“Okay, okay. I’m not here to belabor your mother’s virtues. I just want to know one thing. What was Melanie talking about when she said you and your mother had been fighting—before this whole thing came up.”
Jeanine cut her eyes over her shoulder at Melanie and then back at me. “I caught her in a clench with Mr. Rush.”
“What do you mean ‘in a clench’? Were they . . . uh . . .”
“Like making out in the kitchen. Arms around each other. French kissing. His hand on her rear end.”
“Um, right. So you took it upon yourself to speak to your mother about it.”
She shot me a look that only teenaged girls can give. “Well, I couldn’t tell my—Harrison about it, could I?”
I didn’t answer.
“I didn’t want to tell Tommy, either. It would have really hurt him, you know? I just thought she should know that she’d been seen.”
“I can assume that she didn’t take too kindly to your mentioning it?”
She laughed. It was an awfully bitter laugh for a young girl. “She sure as hell didn’t.”
“When was this? When did you see her?”
“A couple of weeks ago. No telling how long it’s been going on. She said it was none of my business.”
“Naturally. So you never told your father? Your adopted father?”
“No, why?”
“Just curious.”
“Do you think she’ll marry Mr. Rush? I’ve been wondering if she was going to divorce Harrison, Mr. Lawson.”
“Would you quit that, Jeanine? It’s really irritating me.”
“Well, I don’t know what to call him.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Call him whatever you called him before. You’ve known all along that he was your adopted father. You loved the man, didn’t you?”
Jeanine cast her eyes down at the books she held. “Yes. I just think he was a dumb jerk and my mother is a bitch.”
“I don’t approve of that kind of language in front of adults, either.”
“I’m sorry, but she is. My real father is in jail, and the other one is dead, and my mother is going to send us off to keep our mouths shut while she goes scot-free.”
“Hey, don’t get all bent out of shape yet, kid. I’m working as fast as I can, but I have to eat and sleep, okay? Back off a little and be a kid for a while and I’ll see what I can do. All right?” Talk about a bitch. In a few years, she’d be an A Number One if she didn’t cool it.
She smiled then—her way of apologizing. “I know what you’re thinking, Mavis. I can’t help it sometimes, but I’ll try.”
I shook my head and tousled hers. “Go to school.”
“You’ll call me—”
“No. You call me. You never know who may be listening in on your end. Go on now. Goodbye.”
She turned back to her friends, and I watched while they paraded into the middle of the street, stopping traffic. I wouldn’t take one of Hilary’s millions to be that age again.
While I was out and about, I drove to the Katy Freeway area to see what there was to see of Hadley’s office buildings and past the shopping center at Sharpstown. I wasn’t too surprised to find that the area looked relatively deserted—as opposed to how it might have been in the middle of the oil boom. It showed its age and wear and tear. The office building parking lots were almost empty when they should have been overflowing. A lot of the windows of the small shopping center were blackened and the doors had cards with leasing information taped to the glass inserts. Clearly, Mr. Hadley was in big financial trouble.
Chapter Twenty-Three
At the Harris County jail, I shut my ears to the clanging of the iron doors and tried not to shudder when I saw Arthur. He wore jail greens—the cotton suit that looks like hospital orderly wear. He shuffled in on county issued flip-flops, perched on the stool across from me, and picked up the telephone connected by a wire to the one I held. From the stoop of his shoulders, he looked like a broken man. His wan smile belied his real state, his bespectacled eyes lusterless and ringed by dark circles. His spectacles, combined with the thick wall of glass between us, distorted his eyes. His face had a pale, unhealthy pallor, his wispy, gray-blond hair pasted to his head.
“The kids send their love, Arthur.”
“They’re okay?” Lackluster blue eyes stared through me.
“Yes. We’ve figured out how the police knew I’d be going up there, and they trust me now. Will you? I want to help. They want me to help. Is that all right?” I didn’t want to tell him I already was. I didn’t want him to realize what my motivation was.
“I don’t think there’s much you can do,” he said. His voice sounded tinny and pathetic.
“So give up already,” I said with a grin. That got a thin smile and a shrug out of him. “Come on, Arthur. You gonna let her whip you twice? The kids told me how it happened.”
He spoke slowly, each word measured and painful. “I was a stupid fool. Guess I still am. I loved and trusted her. She always had a way of twisting everything so it came out in her favor.”
“I know. It’s called manipulation.”
“She can be so believable.”
“Hey—I know.”
“Do you think she killed Harrison?”
“I don’t know. Right now, it could be anybody.”
“If Hilary killed Harrison, they’ll never be able to prove it.”
“It won’t be easy.”
“You know, back then, I never figured out what she was doing until that last day in court. There was something in her face that told me she’d set me up. Until then, I thought she actually believed that I’d done those things to my kids.”
I watched his face while he talked. I wanted him to get it out. In fact, I wanted him to get good and angry. He needed to fight this, but he was the only one who could give himself the will to do it.
“She came to see me one time after I’d been arrested. We sat across from one another just as you and I are now. I don’t know why she came. She started crying and asking me why I did those things. She said I was sick.” His eyes watered and his voice broke. “I tried to tell her that I didn’t. I tried to convince her that I was innocent. I thought if I could just get out, that somehow I could prove it to her.” He sniffed. “I begged her to make my bail. It was high, and we didn’t have that kind of money, but she could have borrowed it. My parents had that little piece of property—you know—where the cabin is?”
I nodded. I remembered it well.
“My parents would have been able to mortgage it and come up with some of the money, but not all. She could have borrowed the rest. I didn’t know that she didn’t want me out.
She said she was afraid of me and what I’d do to the kids if I got out. Can you believe it?”
Sweet Jesus. I might go slap her yet. I shook my head, not knowing what I could do to comfort him.
“I never saw Tommy or Jeanine after my arrest. She wouldn’t bring them here. They didn’t come to court. Everyone just assumed I was guilty—even my lawyer. He was court appointed. He wanted me to plead guilty. He never even shook my hand. It was like he was afraid to touch me.” A look of horror crossed his face. “I should have done it. Pled out. I would have gotten fewer years. No one wanted to try the case. But I wouldn’t plea.”
“Who was your lawyer?”
“A young guy. Rush. James Rush.”
Well, shut my mouth.
“He hadn’t been practicing very long and told me he was just taking appointments until he could get on his feet. He wanted to do civil work but had to do some criminal until he had some money in the bank to finance the other. He didn’t give a damn about me or—”
“Arthur—”
“Hilary was the sick one—”
“Whoa, Arthur. Wait a minute.”
He stopped and looked at me, as if he’d forgotten I was there. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I just thought there was something you might want to know.”
“What’s
that?” His gray eyebrows knitted together.
“About James Rush.”
“I know, Mavis. He’s rich now. I read about him while I was at TDCJ.”
“No, that’s not all.” I stared back at him. “He was at the house the day Harrison was killed.”
He closed his eyes, his head wagging slowly from side to side. When he opened them, he smiled a Mona Lisa kind of smile. “She’s slick all right.”
“I’m not sure to what extent they’re involved.”
“No telling, knowing her.”
“You think he was in on the setup back then?”
“God knows. I don’t see how, though. He really was court appointed. I got a letter from the judge that said so.”
“Maybe she got to him after the appointment. Maybe she paid him off.”
“Do you think that’s really possible?”
“Hey—anything’s possible,” I said.
“Then he could be in on Harrison’s murder.”
“What would he have to gain? He’s a rich man . . .”
His eyes had begun to shine and the man actually grinned at me. “You’re hiding something, Mavis. Tell me.”
“Aw, shit. They’re having an affair. I don’t know how long it’s been going on and I can’t think what Hilary would have to gain from it. If Harrison had found out, she’d have lost her security.”
“Yes, but the papers say that Rush is stinking rich.”
“He is,” I said. “Filthy, stinking rich.”
“Maybe Hilary wanted her cake and to eat it, too. Maybe Harrison found out and she killed him for his money, just to be on the safe side, in case Rush didn’t want her bad enough to marry her.”
“Wait, we don’t know for sure that Harrison discovered it. I could probably ask around. Annette might know. That is, if she gets okay.”
“Annette?”
“The lady at the insurance company,” I said.
“Annette Jensen? She’s still there?”
“Yes. Did you know how she felt about Harrison? Kelby McAfee says she adored him. That Hilary took him away from her.”
“Kelby’s still there? Amazing. I haven’t heard all these names in years.” His face looked like that of someone who had just walked into a class reunion.
“Kelby McAfee stands to take over for Harrison. President of the board. You didn’t know?”
“No. I didn’t think he was that smart. He was always sly, though. Stab you in the back first chance he got.”
“He said that he and some of the others figured out what was going on in your case, but there was nothing they could do about it.”
“He wouldn’t lift a finger to help his own mother. Especially if he would benefit from not helping her. I can’t believe he’s lasted all these years. Nobody ever liked him back then. They only kept him on because he was a hell of a salesman.”
“He’s still not exactly appealing,” I said, making a face.
Arthur laughed. “Does he still look like Mother Nature forgot to use her flesh-colored crayon?”
“Yep,” I said and laughed. “Absolutely no appeal whatsoever.”
“That’s Kelby.”
“Let’s get back on track before we run out of time and they throw me out of this place.” I picked up my pen and began making notes.
“What were you saying about Annette?”
“Someone clobbered her. She’s seriously injured.”
“Oh my God. Did they catch whoever it was?”
“No. Please, let’s not talk about it, okay? I talked to Jeanine and she says she didn’t tell Harrison. I’ll ask around and see if I can find out. Joan McAfee might know.”
Arthur nodded. “It might also be helpful if you could find out what Harrison died from.”
“Yeah, I’m working on that.” What with my current relationship with the police, I didn’t know how I’d find out. Which reminded me, I needed to get back in touch with my friend, Stan.
“Are you going to tell the police that I didn’t molest my kids, Mavis?”
“Do you think they’d believe me? Hell, they’re convinced they’ve got a kidnapper-murderer in jail. Case closed. Why would they listen to me?”
“Oh.” His face fell. “I just thought you had connections there, that’s all.”
“You already saw what good those connections did me.”
“I’m sorry you got arrested. I never intended for you to get into any trouble.” Arthur looked contrite.
“While we’re on the subject, what exactly did you intend?”
He stared at the counter in front of him and picked at it with his thumbnail. “I wasn’t sure how we’d work it out, exactly, but I thought we could hire you to find Harrison’s killer and when you did, I’d be in the clear.”
“You didn’t plan on the kids notifying their mother that they were okay?”
“I was leaving that up to them. I really didn’t kidnap them. I know I went about this in an awkward way, but I knew I’d never be allowed to talk to them if I asked Hilary first, so I didn’t ask, I just called. Jeanine hung up on me at first, but later she talked to me. She’s a headstrong girl. She remembered what had gone on; she said she wanted to come live with me. I told her no, that it was impossible, but she said if I didn’t let her, she’d run away from home.” He pounded the counter in front of him. “I agreed that we’d at least talk about it. It all got out of hand after that. I guess I’m not used to dealing with kids. I just let Jeanine have her way.
She contacted Tommy and then I went and got him. We were trying to figure out what we would do when we heard about Harrison. The next thing we knew the papers said I was a kidnapper and suspected killer. Everything just went haywire.”
“Tell me about it,” I said.
“I don’t blame you if you’re angry with us for dragging you into this mess. Tommy didn’t know this would happen when he hired you.”
“How could he? I’m not angry, really. Just a bit worn and tired. Sometimes I’m too sarcastic. I didn’t mean to sound that way. Let’s put that behind us and try to solve this thing and get you out of jail, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “There’s just one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ve got my arraignment coming up. Do you think you could get me a lawyer I could trust? One that wouldn’t sell me out to Hilary?”
“Is a woman okay?” I asked, thinking of Gillian Wright.
“A woman got me into this mess, maybe a woman could get me out.” •
I grinned. “Right. I’ll give my lawyer a call.” I wanted to reach out and give his hand a pat of reassurance, but there was no way, not through the bulletproof glass. We said our good-byes and hung up. The deputy took him away. The bars clanged, the buzzer buzzed, and I went to the office, finally.
When I got to the office, Margaret had the coffeepot going and tea brewing. She must have really missed me.
“Message from the answering service, Mrs. Strickmeier.”
“Strickmeier? Who the hell is that?”
“Don’t know. The message is in there next to the computer. Why don’t you call and find out?” Margaret said.
I went for the pink slip. It was the child welfare number. Angela got a new last name. I forgot. I got her on the line.
“I want to apologize for being so hateful yesterday,” she said when I identified myself. “I’m on the rag. You know how it is.”
I laughed. “Haven’t heard that term in years, you nut. It’s okay. I figured something was wrong. It’s not like you.”
“I was really a pisser. Can you forgive me?”
“No problem.” I couldn’t figure out the stall. What did she want that she was being so nice? “Did you get a chance to look at the file?”
“I’d like to make it up to you. Could I treat you to lunch today?”
“Is there someone standing over your shoulder?”
“Benihanna’s? That would be fine. I’ll meet you there at twelve-fifteen. Don’t be lat
e. You know how they fill up.”
“I’ll be there with bells on. Hope it’s worth my while, Angela.”
“Oh, it will be. The food’s always good. See you later.”
I laughed as I hung up. Either Mandy was practically sitting on her lap or they had a snitch in the office. Whichever it was, I couldn’t wait for lunch.
I re-dialed the phone and Gillian Wright picked up. I’d always heard that after lawyers were hired, they were never in the office when a client called.
“This is Mavis. Would you like another client?”
“I can’t give referral fees,” she said. “It’s prohibited by the code of ethics.”
“I wasn’t asking for that.” I hoped she was joking. I was going to have to get to know the woman better so I could figure out what she meant half the time.
“A little humor never hurts. In this business, without it a person can’t survive. Who are you talking about? Or shall I say in my best lawyer tone: To whom do you refer?”
She was a trip. “Arthur Woodridge. He’s afraid his ex-wife will get to a court appointed lawyer.”
“Like James Rush?”
“You know?” I was only mildly surprised.
“I’m earning my keep. You sent my money yet?”
The Sweet Scent of Murder Page 19