me. I knew nothing about it until afterward. They had also placed a bug in my house. I believed that you had put it there.”

  Tommy got up and refreshed his drink. He held up the bottle. “Anyone?”

  Jake shook his head but Felix handed his glass to Tommy and he refilled it.

  Felix continued his story. “The night I found you, I was so angry. I had just found the bug in my house after being interrogated for hours about the raid on the empty building. They accused me of working with you. That I had passed word along to you that they were coming and that’s why the building had been empty. I was going to make you both talk and tell me the truth.”

  Candy wiped tears from her cheek. “I could have killed you. I thought I did kill you. I am so sorry.”

  Felix nodded. “I am, too. I should not have been so angry. I knew how the KGB worked. I should have known it was them and not you. Can you forgive me?”

  “There’s nothing to forgive, old chap,” Tommy said. “We were all just doing our jobs, and we’re all here now. I suggest we let go of the past.”

  “Not just yet,” I said. “What happened after you were shot?”

  “I woke up in a hospital,” Felix said. “The bullet had gone straight through my abdomen and luckily had missed any vital organs. Agents questioned me as soon as I was awake and accused me of helping you escape. They left a guard outside my door. I knew as soon as I was able to be moved, I’d be under arrest—a certain death sentence. I wasn’t going to wait for that. My room was on the first floor and I escaped through the window. I made my way out of the country and eventually to France, which is how I ended up in Interpol.”

  “I wish I’d have known all this years ago,” Candy said. “I should have tried to find out what happened to you. I thought about it many times, but part of me was afraid. There was always that little bit of hope that I hadn’t actually killed a man. Killed you.”

  “No more regrets,” Felix said. “I have a question for you, Catherine—I mean Candy. I can’t get used to that. What is with the black and yellow clothing? I haven’t seen you wear any other colors.”

  We all laughed, and Felix got his first lesson in Steelers Mania.

  • • •

  Friday morning and afternoon passed in a frenzy of getting the brew house ready for the beginning of the Oktoberfest weekend I’d planned for so long. While Jake spent the day in the kitchen, Daisy, Mom, and my sister-in-law, Kate, came to help us decorate. No easy feat with customers underfoot. At five p.m. I stood back and admired our handiwork. Blue and white streamers crossed the open rafters of the ceiling. We’d also hung a banner across the mirror behind the bar that read, Welcome to Oktoberfest. The centerpieces Daisy had put together looked great on the tables. The only thing that would be missing was the band. The Deutschmen were no more. I’d have to make do with the few German music CDs I owned.

  I made a quick trip home to feed Hops and returned to the pub by six thirty. To my surprise, Felix and Manny were setting up in the corner. “I didn’t expect this,” I said.

  Felix gave me a broad smile. “I know you hired a band, but I’m afraid you’re stuck with just an accordion and a trumpet.”

  “It’s really not necessary.”

  “It’s the least we can do,” Manny added. “I’m sorry I bugged out on you last night. That artsy stuff isn’t my thing. But if I’d have known Bruce and Rhonda were going to pull something like that, I would have stuck around.”

  Shortly after that, the pub filled to capacity and soon it was standing room only. Nicole and I stayed busy behind the bar. The Oktoberfest beer I’d brewed using Kurt’s recipe was a big hit, as was the Black Forest cake made from his recipe. I thought about how much he would have loved this little bit of Germany, and I missed him all over again.

  Mom and Dad sat at one of the tables with Mike, Kate, and my nieces—who were very worried that Hops was home alone. I assured them she was fine and they’d see her on Sunday. Candy, Tommy, Daisy, Marcus, and Philip sat at another table, and when I was able to take a break, I joined them for a minute. I asked Philip h
ow he was doing.

  “I’ve been better,” he said. “I’m afraid I’m going to lose everything over this. There will be an investigation to determine whether I acted in good faith.”

  “Felix will make sure you get a fair shake,” Candy said. “You did your due diligence. It’s not your fault your experts were wrong.”

  “Tell that to Victoria. I heard from her attorney already. She’s suing me for two million dollars.”

  “Two million?” I said. “I thought she paid a million for the painting.”

  Philip grimaced. “The other million is for her so-called pain and suffering. Before she left, she made sure I knew how humiliated she was. She said she could never face anyone in this city again.”

  I hoped she included Jake and me in that.

  “My attorney told me not to worry,” Philip continued. “He said it would be Bruce and Rhonda who would be held liable.”

  The door to the pub opened, and Kristie and Vince came in. I excused myself and went to greet them.

  “Good evening, Miss O’Hara,” Vince said. “I hear you didn’t take my advice to stay out of trouble.”

  “Good evening to you, Detective.”

  Kristie rolled her eyes. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, knock it off, you two.” She grinned and looked at me. “Or I’ll tell him what you used to call him.”

  “You wouldn’t!”

  “Don’t bet on it.”

  “Now I’m intrigued,” Vince said. “What did you used to call me?”

  “You’ll never get it out of me,” I said. I pointed across the room. “My parents are over there, and Candy and company are at the next table.”

  Kristie grabbed Vince’s hand and pulled him in that direction.

  Jake finally made it out of the kitchen, and I met him near the hallway beside the bar. “Come with me,” I said. I put my arm through his and we snuck back to my office. I closed the door behind us. I wrapped my arms around his waist. “I thought it would be nice to have a minute alone.”

  He wiggled his eyebrows. “So you can have your way with me, I hope.”