“This could take weeks. The kind of information we need is often tough and even impossible to get on this type of citizen.”
Tony looked disappointed. “We’ve arranged them in descending order of likelihood to make it easier.”
“Great, but I don’t have the manpower to get through this list in the time we realistically have.”
“The police do,” Lili said calmly.
Shannon looked at Dan, who rolled his eyes. He knew the difficulty of getting the cops onboard with a scheme like this.
“So you think I can convince Dobbin to drop whatever they’re doing to jump all over this list of some of the most influential people in Toronto? Tony, with all due respect, this isn’t going to fly. You know the difficulty we ran into investigating Andrew McCutcheon? Everyone on this list is just as connected.” She shook her head. “And how do you know it’s someone who’s so obviously connected to opera? What if our man is just another ticket buyer?”
Dan, leaning against the wall to her left, mumbled under his breath. “A goddamned sick ticket buyer.”
“Mrs. O’Brien,” Lili said, leaning forward, “you are being far too negative. If we all go to the police and speak to them, I am sure they will act.”
“You have no idea how these things work.”
“Do not they want to find Marta?”
“Of course! But you’d be asking them to stir up a monumental hornet’s nest. These people do not like the police — or anyone for that matter — prying into their affairs, and they have the sort of clout that can stop the police dead in their tracks.”
Tony said, “I won’t accept that there’s nothing we can do.”
Shannon thought for a moment. “I do have a thought. We don’t have anything like the resources available to the police, but we do have some very useful things, nonetheless. Lili, could you make a profile of the man we’re after? You know, the sort of thing a police profiler would do?”
Lili nodded once. “Right now? I am rather tired and I would like to think on this.”
Shannon looked at her watch and realized it was nearing one in the morning. “Time is of the essence, but we’re probably all pretty tired. A bit of sleep might help us all think more effectively. And none of the people Dan and I will need to speak to will be available until morning.”
“What do you have in mind?” Tony asked.
Shannon looked over at Dan. “We’ll do a preliminary workup of the people on this list, see if there’s anyone who warrants a closer look. You and my receptionist Karen can access public records, search the Internet and the like. Dan and I will work our contacts for any inside dope. If we’re lucky and get pointed in the right direction, we’ll take our information to Dobbin.”
“Can’t we start now? I don’t care what time it is.”
“If everyone feels as strung out as I do, we’re not going to do good work. You don’t want to miss that little clue we need because you can hardly keep your eyes open, do you?”
Tony nodded but looked unhappy.
“Okay, then,” Shannon said, getting to her feet. “We’ll meet here at nine o’clock sharp.”
“I would prefer to work from home,” Lili said. “I can fax or email my profile as soon as it is finished.”
“Fine with me,” Shannon answered, getting up. “Hope everyone sleeps well. Tomorrow you’ll need every ounce of concentration you can muster.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The door opened again, this time without any advance warning.
Once again my enemy used his damned lights. It was useless to try to see through them, so I just covered my eyes with my forearm.
“Push your chamber pot toward me.”
“That’s sort of hard with all that light in my face.”
“Deal with it. If you prefer, you can just leave it where it is and enjoy the stench.”
I got up and pulled the pot out from under the cot, gauging where my body was pointed in relation to him. I’d be damned if I’d give him a view all the way to China. When I got to the limit of my chain, I put the pot on the floor.
“Lie down on the cot,” he ordered.
“Afraid I might try to strangle you with the chain or beat you to death with my bare hands?”
“Hardly.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
No answer as he backed out of the room. I took heart he was trying to protect his face. If he’d let me see him, it would be clear I was a dead woman walking.
He returned almost immediately. “Do you want food and water?”
I knew better than to challenge him. “Yes,” I answered meekly.
I could hear him place some things on the floor, his footsteps moved back toward the door, and the lights switched off. “I’ll be back in a short while to collect the dishes. I suggest you be finished by then.”
The door was shut, but I didn’t hear the sound of bolts being thrown. Did he believe I couldn’t do anything against him, or was he waiting to see if I’d try anything? With the thick loop of metal attaching the chain to my ankle, he didn’t have anything to worry about.
Crawling on my hands and knees was pretty undignified, but I was too hungry and thirsty to care. When I felt the plate and thermos he’d left, I picked them up and shuffled carefully back to the cot. The food was Chinese takeout. Again it sort of freaked me out that he knew I really liked barbecued pork lo-mein, but then he knew all about my personal life, didn’t he? And if I wasn’t mistaken, it certainly tasted like it was from my favourite place in the basement of the St. Lawrence Market. The thermos contained hot, unsweetened green tea, something I drank a lot when alone at home. I wolfed down the meal in a thoroughly animalistic fashion since he hadn’t supplied utensils.
I’d barely put my empty plate on the floor when he was back again. That answered one question: he was able to watch me in total darkness. This cretin loved his gadgets, so he probably had night vision goggles or infrared cameras or something. Either way, I couldn’t get the drop on him using darkness.
“Slide the plate to me, then roll the thermos after it.”
“Can’t I just walk over and hand it to you like a civilized person?”
“You’re not a civilized person.”
That sort of shook me. “What do you mean?”
“I saw your behaviour in Venice with that Hudson man you were using as your security guard. You wanted him, didn’t you?”
“I did not!” When he didn’t answer further, I added, “Is that what this is about?”
“You were given a great gift,” he began after a long wait, “many people helped you, and you have been squandering it. Your performance in Rome last month was a disgrace. It was entirely your fault you sang so poorly.”
“So you’re trying to teach me a lesson by kidnap-ping me?”
He went silent again, before finally saying, “Bring me your plate and thermos.”
“I deserve an answer.”
“You deserve nothing! Bring me your plate and thermos.”
That dangerous tone was in his voice again. It was too risky to continue.
“You mean hand them to you?”
He sighed. “If you must.”
Score one for my side. About time.
Under the relentless glare of the spotlights, it was difficult not to shield my eyes with my forearm, but I needed both hands — or at least I hoped he thought I did so I squeezed my eyes as tightly shut as I could.
Shuffling toward him, I knew roughly where the limit of the chain was, so it was no problem to pretend the end of it surprised me, causing a stumble right in front of him. I fell down convincingly, hurting my knees in the process. The things I was carrying skittered away.
A strong hand under my left armpit dragged me to my feet again.
“Clumsy woman!”
I feigned subservience again. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
He quickly backed away, picked up the plate and thermos, and left the room without a word. He was back a mom
ent later. I was still sitting on the floor, rubbing my bruised knees.
“Hold out your hand!”
I had no idea what this was about, so I just did what he asked.
I knew at once what had been put into my hand: one of his damned roses.
“Why did you give me this?” I asked.
No answer as he turned and walked out. The lights went off and this time I heard the bolts securing the door.
I sat on the bed, rather pleased with myself. He hadn’t been quick enough to back away when I’d fallen, so I’d been able to see to the top of his chest fairly clearly. He’d been dressed in expensive slacks and shoes. He was slender and I thought I detected facial hair.
That information is worth two sore knees, I thought as I rubbed them.
More importantly, by startling him, he’d dropped his guard a bit. His voice sounded different when he’d called me a “clumsy woman.”
I felt up the stem of the rose. I tried to imagine its colour. As I touched it to my face to smell its faint perfume, I realized something had been done to it. A quarter section of the blossom had been very neatly cut away.
What did it mean?
Chapter Thirty
Lili was at the desk in her sitting room working on the abductor’s profile when she became aware she was not alone. It wasn’t due to any sound the intruder made. He’d been utterly silent getting into her house. It was as if the atmosphere around her subtly changed, or perhaps it was that particular bond that has always existed between the hunter and the hunted.
“I have a gun,” he said in a surprisingly gentle voice. “Please don’t turn around.”
“So you have come,” Lili calmly replied. “It is not unexpected.”
“For you, probably not. What are you working on?”
“You already know or you would not be here.”
“And that’s what has made you dangerous to me.”
“You took a chance waiting this long.”
“Originally, you were of no concern, but lately you’ve been growing more important in my mind.”
Lili sighed. “I suppose I always knew you had a troubled soul. I should have helped when I was asked. But I was being selfish, and I suppose a little unsure of myself, and now …” Her shoulders rose and fell once as she sighed again.
“How long have you known it was me?”
“If I had thought about it from the correct perspective, I might have known right from the beginning.”
“I guess I am fortunate, then. I should have ended it when I first had the chance.”
“But when? Ah … But of course: the streetcar.”
“I wasn’t sure I could do it, so I hesitated for a moment. I suppose it’s because I liked you at one time.”
“And now with more experience, it is even easier to kill.”
“Yes.”
“Please do not hurt Marta.”
“How can you be so certain she’s still alive?”
“It is obvious, or you would not be here.”
“It is not up to you to beg for her. In fact, it is beneath you.”
“She is my friend.”
“Regardless, it is not up to you, nor, in a way, is it up to me. You shouldn’t have involved yourself so deeply in her problems.”
“As I have said, I had been selfish the first time. I would not make that mistake again — so I helped Marta. Is it too late to apologize, to tell you how sorry I am?”
“Oh please, Lili. There is no need to try to grovel. It won’t do any good.”
Again she shrugged. “One has to try.”
His voice betrayed his rising impatience. “Hand me those papers.”
Lili calmly picked them up, but instead of handing them over her shoulder, keeping her eyes on the wall in front of her, she spun her chair around.
A clear flash of anger crossed his face as he snatched them out of her hand.
Lili smiled sadly. “You are not as I would have expected from the last time I saw you.”
“Just shut up, woman!”
She watched as he quickly scanned the four sheets of handwritten notes, nearly complete. If he had not arrived when he did, it indeed might have been too late. As she’d been working, the man who had been pursuing Marta so doggedly (and effectively) had been stepping farther out of the shadows for her. Lili knew she was getting closer to finally whisking off his mask. She’d known him well enough at one time; her profile would have pointed to him most strongly.
Now he was about to win yet another round. She knew she had nothing to protect her but her hands. If she hadn’t been so stubborn to move without her cane, it might have been hanging from the edge of her desk as it had many times over the past few weeks. There was no evidence that he actually had a gun, unless it was in one of the pockets of his ski jacket. There certainly wasn’t one in the waistband of his pants.
Finished, he looked up. “You must have been thinking you were so smart as you wrote this.”
Lili shook her head. “No. Just observant. It has always been my forte.”
“You conceited cow. If you were so fucking observant, why didn’t you see what was right in front of you, how desperately you were needed?”
“You are correct. I should have helped you, too.”
“And why is that? So you could have avoided dying today? That says a lot about the person you are, Lili.”
The end, when it came, was swift, but not painless. The man merely sprang forward, plucked Lili from her chair. After throwing her to the floor, he sat astride her body, pinning her arms beneath his legs. Of course, she struggled as hard as she could, but it was futile. Lili’s killer outweighed her by nearly a hundred pounds. It seemed as if she was about to say something as he almost leisurely wrapped his gloved hands around her throat, smiled down at her in satisfaction, and strangled the life out of her.
In her mind, Shannon was giving her group until the end of the day to come up with anything that looked solid. She’d call all her operatives off whatever cases they had, and damn the consequences. She needed tails on every person of interest. This situation had long ago gotten up her nose, and she was out to win.
Dan had spent the morning installing new security equipment in her office and Michael’s condo (except for the one bug they’d decided to leave in the living room). Then he’d checked everything again at Tony and Marta’s condo, everyone’s phones, cars. You name it, he’d checked it.
Tony and Karen had been manning the computers, gathering background information on each of the people on the list. Shannon was searching databases to which she had paid access, to see if she could come up with any records that might help them in their quest. For the records that needed official access, she was calling in favours from every cop she’d ever helped. Dan was doing the same with his contacts in Ottawa. All they needed was a little whiff, something upon which they might build a case to take to Dobbin.
So far, they’d turned up sweet bugger all and it was nearly two. And where the hell was Lili with her damned profile?
“Tony, give Lili a call. Ask her when she’ll be finished. We need what she’s working on.”
Across the room, Tony picked up his mobile. “Sure thing.”
Shannon turned back to her monitor and began reading an interview Karen had found with one of the subjects.
“Shannon!” Dan said.
She looked up at him and he immediately pointed at Tony. The expression on his face was of complete shock.
“She is a very good friend of mine, and my vocal coach…. Yes, I can. It’s spelled L-U-S-A-R-D-I…. I don’t know what to say…. Yes. Last night, sometime after one. I dropped her off at her house…. Yes. Two other people. As a matter of fact, I’m with them now….”
Shannon waved her arm to get his attention. “What’s going on?”
“Just a moment, constable.” He pulled the mobile away from his ear. His eyes were huge and unfocused. “It’s the police. They’re at Lili’s. Oh my God…. She’s been murdered.”
> In a flash, Shannon was across the room and took the phone out of Tony’s hand. “Who are you speaking to?” she asked him.
“I, I don’t remember his name. Constable something….”
“Constable, this is Shannon O’Brien. I’m a private investigator working for Mr. Lusardi. I used to be a detective with the Toronto police. Tony’s wife, Marta Hendriks, was abducted two evenings ago…. Yes, that one. Is Les Dobbin there…? Well, I’d suggest you let him know about this right away. Unless I’m very wrong, the abduction and this murder are connected. We’re currently up in Unionville at my office. Please tell him we’ll all be down there ASAP.”
For simplicity’s sake, they decided to use Shannon’s SUV. Karen was told to go home. It was too dangerous for her to be working alone in the office.
On the way out, Dan punched in the activation code on the new control panel behind Karen’s desk. “If our boy tries to come in here, your smartphone will tell you immediately.”
The traffic on the Don Valley Parkway was surprisingly light for that time of day, but it seemed to take forever. Shannon had to keep reminding herself to not strangle the steering wheel.
Her mind was in overdrive. This latest development was beyond the pale, but it told them something. Obviously, somehow this bastard knew what they were up to. He also felt Lili was specifically a threat to him. Why was that? She knew better than to hope he’d left anything behind that would help them.
Once on Lili’s street, they were let through the police roadblock immediately. A mobile command centre had been brought in since Lili’s whole house was a crime scene. Dobbin was just coming out the front door as Shannon, Dan, and Tony walked up. Les’s greeting was warmer than past days. Obviously, he knew he needed their help.
“Shannon, glad you got here so quickly. Tony, thanks for coming. And you’re …” he said, looking at Dan.
“Dan Hudson. I work for Shannon. I was supplying security for Marta in Italy.”
“Well, it looks as if we’re all in the same boat. This guy has made monkeys of all of us.”
“Yes, sir, he has.”
Masques and Murder — Death at the Opera 2-Book Bundle Page 51