Dead Madonna

by Victoria Houston

  “I said a few minutes is all I need.”

  “Damn! I can’t believe this can’t wait ‘til tomorrow.” Gwen slapped the envelope down on the desk.

  “Mr. Curry—,” said Lew, ignoring Gwen’s display.

  “Call me Hugh,” said Curry, “and, please, take your time. Gwen and I can finish up later.” He turned away from Gwen as if to avoid the sight of her meant avoiding her wrath. “I’m more than happy to cooperate.”

  “Thank you—I promise not to take too much of your time, Hugh,” said Lew. “And, say, would you mind taking that chair behind the desk?” Gwen’s eyes sparked. In order for Hugh to sit at the desk, she had to move out of the way.

  “And Mrs. Curry,” said Lew, “if you would sit over there, please.”

  Lew motioned towards a folding, chair pushed it up against one wall. She could have said “would you shut up and get out of the way,” and it would have had the same effect. Gwen’s face clouded with anger as she squeezed her way out from behind the desk.

  Finding himself in her way, Osborne stepped back—but not before noticing that the black leggings were still dusted with dog hair. He watched as Gwen plunked herself onto the chair. She crossed her legs, right foot pumping with impatience.

  “Now, Doc …” said Lew, pulling out two folding chairs that rested against one wall. She placed each in front of the desk so they could sit facing Hugh. “Would you sit here, please.” As if anticipating an argument from Gwen, Lew gave her a pleasant look as she said, “Dr. Osborne is Loon Lake’s deputy coroner and assisting with the investigation. He’ll be taking notes while your husband and I talk.”

  “Whatever,” said Gwen, foot pumping away.

  “Now, Hugh,” said Lew, settling into her chair with her own notebook resting on one knee, “I’d like a little more information on these job fairs.”

  “Sure. Ask away,” said Curry, leaning forward on his elbows with his hands clasped in front of him. Sweat glistened across his forehead and once again Osborne could see a slight tremor in the hands, even as they were clasped tight. Gwen might be irritated but her husband was wary. Wary and worried.

  “A few basics,” said Lew with a smile. “How long have you been running Curry Job Fairs? How do you line up attendees? How do you determine which firms will participate? I mean, aren’t job fairs pretty common? Is there a reason why the Chamber contracted with you instead of another firm?”

  “Oh, come on,” said Gwen, rolling her eyes, “he went over all that yesterday!”

  “Not with me he didn’t,” said Lew, her eyes fixed on Hugh Curry’s face, “and Doc’s notes are missing a few details.”

  “Yeah? What kind of details?” said Gwen, hoarse and abrasive.

  “I’m talking to your husband,” said Lew. The foot pumped faster.

  “Maybe I wasn’t clear,” said Hugh, “but ours are not run-of-the-mill job fairs. We operate off a business model designed to appeal to Gen-Xers—people in their late twenties and early thirties, people who are lifestyle conscious. This is the age group employers in this region are anxious to hire, but these people are less motivated by money—they make lifestyle choices.

  “So what makes our Curry Recruitment Partners unique is software that I have designed to fit that model. We make it possible for potential employers to maximize contemporary behavior patterns—shortening the time frame for both sides of the employment paradigm.”

  Osborne kept his eyes focused on his notepad. Listening to Curry spout jargon was almost as painful as sitting through the twenty-first repeat of one of Ray’s jokes.

  “Fascinating,” said Lew.

  “A visionary approach,” said Curry, unclasping his hands and settling back in his chair.

  “No wonder you have such extraordinary turnouts. If I understand what you’re saying, Hugh, your firm is a leader in redefining recruitment practices—”

  “Boy, are we ever,” said Curry, enthusiasm mounting in his voice. “We’ve introduced a totally new dynamic to the field and it’s my software that makes it possible for your Chamber and their members to design a database that will be operational for two years. That database is posted online and it contains all the information needed by people seeking employment as well as profiles of the firms looking to hire.”

  He dropped his voice, “In fact, it allows potential employers to do full background checks and you don’t get that from anyone except us.”

  “Well, I am very impressed,” said Lew. “I imagine it takes a great deal of time.”

  “Not really,” said Curry, basking in her compliment. “The applications scan in a matter of minutes. Once the data is entered, the software does the rest. However,” now his tone turned ever so slightly pompous, “our software is proprietary and much too expensive for a small organization like the Loon Lake Chamber of Commerce to purchase, so the Curry Job Fair is the single most cost effective way to achieve personal interfacing as well as access to a sophisticated database.”

  “Which comes with a-two year lease,” said Lew.

  “Right.”

  “Wow,” said Lew. “Now I fully understand why the

  Chamber is so happy to have you. I imagine you’ll be back next year? I hear talks are underway.”

  “No,” said Curry, his eyes suddenly fearful. He darted a swift glance at Gwen, then said, “Don’t know where you would have heard that. We’re planning to be in North Dakota next spring.”

  “My error,” said Osborne, playing the game. “I thought I’d heard that you offered DeeDee Kurlander a full-time job to continue working in the region. Must have got that wrong.”

  “You certainly did,” said Curry, wheezing. Again, the nervous glance at his wife, who stared straight at him, stone-faced.

  “Our mistake, sorry,” said Lew. “Maybe what Dr. Osborne heard was that the Chamber would love to have you back when you have time in your schedule.” At the sound of her words, Curry appeared visibly relieved.

  Her tone was admiring, her technique impeccable. It was a technique that Osborne had observed before. In the glow of Lew’s attentiveness, her prey could almost always be counted on to give up information they had not planned to share. Those were the moments Osborne enjoyed the most, just as he loved watching Lew in the trout stream, mending a dry fly across riffles—teasing the canniest brown trout … closer … closer.

  She continued to ask questions—each generating an answer that underscored Hugh’s role as a master of the universe. Beaming, preening and devoted to answering each query in detail, his hands had stopped shaking and the perspiration had vanished. By Osborne’s reckoning, the man was now as puffed as a ruffed grouse drumming for females.

  “Dr. Osborne mentioned that he asked you for copies of the applications that people had filled out …”

  “Sure,” said Curry, reaching into the envelope on the desk, “here’s a blank one—it shows you all the data we’re able to gather and input.” He handed the sheet to Lew, who took time to study it.

  “This is quite a bit of personal information,” she said. “Social Security numbers, bank references—you even have them giving marital status and other personal details that the Feds don’t allow the rest of us to ask for when we’re hiring.”

  “Uh-huh. And they all fill it out,” said Curry with a smirk. “That’s what makes it possible to run those background checks that I mentioned. See, if you look closely at birth dates and such, sometimes you can even figure out their passwords. People tend to be lazy, and that works for us.”

  “Well, I’m surprised people tell you all this,” said Lew. “I wouldn’t.”

  “You don’t need a job,” grunted Gwen from behind them.

  “Now those completed forms—,” said Lew, ignoring the comment, “I need those, Hugh. I’m interested in tracking all the people attending these last two weeks of job fairs—anyone and everyone who interacted with DeeDee.”

  “Too late—they’ve been shredded,” said Gwen. “We promise confidentiality. But had I known you
wanted them—”

  “I specifically asked for those yesterday afternoon,” said Osborne, twisting in his chair to confront her.

  “You did? I don’t recall that,” said Gwen.

  “Now, wait, hold on,” said Hugh. “It shouldn’t be an issue—Gwen’s input all the data. You can work from our database and get everything you need. Here,” he opened the laptop that was on the desk, “I’ll pull it up for you right now.”

  “Actually, hon,” said Gwen, “it’s still on the office computer back at the house, I haven’t uploaded to the server yet.”

  “Okay, we’ll deal with that later,” said Lew. “But now I’m curious—who has access to the database once it’s on the server?”

  “We do, of course, and the Chamber.”

  “You mean people here at the Chamber can see all this confidential information? That doesn’t sound too confidential to me.”

  Hugh glanced quickly at his wife. “Well, not all—”

  “Oh, yes,” said Gwen, “our contract calls for that. We assume they will be responsible in how they handle it.”

  “I see,” said Lew. “One last question … how do you plan to handle the lawsuit?”

  Astonishment crossed Hugh’s face. “Lawsuit?” From the corner of his eye, Osborne saw Gwen’s foot pause midair and remain still.

  “Yes, we’ve learned that DeeDee Kurlander was planning to file—or may have already filed—a lawsuit against you alleging sexual harassment.”

  “I-I-I haven’t heard a word about any lawsuit.”

  “Really,” said Lew, “perhaps I was misinformed.”

  “Perhaps you were,” said Gwen. “Given the circumstances, there is nothing to discuss: no plaintiff, no lawsuit.” She paused, then said, “And for the record—if there was such a lawsuit, it would have been that little shit’s effort to blackmail my husband. I’m curious—did you ever meet that girl?”

  “No,” said Lew, “I did not. But I know she was working hard on the job fairs and felt—”

  “She was working hard to meet a man with money, is what she was working on. You couldn’t miss it. That girl was so hot she smoldered. When Hugh offered her a bonus, she turned it down—she wanted more, you see. So any lawsuit was just … just … revenge.”

  “Gwen—”

  “Shut up, Hugh. These people need to know about little Miss Perfect. See,” Gwen shook a finger at Lew, “Hugh was blinded by that dumb little blonde but I could see exactly what she was up to. She was all over him like a cheap suit—just like you …”

  “Gwennie—” Hugh’s voice hit a higher register.

  “Just like me what?” said Lew.

  “Don’t you start telling me what to think, Hugh—I know what I saw. And that girl, she’s the one who got into the database. She’s the one pulled the shenanigans with the banks. Thought she could take the money and run.”

  “What shenanigans?” said Lew. “I didn’t mention anything about banks—did you, Doc?”

  Osborne shook his head.

  “What do you know about the situation with the banks, Gwen?”

  “Just what Hugh told me. He took the call—Hugh, you tell ‘em what they said. And all because of one stupid girl.”

  “I see,” said Lew. She paused to look down over her notes, then looked up at both Currys. “Of course, you both knew DeeDee was three months pregnant …”

  Osborne didn’t even have to move his chair to get a clear view of Gwen Curry’s chipmunk eyes—they were fixed on her husband and tight with rage. He doubted Hugh noticed, however. The color had drained from the man’s face and for a fleeting moment, Osborne thought he might pass out. The hand that had shown a slight tremor before, now began to shake. Both hands were shaking.

  “DeeDee pregnant?” he stammered. He shook his head in disbelief. Then he took a deep breath and sat still, his eyes staring off into the distance. Lew asked a few more perfunctory questions but she had to repeat each one, as Hugh was barely listening.

  “You believe Hugh really got a call from the banks?” whispered Osborne as they walked out of the Chamber.

  “Not sure. I thought Bob and I agreed they would keep things under wraps until we had all the information. But someone could have not gotten the message. Fact is, they know the banks have been alerted which is why we have to move on this ASAP.”

  “You changed the subject from the banks to DeeDee pretty fast.”

  “And did that ever shake somebody up. Did you see the expression on Hugh Curry’s face? He was stricken. And obviously had no clue that DeeDee was considering a lawsuit.”

  “Caught Mrs. Curry off guard with that bit of news, Lew.”

  “I just hope Gwen doesn’t think we know more than we do,” said Lew, keeping her voice low as they approached the cruiser. “This is frustrating, Doc. I can prove they had access to the personal data used to open the accounts but we have no proof they had anything to do with the counterfeit checks used to make the fake deposits. That’s why I need that warrant. Even if we don’t find checks, I’ll bet we find some evidence of counterfeiting—whether it’s the paper they use, the software, something. I feel sure of that.”

  Opening the door and sliding under the steering wheel as Osborne got in from the other side, Lew said, “Think those two are capable of skipping town?”

  Osborne gave that some thought. “Maybe … she slipped on letting you know they knew about the banks. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were on the road by midnight tonight. Poor DeeDee. Do you think she uncovered the bank scheme and that’s why—”

  “Could be—which is why we need to track down Judge Richardson. If I don’t have that warrant within the hour … We have to find him. And I don’t care if that means calling all the restaurants, bars and casinos in the county.”

  “He could be out fishing.”

  “Not Richardson—he’s the indoor type.”

  As they pulled into the parking lot, Osborne said, “Did you notice how often Curry would tune his wife out?”

  “Can’t blame him—it’s her way or the highway. She doesn’t listen.”

  “But she runs the show.”

  “Yep. That she does. She sure does.”

  CHAPTER 22

  As Osborne and Lew hurried up the stairs towards the entrance to the police department, Carrie Koronski burst through the doors and tripped down the stairs to stop in front of Lew. “Chief Ferris!” she said, out of breath and talking fast as she pushed her long, blond hair out of her eyes. “I’ve been waiting for you and I know you’re really busy—but do you have a few minutes?”

  “Something wrong?” said Lew. The young woman’s eyes were clouded with anxiety.

  “I don’t know,” said Carrie. “Maybe. In the middle of the night last night I remembered something DeeDee said when she was really, really drunk a couple Saturdays ago. I didn’t think much about it then—but it kinda makes sense now.”

  “Come on back to my office,” said Lew, pointing down the hall. “We’re busy, but not too busy to hear this. Oh,” Lew stopped and turned to look at Carrie, “were you aware that DeeDee was pregnant?”

  “Kind of,” Carrie whispered.

  “What do you mean ‘kind of?’” said Lew. “You can’t be ‘kind of’ pregnant.”

  “She wasn’t sure when she told me.” “And when was that?”

  “The night I want to tell you about.” They had reached the door to Lew’s office. She beckoned for Carrie and Osborne to enter ahead of her. “So you know, huh. Does her mom know?” Carrie’s face crumpled, her eyes glistening with tears. “Am I in trouble ‘cause I didn’t tell you? I just couldn’t with her mom there. I couldn’t—if it wasn’t for sure y’know? Juliana was already so mad at me.”

  “It’s okay. You’re telling us now and that’s what’s important,” said Lew, throwing her notebook on her desk and pulling her chair back. She collapsed into it with a sigh of relief.

  “Here, you take this chair, Carrie,” said Osborne, pointing to one of the two armchai
rs facing Lew’s desk. He glanced over at Lew to make sure she wanted him to sit in, and she gave a quick nod.

  Carrie waited for Osborne to sit, too, then said, “I woke up in the middle of the night last night and remembered something that happened two Saturdays ago. Juliana and DeeDee were out that night but I stayed home.” She gave a weak smile. “Broke up with a guy I’d been seeing and didn’t feel like being around people.

  “I was already in bed asleep when I heard DeeDee come in. She was banging around so much I got up to be sure she didn’t, you know, light a cigarette and leave it burning or something.”

  “All that working out and she smoked?” said Osborne.

  “Only when she was drinking. I told you about the beer pong contests? Sometimes she got so drunk that when she got home me and Juliana had to keep an eye on her.”

  “That bad?” said Lew.

  “Oh yeah—so drunk she couldn’t remember the next day how she got home.”

  “So this was two weeks ago on a Saturday night?” said Osborne, jotting a note.

  “Right. I wanted to get her into bed before anything bad happened but she wanted to talk. Insisted. I could tell she was furious about something and I couldn’t keep her from getting another beer either.”

  “So you were trying to be the big sister,” said Lew, sympathizing.

  “Yeah, sort of …” Carrie hesitated, then sighed and said, “DeeDee was complicated. She could be hard to deal with when she was drinking. Sober she was great. She could be cute and funny and really, really fun. But drunk she was like this whole other person.”

  “How so exactly?” asked Lew. “And be specific, Carrie. When I asked you if DeeDee put herself at risk in any way, this is what I meant. Did she do things that could cause someone to want to hurt her? Was she belligerent when she was drinking?”

  “More mean,” said Carrie. “Mean about people, mean to people. So mean that if you got in her way when she was drinking, she’d come after you. Scary mean is what I’m trying to say. But in the morning when you asked her if she meant what she’d said—whether it was about you or someone else—she wouldn’t remember a thing. So she certainly never apologized. I just hated her when she talked drunk. In fact, Juliana and I had been thinking of asking her to move out if she kept it up.