The Diamond Dust on Dragonfly Wings: A Jeffry Claxton Mystery Novel

by Michael Yudov

  “That’s all the same as George said. Did you guys rehearse it or what?” She pulled away from me and sniffed. “I have to go and fix myself up. Then I’d better go and talk to him. He thinks I’ve slipped a cog or something.” She sighed again, leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. I felt the wetness of her tears on my cheek and in my heart. I was glad she and George had found each other. They made a good family together.

  She stood up to go, then remembered something and turned, completing the shift into normality. “Oh, by the way, I was talking with Cynthia this morning. She’d love to hear from you. Her number is on the notepad by the hall telephone. Give her a call, she’s a nice girl.” Then she walked out of the kitchen leaving me sitting there with my not-so-hot chocolate, thinking of the things that you can’t control in this life, and wondering where it would all take me. I spoke quietly to the empty room. “I’ll be careful, Sarah, I promise.”

  I let myself out, and sat in the van for a minute or two before pulling away from the curb. I searched through my tape bin until I found what I wanted. A pack of Camel Lights. I lit a cigarette, and turned on the radio to one of the college stations. They were playing a set of big band music. Benny Goodman. Swing, baby. Swing. I cruised home through the mist, smoking and drifting with the music.

  ~

  Chapter Five

  T

  here were messages on the machine when I got back, but It was already past eleven, and I didn’t think anybody would appreciate me calling at this time of night. If it was important, they’d call back, and I could go through the messages later, when I was in more of a mood to listen to other people’s voices.

  I threw my jacket on a chair and went to the ‘fridge for a beer. Too many thoughts rolling through my mind. It was something that happened to me more and more as I got older, thinking about things in my life. Going over the stuff you couldn’t change even if you tried. Once you live a day, you go on to the next, and whatever transpired the day before is what you have to deal with on the day following. And so it goes. There are times when I like my life, living alone, being able to come and go when I please, thinking that I answer to no-one. The truth was, that I had the same responsibilities as anyone else, building my life, planning for the future, but I had only my sister and my best friend, who happened to now be her husband, to share it with. I guess Katy counted, but she hadn’t learned to talk back yet, so my confidences with her were still somewhat lopsided.

  I was standing in the middle of the darkened living room, holding my bottle of beer and contemplating these mysteries of life when the ringing of the telephone snapped me out of it. My VCR stood at about eye level, tucked back into the wall unit a few feet away, and the glowing digits told me that it was almost midnight. Maybe this was one of the important calls. I turned on a floor lamp and walked over to the ‘phone, picking it up on the third ring. I said hello.

  The voice came over the line, clear and inquisitive, and a bit surprised. “Oh! Jeffry, is that you?” I was game, it had been a long day but what the hell. I answered casually.

  “Yes, this would be me. And you would be?” There was muffled laughter from the other end of the line.

  “I’m so sorry Jeffry, I thought this was your office number, and I was going to leave another message for you. It’s Cynthia. Sarah gave me your number and said it was fine to call, and when I rang earlier the message on the machine sounded like an office type of response, so I assumed… dear me, I guess it’s true what they say about assumption, unless you’re working late?” I was trying to follow, but I wasn’t moving at the same pace that she was. All I could think of was ‘Cynthia?’, I had her number in my jacket pocket. Laying on the chair within easy reach, but I was still having trouble with her actually being on the line with me at this point in time. I tried to catch up.

  “Uh, right, actually I was. Working late I mean. Although the number is my work number, it’s also my only number. I have an office at home where I work.” This was catching up? I began to remember why I hadn’t asked her out when I first met her. She had made me feel like a stumbling teenager. Now she was doing it over the telephone.

  “Well I’m glad I didn’t wake you up, it being so late. I feel terrible imposing on your privacy like this. It’s not quite the appropriate hour for social calls, is it?” The voice was still clear and strong, but a certain amount of hesitancy had crept into the tone. I gathered my wits about me and said the right thing.

  “That’s no problem at all Cynthia, I’m glad to hear from you, regardless of what time it is. I was at Sarah’s place this evening and she gave me your message and your number. I haven’t had a chance to go over my tape messages, as I just got home a few minutes ago, but I had been going to call you in the morning anyway. How are you? It’s been some time since we last talked.”

  “Yes, about two years now I believe. That was the night I tried to bore you to death with science shop talk. I still feel bad about that. Sarah had told me your degree was in Engineering, and I was trying to be ‘Oh So Interesting’ to talk to. I fear it didn’t work, because you never did ask Sarah for my number.” I could hear the humour back in her voice now, and I wasn’t sure, but I think I was being teased. I decided to come clean.

  “Cynthia, I would really have liked to give you a call after we met, but that night I felt like I had been the bore, and I didn’t think you would say yes if I did call and ask you out. That’s the whole truth of it. Honestly.” She came right back at me.

  “Don’t you ever take a chance on something Jeffry? Just because you want to, and damn the consequences?” This was turning out to be a very strange midnight call. I responded with rapier sharp wit.

  “Uhm…” There was open laughter coming over the line now, but not at me, with me. There was no other option, so I started to laugh to. “You’re right. I wanted to call you, therefore I should have.” The conversation started to flow much easier after the laughter. “How’ve you been anyway? Busy I imagine. Sarah said something about you working for your doctorate?”

  “Yes, work, work, all the day and all the night. It gets so that I’m not sure just what’s going on in the world anymore, outside of academia that is. This leads nicely into my point for calling though, Jeffry. I’ve acquired two excellent tickets to the Blue Jays game tomorrow afternoon, and I’d like to invite you. As my escort.” There was a significant pause while my brain raced to gain control of my mouth.

  “You’re asking me out?” Ah, so debonair.

  “Does that seem strange to you? Jeffry, this is an enlightened age. I can do whatever I want to do, within reason, without fear of any social repercussion whatever. I think asking someone out on a date is within reason, don’t you? Unless your reticence is prompted not by the shock of role reversal, but from a lack of desire to comply with the request?” I scrambled.

  “Stop right there. Yes. I’ll be more than happy to ‘escort you’ to the game tomorrow. You just caught me a bit off balance, that’s all. I’ll be fine tomorrow, I promise. And I’m looking forward to seeing you already.”

  “Good, I’m so pleased. Let me give you my address. You can pick me up at noon, which will give us time to get to the game without hurrying. It starts at one thirty, and I’m not too far from the SkyDome, so noon should be fine. Maybe we can get a hotdog on the way in. Do you have a pen?” I had been holding the phone between my ear and my shoulder while I rifled the pockets of my jacket on the chair for my pen and the paper Sarah had left for me with Cynthia’s telephone number on it.

  “Ready when you are.”

  “Right, I’m at one hundred, The Bridle Path, just off Bayview. You’re familiar with the area?” I didn’t bother to write it down. The Bridle Path was just about the most elegant address a person could have in this town, and one hundred is a fairly easy number.

  “I know where it is.”

  “Excellent. Then I’ll see you tomorrow at noon.”

  “Right, and Cynthia?”

  “Yes?”

  “T
hanks for… well, thanks for calling.” I could almost see her smile through the phone. Her voice was softer when she answered me this time.

  “Thanks for saying yes. See you tomorrow.” The line went dead.

  I hung up the receiver and flopped into the chair. What a day. I felt considerably better now than I had a few minutes ago, so I guess it was ending on an up note. With that in mind I got up and headed for the bedroom. Time for some shut-eye, there was a lot going on tomorrow, and I had a date. Today had been tiring, but tomorrow held a new kind of promise. You never know when you wake up on any given day just what the hell’s going to happen. No refunds, no guarantees. Life, don’t you just love it?

  I left my messages for the morning, and slept like a baby until 7:00 AM.

  The morning found me stiff and sore. But it was getting better. My shoulder eased up a lot after I’d had my shower. I got dressed and went downstairs to the Parthenon for breakfast. I still wasn’t in a mood to do any cooking.

  I paused in the lobby to look out at the street. The rain had stopped sometime during the night, because it was dry, but the sky was still grey, with not a break in the clouds to be seen. At least we had a roof on our Stadium. The game wouldn’t be rained out.

  I picked up the paper as I walked past the front counter and headed to my booth in the back. By the time, I got there Maria had already set the table and poured my coffee. I was greeted with a smile that almost made up for the lack of sunshine as I sidled into the booth. It was no wonder she had my loyalty.

  “Good morning Jeffry, you look a lot better today. How are you feeling?” She was standing with one hand on her hip, cocked to one side to offset the pot of coffee she held in the other hand.

  “Not half-bad, Maria. All things considered. How about yourself?”

  “I’m fine, thank you for asking. I ought to let you know that we’re going to be taking a trip next week, and my cousin Gregory is going to be filling in as the chef while we’re away. You might want to consider getting some groceries to tide you over.”

  “That sounds like a warning, what’s the matter, can’t your cousin cook?”

  “No, he’s a terrible cook. But Phil won’t let anyone cook except a member of the family. I’ve been trying to get him to take a vacation for over a year now, and this was the only way I could arrange it. I just lied, and told him Gregory was a great chef. We’re going to Greece, to visit with the family, in Athens. Sorry, but we’ll be gone for three weeks. You could get a little hungry.”

  “You mean I shouldn’t even try to eat his cooking?” She shook her head.

  “Jeffry, he can’t boil water. I just thought I’d let you know. OK?”

  “OK, Maria. Forewarned is forearmed.”

  “Exactly. Now, what’ll you have?”

  “Just some scrambled eggs and toast, thanks.” Maria nodded and walked off into the kitchen.

  I hadn’t gotten past page one of the paper before she returned with a plate of steaming scrambled eggs, done to perfection. Soft but not wet. She dropped the plate and my toast, and hurried off to do the same for her other patrons. I was definitely going to miss them while they were gone.

  The paper was boring as usual for a Sunday, with the obligatory articles concerned with new buyers of new homes, new cars, landscaping, presumably for the new homes, vacations, etc., etc. The eggs and toast went down easy. I had a second cup of coffee and headed upstairs to the office.

  When I sat down to work, it was just coming on eight o’clock. I punched the tape to run through my messages from yesterday evening.

  The first one was Cynthia, requesting a callback, with a time and date stamp on it. I like that in a message. It saves confusion. She had called just after I left for Sarah’s place. I smiled to myself thinking of the conversation we’d had when she’d called back. The next was from Everet. That was a bit of a surprise. The message he’d left was quite plain, ‘Please call ASAP’, date and time, with a return number. I typed it into my online cardfile while the message played, then copied it over onto the task list in my scheduler.

  The next message was right out of the blue. It made me sit up and pay attention. I wasn’t sure of what I was hearing, but it sounded pretty damn serious, so I popped the tape out of the answering machine and went to find my Sony microcassette handheld recorder. I needed to go over this carefully, and the Sony had better controls. I set it up with the earphones and carefully pushed the ‘playback’ button. The message was full of static and cut in and out a few times. Cellular, from a bad location, or with a low battery charge. The voice sounded small because of the poor quality of the recording, but it was clear enough. Even through the French accent.

  “Allo, Monsieur Claxton, this is Therese Sauvé calling. You do not know me,” There was a pause, and a burst of static. ”… because I have no other place to turn.” More static. ”…errible is happening. I think I must tell you. Midori has told me she has trust in you, so I have to also. I will call again when” More static, a big burst this time. “…then you can tell me what I shall do. D'accord, à demain.” Then nothing.

  All of a sudden, the next message came on. It was from Marsh. “Mr. Claxton, this is Marsh here, yes, hmph, ahh… give me a call as soon as you’re able… I have some changes with regard to your ahhm, investigation, yes, some changes. I’ll hear from you soon then, goodbye.” Just to be on the safe side, I let the tape run on for a minute or two. That was all there was. It was enough.

  I had a breakthrough, thanks to Midori apparently. I still didn’t know what that was all about, but I hoped I would soon. Therese had said she’d call back today. That meant I had to be diligent about the telephone. I didn’t want to miss that call. But there were some calls I had to make at the same time.

  A pot of coffee was in order, as it was starting to look like a busy morning. I came back with a cup and settled in. The cell phone was fully charged so I turned it on and dialed Midori. She was first on the list. Her contact with Therese was something for the police to talk over with her, but I wanted in first. She picked up right away, breathing heavily.

  “Hello?”

  “Midori, it’s Jeffry. Are you Ok? You sound out of breath.”

  “Oh, I’m fine…” Puff, puff. ”… just doing a little work on the stair stepper.”

  “So that’s your secret.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Listen Midori, I heard from Therese. In her message, she said she spoke to you. When was that, and why did she call you? The police have her listed as ‘missing’ you know. More importantly, what did she say?”

  “Her message? You didn’t talk to her?”

  “No, I got a message on my answering machine. She definitely said that she would call back today though. Do you know where she is?”

  “Wait, let’s do this one question at a time alright? Give me a minute, I need some water, I’ll be right back.” I waited. It didn’t take long. When she came back on the line she sounded normal again.

  “So, she called me about dinnertime yesterday. I was more shocked than anyone. I mean, why would she call me? Anyway, she had some story about being in trouble, and she had nowhere to turn, which I don’t understand, because all she has to do is call the police, right?” There was a pause, then she continued.

  “So that’s what I told her. Call the police. She said she couldn’t, and that she needed help, but she had to stay hidden, her life was in danger. The only alternative I could think of was for her to call you. I told her who you were, and that I felt you could be trusted.” There was a longer pause.

  “That’s it? I thought there would be a bit more to it than that.”

  “There was.” She sighed. “We cried together for a while.”

  “You cried on the telephone, together with someone you’ve never met? Is that some kind of girl things?” She responded in a way that left no doubt in my mind that I’d said the wrong thing. Quietly.

  “No, it was a love thing. It hurts for me too, Jeffry.” I instantly felt lik
e a heel.

  “I’m sorry, that was tactless of me. I didn’t mean it like that.” Now it was my turn to pause. Midori didn’t say anything to fill the gap, so I carried on. “I also received a message from Marsh. Have you spoken to him since we met yesterday?”

  “No, I haven’t. I expect to make a progress report today though. That is, if you have one to pass along?”

  “Seeing as how he wants to talk to me, I’ll have the opportunity to update him directly, so don’t worry about your report today, OK?”

  “Alright, but please, let me know what happens with Therese, promise?” There was honest concern in her voice, and I agreed to call after I’d heard from Therese, and then I went on to my next call.

  The number Marsh had left for me rang through to a surprise location. The day was starting out to be right in line with this whole affair. A couple of steps ahead of me. It wasn’t where I liked to be, playing catch up. I was going to have to pay attention today, and start thinking like the Sherlock I claimed to be.

  “Bonjour, l'hôtel Hilton.”