by Krista Davis
I ran along the alley and around the corner, wishing I could call 911 while I ran. In front of the house, I dashed up the few stairs to the front door and knocked with the octopus. “Hello? Can you hear me?”
I heard the thunking again, this time quite faint. I didn’t waste any more time and called 911. “I don’t actually know if this is an emergency,” I blathered. “But I heard a crash and a scream, and someone makes a knocking sound when I call out.” I gave her the address and knelt to see through the tiny window to the basement. It was too dark to make out anything.
“I’ve called for help,” I shouted. I paced in front of the house, hoping someone would arrive soon. When a police car drew up, I ran to it, delighted to find Wong inside.
She moved quickly but calmly as I explained what had happened.
“Weird knocker,” she muttered before banging it. “Police!”
The strange thunking sound came again.
“You know who lives here?” she asked.
“I think it’s Angus Bogdanoff.”
“So it’s probably Angus making that banging noise?”
“I saw him drive away.”
She threw me a curious glance. “When we get Angus or whoever out of there, we’re going to have a little talk about what you’re doing here.”
The ambulance arrived next. Since she didn’t know what she might find, Wong called for backup. The entire process took far too long in my opinion. They finally opened the front door.
Wong pointed at me. “Stay out here, Sophie. I mean it. You hear me?”
I was itching to go inside with them, but I understood that it could be dangerous and that I could interfere, making their job more difficult, so I waited by the front door. A crowd was gathering on the sidewalk in front of the house.
I could hear them talking inside.
“Where are you?”
“Tap again!”
The next thing I knew, an EMT fetched a stretcher.
Wong finally returned to the stoop. “It’s the Haberman kid.”
“Gavin? Is he okay?” It was a stupid question. If he was fine they wouldn’t need a stretcher.
“It appears that he was hiding in a closet and fell through a rotted hatch to the basement.”
They were bringing him through. Wong and I left the stoop and stood aside. Gauze wrapped Gavin’s head, but blood had seeped through. “Noooo,” I breathed.
“You have his mom’s number?” asked Wong.
I nodded and pulled up the number for the library on my phone.
Wong called Cindy and informed her about Gavin’s accident. I heard Cindy scream through the phone.
I walked over to the stretcher and took Gavin’s hand in mine. His eyes were closed. The angle of his leg made me wince. I leaned over him. “Gavin, it’s Sophie Winston. You’ll be fine. We’ve called your mom, and she’ll meet you at the hospital. You’re going to be okay, kiddo.”
His fingers tightened on mine, and I knew he’d heard me.
Wong and I stood by and watched as he was loaded into the ambulance. It drove away, and the crowd dispersed.
“Now,” said Wong. “Suppose you tell me what Gavin was doing in a closet in this house and how you happened to be outside. Please tell me you weren’t waiting for him.”
I told her the whole story about Gavin following Kelsey to Angus’s house. “And it appears Gavin may have been correct all along. I can’t think of a good reason for Kelsey to come here in the dark of night when she should have been at home in bed with Hollis.”
“I’ll notify Wolf,” she said. “I imagine he’ll want to talk with you.”
I left her there to deal with finding Angus and notifying him that they had entered his house. I walked home slowly, sick about Gavin and angry with Kelsey.
Nina was standing on the sidewalk in front of my house. “Where have you been?”
We went inside. I told her all about it while I poured tall glasses of iced tea. I handed her one, slugged mine down, and refilled my glass. Not at all ladylike.
“It’s all so obvious,” said Nina. “Kelsey must have thought no one would see her go to Angus’s house.”
I hated to concede that everyone else was right, but it certainly looked that way. “I’m going over to the hospital. I didn’t like the way Gavin looked.”
“What was he thinking going into someone’s home like that?”
“Probably the same thing I was. He wanted to know who lived there.”
Nina and I drove to the hospital, parked, and hurried to the emergency room. We found Cindy in no time.
She waited by herself, crying, a knotted tissue in her hand. She hugged both of us. “I can’t believe this happened. They’re taking him to surgery!”
“His leg is broken?” I asked.
She sniffed and nodded. “You knew, Sophie. You warned me about this. I didn’t even have time to talk with him about not getting involved. He was supposed to be at home!”
“How’s his head?” I asked.
“He has a concussion. They said he fell through a trap door and hit an old brick half wall in the basement before he fell to the stone floor.”
“Is there anything we can do?” asked Nina.
“I don’t know. My head is spinning. Oh! Yes, Gavin is blood type AB, which is the rarest blood type. They said only three or four percent of the population has AB positive and that if I know anyone with that blood type, I should ask them to donate.”
Cindy looked at us hopefully.
“Gosh, I’m so sorry. I’m type A,” I said.
Cindy nodded. “Me too.”
“I’m type O . . .” Nina didn’t finish because a woman who bore an amazing resemblance to Cindy rushed through the door. Cindy ran to her. They held each other and sobbed.
“I’m guessing that’s a sister,” said Nina.
Immediately behind them, Parker, Trula, and Madison showed up. Cindy hugged them as though they were a receiving line. Everyone asked how Gavin was doing and what had happened to him.
The door opened again and more people rushed in. It was apparent that other members of Cindy’s family had arrived.
We asked Cindy to keep us informed and left her to explain everything to her family.
When I was parking the car in my garage, Nina said, “People are still leaving food on Kelsey’s doorstep. I guess I’d better buy something.”
Does one bring funeral food to a murderer, I wondered? Was there an etiquette rule for that? Probably not. Besides, she hadn’t been convicted or even arrested.
Nina hurried off. I went inside and poured myself another tall glass of iced tea. I carried it back to my tiny home office.
Mochie ambled along and jumped up to my desk when I sat down at the computer. I needed Kelsey’s maiden name. I could just ask her, of course. But that might make her clam up. Alex would probably have it, but I knew him well enough to know that he would treat any information he had like it was gold in Fort Knox. And sneaking a peek in his office just wasn’t my style. It was important to him to keep his clients’ business private.
I tried an online record search of marriage licenses under Hollis’s name but didn’t turn up anything. It required the exact city where the license was issued. They could have gotten it outside of Alexandria.
Besides, what if Kelsey had changed her name? If her stories were true, she had been on the run from the police when she was a teen. I typed in murder Delilah Jean. While there were a surprising number of hits, none of them seemed right or referred to a person called Delilah Jean, which I thought fairly distinctive. Kelsey said she was eleven years old at time. I guessed at the year and typed it in along with the name Delilah Jean and murder.
To my amazement, a website with dedications to those who had lost their lives to domestic violence popped up. And there it was.
In memory of our beloved mother Delilah Jean Doshutt, who was taken from us by her abusive ex-husband. Let no one forget her name or her love for her children and nieces.
> It was a simple jump to the obituary, which listed after the names of her six children, “her nieces Kayla Brooks and Kelsey Brooks.”
Brooks wasn’t an uncommon family name. I could only hope that the very sad deaths of Kelsey and Kayla’s parents made their obituaries stand out somehow. A quick Google of the girls’ names turned up their parents’ obituaries. But more interestingly, it also led me to an article about the death of Kelsey Brooks.
Chapter 19
Dear Sophie,
What is the difference between gelato and ice cream? My husband says gelato is Italian for ice cream, but there’s no other difference. I say that the texture is different. Who wins this argument?
Smart Wife in Treat, Arkansas
Dear Smart Wife,
You’re both right! Gelato is Italian for ice cream. But there is indeed a textural difference. Gelato contains less fat and less air, which makes it denser than ice cream. It’s served at a warmer temperature than ice cream, too, which gives it a softness.
Sophie
I hit the link as fast as I could.
Double Murder in Fairview
Kelsey Brooks, the teen who disappeared from Fairview in June, was strangled Friday night on the very day she was returned to the custody of her relative, Sassy Green. Green’s boyfriend, Wayne Khropinki, strangled the girl when she refused his sexual advances. The victim’s sister, Kayla, also a juvenile, allegedly attacked Khropinki, hitting him repeatedly on the head with a cast-iron kettle. Khropinki died at the scene from his wounds. Kayla Brooks is sought by authorities for questioning.
It had been awful hearing about it when Kelsey told us what happened, yet it was shocking all over again to read about it. Kelsey had told us the basics. But she hadn’t mentioned that she changed her name to that of her dead sister. Kelsey, really Kayla, had also conveniently omitted the fact that she had killed her sister’s murderer.
A little breathless, I sat back in my chair. Kelsey had murdered before.
It was probably justified in order to protect her little sister. I couldn’t even imagine the horror of being in a situation like that. But there was no doubt in my mind that I would have done the same for my sister.
It had happened over a decade ago. Would the police still be searching for Kelsey? Did she even know they were looking for her? Probably.
A sharp prosecutor would make her out to be a murderess. Which she was. The circumstances were horrific and had she gone to trial, she probably would have been exonerated for defending her sister. But she had run, tried to disappear, and been successful at it.
Or had she? Had she told Hollis? Was that why he was afraid she was poisoning his food? Because he knew that she had killed a man? Maybe he found out about it online just as I had. Which brought up the question—Who else knew?
If she thought she could be arrested and tried for murder, which, as far as I knew was a distinct possibility because there was no statute of limitations on murder, then she was a fine target for blackmail. And anyone who knew Delilah Jean’s name could find out about Wayne’s murder just as easily as I had by following the obituaries.
There I was again, trying to find reasons to imagine that someone else had killed Hollis. Why couldn’t I accept that everything pointed to Kelsey?
I put the computer to sleep and returned to my kitchen, where Kelsey was looking through the window of my kitchen door.
Now that I knew she was a murderess, I wasn’t sure about letting her into my house when I was alone. I didn’t even have Daisy with me. True, Daisy would have kissed her, but I wouldn’t have felt quite as vulnerable. As much as I didn’t want to believe that Kelsey had murdered Hollis, I also didn’t want to put myself in jeopardy. I grabbed my purse and pretended to be leaving the house.
Slinging my purse over my shoulder, I opened the kitchen door. “Hi! I’m just on my way out.”
“Maybe I could walk with you?” she asked.
I looked into her eyes and thought I was being incredibly stupid for even imagining that she would harm me. Locking the door behind me, I said, “Sure. Have you been to the new gelato place?”
She threw me a slightly embarrassed glance. “Not yet. To be honest, I don’t know what gelato is.”
“It’s like ice cream. I bet you’ll love it.”
“Okay. I could use a little treat. Sophie, I want to thank you for hooking me up with Alex. I finally feel like I have someone, besides you, on my side. He was so nice to me.”
“He’s a good attorney, too.”
“When I got home, somebody called the house about Gavin. Do you know anything about it? It’s not like I can call Cindy. She’d probably hang up on me.”
I nodded. “He’s in the hospital. Cindy already knows about it.”
We had arrived at the gelato place, a tiny hole-in-the-wall with a couple of tables out on the sidewalk. I chose the blackberry flavor, and Kelsey opted for hazelnut.
“Did Wolf search your house?”
“Yes, it was awful. But they didn’t find anything of interest. It’s not like Hollis was shot and there was blood everywhere. They took the food in the fridge, including some funeral food that people had brought. Can you imagine? Natasha said I better make sure the police give the containers back or there will be some very angry people.”
With cones in hand, I led the way to an outdoor table. Kelsey would learn the truth sooner or later, so I thought it was best to be forthright with her. “Gavin followed you to Angus’s house the night Hollis died.”
She swallowed hard and blanched. “Oh no! What was he doing there? I didn’t see him.”
I couldn’t exactly say it was because he thought she murdered his father. I played it safe. “I don’t know. I’m not sure Gavin knows. From what I can gather, he didn’t want to see Hollis or do things with him after his parents separated. That night at the underground dinner, he saw his dad, and it sounds like he had conflicting feelings about that. Maybe he really missed Hollis a lot and was hurt?”
“Hollis missed him, too. On the way home from the underground dinner, Hollis could not stop talking about how Gavin had avoided him all night. He tried and tried to talk to Gavin, but he just walked away. It’s all so sad. I can’t believe he followed me. Why on earth would he do that?”
I wanted to ask, why on earth did you go to see Angus? But I licked my gelato and said, “I think he went to Angus’s house today to find out who lived there. I have no idea what possessed him to enter the house. Apparently there’s some kind of hatch to the basement in a closet? It gave way and he tumbled down.”
Kelsey closed her eyes in pain. When she opened them again, she didn’t look at me. “It’s so pretty here in Old Town. I love the flowers and the old houses with all their little nooks and crannies and interesting features. But underneath all the pleasantries, the people are all the same. They have problems, and fears, and sorrow. You know, when you don’t have any money, and Lord knows I’ve been in that position most of my life, you think money will solve everything. I’ll grant you it does take away one worry. But in the end, it doesn’t solve all your problems. Maybe that’s why people like Madison despise me. They’re afraid of being me. They’re afraid they’ll lose everything they have and be like me.”
Initially I was taken aback by her theory. But as I considered it, I thought she might be right.
“I wish I could do something for Gavin,” she said. “Hollis would go to see him, of course, but I don’t dare do that. Cindy would have me thrown out.”
“They’re asking for blood donations from people with type AB-positive blood. Any chance that’s what you have?”
“Oh my gosh! I do. I can do that for him. Would you send flowers to a boy?”
“Flowers are never wrong. Tell them they’re for a teenaged boy, and I bet they can come up with something baseball themed. Maybe you can find someone who makes those cute arrangements that look like dog faces. I bet he’d love that.”
Kelsey held her head at an angle and leisurely licked a dr
izzle of melting gelato. “Sophie, you’ve been very kind to me, so I’m going to come right out and tell you the truth. Alex told me not to talk, but I have nothing to hide about that night. I did go to see Angus.”
She paused to finish eating her gelato. “Angus and I dated before I met Hollis. Eventually the relationship kind of fizzled. It wasn’t a big deal. But then I was in a really awful car accident.” She took a deep breath like she was going to say something that was hard for her. “Sophie, I’ve been alone for a long time. I don’t have a sister or a mom, or anyone I can call if I need help. When I was released from the hospital, Angus came over and took care of me. It wasn’t romantic or anything. It was one friend helping out another. And I was a mess. He changed gross bandages for me and drove me to doctor’s appointments. I don’t honestly know what I would have done without him. I recovered, and he met a girl he liked, and we hardly ever saw each other anymore. I went to Parker about legal issues regarding the accident and that was when I met Hollis.”
So far her story rang true to me.
“After I married Hollis, I didn’t have any connection with Angus anymore. Then one day, I ran into him on King Street. He had moved to Old Town and was looking for a job. I wanted to throw him a little work. I haven’t ever been in a position to help someone else that way before.” She sat back, seemingly comfortable with herself. “We needed a handyman because Hollis was busy and not inclined to do things around the house, so it seemed like a perfect fit. But then, as time went on, Angus started wanting to get cozy, if you know what I mean. I told him I was married and that he needed to find someone else.”
The corners of her mouth tightened. “The day Angus was stung, I went to the hospital to check on him. He was so pathetic, begging me to come back to him. I was adamant that it was not going to happen. But that night, I was worried about him. You saw how terrible he looked with that swollen eye.” She stuck out the tip of her tongue.