"We'll check the hospitals and mor—" He caught himself. "And other places, and I'll put out an APB on him."
Alexandra was trying to control her emotions, but he could see what an effort it was. 'Thank you, Lieutenant. I don't have to tell you how much I'll appreciate anything you can do."
'That's my job," Lieutenant Ingram replied.
When Lieutenant Ingram returned to the station, he began calling hospitals and morgues. The responses were negative. There was no accident report on George Mellis. Lieutenant Ingram's next move was to call a reporter friend on the Maine Courier. After that, the lieutenant sent out a missing person all-points-bulletin.
The afternoon newspapers carried the story in headlines:
HUSBAND OF BLACKWELL HEIRESS MISSING.
Peter Templeton first heard the news from Detective Nick Pappas.
"Peter, remember askin' me a while ago to do some checkin' on George Mellis?"
"Yes..."
"He's done a vanishing act."
"He's what!"
"Disappeared, vamoosed, gone." He waited while Peter digested the news.
"Did he take anything with him? Money, clothes, passport?"
"Nope. According to the report we got from Maine, Mr. Mellis just melted into thin air. You're his shrink. I thought you might have some idea why our boy would do a thing like that."
Peter said truthfully, "I haven't any idea, Nick."
"If you think of anything, let me know. There's gonna be a lot of heat on this."
"Yes," Peter promised. "I will."
Thirty minutes later, Alexandra Mellis telephoned Peter Templeton, and he could hear the shrill edge of panic in her voice. "I— George is missing. No one seems to know what happened to him. I was hoping he might have told you something that might have given you a clue or—" She broke off.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Mellis. He didn't. I have no idea what could have happened."
"Oh."
Peter wished there was some way he could comfort her. "If I think of anything, I'll call you back. Where can I reach you?"
"I'm at Dark Harbor now, but I'm going to return to New York this evening. I'll be at my grandmother's."
Alexandra could not bear the thought of being alone. She had talked to Kate several times that morning. "Oh, darling, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," Kate said. "He probably went off on some business deal and forgot to tell you."
Neither of them believed it.
Eve saw the story of George's disappearance on television. There were photographs of the exterior of Cedar Hill House, and pictures of Alexandra and George after their wedding cere-mony. There was a close-up of George, looking upward, with his eyes wide. Somehow it reminded Eve of the look of surprise on his face just before he died.
The television commentator was saying, 'There has been no evidence of foul play and no ransom demands have been made. The police speculate that George Mellis was possibly the victim of an accident and may be suffering from amnesia." Eve smiled in satisfaction.
They would never find the body. It had been swept out to sea with the tide. Poor George. He had followed her plan perfectly. But she had changed it. She had flown up to Maine and rented a motorboat at Philbrook Cove, to be held for "a friend." She had then rented a second boat from a nearby dock and taken it to Dark Harbor, where she had waited for George. He had been totally unsuspecting. She had been careful to wipe the deck clean before she returned the yacht to the dock. After that, it had been a simple matter to tow George's rented motorboat back to its pier, return her boat and fly back to New York to await the telephone call she knew Alexandra would make.
It was a perfect crime. The police would list it as a mysterious disappearance.
The announcer was saying, "In other news ..." Eve switched the television set off.
She did not want to be late for her date with Rory McKenna.
At six o'clock the following morning, a fishing boat found George Mellis's body pinned against the breakwater at the mouth of Penebscot Bay. The early news reports called it a drowning and accidental death, but as more information came in, the tenor of the stories began to change. From the coroner's office came reports that what at first had been thought to have been shark bites were actually stab wounds. The evening newspaper editions screamed: murder suspected in george mellis
MYSTERY DEATH . . . MILLIONAIRE FOUND STABBED TO DEATH.
Lieutenant Ingram was studying the tide charts for the previous evening. When he was finished, he leaned back in his chair, a perplexed expression on his face. George Mellis's body would have been swept out to sea had it not been caught against the breakwater. What puzzled the lieutenant was that the body had to have been carried by the tide from the direction of Dark Harbor. Where George Mellis was not supposed to have been.
Detective Nick Pappas flew up to Maine to have a talk with Lieutenant Ingram.
"I think my department might be of some help to you in this case," Nick said. "We have some interesting background information on George Mellis. I know this is out of our jurisdiction, but if you were to ask for our cooperation, we'd be happy to give it to you, Lieutenant."
In the twenty years Lieutenant Ingram had been with the Waldo County Sheriff's Department, the only real excitement he had seen was when a drunken tourist shot a moose head off the wall of a local curio shop. The George Mellis murder was front-page news, and Lieutenant Ingram sensed a chance to make a name for himself. With a little luck, it could lead to a job as a detective in the New York City Police Department, where the action was. And so now he looked at Nick Pappas and murmured, "I don't know ..."
As though reading his mind, Nick Pappas said, "We're not looking for credit. There's gonna be a hell of a lot of pressure on this one, and it would make life easier for us if we could wrap it up fast. I could start by filling you in on George Mellis's background."
Lieutenant Ingram decided he had nothing to lose. "OK, you've got a deal."
Alexandra was in bed, heavily sedated. Her mind stubbornly refused to accept the fact that George had been murdered. How could he have been? There was no reason in the world for anyone to kill him. The police had talked of a knife wound, but they were wrong about that. It had to be some kind of accident.
No one would want to kill him___No one would want to kill him-----The opiate Dr. Harley gave her finally took hold.
She slept.
Eve had been stunned at the news that George's body had been found. But perhaps it's a good thing, Eve thought. Alexandra will be the one under suspicion. She was there, on the island.
Kate was seated next to Eve on the couch in the drawing room. The news had been a tremendous shock to Kate.
"Why would anyone want to murder George?" she asked.
Eve sighed. "I don't know, Gran. I just don't know. My heart breaks for poor Alex."
Lieutenant Philip Ingram was questioning the attendant on the Lincolnville-Islesboro ferry. "Are you positive neither Mr. or Mrs. Mellis came over on the ferry Friday afternoon?"
"They didn't come over on my shift, Phil, and I checked with the morning man, and he didn't see 'em neither. They had to have come in by plane."
"One more question, Lew. Did any strangers take the ferry across on Friday?"
"Hell," the attendant said, "you know we don't get no strangers goin' to the island this time of year. There might be a few tourists in the summer—but in November! She-e-e-it!"
Lieutenant Ingram went to talk to the manager of the Isles-boro airport. "George Mellis sure didn't fly in that evening, Phil. He musta come over to the island by ferry."
"Lew said he didn't see him."
"Well, hell, he couldn't a swum over, now could he?"
"What about Mrs. Mellis?"
"Yep. She come in here in her Beechcraft about ten o'clock. I had my son, Charley, run her over to Cedar Hill from the airport."
"What kind of mood did Mrs. Mellis seem to be in?"
"Funny you should ask. She was as nervous as spit on a hot kettle. Eve
n my boy noticed it. Usually she's calm, always has a
pleasant word for everybody. But that night she was in a tearin' hurry."
"One more question. Did any strangers fly in that afternoon or evening? Any unfamiliar faces?"
He shook his head. "Nope. Just the regulars."
An hour later, Lieutenant Ingram was on the phone talking to Nick Pappas. "What I've got so far," he told the New York detective, "is damned confusing. Friday night Mrs. Mellis arrived by private plane at the Islesboro airport around ten o'clock, but her husband wasn't with her, and he didn't come in by plane or ferry. In fact, there's nothin' to show he was on the island at all that night."
"Except the tide."
"Yeah."
"Whoever killed him probably threw him overboard from a boat, figuring the tide would carry him out to sea. Did you check the Corsair?"
"I looked it over. No sign of violence, no bloodstains."
"I'd like to bring a forensics expert up there. Would you mind?"
"Not as long as you remember our little deal."
"I'll remember. See you tomorrow."
Nick Pappas and a team of experts arrived the following morning. Lieutenant Ingram escorted them to the Blackwell dock, where the Corsair was tied up. Two hours later, the foren-sics expert said, "Looks like we hit the jackpot, Nick. There are some bloodstains on the underside of the lee rail."
That afternoon, the police laboratory verified that the stains matched George Mellis's blood type.
Manhattan's "silk stocking" police precinct was busier than usual. A series of all-night drug busts had filled the prisoners' cage to capacity, and the holding cells were crowded with prostitutes, drunks and sex offenders. The noise and the stench competed for Peter Templeton's attention, as he was escorted through the din to Lieutenant Detective Pappas's office.
"Hey, Peter. Nice of you to drop by."
On the phone Pappas had said, "You're holdin' out on me, chum. Be at my office before six o'clock, or I'll send a fuckin' SWAT team to bring you in."
When his escort left the office, Peter asked, "What's this all about, Nick? What's bothering you?"
'I'll tell you what's botherin' me. Someone's being clever. Do you know what we've got? A dead man who vanished from an island he never went to."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Tell me about it, pal. The ferryboat operator and the guy who runs the airport swear they never saw George Mellis on the night he disappeared. The only other way he could have gotten to Dark Harbor was by motorboat. We checked all the boat operators in the area. Zilch."
"Perhaps he wasn't at Dark Harbor that night."
"The forensic lab says different. They found evidence that Mellis was at the house and changed from a business suit into the sailing clothes he was wearin' when his body was found."
"Was he killed at the house?"
"On the Blackwell yacht. His body was dumped overboard. Whoever did it figured the current would carry the body to China."
"How did—?"
Nick Pappas raised a beefy hand. "My turn. Mellis was your patient. He must have talked to you about his wife."
"What does she have to do with this?"
"Everything. She's my first, second and third choice."
"You're crazy."
"Hey, I thought shrinks never used words like crazy."
"Nick, what makes you think Alexandra Mellis killed her husband?"
"She was there, and she had a motive. She arrived at the island late that night with some cockamamy excuse about being delayed because she was waitin' at the wrong airport to meet her sister."
"What does her sister say?"
"Give me a break. What the hell would you expect her to say?
They're twins. We know George Mellis was at the house that night, but his wife swears she never saw him. It's a big house, Peter, but it's not that big. Next, Mrs. M gave all the servants the weekend of. When I asked her why, she said it was George's idea. George's lips, of course, are sealed."
Peter sat there, deep in thought. "You said she had a motive. What?"
"You have a short memory span. You're the one who put me on the track. The lady was married to a psycho who got his kicks sexually abusing everything he could lay his fists on. He was probably slapping her around pretty good. Let's say she decided she didn't want to play anymore. She asked for a divorce. He wouldn't give it to her. Why should he? He had it made. She wouldn't dare take him to court—it would touch off too juicy a scandal. She had no choice. She had to kill him." He leaned back in his chair.
"What do you want from me?" Peter asked.
"Information. You had lunch with Mellis's wife ten days ago." He pressed the button on a tape recorder on the desk. "We're going on the record now, Peter. Tell me about that lunch. How did Alexandra Mellis behave? Was she tense? Angry? Hysterical?"
"Nick, I've never seen a more relaxed, happily married lady."
Nick Pappas glared at him and snapped off the tape recorder. "Don't shaft me, my friend. I went to see Dr. John Harley this morning. He's been giving Alexandra Mellis medication to stop her from committing suicide, for Christ's sake!"
Dr. John Harley had been greatly disturbed by his meeting with Lieutenant Pappas. The detective had gotten right to the point. "Has Mrs. Mellis consulted you professionally recently?"
"I'm sorry," Dr. Harley said. "I'm not at liberty to discuss my patients. I'm afraid I can't help you."
"All right, Doc. I understand. You're old friends. You'd like to keep the whole thing quiet. That's okay with me." He rose to his feet. "This is a homicide case. I'll be back in an hour with a
warrant for your appointment records. When I find out what I want to know, I'm going to feed it to the newspapers."
Dr. Harley was studying him.
"We can handle it that way, or you can tell me now what I want to know, and I'll do what I can to keep it quiet. Well?"
"Sit down," Dr. Harley said. Nick Pappas sat. "Alexandra has been having some emotional problems lately."
"What kind of emotional problems?"
"She's been in a severe depression. She was talking about committing suicide."
"Did she mention using a knife?"
"No. She said she had a recurrent dream about drowning. I gave her Wellbutrin. She came back and told me it didn't seem to be helping, and I prescribed Nomifensine. I—I don't know whether it helped or not."
Nick Pappas sat there, putting things together in his mind. Finally he looked up. "Anything else?"
"That's everything, Lieutenant."
But there was more, and John Harley's conscience was bothering him. He had deliberately refrained from mentioning the brutal attack George Mellis had made on Eve Blackwell. Part of his concern was that he should have reported it to the police at the time it happened, but mainly Dr. Harley wanted to protect the Blackwell family. He had no way of knowing whether there was a connection between the attack on Eve and George Mellis's murder, but his instincts told him that it was better not to bring up the subject. He intended to do everything possible to protect Kate Blackwell.
Fifteen minutes after he made that decision, his nurse said, "Dr. Keith Webster is on line two, Doctor."
It was as if his conscience was prodding him.
Keith Webster said, "John, I'd like to stop by this afternoon and see you. Are you free?"
"I'll make myself free. What time?"
"How's five o'clock?"
"Fine, Keith. I'll see you then."
So, the matter was not going to be laid to rest so easily.
At five o'clock, Dr. Harley ushered Keith Webster into his office. "Would you like a drink?"
"No, thank you, John. I don't drink. Forgive me for barging in on you like this."
It seemed to John Harley that every time he saw him, Keith Webster was apologizing about something. He was such a mild, little man, so inoffensive and eager to please—a puppy waiting to be patted on the head. It was incredible to John Harley that within that pale, colo
rless persona there lurked such a brilliant surgeon.
"What can I do for you, Keith?"
Keith Webster drew a deep breath. "It's about that—you know—that beating George Mellis gave Eve Blackwell."
"What about it?"
"You're aware she almost died?"
"Yes."
"Well, it was never reported to the police. In view of what's happened—Mellis's murder and everything—I was wondering if maybe I shouldn't tell the police about it."
So there it was. There seemed no way to escape the problem.
"You have to do whatever you think best, Keith."
Keith Webster said gloomily, "I know. It's just that I'd hate to do anything that might hurt Eve Blackwell. She's a very special person."
Dr. Harley was watching him cautiously. "Yes, she is."
Keith Webster sighed. "The only thing is, John, if I do keep quiet about it now and the police find out later, it's going to look bad for me."
For both of us, John Harley thought. He saw a possible out. He said casually, "It's not very likely the police would find out, is it? Eve certainly would never mention it, and you fixed her up perfectly. Except for that little scar, you'd never know she'd been disfigured."
Keith Webster blinked. "What little scar?"
"The red scar on her forehead. She told me you said you were going to remove it in a month or two."
Dr. Webster was blinking faster now. It was some kind of nervous tic, Dr. Harley decided.
"I don't re— When did you last see Eve?"
"She came in about ten days ago to talk about a problem involving her sister. As a matter of fact, the scar was the only way I could tell it was Eve instead of Alexandra. They're identical twins, you know."
Keith Webster nodded slowly. "Yes. I've seen photographs of Eve's sister in the newspapers. There's an amazing likeness. And you say the only way you could tell them apart was by the scar on Eve's forehead from the operation I performed?"
'That's right."
Dr. Webster sat there, silent, chewing on his lower lip. Finally he said, "Perhaps I shouldn't go to the police just yet. I'd like to think about this a little more."
Master of the Game motg-1 Page 42