by J A Whiting
“Where was Mr. Dodd? Was he outside?”
“Ronald came out and put a raincoat over Grace. Then he walked away and I didn’t see him again.”
“Did he tell you what happened?”
“Ronald said Grace fell out of the window. I asked why she was upstairs. Ronald said he didn’t know, that he was on the first floor when it happened. He walked away. I didn’t pay attention to where he went. Why was she up there? Grace hardly ever went up to the third floor.” The woman burst into tears.
Claire wrapped her arms around the woman until a man, his hair mussed and wearing pajamas and a bathrobe, hurried across the street to his wife.
Nicole took Claire’s arm and moved her down the street away from the hubbub. “I have to call Vanessa. What on earth am I going to tell her?”
“Tell her what you know, but start with the fact that her mother is still alive.”
While Nicole made the dreaded call, Claire watched the goings-on around the huge house.
Clicking off from the phone conversation, Nicole said, “Vanessa is on her way here. She got off the train at the first stop it made and hopped the next train returning to Boston. She’ll grab a cab to the hospital. She won’t be back for another two hours. She’s been trying to reach her father, but he doesn’t pick up.”
“He’s probably still talking to the police,” Claire said. “Do you want to meet Vanessa at the hospital?”
“She said to head home. She’ll call tomorrow with updates.”
Claire kept her eyes on the authorities who were buzzing around the crime scene. Anxiety made her feel slightly sick. “What are these people like?”
Nicole faced her friend. “What do you mean?”
“Obviously from the look of the house and the property and the neighborhood, they’re a wealthy family. What are they like? How do they get along?”
“They always seemed nice. The mom was always kind, friendly, good to the girls, nice to me.” Nicole placed her hand on the side of her face. “The dad is a doctor, a cardiologist. Grace is a professor, she teaches in the city. I don’t think either one has retired yet, but I’m not sure.”
“What does she teach?”
“Public policy.”
“Did the parents get along?” Claire asked.
“Yeah. It seemed so. They used to do a lot together, golf, go to dinner, entertain. They were active in the community. I haven’t seen them for years though.” Nicole wrapped her arms around herself. “I can’t believe this happened.”
“How about Vanessa and Maddy … did they get along with the parents?”
“Vanessa definitely did. Maddy was just a little kid when I was in high school. I don’t think Dr. Dodd was around much, he was always working, but Vanessa talked fondly of him. She was super close to her mom. They did things together all the time. Vanessa genuinely liked being around her. I’d assume Maddy felt the same way.”
Claire made eye contact with her friend. “What’s the layout of the house?”
Nicole faced the building trying to remember. “There’s a foyer when you step in. There’s a dining room and living room to the left and an office to the right. There’s a big kitchen and family room off the back, they added those spaces to the house when I was in high school. Oh, there’s a small sunroom off the kitchen.”
“How about the upper floors?”
“Bedrooms and baths on the second floor. I don’t remember how many. There’s a staircase to the third floor.”
“What’s up there?”
“Two guest bedrooms, a bath, and a big room sort of like another family room. We never spent any time up there. We used the family room on the first floor.”
“Does their mother have an office in the house?” Claire asked.
“Yeah, she did. She used one of the bedrooms on the second floor for that. I don’t recall anyone spending time on the third floor. Vanessa said they all joked how they should remove that floor from the house, then they wouldn’t have to heat it or cool it.”
“Was Grace ever depressed?”
Worry caused Nicole’s voice to tremble. “You don’t think it was an accident? You think she might have deliberately jumped?”
“I have no idea.” Claire gave a shrug. “Was she ever depressed when you knew her?”
“Never, but I didn’t see a lot of her.” Nicole’s jaw muscles tensed. “She was always happy, positive, upbeat whenever I was around.”
“Well, maybe she hid it well,” Claire said. “Maybe something finally caught up with her and she couldn’t take it anymore.”
Even as Claire said those words, she had to admit she didn’t believe them. Not one bit.
3
Claire, sitting in Tony’s Deli and Market with her two Corgis, Lady and Bear, resting on the floor next to her table, gave Tony and Augustus Gunther a run-down on how she’d spent the hours after watching the show at the Opera House the previous night.
Augustus, a former lawyer and judge in his early nineties, listened carefully while sipping from his mug of tea. He adjusted his bow tie and leaned forward. “Do you get the impression that the woman jumped or fell from the window?”
“I honestly have no idea.” Claire reached down and patted Bear’s soft fur.
Tony said, “When the woman regains consciousness, she’ll be able to explain what happened.” In his early seventies, Tony had owned the deli and small market for over fifty years.
“It would be interesting to hear what the husband has to say,” Augustus said. “He told the neighbor that Mrs. Dodd fell from the window, correct?”
“That’s what she told me.” Claire stood and went to the small coffee and tea bar set up in a tiny corner of the deli to refill her teacup.
“No one else was home at the time?” Augustus questioned.
“The younger daughter arrived home shortly after the accident happened.” Claire paid Tony for a blueberry muffin.
“How did that woman fall out of a window?” Tony grumped. “Was it closed? Did it have a screen on it? How the heck did it happen? How often do you hear of people falling out of windows? Was she drunk?”
“I don’t know,” Claire said again. “I don’t know the people. I just met the two daughters last night.”
“But Nicole knows the family,” Tony said. “She must know if the woman has a substance-abuse problem.”
“That could have happened after Nicole left town to go to college.” Claire gave a shrug. “Nicole hasn’t lived in Greendale for over ten years. A lot can change in ten years.”
“Hopefully, the woman will fully recover and won’t have any lasting injuries.” Tony picked up his broom and swept the crumbs from the floor near the tea-coffee bar. “Imagine falling out of a three-story building.” The stocky man gave a shudder. “I’d have a heart attack on the way down.”
Claire imagined the horror of falling from a high place knowing you were about to hit the ground and waiting those long seconds for the impact. Her mind ran over the possibilities that could have led to the fall. The night was warm and pleasant. Was the window open already? Did Mrs. Dodd trip, lose her balance, and go out the window? Was she opening or closing the window and got dizzy? Was there any other way the woman went out? Claire’s heart skipped a beat. She may have jumped or someone….
Shaking herself back to the conversation, Claire heard Augustus say, “Perhaps Mrs. Dodd’s husband had a hand in the accident.”
“Dr. Dodd told the neighbor he was on the first floor when his wife fell.”
One of Augustus’s bushy eyebrows rose up. “So the man says.”
Shivers of worry ran up and down Claire’s back.
“Was anyone else in the house to corroborate the man’s claim?” Augustus eyed Claire.
“I think they were the only ones at home when it happened.”
“Hmm,” was all Augustus said in response.
Bear and Lady both whined in unison at the moment Claire’s phone buzzed with a text from Nicole. Her fingers trembled sligh
tly when she reached for the phone and a gasp of breath slipped from her throat when she read the words on the small screen. “Mrs. Dodd has passed away from her injuries.” Claire lifted her eyes to Augustus and then Tony. “She never regained consciousness.”
“A terrible shame.” Tony shook his head sadly. “A split second thing can change everything.”
The three pondered the news in silence for a minute and then Claire picked up her mug and headed to place it in the plastic bin of dirty dishes on top of the trash can. “I’d better get to work.” She bent to pat the dogs. “Be good while I’m at work.” Bear and Lady often spent the day at Tony’s deli while Claire went to her job at Nicole’s chocolate shop in Boston’s North End. “Thanks for dog-sitting.” She gave Tony a hug. “See you later this afternoon.”
Claire nodded at Augustus. “Talk to you later.”
“Indeed.” Augustus lifted his mug to the young woman.
They both knew that there would be plenty to talk about very soon and that it would involve what had happened to Mrs. Grace Dodd.
When Claire opened the door to the chocolate shop, her eyes went wide. Vanessa Dodd sat at a table with Nicole, a crumpled tissue held tight in her hand. Nicole waved Claire over.
Vanessa looked up. “Claire. Sit with us.”
Claire mumbled her condolences.
Nicole turned her eyes to her friend. “Vanessa wants us to help with something.”
The words sent a chill over Claire’s skin.
“Vanessa knows we were involved in the airport case last month.” Claire and Nicole had been out walking in the city one night and were on the sidewalk when a person in a car drove past and fired shots into the crowd. One thing led to another until the friends were knee-deep in the mystery.
Vanessa explained. “The police are going to rule that my mother committed suicide.” She had to stop speaking for a few moments and then her face hardened. “My mother did not kill herself.”
“She wants us to look into the accident.” Nicole’s facial expression was serious.
Claire’s breath caught in her chest. The last thing she wanted was to get mixed up in the mess. “But--”
Vanessa cut her off. “I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to say you don’t have the training or experience necessary to investigate. You’re going to tell me that you aren’t law enforcement officers or detectives. You’re going to tell me to go talk to the police.”
Claire thought Vanessa had pretty much nailed it.
“Next you’ll tell me to hire a private investigator.”
Claire hadn’t thought of that. “A private investigator is probably a good idea.”
Vanessa shook her head. “I want someone I know and trust. You and Nicole discovered a lot of information on that airport case. People are more likely to talk to regular individuals … they’ll open up more than when they talk to the police. People get intimidated by the police. If a woman talks to them about something that’s happened, they’re more trusting, they’ll give more information.”
“She’s right,” Nicole said.
Claire held her friend’s eyes and Nicole could tell that Claire didn’t want anything to do with the problem so she made a suggestion. “We could start with a few people and see how it goes.”
Vanessa’s face flooded with such hope that it made Claire’s heart contract. “If you want us to talk to people, I guess we could try. But first, we’ll need to talk to you. I’ll have to ask some hard questions, nosy questions. I’m going to have to ask things about your family’s private lives and if you aren’t up-front about it, we may as well give up now.”
“I’ll answer truthfully.” Vanessa looked straight into Claire’s eyes. “I promise.”
“I need to ask you,” Claire said, “what help will it be if we talk to people about this, even if something comes from our discussions? Anything we find out will be called hearsay. The police won’t take it seriously.”
Vanessa’s jaw set. “I have to know.”
Nicole leaned forward from the other side of the table. “Her father is saying things that don’t add up. His story is different every time.”
“Could that be from shock?” Claire questioned.
“It seems like more than shock.” Vanessa cleared her throat. “It seems … deceptive.”
“Why do you think so?”
“When I arrived at the hospital last night, my father wasn’t there. Maddy was there holding Mom’s hand. I asked her where Dad was. She said he was still talking to the police.” Vanessa’s face clouded. “How could he have been talking to the police all that time? Why didn’t he come to the hospital?”
Claire asked, “Couldn’t he have been with the police?”
“There’s more,” Nicole answered.
“Mom passed away a few hours after I got to the hospital. Maddy and I went home together. The hospital had called Dad to let him know. When we got home, Dad was sitting in an easy chair in his office looking off into space. I tried to talk to him. He was acting like a zombie. At first, I thought his behavior was due to shock, but when I asked him questions, he was evasive. I asked him what happened. He told me he didn’t know. He said he’d been resting on his bed because he’d had a headache. He’d taken a sleeping pill.” Vanessa blew out a breath. “Earlier, he’d told our neighbor that he was on the first floor when the accident happened. His bedroom is on the second floor. Which was it? How could he be that confused? He doesn’t even remember where he was when Mom fell?”
Claire was about to say something when Nicole repeated what she’d said a minute ago. “There’s more.”
Claire looked at Vanessa waiting for her to add to what she’d been telling.
“Dad told me not to talk to the police. He told me if anyone seemed like they were about to present me with a summons then I should pretend I was someone else. He said, ‘Be sure Maddy does the same.’” Vanessa shook her head. “Why would he ask me to do that? Because he’s trying to hide something? Will you talk to some people? Find out what they know? Please?” The pitch of Vanessa’s voice rose higher. “I don’t know what’s going on. Did my father do this? Did he push my mother from the window? Why is he acting so strangely?”
Nicole and Claire exchanged glances.
“Well, I guess we could talk to Maddy and the neighbor we saw at the house last night,” Nicole said. “Then we can decide if it’s worth talking to anyone else. Is that okay?”
“That’s a good way to start.” A grateful smile spread over Vanessa’s face.
A few customers entered the chocolate shop and Nicole stood to wait on them. “We’ll talk later today. I’ll call you.”
“I’d better get to work, too.” Claire was about to get up from her chair, but paused and put her hand on Vanessa’s shoulder. “We’ll do what we can to help.” Little zips of electricity seemed to nip at Claire’s hand where it came into contact with Vanessa’s shoulder and a wave of unease engulfed her as a question came into her mind. “Can I ask you something? How was your parents’ relationship? Were they getting along?”
Vanessa stiffened. “They were cordial.”
Vanessa’s description surprised Claire. “Only cordial?”
Taking her leather bag from the chair next to her, Vanessa stood to go. “Dad was having an affair.”
4
Nicole and Claire sat in the living room of Vanessa’s Cambridge apartment. The small space had high ceilings which made the room seem much bigger and the large windows gave a good view of the evening bustle on Massachusetts Avenue. Nicole had brought a box of assorted cookies from the chocolate shop and placed it in the center of the coffee table.
“I found out about two months ago that my father was having an affair. It had been going on for about six months. Mom was suspicious and she confronted Dad. He admitted it right away. I arrived for dinner right after they’d had a blowout over it.” Vanessa let out a sigh. “Needless to say, we didn’t sit down to dinner and nice conversation that evening.
”
“What happened when you arrived?” Nicole asked. She couldn’t imagine walking into a mess like that. “What did you do?”
“Mom was hysterical. I’ve never seen her like that before. Ever. She had marks on her arm. She said Dad had grabbed her. She was crying. Dad had a scratch on his face, I assumed from my mother pushing at him to let her go.” Vanessa closed her eyes for several moments and when she spoke, her voice was just above a whisper. “It was so awful.”
“How was your father?” Claire asked.
“He was subdued.” Vanessa shook her head. “He seemed almost detached from my mother’s upset. When Mom left the room for a while, Dad answered some of my questions. He said he’d met the woman while golfing. He said she was nice to talk to, she had lots of interests, she knew politics and current events. It was like he needed to defend his transgression, like he had to inform me about how intelligent this woman was. I was appalled. He told me that she was a good person, had come from a good family. Didn’t he think his stupid babbling over the woman would bother me? He was cheating on my mother, for God’s sake.”
“Did you stay at the house?” Nicole looked upset over what she’d heard.
“I talked to my mom for a while. I couldn’t stand speaking to my father for another minute. I didn’t even want to be in the same room with him. Mom and I went up to her office on the second floor. She talked for a long time about how she felt betrayed. They’d been married for forty-five years. She talked about divorce at first, but by the end of our conversation, she thought she would wait before deciding to leave Dad. She needed time to process the whole thing.”
Claire asked, “Your father halted the relationship with the other woman?”
“I don’t know. He claimed he would. Mom thinks he ended it.” Vanessa blinked. “Thought … past tense. She thought he ended the relationship.” The heartbroken young woman leaned forward and hung her head with her dark hair nearly covering her face. “I can’t help but think that my father is responsible for my mother’s death.”
