Turning Secrets

by Brenda Chapman

  “It sounds ridiculous when you say it. Mick told me I was an idiot for coming here. I just don’t know what else to do.”

  Tanya felt a pull of sympathy at the raw distress on the woman’s face. What would she do if this were her daughter? “Teenage girls often tell their secrets to girlfriends. Have you spoken with them?”

  “I called them both, but they said they didn’t know anything about the boyfriend or where she is.”

  “Would you like me to speak with them? They might feel comfortable telling a third party, especially if they’re made to understand that Vanessa could be harming herself in the long run.”

  “At this point, I’m willing to try anything. Emily and Chelsea have been friends with Vanessa since kindergarten. If anyone knows something, it’ll be them.”

  “Well, give me their contact information and I’ll drive over to talk to them face to face.”

  Right after I call my husband and break the news that he and Shandra are going to be entertaining Jack and Sara for the entire evening.

  She set out at four-thirty after the call to Allen, who reluctantly agreed to keep the kids another couple of hours even though he stressed that he had important plans, and two more calls to make certain Emily and Chelsea were home and available. They’d agreed to meet at Emily’s house west of downtown.

  The house was a limestone three-storey set back from the street and surrounded by a high wrought-iron fence. A willow tree draped across one corner of the front lawn. Tangled brown flower stalks lined the walkway but someone had begun clearing the old, dead foliage in the flower beds near the fence to make way for spring planting. Closer to the front door, she spotted a few red tulips that had outlived their sisters. She’d like to return midsummer to see the place in full bloom. She imagined the grounds would be spectacular, not like her own overgrown yard, which she had no time to tend between work and shepherding the kids to their hockey, curling, soccer, and baseball games. As one sports season wrapped up, another began. She didn’t begrudge the time, though. Keeping kids involved in teams was the best way to get them safely through the teen years.

  A striking blond girl the same age as the missing Vanessa opened the door. Tanya could see her mother standing behind her: an older, stylish version of the girl. Tanya focused her attention back on the daughter. “I’m Officer Morrison.”

  “Hi, I’m Emily. Chelsea hasn’t arrived yet but we can wait in the family room. Mom’s made tea.”

  Emily’s mother said hello and brought the tea into the family room, but she didn’t linger. Tanya silently thanked her for realizing that her daughter might reveal more without her mother present. Tanya was stirring cream and sugar into her tea when the doorbell rang. Emily jumped up to answer it. She’s as edgy as a cat, thought Tanya. I wonder what she knows.

  Chelsea was shorter than Emily but with the same shade of blond hair, although hers looked like it was enhanced from a box while Emily’s looked natural. Tanya could see immediately that Emily was the dominant one in the relationship. Chelsea even waited to see where Emily sat before choosing her own spot on the couch.

  “So, I’m here to get your help tracking down Vanessa. Her mother’s worried and believes she’s somewhere with her boyfriend. What can you tell me about him?”

  Chelsea and Emily exchanged glances but as Tanya expected, Emily did the talking. “She called him Leo but we never met him.”

  “You never met him?” Tanya couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice.

  “No. We joked that he was her secret boyfriend.”

  “Surely you girls found that peculiar?”

  Emily shrugged. “We thought she’d bring him around when she was ready. They’d only been going out a few months. I wasn’t sure how serious Van was about him.”

  “You knew he was older than Vanessa?”

  “Yeah, she said he was finished school and working. He drove a black car and picked her up in it after class almost every day to drive her home. She said he took her for coffee on the way but they never went to the same place we did.” Emily chewed her bottom lip and looked at Chelsea before saying, “I thought she might be seeing him to get back at her parents. They’ve been fighting a lot and she hated it.”

  “Do you know the make of the car?”

  “No. You, Chels?”

  “Nope.”

  Tanya asked, “Have you anything to add, Chelsea?”

  “No, except that Vanessa had never had a boyfriend before. Like, I didn’t think this would last very long. She called him her boyfriend but I, like, thought he was just a friend.”

  “When’s the last time you saw Vanessa?”

  Again the exchange of glances with Emily doing the talking. “At school yesterday. She said that she was grounded because her mom had found out she’d been seeing Leo and that her mom would be driving her home all week. But she didn’t seem to mind. She said she was okay breaking up with Leo.”

  “You’re sure about that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did she contact either one of you by text or email or phone since school yesterday?”

  Both girls shook their heads.

  “Do you know anybody else she might have confided in?”

  “No.” Emily seemed about to say something more but closed her mouth again. Chelsea sat mutely next to her.

  “I’m going to give each of you my cell number and I want you to call me immediately if Vanessa gets in touch. Can you do that for me?”

  “Yes.” Emily took both business cards and passed one to Chelsea. “You do think she’s okay, don’t you?”

  The first sign of concern. Tanya decided to up the pressure. “I have no way of knowing but her mother is extremely worried. The fact that this boy is in his twenties and your friend is only fifteen could signal a problem.”

  “We’ll ask around,” said Emily quickly, her face flushing red. “If anyone else knows anything, I’ll call you right away.”

  “I’d appreciate that, girls.” Tanya was glad that Emily had picked up on the urgency of the situation. She wondered if Emily knew something that she wasn’t willing to share until she spoke with someone else. The best she could do was leave the door open and hope that Emily got back to her right away — or, even better, that Vanessa showed up back home before nightfall on her own steam.

  “What do you think?” asked Chelsea when they were alone. They’d gone downstairs to the TV room but hadn’t decided whether or not to turn it on.

  “Vanessa’s acting stupid. When her parents get hold of her, she won’t be allowed out for a long time.”

  “Like, she really changed this semester. Ever since her dad left, she hasn’t wanted to hang out. She even ignores my texts half the time.”

  “Maybe we should have made her bring Leo around.” Emily didn’t know why she was so uneasy. “I have to talk to Dawn.”

  “Why?”

  “She might have seen Leo. Vanessa told Dawn that Leo liked her and had a friend who wanted to date her. It sounded like they might even have met.”

  “You didn’t tell the cop.”

  “I want to make sure Dawn wants to speak with her first. She might not know anything.”

  “You heard the rumour going around about Dawn’s mother?”

  Emily wasn’t sure she wanted to hear, especially when she saw the look on Chelsea’s face, like the cat that swallowed the canary. “No, I didn’t. Who cares about a silly rumour?”

  Chelsea kept talking as if she hadn’t heard. “She’s in a women’s prison in Quebec for armed robbery. She won’t be getting out for a long time.”

  “How would anybody even know that?”

  “Amy Shuster’s aunt works in Corrections and she told Amy, who told just about everyone in the school. How come you didn’t know?”

  “Because I don’t listen to gossip. And it doesn’t matter, anyway.”

  “Well, I’d be careful. Maybe Dawn knows Leo better than she let on. She could have set Vanessa up.”

  “Are you serious?
Dawn wouldn’t lie about something like that.”

  “Sure she would. She comes from trailer trash.”

  “Her aunt is a cop.”

  “Her aunt was a homeless drunk before she became a cop. There’s a story in the newspaper. You can find it online if you do a search.”

  Emily stared at Chelsea, trying to make sense of the information. It was true that Dawn never talked about herself or her family. Never invited her over or even accepted a ride home. Why didn’t she share this stuff about her mother if they truly were friends? Dawn should have known by now that she wouldn’t have judged her. She’d confided her own personal problems to Dawn. Even about cutting herself when she’d been at her worst. Maybe she’d been stupid to trust her. Could Dawn really have known Leo all along? Vanessa had talked like they’d spent time together, and she’d waited for Dawn to say something but she hadn’t. Maybe Dawn had even introduced Vanessa to Leo to get her away from her and Chelsea. Break up their friendship. But that seemed crazy — why would Dawn bother? Emily scratched the top of her head and ran her hand through her hair as she replayed old conversations between Dawn and Vanessa.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Chelsea glance at her and pick up the remote. Chelsea began scrolling through movies on Netflix before clicking on an icon and settling back into the couch. “Oh, goody. I’ve been waiting for this one to get added.”

  Emily looked at the screen without really seeing it. The sick feeling she’d had in the pit of her stomach since the cop showed up had turned into confusion and now anger at her friends. Vanessa was off with some loser guy and Dawn was keeping secrets. And Chelsea — well, Chelsea was being a smug bitch. She had always felt like a mother hen to the other girls, and this hurt like the worst kind of betrayal. She knew that the logical thing to do was to call Dawn and find out what she knew, but evasions were easy on the phone. No, she’d wait to speak with her at school when they were face to face. It was harder to lie when you were looking someone in the eye.

  Emily reached over to turn off the lamp as the opening music started. “I’ve been waiting for this movie too,” she said, putting her feet on the coffee table and leaning back next to Chelsea. She’d let go of all the nasty thoughts running around in her head for a couple of hours and try to remember the things she liked about Chelsea. She’d step back from reconsidering her friends for tonight and face what she had to in the morning.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Kala was restless after her lunch with Gundersund. The knowledge that Nadia had been having sex with her landlord in exchange for discounted rent was unsettling on many levels. And yet, Kala understood about being cornered into bad decisions just to get by; she wouldn’t condemn Nadia for it. A more pressing question remained, however: was Nadia a good mother, intent on turning her life around or a devious addict turning tricks and trying to seduce her brother-in-law? The answer could be key in understanding what happened to her.

  Kala pulled up Bennett’s report on his interview with the neighbour across the hall. Mrs. Greenboro hadn’t seen any men enter Nadia’s apartment except for Murray Simmons. She could have missed them, of course. She had to sleep sometime and at other times she’d be in the washroom or making lunch in the kitchen. She’d said someone from her church came to take her to bingo on Wednesday nights and grocery shopping Friday mornings. She attended church when she felt up to it. Kala read the name of the babysitter that Mrs. Greenboro had mentioned to Bennett. He’d made a note to follow up with Holly Tremaine but hadn’t yet. He was helping Woodhouse with Murray’s interview and wouldn’t be free for the rest of the afternoon. Kala looked up Holly’s address online and grabbed her jacket. She let Morrison know she’d be out for a bit. She’d inform Bennett later.

  Holly lived in a small white bungalow wedged between a high-rise and a parking garage. The front lawn was little more than a short concrete-block walkway lined by a few feet of brown grass tufts on either side. She opened the inside door before Kala raised her arm to ring the doorbell.

  “I was waiting for a mom to pick up her boy and saw you walking up the sidewalk,” she said. “Are you looking for somebody?” Her middle-aged face was pleasant, her eyes curious but friendly behind blue-framed glasses. Her grey hair was cut in an asymmetrical bob, the bangs a swoop over her eye.

  “I’m Kala Stonechild, one of the officers investigating Nadia Armstrong’s death.” Kala took out her badge and held it at eye level. “Do you have a few minutes to talk?”

  Holly looked back down the hallway before pushing the door open wider and telling her to come in. “We’ll have to sit in the living room, where I can keep an eye on Tai. He’s a busy one.”

  Kala followed her into a room with coral-coloured walls and mismatched furniture of the cumbersome dark-wood vintage. An Asian boy aged about three was sitting on the middle of the hardwood floor surrounded by toy trucks. He made vroom noises as he crawled across the floor, pushing one of the trucks between the legs of the coffee table.

  “I’ve just steeped a pot of Earl Grey. Would you like to join me in a cup?” Holly asked.

  “I would, thank you.”

  Kala sat in a swivel armchair and waited for Holly to bring the two cups of tea from the kitchen. The little boy watched her shyly for a few minutes before coming over, setting a truck on her knee and silently staring at her.

  “Is this your favourite truck?”

  He nodded, solemn-faced. She thought he might say something before the doorbell rang and he darted away. Holly bustled in and set the teacups down. “That’ll be Tai’s mother. I’ll be right back once I see him out.”

  Kala sipped the tea while she looked around the room. Holly was well set up for child care with a playpen in one corner, a high chair, and a bookcase stuffed with children’s books and toys. Holly returned after shutting the front door and dropped onto the couch, spreading out her arms and legs in a parody of exhaustion. “My next charges arrive in half an hour for the whole evening. A brother and sister whose parents do shift work.” She straightened and picked up her mug. “I’ll need my energy. Now, what would you like to know about Nadia? I can’t tell you how shocked I was to hear that she was the one murdered.”

  “I understand you looked after her baby while she was at work waitressing.”

  “Yes, but I looked after him a few evenings a week, as well, when she wasn’t at work. She liked her free time.” Holly drank from her cup but not before Kala saw her lips tighten.

  “What were your impressions of Nadia?”

  “I wouldn’t want to say anything, you know, on the record. It doesn’t seem right to talk poorly of her when she’s dead.”

  “I understand. Let’s agree that I won’t make an official record of what you tell me unless it’s absolutely required to move the case forward.”

  Holly appeared to weigh the idea. “I wouldn’t want other parents to think I’m judging them too.”

  “I’ll be as discreet as possible.”

  “Okay, then.” Holly set her cup down on the coffee table. “I put some flyers up in the local shops with tearaways of my phone number at the bottom. That’s how Nadia came to find me. She said that she was new to the city and would need my services at odd hours since she was waitressing different shifts and got called in last minute sometimes. I don’t normally stray far from my house so I agreed.”

  “Did you form any kind of relationship with her?”

  “We were friendly initially but our relationship cooled at the end because she was behind in paying me. The week before she died, I told her I wouldn’t take Hugo unless she paid me what she owed. I think what sparked it was seeing her new coat and expensive handbag. I guess I won’t be seeing that money now.”

  “How much did she owe you?”

  “Three hundred dollars, give or take. I suppose it’s partly my fault. I told her in the beginning that I didn’t mind a bit of a delay in payment … but then, I’m working to keep afloat too.”

  “So you came to believe that she was
taking advantage.”

  “I’d say that’s a fair assessment. The strange thing is that I still liked her.”

  “Did she talk to you about her life at all?”

  “She said that she was planning to go back to school and waitressing part-time for now. I believed she was struggling financially so I fed Hugo for nothing and didn’t tell her. I respected her attempts to make a better life for the baby — at least, she told me that was her goal. I know all about starting over. My husband left me ten years ago without taking his debts with him and it took me a while to get back on my feet.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “He didn’t deserve me.” She smiled.

  “I’d like to ask what you meant when you said that Nadia liked her free time. Do you know how she spent it when she wasn’t at work?”

  “Not exactly. I did wonder though.”

  “About what?”

  “Well, she’d bring Hugo over late some evenings, sometimes when I was getting ready for bed. She’d pick him up in the morning — I didn’t like the idea of her showing up in the middle of the night to waken him so I said I’d keep him overnight for no extra charge. Those times, she’d look as if she’d been up all night. I wondered how she cared for Hugo in that state. The odd time, she’d ask me to keep him all day because she got called into the restaurant, or that’s what she’d tell me on the phone. I always accommodated her because I was fond of him and worried about his welfare.”

  “Were there ever any signs of abuse?”

  “Oh, no. Nothing like that and I don’t want to give the impression that she wasn’t good to him. I only worried about how she was looking after him when she obviously needed to sleep off the partying.”

  Kala thanked Holly for her time and left before her next children arrived. She ran through the rain to her truck, thinking about Nadia Armstrong and what made the girl tick. Was being a mother enough for somebody like Nadia, who’d preferred to live on the street rather than live by her parents’ rules? She’d had regular sex with Murray Simmons rather than ask her parents or her sister for financial help. Was Hugo a noose around her neck or had she genuinely cared about him enough to completely change her life? So far, all Kala had were contradictions.