My cell phone vibrated in my pocket.
Another text. Despite my tooth problem, and the fact that Great-Aunt Hannah was showing her dictatorial side, which I had to put a stop to immediately, I checked the text.
“From the jerk,” I announced, smiling as I stuffed the phone back in my pocket. “Whatshisname.” I stopped smiling long enough to say, “I have no money for the dentist, Hannah.”
“Not to worry. I’ll handle it. You can pay me back when you’re flush again.”
“What did the text say?” Agnes asked.
“Don’t tease us or make us guess,” Hannah warned, handing her address book to Ida.
“Aunt Hannah, I can’t let you pay.”
Hannah made a cutting motion with her hand. “Ah. Don’t say another word. We’re family. If you don’t take care of this now it’ll get worse. The whole tooth will crack. You’ll have a slue of tooth pieces floating in your mouth. You want that?”
I pictured pieces of enamel floating in my mouth, felt the pain, pictured me without any teeth. “Okay.”
I filled them in on Whatshisname’s apartment predicament. “That was his second text, and it said that he hadn’t heard from me and he would like to. He wants to be my friend.”
“Friend, hah. How perfect,” Hannah said with gusto. “I love it.”
“In a way, he did me a favor. When I think I might have married him, I shiver and shake.”
“It happened for the best,” Agnes said with a nod.
Cupping the phone Ida said, “The dentist has an emergency opening this morning. You can follow us. We’re going right by there. His office is behind the drug store.”
“Tell him she’ll take it,” Hannah said without giving me a chance to answer.
“Does he have sweet air?”
“Probably,” Hannah said.
“If he doesn’t I’m not going.”
Before we left, I said, “You never told me what you know about Buster’s nephews. I’m curious. That’s all.”
“Nothing much,” Hannah said. “Except Buster tried to get Lenny to help with the hunting trips, be a guide and all. Lenny wasn’t interested. I guess that annoyed Buster.”
“And you know this how?” I asked, following them out the front door, heading for my truck.
“Rhonda told me when I ran into her in the beauty parlor a while back.”
“Do you know why the nephews moved out of Buster’s house?”
“It had to do with money. Both of them needed money,” Ida said, turning aside as a gust of wind caught the dry leaves and swirled them up and around like a mini tornado. “I think Stan wanted to buy a bus. Not sure about Lenny.”
Nick called while I was following Hannah’s teal blue ’65 Pontiac GTO. Since we were moving slowly I didn’t bother to pull over to answer.
“The computer specialist is coming early. Today, actually. Not Monday. Are you close by?”
“I never go far from home.”
“Can you be here in about two hours?
“I may break the posted speed laws. Do you know someone who might be willing to fix a ticket?”
“I may know a guy.”
“I have a dentist appointment first. Can you stall a bit?”
“That’s also possible. Will there be anything else, Nora Lassiter?”
“I’m smiling at you.”
“Ay-uh. I’m smiling back.”
The dental office was located behind close enough to the Silver Stream Sheriff’s Office that directions were not a problem. The dentist, a tall, thin fiftyish man with a round basketball-shaped head that didn’t seem to fit his narrow body, examined my gap with great care. Actually I thought he poked around too long and this made me wonder if he knew what he was doing. Maybe he wasn’t really a dentist. Maybe this was the dentist’s cousin. Or his plumber. Hannah never showed me a photo. I should have insisted on a photo.
Next, he lined up some lethal-looking instruments on a little tray.
Once, I saw this horror movie that featured similar instruments. And a dentist. I began to shake, not big obvious quivers, more like pre-earthquake tremors, the kind people hardly notice. I reminded myself that I was not tied to the chair like the woman in the horror movie.
“This was only a two-layer filling. Not deep at all. Shouldn’t take more than half an hour or so, probably less. I think I can do it without Novocain.”
“No. Absolutely not. I’ll need Novocain. I’m very sensitive. Actually, I’ll need extra Novocain. And sweet air.”
He stared at me with milky blue eyes, then placed something like a Q-tip on my gum. It had an awful taste.
“This will dull the needle. No sweet air. Just Novocain.”
After a few minutes, he removed it.
“Open wide.”
My peripheral vision caught sight of the gigantic needle in his hand. I hated needles. For some reason—who knows why, maybe the resemblance to something I once saw in a jungle movie—I thought of a poison dart. Reflexively, I jerked my head the teeny tiniest bit and the needle hit my tongue.
“Look what you made me do. Hold still,” he ordered. “Now your tongue will be numb and it’s your own fault.”
“Where’s the sweet air?” I mumbled.
There was a light tap at the open door, and he swiveled his round head to see who it was, and jerked the inserted needle little bit.
“You’re late,” he said.
I moaned. No one paid any attention.
“So what,” a man answered behind me. “You know I’ll be finished before noon. Leave me alone. I need to concentrate.”
“You could be visiting porn sites for all I know. I need those accounts done today so my receptionist can send out the bills,” he said, angling the needle down farther.
I moaned again.
“The drive too long for you now?” the dentist said.
I couldn’t turn my head with his fingers in my mouth and a needle anchored in my gum, but I recognized that voice.
Finally, he finished injecting and set the weapon down with great care, lest it should be damaged, I suppose.
I asked, “Was that Lenny?”
“Ay-uh.”
“He does computer work for you?”
“Yes.”
“You said he doesn’t have a long drive now. Where did he live before he moved back to his uncle’s?”
“Everyone knows he lived in a small apartment above the Country Store. You’re a real Ms. Busybody, aren’t you?”
I decided not to respond to that. Instead, I asked, “Does he always close the door?”
“He works better when he’s not distracted.”
“Don’t we all,” I said, watching him spin the weapon- bearing tray to the side.
“You’re not finished with the Novocain, are you? I think a little more would be good. Just to be on the safe side.”
He glared at me. “You’re the one from New York, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“That explains it, I suppose. For the record, in my professional opinion, a second shot is not necessary. It’s not a good idea and it will cost extra.”
After a little back and forth discussion, maybe some would classify it as an argument, he injected a second dose a little farther back. Then he left the room while I sat and waited for it to take effect. I stared at the picture of a sailboat in front of me. I wished I were sailing on that boat right now. The picture frame was made of a reflective metal. If I sat up straight in the chair I could see the door across the hall. When it opened, I stretched around and watched Lenny come out. Seconds later I heard the lavatory door open and close down the hall. Without wasting a second, I hopped up and poked my head out. No one was in sight. The dentist left the building? I dashed across the hall and peeked into Lenny’s inner sanctum.
Two computers were open on the desk and one was a laptop. Oh, how I wanted to snatch that up. It might be Buster’s laptop. If it was, I wanted to see what was on it. I could almost hear Nick telling me I jump to
conclusions, but I knew there was a good chance I was right about this.
All sorts of possibilities raced through my head. I ran into the room and quickly checked the make and model. A MacBook Pro. Expensive for a guy who needed money. Unless it was Buster’s.
I heard the faint sound of flushing and dashed out in time to see the flushee exit the lavatory.
“Have you seen the dentist?” I asked quickly as I morphed into actress mode and pretended to look around. “I’m kinda nervous. I’d like to get this over with.”
His eyes narrowed. “Nope.”
I’m not sure whether that signaled suspicion or annoyance. Heart pounding, I took a deep breath and slipped back into the room and sat in the ergonomically contoured torture chair.
I think I waited hours for the dentist to return. Just a guess. I wasn’t wearing a watch.
The drilling was nerve-racking. Although I felt no pain, I endured the assault with a white-knuckle grip and deep breathing. Neither tactic helped. When the whole episode ended I checked in the mirror. My lips were swollen, my tongue felt as unwieldy as a loaded cement truck, and I drooled.
“Thith ith awful,” I said, panic rising with every word I uttered. “Not only a fat lip. But a lith-p.”
“The lisp is not permanent as I’m sure you know. It’ll go down in about an hour or two,” he said, sounding superior, an I-told-you-so attitude evident in the tilt of his basketball head and the tenor of his words. “Most times it takes about that. Might be longer in your case, seeing as how you insisted on extra, and then moved your head when you were supposed to remain still. You have only yourself to blame.”
On my way out, I opened the forbidden door. Lenny’s head jerked around at the speed of light and he shot me a withering glare. At the same time he leaned forward to block my view of the screen.
“Get out.”
“Excu-th me,” I said, backing out slowly, my gaze darting from the colorful computer screen to the natural tan tooled leather computer case at his feet. It was the same one he’d brought to the pharmacy.
“Wrong door,” I said, looking at him and not at the screen he tried desperately to hide. I didn’t need a second look. I saw two of his cards, an ace and a jack. He didn’t have to worry about me ratting him out to the boss. I could care less that he was playing card games.
“You almost finished?” the dentist called to Lenny as I closed the door.
“Five minutes,” Lenny answered.
I was near the sheriff’s office, but instead of going there directly, I sat in my car to watch for Lenny. I wanted to see whether he brought the computer with him or left it in the office. Ten minutes later he appeared carrying the case. When he passed, I got out of my truck, intending to go to the sheriff’s office. Suddenly, Lenny was right in front of me, blocking my way.
“Waiting for me?” he asked.
Startled, I stepped aside. Immediately, I was annoyed at myself for yielding like that so I said, “Not in this life!”
With that, I headed across the street.
I breezed into the sheriff’s office with a decorative gray scarf shot through with silver covering my mouth. From the big desk on the platform that ran the length of the back wall, Miller pointed me toward the evidence room. “They’re expecting you.”
I nodded in reply. No need to speak and let him in on my secret.
Nick said hello and introduced me to Sam O’Brien.
“Hewwo, Tham,” I said through the scarf as I shook his hand.
Dammit. I sounded worse.
To tackle embarrassment, I went into attitude mode, a familiar drill I used from time to time that involved sustaining a certain brashness. Act exquisitely brave and daring, challenge all comers.
Both men stared at me. “Are you all right?” Nick asked.
I stared back, blotted the drool, and removed the scarf with the kind of flourish I’d seen Hannah use. “Yeth. I am fine. And you?”
“You’ve been to the dentist, I see.”
“You are thertainly alert today,” I replied, projecting hauteur.
Neither man commented on my flapping lips or my unruly tongue, which was wise.
Sam got to work. From time to time I caught Nick smiling at me over Sam’s head. I smiled back, sort of. I stretched my inflated lips into what I believed was a smile. After twenty minutes or so, the specialist leaned back and explained that there was nothing amiss on the computer. He’d checked every file.
“The owner, Mister Verney, used this computer mostly for business and I find the accounts in order. He played some games, sent some emails, purchased a few things. That’s about it.”
Nodding in satisfaction, he started to close down. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Wait,” I said, raising my hand like a traffic cop. “Wet me twy thomthing.”
Sam smirked. I smiled my crooked, tubby-lipped smile, wondered whether my numb tongue were protruding a bit, but decided not to care as I eased into the chair he’d vacated.
I felt good here. Nothing trumped playing with a computer’s inner workings. This must be how a painter felt with a blank canvas and a palette full of paints, or an athlete felt when the opening ball was thrown.
I probed deeper, got into the guts of the hard drive where I checked registers this specialist didn’t realize existed, followed paths he had never traveled before. I didn’t look at him. No point in embarrassing the man.
Twenty minutes later I was still at it. Both men pulled up chairs on either side of me, Sam to watch in fascination, Nick to watch me. I felt his gaze, but for once was not distracted. I had hit my stride and was totally absorbed, something that happened frequently when I crossed these invisible barriers and explored.
“Anyone want a Coke?” Nick asked finally.
“Diet,” I said without looking at him, my unwieldy tongue handling the word with ease.
“What are you doing?” The expert asked when Nick left. “I can’t follow you.”
I started to explain as clearly as I could.
After a few minutes he waved me off. “Never mind. You’ve lost me.”
Nick returned and set the Coke beside me, a straw in the can. I took a sip, swallowed some, drooled the rest.
As I wiped my chin, I said, “How embarrathing,” not embarrassed at all, which they both knew, I’m sure.
An hour and two Cokes later, the swelling had receded to a manageable level and I had most of the feeling back in my lips and tongue. I said to Nick, “Where is the computer that was networked to this one?”
Looking stunned, he said, “This was all we found. I rechecked the entire house myself.”
“The day Buster was murdered?”
“Yes, of course. But you know I didn’t take it until after Vivian was arrested. I didn’t see a second one. Our photographer went through the entire house with his camcorder the day Buster died, and I checked that video several times. There was no other computer. Unless it was in a location outside the house.”
I stopped cold and stared at him for several seconds. “It must be the laptop,” I said. “Rhonda told me Buster worked occasionally on his laptop at her camp. I think whoever killed him has that laptop, and access to everything on it. Unless he left it with Rhonda. No. She would have mentioned it.”
Nick closed his eyes briefly and I suspected he was thinking the same thing I was thinking. If I’d checked this computer when he’d picked it up, he would have had a better chance of finding the laptop. Such a stellar day that had been. I wondered if he was thinking that was the day I’d met his mother, the hostile one.
“Don’t say it,” he said. “I know.”
Oh, really? That I’m thinking about your mother?
“My money’s on Lenny,” I said instead. Sometimes I am kind. “I saw him arrive for work at the pharmacy yesterday carrying a briefcase, like the kind used to carry laptops. That didn’t make sense. I couldn’t imagine why he’d need his own computer, if that’s what was in the case.”
I thought a
bout it. He could be goldbricking, adding to his hours while he played games on his laptop. Cha-ching, cha-ching.
“I’ll check it out,” Nick said.
“There’s more.”
He shot me a sideways glance. “Yes?” he asked.
“Today, Lenny was at the dentist’s office working on a computer. He had the laptop again. I don’t know why since he was working on the dentist’s computer. Maybe he had Buster’s. If that’s so, then Lenny could be the murderer.”
I told him about the case.
He closed his eyes briefly. “Tell me you didn’t break into the dentist’s business office. I am the sheriff, you know. And that would be against the law.”
A little miffed, I stood and faced him, hands on hips. “When would I have had time for computer work at the dentist’s office? I had surgery today, in case you’re interested. Surgery. S-U-R-G-E-R-Y.”
“I thought you had a tooth filled?”
“Sure. Brush it aside as if it were nothing. First, I had several needles jabbed into my gums. Very painful. The result? Trauma. Big-time. Then, I was subjected to a high-speed drill gun … for an extended period of time. It was similar to the jackhammer that’s used to break up concrete.”
He smiled at me. “So you just peeked in on Lenny? What did you see?”
I made him wait several seconds before I answered.
“Two computers. I saw an ace and a jack on the laptop screen. I think there were more cards but I couldn’t see them from where I was. Didn’t look like solitaire to me.”
“Could be gambling,” Nick said. “I’ll check into it. But first, tell me again about last night. Trimble said he checked out everything and there was no evidence of a break-in. Do you feel okay about that?”
“I’m fine. So is Ida. I checked early this morning and didn’t see any tracks around. I think Ida probably didn’t close the door tightly and it blew open.”
He seemed to study me a moment. “If anything else happens, call me immediately. Promise.”
“I will.”
He gave me a quick kiss and then hurried from the evidence room calling, “Trimble. Miller.”
I jumped up and followed. “I’m coming, too.”
Bernadine Fagan - Nora Lassiter 02 - Murder in the Maine Woods Page 10