by Elaine Macko
I finished typing an email to a client and added a few attachments before hitting the Send button. Five seconds later, the power went out in my office. It wasn’t fully dark outside, but the cloud cover made it seem later than it was. One good thing about having a small office, and one in which I had worked for many years, was that I could pretty much get around in the dark with no problem. I made my way to the kitchen and rinsed out my teacup. I retraced my steps back to my office and started to gather up my things. No sense sitting around in the dark, waiting for the power to come back on. I just hoped it wasn’t out at my house, because I had plans to heat something up in the microwave for dinner.
I shoved a few papers I wanted to look over this evening into my bag, and then walked over to the window to close and lock it up for the night. I had just turned back to my desk when a flash of lightning lit up my little office like it was Yankee Stadium. I counted the seconds until the thunder struck. The storm was getting closer, but I could probably make it to my house before the rain hit hard. It would be nice to have one of Kate Cavanaugh’s lovely sunrooms to sit in and enjoy the storm, but I planned on waiting to see if she was carted off to jail for murder before I took my room addition plans any further.
I picked up my bag and draped it across my body and pushed my chair in. As I came around my desk another flash filled the room and illuminated Gail Hachmeister, who was standing just inside the doorframe.
Chapter 55
“Holy hell! You scared the living daylights out of me. I didn’t hear you come in.” I stood there with my hand on my chest trying to catch my breath, and hoping my heart rate would return to something close to normal in the next couple of seconds.
“Oh, dear, I did knock several times, but with the storm approaching I guess you didn’t hear me.”
“No. No, I did not. How did you even know anyone was here with all the lights out?”
Gail ran a hand through her wind-blown hair and miraculously every strand fell back into place.
“I’ve been sitting in my car in front of your office for about fifteen minutes deciding whether or not to come in. I saw light when I arrived.”
I was suddenly aware of the fact that I was alone in my dark office with a person I had on my killer list. Luckily there was no nail gun in my office and no bat, but the woman was smart. Maybe she had a vial of something lethal in her purse that she planned on forcing me to drink after she made me write a suicide note. Hopefully my sister wouldn’t believe it and would mount her own investigation into my death.
I made a split-second decision not to offer Gail anything to drink, thus eliminating the possibility of the woman spiking my tea. But I couldn’t let all my manners fall to the wayside. I put a smile on my face and asked her to have a seat.
“If you don’t mind talking in the dark, I’ve got a few minutes. My husband and I have dinner plans tonight,” I said, letting Gail think I had someone waiting for me.
“No, that’s fine,” she said, as she came into the office and sat down in a chair across from me.
“So, what can I do for you?”
“Gary and I are coming up on our tenth anniversary,” she said without any preamble.
“Congratulations.”
“Yes, well, you see, before we got married we had a prenuptial agreement drawn up. If we divorce, Gary gets one million dollars for each full year we were married. If we divorce after we’ve been married for more than ten years, then he gets substantially more. The agreement states that if he cheats on me, he gets nothing. So far I’ve never caught him cheating. Unfortunately, the agreement made no such provision if he had sexual fantasies of other women and flirtations, and a good thing for him, because both of those things have plagued our marriage from the onset.”
“Why didn’t you just divorce him at the beginning? The most you would have had to pay out was a million dollars.”
“Yes, well, like I told you yesterday, I was brought up in a rather naïve way. I also do not like scandal, and I didn’t want to be forever known as the middle-aged rich woman who married a younger cad.” Gail inhaled a gulp of air and then let it out slowly. “And the truth is I did love Gary.”
“Did?” I asked.
“Yes, did. I’m afraid over the last year I’ve become rather, well, bored with him.”
“And you don’t mind a scandal now?”
Gail looked down at her manicure and then back at me with a resigned look on her face. “I’m older now. And wiser. We’ve been together a decent amount of time that I won’t look the naïve fool. I’ve had enough of Gary, and when I found out he was up to something with Victor, I thought it the perfect time to sort things out. Plus, I’m tired of being intimate with a man who’s thinking of other women when he’s with me. It’s degrading, and quite frankly, disgusting. And now with our ten-year anniversary approaching, there’s a lot at stake. My family’s company to be exact, and my father, God rest his soul, would turn over in his grave if he thought I lost the company to someone whom he never felt deserved me in the first place. As long as I have the plans in place to divorce before my tenth anniversary arrives, he’ll get nothing but nine million dollars.”
Nine million dollars didn’t sound like nothing to me, but Gail Hachmeister and I obviously traveled in different circles with different bank accounts.
“And how do I fit into all of this?” I asked. I like gossip as much as the next person, and gossip about a member of Connecticut’s higher society was certainly entertaining, but I didn’t see why Gail Hachmeister felt compelled to unburden on me.
“I came to you because you’re looking into Victor’s murder. I want to know if you find out anything about Gary. Basically, I want to know if you uncover proof of an affair. I am more than happy to pay you for your services.”
“Gail, you admitted to me that you’ve had your husband checked out. So I’m wondering why you don’t just hire a private investigator like you’ve obviously done in the past.”
Lightning flashed in the room casting a ghostly pallor on Gail’s skin.
“This calls for the utmost discretion. Why involve a third party when you are already on the case, so to speak?”
“Okay. I can understand that. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know if that’s what you really want, but the truth is, my main concern is looking into Victor’s murder and Jenna’s, and—”
“Jenna’s murder?”
“Yes, her family thinks that Victor pushed her off that cliff.”
In the dim light of my office I could see the white of Gail’s teeth when she smiled.
“Of course, he did. I should have known that. He was a disgusting little weasel. And a pervert. He obviously got what he had coming. My husband has shared with me some rather salacious stories from his and Victor’s past. Things they did in their youth. It was one of the things I found so fascinating and dangerous about Gary at the beginning, and now, well, it just seems so tawdry.” Gail stood up. “I’ve kept you long enough. Thank you for your time and please let me know if you find out anything.”
Gail walked out of my office, and a few seconds later I heard the front door open and close. I waited a few minutes before leaving, and as I walked to my car I mentally gave Gail Hachmeister the honor of occupying the top space on my list of suspects.
Chapter 56
I was restless. My first thought was to head over to the gym and walk on the treadmill for an hour, but what fun would that be? It was still early enough that I knew John wouldn’t be home. I had some more questions for Maddi Wickersham so instead I headed over to her home hoping I wouldn’t be interrupting her dinner.
“Hey!” Maddi said when she opened the door. “Come in out of this rain. It feels so good out here, doesn’t it?”
I closed my umbrella and stepped into her entryway.
“You can leave it there. It’ll be fine.”
I put the umbrella in an antique umbrella stand to the left of the door and followed Maddi into the kitchen.
“It’s me
atloaf Monday and the kids are eating in the den on TV trays. They love it.”
“How’s Moshi doing?” I asked.
“Good. Good, I think. We’re keeping her busy, but I still encourage her to talk to me and sometimes she just climbs on my lap and cries.” Maddi’s eyes misted. “It’s hard, you know? My sister should be here. So, can I offer you anything? My husband is away on a business trip and I was just about to make a plate for myself and watch the rain. Join me.”
I watched Maddi pile mashed potatoes on two plates and then add a generous slice of meatloaf to each. She also had green beans and carrots, and if I had made it myself, I would have done it exactly the same.
“This looks wonderful. Thank you.”
We took our plates over to the kitchen table. Maddi opened the small window set into the kitchen door, and a cool breeze enveloped us while we ate to the sound of a steady rain.
“The police came to talk to me about the diary and the money.”
“Sorry about that. I had to tell my husband. Mr. Big might very well have killed Victor.”
“Oh, it’s okay. Anything that gets me closer to finding out what happened to my sister is a good thing. So, do the police know who Mr. Big is?”
I put my fork down and wiped my chin. “Actually, I figured that all out with the help of my niece. At first I thought Mr. Big was Gary Hachmeister.”
Maddi scrunched up her face. “Why would you think that? Jenna thought he was a dirty old man.”
“Because he was in love with her. His secretary told me that Gary definitely had a crush on Jenna and the secretary, Suzette, felt he was probably in love with her, so I confronted him about it.”
“And what did he say?” Maddi asked. She seemed tense and I had a feeling all this talk of her sister was getting to her.
“He said that Jenna didn’t even know he was alive. It doesn’t mean that he didn’t kill Victor. There was definitely tension between the two men and some unsavory business dealings that could be the motive. Do you know Gary Hachmeister?” I asked. I wanted to see what Maddi’s thoughts were about the guy. If it turned out that the person who killed Victor also attacked Gary, and that person turned out to be Maddi, I needed to know why she would go after the builder, because so far I didn’t have a connection.
Maddi poured herself some more iced tea from a pitcher on the counter. “I saw him every now and then when Jenna and Victor had a party. He and Victor were two peas in a pod, but Gary was, well, kinder, I guess you could say. But I do know my sister wasn’t crazy about him. She said he had wandering eyes. Jenna told me she knew that when Victor and Gary were younger they got into some trouble, but Victor never shared all the details with her. Probably better that way. You said that you know who Mr. Big is.”
“I do. I took my niece and nephew to the beach on Saturday and Kendall told me that she saw Jenna and Mr. Jankowski kissing several months ago.”
“Mr. Jankowski? Brian? The principal of the school? Are you sure?”
My mouth was full of mashed potatoes, so I nodded and then swallowed. “I am. I went to speak with him and he admitted it. He told me that the affair started when Jenna and Victor were separated, but once she got back with her husband they stopped seeing each other.”
Several tears ran down Maddi’s face and she swiped at them with her napkin. “Oh, this is so heartbreaking. Brian is a wonderful man and he and Jenna would have been perfect together. Damn! Why did she have to go back to Victor?”
“Brain said he felt that she was doing it for Moshi. You know, trying to keep the family together. But he said right before she died he was certain she was about to leave Victor again and this time for good. I told Brian about the diary and he believes Victor must have seen it.”
Maddi leaned back and nodded. “That makes sense. He was a sneaky bastard. He must have found the diary and arranged that trip to get rid of her once the life insurance was in place.”
“But if he found the diary, then he must have found all that money, too,” I said. “Why didn’t he take it?”
Maddi pursed her lips and shook her head. “Oh, he was good. I’ll give him that. He found the diary and the money, but if he took the money, Jenna would have known that he found her secret hiding place. He had to leave it there, but I’ll bet my life he was reading that diary all the time to see what she was up to.”
“So why didn’t he dump the diary and take the money after Jenna died?”
Maddi leaned back in her chair and picked up a green bean with her fingers. “Jenna had to take the diary out of the toy box to write in it every day. Maybe Victor only found that. Perhaps Jenna left it somewhere after she was done writing one evening, and didn’t have time to put it back in the toy box before Victor came home. She kept the box in Moshi’s room and it was full of toys. You saw it. You had to push everything aside to get to the secret button, and she wouldn’t have done that with Moshi around to see. But the money doesn’t matter. The diary told Victor everything he needed to know. The entries for the last couple of weeks before she died said that she was getting stronger and felt giving her marriage one more try had been a mistake. And Brian was right, she even wrote down that after their trip to Maine, she was hoping to leave Victor for good. I’m just surprised Victor didn’t go after Brian.”
“Well, Jenna never wrote down his name. She just referred to him as Mr. Big.”
“That must have driven Victor crazy, trying to figure out who Mr. Big was. But he mustn’t have found the diary until after Jenna broke up with Brian.”
“Why do you think that?” I asked.
“Because if they were still together, Victor would have followed Jenna until he found out who Mr. Big was. I think as soon as he found that diary, he talked her into getting the life insurance and then he took her away for an anniversary weekend.”
“I have to agree. That sounds about right. I think he set everything into motion rather quickly.”
We finished our dinner and Maddi made us some hot tea and then took ice cream cones into the den for the girls. When we were seated back at the table I asked Maddi the question I had come here to ask in the first place.
“Maddi, did you know that Victor was planning on changing the trust? At least that’s what Ruth and Delilah think. Delilah said she was sure he had already done it. He was going to make his sister executor in case anything happened to him.”
Maddi picked up her tea mug and took a tentative sip. She looked at me with those piercing blue, smoky eyes of hers and said, “Then I guess it’s lucky that he died before he could.”
Chapter 57
I never got a chance to ask Maddi anything further because the girls came into the kitchen to ask if they could go out and play in the rain. I left then and returned to the comfort of my own home where I was currently sitting in my cozy chair with a tea mug cradled in my hands while I stared out the window.
The rain came down and bounced off an old metal patio table I had planned to repaint, and so far hadn’t found the time. The drops bounced off the table in a steady rhythmic ping, which held me in an almost hypnotic trance. My mind freely wandered, finally coming to rest on Elizabeth Applegate. She had told me that Victor always had a bunch of money on hand. Maybe he did find Jenna’s secret hiding place after all, and had been steadily using the cash. The amount Maddi had found may have only represented a portion of what Jenna had been able to stow away. Interesting stuff, but none of it told me who killed Victor Sanjari. All it did was solidify the fact that Victor killed Jenna. I knew it. Maddi knew it. Everyone seemed to know it, but it would never be proved and that really made me mad. I wanted him to pay, and even though he was already dead, at least his reputation would be well and truly soiled.
“What are you thinking about? You look a million miles away,” John asked. He took a seat next to me and placed a bowl of grapes between us. He took a few and ate them slowly while watching me.
“I was just thinking about people who get away with murder. There must be hundreds of the
m out there living their lives all smug like, all the while knowing they killed someone and managed to get away with it.”
“Maybe. But they’re walking around wondering every day if today’s the day they’re going to get caught. That’s got to be some kind of hell, looking over your shoulder all the time,” John said. “Not like life in prison, I guess, but it’s certainly a form of retribution.”
“Hmmm.”
“You don’t have faith in me that the police will find Victor’s killer?”
I looked at my husband and smiled and then reached over and touched his arm. “Oh, no, I know you will. I was thinking about his wife Jenna. Her murder will never get justice even though everyone knows her husband killed her.”
“I’d say his getting nailed was definitely someone’s kind of justice.”
“So you think he was killed because of Jenna? Is that the official opinion?”
John shook his head. “I’m not sure of that. But the man was murdered so as the saying goes, what goes around comes around. Isn’t that good enough for you?”
“It may have to be.” I broke off a grape from its stem and popped it in my mouth. “But what I really want is for everyone to know he did it.”
“That may help you and Jenna’s sister, but what about Moshi? Would it be a good thing for her to know her father killed her mother?”
This gave me pause. “I hadn’t thought of that. If someone killed Victor because they felt certain he killed Jenna, would it make it any less a crime in the eyes of the law?”