by Diane Weiner
Susan didn’t know what to do. If she spoke, he’d realize she wasn’t Audrey. She hung up, then realized how suspicious that must have seemed. Too late. This call obviously had nothing to do with Alonzo. Who was calling Audrey from prison and referring to her as honey? Was it the same person who’d sent the Valentine’s card in the kitchen drawer?
Susan jumped when she heard the key in the door.
“Susan, what are you doing home?” Audrey dropped her keys on the table.
“I was walking to the duck pond with Lynette and Annalise. I realized I’d forgotten my phone. I’m expecting a call from Mike. He wants to know when I’m coming home.”
“You solved the case by finding Celia’s scarf. Now it’s up to the police to find Alonzo. As much as I’d love for you to stay, you should get back to your husband.”
“Are you sure?”
“If by some miracle the school survives, I’ll have to start looking for a permanent music teacher. Two in fact. A performing arts high school where the orchestra conductor murders the choral director. I still feel like I’m going to wake up and find this was one terrible nightmare. Except for the part about spending time with you and Lynette. And Annalise, of course. She’s finally starting to like me.”
“We’ll get together again, now that we found each other. I’ll just grab my phone and get back to the ducks. Lynette’s probably wondering what’s taking so long.”
“Wait a second. I have some stale bread you can take with you.” Audrey went to the kitchen to get the bread. A minute later, she called to Susan.
“Susan, was there a phone call while I was gone?”
What should she do now? Audrey had been secretive about the boyfriend. Maybe because he was locked up in jail. She didn’t want to embarrass her.
“No, not in the short time I’ve been here.”
“Must have just missed it. There was a call about ten minutes ago. I see it on the caller ID. You weren’t here?”
“Nope. Let me grab that bread and get going. Lynette and Annalise are waiting for me.”
Susan hurried to the duck pond and plopped down next to Lynette.
“Don’t say anything to Audrey about this,” she said to her daughter. “While I was at the house, there was a call from Bayersville State Institution. I thought it was news about Alonzo, so I picked it up. The operator asked if I was Audrey.”
“And naturally you said yes.”
“I wanted to be able to give her the message. Anyhow, a man came on the line. Before I could open my mouth, he started talking. Used the word Honey, thinking I was Audrey.”
“What did you do?”
“I hung up. He would have known right away I wasn’t Audrey. He must have been a prisoner, right?”
“Sounds like it,” said Lynette. “That’s the protocol. Poor guy was probably standing in line an hour at the prison pay phone waiting to talk to her.”
“Audrey is seeing a prisoner? George said she hasn’t dated since she threw his father out,” said Susan.
“If I was involved with a prisoner, I wouldn’t want my kid to know either.”
“Maybe he’s some professional businessman, caught for tax evasion… or insider trading.”
“Not at Bayersville,” said Lynette. “That’s a maximum security prison. It houses convicted felons.”
“So what is Audrey hiding?” said Susan.
Chapter 43
Susan told Audrey she’d finish out the week subbing. She’d bought plane tickets to go back to Westbrook over the weekend. During Music History class, police sirens screamed from the street.
One of her students said, “Mrs. Wiles, look! There’s a police helicopter circling outside.” Susan ran to the window.
“Can we go outside and see what they’re doing?” said another student.
Susan checked the school email for a safety alert, but found none. She had to admit she was curious, but knew it would have to wait until lunch.
“No, stay put until the bell rings.” She checked her phone for information, but found nothing. When class was over, she went outside, where she saw Gabby and a handful of other faculty members staring up at the clouds. The helicopter was now circling behind the arboretum. George walked toward her.
“What’s going on?” asked Susan.
“They found a car in the canal. They’re pulling it out now.”
“I hope it isn’t one of our students,” said Gabby.
“Let’s check it out,” said George.
Gabby and Susan followed him over to the canal. A truck with a crane pulled a heavy chain out of the water. Audrey was there too, talking to a police officer. When Audrey saw Susan and Gabby, she motioned for them to come closer.
“Do we know who it is?” said Susan.
“Look! It’s coming above the water,” said Audrey.
George added, “Looks like an older model sedan. Black.”
“I wonder how long it’s been there. Do you think it just happened?” said Gabby.
“Did someone see it happen?” said Susan.
Audrey explained. “Two retirees were fishing in the canal and noticed it. Good eyes. It didn’t just happen and we have no idea how long it’s been there.”
The car was slowly emerging. By this time, a crowd had gathered. Because of Audrey’s status as principal, Susan and Gabby had front row seats.
George stepped closer. “Doesn’t look like that car was in an accident. No mangled bumper, no broken windshield.”
“I heard the call,” said Kevin. “I came out on a hunch.” Lynette was at his side.
The car was now completely out of the water. Kevin ran over to examine it.
“No one in here,” said Kevin. He turned to the officer at the scene.
“Let’s send divers to search the canal. I’ll check the tag number and get an ID.” He walked around to the back of the car.
“The divers are in,” said the officer.
Susan, Gabby, George, and Audrey approached Kevin.
“Do we know who’s in there?” said Susan.
“No one,” said Kevin.
The news van arrived. A reporter clipped on a microphone. A camera man began filming.
Kevin ran the tag number. After a few minutes, his eyes opened wide. “You’re not going to believe this.” Four sets of eyes focused on him.
“What?” said Susan.
“Who is it?” said Gabby.
Before he could answer, Lynette ran up to him. “So far, no sign of a body.”
Kevin cleared his throat. “I ran the plate. The car is registered to Alonzo Benitez.”
“Alonzo?” said Susan. “Then where is he?”
“Maybe he dumped the car to throw us off. He could still be halfway to Argentina by now,” said Gabby.
“Or at the bottom of the canal,” said Lynette.
“We have to let the divers finish their search. Go home. I’ll call as soon as I know anything. I’m heading back to the station,” said Kevin. “Don’t talk to the reporters.”
He walked back to his car. Just as he was about to get in, he stopped. He turned around and ran back to the sedan.
“Kevin, what is it?” said Lynette.
“Give me a minute.” Kevin walked over to the trunk and tried to open it. “Guys, give me a hand.”
The rescue workers pulled on the trunk. “It’s stuck.”
“Go get a crow bar!” shouted Kevin.
They pried the trunk open. Kevin peered inside.
“Call off the divers! We have our body!”
“Who is it?” said Susan.
“Ladies, you have to stand back,” said Kevin.
Audrey peered into the trunk and screamed. “Oh my God! It’s Alonzo!”
Chapter 44
Alonzo, their prime suspect, was lying dead in the trunk of his own car, his hands and feet bound with duct tape. This was no accident. It was murder. Were Alonzo and Celia killed by the same murderer? If so, it didn’t explain Celia’s bloody scarf found stuffed in Alonzo’s bookcase.<
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Maybe Alonzo was being framed. If you wanted to frame an orchestra conductor for murder, why not use an instrument his fingerprints were bound to be all over? Knowing kids, Alonzo was probably putting away stray instruments after every rehearsal. Thus, the mallet.
Who was left on the suspect list? Had George enlisted her help so he’d have a direct line to information coming from the school? Kymani and Marshall had motive. Did they even know Celia? And if Alonzo had a role in drug running, why kill him? He had access to the auditorium. He even had a boat. And what about the shady Dr. Jacobs? Now he deserved a closer look.
Time to pull out the laptop. Susan easily found Jacobs’ curricula vitae on line. She saw that he’d graduated from Indiana University, then graduated from Emory University Medical School in Atlanta. She flipped to his photo. She scratched her head. This isn’t Dr. Jacobs. At least, not the one she’d met. It didn’t make sense.
She searched for another photo. It matched the first picture. Again, this was definitely not the Dr. Jacobs she knew. Both men had dark hair and fair skin but that’s where the similarities ended. If this is Dr. Jacobs, who’s the man working at Trinity Village? She contemplated her next step. Fingerprints. Time to schedule another doctor’s appointment. She went downstairs and found Audrey crying on the sofa.
“Audrey, what’s wrong? I know it was hard seeing Alonzo in that trunk. No wonder you’re upset.”
“Two dead faculty members? I really liked Alonzo. So did the students. It’s going to be another tough funeral to get through” Audrey’s tears rolled down her cheeks.
“What a horrible thing,” said Susan. “Two unexplained deaths.”
“Not to mention the bad publicity. The board of directors is pressuring the dean, who in turn is pressuring me. It doesn’t matter. We aren’t going to have a school next year.”
Susan put her arm around Audrey. “I’m sure this will be hard on everyone who knew Alonzo. His poor parents. I heard his mom is sick with cancer. I wonder if she’ll be able to make it to the funeral.”
“I just had a thought. His parents may want to have his body sent back home to Argentina. That’s where all his family is.”
“It’ll be okay,” said Susan.
“I should have known. For a second, I thought Celia’s murder was solved and things would get back to normal. Now, things are worse than ever. Like you said, now there are two unsolved murders.”
“Hang on a little while longer. The list of suspects keeps shrinking. The police will make an arrest soon.” She hugged Audrey and felt her tears wet her shirt. She was surprised at how much it bothered her to see Audrey so upset. She was starting to feel like Audrey was family.
The house phone rang.
“I’ll get it,” said Susan. “Hello. Oh, Kevin. Audrey is pretty upset and can’t come to the phone right now.”
“I wanted to let her know that the divers didn’t find any other bodies in the canal,” he said. “We didn’t find skid marks or evidence of an accident.”
“Kevin, you found a dead body bound with duct tape in the trunk of Alonzo’s car. Did you really think it was an accident?”
“No. But I was hoping we might find a clue to Alonzo’s killer.”
“Kevin, I’ve been looking into that doctor over at Trinity Village. Dr. Jacobs. I saw Alonzo talking to him at one of the concerts. I found a photo of Dr. Jacobs on line. The doctor in the medical reference book isn’t the one who works at Trinity. They’re two different people.”
“Maybe they just have the same name.”
“I’ve been to Dr. Jacob’s office. I noticed his hanging gallery of degrees. They graduated from the same university and medical school. Couldn’t be a coincidence.”
“How strange.”
“Can you find out the real identity of our local doctor?”
“Not without something to go on. Fingerprints, for example.”
“Don’t you have that facial recognition software?”
“You’re watching way too much Law and Order, Susan. A town with less than half a dozen murders a year doesn’t invest in facial recognition software.”
“How about…”
“Nope. I know what you’re going to say and it’s no. Running his DNA is out too.”
“But if you had fingerprints, you could find out who he is.”
“If he’s a doctor, he’d be in the system. But, I can’t go over there and demand fingerprints from him without a warrant.”
“Thanks, Kevin. Guess it’s back to the drawing board. I’ll let Audrey know there weren’t more bodies in the canal.”
“Okay. And tell Lynette I’ll see her tomorrow.”
See her tomorrow? She might just forget to relay that information.
Chapter 45
“Dr. Jacobs, those pills you gave me are working wonders, but I’m almost out. Have to admit I took a few extra some nights when my back kept me awake. You truly are a miracle worker.”
Dr. Jacobs listened to Susan’s heart and lungs. Then he wrote her another prescription.
“These will help. Come see me when you need more,” he said. When he started toward the door, Susan spoke quickly in an effort to keep him in the exam room.
“I think the Florida humidity is aggravating my back. Didn’t have quite so much trouble in New York. This is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live here,” said Susan. “Have you always lived in Florida?”
“No. I grew up in the Midwest. Went to Indiana University. Then Atlanta for medical school.”
“What brought you to Florida?”
“The job opportunity was too good to pass up.”
Susan had come to this visit with the goal of getting fingerprints from Dr. Jacobs. He was about to move on to his next patient. She had to think quickly. These days, doctors wore gloves for everything. Even holding a tongue depressor while looking down a patient’s throat. Think, Susan.
“Dr. Jacobs, I’m getting to be an old lady. I forgot what you said about taking these pills with other drugs. I can pop some Aleve on top of these, right? And sometimes I take something to help me sleep.”
“No, I told you not to take it with other pain relievers or sedatives.”
Susan fished a pen out of her purse. “Here, would you mind writing that down for me?”
The doctor sighed, but took the pen from Susan. He scribbled down directions on his clipboard and handed her the paper on the board.
“Here. Now you have no reason to forget.” He left the examination room.
Susan was cautious not to hold the pen by the part the doctor had touched. She grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser by the sink and wrapped the print-laden pen in it. Then she stashed it in her purse. This was going straight to Kevin. Wait a minute. What if they can only get a partial from that pen? That’s what had happened on the CSI episode she’d seen recently. It wasn’t easy, but she stashed the doctor’s clipboard into her purse too, just in case.
Susan flew through the doors of the police station. She’d run all the way from the cab and spoke in a breathy voice.
“Kevin, look! I got Dr. Jacobs’s prints on this pen and clipboard.” She handed them to him.
“Fantastic! How’d you manage that?”
“I have my ways.” She winked at Kevin.
“I’ll send these to the lab right away. There’s no guarantee this Dr. Jacobs has prints on file, but we’ll give it a shot,” said Kevin.
“Will you let me know when you get the results?” Susan asked.
“Sure,” he replied. “After all, we wouldn’t have the prints if it weren’t for you.”
When Susan got back to Audrey’s, Lynette said, “Mom, do you want to come to the beach with Annalise and me? We only have a few more days here.”
“Yes. I’ll go change.”
Susan loved late afternoons at the beach. It was cooler and more peaceful than it was at midday. The three of them spread a blanket down on the sand, and Lynette handed Annalise a plastic pail and shovel. Susan
helped her grandbaby scoop up sand.
“I hate leaving Audrey like this,” said Susan.
“You’ve done a lot for her already. Subbing at the school benefited the students and Audrey tremendously,” said Lynette.
“Truthfully,” replied Susan, “I had fun doing it. I just wish we could solve the case in time to salvage the school. The students are going to be devastated when they find out they have to change schools next year. I was sure Alonzo had killed Celia.”
“And before that, Mom, you thought Schwartz was the killer. And before that, Celia’s husband, Derrick.”
“I had good reason to suspect each of them. They all were guilty––just not of murder.”
“And now you think it was this Dr. Jacobs.”
“He’s lying about his identity. I know it, Lynette. He may not even be a real doctor. He has motive. Must be a mighty lucrative drug business he has going.”
“He has his cronies, too,” added Lynette. “If the motive was to keep the drug business going, any one of them could have done it.”
“And then there’s George,” said Susan. “I think maybe he brought me here to keep tabs on the investigation. He was afraid the police wouldn’t share information, but he knew if I found out anything by hanging around the school, I’d tell him. After all, I’m his sister. But he sneaks around campus, and he lied to Trish. He told her he was police. Can you imagine?”
“I can’t put my finger on it,” said Lynette, “but George is hiding something. And you think Dr. Jacobs is the one who abducted you in the auditorium?”
“I think he’s the mastermind, if not the actual attacker. I think Alonzo drove the boat. We know for a fact he owned one.”
“So does George,” said Lynette.
“Really?” asked Susan, amazed. “How do you know that?”
“The other night at Audrey’s, he offered to take Annalise and me for a ride up the Intracoastal.”
“Then he could have been the driver also. I think Celia and Alonzo were both killed to protect the drug ring. Trish went to Celia about buying drugs on campus, and Celia was going to go straight to the police. Alonzo was talking about going back to Argentina to be with his sick mother. Maybe he demanded a payout to keep quiet before leaving the country.”