Dying for Mercy

by Mary Jane Clark

  “Like design plans and pictures that were taken of the finished project?” asked Aurelia.

  “Yes,” said Annabelle. “Is that what was taken from Zack’s office? Just tell me if I’m wrong.”

  Aurelia’s silence was her answer.

  “Here, Midnight. Come here, boy.”

  The border collie came right over to Aurelia. She petted the dog’s soft coat and then bent down to hug him for her own comfort. She could feel her pulse racing.

  If Zack was murdered because he knew too much about Pentimento, then she was in danger, too.

  Aurelia hadn’t thought to tell the police that she had copies of all the pictures taken at Pentimento and arranged in the turquoise album. In fact, she’d been the one who had taken the photos. They were all stored on her computer.

  CHAPTER 75

  Mack appeared at the doorway, holding his index finger up to his lips.

  “Is she in there?” he whispered.

  Paige smiled broadly and mouthed, “Yes.”

  Quietly Mack walked to the open office door. Eliza had her back to him. She was looking out the window at the Hudson River.

  “Hey, you,” he said.

  She turned quickly, her face lighting up with pleasure.

  “Mack.”

  He dropped his bag on the floor, and they moved toward each other. While they embraced, Paige discreetly shut the office door.

  “Oh, I’ve missed you,” he said, closing his eyes and holding her tight.

  “Me, too,” said Eliza. She pulled her head back and regarded his face. “You look great, but a little tired,” she said.

  “You look great period,” he responded. He leaned down, and his mouth found hers.

  “What time is your meeting with the prez?” asked Eliza as she stood before the mirror on the back of the door and reapplied her lipstick.

  “Range canceled on me,” said Mack. “His secretary said he had some sort of family situation he had to take care of, but I think he might be avoiding me.”

  “Range Bullock is a pretty straight shooter,” said Eliza, pulling a comb through her hair. “If he didn’t want to see you, he wouldn’t have made the appointment to begin with.”

  “I’m getting the feeling that he has something to tell me and he knows I won’t like it,” said Mack.

  “Like what?”

  “Like despite the fact he’s been leading me to believe that when I finish this contract cycle I can come back to New York, he’s not going to make good.”

  “I don’t think he would do that,” said Eliza.

  “Well, you know him better than I do, and I hope you’re right, but I’m getting a bad vibe.” Mack shook it off. “Forget it. Let’s not think about that for the next few days. Let’s not let it ruin our time together.”

  “Deal,” said Eliza as she leaned in to kiss him again.

  As they left the office and walked down the hallway, they met Annabelle getting off the elevator.

  “I know you guys are anxious to get out of here,” she said. “But I just want to tell you, Eliza, that Zack Underwood’s secretary found that the plans and photographs of Pentimento were missing from the office.”

  “She told you that?” asked Eliza.

  “Not in so many words, but trust me—that’s what she was saying.”

  Eliza considered the information and its implications. “All right, let me see what else I can come up with this weekend,” she said.

  “What’s this all about?” asked Mack.

  “I’ll tell you on the ride up to Tuxedo Park,” Eliza promised.

  They said good-bye to Annabelle, and Mack pushed the button to summon the elevator. Annabelle got only a few steps away when she turned.

  “I know the last thing in the world you need is to see anyone else this weekend, Eliza, but if it turns out you need some help up there, don’t hesitate to call.”

  CHAPTER 76

  Fitzroy had been very quiet all morning, and Unity was concerned. After lunch, when he said he wanted to go for another long walk to clear his mind, Unity became genuinely worried.

  Because of his limp, taking long walks had never been her husband’s habit. And now, as she listened to news reports and read the paper, it occurred to her that Fitzroy had been gone during the time that Zack Underwood was murdered.

  CHAPTER 77

  The carriage house on Clubhouse Road was one of several that had been converted since the days when horses and their grooms awaited their masters’ pleasure, providing them with transportation and sport. At one time forty miles of bridle paths wound through the park and the Tuxedo Horse Show had been a world-class event. Over the years, cars and SUVs had replaced carriages and horse-drawn sleighs. Human beings now lived in the stables.

  When they entered the front door, Eliza immediately remembered why she’d rented the place. The combination living and dining room was crowned with rough-hewn beams crisscrossing a vaulted ceiling. The floor was wide-plank antique oak partially covered with sisal rugs. Big, comfortable chairs flanked the fireplace, and an inviting sofa slipcovered in white duck cloth was positioned under the window. A round table surrounded by four ladder-back chairs filled the dining area. Sunshine streamed into the room, warming the pale taupe walls. In the kitchen, open shelves were stocked with glassware and white crockery. All the appliances were modern and of high quality.

  Eliza opened the Sub-Zero refrigerator.

  “Great,” she said as she inspected the contents. “Mrs. Garcia has already been here.”

  Mack poked his head around the refrigerator door. “I’m hoping she made that chicken I love,” he said.

  “She did,” said Eliza. “Want me to heat some up?”

  “Later,” said Mack as he leaned in to kiss her.

  She led the way upstairs to the larger of two bedrooms. On the queen-size bed, the soft white sheets were turned down, a subtle contrast to the sand-colored comforter and matching linen that covered the headboard. A vase full of fresh flowers sat on the bedside table along with several pillar candles resting on a glass tray.

  “Wait till you see the bathroom,” said Eliza, taking Mack’s hand.

  A very deep freestanding bathtub was the focal point of the room. The tub overlooked a walled garden.

  “I can’t wait to fill that with bath salts and soak in water up to my chin,” said Eliza.

  Mack inspected the depth and width of the tub. “Good,” he said. “There’s room enough for the both of us.”

  CHAPTER 78

  Wrapped in a heavy sweater against the chill late-afternoon air, Valentina sat on the carved bench, staring at the fountain. The falling water was mesmerizing to watch. It sprayed upward and then cascaded down over the backs of the bronze tortoises that sunned themselves at the edge of the marble basin.

  The tortoise and the hare, thought Valentina, remembering the old fable that she’d been told as a child. The speedy, reckless rabbit was beaten by the steady, slow-moving tortoise. It was a lesson that she and Innis had tried to teach Rusty. Slow and steady won the race.

  She was afraid Rusty hadn’t learned the lesson well enough. He took too many risks, and that generally wasn’t a good thing, especially for a young man who planned to go into the family business of politics. A foolish move, a dumb mistake, could come back to haunt you.

  Valentina wondered when Rusty would be coming home this weekend. She had no desire to be one of those nagging mothers who wanted to know their offspring’s every move. But she found herself feeling needy. She didn’t want to be alone.

  Getting up, she walked back into the house and went to the telephone.

  “Oh, Eliza, hello,” she said with enthusiasm when Eliza answered. “It’s Valentina. Are you up here already?”

  “Hi, Valentina,” said Eliza. “Yes, we got here after lunch. How are you doing?”

  “I’m all right. I was calling to see if you and Mack would like to come over for a drink.”

  Eliza hesitated, not wanting to disappoint her.
“Honestly, Valentina, Mack flew in this morning, and it’s already after ten at night on his body clock. Can we possibly take a rain check?”

  “Of course, I understand,” said Valentina. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Innis and I would be exhausted when we first came home from Europe. Anyway, you two have more to do with your time than spend your first night together with an old lady. How about lunch tomorrow? Would you like to come around noon?”

  “We’ll be there,” said Eliza.

  CHAPTER 79

  It could not be allowed to happen.

  Aurelia could not be given the chance to realize what she had and turn the Pentimento pictures over to law enforcement. Even without having the pictures in her possession, she could remember them, so stealing them was not good enough.

  If memory served, Aurelia owned a dog. And a dog had to be walked one last time before its owner slept for the night. All alone on the dark road, Aurelia would be vulnerable and unsuspecting. It would be the perfect opportunity to eliminate her as a threat.

  No one would see.

  The computer printout of the Instruments of the Passion that had provided the inspiration for Zack’s murder now provided inspiration for how to get rid of Aurelia—almost as dramatically as Innis had gotten rid of himself.

  CHAPTER 80

  Aurelia slapped the side of her thigh.

  “Come on, Midnight. Let’s go, boy.”

  The border collie happily followed his mistress out the door, eager for the fresh air and exercise. He trotted in front of Aurelia, unleashed and confident about the route they would take. A noise coming from the bushes up ahead sent him bolting in pursuit of the squirrel or chipmunk he thought he would find there.

  As she walked down the road, Aurelia pulled her fisherman-knit cardigan closer around her. It was time to get out her heavy winter coat, she thought. She couldn’t remember if she had even picked up the winter clothes from the dry cleaner after she’d dropped them off last spring. She’d have to check when she got back to the house.

  She shivered at the sound of a twig snapping. Looking behind her, she searched with her flashlight, but she saw nothing. Aurelia turned and continued walking.

  “Midnight!” she called out. “Where are you, boy? Come back.”

  She could hear the rustling of leaves as the dog searched through the bushes for his quarry. The collie was going to emerge dirty and covered with grass and leaves. She was too tired and in no mood to give him a bath this late at night.

  “I’m not kidding, Midnight!” she called. “Get back here.”

  Her attention focused on the dog, and the air filled with the sound of her own voice, Aurelia didn’t sense the person approaching her from behind until the hammer came down on her head.

  Aurelia’s body was quickly dragged to the side of the road and then deep into the underbrush.

  The dog finally appeared, bounding from the bushes but slowing at the sight of his mistress lying in the leaves. Approaching her body, Midnight sniffed at her hair and sweater and nudged her shoulder with his snout. When he got no response, he licked her face with his long tongue, and a moment later he stretched out next to her, placing his head on her warm, still chest.

  It was a short walk to Aurelia Patterson’s house. The laptop computer was sitting on the kitchen table. It didn’t take long to find the digital camera in the hall closet.

  The killer walked out of the house with both of them—the sole owner of the images of Pentimento.

  SATURDAY OCTOBER 10

  CHAPTER 81

  Slipping from bed as quietly as she could, Eliza put on her robe and went downstairs. She set a pot of coffee brewing and turned on her computer to check the news of the morning. Satisfied that nothing big had happened overnight, she poured herself a cup of coffee, opened the French doors, and went out onto the slate patio.

  The morning air was bracing. Eliza inhaled deeply, reveling in the sights and scents of autumn in the country. Colorful leaves lay scattered on the ground. An old stone fence surrounded the rear of the property, cordoning off a well-tended garden. She detected the faint aroma of lavender, the vestige of the plants the owner had placed near the foundation of the carriage house.

  As she sipped the hot coffee, Eliza wondered how Janie was doing with the Cohens. She was tempted to call and see, but she decided to wait until later. Don’t hover, she told herself.

  Going back inside, she heard Mack descending the stairs.

  “Sleep well?” asked Eliza after they kissed.

  “Like a baby,” said Mack. He looked mischievously into her eyes. “I wonder why.”

  “I have no idea,” she said with mock innocence.

  She pulled away and went to pour some coffee for him. “What do you want to do today?” she asked, handing him the cup.

  “More of what we’ve been doing would suit me just fine.”

  Eliza nodded, smiling. “And after that, I have a place I want to show you.”

  “This is great exercise,” said Eliza.

  “Yeah, but not nearly as good as the exercise we just had,” said Mack, putting his arm around her shoulder and kissing her on the forehead.

  As they walked around the road that circled Tuxedo Lake, Eliza filled Mack in on all that had been happening and the details she knew so far. “I went to the spot on West Lake Road, but there was nothing out of the ordinary,” she said. “I want to go back there with you and see if I missed something.”

  “Another set of eyes, at your service,” said Mack.

  “That’s Pentimento,” said Eliza as they walked by the imposing Italianate mansion. “The Wheelock place.”

  Mack whistled softly through his teeth. “You’ve got to be in a pretty sad state if living in a place like that doesn’t make you want to stick around.”

  “That’s the operative word, isn’t it?” said Eliza. “Innis Wheelock had to be very sad to do what he did.”

  “Or he just got carried away with his obsession with religion and St. Francis,” said Mack.

  They continued walking, past a few more massive houses until the road straightened out and there were no buildings on either side.

  “This is certainly a nice long stretch where a car could gather speed,” observed Mack. “If you drank too much or were distracted by a pretty woman in the car with you, it would be easy to lose control and crash into a tree.”

  Eliza slowed as they reached the area indicated on the map. “This is it,” she said, holding out her arms.

  They wandered around, kicking through leaves and vegetation, not sure what they were looking for.

  After a while Eliza leaned against a large boulder. “Maybe this is a wild-goose chase,” she said.

  “And this might be the goose,” Mack said excitedly as he squatted down at the base of a large old tree at the water’s edge. “Come here and see this.”

  Eliza walked over to the tree that leaned slightly toward the lake. On the bottom of the trunk, at a point facing the water and not viewable from the road, a slab of brass, about an inch thick, a foot high, and a foot and a half wide was planted in the ground. It was in the shape of a pentagon, with nine slender rectangles protruding from the top of it. One of the rectangles stood tall and straight; the other eight were shorter, as if they had been broken off.

  “What do you think this could be?” asked Mack.

  “I’ve seen similar ones in antique shops. It looks like a large, old-fashioned doorstop,” said Eliza. “In the shape of a house.”

  CHAPTER 82

  Valentina answered the door herself.

  “Welcome to Pentimento,” she said, forcing herself to smile. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

  “We’re so happy to be here,” said Eliza as she handed a paper bag to Valentina. “These are some jars of Mrs. Garcia’s spicy peach preserves.”

  “Oh, that’s so thoughtful. Thank you.” Valentina took hold of the gift with two hands and led Eliza and Mack to a small round table by one of the windows.


  “I thought it would be nicer to sit here looking out at the lake rather than eating at that big table in the dining room,” she said.

  The table was set with colorful hand-painted Italian pottery featuring the Wheelock family crest.

  “These bowls are wonderful,” said Eliza.

  “They were made for us in Deruta,” Valentina said wistfully. “Innis actually deserves all the credit. He worked with the pottery maker, and they came up with this unique design just for us.”

  All three of them were quiet.

  “He was such a gifted person,” Valentina whispered.

  “He certainly was,” said Mack. “And so are you, Valentina. Anyone who has followed your career over the years knows that you two were a force to be reckoned with. You accomplished some wonderful things for the people of America.”

  “That’s nice of you to say, Mack. But to be perfectly honest, without Innis I wouldn’t have accomplished much at all. Others helped, too, of course, but Innis called the shots.”

  Bonnie entered the room carrying a tureen. She ladled corn chowder into the bowls and left a basket of fresh-baked bread on the table.

  “Bonnie here has just been a lifesaver,” said Valentina. “She’s helping me until I can find a permanent replacement for Eunice—though I doubt I’ll ever really be able to replace her.” She nodded and smiled at Bonnie. “That will be all for now. Thank you.”

  “I’ll be out in the aviary for a little while, Mrs. Wheelock,” said Bonnie. “I’m going to feed the birds.”

  “Bringing that parrot some grapes?” Eliza asked, smiling. “My daughter told me all about it.”