Camilla T. Crespi - The Breakfast Club Murder

by Camilla T. Crespi

  “Mom, I haven’t seen you look so elegant in ages,” Lori said, quickly washing the spaghetti pot and the pasta bowl. “Tell me about these meetings.”

  Ellie shrugged and ran her fingers through her hair. Lori left the pot and bowl to dry on their own and sat down facing her mother. “Was one of those meetings with Joey Pellegrino?”

  Ellie raised her chin to the door. “I don’t want Jess to hear.”

  That didn’t sound good, Lori thought, as she got up to close the door. “What’s up?” she asked, sitting back down.

  “Joey treated me to a drink in Greenwich.” That explained the fancy clothes, the perfume, the makeup. “He’s very happy to help me.” The dreamy look in Ellie’s eyes squeezed Lori’s heart. She had never stopped to think how lonely her mother must have been all these years, raising her daughter alone, working six days a week. Never a date with another man while Lori still lived with her. And now here she was with a crush on a married police captain. It was sweet, senseless, and sad all at the same time. “He sounds like a very nice man,” Lori said.

  “Too nice. His wife doesn’t know how good she’s got it.”

  “Mom, be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “What are you talking about? I just had a drink with the guy. To help you.”

  “I know. I really appreciate it. Thanks.”

  “The police lab isn’t through with your car yet, but those two detectives went to talk to Valerie’s lawyer.” Ellie crossed her arms under her chest and leaned back on the chair with a smug look on her face.

  “What, Mom?”

  “Both Rob and Valerie rewrote their wills the morning she was killed, and it’s manna from heaven for our little Jess.” The grin on Ellie’s face could have put the Cheshire Cat out of business.

  “She left Jess money?”

  “She left the whole pot of gold to Rob, with just a few thousand to her office manager.”

  “Seth was right, then.”

  “What about Seth?” Ellie had been Seth and Janet’s travel agent when they still had money to go places.

  “I met him on the train yesterday. He assumed Valerie’s will had already been changed in Rob’s favor.”

  “That’s Seth for you, always guessing at things. How’s he doing? Got a job yet?”

  “I think so. He looked pretty happy yesterday, although Janet didn’t say anything this morning so I could be wrong. What else did Pellegrino tell you?”

  Heat rose up Ellie’s face like pasta water roiling to a boil. “Lots, but it had nothing to do with the murder.” She pushed herself up from the table with both hands. “I’m going home. It’s been a big day for me.”

  “Thanks for your help, Mom.” Lori gave Ellie a rare strong hug. “And the creams.”

  Ellie pushed herself away. She’d never been one for physical shows of affection, except for the regimented double kiss. “Just because your husband left you is no reason to stop looking your best.” She walked to the front hall. Lori followed. “And who knows what’s around the corner.” She tried to slip back into her pumps, found she couldn’t, and brought them up close to her nose to examine them. “Why did they shrink?”

  “The air-conditioning,” Lori said. She picked up the shoes and handed them to her mother, who could never admit to swollen feet. “I’ll get you a pair of open-back slippers.” Ellie had size nine feet, Lori and Jessica size seven and a half.

  “Forget it. These stockings have a run in them anyway. Has that handsome young man come calling again?”

  “Men don’t come calling anymore, Mom. If anything they e-mail. And no, I haven’t heard from Jonathan.” Although she had caught herself thinking about him a few times.

  “I bet you think men don’t open car doors for women anymore either.” Ellie smiled and waved a finger in the air. “But they do. They do. I wish that for you. A man who comes calling with flowers and opens doors for you. Good night and make sure Jess comes over Saturday.”

  Lori wished her mother good night and watched as she padded down the walkway to her car.

  From across the street a camera flashed. A woman came running across the street, a camera man following her. Ellie veered from the path and pushed all her weight right into the woman, who fell backward with a yelp.

  Lori had time to hear her mother apologize loudly before shutting the door. She did not answer the doorbell.

  Jessica walked into her parents’ bedroom in her pajamas and settled herself on Rob’s side of the bed.

  Lori, who was already in bed, put her book down and smiled at her daughter.

  “Mom?” Jessica took in a big breath as if getting ready to lift something heavy.

  “Hi sweetie, what’s up?”

  “All those flowers you got? You’d tell me if you had a boyfriend, right?”

  “You’d be the first to know.” Lori explained why Alec Winters had sent her flowers. She also brought up Jonathan’s yellow roses. “They were both just being nice, honey. What about you? You’d tell me if you had a boyfriend, right?”

  Jessica rolled over on her hip, her head propped up by her arm. She looked at her mother for a few seconds, her expression intent. “I don’t know, Mom,” she said in a hesitant voice. “I mean, if I got serious with someone I’d feel funny about telling you.”

  “Whatever for?”

  “Wouldn’t it make you feel bad? Being alone and all?”

  Lori reached over and gently lifted a strand of hair from Jessica’s face. How lucky she was to have this generous child. “If he treated you nicely, I’d be happy for you. And I’m not alone. I have you, my friends, my work. That’s more than enough. Life isn’t just about having a man in your life. It really isn’t.”

  “Well, maybe, but there’s this guy in school, kinda nerdy? Skinny? Wears glasses? But I think he’s cute. He’s a year ahead of me and he hasn’t noticed I exist so I can’t call him a boyfriend.” Jessica giggled. “Yet.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Ha!” Jessica sat up. “I’m not going to tell you. You’ll call up his mother and arrange something totally obnoxious.”

  “That sounds more like Grammy.”

  “Yeah, it does, but you’re her daughter.”

  “And you’re mine. So then how about giving him an alias? That way you can refer to him whenever you want and I’ll know he’s your special guy.”

  “Okay. Deuce.”

  Shake It Up had been Jessica’s favorite program before she moved on to more adult fare. “Can you tell me why you like Deuce so much?”

  “I don’t know. I’d just like to go up to him and say hi. He looks so lost.”

  “Why don’t you?”

  “Because if I do, I might kiss him. That’s what I really want. That would be way too embarrassing.”

  “Say hi from a safe distance.”

  “Then what if he comes close?”

  “You smile that smile of yours and he’s a goner.”

  Jessica blushed. “You’re just saying that.”

  “If he isn’t, he doesn’t deserve you.”

  “Oh, Mom.” Jessica flung herself at Lori, hugged her, and with the hug, the sobs came. Lori cried with her. Each hid her face, but held on tight to the other.

  “It’s going to be okay again, honey,” Lori said, after Jessica quieted down. She handed her the tissue box and dried her own tears with the palms of her hands. “I promise.” She was completely beat from too much emotion. “What have you got planned for tomorrow?”

  “Angie, me, and a group of kids from school are going to Playland.”

  “Is Deuce going to be there?”

  Jessica nodded, the blush rising on her cheeks like a fever.

  Grammy and Jess were both harboring crushes, Lori thought. In Jess’s case it was lovely. “You should go.”

  “It’s okay? I mean, with Valerie dead?”

  Maybe it wasn’t okay, but Jessica needed to have fun. “Why don’t you ask your father?”

  Jessica scrambled o
ver Lori to get off the bed. “I’m going to call Dad now.”

  “It’s past eleven thirty.”

  “He never goes to sleep before two. Don’t you remember?”

  “I guess I didn’t. I’m sure he’ll say it’s okay.” She sat up and blew Jess a kiss. “Good night, sweetie. Sleep tight.”

  Hours later a weight fell on Lori, waking her up. With only the light of a half moon to help her, Lori turned her head slowly to see Jessica lying next to her, fast asleep. Lori leaned over, planted a light kiss on Jessica’s forehead, and cradling the arm her daughter had flung across her chest, closed her eyes. With a great sense of peace, she fell back asleep.

  CHAPTER 17

  * * *

  The day was gleaming as Lori drove onto the grounds of the exclusive, two-hundred-thousand-dollars-initiation-fee Maples Country Club. The clubhouse, a low stone building barely visible through the trees, spread itself on top of a hill of wild grasses sprinkled with black-eyed Susans. As Lori reached the roundabout, she stole a quick glance at the rearview mirror. In a burst of foolishness she had layered all of Ellie’s creams on her skin before leaving the house. She was surprised oil wasn’t oozing out of her pores, although her skin actually didn’t look half bad.

  “Hey, Lori,” Warren said, coming out of the club as soon as she stepped out of Margot’s Mercedes. He was wearing green slacks, a yellow linen shirt, and tasseled loafers without socks. Short, stocky, with a sizable paunch and a large flattened nose, it was the power he exuded that attracted both men and women to him, a power he wore as lightly as the shirt on his back.

  Warren kissed Lori’s cheek while taking the car keys from her and handing them to a waiting valet, who drove the Mercedes to some hidden region of the club. “Margot’s car looks good with you in it. I’ll tell her to give it to you. I paid for the damn thing.”

  Lori smiled. “I can’t afford the upkeep.”

  Warren wagged a finger at her. “Your fault, not mine. Kidding aside, I’m glad you’re here.” He squeezed her arm.

  “Thanks for inviting me. I can use a strong shoulder to lean on right now.”

  “You got it.”

  Warren, hand on her elbow, steered her through the open door into the club. As they walked by the round table in the center of the front hall, Lori said, “What a lovely scent.”

  “The smell of money is always refreshing.”

  Lori laughed. “I meant the flowers.” In the center of the table, a green ceramic pot held a tall grouping of yellow daylilies and lavender.

  “They cost money, too.” Warren turned to her. “You look great, by the way. Divorce suits you.”

  Lori had dressed up for the club in an off-white linen pantsuit she had taken pains to iron this morning. She was even wearing heels. She had only been here once before, for a Saturday dinner with Rob, Margot, and Warren. She remembered how shabbily dressed she had felt compared to the designer outfits the other women were wearing. And fat.

  “I made a few phone calls.” Warren knew a lot of the power brokers of the city, was on chatting terms with the mayor. Born on a chicken farm in New Jersey, he had made his wealth from hard work and sound investments. Still holding on to Lori’s elbow, he walked her through the main room of the club, which was decorated in an array of green, tan, and pink stripes and plaids and a large quantity of mismatched throw pillows. “Your car is clean. They’ll probably bring it back tomorrow. If not, you’ll get it Monday.” As Warren walked, he nodded at the various members who crossed their paths on the way to the patio in the back. The women were in tennis shorts, khakis, Bermudas. Even jeans. So this time Lori was overdressed. Well, she wasn’t going to let it get to her. “Turn it around,” Ellie used to tell her when she’d come home from school moping about some embarrassment. She wasn’t overdressed. Those women were under-dressed. Besides, she had all that cream on her, which was bound to turn her into a thirty-year-old beauty any minute.

  The patio was covered in flagstone and overlooked a vast lawn edged by flower beds filled with hothouse dahlias of every color possible. Warren chose a table far to one side, under a blue striped awning. Lori would have preferred to sit in the sun, but said nothing. Her face might start oozing.

  “Let’s have a drink and then order.” Warren held out a chair for her.

  How nice, Lori thought as she sat down. It was a habit Rob had dropped once they’d married.

  Warren sat next to her. “You’re not in a hurry, are you?”

  “No. Jessica is happily at Playland with Angie for the day.”

  “Angie is trying to take good care of her.”

  “I know. She’s been wonderful. You’re lucky.”

  “So are you. With our children, that is. Our mates a little less so. By the way, I’d like to take the girls up to Cape Cod tomorrow afternoon. I have some business I need to look into early Saturday. Would that be all right with you?”

  Warren’s request flustered Lori. “I don’t know. I’ll have to ask Jess. And with what Rob’s going through, she might not want to leave so quickly.” She was the one who didn’t want Jess to go.

  “It’s the best thing for her.”

  “Yes, I know it is.” But still.

  “If you prefer, she can fly to Boston on Monday and we’ll pick her up.”

  “I’ll let you know tonight.” She had been counting on a Sunday with Jess. Mrs. Ashe’s dinner over with, she would be free to take Jess to the beach, to the city, to anywhere she wanted to go. A chance to indulge in her daughter’s company before the void of the next two weeks.

  A Filipino waiter with a round face and a wide smile asked, “Mr. Dixon, the usual?”

  “Yes, Arnold. What will you have, Lori?”

  “A Virgin Mary, thank you.”

  “After what you’ve been through, make it a bloody.”

  She’d fall asleep after lunch. “Sure. Why not?”

  Warren held out his hand once the waiter left. “Give me a dollar.”

  Lori opened her handbag and looked into her wallet. She wasn’t sure why Warren wanted money from her. “I only have a fiver.” She dropped the bill onto Warren’s open palm.

  “Five will do. This is payment. Not a loan.”

  “Cheap drink,” Lori said, still having no idea what this was about.

  The waiter brought the drinks and two menus over to their table. Warren’s usual turned out to be beer on the rocks. “You have just hired me as your lawyer. I can now claim lawyer-client privilege, which means whatever you say to me stays with me. You understand?”

  Lori stirred the carrot stick around in her glass, took a sip. She didn’t know whether to be annoyed or grateful. Annoyed that Warren thought she had something incriminating to say. Grateful that he wanted to help. Lori took a bigger sip. The spices and Tabasco zinged in her mouth, gave her courage. “I didn’t kill her, Warren,” she said in a low voice, “and if you don’t believe me I’m going to leave and never speak to you again.”

  Warren brought his chair closer. “I would mind that very much but, dear Lori, believing innocence or guilt is not my job. And it won’t be your defense lawyer’s job either, should you need one. What I’m trying to find out from you is if the DA can come after you or not. For instance, why didn’t you answer your phone the night of the murder? Margot had to call you on your cell phone to get you.”

  “I was home, in and out of sleep, waiting for Jess to call. I called the phone company this morning. They insisted there was no disruption of service. I can’t explain it.” She raised her glass and drank, hoping the alcohol would relax her. “Even if I’d inadvertently unplugged the phone, I would have had to re-plug it because I used it the next morning. I don’t remember doing that. Warren, I don’t know what happened.”

  “Could someone else have unplugged and re-plugged it?”

  “No one was at the house that night.” Lori tried to remember back to Monday afternoon. She’d been drinking wine with Beth, telling her about slapping Valerie. Margot called to invite her an
d Beth to dinner. She was pretty sure that had been on the home phone. She remembered not wanting to answer it because Beth was upset. Could Beth have unplugged the phone? What for? She had left shortly after that. And if Beth had unplugged it for some strange reason, who had re-plugged it? The next day the phone was working. “The phone company has got to be wrong,” Lori said. “There’s no other explanation.”

  “It doesn’t look good, but I think you’ll be okay. Let’s order and then I’ll tell you why. I always have the same thing, but you choose what you want. The chef here is great.”

  Lori picked up the menu. There was nothing like food to distract. A basket of toasted and buttered pita bread appeared as she glanced at the choices. Too many. She was tempted by the hamburger with mozzarella and bacon, the apple pancake with sour cream, the chicken quesadilla with cheddar cheese, avocado, and salsa, but after hearing the handsome slim woman two tables away ordering a junior Cobb salad without the blue cheese and house dressing on the side, Lori ordered the same. When in a foreign country do as the natives do, Ellie always told her clients. The waiter had no need to ask Warren what he wanted.

  “You’re a creature of habit,” Lori said.

  “I don’t do well with change. Comes from having a shaky childhood. My parents were drunks.”

  This personal revelation surprised Lori. Warren came across as such a confident, well-balanced man that she had pictured him coming from a strong, supportive family. “I’m so sorry. It must have been very difficult, but look how well you’ve done.”

  “It’s not information I share easily.”

  To lighten the moment, she said, “Maybe you should pay me a dollar, then.”

  Warren set his dark hooded eyes on her, his expression carved in stone. She suddenly felt like a deer being met by headlights, and for a fleeting moment Lori wondered if he were capable of physically hurting someone. She shook the thought away when he said, “You’re Margot’s friend, which makes you my friend. I trust you.”

  Lori smiled at him. She was in a sorry state to have such an awful thought.

  “Not liking change,” Warren said, after a long swallow of beer, “is one of the reasons I still pine for my wife. I also like having my way. I’ll get her back one day. Maybe not till she’s old, but I’ll get her back. And now for the interesting news. Rob—”