by Elaine Macko
“I think this is true. From what we saw today, he did not look like a man worried about being thrown in prison,” Annie said. “He is too much connected to his phone to give murder a thought. Oui, Gerard, on this I believe we have total agreement. Alex?”
“I guess. An arrogant little twit he may be, but he didn’t strike me as a killer.”
And that seemed to be pretty much all we were going to get out of the guys. My husband was not letting anything else slip, which made me think he was on to something, but I wasn’t about to get it out of him tonight and we were all very tired.
I put the remaining cannoli in the refrigerator and tided things up in the kitchen, and then turned out the living room light as we all made our way upstairs.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
I was thrilled to have Annie and Gerard visiting, but I was a creature of habit, and since they arrived my daily routine had been interrupted. Of course, with a murder to solve, things would have been disrupted anyway, but it was nice to be able to get back to my norm, if only for a day.
Our guests had taken off very early to meet with some friends in Rhode Island. They were another Belgian couple who had moved to the States a couple of years ago when the man took a teaching job at Brown University. Annie and Gerard would be gone all day, and I needed to talk with a few more people, but I had to wait for Shirley to get me their contact info. I also wanted to get my grandmother’s take on some things before I headed into the office for a bit of catch up.
“Where’s your sidekick?” Meme asked, while she ushered me into her small living room.
My grandmother lived in a community of small senior homes. She had a ton of friends, and most days she and Theresa and Frances headed out to one of the bingo halls in the surrounding area. When they weren’t doing that, they liked to play cards and gossip about the comings and goings of some of the residents.
“She and Gerard went to visit friends in Rhode Island for the day. What are you up to?”
My grandmother brought me a cup of tea and refilled her coffee mug. She returned to the kitchen and came back with a plate of salami and cheese and a loaf of crusty bread.
“I got this bread you like at a new bakery in Bridgeport. I figured you and Annie would stop by one of these mornings.”
“What were you doing in Bridgeport?” I asked around a mouth full of salami. My grandmother and her friends didn’t let age keep them down. They were out and about almost every day.
“Tap dancing class.”
I started to choke on the piece of bread I had just pushed into my mouth. “Did you say tap dancing class?”
“Theresa and Frances said we do too much sitting at bingo and playing cards. We need to get some exercise in our lives.”
My grandmother was a short, round ball of a woman. She had a ton of energy, but I just didn’t see her taking dance lessons.
“And how are you doing?” I asked with a wide smile and a bit of skepticism.
“I mostly sit and tap my feet in time to the music, but that Frances is a real bojangles. Theresa’s pretty good too, and Fred’s got some moves,” Meme said, referring to her other friend from the community, generic Viagra Fred, so named because he couldn’t afford the real stuff. “But I’ve lost three pounds, so every bit helps.”
I shoved another piece of meat into my mouth wondering if maybe I should sign up for some dance lessons as well, or maybe I should just stop shoving meat into my mouth. Not that I was anywhere near being overweight, but salami and cheese and crusty bread, not to mention stoemp and cannoli, had a way of creeping up on a person. And since Annie arrived, I hadn’t been doing much in the way of physical exercise except driving around in my car all day. I didn’t think that could be construed as a high calorie burner.
My grandmother eyed me. “What’s going on in your head? I can tell you’re chewing on something and it’s not the salami.”
“You know me well, Meme. How could a mother not recognize her baby? One of those women left the hospital with a baby who wasn’t theirs. Maybe even two mothers if the switch was made by a third party. So why couldn’t they see that they had the wrong kid?”
“Your mother took me to the nursery to see you in the hospital. She pointed to your little bassinette, and cooed at you through the window. I thought you were beautiful.”
I smiled. “Okay, so what does this have to do with the price of coffee?”
“It wasn’t you! The nurses moved the babies around to make room for some others that were born in the night. Your mother didn’t have a clue.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or be hurt that my mom didn’t know me.
“Don’t be upset, kiddo. They all look alike. All you know is you have a baby and you love it. Your mother would have taken home a chimpanzee if the nurse told her it was you.”
“Okay, fine, but I’m going to keep this bit of information in the back of my mind for use down the road. You never know when you might need to humiliated your mother for some reason.”
“Good. Just don’t take it to heart. Your mother worshipped you. So, what else have you learned?” Meme leaned back in her comfy chair, mug firmly in hand, waiting to hear all.
“I was hoping to talk with Mandy Aiello’s mom yesterday, and I want to track down the rich boyfriend of Christine Jamison, but I never made it. We also talked with Christine’s parents and I don’t know. I think there might be something there. You should see her. At first glance you would swear she had to be the Spiegel’s daughter, and I think Sheldon felt the same.”
“So what’s bothering you?” Meme asked.
“Christine’s parents claim he came by, all gung ho about their daughter and they told him to get out and he did. But would he? If he really felt certain about her, wouldn’t he go back and try to convince them to have her DNA checked. I think there might be more that they’re not telling me and if I have time today, I want to talk with Mrs. Jamison again.
“Who else have you talked to?”
I tore off another piece of bread and placed a slice of salami on top. “Annie and I went to Port Chester to talk with a former colleague of the deceased.”
“Did you learn anything?’
“Not really. We’ve pretty much erased him from our list of suspects and so have the police, but he did say something weird.” I told Meme about the cryptic line Jerome Perry had heard Sheldon Spiegel say.
“Sounds like he was having some sort of trust issues with a co-worker.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. I talked with his daughter yesterday and she has no idea what it could mean. I want to talk with the wife again.”
“What about all those young ladies you talked to on Saturday. I didn’t want to ask too many questions with your mother getting all crazy on Sunday at the lunch.” Meme reached over and took a piece of salami off the plate.
“It’s weird how these women all feel a bit out of place in their families, but I think it’s all part of the growing up process rather than maybe being the child of the Spiegels.”
My grandmother gave a cackle. “Kiddo, you went through a phase where you were certain you were adopted. Then there was the time in your early twenties when you and your mother were at odds over everything. It wasn’t any fun being in the same room with the two of you, but I knew you would grow out of it and Mable is Mable. Did any of those women have a striking resemblance to Mrs. or Mr. Spiegel?
“A bit, but if pressed I think I could find something about all of them that matches. But you know what? I met the daughter, Andrea, yesterday and she looks like she belongs right where she is and we know she doesn’t. I was beginning to think maybe this whole DNA thing was just something that Jackie and her daughter made up, but John confirmed it last night. It was the only bone he tossed us. He spoke with the doctor who did the test down in North Carolina and Andrea is not the biological child of the Spiegels. How does that happen? How do you walk out of a hospital with the wrong baby? I just don’t get it.”
“You look like you’re stuck, kiddo. Tell me who
you met and maybe I can help you sort it out.” My grandmother folded her hands across her lap, ready to hear me out.
“Jennifer Shalt always felt out of place, but she has a loving family. Her grandfather died a few days before she was born and her mother had a hard time. The mother’s sister was a nurse on duty, so I want to speak with her and see if she remembers anything strange. Then we went to talk with Christine Jamison. She’s the one who looks the most like the Spiegels. Turns out she’s adopted, but doesn’t know it, and there was some trouble with the biological mother wanting to change her mind and keep the baby. Christine also has a rich boyfriend, fiancé actually, and her mother said he would not be happy to learn she’s actually Jewish, or at least his family wouldn’t be happy about it. After that we stopped off and met Mandy Aiello. She owns a chocolate shop in New Haven. Her mother’s running for mayor and I guess she’s a piece of work.”
“Aiello? That woman on the commercials? She is a piece of work,” Meme said. “Glad I don’t live in New Haven anymore if she’s what the city has to look forward to. But I see where your mind is going with this. If she found out there might be a scandal about her daughter’s true identity then she might feel the need to keep it quiet. These damn politicians,” Meme said with a shake of her head.
“Exactly. And maybe Christine’s boyfriend as well.”
“I know about Millie, but there’s one more girl. What about her?”
I shook my head. “A very sad story. She died. Erika Newman. Her mother, Rhoda, lives a life full of pain. Her ex-husband died, a result of never getting over their daughter’s death, and Rhoda has always blamed herself. The doctors said the disease was inherited, but Mr. Newman couldn’t see past his wife’s wild youth of drugs and drinking, and attributed the baby’s death to not taking care of herself during the pregnancy. Mrs. Newman said if it turns out her baby was switched then someone needs to pay for what that switch put her through.”
“Poor woman. Sounds like a reason to kill. Anyone else stand out as a killer?” Meme asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I learned a long time ago that I have to take everything I hear with a grain of salt. At this point, I think all the parties involved would be happy to just leave well enough alone. Who the heck wants this kind of trouble? Jennifer and Christine seem happy enough. Mandy’s got a new business that’s doing extremely well. I would imagine everyone’s probably a bit curious. I mean, you would have to be, wouldn’t you, but is this something to kill over? And why kill Sheldon Spiegel? Why not kill the hospital administrator or someone who was working with the new babies?”
“Maybe a lot of money is involved.”
I looked at my grandmother. “Money? How so?”
“Money is a big motivator for murder. Either someone was hoping to get some money out of all this or didn’t want to lose money.”
“Like maybe an inheritance?” I asked.
“Maybe. But what about this Christine, and her family, too, come to think of it. She’s got herself a rich fiancé from a good family. Maybe she or her parents didn’t want anything interfering with the marriage. And what about the Spiegels? Do they have money? Maybe one of the suspects thought they could blackmail Mr. Spiegel somehow or claim their daughter was his in exchange for a payoff? Maybe one of them is sure their daughter is a Spiegel, killed the man so that all his money, or whatever else he has, will now go to their kid.”
I had tons of scenarios running through my head. “All good theories.”
“So, did I help you, kiddo?”
“Well, you certainly gave me some new avenues to go down. Thanks, I guess.”
I kissed my grandmother goodbye and headed to my office. Despite all Annie and I had learned so far, I realized it was just a drop in the proverbial bucket.
CHAPTER THIRTY
It was a bit disheartening to see that my business was humming along beautifully without me. Or maybe I should pat myself on the back for being so good at hiring the right people.
“Anything exciting happening?” I asked Millie after I made a couple of phone calls and answered several emails.
She put her hand on her heart. “Oy! A bit of a crisis this morning, but it’s all sorted out, I hope.”
I looked up from some papers she had just brought in for me to sign. Oy? “Really? Anything I can help with?”
“I sent Carla Grayson out on a job this morning.”
“Right. To the razor blade factory,” I said.
“Yeah. They needed help with their upcoming annual investors meeting.”
“What happened?” I asked. Carla Grayson was a very proficient executive assistant and had helped us with several of our top clients.
“Carla is having, or I should say, was having an affair with Mr. CEO himself. His wife was not happy at all with our choice of administrative support.”
I put my pen down. “Why would Carla accept the assignment if she knew that both Mr. Crane and his wife worked there?” Now my blood was boiling.
“I asked her exactly that after I calmed Mrs. Crane down and sent someone else to help them out. Carla said she had hoped she could see Mr. Crane again and rekindle the romance.”
“Millie, you handled it perfectly. Thank you for getting someone else out there so promptly, but I’d like to have a word with Carla and reinforce our position on this. We are not to be used as her own private dating service. Did you update the database with her new number?”
“Not yet. I’ll email it to you.” Millie stood there for a minute.
I had a feeling she wanted to talk. I gave her a smile. “So what’s up with the oy?”
Millie took a seat. “I thought I’d try it out. You know, just in case. The truth is, Alex, I know I’m a Chapman and not a Spiegel. I’m the spitting image of my dad, but I did wonder a little about what it would be like to find out I had a whole different family. I mean, just for a minute. I would never trade my mom and grandmother for anything.”
“I understand. You couldn’t help but wonder what your life would be like if you were meant for another family. I would be curious, too.”
“But it was just for a second. No need to ever let my mom know I was thinking about it.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
“What’s going to happen when the right kid is finally found? If it wasn’t for the murder, I would just say leave everything as it is, but I guess someone needs to pay for Mr. Spiegel’s death.”
“Yes, they do. I don’t know what the answer is, Millie. It’s a mess, and in the end some innocent party’s life is going to be disrupted, I just don’t know how bad it will be.”
Millie stood up and nodded. “Right. I’ll get Carla’s number for you.”
My little chat with Millie calmed me down. I still wanted to speak with Carla about her unprofessional behavior this morning, but right now I wasn’t in the mood. While I needed to reiterate our disappointment at her performance, I didn’t want to lose her altogether. She’d been working with us for over a year with no negative incidents, and had always received glowing reviews from our clients. I needed a bit more time to formulate exactly what I was going to say to her without having to get into her personal life too much.
“We need to keep Henry away from Annie and Gerard,” my sister said from the doorway, scaring me to death.
“What the hell, Sam. I didn’t hear you. You scared me.”
“Oh, I scared you. You haven’t seen scary until you’ve seen Henry with a mouth full of snail meat. And I’m not talking the good kind drenched in garlic and melted butter. No, I’m talking about the things you find in your garden or squished on the sidewalk after someone runs them over with their bike.”
I grimaced, waiting to hear the latest exploit in Henry’s busy life. “Yuk. What did he do now?”
“We really need to watch what we say in front of that kid. He’s such a curious little guy. He overheard Annie telling Mom how to cook escargot.”
“Yeah, and I hope she doesn’t try it because I�
��m not eating a snail.”
“Well, tell that to Henry. I sent him out to play after school. Evidently he used the time to work on his culinary skills. He found a bunch of snails in the yard and cooked them in the microwave while I was upstairs cleaning the kids’ bathroom. After a couple of minutes he took them out and then melted some butter and had himself a little feast. He said he wanted to try them out like that Belgian lady.”
“What did they taste like?”
“How the heck should I know, but I don’t think Henry was impressed. He told me I could toss the rest out. I had to get a toothpick to get all the gunk out from between his teeth. I almost gagged. I’m telling you it was not pretty. Why do people eat that stuff?”
“It’s not all bad.” I told my sister about Gerard’s stoemp.
“It sounds like you guys are having a good time. If I wasn’t so busy with work and kid activities, I’d go sightseeing with you, but I have a feeling Annie’s not seeing much of Connecticut.” My sister gave me a smile.
“Well, she’ll get to do some touristy stuff today, but you’re right. Until this murder is solved, she just wants to dig in, and to be honest, I like having her along. She’s really nice and comes up with some good insights. Plus, she seems to have inherited the patient gene that somehow didn’t get into my DNA. Her calm demeanor has come in handy.”
My sister shook her head and laughed. “Dear God, you’ve created another monster. I’ll leave you to it.”
As soon as Sam left, I reached for the phone. I decided to get my talk with Carla over with, but instead I heard some raised voices out in the reception area.
“Millie, is everything okay?” my sister asked, having beaten me to the front of the office.
“I don’t mean to be rude, Mrs. Spiegel, but you really need to stop bothering me about this. Alex, if it’s okay with you, I’m going to go get a coffee. I need a break.”
“No problem, Mille. Jackie, why don’t you come back into my office.”
I rolled my eyes at Sam. She went back to her office and firmly shut the door leaving me to deal with the widow on my own.