by Elaine Macko
“She has to tell them,” Shirley said.
“Oh, she will. Today. But she wants to know what Michael is up to. So, can I hire you to do some surveillance work? God, I hate this.”
“No, I don’t want your money. I’ll do it for Sam as long as she knows I might find out something she doesn’t want to hear. I like Michael. He’s a nice man. I just can’t believe he’d be up to any hanky-panky, but I learned a long time ago that I’m always surprised by what people do.”
Chapter 11
We talked a while longer and then walked out to our cars. I waved Shirley off and sat in my car debating whether I should stop by the office where my friend, Mary-Beth Ramsey, worked. We had plans for dinner tomorrow night with our husbands. I wasn’t sure what to do about the situation with John, but maybe we would be back on speaking terms by then. And if not, he could spend the evening talking with Jeff. Mary-Beth and I had enough catching up to do.
I nixed the idea of visiting Mary-Beth. I needed to save my sister, so instead I took the piece of paper Shirley had given me with the name of Jenna Sanjari’s sister. Maddi Wickersham lived in Indian Cove in an older development with large houses and big yards. I knew the area, just not the exact street. Besides not having one of those fancy phones everyone seems not to be able to live without, I also do not have a GPS system, so I decided I would just drive around until I found the street. Might not be the best way of finding an address in a big city like Los Angeles, but here in Indian Cove, especially if you had lived here all of your life, finding a street didn’t pose that much of a problem.
The Wickersham house was a big white structure set on a knoll far back from the quiet street. It had three floors and probably a finished basement, and lots of gabled windows. It was a lovely home, and landscaped beautifully with plenty of shade trees all around.
I parked on the street and hiked up the long cobblestone driveway. There was an SUV parked in front of the garage and I hoped Mrs. Wickersham would be here. Victor had only been found dead yesterday, so there was a good chance she was with family, but I didn’t see any other cars and decided to take my chances.
I rang the bell at the side of the front door and waited. I couldn’t hear anything, but the door seemed to be a sturdy, thick structure. I don’t like ringing or knocking more than once, so I started to turn away just as the door was pulled opened. A woman of about forty stood in front of me. She was average height, had very thick light brown hair cut into a very short trendy style. Her eyes were an incredible blue and she had that smoky eye thing going you see in magazine advertisements. She had on a pair of black exercise pants that hit her legs just below the knee, and bright turquoise blue running shoes that matched the turquoise curve-hugging T-shirt. I had seen her a few times at various school functions for the kids. I just never knew who she was.
“May I help you?”
“I’m looking for Maddi Wickersham. My name is Alex Harris.”
“I’m Maddi.”
I had been rehearsing what to say on the drive over. I started by telling her that I was the aunt of Kendall Daniels and that we were all so very sorry about Moshi’s father and that Kendall was worried about her friend. I then told her what happened to my sister and how it was all a terrible mistake.
“Your name sounds familiar. Didn’t I read something about you in the paper a while back? Oh, I know. You solved the crime of that poor man who got shot while trying to find his real daughter.”
“Yes, that was me.”
“And now your sister is in trouble and you’re trying to help her?”
My sister was currently the number one suspect for killing this woman’s brother-in-law. I had a feeling she was about to tell me that my sister could rot in jail for all eternity, and how my horrible murdering sister turned her niece into an orphan.
I stood there waiting to be mentally or maybe even physically slapped, and hoped all the neighbors didn’t see. Once again I gave myself a mental kick for being so insensitive and knocking on this woman’s door in her hour of grief. I tried to justify my standing on Maddi Wickersham’s doorstep by telling myself it was my hour of grief as well. If my sister got put in prison I had no idea what my family would do.
I was just about to apologize for intruding and take my leave when Maddi stepped aside and opened the door wide.
“Why don’t you come in out of the heat? I think you just might be able to help me.”
Chapter 12
Mrs. Wickersham ushered me into a house that, despite its grand appearance from the outside, was very cozy and inviting on the inside. And cool.
“If you don’t mind, we can sit in the kitchen. The kids are waiting for me to let them get back into the pool. I told them to get out while I answered the door. We can see them from the window. Okay, girls, you can go back in. I’m going to be in here with a friend if you need anything.” Maddi called from the back door.
I looked out the window. There were four girls of various ages swimming in a large rectangular built-in pool. The area around the pool was dotted with borders of flowering plants and wicker furniture with blue and white cushions. It looked heavenly and I wondered if Maddi might have a bathing suit I could borrow.
“Is iced tea okay?”
“That would be nice.”
“Lemon or lime?”
“Lime, please, and no sugar.”
“Just the way I like it,” Maddi said, and handed me a glass.
“Is that Moshi out there?” I asked.
“Yes. As soon as the police called yesterday, I picked her up immediately. I didn’t want Ruth coming to get her. In a few days I’ll go get all of her stuff from the house and bring everything here. Poor little thing. She was up all night crying for her mother. It broke my heart. The girls are out of school at the end of the week, but I called this morning and said they won’t be back until fall. I put them all in the pool this morning hoping it would help Moshi to just play and be with her cousins. My middle daughter is the same age as Moshi. She’s going to live with us. My sister made sure of that in her will. It was the one thing she wouldn’t give in to. Victor wanted Moshi to live with his mother.” Maddi gave a snort. “Right, like that would ever happen.”
“You don’t like her?”
“I’m sitting here with you. My husband is at work. In a normal family, I guess we would be in mourning and would be all gathered together, but we’re not. I’m brokenhearted for Moshi, but not because she lost her father. She should have her mother with her. That man killed my sister. I know he did, and I was hoping you could help me prove it.”
Maddi got up and walked to the window and looked out at the girls.
“I didn’t want them to come in here and hear what I have to tell you.”
I took a sip of my tea and then put the glass down on the marble counter. “So, why don’t you start at the beginning?”
“You’ll help then?” Maddi’s blue eyes were wide.
“My main goal is to find the person who killed Mr. Sanjari because I can assure you it wasn’t my sister.”
“Why do the police suspect her?” Maddi asked.
“Mr. Sanjari inspected my sister’s new sunroom and didn’t sign off on it. The morning after when Sam, that’s my sister, dropped the kids off, she and Victor had words and some people heard. All she was doing was trying to find out why he wouldn’t sign off. They used a very reputable designer and contractor.”
“I know your sister. I’ve met her a couple of times and she’s an attractive woman.”
“Yes, I think she’s very pretty. Is that important?”
“I’ll bet Vic said that maybe they could work something out?”
“Yes, he did. How do you know that?”
Maddi gave another snort. “Because that’s who he was. The man was a pig.” Maddi quickly glanced out the window again to make sure the girls were still in the pool. “Every time we had dinner parties Vic would always find a reason to come into the kitchen when I was in here alone. Putting his hands a
ll over me, that sort of thing. My husband finally had enough and said no more. The man was not allowed in the house.”
“That’s what happened with my sister, and she finally had enough and told him to knock it off. But I promise you that she would never kill the man.”
“Of course she wouldn’t, but hey, more power to her if she did. I just wouldn’t want to see her go to jail for it. The man deserved what he got. Ironic, isn’t it, that he was nailed to death, because that’s what he always said, that he would love to nail me but good. That’s how he put it. He was so crude. I’m sorry for the trouble your sister is in, but she’ll be okay. Trust me, there are lots of people that wanted Victor Sanjari dead. You shouldn’t have any problem finding another suspect. And maybe while you’re trying to find out who killed him you could see if you can find out exactly what happened to my sister.” Maddi’s eyes filled with tears. “Do you think you could do that?”
I reached over and gently touched Maddi’s hand. “I guess I could try. Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell me everything you know?”
Chapter 13
I helped Maddi make sandwiches for the girls. She got a bag of cut veggies from the refrigerator and we took everything outside to a table by the pool. Maddi filled glasses with fresh lemonade, and then we returned to the kitchen. Maddi made two more sandwiches for us. Besides both liking iced tea with lime, Maddi seemed to like the good crusty bread that I prefer. She layered it with thin slices of ham then spread a horseradish sauce on the bread, added slices of tomato, avocado, and lettuce, and then cut each in half. She refilled my glass with more tea, added a fresh slice of lime, and then sat next to me at the counter where once again we could keep an eye on the girls.
“Jenna and I were really close growing up,” Maddi began. “It was just the two of us and our parents. I’m the oldest. We always got along well. When Jenna was in college she met Vic. He was older, but had just moved to the area from Massachusetts, or maybe it was Rhode Island. Anyway, he was taking a couple of courses for his job. We, my parents and I, didn’t care for him very much, but figured it was just a fling and would end after a while.”
“But it didn’t,” I said, and then took a bite of a carrot stick.
“No. She was besotted with him. He was nice-looking and slick, if you know what I mean. He wasn’t the most intelligent guy I ever met, but he had street smarts. We came from a nice middle class family in the Hartford area. My dad had a decent job and my mom was home with us, and then took a part-time job at the craft store while we were in school. My mom is a wonderful seamstress and she taught sewing classes in the mornings. She called it our vacation money.” Maddi smiled at the memory. “Vic, on the other hand, came from the other side of the tracks, so to speak. His father always had a hard time holding down a job, and his mother drank and gambled. Still does. The father is dead, but nothing can kill Ruth. She’s like a roach. She’d probably survive a nuclear blast.
“Anyway, Jenna married Vic and they had Moshi. My parents weren’t happy about that marriage, but what can you do? Vic’s mother didn’t care one way or the other, but his sister, Delilah, was upset that he didn’t marry an Indian woman. What a joke. Vic’s mother is Polish and Portuguese and his father’s father was about a fourth Indian. Whatever Indian blood that Vic had, it’s pretty mixed up with a lot of other stuff. Just look at Moshi.”
I looked out at a very blond, fair skinned little girl.
“Delilah is just a whack job. She went to India at some point to discover her heritage. Don’t get me wrong. I understand that the Sanjaris do have Indian blood, and Delilah was curious about it as well she might be, but to say that Victor should only marry an Indian woman was crazy. When she came back from her Indian retreat she refused to eat beef, all sorts of things. Sometimes she even wears a sari. She also loves to knit and crochet and she dresses up in flowing scarves, and weird crocheted hippie vests. When she’s not wearing a sari, she likes to act as if she’s a throwback to the sixties, but the truth is she’s just plain lazy and uses a hippie lifestyle as an excuse not to work. Anyway, that’s the background.”
“So tell me why you think Victor killed your sister,” I said gently.
“They were having problems. Vic is—was—the kind of husband who thought that he was head of the family. He decided where they went on vacation. He decided what kind of cars to buy. He decided they should take up golf. He even told my sister when to go to bed. If he was tired, Jenna had to go to bed. She loved staying up late to read or catch up on some shows she recorded, but he wouldn’t allow her to. And when they came over here for dinner parties, he told her when it was time to leave even if she was having a good time. He’d go so far as to grab her by the arm and drag her out. Jerk.” Maddi spat the word out. “And if he felt he had the right to grab her arm in front of people, well, what must he be doing behind closed doors?”
“Do you think he was hitting her?” I asked.
“Not that she ever said. I asked her once, but she said no, and I never saw any bruises, but I’m sure he was at least grabbing her and shoving her around, because I witnessed that myself.”
“Why did she put up with it?”
“I don’t know, Alex. She was a smart woman. Taught advanced math at the high school. Why do women put up with men like that? These men think they’re all macho, but any man that has to grab a woman and treat her like property is nothing but a bully. The only thing my husband and I could figure was that Victor had money, but Jenna made a good living and besides, it wasn’t like Vic was generous or anything. He never bought her a birthday gift, nothing for Christmas, and nothing for Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. Nothing. Ever. It was just all about him twenty-four seven. And he wasn’t the touchy feely kind of guy. No hugs or kisses. At least not with my sister. He seemed to have no problem touching other women. And he was a hypochondriac. He took all these vitamins and made Jenna and Moshi eat nothing but health food, which, don’t get me wrong, I try to feed my kids healthy food, too, but once in a while an ice cream on a summer night won’t hurt. Do you know what consecotaleophobia is?
“No. What is it?” I asked.
“Fear of chopsticks. Chopsticks. Have you ever heard of anything so stupid? Moshi is petrified. We can’t even bring Chinese food into the house because God forbid they put some of those cheap wooden chopsticks in the bag.”
I smiled. “Is there really such a thing?”
“Yep. And Vic knew all the phobias and taught them to Moshi. My sister wanted her daughter to grow up to be an independent woman. But Vic thwarted her efforts at every chance. He babied Moshi, and, I’m sorry to say, turned her into a bit of a bully, too. My sister had been working on that with the help of a child therapist at the school, and she’s a good kid. She’ll be fine because no bullies allowed in this home.” Maddi jabbed the countertop hard with her finger. “Vic dictated every little thing in their marriage and my sister let him. If she and I went out shopping, she always had to be home at a certain time for him. Sometimes I just wanted to shake her so hard. How could she be so stupid?”
I shrugged. I had no answer. I couldn’t understand women who let men run everything. A marriage was a partnership, and while I loved my husband, at least I did a few days ago, there was no way the man would ever get away with telling me when I should leave a gathering or when I had to go to bed. He’d find himself out on the curb if he ever tried that nonsense. And I was glad to say all my friends felt the same way and had great marriages. I tended to choose strong women, not doormats, as friends.
Maddi took a sip of tea and then continued. “But lately things were changing. Jenna was getting tired of living like property as opposed to a wife. She even filed for a legal separation, but then got back with Victor. In the last month I think she regretted that decision and I think she was planning to leave. This time for good. My husband Hal is the CEO of a medical supply company and right before she died Jenna asked him if he had any office work she could do for the summer. She didn’t wan
t us to mention it to Victor. I think she wanted to work and save up so she could move out. Victor would not let her go easily, I can tell you that, so if she really was planning on moving out, she’d want to have all her ducks in a row. And then she told me that Vic suggested they take a nice getaway for their anniversary. Never in all these years did he do anything like that, but Jenna thought maybe it was a good sign. She could be so naïve. Not me. I was sure he found out somehow that she was planning on leaving him. He found out and he arranged for them to take out big life insurance policies saying it was all for Moshi, to secure her future. Yeah, right. And then he comes up with a getaway to Maine. Maine. Out in the middle of nowhere in the winter. Why not the Bahamas or Hawaii, right? I begged her not to go. I told her I had a bad feeling about the trip.”
I finished the last bite of my sandwich, took a sip of my tea and looked at Maddi. “And then what happened?”
A tear ran down her cheek. “And then Jenna fell off a cliff.”
Chapter 14
I left Maddi Wickersham shortly after lunch. She was taking the girls to see the latest summer blockbuster, and had to get them out of the pool, dried off, and dressed. Moshi was putting on a brave front. All her cousins seemed very protective of her, and I prayed the little girl would be okay. She had a loving aunt and great cousins, and Maddi said her husband was only too happy to take Moshi in and would raise her like one of his own daughters.
Maddi told me that Ruth Sanjari was living in Victor and Jenna’s house. The house was left in a trust for Moshi, and in a few days, after Victor’s funeral, Maddi planned to kick Ruth out into the street if need be. I didn’t want to talk to the woman yet. Give her a few days to get through the funeral. So, the next person on my list was Gary Hachmeister. Shirley had given me the name of his construction firm and its address. Shirley wasn’t exactly sure of the relationship between Victor and Gary. If Mr. Hachmeister was a good friend, he might very well have taken the day off, but I was willing to take my chances.