Don

by Carlene Thompson

  "Count me out. I wouldn't be any help. She doesn't even like me."

  "You don't like her. That's why you don't want to go." Andrew gave, her a determined look. "But now is not the time for you to indulge your childish antagonism toward this woman. You cater to unfeeling egomaniacs like Kenny Davis. Can't you find an ounce of compassion for a woman who's distraught over her deeply disturbed missing daughter?"

  "Don't you think that's a little harsh?" Natalie bristled.

  "Maybe. But it's true."

  Natalie wanted to stay angry because her father had called her childish and criticized her relationship with Kenny, but she couldn't, because he was right. Whatever Viveca's faults, the woman did love her daughter.

  She stood. " Blaine, come along. We're going visiting."

  Andrew shook his head. "Viveca doesn't like dogs."

  "I'm not going without her, not after what happened to her earlier this evening. She's frightened." She gave her father a hard stare. "It's both of us or neither of us."

  He stared back for a moment, then slowly smiled. "You bend, but only so far. You're very much like my mother."

  "Grandmother?" Natalie was shocked. "You've never said that before."

  "I'm enigmatic. Never say everything I think. It's part of my charm." He winked at her. "Get Blaine 's leash, my stubborn one, and we'll be off."

  The evidence technicians were arriving as they left. Andrew gave them Viveca's number and told them to lock up when they left. "And you will be sure to lock up, won't you?" he asked.

  One of the men looked at him stonily. "We're the police, sir. Of course we'll lock up."

  "Locking up hardly matters, Dad," Natalie said in the car. "After all, whoever came in did it with a key."

  "A key we'll have to locate," Andrew answered.

  As Natalie expected, Viveca had worked herself to near distraction. "Where can she be?" she kept demanding of Natalie and Andrew. "Where can my baby have gone?"

  "You would have a better idea of that than we would," Andrew said gently. "Just calm down and think."

  "I can't think with that dog looking at me!"

  "That's absurd," Natalie retorted. " Blaine isn't bothering you."

  "Andrew?" Plaintively. "Does the dog have to be here?"

  "Forget the dog, Viveca," Andrew said gently. "Think about where Alison might have gone. Does she have any favorite spots?"

  Viveca sat down on the piano bench, rubbing at tiny vertical lines between her brows. "She likes a few shops. That nice little bookstore called The Alcove. Lawson's Music. Curious Things."

  "Those places are closed at this hour," Natalie said. "Besides, I don't think she ran off to a store."

  Viveca's eyes blazed. "Don't be sarcastic!"

  "I didn't mean to be sarcastic. What other places does she like?"

  "Not many. There's a little restaurant by the lake. Her father took her there the day he…" Her eyes filled with tears. "I can't remember the name. It's rather tacky-"

  "The Lantern," Andrew supplied. "It closed last summer."

  "Oh. I don't know of anywhere else." She looked around helplessly.

  "How about the library?" Natalie suggested. "I think it's still open. Did she ever go there?"

  "No. She said it was cold and unfriendly."

  "Did she have any friends?" Andrew asked.

  "No. Only Eugene. She got sick after he killed himself."

  In that same gentle tone, Andrew said, "Viveca, she was sick long before Eugene Farley died-"

  "Don't you think I know that! She's been sick for nearly twenty years! Her father died in front of her and I wasn't here! I wasn't here!" Oh, God!"

  While Viveca poured forth a torrent of misery and guilt, burying her golden head against Andrew's chest, Natalie crept up the stairs with Blaine. They walked slowly, down the hall until they came to what Natalie knew must be Alison's room. Inside, the dog walked around slowly, sniffing the ruffled bedspread, the collection of stuffed animals, a delicate crocheted sweater tossed over a chintz-covered chair. She reacted with nothing except casual interest.

  After a few minutes, Natalie knew absolutely that Alison Cosgrove had not invaded the St. John house and terrified this dog just a few hours ago.

  16

  FRIDAY MORNING

  "Haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon," said the teenage desk clerk of the Lakeview Motel.

  "What time?" Nick asked.

  "I don't know. Maybe one." The boy scrunched his acne spotted face in thought. "Yeah, around one 'cause the mailman was here. Lindstrom came in to tell me the ice machine wasn't working. Piece of crap only works half the time. Anyway, he had on a suit. I said, 'Hey, you goin' to a funeral?' He said, 'Matter of fact, I am.' "

  Jeff Lindstrom had been headed for Tamara's funeral, Nick thought. "And you didn't see him come back?"

  "No. I already told you."

  "How late do you work?"

  "Midnight." He threw Nick a long-suffering look. "My old man died two years ago. Place ain't doin' too great, so in the summers my mom has me doing slave labor. Didn't you come here looking for him before?"

  "Yes, but he wasn't around. Did you talk to him much?"

  "Sort of. Mostly he asked questions." He laughed. "Like you."

  "Asked questions about what?"

  "The murders. Only exciting thing that's happened around here for years. And he asked about a few other people I didn't really know."

  "What people?"

  "The Hunt woman's sister. The one that has a store downtown. Don't know her. That doctor's daughter-somebody St. John."

  "Natalie."

  "Yeah. Don't know her, either, but I kind of met her old man. He took out my spleen after the car wreck I was in that killed my dad. He was driving," the boy added quickly. "And Alison somebody and that Farley guy that killed himself. Now that was something fairly exciting around here. Probably the last thing till these murders. Anyway, that kind of stuff. Once in a while he'd ask something about me, but he was only being polite. Thought I couldn't see through him."

  "You didn't like him?"

  "Smiled too much. Mom thought he was charming." He rolled his eyes again. "He was the kind of guy that, you know, women think are charming." Apparently to this kid charming was an epithet.

  "Could Lindstrom have come back without you seeing him?"

  "Hey, this ain't the Hyatt. Just a little strip motel. I can see every car from this office. Never saw his. Never saw him. The room was dark all evening, too."

  "Sounds like you keep a close eye on the guests."

  "Not much on TV last night. 'Course, all I got in here is this crummy little thirteen-inch set. Can't wait to get one of those high definition jobs. Gonna get one with a big screen- maybe forty-six inches. And a really dynamite surround sound system."

  "Pay must be pretty good here."

  The clerk scoffed. "Yeah, in my dreams. No, I'm not spendin' my life in this dump. I'm gonna get one of those high-payin' computer jobs."

  "Know a lot about computers, do you?"

  "I'm hell on those games, and I surf the Net all the time."

  A regular computer prodigy, Nick thought in amusement. He'd better not count on getting that expensive television anytime soon. "How long has Lindstrom taken the room for?"

  "He was paid up till noon today."

  "Today!" Nick repeated. "Noon? It's eleven forty-five."

  "Yeah." The clerk looked at him closely, obviously noting Nick's agitation. "What's the deal?"

  "The deal is that if he hasn't paid for the room, I don't need a warrant to search it."

  "That so? Cool! I'll get the key."

  "Not yet. I'm waiting until noon. If I find anything incriminating, I don't want it thrown out of court because I searched the room fifteen minutes too soon."

  "Incriminating evidence?" the clerk asked excitedly. "Hey, what's this guy done?"

  "Maybe nothing. I can't discuss it." The clerk turned sullen until Nick said, "But if this does ever come to court, I m
ight need you to testify that I didn't enter the room until after noon. You're my witness."

  "Me, a witness? Cool!"

  Twenty minutes later Nick entered Room 11 of the Lakeview Motel. "Need me to stand guard?" the desk clerk asked anxiously.

  "Stand guard against what?"

  "I don't know. Maybe Lindstrom will come back and go ballistic. I could protect you."

  Nick looked at the teenager's reed-thin body, the narrow chest covered by a KISS tee shirt. Lindstrom was a couple of inches taller and at least twenty pounds heavier than this kid. "Your mother expects you to handle the desk, but you keep an eye on the room from the office," Nick said diplomatically. "If Lindstrom shows up, you come running."

  "You bet!" the kid said happily. "I won't let you down."

  Another Jimmy Jenkins, Nick thought. "Do you watch Street Life?" he asked impulsively.

  "Never miss it. Eddie Salvatore is cool."

  "Yeah. Well, you head back to the office. Thanks for letting me in."

  Nick grinned as the kid loped off. Had he ever been that young and eager? Had he ever been that goofy? Yes to both, he decided.

  Jeff Lindstrom's room didn't look as if the man had been preparing to leave. Jeans, denim shirts, and tee shirts were thrown over the two chairs pulled up to a circular table in front of the window. Papers lay on the table. Newpapers and photographs, Nick realized when he looked closer. Polaroids. Oliver Peyton's colonial. The Hunts' Cape Cod. The slightly modernistic stone home of Andrew St. John. Nick lingered over this one. The photo gave a clear view of the weeping willow where they'd found the cigarette butts and Marlboro package the night after Natalie had reported a Peeping Tom. Nick felt himself getting angry again and moved on. Viveca Cosgrove's white two-story. He frowned, holding it closer to the light. A pale figure stood in a second-floor window. She had waist-length blond hair and faced fully forward, smiling. She was naked.

  Nick remembered Alison's references to sex after Tamara's funeral and Natalie's claim that Alison was fixated on Warren. Along with all her other problems, was Alison a nymphomaniac? Nick wondered. He flipped to the next photo. A shot of a townhouse apartment in a complex. He knew Lily Peyton lived here. Next was a huge, crumbling old house peeking from behind a shroud of ivy and overgrown shrubbery. He should know this place, but for the moment he was blank. A day shot of The Blue Lady dance pavilion. In the sunlight it looked even shabbier than at night. Last, a shot of Natalie on the patio with the dog. A garden hose lay beside her, and her long, shining hair hung over one shoulder as she ran a towel down the dog's side. An older woman stood in the doorway watching her.

  Beside the photos lay a magnifying glass, an empty Coke can, a telephone book, and an ashtray holding three Marlboro cigarette stubs. The same kind of stubs as under the St. John weeping willow tree. No doubt Lindstrom had stood staring into Natalie's bedroom. Had he also entered the house, shredded Natalie's dress, and left a skull on the bed? If so, why? Was he trying to cook up more drama for the book he claimed to be writing?

  Nick wandered around the room looking for anything interesting. A few toiletries in the bathroom. A copy of Bitter Blood by the bed. Maybe the guy really was serious about writing a true-crime novel like this one. A legal pad on the dresser with most of the paper torn away. The few remaining pages were blank.

  He rifled through an open suitcase. Some underwear and socks. A copy of Penthouse. Next to the suitcase lay a briefcase. Luckily it was unlocked. Inside were two manila folders filled with newspaper clippings. The thinnest collection concerned the recent murders in Port Ariel. The other bore stories about the arrest, trial, and suicide of Eugene Farley.

  Under the folders rested an address book. Nick flipped through it hurriedly. Apparently the guy didn't have too many friends. Most pages were empty. Then he came to the F section and an address jumped out at him: 224 Dobbin Street, Knoxville, KY. Knoxville? And the name above the address? Aunt Constance. Constance Farley lived in Knoxville.

  "I'll be damned," Nick muttered. "Eugene Farley was Jeff Lindstrom's cousin."

  "The contractor who renovated the kitchen last summer swears he gave back the spare set of house keys," Andrew told her. "Unfortunately, I can't find them."

  "Do you remember him giving them back?" Natalie asked.

  "No. But I was extremely busy at the time. I had a heavy load at the hospital, and this place was a mess with the remodeling. I just don't recall."

  "Okay. Let's go talk to Harvey before the police do. I don't trust him to tell the police the truth."

  It was just past noon and Harvey Coombs opened the door with a gin and tonic in his hand. "Andrew!" he boomed. "And Natalie! My goodness, you've grown a foot since I saw you last."

  "Nonsense, Harvey," Andrew said. "You saw her just last year and she's been this height for over a decade." Harvey frowned in thought. Natalie wasn't sure whether he was trying to remember when he'd seen her or how many years were in a decade. "May we come in?"

  "Hell, yes! The wife is at the grocery store. Or aerobics class. Or garden club. I think she invents places to go to get away from me." They trailed behind Harvey into a sun-filled living room where Dean Martin sang on the stereo. Natalie suddenly remembered that Harvey used to constantly sing Dean Martin songs, and when she was a child, he'd taught her "That's Amore."

  "Still like Dean, Natalie?" he asked her.

  "Sure. Such a mellow voice."

  "Another Ohio native, you know. We went to high school together."

  "Harvey, Dean Martin was over twenty years older than you," Andrew returned irritably.

  "Oh, I must be thinking of someone else," Harvey said vaguely, then immediately brightened. "Get you something to drink? We have some nonalcoholic beverages around here for the little one."

  Natalie assumed she was "the little one."

  "No thank you, Harvey," she said. "We need to talk to you."

  "Good. I'm lonely and there's nothing like a pretty girl to brighten my day. Have a seat on the couch. What can I do for you?"

  "We had some trouble at the house last night," Andrew said. "Someone broke in."

  Harvey lowered his glass and his bloodshot eyes widened. "My God, that's awful! Did they take anything?"

  "No. They just tore up a few things."

  "Home invaders!" Harvey pronounced. "Right here in Port Ariel. You're not safe anywhere anymore!" He drained his drink to soothe his outrage. "Police get them?"

  Natalie shook her head. "Did you see anything?"

  "We went to my daughter's for dinner. The one married to the Baptist minister. Nice guy but dry as dust. So was the evening. No alcohol, naturally, and I got a lecture about my drinking. Anyway, we left around six and got home near ten. Late hour because of the lecture. And an endless prayer for me. One of the longest evenings of my life. That's why I remember the time. Damn, I wish I'd been home. I would have shot those bastards!"

  "Then I'm glad you weren't home," Andrew said. "We wouldn't want you up on murder charges. The interesting thing is that the house wasn't broken into. Someone had a key."

  "Son of a bitch!" Harvey exclaimed, then headed into the kitchen. "How did someone get your key?" Natalie heard ice clinking in a glass. "Lose it someplace?"

  "That's what I wanted to ask you about," Andrew called.

  "I gave you a key to the house a long time ago. Do you still have it?"

  Harvey strode back into the living room. "You think I broke in your house?"

  "Good heavens, no, Harvey. I'm just trying to track down all the keys."

  "Oh." Harvey sat down. Sunlight fell harshly on his reddened, flabby face, and a pain shot through Natalie when she remembered how handsome he'd once been. "Sure, I've got your key. A good thing, too. That cable repairman needed it a few days ago."

  "Cable repairman?" Andrew repeated. "There's nothing wrong with my cable."

  "Well, no. He fixed it," Harvey laughed. "Nice fellow."

  "Did a man come here claiming to be a cable repairman?" Natalie asked, underst
anding what Harvey did not.

  "No. He didn't come here. I saw him standing outside your place. I went over to see what was going on and…" Harvey took another sip of his drink "… and he said he was supposed to be here but no one was home, and I said, 'I bet the cable is out,' and damned if I wasn't right!"

  Wonderful, Natalie thought. Harvey had provided a possible intruder with an excuse for getting in the house. "What did he look like?"

  "Look like? I don't know. Average. My height. Maybe thirty. Light hair."

  "How long did he have the key?" Andrew asked.

  Harvey looked blank. "About an hour, I guess."

  "You guess?"

  "Well, hell, I didn't have my stopwatch, Andrew. What's so important about it, anyway?"

  Andrew asked quietly, "Would you get the key?"

  Harvey sensed that he'd done something wrong and swung into loud defensiveness. "Sure! Nothing to me!" He crashed his glass onto an end table, sloshing gin onto his hand. "I don't want your damned key. I was only trying to help."

  He disappeared into the kitchen again, muttering and curs ing. Drawers slid out and slammed. Cabinet doors opened and slammed. Natalie and Andrew exchanged looks. Finally Harvey returned to the living room and said weakly, "Can't lay my hands on it right now."

  Andrew sighed. " Harvey, do you remember the young man bringing back the key?"

  "Sure! Well, actually… not really." He looked sheepish. "I think I took a little nap when he was over there."

  "He never returned it," Andrew said flatly.

  Harvey 's shoulders slumped. He looked old and defeated and completely demoralized. "I screwed up, Andrew. I'm sorry."

  "Don't feel bad, old friend," Andrew said quickly. "I think I lost one of the keys, too."

  So two house keys were unaccounted for, Natalie thought. Which meant any number of people had easy access to the house.

  FRIDAY AFTERNOON

  Nick dialed Constance Farley's phone number and leaned back in his chair. She picked up on the third ring.

  "Mrs. Farley, this is Sheriff Meredith in Port Ariel again."