“I know. I know. I’ll call him, even though it’s going to kill me, but he’s a cop so I wouldn’t bet on him telling me anything that might help Rob. Besides, I hurt his pride.”
“Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate it.” Her mouth went dry. “Now I have to call Jess.”
“What for?”
“She needs to know.”
“And what is Jess going to do with knowing tonight? Lie awake all night, crying her heart out, thinking her life is over? Is that what you want for her?”
“I’ll drive up, stay with her.”
“So both of you will be basket cases. Listen to me. Bad news should come in the morning when you can see the sun has come up anyway and birds are still flying. And you need to stay here and find out what’s up first anyway. I’ll call Joey now.” Ellie hung up.
Lori went back to the kitchen counter and started to cut the gnocchi. Keeping her hands busy calmed her. Maybe Ellie was right. Tonight Jess was at a concert and would come home too late for the evening news. Lori needed to call Warren and leave him a message. She didn’t want Jess to see the morning paper before she got up there. God, what if Jess came back from the concert and turned on a computer to read her e-mails. Would Rob’s face appear in a little square on the AOL home page? “Lawyer Arrested in Second Wife’s Murder. Millions at Stake.”
On Warren’s cell, Lori left a message. “Rob has been arrested. Please don’t let Jess see the evening news, or tomorrow’s paper, or turn on a computer. I want her to sleep tonight. I’m coming up early in the morning.” She would set the alarm for four a.m. With no traffic on the road, she would be in Chatham by ten in the morning. Thank God Jess was a late sleeper.
Lori fished Detective Scardini’s card from her purse and called his cell. There was no answer. She didn’t leave a message.
She went back to cutting the snakes of dough, rolling each piece on the tines of a fork to give it a striped pattern. She kept cutting and rolling, her hands trembling occasionally, until there was no more dough left. She left the gnocchi for tonight’s dinner on a spread-out kitchen towel and put the rest in the freezer. After putting the phone receiver in her apron pocket, she went out to the patio to set the table. Lori knew she needed to call Alec and cancel tonight’s dinner. What kind of company was she going to be in her state of anger, confusion, fear? But the thought of being left alone, isolated, waiting for Rob’s lawyer or Ellie to call, terrified her.
She cut what was left of the yellow cabbage roses and summer snow. Nothing else was flowering yet. Several times she checked the phone to make sure the dial tone was there. Back inside, she arranged the flowers in the blue ceramic pot that had come with Alec’s flowers. Her flowers looked a little straggly in the large vase, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered right now except clearing Rob. Lori took the phone out of her apron and punched Seth’s number.
“No, he’s not here,” Janet said, barely holding back her impatience. “I’m giving the kids a bath. I have to go.” The dial tone filled Lori’s ear.
With the next call Lori got lucky. Jonathan answered his cell.
“You’ve been dating Margot, haven’t you?” she asked after giving her name. She wasn’t in the mood for the niceties of “Hi, how are you? Please forgive me but the reason I called is I needed to know if . . .”
Jonathan didn’t answer.
“It’s not an accusation, Jonathan. I don’t mind if you are or were. I need to know, that’s all. Actually all I want to know is if you were with Margot at the bar in the Rye Hilton the night Valerie was killed.”
“What is this? Did the police hire you to check alibis? Are you suspecting Margot now?”
“I hired myself and no, I’m not suspecting Margot. I wanted to spare her the embarrassment of asking her directly. She might think I cared for you.”
Another few seconds of silence. Then Jonathan said, “Yes, I’ve been dating her. Nothing serious. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know where you and I were going yet. And yes, I was with her that night.” He let out a small, timid laugh and said in a voice that brushed her ear like a feather, “You’re angry at me so now that makes me a suspect?”
Looking back on the moment, Lori knew she should have calmly replaced the receiver in its cradle without uttering a word, but she was too enraged to hold back. “You owe your mother a million dollars and if word of that got out someone might look into why you left the law firm and then your mother would cut you out of her will and probably die of a heart attack and no one would close any deals with you. Yes, alibi or not, you’re on the suspect list and no, I’m not angry at you!” He didn’t matter enough to her.
The doorbell rang.
“Rob must have told you,” Jonathan said. “He doesn’t like sharing his ex-wife. I am sorry, Lori. About us, Margot, about my mother. I wanted to hit it big, you see. Prove my father wrong. He never thought I was worth much and I’ve only proved him right.” His voice was raw, his usual bewitching tones gone. “I’m not happy about it. At least believe that.”
“I do.” She felt Jonathan meant it. He was a weak, insecure man who had had bad parenting, but somehow she couldn’t feel sorry for him. The doorbell rang again. “Goodbye, Jonathan. Thank you for answering my question.”
When she opened the front door, the pleasant sight of Alec with a wine bottle in one hand and a large bunch of daisies in the other filled her threshold. The smile on his face slowly disappeared as Lori moved aside to let him in. “Something bad has happened,” he said.
Lori nodded, fighting tears. Still holding the wine and the daisies, Alec opened up his arms. She walked into them, felt them wrap around her, and felt like the girl she had been before her father died, safe, innocent, sure that life would only bring good things. She breathed in the clean starched smell of his cotton shirt and let herself cry. Alec rocked her gently, asked no questions and waited. Lori didn’t know how long she stayed in his arms. Long enough to leave mascara stains on his white shirt. Long enough to need to blow her nose three times with his handkerchief. Long enough to feel embarrassed. Long enough to feel better.
“Thank you and I’m sorry,” she said, pulling away.
“Don’t be.” Alec raised his arms. “I think a vase and two glasses are called for.”
Lori walked with him to the kitchen, forgetting to close the front door. While she got glasses and a corkscrew and he arranged the daisies around her flowers, she told him about Rob’s arrest, how she was waiting to find out what evidence the police had uncovered to incriminate him. “I’m sorry, I should have canceled tonight.”
“I’m very glad you didn’t.” Alec looked at her with a gentle expression, full of concern. Lori felt embraced again.
“We’re friends,” he said.
“Yes, we are.” Lori handed him the corkscrew and, embarrassed by the strength of her feeling, went to fill the pasta pot with water. While Alec uncorked the bottle, she placed the glasses on a wicker tray along with a bowl of olives and a wedge of Parmesan cheese.
The phone in her pocket rang just as they reached the patio. She had forgotten to take off her apron. Lew Lichtman, Rob’s lawyer, introduced himself and told her not to worry. “There is no way the DA’s going to put this case through. All they’ve got is a scrap of evidence that proves nothing. By tomorrow afternoon, Rob Staunton will be a free man again.”
Lori felt her muscles relax at the good news. She held on to the table edge to steady herself. “What is the evidence?”
“An employee of Fast Rent-a-Car alleges that Rob came into his office around ten o’clock to rent a car the night Valerie Staunton was killed. That made the detectives very happy because, as you recall, Mrs. Staunton was driving Rob’s car that night and the killer, whoever he or she is, needed a car to get to her.”
Lori clutched Alec’s hand. The olive he was about to pop in his mouth landed on his lap while Lori prepared herself for the worst. Rob indicted, Rob on trial. “Now there’s no reason to push the panic button,” Lichtman said i
n the hushed voice a doctor might use after he’s delivered the bad news. “According to this man’s testimony, Rob wanted to pay cash for the car. When this man explained company policy allowed payment only with a credit card, Rob walked out and supposedly drove off with one of the cars anyway.”
Rob was going to be found guilty. He would get twenty-five to life. “How can you call that a scrap of evidence?” Lori asked, her voice a shrill complaint.
“Because the employee can’t prove it. Rob categorically denies the allegations. He took a long walk on Fifth Avenue, along Central Park. He had a lot on his mind. He was upset about his debts, about having hurt the friends who had trusted him with their money, about his lovely young daughter who was suffering because of the divorce.”
This is what he’s going to say in the courtroom, Lori thought. He’s trying out his summation on me.
“The employee can’t even produce the car that Rob supposedly drove off with, claims he doesn’t know which one it was. How can that be? Why did he wait so long to come forward? The case has been on television, in the papers. Why didn’t he tell his superiors at the Fast Rent-a-Car agency that a car was stolen? And the man has a record, petty theft and extortion. Someone put him up to this, I’m sure of it. As I said, the DA’s going to dismiss the case. The police need to do a whole lot more legwork before they can pin this murder on your ex-husband.” He hung up.
“Rob’s lawyer says it’s going to be all right,” Lori said, relinquishing Alec’s hand.
“Good.” He cut a piece of Parmesan cheese. She looked down at his slacks and saw the oil stain the olive had left.
“I did that, didn’t I?” Lori said.
Alec dropped the cheese into her mouth. “Now we’re almost even.” He waited for her to finish chewing to ask, “I’m here to listen all night if you want.”
“Thanks, but I invited you to eat.” She needed to insulate herself from reality for a while. Her heartbeat needed to slow down. “Gnocchi della regina coming up.” She offered a smile and left him to go heat the sauce and throw the gnocchi into the boiling water. As she waited for the gnocchi to float back up to the surface—a matter of a few minutes—the stifling weight settled back on her chest. Could Rob be guilty? Had he been that desperate? She had to admit that during the arc of their marriage he had become a man who worried about appearances, who sought and thrived on power. Not raising enough money to close the Waterside Properties deal, having Valerie refuse to help him, and owing money must have been unbearably humiliating. Worst of all, his new wife told him she loved another man. For many men, that was enough to kill.
Lori looked into the pot. The gnocchi were floating, ready to get out. No, she had to trust her knowledge of Rob, gathered through the years of living together, sensing his disappointments, watching his reactions to the good and bad in their lives. He was not a murderer.
As Lori checked the boiling gnocchi, she heard footsteps and turned around with a welcome on her face for Alec. Seth, a scowl on his face, was standing by the refrigerator.
Startled, Lori dropped the skimmer in the water. “How did you get in?”
“The front door was open.”
Lori wiped her hands on her apron even though they were clean. Now that he was here, looking at her fiercely, she wasn’t sure how to start. And his timing couldn’t have been worse. “They’ve arrested Rob,” she finally said.
His shoulders sagged. “Shit!”
He’s upset, Lori thought. He can’t be guilty, then. “I need your help, Seth. You know Rob is innocent. Please tell me what happened that day? You called Rob when he was going to the lawyer that morning. Is that how you knew about the will? Did you tell anyone else?”
Seth straightened himself up again, the fierce scowl back on his face. “Look, I don’t know anything and I don’t appreciate you bugging us. I know what you’re trying to do.” His voice got louder as he got closer.
Lori stepped away from the boiling pot. “Seth, I’m not trying—”
“You’d like to pin the murder on me.”
Lori shook her head but couldn’t bring herself to deny it out loud.
“Let’s get Seth hauled off to jail. That way Janet gets rid of a thief of a husband, Rob gets to keep his money, and one day Jess will be wallowing in dough.”
“Everything okay?” Alec asked from the back door.
“We’re fine,” Lori said with a laugh and turned back to Seth, who looked as though he had just seen a rat cross his path. “Why don’t you join us for dinner, Seth?” Alec’s presence made her magnanimous. “The gnocchi are mush by now, but I’ve got more in the freezer and the sauce should be good.”
“No.”
“Well, then sit down and have a glass of wine. I don’t want us to fight.” Lori retrieved the skimmer from the boiling water and slipped the gnocchi into a colander. They didn’t look too bad, she thought at the same time as she remembered something Seth had just said. When she turned around, Alec was gone and Seth was sitting at the kitchen table. He looked miserable and harmless. She picked up a few gnocchi with a spoon, dipped them in the sauce and held them out to Seth as a peace offering just as Alec came back from the patio with the white wine and the glasses, which he put on the table.
“I’ll be on the patio,” he said and slipped out the kitchen door.
Seth ate the gnocchi. “Good,” he mumbled. His expression had softened, whether due to the gnocchi or Alec’s absence, Lori couldn’t tell.
“Want more?”
He shook his head and Lori sat down next to him. “What did you mean by Rob getting to keep his money if you were the murderer?”
“Not just me. Anyone but him. It’s the Son of Sam law.”
“What’s that?”
“A New York State law that says a person convicted of a crime cannot profit from that crime. So if Rob’s found guilty, he doesn’t get Valerie’s money, and I don’t get my money back. I mean Janet’s money.” No wonder Rob’s arrest upset him.
Lori filled Seth’s glass with wine and poured herself the same large dose. She took a long sip. Jonathan had an alibi. He was with Margot at the Rye Hilton. Where had Seth been that night? Lori wanted to get up and check that Alec was still on the patio, not too far away, but she was afraid Seth would catch on and bolt. Instead she took another long sip and then watched Seth drink his glass dry.
“What prompted you to call Rob that night?” Lori asked.
“You had already spoken to him in the morning.”
“I was furious. I couldn’t hold back.”
“So you made an appointment you didn’t keep. Where?”
“I suggested Pat’s Place, an Irish pub on Second Avenue. Shit, we used to go there a lot together. When we were friends. The bartender knows us. I thought it would keep me under control.”
“But you didn’t show up. And Rob didn’t stay long enough to establish an alibi.”
Seth looked up from his empty glass. “I was at Pat’s. That’s where I called him from. Then I had two or three shots and I got angrier and angrier. I wanted to break a bottle on Rob’s face. That’s when I decided to leave. I’d warned Jonathan I couldn’t handle it.”
Lori felt herself go quiet. “Jonathan?”
“Yeah. He’s owed money, too. More than me, but he said Rob could make big trouble for him so he wanted me to confront Rob that night, scare him into paying us back.”
Lori got up, the quiet replaced by a gale whirling inside her. She stumbled upstairs to her bedroom. She had to call Margot.
When Lori didn’t come back down after ten minutes, Seth let himself out the front door, making sure it was firmly closed behind him. Out on the patio, Alec had listened to the steady murmur coming from the kitchen, ready to intervene if necessary. He finished the Parmesan and the olives and wished he’d kept a glass of wine for himself. When the silence from the kitchen grew suspicious, he tiptoed inside the house. Confronted by an empty kitchen, he called out Lori’s name. He walked into the hall and called out again.
Still no answer. He climbed the stairs. Lori’s bedroom door was open. He could see the end of the bed, a pair of tan slippers upside down on the pale yellow carpet. He knocked on the doorjamb, called out a soft “Lori?” An unintelligible murmur answered. She was sitting on the bed, legs dangling, her expression lax. “Hey, are you okay?”
Lori tried to smile, but didn’t find the strength. She was tired. She wanted to tell Alec that it was over. Almost over. She patted a spot next to her on the bed, and when he sat down where she had indicated, she leaned her head on his shoulder. “I owe you a dinner.”
He put his arm around her. “I expect a rain check.”
“I called Detective Scardini,” Lori said. “He was in the middle of dinner, but he listened. He’s going to talk to Seth tonight. Margot’s driving down with Angie and Jess. But he’s not willing to let Rob go yet. He needs hard evidence.” Lori was aware that Alec didn’t know who all these people were, but she wanted to get the story off her chest. There was time later to explain. “He came late, you see. Margot waited a good half hour at the bar. He said he had a flat tire. He knew about Valerie driving the girls from Margot. The next morning I saw him at the car wash with Jan. They were both getting their cars cleaned. I didn’t remember that, didn’t make the connection. I thought he was sexy. I almost went to bed with him.”
“Ah, Jonathan.”
“Yes, him.” She couldn’t say his name. “It looks like he killed Valerie. It makes me sick to think of it.”
Lori felt the weight of Alec’s chin on top of her head. “I’m sorry,” he said.
She was sorry, too, Lori realized hours later, while she sat downstairs in the kitchen, waiting for Jessica to come home. As the time passed, her heart swelled with regret and sadness. For Jess who only had a part-time father still in jail. For Rob, who was left with money but no wife. For Margot, who had let herself be fooled by Jonathan’s charm. For proud Mrs. Ashe, who would not be able to live the shame down.
Camilla T. Crespi - The Breakfast Club Murder Page 28
