Angel Sleuth

by Lesley A. Diehl

“Boring dress. Doesn’t show off any of your assets, not that you have many.” Hiram always was such a smooth operator when it came to seducing a woman. But he wasn’t going to ruin her evening, not tonight. Kaitlin brought her fist up and back into his crotch with as much force as she could. It was a pretty ineffective bop in the pants, yet Hiram yelled and jumped back.

  “You did it again, you bitch!” He grabbed at his trousers, fumbling around with his hand until he extracted a corsage pin. Oops, Kaitlin forgot when she removed the pin from Paul’s flowers that there’s usually more than one provided to anchor the corsage. Without intending to, she stabbed Hiram with a corsage pin for the second time in their long acquaintance.

  “Stop right there.” Jim sprang out onto the terrace. Hiram picked up one of the potted geraniums and threw it at him, slowing his progress, and then bounded for the woods behind the house. Jim flipped open his cell phone, made the call to alert his men and ran after Hiram. Kaitlin stood on the patio, gazing into the shadows; she was grinning from ear to ear.

  Several minutes later, Jim returned without Hiram to find her sitting on a chaise lounge, tears running down her face.

  “What did he do to you?” He reached out a hand to touch her face.

  “Don’t.” She could barely get the words out.

  “I’ll kill that guy when I get my hands on him.” Jim delivered his words through clenched teeth, and she could see murder in his eyes.

  “It’s okay.” She broke out with several guffaws, followed by a bad case of the hiccups. “It’s not what he did to me. It’s what I did to him.” She hiccupped and laughed her way back into the ballroom with Jim following behind.

  “Christ,” she heard Jim say. Then he muttered something about “women.”

  Several guests turned in their direction and stared. Kaitlin hiccupped her way across the crowded ballroom and down the hallway to a bathroom pointed out to her by the valet at the door. Jim followed. Before she entered the bathroom, she turned back to him, hiccupped once in his direction, laughed again and slammed the door in his face. She’d have a lot of explaining to do later.

  Repairs to mascara and lip gloss were useless, so she simply washed her face clean of makeup, adjusted the front of her dress, and held her breath for several minutes. When she emerged from the bathroom, Jim was gone, replaced by Paul whose forehead wrinkled in concern.

  “Are you all right? Your mother’s a bit worried, and so am I.”

  “Oh, yes, just fine. This had been one of the best nights of my life. The dancing was wonderful, Paul. And there were other things, too. I’ll explain on the way home. Where’s Jim?”

  “He seemed a bit put out. Didn’t get his man, it seems. He said I should see you home.”

  Kaitlin couldn’t blame Jim for being disappointed in the evening. She wondered if his feelings included more than not being able to apprehend Hiram.

  “Kaitlin,” said Mary Jane.

  “Where did you get to? You didn’t get a chance to meet Mom’s doctor friend.”

  “That was the problem. Doctor Sardino might have recognized me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He was a friend of my father’s, that is before Dad went straight and left the mob.” Mary Jane must have seen the look of horror on Kaitlin’s face because she quickly tried to explain away the mob reference. “I mean, Dad didn’t do much for them. They tried him as a numbers runner, a driver and a hit man, but he always fell asleep before he could get the job done. He had to retire early, so to speak.” Mary Jane chuckled at her own joke and continued, “But when he was active, as active as he ever got, I overheard some things I shouldn’t have, and I went to court to testify against some members. At that time Sardino was connected. If he saw me here now, he’d let his old buddies know, and Jeremy would be in danger.”

  “So Jim was right. You are in the Witness Protection Program.”

  “Sort of. I told the authorities I needed another identity, and they offered me one, but it meant I’d have to lose contact with all my friends and family. Luckily, I had my own resources, you know…” When she said this, she twisted her head upward as if making reference to a higher power.

  “Jim said when he tried to check your finger prints, the Feds denied access to your full profile. Aren’t you violating their rules?”

  “What makes you think the Feds had anything to do with my file?”

  “Who then?”

  “Kaitlin, Kaitlin. Don’t you think my organization has access to any file they want, more complete access than any old federal bureau?”

  Kaitlin rolled her eyes back in their sockets. This night was just too much. “Well, never mind that for now. But you should tell Jim what you know about Sardino.”

  “I already did.”

  “Fine. I’m about ready to go home. This had been one hell of a night.”

  “Why don’t we slip out the back way then. Save you the trouble of having to say goodnight to everyone. I’m sure your mother will understand.”

  “But I left my wrap at the door. I need to get it. It’s not mine. I borrowed it for the night.”

  Mary Jane stepped in front of Kaitlin. “You really don’t want to do that. I’ll get your wrap for you and bring it home. You just go on out the terrace doors.”

  “What’s going on here?” asked Kaitlin. She pushed past Mary Jane and out of the ballroom where she almost ran over someone she hated to encounter more than she did Hiram. Zack. And his new old woman was hanging onto his arm. They hadn’t yet spotted her, so she hid behind a group of people at the door. She was close enough to them to overhear the conversation between Mrs. Gumball and Mother.

  “I want to thank you again, my dear, for introducing me to Zack. I couldn’t have asked for a more talented young man, an artist in many ways.” At this the woman stared up into Zack’s eyes in adoration and possessiveness. Her body had the appearance of a statue cut out of a mahogany tree, hard, sculpted by a surgeon’s knife and looking as if she would crack in pieces if she moved too quickly or smiled too widely.

  “Ignore that,” whispered Mary Jane in her ear.

  “You knew about this?”

  “Your mother confessed when she came to visit.”

  “I thought you were a guardian angel, not a priest.”

  Mary Jane shuttled her out of sight from group to group until she was walked out the front door. Paul was waiting for her in her car, the vehicle they’d driven to the party.

  “Where’s Jim?” Kaitlin asked. Mary Jane shoved her into the front seat and slammed the door.

  “He caught a ride in one of the police cruisers,” Mary Jane said. “And he arranged for a cruiser to follow you and Paul into Aldensville. Mac and I will be there soon.”

  “Can you drive okay?” asked Paul.

  Kaitlin shuddered a bit, thinking about her encounter with Hiram, but admitted she felt surprisingly calm for someone who had stood chest to bodice with a possible killer.

  “I’m fine, I think.”

  Paul shifted in his seat so he was facing her. His face was paler than usual, she thought, or was it just the poor light from the car headlights on the road?

  “You and Hiram go back a ways,” said Paul, “and it sounds as if it’s been less than a joyful relationship. Did you think he’d provide you with any information about Ms. Hatfield’s letters? Or that he’d turn himself into the authorities? From what you told me about him and what I’ve heard around ARC, he’s a bad one.”

  “I think his criminal cronies will want to see him disappear. I never saw Hiram as having much of a code of loyalty, and he’s a liability when he drinks, which he does a lot. Once the authorities pick him up,” and Kaitlin was certain Jim’s men would do just that, “Hiram will sing like Kermit the Frog.” She smiled at Paul and hummed a line or two from “Sesame Street.”

  “For now, however, Hiram is still in the employ of the goons and a danger to you,” Paul said. Concern had taken the sparkle out of those blue eyes, and Kaitlin was sorry for th
at and furious at Hiram for causing Paul pain on her behalf. “But you were going to tell me something about the evening, something important I thought.”

  “You know that Leda has a daughter, Caroline, whom Leda gave up for adoption?” Paul nodded his head. “Well, I know who Caroline’s father is.”

  Chapter 25

  Paul turned to her. “No! Who’s her father? Anyone I know?”

  “Someone we all know, someone that Leda trusted all her life and who betrayed her in every way. Lucky for her, she never knew of his duplicity.”

  “Who?” asked Paul again.

  “Henry Baldo.”

  “Dr. Baldo? Why that old reprobate,” said Paul.

  “You don’t know the half of it. I wish I had those letters, but I thought it best I put them back in the briefcase so that Sardino didn’t know I’d read them. At least I hope he doesn’t know. I’m not certain I covered my tracks very well. Since Hiram took the letters out of Frederica Hatfield’s music box, I have to assume that Sardino got them from Hiram. That means…”

  “That means that Sardino and Hiram are in this together,” concluded Paul.

  The lights of Aldensville loomed ahead. Kaitlin turned right onto Oak Street and headed up the hill toward ARC.

  “And Toliver’s in on it, too, I’ll bet. I think Toliver lied to Officer Hendricks when he claimed that Sardino meant to let Bethany go when he said to get rid of her. I’ll bet he meant kill her,” Kaitlin said. She pulled up to the front entrance of ARC and put the car in park.

  “You should let Jim Wallace know what happened in the bedroom and that you saw those letters,” said Paul.

  “You’re right. Sardino and those letters are related to what’s happening at ARC. It looks like a lot of staff here is somehow involved in whatever’s going on.” And if Kaitlin’s hunch were correct, she needed to warn Paul to be careful. He motioned as if he were zipping his mouth closed and throwing away an imaginary key.

  “It’s not funny. Barbara Bartlett is dead, murdered probably because she knew too much or was going to tell the authorities what she knew. And Leda. Probably Frederica Hatfield, too. I’m worried about you. You be careful now.”

  As she pulled away from ARC, she spotted the police cruiser that had followed them from Arlene’s turn off. Soon another car took up the position behind Kaitlin’s. Her heart began to race. She had warned Paul that this was no laughing matter, and now she had to remind herself of the truth of that. As much fun as it was returning Hiram to the events of prom night, he was not a stable man.

  She stomped on the accelerator. If she couldn’t outrun the car, she might get the attention of the local police by driving too fast. The streets she drove down were deserted, so she decided to turn onto Main Street and cruise past the police station. She figured proximity of the cops would discourage her pursuer.

  The car was tight on her tail as Kaitlin slid around the corner and approached the police station. In the light offered by police headquarters, she got a good look at the car—an old, dark blue Buick. Thank God. Mac! Uh, oh. In the rearview mirror, she caught the look of disgust on his face. He obviously wasn’t pleased with her driving antics. Close to him on the seat, Mary Jane waved happily at her.

  She pulled into the drive with Mac close behind. He rolled down his window as she got out.

  “I’ll be right here for the rest of the night. You might want to watch your driving. You’re not very good at it.”

  “I could join you for a while as soon as I get Jeremy’s sitter home,” said Mary Jane. Kaitlin figured there was little chance of his saying no to that. Home was next door, one of the neighbor’s teenage daughters.

  He grinned and winked. “Night,” he said to Kaitlin.

  “Go to bed, sweetie,” said Mary Jane. “You’ve had an eventful evening. Jim’s got everything under control, and we don’t have a thing to worry about now.”

  Kaitlin considered calling Caroline in California and giving her the news about her father, but she felt she should allow Henry the privilege of explaining his parentage to his daughter and offering his services on behalf of his sick grandson. Besides, she told herself, she needed sleep, and Mary Jane was right. Jim was taking care of everything. She yawned and, once she put her head on the pillow, fell asleep.

  She looked in on Jeremy. All the animals in the cages were quiet. He finished saying his prayers, adding one for Dessie’s safe return and asking God to bring his pig home.

  Looking out the front upstairs window, she watched as Mary Jane, like a teenager with her steady boyfriend in his car, snuggled up against Mac, safe in his arms for the night.

  The world seemed once more to spin on its axis without a wobble, at least until the next morning.

  * * *

  An early phone call from one of the friends he’d made in Aldensville, Todd, sent Jeremy peddling out of the village as the sun came up. Todd had told him there was a carnival in Arbor, a small village only several miles beyond the Kinderkill. The rides and game booths wouldn’t be open this morning, but Jeremy didn’t care. What interested him was Todd’s report that one of the carnival’s featured attractions was “Robin and His Amazing Racing Pigs.”

  Todd’s parents took him last night, and he swore one of the pigs reminded him of Desdemona. Jeremy found that very clever of Dessie. What better place for her than with some of her own?

  When Jeremy got to the field where the carnival was located and spotted the ring holding the potbellied pigs, he looked around to be certain no one was watching him approach the area. Sure enough, he spied Desdemona rubbing sides with a larger and quite handsome potbellied male. Jeremy called softly to her, and she turned in the direction of his voice. He could swear he saw a smile light up her snout. She dropped her flirting with the male, ran over to the fence and poked her pink nose through the wire to nuzzle Jeremy’s hand.

  “Hey! What’re you doing there? Get away from my pigs.” A smallish man with a pitchfork in his hand rushed toward Jeremy. The man’s face was as pink as Desdemona’s snout, and his nose was pushed in and upturned. He looked more like his pigs than he did a human.

  “Not all of these are your pigs. This one’s mine.” Jeremy pointed at Dessie. “She ran off the other day, and I’ve been looking for her.” Jeremy stared up into the pig man’s face, noting a look of fear briefly cross his features.

  “Nope. Can’t be. She’s been with me for years.”

  “Liar.” He was anxious to grab Desdemona and take her away from this unpleasant man.

  “Get out of here, or I’ll show you what we do with nosy people.” He pointed the pitchfork at Jeremy and approached him, jabbing the tines in his direction and making a growling noise in his throat.

  “I’ll be back,” Jeremy whispered to Desdemona. He grabbed his bike off the ground where he had dropped it and sped off across the field.

  “We’ll just see whose pig she is,” said Jeremy to himself. That man had no right to Dessie.

  He peddled to Dr. Martin’s Animal Hospital. Desdemona’s previous owner had the vet plant a microchip in her shoulder. Doc Martin would help him.

  The animal hospital didn’t open until nine, but Jeremy banged on the door knowing that someone would be in early taking care of the boarders and those kept overnight for medical care. Carrie Martin, the doctor’s wife, opened the door to him.

  “Why, Jeremy. What are you doing here so early? Another bird fallen out of a nest? Or a squirrel with a broken leg?”

  Jeremy looked up into her sunny face. She looked just like an angel, he thought, a guardian angel who would help him with Dessie.

  “No, not that. It’s Desdemona. She ran away, you know.”

  “Yes, I know. I put her picture up on our bulletin board in case anyone coming here spotted her, but we’ve heard nothing.”

  Doc Martin entered the room, carrying a furry black and white cat under his arm. His great height and large hands made the cat, no midget itself, look like a toy miniature. The doctor’s face registered concer
n and anger when he heard Jeremy’s words.

  “I found her. She’s with Robin and his racing pigs in Arbor, at the carnival there.”

  “I’ve been wanting an excuse to visit Robin and see how he’s treating his pigs,” said Doc Martin. “This is as good a one as any. I’ve got surgery this morning, but I tell you what. I’ll meet you over there at noon, and we’ll see what we can do.”

  “She’s got her microchip. That should prove she’s Desdemona and not one of his pigs.”

  Doc Martin patted Jeremy on the shoulder. “Don’t you worry. If she’s your Desdemona, we’ll have her back home in no time.”

  “Would you like to come back and help me this morning with feedings and cleaning?” Carrie gestured to Jeremy to follow her to the back of the clinic.

  * * *

  Several hours later, with the work at the hospital done, Jeremy had time before he was to meet Doc Martin back at the carnival. He peddled up the last hill before town and headed for Todd’s house to tell him the good news about Desdemona and the offer Carrie made him to work some hours helping out at the animal hospital. That is, if his mom and he weren’t moved to another location.

  As he turned the corner to head parallel with the river, a figure stepped out of the woods and blocked the path in front of him.

  “Well, well, what have we here, but little Jeremy out and about on his bike.” Hiram Blackman stood facing the bike and grasped the handlebars to prevent Jeremy from moving. Jeremy looked up into Hiram’s bloodshot eyes. They were cold and angry, the meanest eyes he’d ever seen on any person.

  “I need you and your mother to split. Get out of the house. And I don’t want you going back there and blabbing you met me to Kaitlin. But here’s the deal. If you leave home and don’t tell Kaitlin you saw me, maybe I won’t have to kill her. How’s that for a good deal?”

  Hiram reached out to grab Jeremy’s arm, but Jeremy shoved the bike forward with a hard push. The front tire slid harmlessly between Hiram’s legs, but the top of the fork of the handle bars collided with his crotch. Jeremy jumped off the bike and sprinted into the woods.