I pulled out my cell phone and made a conference call to Deirdre and Elizabeth as I walked. When they were both on the line, I took a deep breath. “I’m going to tell you something we found, but I need you to keep quiet about it all. First, Elizabeth, I want to tell you I was shocked this afternoon when you started telling Mary Ann about Sherman. You knew I still had my suspicions about her.” I went on to tell them about the paper with the names and dates and what it said. “Elizabeth, when you work at the college on Monday, could you check out these names in the college database and see if you can find anything out?”
“Sure. What else did you find?”
“I didn't see anything else of importance in the boxes. Just lots of personal items, books, class notes, student papers. Nothing about his book. Mary Ann will look everything over more carefully tonight.”
“Maybe someone went through his office first,” Deirdre said.
“That's exactly what I thought,” I said. “They'd have had five days to do so. I did notice the page for last Friday was torn out of Sherman's appointment book.”
“That's strange,” Deirdre said. “It may have held a crucial clue.”
“Like who he was meeting with that evening,” I said. “You should have heard Laska talking to Mary Ann about wanting to help finish Sherman’s book.”
“Elizabeth, did you get a chance to talk to the police officer who was limping?”
“Yes. He said he hurt his foot jogging.”
When? The night of the Ball running after me?
“Tomorrow should be interesting watching Margaret's and Al’s homes,” Deirdre said. “Are we all ready? I want to get started early.”
“We can all start early,” Elizabeth said. “I just cancelled my date for tonight with Dave. A shame. I'm going to miss him.”
“I think, going forward, we should all discuss what we're going to be doing and saying during this investigation before we take action independently. You know, stick to the script instead of improvising?”
“Good idea,” Deirdre said.
There was a momentary silence on the line. “Sounds good to me,” Elizabeth said. Another momentary silence. “Sorry, Kay. I was out of line.”
“Okay, see you both tomorrow morning.” I ended the call. Things were starting to heat up. I needed the support of my friends for the upcoming phases of the plan. Elizabeth's access in the college would prove to be especially invaluable. The minor squabble was behind us. It was time to move forward.
Chapter Ten
Saturday, November 5
Saturday morning, Deirdre called on her cell. “I’m just passing Margaret’s now,” she said. “I’ll park about half a block down the street so I can get a good view of her house.”
I laughed. “Sounds good.”
“What are you laughing about?” Deirdre asked.
“Elizabeth just walked in. She's wearing a black knit top, black leather pants and stiletto heeled boots.”
“Perfect for a stakeout.”
“Is that Deirdre?” Elizabeth asked. “Let me talk to her.”
“Deirdre, I'm going to put you on speakerphone.”
“Hi Deirdre!” Elizabeth said, smiling in the direction of the phone. “Did you bring your crystals?”
“Funny, Elizabeth! I’ll let you know if anything happens. There sure isn’t anyone around here this early,” Deirdre said.
“We'll probably leave in a few minutes,” Elizabeth said.
“Deirdre, Elizabeth, you're both hearing this for the first time.”
Elizabeth looked over at me and raised her eyebrows.
“I remembered a conversation between Al and a co-worker of his when I was at the post office the week of the Halloween Ball. The co-worker asked Al if he'd be able to work for her today, this morning. Al said yes. His wife would be busy visiting her father, and she always had lunch with him on Saturdays. Here's what I'm thinking. Why stake out a place if we know no one's home? Elizabeth and I can still go to Al’s house, but we should go inside.”
“What? Kay, are you insane?” Deirdre's shrill voice came over the phone. “That's illegal, not to mention dangerous. You're talking about breaking and entering. Elizabeth, what do you have to say about that? Talk some sense into her.”
“We'd be like Carolyn James, the detective,” Elizabeth said. “Sounds dangerous, but I could get into that. Count me in! I’ll be right back.” She trotted to the front door and slammed it behind her.
“Looks like Elizabeth thinks it’s a good idea,” I said.
“Figures.”
“I don’t know why Elizabeth left. She just ran out the door. I can see her through the window. She's crossing the street toward her house. Deirdre, I feel okay about going into Al's house. I'm doing this in the name of justice. What could be more moral than that?”
“Do you know how stupid that sounds? I should have done your horoscope for today. But I don't need it to tell you you're taking a big chance. Maybe I should have brought my crystals after all. I wish I could say something, anything to stop you.”
“If we're going to get anywhere in this case—”
“You know Al's a murderer. What if he comes back with Bill Murphy?”
“I have this absolute calm flowing through me. That stillness of mind you're always talking about?”
“Give me a break. Since when do you listen to me?”
“Look, the evidence we need isn't going to just fall into our laps. Oh, Elizabeth is coming back.”
“Listen, you aren't being rational.”
“I think it's a great idea,” Elizabeth said, coming in the door.
“Fine, I can tell you're determined not to listen to reason. Call me as soon as you get out of Al's, and make sure you turn off your cell phones in case someone calls while you're in the house.”
“We’ll do that right now,” I said. “Wish us luck, Deirdre.”
“You'll need more than luck.”
* * * *
We drove past Al’s house, which was on a corner lot, and parked across from the entrance to his alley. He lived in a beautiful old stucco-sided bungalow. There wasn’t anyone out on the block. Beyond the tall pine trees, opposite his house, I caught a glimpse of the river below flowing past and heard a spinning sound. Far in the distance, I saw an angler standing in the river flicking a line in and out of the rippling water. Gazing at the water, I drifted off, thinking about Mary Ann and why she would have thrown her marriage to the winds by having an affair with Dave. Obviously, Sherman was obsessed with his work. He didn't make time for Mary Ann. Had Sherman known how Mary Ann felt? If so, would things have changed? Had she tried to talk to him about his neglect?
“The sunroom in the back must have been an addition,” Elizabeth said redirecting my attention back to our task at hand. “Do you think his wife left yet?”
“We may have to wait a while,” I said. “I’m glad we came in Will’s old gray Chevy. It's pretty nondescript. No one would recognize it.”
“That's right.” Elizabeth looked back over at Al's. “It’s a good thing Al's backyard has hedges going all the way around. It'll cover us somewhat as we go in,” Elizabeth said. “Look...the garage door is going up.”
Al's wife backed her Audi down the driveway and turned in the opposite direction from where we were parked.
“Nice car on a postal worker's salary. Al said his wife didn't work.”
“Sure is. What time is it?”
“Nine-thirty. That should give us a good two hours before Al gets back from work.”
I waited until Al's wife turned the corner, started the car, and drove a quarter of the way into the alley before turning off the engine.
We got out of the car and headed down the alley. I opened the gate that led to Al's backyard, let Elizabeth pass, and closed it behind me without making a sound.
“Harvard lock,” Elizabeth said when we reached the back door. She took what looked like a black manicure kit out of her pants pocket. It was filled with a number of thin
metal tools.
I raised my eyebrows. I was shocked for two reasons: first of all, that Elizabeth could even fit anything into her tight leather pants, and secondly, that she possessed tools for breaking into a house.
“Where'd you get those from? You haven’t done this before, have you?”
“I knew these would come in handy someday.”
“You continue to amaze,” I said, shaking my head.
“How did you think we were going to get in?”
“That we’d find a door unlocked, or maybe a key under a flowerpot?”
“Only in the movies.”
After Elizabeth tried a third tool, we heard a soft click, and the door opened. No alarm sounded. We were lucky there wasn't a security system. We entered the back hall without wasting a second, closed the door and relocked it, and went into the kitchen.
“Look, everything's so spotless. I can see myself in the sink,” Elizabeth said. “I'll have to ask Al who his cleaning person is.”
“You'd better not! Remember, keep away from the windows.”
The sunroom was off to the side of the kitchen. As I walked into the living room, a soul wrenching déjà vu feeling unsettled me. A Steinway upright stood against an inner wall; and as I looked at it, a few bars of music played in my memory. I had been in this room before. In my nightmare. How was that possible? Maybe I should tell Deirdre. She’d have an answer for it.
The furniture smelled of fine wood. An overstuffed sofa and two matching chairs took up much of the rest of the room. I looked to see if there were piano windows. Sure enough, sunlight streamed through them. A ficus tree covered part of the front window. I glimpsed through a doorway off to the side that led into a small dining room. A beautiful crystal chandelier hung above the table.
We went down the hallway to a study. The room contained an old oak desk, a worn leather rolling chair, built-in bookcases, and beautiful stained glass windows. I wondered if the windows were original to the house. There was a closet, jam packed with clothes, a number of boxes, and photo albums sat on shelves.
“I suppose the study is the place to start. I’ll look through the desk, and you take the closet.”
“What are we looking for?”
“Not sure, but we’ll know it when we see it.”
The desk had bills, catalogs, and other miscellaneous papers piled up on it. On top of one of the piles of paper was the Stephanie Griffin book Al and I talked about in the post office. Sitting in the old comfortable desk chair, I proceeded to go through the drawers, which contained the usual stationery odds and ends. I also checked under each drawer to see if anything had been taped to it. After looking in the last drawer, I said, “I don’t see anything in the desk.”
I glanced over at Elizabeth. She was busy looking through a box. “Did you find something?”
“Over here. This box…it was on the top shelf, under some photo albums. Look, typed pages of a manuscript dealing with the ginseng farms in Sudbury Falls. Sherman Walters' name is on them.” She looked underneath the pages. “And about a dozen CD’s. These must be the materials that were stolen from Sherman’s office.”
The thud of a car door closing resounded. I peered out one of the stained glass windows and saw a car parked in the driveway at the back. Dr. Anders was walking toward the back door. “Damn! Dr. Anders is here! Quick, out the front door!”
Elizabeth shoved the box back on the top shelf, slammed the study closet door a little bit too loud, and we ran toward the living room. “Someone's at the front door.”
“The closet!” I said. We quickly opened the double louvered closet door in the living room. Just after closing the door and getting behind some coats, we heard the front door open.
“You said Al wouldn't be home this morning,” Elizabeth whispered to me.
“Shhh…” I sharply whispered back. Why wasn't Al at work? Maybe this was an important meeting he couldn't miss.
“Come in. Make yourselves at home,” Al said. “I’ll be right back. I need to let Michael in the back door.”
I moved up in the closet and peered through the slats at the people coming through the front door. A man I had never seen before, and...Margaret? What was she doing here? Did Deirdre follow her over? Was she parked right outside the house?
Al and Dr. Anders came into the living room. “Okay. We are the only ones who could make it this morning,” Al said. “Richard cancelled, and the rest are busy.”
“John, let me hang up your coat. Margaret?”
Elizabeth and I looked at each other in horror and tried the best we could to make no sound as we pushed ourselves against the back wall of the closet. I held my breath.
I heard Margaret say, “No, that's fine.”
The man I didn't recognize said, “I can't stay long.” We breathed out huge, silent breaths of air, and moved forward in the closet again to be able to see and hear better.
“I think it's dreadful Professor Walters had to die. The poor man. When I heard about it, I thought I was going to have a stroke,” Margaret said.
“Deirdre must be outside,” Elizabeth whispered to me. I put my finger up to my lips for her to be quiet. I could smell Elizabeth's perfume. I hoped Al couldn't.
“I just about said the same thing Saturday night,” Al replied.
“His poor wife looked so lost at the funeral,” Margaret said.
“Yeah, yeah, Margaret. The poor professor. He shouldn’t have been sticking his nose where it don’t belong,” John snarled.
“He was doing research for his book,” Margaret said. “John Stewart, ginseng is the main crop around here. What else do you think the agriculture students and professors are going to research in Sudbury Falls? Ragweed?”
So that was John Stewart, Al's brother. He did sound deranged, just like Marissa said.
“Does anyone have any thoughts on who was behind the curtain?” Al asked. I forgot to breathe as I waited for the answer. “The Halloween party was two blocks away, and there were at least two to three hundred people at it. It could have been anyone there.”
“Eventually that person's going to talk. It’s just human nature. They won’t be able to keep it to themselves, and when they do, we'll deal with the problem,” said Dr. Anders.
I looked over at Elizabeth and she back at me, our eyes wide open. Dr. Anders was a part of this whole sordid conspiracy. And so was Margaret. Could anyone be trusted in this town of criminals?
“How could we let that person get away?” John questioned the group’s cleverness.
“Bill reports no one has gone to the police,” Al said. “And it's already been a week.”
“This shouldn’t have happened. John, you were told to destroy those plants a long time ago,” Margaret said. “I didn’t even think they still existed.” She sounded angry.
“As we speak, the workers are burning 'em. A quarter of my crops are being destroyed. Does that make you happy?” John asked Margaret.
“How many lives must be destroyed to protect your secret? Any more deaths, I'll go to the police myself,” Margaret said.
“What do you think that would result in, Margaret?” I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was becoming more and more irritated with Margaret.
“John! Cool it.” Al said. “Enough!”
“Remember my autopsy report. Professor Walters accidentally drowned. Nothing looks out of the ordinary,” Dr. Anders said.
John chuckled. “Yeah, we sure did luck out with his wife being out of town.”
“All of this for money. You act like his life meant nothing at all,” Margaret said. “Think about it. Is it all worth it? Hasn't this gone far enou—”
John interrupted, the rage evident in his voice. “Don't analyze me or talk about money. What do you think paid for your big fancy house? The money you and Earl used to travel the world? Don't be such a hypocrite, accusin' me when you're no different!”
“Stop it! This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Al said.
“You're as much to
blame as anyone,” John continued. “You knew what was going on all of these years.”
Al pounded his fist on the coffee table. We jerked a bit in the closet. I cupped my hand over my mouth, afraid I might scream. The room was silent for a few moments.
Dr. Anders broke the silence. “Was Walters' office at the college searched?”
“With a fine toothed comb,” Al said. “Nothing incriminating left. What about the reports from Bioengineering Laboratory?”
“Everything came back normal,” Dr. Anders said. “Walters told me he also gave some samples of the ginseng to a lab in St. Paul. Strangely enough, he told the lab they were from an associate in the UK, so we don’t have to worry about that.”
John laughed and shook his head. “Sure saves us some trouble. Why would he have said something stupid like that?”
“The only loose end is our mystery person behind the curtain,” Al said.
“It was so dark outside, I couldn’t even make out if it was a skirt or not,” John said.
“Skirt?” Margaret said, sounding offended.
“Yeah. Unless you can stare at the person’s butt, it’s hard to tell.”
“John—”
It sounded like they were going to come to blows right there over something that was far from what they were here to discuss.
“Anyway,” John continued. “It was so dark, it was hard to tell what that was...a man or woman.” He almost savored the word woman, as if teasing Margaret with it. “Just disappeared into the night.” John snapped his fingers.
“I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary at the Halloween Party. And I kept watching everyone,” Al said. A small feeling of relief swept over me, as much as was possible being trapped in a closet with a bunch of murderers outside the closet door.
“Perhaps the person wouldn’t go to a party after seeing all of that,” Margaret said. “I wouldn't.”
“Maybe that is exactly where they would go to blend in. Did you notice anyone at the party acting normal?” Dr. Anders asked.
The Ginseng Conspiracy (A Kay Driscoll Mystery) Page 12