by Elaine Macko
I followed Sam into the mud room and then through a door.
“Oh my! This is gorgeous. Are you allowed to be in here before it passes inspection?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care. Another guy is coming by next week and I bet he finds nothing wrong with it whatsoever. It is gorgeous, isn’t it? Kate did such a good job with the design. I would have never thought of the little atrium area for an indoor garden.”
The room was stunning. I asked Sam to give me Kate’s name and address as Shirley was interested in adding a room onto the back of her house. Heck, after seeing this room, I was seriously thinking about doing something at my house. I followed Sam back into the kitchen.
“Here you go,” my sister said as she handed me a brochure. “She left a few for me to give out. Kate Cavanaugh. Expensive, but worth it.”
The kids came back into the kitchen. I watched my niece and nephew while they kissed their mother good-bye. Kendall, light skinned and blue eyed, and Henry, already tanned from the summer sun and a head of thick dark hair and dark eyes. Meme’s Italian genes certainly seemed to thrive in Henry.
“Be good for Auntie Alex,” Sam called as the kids ran out the front door and got into the back seat of my car. “Where are you guys going?” she asked, looking at me.
“I don’t know. I was thinking of heading out to Branford.”
Chapter 32
What I thought I would find out in Branford, especially with Henry and Kendall with me, was anyone’s guess, but after Shirley told me about seeing Michael, I wanted to check out the restaurant where he met the mysterious woman.
We took I-95 and in no time arrived in Branford. Main Street was in full swing. Parking was difficult as I expected for a summer Saturday, and I finally settled on a public lot. I knew there was a used bookstore on Main Street and we headed there first. Kendall had recently developed a love of Nancy Drew books, and I wanted to get her the next book in the series.
“Auntie, it smells funny in here,” Henry said the minute we stepped into the shop.
“That’s because they sell used books and some of them are very old and dusty. You can look around and if you find something you like, come and get me.”
Kendall and I headed to the information counter and asked if they had any copies of The Mystery At Lilac Inn.
“That’s the fourth in the series,” an obviously very knowledgeable young woman said to us. “I think we have several copies. Some in better condition than others.”
We followed her to the children’s section, where I found Henry sitting on the floor playing with a small dog.
“I found something I like. Can you buy him for me?”
“Sorry, but he’s not for sale. He’s mine and he loves to come to the shop with me. He looks forward to visits from our young guests.” The clerk smiled at Henry. “His name is Capriccio and I call him Cappy.”
Henry played with the dog while Kendall picked out three books. I paid for them and then we moved on down the street to a newsstand. I picked up some gossip magazines from the UK. I had gotten hooked on them while in Europe and treated myself to a copy whenever I could find them.
“Are you guys hungry?”
We decided on takeout hamburgers from the restaurant Michael had been at. I left the kids sitting on a bench just inside the restaurant door while I placed our orders to go.
“Were you by any chance working on Thursday, late morning?” I asked the waitress, a woman in her thirties.
“Yeah, I work Thursdays. Why?”
I looked over my shoulder to make sure the kids couldn’t hear me. “Do you remember a man and woman?” I asked and then I described Michael and the woman from what Shirley had told me.
“Did she get here first?”
“Yes! That’s right. You remember them?”
“Kind of. I only remember her because she was waiting for someone and he was late. She had a coffee and asked for the check, but then he showed up and I brought them both coffee and Danish.”
“Do you know who the woman was?”
“Kind of. I mean she’s come in here a couple of times, but I don’t know her name. I think she has her own business.”
“Why do you say that?”
“She always has a briefcase with her and talks on her phone a lot. I’ll put your order in.”
She left then and I went to sit next to Henry and Kendall. When our lunch was ready we took it across the street and ate while sitting on a bench in the town green. Dark clouds were gathering and a slight breeze was picking up.
“Looks like rain,” I said.
“Can we go play on the beach when we’re done?” Henry asked.
“I don’t see why not.”
Henry picked up his burger and went off to share it with some pigeons.
“Auntie Alex, what’s going to happen to Moshi?” Kendall asked.
“She’s going to live with her aunt and uncle and cousins.”
“If anything happened to Mom and Dad, where would Henry and I live?”
“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” I said gently.
“But if it did happen?”
“If it did, you could come live with Uncle John and me. Or Grandma and Grandpa, or your other grandparents.”
“I think we’d like to live with you and Uncle John and spend lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa.”
I picked up my burger with one hand while I wrapped my other arm around Kendall, making a mental note to make sure my sister had plans in place in case, God forbid, something happened. We sat there munching our burger and fries while Henry attracted more birds and a stray dog.
“Did Mr. Sanjari get killed because of what his wife did?”
I turned to look at Kendall. “You mean Jenna, Mrs. Sanjari?”
Kendall nodded.
“What did she do?”
“I saw her kissing Mr. Jankowski.”
“Mr. Jankowski?” I asked.
“Yes, Mr. Jankowski. Our principal.”
Chapter 33
As soon as Henry and his four-legged friend finished their hamburger, we got the car and headed to Stony Creek Beach. Off the coast of Branford are the Thimble Islands. They’re privately owned, but a couple of cruise companies offer tours past the islands. We didn’t have reservations and the line looked too long, so instead I got an old blanket I keep in the trunk, and spread it out on the sand. The kids took the two pails and shovels I bought at the drugstore on Main Street, and started to dig while I thought about what Kendall had told me.
Mr. Big. Mr. Jankowski was certainly a tall man. But was he Mr. Big? He had to be. How many men could Jenna have been having an affair with? Kendall said that after drama class one afternoon back in February she had gone back into the main building to pick up one of her books and had seen Jenna kissing Mr. Jankowski. She said it was one of those long, mushy kisses like in the movies. She never told anyone. Not even her mother, but with Victor’s death, the secret had obviously weighed heavily on her.
I had seen the principal many times at various school events I attended for Kendall and Henry. As far as I knew he wasn’t married. He was around Jenna’s age, smart, nice looking. I could certainly understand how she could be attracted to him especially with the way Victor treated her. Maddi said Jenna and Victor had been separated for a time, so perhaps the affair started then and continued once she and Victor decided to give things another go. But why would she want to get back with Victor in the first place unless it was for Moshi’s sake. I thought about this for a few minutes. Maybe Maddi would have some answers. And what about Mr. Jankowski? Could he have killed Victor because he, like Maddi, also suspected that Victor had killed Jenna? It was as good a theory as any I had come up with so far.
I then turned my thoughts to the mystery woman at the restaurant. She had been just about to leave according to the waitress, and then Michael showed up. And she had a briefcase. Was she meeting him on her lunch hour? Or was their interest in each other professional and not per
sonal? The waitress said that she had never seen Michael before. I had wanted to ask if she thought they looked romantic, but that may have been going too far. I certainly didn’t want her to mention our talk to Mystery Woman if she showed up again. So far it seemed that whatever Michael was up to, it was innocent, but then why not tell his wife? I wondered if John had spoken with him yet about his whereabouts at the time Victor Sanjari was murdered.
“Auntie, come help us,” Kendall called, bringing my mind back to the beach.
I went down to the water’s edge and knelt in the sand helping to dig the moat around the castle. Some things are timeless, like building sand castles at the beach, and making snow angels in the winter. I used my hands to scoop out warm sand from around the castle. Henry found a piece of wood and we fashioned a bridge across the moat. The tide was coming in and I could feel the water lapping at my feet. I turned around and plopped my butt in the sand while Henry took his pail further into the water and filled it up and then dumped it into the moat. He did this several more times, and then both kids sat down next to me and inspected their handy work.
“It’s a good castle,” I said. “Nice job.”
“I think I’m going to build bridges when I grow up,” Henry announced.
“Sounds like a plan, kiddo. You’d be really good at it.”
We sat there a while longer watching the water and dark clouds gathering in the sky. Pretty soon the tide encroached on the sand castle and filled the moat. First one pail-shaped mound fell, and then the rest.
“Did you feel that? It’s raining,” Henry shouted.
“How about we gather up our stuff and get an ice cream before we head home?”
Both kids looked at me from under the visors of their baseball caps.
“Sounds like a plan!” they shouted.
Chapter 34
I dropped the kids off. They ran out back to wash the sand from their feet, while I went into the kitchen to talk to my sister.
“What do you think of Brian Jankowski?” I asked.
“Brian? The principal at the kids’ school? Why are you asking about him?”
I had no plans to divulge Kendall’s secret. If she wished to tell her mother that she had seen Jenna Sanjari kissing the school principal that was up to her.
“No reason. I saw someone today who kind of reminded me of him, and it got me thinking about things. He’s single, right?”
“Yeah. Can you believe it? Smart and good looking. Great with kids, obviously. Many a divorced mom has had their eyes on him—hey, wait a minute. Are you thinking that he’s the guy Jenna was having an affair with? Hmmm. I can see it. Jenna was adorable and nice and smart. She’s exactly the kind of woman I could see him with.”
“I don’t suppose you have his home address?” I asked with a sly smile.
My sister laughed. “No, but this is a small town so he’s probably in the phone book or on the net.”
Sam took out her new phone and started typing something in. These darned phones. Thank God my sister had a firm rule of no talking or texting while driving. It was something my entire family adhered to especially after Henry was struck by a texting bastard a year ago.
“Here you go. He doesn’t live in Indian Cove. He lives in Westport.”
I wrote the address down.
“Perfect. I want to see Shirley this afternoon and maybe I can swing by Mr. Jankowski’s home on the way.”
I used Sam’s phone to call Shirley to make sure she would be home, and then said good-bye to the kids and thanked them for spending some time with me. Forty-five minutes later I pulled up in front of Shirley’s house.
“How was your afternoon with the kids?” Shirley asked as she poured boiling water into two mugs.
“We had such a nice time. We went to Branford.”
Shirley lifted one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Branford, huh? Alex, you’re shameless. So, tell me what you found out.”
“The waitress thinks Mystery Woman may own her own business. Says she’s come in several times. On the phone a lot and has a briefcase, and she had the case on Thursday when she met with Michael. He was late, evidently, and Mystery Woman was just about to leave when he showed up.”
Shirley handed me a cup of tea and I followed her into the living room.
“Okay, so it doesn’t sound romantic, does it?”
“Then why all the secrecy? Why not just tell Sam what he’s up to?” I asked.
Shirley pushed her hair behind her ears and reached for her cup of Earl Grey. “I don’t know. He did give the woman a kiss on the cheek. They could have been playing it coy because they were out in public. Maybe she had sexy lingerie in the briefcase.”
“Not helping. Okay, so what have you found out about Victor and Gary?”
“Gary Hachmeister and Victor used to work for a construction company in Rhode Island. They were only there a year or two. Something happened. It’s all kind of vague, but shoddy work was being done and the construction company they worked for was using cheap products. Something about cement. I don’t know, but anyway, a wall on a new office suite they were building collapsed killing the husband and wife who were going to be working out of the building when it was completed. They had some sort of new business venture going and they were renting one of the units in this new complex. There were lawsuits, of course, and the construction company went bust and people scattered. Victor got a job selling cars and Gary got a job as the manager of some store. This is all before Victor married Jenna.
“Anyway, at some point both Gary and Victor returned to Connecticut. They both had a couple of odd jobs and then Gary started at Connecticut Custom Homes, and I didn’t know this, but the company is not in his name. It’s in his wife’s name, and he does not work on any of the sites. He’s simply sales and administration stuff all the way.”
I put up my hand. “Wait a minute. The guy is married?”
“Yes, and his wife is like ten years older than he is.”
“Geez. This guy makes a point of staring at my chest every time I see him, and he admitted that he loved Jenna. I wonder what his wife thinks of all this?”
“From what my sources tell me, it started out as kind of a marriage of convenience, on his part, anyway. I guess she really loved him. They’ve been together about ten years. Her father actually started the company. Then the old man died and his daughter, Gail, rebranded the company putting Gary in charge of sales and running the office once they got married.”
“What about Victor?” I asked.
“Victor got a job working for the county as a building inspector after Gary started with the construction company. Gail knows a lot of people so maybe she had a hand in helping him find work.”
“So what does Victor have over Gary that he was able to use to get Gary to hire illegal workers?”
“Well, when Gary worked in Rhode Island, he was Gary Miller. That was the name of his stepfather and he used it. When he came back to Connecticut, he reverted to using Hachmeister, the name he was born with,” Shirley said.
“So maybe the wife didn’t know about Gary and Victor’s past. Was that accident attributed to them?”
“The company cut corners a lot, and used illegal sources for their supplies. They were using all inferior stuff, passing it off as high quality. Everyone who worked there probably knew what was going on.”
I thought this over while I sipped tea and gazed out the front window. “Perhaps Mr. Hachmeister has started using old sources and Victor knew.”
“Could be. I think both Gary and Victor knew things and used this knowledge to keep each other in line.”
“Speaking of construction, I have something for you.” I reached into my purse and took out the brochure Sam had given me. “Here you go, and let me tell you, Sam’s sunroom is gorgeous. If you use this woman, you’ll get something spectacular.”
Shirley picked up the high-end brochure and started looking through the pages of glossy pictures showcasing Kate Cavanaugh’s obvious talent. When s
he got to the back page she stopped.
“What is it? The prices? I’m telling you she is not cheap, but you’ll get something unique if you decide to use her.”
“No, it’s not the prices.” Shirley folded the back cover over and placed the brochure on the table. She put her finger on a picture of Kate Cavanaugh and tapped it a couple of times. “Her. Right there. That’s the woman Michael was meeting.”
Chapter 35
I put my head in my hands. “Oh my God, he’s having an affair with their designer. That’s as bad as sleeping with the babysitter.” I looked up. “I wonder if my sister has already paid her. Maybe she can put a stop on the check!”
“Hold on, weren’t you just saying that the waitress thought it was a business meeting? I told you it looked innocent.”
“Oh, come on. Look at this woman!” I lifted my chin toward the picture still sitting on the coffee table. “She’s gorgeous. And talented. And why did Michael need to meet with her on Thursday when the sunroom is already completed?”
“A million reasons. Maybe he wanted her to change something.”
“I would agree with you except he’s been acting strange for a while.”
“There’s one way to find out. You could go see her,” Shirley said.
“Or you could make an appointment with her to get an estimate for your own sunroom. Tell her Dr. Michael Daniels recommended you call, and see what happens.” I gave Shirley my most engaging smile.
“Or I could call her and tell her Dr. Daniels recommended her.”
“Great! Let me know what happens.” I finished my tea and stood up.
“Where are you going?”
“I want to stop by Brian Jankowski’s place and see what he has to say about Jenna.”
******
As it turned out, Brian Jankowski had nothing to say about Jenna because he wasn’t home. After I knocked on his door, an end unit in a small community of attached homes, and got no answer, I walked back to my car. Maybe he was gone for the summer on a European vacation. Did principals get the entire summer off like teachers? I had no idea. The man could be a million places. While I sat there, letting my car’s air conditioning comfort me while I decided what to do next, I had an epiphany. The man was at the grocery store, or, more accurately, had just been at the grocery store. I deduced this not because I have psychic powers I never told you about, but because he had just pulled into his driveway and was now taking a bag of groceries and a large watermelon from the trunk of his car.