by Leena Clover
“My God, Meera. Where do you find these people?”
“In this case, they found me!”
“I took some brownies over to Joyce Baker. Did you know she’s taking care of Bandit?”
“I did wonder what happened to him.”
“She found him sitting on her porch one day. He stays in her yard all day and she takes him in at night. Says she’s too old to really care for him.”
“Did you ask her anything?”
“I didn’t have a script or anything,” Becky apologized. “She seemed lonely when I met her so I thought I would pay her a visit.”
“You must have talked about something.”
“I think she spends a lot of time behind that curtain. She reports on everything that goes on in that street. She saw Leo head out in Charlie’s car that afternoon. Then she saw him come back later that night.”
“She did? She must be the last person to see Leo alive. Did she say what time that was?”
“9:30 PM. Said he was already getting out of hand, staying out past his curfew. Charlie never let him go out after dinner.”
“Does she know Leo’s dead?”
“She has to. She knows everything else.”
“What else did you do today?”
“Just my usual work day,” Becky sighed. “It’s a bit of a drag without you.”
“I know. I miss you too. There’s so much to tell you.”
“Oh, I forgot. Audrey came in for lunch. And I think I know who’s funding her latest lifestyle.”
“Don’t make me guess, Becks!”
“Charlie Gibson.”
“What?”
“She’d been asking for a raise for some time. Her work doubled since Leo came in to live with Charlie. But Leo helped her with the laundry and stuff. So Charlie didn’t think she deserved a raise. They had been at it for a while. Then Charlie gave her a bonus all of a sudden.”
“And she’s spending it all?”
“She’s given a good amount of it to Sylvie, it seems. Wants to be able to come in to the diner and relax. Doesn’t want her husband spending it all on booze, she said.”
“Smart girl!” I said approvingly.
“She said it was time for her to take care of herself.”
“What made Charlie give her the money all of a sudden?”
“He’d been in a good mood since the weekend. She has no idea why. He wrote out her check before heading to Sylvie’s to enjoy the meatloaf. He told her she better treat Leo right. He was going to be a big guy one day.”
“Now why would he say that?”
“Maybe Leo aced an exam or something.”
“Must have been something else, Becks. Charlie always knew Leo was good at school work.”
“She said Leo was a good kid. He gave her a ride somewhere when he didn’t have to.”
“When was that?” I asked sharply.
“Must’ve been the day he…”
“Can you confirm it, please? And ask Joyce about it too. Ask if Audrey was in the car when she saw Leo head out that afternoon.”
“What if she was?”
“We might be able to guess where Leo was headed.”
We wrapped up our call and I hung up. I went over the entire conversation in my mind, and noted down a few points. I wanted to follow up on them with Stan. I felt I had missed something but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I just hoped it would come back to me later.
Chapter 26
We gathered around in Motee Ba’s room again the next morning. Jeet and Tony had gone down to the café and brought coffee and an assortment of pastries for everyone. No one wanted a big breakfast after last night’s dinner.
“I can’t wait to get home and make some khichdi,” Motee Ba sighed.
Khichdi is a rice and lentil dish that’s a Gujarati staple. Served with ghee and a buttermilk stew, it’s our comfort food.
Everyone wanted to do something different that day. I sipped my coffee, listening to them argue about it.
“Why don’t we split up?” Tony asked. “We can all do whatever we want. It’s our last day in Vegas.”
“On one condition,” Dad said. “We’re having dinner together.”
Sally smiled at him and nodded.
Motee Ba wanted to do some shopping, Pappa wanted to rest in his room, the boys each wanted to check out a different casino. I wanted some quiet time to think about what might have happened to Leo.
I settled down in the overstuffed chair in my room, and looked down on the Strip. People moved about like ants, lining sidewalks, dodging yellow cabs, laughing and enjoying themselves. The front desk called with another message. I had missed Stan’s call again.
I wondered if I should tell Stan Miller about THORK. There was no saying how he would act on it. He might feel compelled to report them. He was a cop after all. I decided to keep the THORK out of the conversation.
I dialed Stan’s number. The calling card warned me I only had one minute worth of talk time left.
“Can you call me back?” I pleaded. “I’m plumb out of minutes.”
I hung up and the phone rang almost immediately.
“How’s it going, Stan?” I asked.
“I keep thinking about the sand we found on Leo’s shoes,” he said. “There is only one place in Swan Creek that has sand.”
“Don’t hold back,” I drawled.
“The Palms, Meera! You remember how they brought in all that white sand from some place in Texas, just so those nabobs had a sandy beach around that lake of theirs?”
The Palms at Swan Creek is a super luxurious housing compound on the South edge of town. Simply referred to as ‘The Palms’, it houses some of the richest people in the county. Some of these just inherited the wealth, some earned it, and some married into it. They have their own posh club inside their compound, an eighteen hole golf course and a big manmade lake, large enough for all kinds of water sports. The place is an urban legend because most people in town have never actually been inside that compound. That includes me, of course.
The smallest lot size in The Palms is ten acres, with most estates being thirty plus acres, with their own woods and ponds.
“You think Leo Smith went to The Palms?”
I couldn’t hold back my laughter.
“It’s an option, Meera.”
Stan sounded a bit hurt. I have often criticized him for not thinking outside the box. Here he was, considering various scenarios, and I had laughed at him.
“I may be able to get some information about where Leo went with his friends.”
Stan wanted to know more but I told him to wait until I had something solid.
“What time did Leo take those pills?”
“Time of death is between 4 – 8 PM, Meera.”
Something clicked in my mind, and I realized what had bothered me since last night. My heart beat faster as I realized the implications.
“Are you sure about this, Stan?” I asked urgently. “Could there be any leeway in that?”
“I can ask, but they take that into account in a range as wide as that.”
“Joyce Baker saw Leo drive back at 9:30 PM.”
Stan let out a curse.
“That’s impossible,” he said flatly.
“She saw Leo drive out in Charlie’s car around 4 PM and come back in the same car at 9:30. She mentioned how he was breaking his curfew.”
“Why didn’t she say something?”
“Did you talk to her after Leo died?”
Stan’s silence was answer enough.
“Leo left a suicide note.”
The police had accepted Leo took his own life. So there hadn’t been any investigation. I remembered what Becky had told me about Audrey Jones.
“He dropped Audrey off somewhere. Maybe he told her where he was headed?”
“I’m going to talk to these two women,” Stan promised. “Now.”
I felt a tiny sliver of anticipation. I told Stan to call me as soon as he learned something
more.
I paced the room, feeling stifled. I picked up my bag and rushed out, eager for some fresh air. It took me twenty minutes to actually step out of the hotel. I started walking along the Strip, lost in thought. If Leo had died before 8 PM, when had he come back to Charlie’s? Had someone taken Charlie’s car out again?
Had Joyce really seen the car? She might have confused it with some other day. That seemed like the simplest explanation.
Then I began to think of who might have had access to Charlie’s house or his car. Don Collins came to mind. But what did he have against Leo? Had Leo known something incriminating about Don? Maybe he saw Don and Charlie have a fight. Or he heard Don threaten Charlie. Don might have wanted to get Leo out of the way. But why did he need Charlie’s car, especially on that night?
I walked for what seemed like hours but was actually maybe forty minutes. I began to feel hungry. I looked around and realized I had almost reached downtown. Souvenir shops clustered around one corner and a pizza shop lay next to it. I could smell the sauce and the mozzarella as I walked toward it. A curious bird like sound rent the air. I looked around. Jack was peeping out from behind a corner.
I nodded at him, calling him over. He looked around before coming out in the open.
“Hi Meera!” he said.
“How about some lunch?” I asked.
“I don’t want to impose,” he began.
“I’m starving, Jack. Help me out here, will you?”
He put his hands in the kangaroo pocket of his hoodie and followed me, head down.
“Is Jill around here somewhere?” I asked. “Go get her, will you?”
He gave the slightest nod to someone outside the window. Jill walked in shyly. I hadn’t even noticed she was standing outside the shop.
I put in an order for a large pizza and got drinks and garlic bread for us.
“I hope you like sausage,” I said, placing the bread down on the table.
“We have some news,” Jack began.
“Let’s eat first,” I said, picking up a hunk of the cheesy garlic bread.
They hesitated, then followed.
A server brought a huge pizza and placed it on the table, along with plates and napkins. Steam rose off the pizza, and the scent of spicy Italian sausage and rich tomato sauce made my mouth water. There was a healthy layer of melted mozzarella on top, oozing off the edges.
“Do you like it?” I asked Jack and Jill. “Or do you want something else?”
They ate tentatively and I marveled at their self control. Jill stopped after the first slice. I had an aha moment.
“I hear they have great meatball subs. Why don’t we get some to go?”
I went to the counter and put in an order for the subs. The kids finally relaxed and helped me polish off the pizza.
“You’re spoiling us, Meera,” Jack grinned.
I feigned surprise and told them to save room for dessert.
“We heard back from the guys Leo met,” Jack began after he had carefully wiped his mouth.
“Any luck?”
“They did go to the beach, but not with Leo.”
“They wanted Leo to go with them,” Jill added. “But he wanted to get back home to Charlie. He just spent the night with them.”
“What do these kids do?” I asked.
“They work,” Jack said. “They’ll be going to college next year.”
“Would they be willing to talk to a friend of mine?”
“You mean the police, don’t you?” Jack quailed.
“It may not be necessary,” I hastened to assure him. “Forget it.”
Jack wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it over.
“This is my email id. You can send me an email anytime.”
It was like déjà vu. I remembered how I had given Leo my email id at Charlie’s memorial service.
“I gave Leo my email,” I murmured. “But I don’t think I have his.”
“It’s justleosmith at yahoo,” Jill rattled off. “Guess he won’t be using it anymore.”
We sobered, thinking of Leo.
I wrote my own email on another paper napkin and handed it to Jack.
“Here’s my email. Feel free to get in touch. And if you ever travel through Oklahoma, you’re welcome to pay us a visit.”
Both Jack and Jill grew emotional, but tried to hide it. I felt sad when I realized they didn’t have anyone to turn to in a crisis. No shoulder to cry on. No safety net.
“I mean it, kids. You can ask me about college too when the time comes. I know a trick or two about those college applications.”
“Leo said you dropped out of college,” Jack smirked.
“Where did he hear that?” I acted surprised. “And it was graduate school.”
“You’re alright, Meera,” Jack smiled.
“Did Leo ever tell you how he met Charlie? Or where?”
“It’s the stuff of dreams,” Jill said. “We were all on our way to New Orleans. Leo got a job helping some people move in. He said he would catch up with us later. He caught a ride with Charlie. They got talking. Charlie offered to take him home. Just like that.”
“And Leo trusted him?” I asked.
“He did. Leo said he sensed Charlie would treat him well.”
Charlie Gibson may not have hugged Leo every morning, but he had done well by him. No one could have predicted the sticky end they would both come to.
“I’m going to do my best to find Leo’s killer,” I told Jack. “That’s a promise.”
We stepped out of the restaurant and I handed over the sandwich bag.
“Stay safe, you two.”
Jill hugged me impulsively and I hugged her back, trying to hold back my tears.
“What are you waiting for?” I asked Jack, folding him into the hug.
Jill handed me a paper. It had a whole bunch of the doodles along with a legend next to them.
“Just in case you want to support a THORK,” she said softly.
I couldn’t wait to show them to Motee Ba and Sylvie. I was sure we would be painting some of these on the side of the diner, and on our garage doors.
I said one final goodbye and started walking back to the hotel. I wanted to do something to help the THORKs. A thought was already forming in my mind.
Chapter 27
I collapsed on my bed back at the hotel, panting from the exertion. The hotel desk had another message from Stan. I was glad I had stopped on the way to get a new calling card.
“Hey Stan!” I said, still breathing somewhat heavily. “What’s up?”
“Wait till you hear this, Meera.”
I fluffed the pillows and settled back against the headboard. Stan sounded like he had found something new.
“That Joyce Baker is something else. She had no idea Leo was dead!”
“What?”
“We asked her if she was sure she saw Leo. She told us how Charlie had a strict curfew for the boy. He was not supposed to go out after dinner.”
“But dinner at Charlie’s was at 6:30 every day.”
“That’s right. The only place that kid was allowed to go to was the library. And that was between breakfast and lunch.”
I sort of knew why Charlie might have imposed these rules. But I wasn’t going to share.
“And she saw Leo drive back that night?”
“She was sure at first. But then we told her Leo had been found dead. That was a big shock for her.”
“Isn’t she the busybody? How did she miss the cops coming in to take Leo away?”
“She had a doctor’s appointment that morning. So she never saw that. She’d been wondering why she hasn’t seen Leo around.”
“What about the car?” I asked.
“She wasn’t so sure once she learnt about Leo. She saw the car come in, but she didn’t see who was driving. She just assumed it was Leo.”
“What does that mean for us?” I cried.
“That’s not all, Meera. She thinks Don Collins may h
ave something to do with it.”
“What? Becky says she’s afraid of Anna and her son. She begins to shake every time Becky mentions them.”
“That’s obvious,” Stan said. “She pointed the finger at Don the moment we told her about Leo. Said he had it in for Charlie.”
“Charlie? But what about Leo?”
“Joyce Baker says she saw Don come out of Charlie’s window the night Charlie was killed. So she figures Don stabbed him.”
“Why didn’t she say anything all this time?” I could guess the answer to that.
“Anna threatened her. Told her she’d best keep her mouth shut about what she sees on the street.”
“Does this mean Don killed Charlie?”
“We don’t know. We are bringing him in now. He’s a hardened criminal, Meera. I don’t think he’ll own up to it that easily.”
“What do you think happened to Leo then?”
“We are beginning to think there might be something fishy.”
I pumped my fist in the air. Would the police finally start treating Leo’s death as a murder?
“Did you talk to Audrey?” I pressed on.
“I did,” Stan said. “Leo dropped her off near the city offices. She had some bills to pay. He said he had to go farther out.”
The city offices were in the center of town. Leo could have gone anywhere after that.
“Could someone else have seen him that day?”
“We are asking around, Meera.”
“Did Joyce say anything else? Maybe someone visited Leo at the house? Doesn’t she notice these things?”
“We didn’t ask her about visitors. But that’s a good question.”
Stan hung up and I closed my eyes, trying to settle the turmoil in my mind. Thoughts were flying around and I couldn’t help but wonder if I had missed something. Did Don Collins have a strong enough motive to kill Charlie? What about Leo? What could Don have against him?
I shuffled through my index cards and put a line through the stuff we had ruled out in the last couple of days. I started a new card for Jack and wrote down what he had said. Leo had been excited about something. Then I remembered what Audrey had said about Charlie’s mood.
What had made both Charlie and Leo perk up all of a sudden?
I heard some commotion outside and the boys burst in, looking excited.
