Trust

by Pamela M. Kelley

  "Jack?" He didn't recognize the number on his caller ID, but the voice sounded familiar.

  "You got him."

  "Ted Bishop here, David's grandfather. You got a minute?”

  "Of course. I didn't recognize your number."

  "David got me a cell phone—one of those fancy iPhone things—and programmed in a bunch of numbers."

  "That's great."

  "So, the reason I'm calling is, I think you might want to come talk to my neighbor, Alan. He's here having coffee at my place. We got to talking and well, I think you might want to hear what he has to say. It's about that Eric Armstrong case. He might have seen something."

  "I'll be right there." Jack grabbed his coat and half-full cup of coffee and headed out. David's grandfather was up there in years, but he was still sharper than most people were, and Jack knew how well thought of he was in the department.

  Ten minutes later, he was sitting in the kitchen with David's grandfather and his friend Alan who lived across the street.

  "You sure you don't want some of Lucy's Carrot Cake? It makes for a delicious breakfast." He and Alan were enjoying large slices of it along with their coffee.

  "No, thanks. I'm all set. Had an egg sandwich on the way in." He took another sip of his coffee, which was barely lukewarm at this point.

  "So Alan, tell Jack what you told me earlier. Don't leave anything out."

  "Right. Well I work part-time down at the new cemetery." Older folks called Greystone Cemetery 'new', even though it was almost twenty years old. Still, it was the youngest cemetery in town. "And you know how it backs up to Pine Pond? Well, at the end of my shift, usually around three in the afternoon, if the weather is decent enough I'll often take a walk down there and see if the fish are biting. I always have my fishing gear in the back of the truck, just in case.

  Jack nodded, and after swallowing a huge bite of carrot cake, Alan continued. "Well, I was telling Ed here that it was a real nice afternoon yesterday; sun was shining, it wasn't too cold and there was no wind, so I decided to check things out and settle in for an hour or two see if I might get lucky and land a striper or two."

  "You catch stripers down there?" Jack was surprised.

  "Well, no. I haven't actually yet. But I think it's possible."

  "Hurry it up, get to the good stuff. Jack doesn't have all day here. He's a busy man, right Jack?" He winked at Jack and Jack realized he was enjoying this.

  "Yeah, well like I said, I was going to settle in for a bit and was just about to set my chair up when out of the corner of my eye, something flashed in the sun and got my attention. I walked over to investigate, and sticking out of a pile of leaves was a shiny golf club. I thought that a little odd as the country club is clear on the other side of the lake. I remembered what Ed had said about how the murder weapon of that Armstrong kid might be a golf club so I knew not to touch it. I kicked the leaves away from the club head and sure enough, it looked as if there was something unusual. At first it just looked like dirt, but when I leaned over and got a closer look, I wondered if it might be dried blood."

  "Is it here? Did you bring it home?" Jack felt a shiver of excitement. Finally, they might have a real lead if this was actually the murder weapon.

  "Hell, no. I wasn't about to touch the thing. I know better than that. I've listened to Ed's stories over the years and I wasn't going to be blamed for screwing things up. I left it right where I found it. Well, I did kick a few more leaves over it, so the shiny part is covered, but I know exactly where it is. I can take you there."

  "Great, let's go. I'll drive if you guys want to ride with me." Alan's eyes lit up and Jack smiled. "Why don't you ride shotgun? Let Ed see how the back seat feels." No matter what their age, most guys got a thrill out of riding around in a cop car.

  Fifteen minutes later, Alan was leading them down the path to his favorite fishing spot. "It's right over there," he said as they got closer to the water. "Good, it's still here." About an inch of the club handle was all that was visible, the rest of the club was smothered in leaves. Jack pulled a glove out of his pocket, put it on, brushed the leaves away and then carefully lifted the club to get a closer look at the dark brown smudges on the club head.

  "What do you think?" Alan asked. "Is it blood? Do you think it's the murder weapon?"

  "That's not dirt," Ed said matter-of-factly.

  "Certainly looks like dried blood to me," Jack said. "We'll have to get it into the lab and run some tests, see if we can get any finger prints off the club and a match from the blood."

  "Alan, you done good." Ed gave Alan a hard slap on the back.

  "Thanks. You were the one that made the connection though, and said to call it into Jack.

  "Thank you, both of you." Jack said. "If this is the murder weapon it could be just the break we needed. To be perfectly frank, we don't have much of anything else to go on."

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  David checked his watch; it was only quarter past six. They had plenty of time to meet everyone at Solstice by seven. He'd called Lauren earlier to remind her about the dinner tonight and she said it was on her calendar and she was looking forward to it. She even knew what she was going to wear. She'd dropped one of her favorite dresses off a few days ago at the dry cleaner and asked David if he wouldn't mind picking it up on his way home as it was a few doors down from his office. Since it was so early, he reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. The restaurant they were going to was only a five minute drive away, and knowing Lauren as he did, she wouldn't be downstairs for a least a half-hour.

  He wasn't looking forward to tonight. He'd been feeling edgy all day. The beer was definitely helping to calm his nerves a little. It bothered him that he was feeling this way. He told himself it was ridiculous. So what if Billy did recognize Lauren finally? They were just kids back then and neither one did anything wrong. Still, he couldn't shake a disturbing sense of foreboding. He took the last sip of his beer just as Lauren came down the stairs, looking drop dead gorgeous in a long silky midnight blue dress that made her hazel eyes seem more blue and dazzling.

  "You look amazing."

  "Thank you. You look pretty good yourself." All David had done to get ready was to give himself a quick shave and swap his tie for a dressier blue-gray one that Lauren had picked out for him.

  They hit a little traffic, but still made it to the restaurant a minute or two before seven. Chuck and his wife Katy were already enjoying a drink at the bar and Chuck lifted his glass to wave them over.

  "What are you having? I've got this one," he said as the bartender came over to take their drink order.

  "Lauren, what are you having?" David asked.

  "Chardonnay, please."

  "I'll go with a dirty martini with plenty of extra olives. Thanks."

  "Make that Grey Goose," Chuck added as the bartender was about to grab the house vodka. He and Katy were both drinking martinis as well. Chuck always raved about Grey Goose vodka, said it was the best and the smoothest. David didn't drink vodka as often as beer, so he wasn't as familiar with the nuances among them. He took a sip when Chuck handed him the drink and it was pretty smooth, he had to admit.

  "Billy called and said they were running about twenty minutes late." Katy told them as they settled at a high-topped table in the corner. Katy sold real estate and had one of the busiest offices in town. She and Chuck had recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary.

  "I can't believe it's already been over a year. It seems like just a short time ago when I was running around getting ready for our wedding like you are now." She smiled. "We're both looking forward to the wedding."

  "The two week countdown has started," Lauren said then asked, "So how did you and Chuck meet? I always love to hear people's 'how we met' stories.

  "He walked in the office one day looking to buy a house, and it was my turn to take a walk-in. It's funny too, because friends had been saying for years that they thought my job would be a great way to meet people, bu
t I had never met anyone I wanted to date until Chuck showed up. Of course, that was almost ten years ago, and then we were engaged for five years. I think my mom just about gave up hope that the wedding would actually happen."

  "So, I'm a little slow. What can I say?" Chuck smiled and then added, "I think your mom would agree the wedding itself was worth the wait." David caught Lauren’s eye and smiled. He’d told her about Chuck’s wedding as an example of what he didn’t want. He had never been to such an over-the-top wedding. He didn't want to imagine what it must have cost Chuck.

  They had six hundred people in attendance easily. All of Chuck's clients were invited and it seemed like almost the entire town was there. Plus Katy was from a large family. She had eight siblings and loads of cousins. No expense was spared. The hotel was the most expensive in town and was on a huge cliff overlooking the water with spectacular views. Chuck had booked and paid for the entire hotel that night, all one hundred twenty rooms. There was a ten-piece band and the food was decadent. There was even a caviar and vodka bar. And that was just what David could remember. A good time was definitely had by all.

  "Here they are!" Chuck said as Billy and Julie walked through the door. They joined them and Chuck waved down the bartender and asked him to bring two more martinis. Julie pulled a chair over and sat next to Lauren and Billy sat across the table between David and Chuck. Lauren glanced at Billy and tried to see the boy she'd known so many years ago.

  There were hints of him, but if not for his name, she realized she probably wouldn't have recognized him. Like many men his age, Billy's hair had thinned, receded, and had quite a bit of gray. He'd never been one of the more athletic guys, always had more of a slight, leaner frame. But now he had a generous round belly and a slight double chin.

  It wasn't all that noticeable though, as the neatly trimmed mustache and goatee hid most of it and the dark brown, almost black hair gave his face a slightly dangerous quality.

  Julie noticed her looking at Billy's face. "Can you believe he grew that thing again? I can't stand it. Told him it makes him look like Lucifer, evil and scary. Plus it scratches."

  "I don't think it looks that bad," Lauren said politely. Billy overheard her and smiled.

  "Thank you. See, Julie? Some people like it."

  "They don't have to live with it," she said teasingly and Lauren saw that she obviously didn't mind that much.

  "It's just for the winter," Billy explained. "As soon as spring comes, I shave it right off."

  Their waitress came over at that point, said their table was ready and led them into the main dining room. Lauren had only been to Solstice once before. It was wonderful, but a bit pricey, and she mentally put it into the category of 'special occasion only' restaurant. Their table was a large round one, which would make for easy conversation and was right next to an enormous gas fireplace that was glowing cheerily.

  They decided to order a few bottles of wine, an Italian Prosecco, to go with the seafood appetizers of Oysters Rockefeller, Shrimp Cocktail and tuna tartare and then a rich Cabernet Sauvignon with the entree, since most of them had decided on red meat.

  Julie was sitting on Lauren's left and while they were sipping their glasses of bubbly Prosecco, they happened to both glance across the table at the same time and saw Katy shoot Chuck a look of fury.

  "I can't believe you went ahead and booked that fishing trip for the same weekend my parents and sisters are coming to town. They'll be so insulted if you're not there. Can't you change it?"

  "No, and we can talk about this at home. My trip has been set for months. Maybe your family should reschedule."

  "They already bought their tickets." By now, they had everyone's attention.

  "No one wants to hear this. Like I said, we can talk about this at home. Oh look, the appetizers are here." Their waitress set down platters of food and the topic of conversation immediately switched to the food in front of them. Lauren squeezed some lemon over her oysters Rockefeller and took a bite. This was a dish she'd always loved, a baked oyster topped with spinach and a creamy, cheesy sauce with a hint of Pernod. Their version was divine and she closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the flavor.

  Julie brought her attention back to Chuck and Katy who were obviously still annoyed with each other. "They've been fighting like this more and more," she whispered. "Maybe there was a reason it took them so long to get married. Chuck's an odd duck though. I'm not sure who else would suit him as well as she does. She puts up with a lot."

  "What do you mean?" Lauren really didn't know any of them well enough to know how things were with their marriages. She and David had always seen them in passing, the occasional short conversation at various parties; it wasn't as if they hung out at each other's houses or even really ran in the same circles. Not yet anyway.

  David had mentioned that Julie and Katy were active in a local women's group, sort of like the Junior League, and that maybe Lauren might want to get involved. It was more like a social group from what Billy said and was by invitation only which meant it was so exclusive that being a part of this group was in big demand. Lauren thought it sounded a bit silly and a little cliquish, but agreed to keep an open mind.

  "Well, he's always been a bit of a loner, does his own thing. He does this all the time and it drives Katy crazy. She swears he seems to do it on purpose, always out of town for events that she has scheduled. Billy says he's just absent-minded, head in the clouds."

  "That would be annoying." Lauren was grateful that David was even more organized and on top of things than she was. He blamed it on having OCD and needing things to be orderly. Lauren assured him that it wasn't a bad thing and actually, since they'd been almost living together, his OCD had rubbed off on her in a good way as she had a tendency to be a bit of a pack rat. Staying with David now helped her make sure she threw things out before they turned into clutter.

  "So, did David mention that we want you to join the Group?" Julie asked.

  "He did. I don't know much about it though."

  "Oh, it's great. You'll love it. It's a fantastic group of women. We do some really important things, fund-raising events for local charities, such as the October Masquerade gala at the Sycamore mansion; you know, that glorious museum on the waterfront?" Lauren nodded and Julie continued, "We had over four hundred people attend last year at over one hundred and fifty dollars a ticket! With proceeds from ticket sales and the silent auction, we raised an enormous amount of money for the local food pantries."

  "That's wonderful." Lauren was impressed. She'd done some volunteering at the food pantry at her church in California and knew how important every extra dollar was to make sure enough food got to the people who needed it.

  "Of course, we are mostly a social club," Julie admitted. "We meet once a month at a different member's house. Some people bring appetizers or wine, and we talk business for a few minutes, then drink wine, enjoy the food and have a good time."

  "That sounds fun. I'd love to join you." Lauren liked the idea of getting to know more people in town. Although she was friendly with many of the parents of her children and had plenty of casual acquaintances, Amy was really her only close friend. In California, she'd been part of a neighborhood women's book group and loved it. That had been more of a social group as well. There was always a book to be read, but the discussion never lasted more than a few minutes. The rest of the time was spent catching up with each other over cocktails and munchies. It would be nice to be a part of something like that again.

  "Great, I'll bring it up at our next meeting and will get an email off to you after that with details on where we'll be meeting next."

  Across the table, Billy was in the middle of a story about one of his clients. His face was flushed and his arms were gesturing animatedly as he talked.

  "My husband never shuts up," Julie said with amusement. "He's always been like this—non-stop chatter. He told me when we were dating that his Dad once tried to bribe him to be quiet; said he'd give him ten dollars if he
didn't say a word for ten minutes. He couldn't do it."

  "David's very much the opposite," Lauren said. "He's more of an observer, taking it all in."

  "Probably why they get along so well. They complement each other. David is Billy's straight man. Not that Billy's all that funny really, but you know what I mean."

  Lauren nodded and then asked, "How did you and Billy meet?" She knew they'd been married for years.

  "We were college sweethearts. I was dating one of Billy's fraternity brothers the first half of freshman year, and Billy and I got to be close friends. When Jason and I broke up, I just started hanging out even more with Billy. Next thing we knew we were dating and here we are."

  "You seem like such a great couple, like you have the whole marriage thing figured out." Lauren hoped that she and David would still be as close after they'd been married as long as Julie and Billy had. She felt pretty sure that they would.

  "Appearances can be deceiving," Julie said with the slightest edge to her voice and Lauren immediately turned her attention back to what she was saying.

  "Really?" Lauren was surprised to hear that. The two of them seemed almost too perfect.

  They paused for a moment as the appetizers were cleared, the entrees arrived and the wine, a luscious Groth Cabernet, was poured. Julie took a sip of wine and checked to make sure Billy was still deep in conversation before continuing.

  "He has a bit of a dark side," she admitted. "This is happy Billy, all outgoing and a little manic even. What most people never see is the other Billy, the one that is really down and almost depressed. That Billy mopes around the house and goes off for hours by himself, and when he's in one of those moods, I've learned to just stay out of his way."

  "Does he take medicine for it?" Lauren asked. What Julie was describing sounded like manic-depressive behavior, maybe even bi-polar. Over the years, she'd seen it in some of her students and the ones who were diagnosed and treated with meds generally did very well.

  "No, but he should. I've been trying to talk him into seeing someone for years. He doesn't think there's anything wrong."