by Kate Collins
I looked up as the office door opened and my dad and mom and Delphi came in.
“Gotta go,” I said to Case. “Family is here. Text me after your dinner.”
I hung up as Delphi said excitedly, “Did you hear about Lila Talbot’s arrest?”
“I’ve got the report on now,” I said, pointing to the TV.
“Can you believe she killed her father-in-law and Harry?” Delphi shook her head in amazement.
“What I can’t believe is that Kevin is working for Sonny,” Mama said. “Shame on him!”
At least she wouldn’t be bugging me to date Kevin anymore.
“We’re going to have to hire a lawyer to get that injunction,” Dad said.
“Lisa Pappas’s son is a lawyer in Saugatuck.” Mama opened her purse. “He does all kinds of legal work. I’ll call Lisa right now and see if she can get him to help us.”
While my mom was on the phone, I motioned for Delphi to come with me.
As she pulled the office door shut behind her, she said, “Looks like you’re off the hook with Kevin.”
“Thank God! Hey, I need a favor. Will you call Bob and ask him to get me into the jail to see Lila tomorrow?”
“Thenie, that’s a pretty big favor to ask. We haven’t even met for coffee yet.”
“Then I’ll call Bob myself.”
I pulled out my phone and she put her hand over it. “Never mind. I’ll do it.”
An hour later Delphi sought me out in the garden center, where I was moving tables around to make way for new inventory.
“You’ve got your interview. Bob listed you as a cousin and no one questioned it. Be at the jail tomorrow at three p.m. when there’s a shift change.”
“Fantastic. Thank you, Delph.”
“Now do me a favor.” She turned and started toward the door. “Figure out how I’m going to pull off skipping breakfast with the family tomorrow morning.”
* * *
When the shop closed that evening, I already had my blog written in my head, so it didn’t take me long to write and post it. Then I sped home to spend the rest of the evening with my son. I helped him with his math, always a tough subject for him; then, while he worked on a reading assignment, I made a list of questions to ask Lila.
I had one eye on my cell phone, waiting for a report on Case’s dinner with Marie, but after I’d finished reading to Nicholas, tucked him into bed, and retired to my room, it still hadn’t come in.
I’d just about given up when my phone buzzed. “Okay to talk now?” Case asked.
“I thought you forgot.”
“Forget you, Athena? I have a mind like a steel trap. I just wanted to make sure you had your time with your son.”
I was glad he couldn’t see me because I was smiling tenderly. Why did he have to be so thoughtful? “Thank you. How was dinner?”
“Boring for the most part, but I did learn something new. Remember when Marie said she was so distraught over her breakup with Talbot that she saw Dr. Kirkland, and he prescribed depression and sleep meds? What she didn’t tell us was that she refused the sleeping pills because she was afraid of what might happen while she was asleep, like driving. He assured her that they were so safe, he’d prescribed them for Lila Talbot.”
“Kirkland told Marie that? He’s not supposed to reveal patient information.”
“But he did and then lied to us about it.”
“Kirkland has to know he could lose his medical license for that.”
“He took that chance for a reason, Athena. We’re going to have to talk to him again.”
“He’ll never agree to see us.”
Case said in a sinister voice, “I know ways to make people talk.”
“Yes, you do, but don’t get me started on that.”
“Subject closed.”
“I do have some good news to report. Thanks to Officer Maguire I’m going to see Lila at the jail at three o’clock tomorrow. I’ve already made a list of questions, so I’ll add one about her sleeping pill prescription. Let’s meet across the street from the jail ten minutes before so you can look over the questions. There’s a Mexican restaurant with a parking lot in back. I’ll pull in there and wait for you.”
Case yawned. “Sounds like a plan.”
“I’ll let you go. I’m tired, too.”
“Kalinýchta, Athena,” he said.
“Kalinýchta to you, too.”
I was still smiling as I hung up the phone
IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME
blog by Goddess Anon
Backstabbers come in all shapes and sizes ...
. . . but you don’t expect it to be someone you trust. Then you see him out with a person you never dreamed he’d associate with, a truly despicable person through and through, and you feel like you’ve been kicked in the stomach. It happened to me just today . . .
Wednesday
As the school bus stopped at the corner by our house, Nicholas—damn!—Niko—gave me a kiss and said, “Na écheis mia ypérochi méra, Mamá.”
“Niko, I have no idea what you just said.”
“Yiayiá’s right. You should’ve gone to your Greek lessons. It means have a great day.”
“Okay, Mr. Smarty-Pants, back at ya.” As the bus door opened, I gave him a fist bump—he hated to be embarrassed in front of others by a hug—and watched him climb aboard. I arrived at the diner to find Maia, Selene, and Mama gathered around a laptop at the counter as usual. By the way they kept shaking their heads and Mama kept clicking her tongue in disgust, I guessed they were reading my blog about Kevin.
“That poor young woman,” Mama said. “She needs to find herself a new boyfriend and make sure the vlákas sees her with him.”
Curse words I knew. Mama was calling the man she had handpicked for me a jackass. I had to hide my smile.
“Let’s leave a comment to that effect,” Maia said to Selene.
I smiled inwardly. I’d never flaunt Case in front of Kevin. Goddess Anon would simply thank them for the advice.
Hold the phone. Had I just insinuated that Case was my boyfriend?
“If I knew who she was I would find her a good man,” Mama said, shoving back her heavy gold bracelet as if she were preparing to duke it out with someone.
“How do you know she’s talking about a boyfriend?” I asked.
“Pah,” Mama said. “It’s as obvious as the nose on my face.” She glanced around. “I haven’t seen Delphi this morning. She’s usually the first one here.”
“She said her stomach wasn’t feeling good,” I told them, “so she was going to have some tea, then go straight to Spencer’s.” I stuck my head through the pass-through window to say good morning to my grandparents, then said, “I have to go. I want to finish setting up the outdoor tables so we can hold the GMA meeting outside this evening.”
“Good thinking,” Mama said. “It’s going to be a beautiful night, so maybe that’ll soften the bad news about Kevin and Fatsis.”
I had parked close to Spencer’s and walked to the diner, so as I walked back, I ran over my list of questions for Lila. My phone beeped for an incoming text from Case, and I read: Look casually over your left shoulder.
There was a black SUV following me again, and it wasn’t a Cadillac.
Where are you? I texted back.
Dimitri: A block behind you.
Athena: Why would someone follow me now? The signed document is gone.
Dimitri: I don’t have a clue. Could it be because of your jail interview?
Athena: Who would know unless someone inside the jail was watching the names on the list? I guess there’s one way to find out.
Dimitri: Wait, Athena. Don’t do anything—
I came to a dead stop and aimed my phone at the SUV and driver to take a photo, but the vehicle immediately sped away.
“S-Q-A one five three . . .” That was all I’d had time to make out.
I texted Case: I tried to get a look at the driver, but he sped away. But I did get a par
tial license plate number. I’ll give it to Maguire and let him work on it. I just can’t figure out why this joker is following me now.
Dimitri: Let’s not treat it as a joke. No one should be following you. If you see the SUV again, duck into a shop and text me. If I’m not nearby, I’ll be there in a few minutes.
Okay, I texted back. At least it was reassuring to know Case was close by. But who could be following me and why? Sonny? Fatsis? Marie? I couldn’t imagine it being Marie, so it had to be one of the two men.
Delphi was already at Spencer’s when I arrived, having her coffee with Dad in the office. We went over plans for the day and then Dad left to get the store ready to open.
Delphi waited until he was gone, then said, “What did you tell Mama?”
“You had a stomachache and were going straight to Spencer’s to have tea.”
“Good. Unfortunately, I have bad news for you. Bob wasn’t able to review those traffic tapes because of Lila’s arrest. Too many of Sonny’s cohorts were buzzing around. But he’s going to try again tonight. He said you need to know that when you see Lila and you’re in a room with other visitors, be careful. You never know when a jail snitch might be placed in the next cubicle.”
“Got it. Tell Bob thanks for the warning.”
* * *
The hours seemed to crawl by until two thirty, when I began to prepare for my trip to the jail. I told Dad I had an errand to run that would take about an hour and left. The less he knew, the less he had to let slip to Mom.
Case was waiting in the parking lot, and as soon as I pulled into a slot, he hopped into the passenger seat. He was looking more Greek every day. He had a good tan now, making his deep-set golden eyes stand out. His dark beard was close-cropped against his chin and his hair was thick, dark, and wavy, brushing his collar in the back. His clothing—boat shoes, dark blue jeans, and a blue plaid button-down shirt—fit right in with what the locals wore, nothing like that vogueish stranger I’d first met. He was becoming more of a Sequoian every day.
I told him about Bob’s warning and then gave him my list of questions. He read them over and nodded his approval. “Are you ready to do this?”
I took a deep breath. “As ready as I’ll ever be. My biggest hurdle will be to gain her trust.”
“As you question her, keep in mind that she’s still a suspect. She’ll want to convince you of her innocence, whether it’s true or not.”
“Got it.”
“I’ll wait on the boat. Meet me there when you’re done.”
He got out of my Toyota and walked away. As soon as he was out of sight, I locked my car and headed across the street. Inside the four-story redbrick building I stopped at the bullet-proof glass window to state my purpose. I had to slide my ID through the opening, put my purse and cell phone in a locker, and then pass through a metal detector. Fortunately, they let me take a pen and notepad with me.
I was escorted into a wide, white-walled room that contained a long gray Formica counter, a glass partition that separated the visitor side from the inmate side, and a row of black plastic chairs with half walls dividing each section. Besides the officer who’d come with me, only one other person was in the room, seated in the last chair. I was given a seat in the middle and told to wait.
“You’ll have thirty minutes to talk, Miss Spencer,” he said.
In a few minutes, a female officer escorted Lila through the door on her side. Her ankles were cuffed, her usually well-coifed blond hair was straight, and she wore no makeup, just an orange jumpsuit and black flip-flops.
Lila sat down, leaned toward the speaker in the glass, and said arrogantly, “You’re the last person I expected to see. What are you doing here?”
“Hoping I can help you.”
She looked at me with deep suspicion. “Why? You barely know me.”
“My sister Maia knows you and she believes you’re a good person. And we both believe you’ve been framed.” Maia would kill me if she knew what I’d just said.
Lila looked down at her perfectly manicured nails. “So you’re going to help me get out of here, like that sham of a lawyer was supposed to do yesterday?”
“You’re exactly right about your lawyer, and that’s why I came. Kevin Coreopsis isn’t a criminal defense attorney. He was a bankruptcy lawyer in Manhattan. Until your husband hired him, he worked as a legal aide. He doesn’t have any criminal defense experience at all.”
Scowling, Lila said, “Which is undoubtedly why my husband hired him.”
“I think there’s another reason, too. Kevin was supposed to help the Greek shop owners stop the condominium project. By hiring him, your husband is trying to kill our chances of doing that.”
“It figures. That S.O.B. would do anything to rid himself of me.”
“Then let’s work together to stop him.”
Lila crossed her arms and tried to cross one leg, but the cuffs wouldn’t let her. “How do I know you’re not working for him, too?”
“I promise you I’m not. What Sonny wants to do to our community makes me sick. My grandparents are going to lose their livelihood and their home, and so are others in Little Greece.”
“Hold it. Who’s Sonny?”
“Sorry. It’s our nickname for your husband.”
Lila snickered. “It fits him, the spoiled, selfish little egotist. So how can you help me?”
“Number one is that you need to hire your own defense attorney and fire Kevin. And the rest will depend on the information you give me.”
Lila glanced around the stark room, and for the first time, I saw a flash of fear in her eyes. She leaned forward, her face strained and intense. “Look, I don’t know who I can trust here. If you really want to help, find me a lawyer from out of town, someone who isn’t under the Talbot influence. Can you do that?”
“Yes, I can and will. But I need you to answer some questions first.”
“What do you need to know?”
“Let’s start from what happened yesterday. The TV news reported that DNA testing confirmed that you killed both your father-in-law and Harry.”
“Complete fabrication. And of course, the cops had to announce it in front of everyone at the hair salon when they handcuffed me. I’ve never been so humiliated.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe this is happening. I mean, how would they have found my DNA on my father-in-law? I didn’t try to pull him out of the tub. I could see that he’d drowned. And I certainly didn’t touch Harry when I saw that he was dead.”
“Did you touch anything in the room when you checked on them?”
She rubbed her forehead. “I opened my father-in-law’s bedroom and bathroom doors . . . and I opened the office door to check on Harry. But the maid would’ve touched those doors, too, and so would Grayson.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t understand how they could arrest me based on that.”
I didn’t want to tell her that they were probably looking for more evidence to indict her, so I stuck to my list. “Is there anything you remember seeing in your father-in-law’s bathroom that looked out of place?”
“No.”
“Anything that stands out as odd about either man’s death?”
She glanced down for a moment, then shrugged. “I don’t remember anything odd.”
“You’re going to have to picture both scenes again and write down everything you remember. The tiniest detail could help your new lawyer.”
“Okay.”
“Now I want to review the statement your husband made to the newspaper and on TV. He said his father had fallen asleep during his bath, slipped under the water and drowned, and that you found him the next morning.”
“Correct, and only because Grayson texted me to check on his father before I came downstairs to breakfast.”
I wrote it down. “According to Grayson, because of what you saw, it was an easy call for the coroner to make and that was why no autopsy was performed, which, in case you didn’t know it, is against the law. When a person dies alone, a
n autopsy is required.”
“I’m sure Kirkland was following Grayson’s orders.”
“That’s what I figured.”
Her arms still crossed, she shook her head, her upper lip curled in disgust. “Nasty man. I never liked him.”
“Here’s where it gets convoluted. In a later report your husband was quoted as saying that you gave his father a sleeping pill before he retired for the evening and that caused him to fall asleep in the bath and drown.”
Lila banged her fist on the countertop. “That bastard. He’s lying through his teeth. I don’t have any sleeping pills. I’ve never needed them, and if you don’t believe me”—she paused—“I was going to say check with Kirkland’s office or the doctor I saw before him, but they can’t show you my records. You’ll have to take my word for it.”
“Does your husband use sleeping pills?”
“Not when we were still in the same room. I can’t say whether he does now. Boy, that creep sure is throwing the blame on me, isn’t he?”
“Not just him, Lila. Kirkland told Marie Odem that he’d prescribed sleeping pills for you.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Why would he tell her that?”
“She said it was to convince her to take them, too.”
Lila said through gritted teeth, “I swear I’ll sue him for invasion of privacy as soon as I get out of here.”
“Go for it.”
“I went to Kirkland once for a sinus infection, and only because my husband insisted I use him. Otherwise, I’d have gone somewhere else because I can’t stand the man.”
“Why did your husband want you to see Kirkland?”
“Because his father’s medical insurance covered all of us there. I never questioned it before, but now I’m wondering why an insurance policy wouldn’t have covered me everywhere.”
“Perhaps it was about something more than a simple insurance policy.”
“Like putting Kirkland on the payroll? As I said before, my husband wants to get rid of me in the worst way. And this is the worst way—accused of murder with a sham lawyer to defend me.”