Geraldine appeared in the doorway. “What is it? Max, are you all right?”
“I’m fine. It’s just that Benny …”
“Benny what?”
Rouleau heard the exasperation that had crept into her voice. She crossed her arms across her breasts.
“He’s dead,” said Max harshly. He turned back toward Rouleau. “Benny left the office before me. I don’t understand how this is possible.”
“Did you leave by the parking lot exit?”
“No. The main doors. My car was closer to the front of the building.”
“How far behind him were you?”
“About half an hour. I had a few calls to make.”
“So you left work around quarter to nine?”
“That’s right.” Max glanced at Geraldine. “I called Ger around seven to say I’d be late.”
“You never mentioned the part about going to a bar,” said Geraldine.
“I just needed to unwind after the baby and work. It’s been a busy week.”
“You didn’t hear or see anything unusual?” asked Rouleau. He directed his question to Max but kept his eyes on Geraldine. He found her rigid stance odd.
“Nothing. The front door was locked but I set the alarm before exiting. It’s always the last one to leave that sets it.”
“I thought you shared the building with doctors.”
“We do, but they leave by six. Plus they weren’t in over the holiday week. It’s understood that we set the alarm since we’re always there later. If we happen to leave early, we let one of their receptionists know. There’s never been a problem. Christ. How did he die?”
“It’s early to say, but it wasn’t an accident. Somebody killed him.”
“Just like Tom. My god.”
Geraldine moved closer to Rouleau. “It must mean their deaths are work-related. Perhaps it’s that project you’re working on. Daddy was working on the same one before he was murdered. Do you think it’s the same killer?”
“Again, it’s early yet to speculate,” said Rouleau. “Were you alone all evening?” he asked Geraldine.
“Yes, except for my baby.”
“J.P. Belliveau identified Benny,” Rouleau said.
“Benny’s mother lives in Sandy Hill on Stewart Street.” Max’s voice broke.
“Yes, we notified her half an hour ago. She should be at the police station now.”
“Could I … see him?”
“Just family at this point, I’m afraid.”
“Max is like Benny’s immediate family, isn’t that right, Max?” asked Geraldine. “They were as close as brothers.”
“I suppose I could take you to see him.”
Max straightened his shoulders. “I’ll just get dressed and will follow you in my car. My wife needs to stay here with the baby.”
“Take your time,” she said. “I can manage just fine on my own.”
Hunter opened the door and hesitated at the sight of Kala on his doorstep. He held a tea towel and dried his hands as he invited her in. His eyes were wary.
She took off her boots and followed him into the kitchen. Fabio padded over to the doorway to nuzzle her leg. She bent down to pet him and then straightened. She was startled to see six year old Charlotte Underwood sitting at the table, a forkful of pancake on its way to her mouth. Her violet eyes, so like her mother’s, fixed themselves on Kala’s face. She chewed with her mouth open.
“Coffee?” asked Hunter, lifting the half-full pot and pointing it in Kala’s direction. The brew smelled deep-roasted and strong.
She pulled her gaze away from the child and looked at Hunter. “No, thank you. I’m afraid I’m here with more bad news, although not as directly related to you as your father’s death.”
Hunter turned and set the coffee pot on the stove. “Not again,” he said quietly.
“Should we … perhaps it’s better if we go into the other room.”
He nodded. “Charlotte, I’ll be right back.”
Her red curls bobbed up and down. Fabio’s toenails click clicked as he made his way across the floor to flop down next to her swinging feet.
In the living room, they stood near the window that looked out over the side yard. Kala was still trying to absorb Rouleau’s early morning call. First Tom Underwood and now an employee from his company. She didn’t believe in coincidences. Did Laurel and Hunter’s burgeoning friendship still fit into the puzzle?
“Well?” Hunter asked.
“We got a call around seven a.m. Benny Goldstone was found dead this morning by the cleaning staff at your father’s office.”
Hunter looked out the window then back at Kala, his face empty of expression.
“Do my sister and Max know?”
“Sergeant Rouleau has gone to tell them. He sent me to let you know the news.”
“And to see how I react.”
“That too.”
“This is … unbelievable. If it’s okay with you, I’ll pack up Charlotte and we’ll go over to Geraldine’s. I’ll try to reach Laurel from there.”
“Where is Laurel?”
“A spa in Chelsea. She needed some time away and I offered to take Charlotte. She is my half- sister, after all.” The corner of his mouth rose in a mocking grin.
“Where’s Chelsea?”
“In Quebec on the way to Wakefield. It’s about forty-five minutes from Ottawa.” He shook his head as if trying to shake away the craziness of her news. “Do you know how Benny died?”
“He was bludgeoned to death, it looks like with an Inuit art sculpture from the lobby. J.P. Belliveau identified him.”
“What time was he killed?”
“It’s too early to tell, but he’d been dead a while when he was found. What time did Laurel drop off Charlotte?”
Hunter frowned. He stared into her eyes as if searching for something. “It was nearly nine o’clock last night. Laurel decided on the spur of the moment around eight that she had to get away. She called me and made a reservation after I agreed to take Charlotte. Charlotte was ready for bed when Laurel phoned so she bundled her up and they arrived an hour later.”
“This didn’t strike you as odd?”
“The entire holiday season strikes me as odd. Laurel is grieving. I didn’t question her need to get away.”
“Did you know Benny Goldstone?”
“I’d met him a few times at my sister’s. Max would bring him around to family dinners.”
“What did you think of him?”
“He was socially awkward, always in the background and not saying much. I had no opinion about him one way or the other.”
“Did Geraldine have any issues with Benny spending so much time with her husband?”
Hunter glared at her. “Look, are you trying to say Geraldine had something to do with Benny’s death? Or maybe you’d rather I just admit that I killed him. Sounds like he died at work. Maybe that’s where you should be looking for the killer.”
He avoided her eyes as he pushed past her to get to the kitchen. She could hear him calling for Charlotte to finish the last few bites of her pancake so they could go visit her new baby niece.
Kala turned down the hallway to put on her boots. She told herself that the heaviness in her stomach had nothing to do with the coldness in his voice. Wasn’t it she who had warned him that he would feel differently about her by the end of the investigation? She turned as Charlotte came skipping down the hallway.
“Hunter says we’re going to Geraldine’s house. He’s just got to take Fabio outside for a minute. I’m to put on my snowsuit and wait here.”
“I’ll wait with you then. Is this your suit on the hook?”
“The pink one.”
“Of course. I’ve got it.” She handed the jacket and ski pants to Charlotte and smiled. “Let me know if you need help tying up your scarf.”
“I can do it myself.” Charlotte stood motionless in front of her, eyes solemn. “Daddy’s not here to help me anymore and Mommy’s tired. She
told me that I need to learn to do more things for myself. We’re going to move away soon.”
“Oh?” Kala leaned forward.
“Mommy doesn’t like our big house. Daddy didn’t like it either. He was going to move away too.”
“He told you that?”
Charlotte nodded. “He said he would always love me even if he and Mommy didn’t live together.”
“When did he tell you this, Charlotte?”
“When we went out with the lady he was going to live with. I wasn’t to tell Mommy.”
“You kept the secret.”
“I promised.”
“Was he going to move in with Pauline?”
Charlotte’s forehead scrunched up in a frown. “Who’s Pauline again?”
Kala looked up. Hunter was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. “All set to go, Charlotte?” he asked. “We don’t want to keep Officer Stonechild from her work.”
Kala straightened. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon.”
She smiled at Charlotte and opened the door, noticing for the first time a milder wind blowing in from the south. The deep freeze was on its last legs as a mid-winter thaw began stealing into the Ottawa Valley. Kala stepped outside, happy to feel the shifting wind on her face as she thought about Tom Underwood and the woman he was prepared to leave home for.
31
Saturday, December 31, 3:00 p.m.
They gathered mid-afternoon in Rouleau’s office. The sunlight poured like weak tea through slats in the venetian blind. It was the dead of winter, but the rising temperature was giving a brief respite from the frigid temperatures. The warmer air mass wouldn’t last long, but it was enough to raise their spirits.
Kala took the chair near the wall away from the others. She was overheated in her turtleneck sweater and thermal undershirt and felt sweat dampening her armpits. She took a sip of coffee and let the mug rest on her knee. The coffee was bitter and had likely been made just after lunch. No wonder she was the only one with a cup. Grayson and Malik were going through their notes and commenting to each other. She half-listened to Bennett and Gage’s animated discussion on whether or not to trade the Senators’ goalie. Rouleau appeared a few minutes later from a meeting with Vermette.
“Right,” he said, slapping a couple of files on the desk and dropping into his battered leather chair. “One bit of good news in this miserable week. We can stop looking for Annie Littlewolf. Her partner died of natural causes, a heart attack to be exact. He wasn’t murdered, so Annie has no reason to be in hiding because we have no reason to believe she’s in danger.”
“Shouldn’t we still be trying to locate her though?” asked Kala. If they didn’t locate Annie, her lead to Dawn and Rosie would be lost.
“Social Services is on the lookout now. They’ll look after her when she turns up.” Rouleau looked at each of them in turn. “Initial forensics is in on Benny Goldstone. He was hit repeatedly with a blunt object from behind, which I can now confirm is the Inuit art sculpture from the showcase in the lobby. He was then dragged into the closet where most of the bleeding took place. It’s likely death occurred on the second blow, which crushed the back of his skull. He was standing near the exit door when struck. Whoever did it, superficially wiped up the blood in the hallway and dumped the paper towels into the trash inside the closet. The security camera in the parking lot didn’t record anybody coming or going around the time he was killed, but someone could have gotten around it if they knew how it’s angled. There were no prints so the killer likely wore gloves. Goldstone was a small man. Five seven and one hundred and thirty-five pounds; a man or woman could have moved him easily enough. He’d been with the firm five years, the last two as Max Oliver’s assistant. What have you found out about Goldstone’s home life, Malik?”
Malik flicked open his notebook. “Lived in a one bedroom in Hintonburg near Wellington for the last ten years. Graduated from Algonquin College with a business degree and worked for a high-tech company for several years before it went belly up. Took a job with Underwood and company a few years ago. Mother lives in Sandy Hill. Father deceased. No siblings. Never married.” Malik looked up and paused. “Benny curled in the rainbow league at the Ottawa Curling Club.”
“He’s gay?” asked Grayson.
“Looks that way.”
“Boyfriends?” asked Rouleau.
“Officially, no. However, there are rumours that he and Max Oliver had something going on. He frequented gay bars on Elgin and in the ByWard Market.”
Kala kept silent even though it was validating to know she’d pegged Max correctly.
“It can’t be a coincidence that both Oliver and Underwood were working on the same project. I still say all this has something to do with work,” Grayson said.
Rouleau looked at Kala. “Thoughts?”
“Work is a possible reason. The family connection is another.”
“Can you narrow that down?”
“Not yet.”
“Great,” said Grayson, letting them know it was not. “I say we pull in Oliver and Belliveau. The link has to be there.”
“Okay,” said Rouleau. “Malik and Grayson, you start redoing the interviews in their office, although most of the employees will have gone home by now since it’s New Year’s Eve. It’ll mean some driving around to find them, but see what you can do. Start with Max and J.P. and do the rest tomorrow. You might need to go back to Montreal to talk to Archambault. Bennett and Gage, start going through Benny Goldstone’s files and computer. Stonechild, stick with the family angle. Whelan will be back in January to give you a hand.”
They nodded and stood. Rouleau held up a hand. “One more thing. We have until January fifth before Major Crimes takes over the cases. We’ll move back into the supporting role.”
“That means we’ll still be doing the legwork but without the credit,” said Grayson.
Kala looked more closely at Rouleau. The tiredness in his eyes went deeper than this case. She’d noticed his suit in the dry cleaning bag hanging on the hook next to the door. Whatever New Year’s Eve party he was supposed to attend would likely be a miss. She wondered if it was important to him. “We should be wrapping this up before Major Crimes gets involved,” she said.
Rouleau smiled. “I’m not organizing a parade yet.”
Grayson said something under his breath to Malik. They sent Kala darting, sideways looks. Bennett and Gage exchanged equally disbelieving glances. The old boys’ club was closing ranks. Kala ignored them and went to get her coat. She knew where she had to go to get answers. It was just a matter of putting the pieces together.
She pulled over in front of a townhouse and picked up her phone from where she’d tossed it on the passenger seat. She checked the incoming call. It was Shannon trying to reach her again. She pressed talk and held the phone to her ear.
“Shannon? Everything okay?”
“You’re harder to reach than the Pope. I’ve left messages for two days already.”
“Sorry. I’ve been on a case. What’s up?”
“Jordan came by again. I told him you wouldn’t be coming home. That you took a job out of town and wanted him to forget about you. That it was over.”
“And?”
“Your plan worked. He moved back in with his wife. I hope that’s really what you wanted.”
“It is.” She shut a door in her mind.
“I honestly thought he’d hold out for you.”
“You’re a romantic.”
“Yeah. He didn’t say anything after I told him you’d gone for good. Just stood there for a minute, then nodded and walked away.”
“It’s for the best, Shan.”
“I guess. It’s just sometimes … you never let anyone in. Not really.” A pause. “Any news on finding your cousin?”
“I’m close, I think. It’s just a matter of time.”
“I hope you come home soon, Kala. We miss you like crazy.”
“I miss you too. How’s Taiku?”
“He’s moping around but eating.”
“I’ll try to call again soon.”
“Don’t forget about us. We aren’t going anywhere.”
Kala closed her eyes. “I promise I’ll call. You know I always keep my word.”
“I know.”
Kala snapped her phone shut and stared straight ahead. Or at least I try to.
Susan answered the door and led Kala into the living room. They sat at opposite ends of the couch.
“You’ve missed Clinton again. He had some errands to run.”
“It’s you I’ve come to see,” said Kala. “You’re looking better.” Susan’s colour had returned. Her eyes were clear amber. Kala felt the warmth of her smile.
“I am better. So, how can I help you, Detective?”
“You’ve heard about Benny Goldstone’s murder?”
“On the news, yes. It’s just awful. I didn’t know him particularly well, but it’s a horrible tragedy nonetheless.”
“I understand Max brought him to dinners and social events with the family.”
“Yes, but he was so quiet that I can’t say I knew him except to say hello and talk about the weather. He really was just a colleague of Max’s. I’m planning to go over to Geraldine’s later today. They must be reeling.” Her elegant ruby-ringed hand pushed back a lock of hair from her forehead.
“Do you have any idea why he would have been killed?”
“I think it must be work-related. Both Tom and Benny were working on the same file, weren’t they?” Her hand settled on her chest just above her heart. “My god, I hope Max isn’t in danger.”
“We’ll be keeping a watch if this is work- related. Tom and Benny also had something else in common.”
“They did? And what would that be?” Susan turned her tawny eyes on Kala, her eyebrows were raised, her expression perplexed but cautious.
“They were both having affairs.”
Susan was the first to look away. “This is a serious accusation to make against two people who cannot defend themselves.”
“Most people would have asked who with, but you already knew, isn’t that right?”
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