The Labor Day Murder

by Lee Harris

  “She’s there. Marti’s making some lunch for her but I’m not sure she’s up to eating it. She’ll come over when she’s finished.”

  “Good. We’ll get to ours in a few minutes.”

  13

  Her name was Danielle Greene and she looked as though she had suffered a death in the family. Marti brought her over and then left, signalling with her eyes that things were pretty bad.

  The three of us sat in the living room, which I had picked up before her arrival so it didn’t look as though a baby would crawl out of a corner.

  Danielle looked around after she sat down. “I always wondered what it looked like inside,” she said, as though she were talking to herself. “I see it every day from the beach and it looks like such a great house.”

  “We’ve been enjoying it,” I said in a quiet voice.

  “You’re the one who came over to talk to Tina the night the fire chief died, aren’t you?”

  I had recognized her, too, as the person who called upstairs to see if Tina would talk to me. “That’s right.”

  She turned to Jack. “And then you came with the policeman the next day and searched the house.”

  “Right again.”

  “I don’t understand. What do you have to do with all this?”

  “I’m a detective sergeant with the NYPD. I offered to help the Blue Harbor police search your house.”

  “What were you looking for?” She looked confused.

  “I saw Tina Frisch near the Buckley house during the fire,” I said. “She had a fireman’s coat over her back and head and she was pushing her way through the crowd as though she didn’t want to be recognized. The police were looking for the coat.”

  “What was Tina doing at that fire? And why would she have a fireman’s coat?”

  “That’s one of the things I was trying to find out.”

  “Did you find the coat?”

  “It wasn’t in your house,” Jack said.

  “I didn’t think it would be.”

  “Do you know if Tina had any kind of relationship with Ken Buckley? If she knew him at all?”

  “I really don’t know. She kept to herself a lot. Sometimes she would grab a bike and pedal away. Other times she walked on the beach. I don’t know if she was alone or with someone. I spend most of my time out here with my boyfriend.”

  “I’d like you to tell me everything you know about Tina,” I said.

  “And if you don’t feel comfortable having me around,” Jack put in, “I’ll go take a walk.”

  “I don’t care. You can stay if you want. I’m probably not too coherent but I’d rather talk to you than the cop.”

  “Why?” Jack asked quickly.

  “He rubs me the wrong way.”

  “How do you know Tina, Danielle?” I asked.

  “We work for the same law firm.”

  “Have you known her long?”

  “A year or so.”

  “Whose idea was it to rent the house?”

  “I don’t know. A bunch of us were out for dinner one night after work last winter, and we started talking about what we were going to do in the summer. Maybe it was Tina’s idea. But I’m not sure. All of a sudden, it seemed everyone wanted to rent a house on Fire Island.”

  “How did you decide on Blue Harbor?”

  She thought about that for a minute. “I’m not sure. I guess it was the best house at the best price. I think maybe Tina found the real estate agent. But it could have been someone else.”

  I didn’t ask for the name of the agent. The Kleins would know, if I decided to follow up on that. “Did Tina have a fiancé or boyfriend?”

  “No one who ever came out here with her.”

  “She always came alone?”

  “Always.”

  “Can you tell me who the renters of the house are?”

  She went through them, telling me the same thing Jack had reported after Curt Springer had interviewed her on Tuesday. There were three couples, three girls, and three or four guys. One of the guys hadn’t come out very often but she was sure he had paid his share. The rental amount for the summer stunned me, but I’m still surprised at what people outside a convent pay for things. I could understand why people who didn’t want to use their houses for themselves turned to renters. A summer’s income could finance a couple of family vacations, even if there were repairs to be taken care of after the season.

  The couples, she explained, were each considered one single, and each actual single was allowed to bring a partner. There were five bedrooms in the Klein house, so there was room for a total of five singles or couples each weekend. They alternated weekends and most of the renters spent their one- or two-week vacations at the house. They would come out on a Sunday night or Monday morning and stay for the next two weeks, including their assigned weekend in the middle, leaving before the Friday crowd arrived. Danielle and Tina had opted for Labor Day weekend rather than the Fourth of July, and both had decided to stay until the coming weekend.

  “Did Tina ever pair up with any of the single men in your group?” I asked, when the arrangements seemed clear.

  “I don’t think so. She was friendly with everyone, but I got the feeling she wasn’t interested in any of the guys. I think Kyle was interested in her.”

  “Kyle? Is that the young man I’ve seen go by with snorkeling equipment?”

  She smiled for the first time, a kind of wistful smile. “That’s Kyle. I don’t know what he sees in the water but it keeps him happy.”

  “He seems like a very friendly person,” I said.

  “He is. Warm and fuzzy. I really like him.”

  “How old is Tina?”

  “Twenty-three? Twenty-four?”

  “When was the last time you saw Tina, Danielle?”

  She swallowed before she answered and I saw her eyes tear. “It was last night. I saw her a couple of times. She and Kyle were playing a game in the kitchen when I went in for a Coke. Then I saw her again later when the woman came to see her.”

  “What woman?”

  “This young woman, very good-looking, dark hair.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “It was dark already, maybe nine o’clock. She came to the door and no one was there so she walked in. I was sitting in the living room and I saw her. I asked her what she wanted and she said she was looking for Tina.”

  “She mentioned Tina by name?”

  “Yes. I don’t think she said Frisch. I think she just said Tina.”

  “OK.”

  “So I got up and called Tina and she came down.”

  “Did Tina know this woman?” I asked.

  “It didn’t look like it. But I wasn’t really listening. I think I heard the woman say her name when Tina came down.”

  “Do you remember it?”

  “No. And maybe that’s not what she said. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “They went outside.”

  “For how long?”

  “I don’t know. My boyfriend came back and we went upstairs.”

  “Where had your boyfriend been?”

  “Swimming. He likes to take a dip in the ocean at night.”

  “And the two of you went upstairs before Tina came back?”

  “We must have. I never saw her again.” She began to cry, and I got up and went to the kitchen, feeling very awkward. I poured a couple of glasses of iced tea and carried them back. She murmured a thank-you when she saw it, and she drank it quickly, half of it gone when she put the glass down.

  “Did you hear her?”

  She shook her head.

  “Did you share a bathroom with her?”

  She nodded.

  “Did you notice if her towel was wet?”

  “I didn’t notice. And anyway, I think she kept it in her room. There wasn’t room in the bathroom for everyone’s towels.”

  “Had you ever seen the dark-haired woman before?”

  “I really d
on’t know. Maybe on the beach. You see so many people there. And weekends, when I’m here, there are lots more than during the week.”

  That was certainly true for most of the summer, although we had come for two of the most crowded weeks, the ones before and after Labor Day. I wasn’t sure I would remember someone I passed on the beach, although Jack probably would. He’s very observant. “Danielle, who found Tina?”

  She pulled a tissue out of her jeans pocket and held it to her face. I heard her whisper in a voice constricted with emotion, “I did.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “It must have been terrible.”

  “It was. It was the most awful thing that ever happened to me.”

  “Do you think you can tell us about it?”

  She nodded, but it was clear she wasn’t ready to talk yet. She drank the rest of her tea and Jack got up and took the glass to the kitchen. I waited without saying anything. Jack had returned with a fresh glass before she was able to speak.

  “I went outside.” Her face was wet with tears, her voice barely audible. “I needed the bike. I was going to the store at the bay.” She paused a minute. “The bike is around the side of the house, near the back. We keep it behind the latticework. There’s a kind of gate there. They told us to keep it closed because the deer can get in.”

  Deer were a problem on Fire Island. They wandered off the grounds of the parks, leaving ticks in the grasses and getting their antlers tangled in the crawl spaces under the houses on stilts. I had heard it was a messy business trying to get them out.

  “I understand,” I said.

  “I pulled the gate open and—” She was crying again. “She was in there. Tina. I touched her and I screamed. I ran into the house and someone called the police.”

  I knew, of course, exactly when the phone call had come. I was just leaving Curt Springer’s office when he answered the phone and dashed out. I remembered what he had said: “Don’t touch anything.” He had been thinking of the crime scene.

  “Was the bicycle in there?” I asked.

  “I think so. I think she was lying on top of it.”

  “Was there any blood?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t remember seeing any.”

  We still didn’t know how she had been murdered. “Did you notice what she was wearing?”

  “I think—I think it could have been what she was wearing last night.”

  “So she could have been murdered last night and her body might have been hidden for ten or twelve hours.”

  “It’s possible.”

  I was about to ask about the other members of the household when a man’s voice called from the kitchen, “Anyone home?”

  Jack went to see who it was and came back with the young man I often saw walk by with snorkeling gear.

  “Hi, I’m Kyle Holbrook. How’s it going, Danny?”

  “Not so great.”

  We introduced ourselves and invited him to sit down, and Jack got another glass of iced tea. Kyle’s feet were bare. I had never seen such a huge pair of feet.

  “Were you home last night?” I asked him.

  “All night. Tina and I played a couple of games and then I read for a while.”

  “Were you there when Tina had a visitor?”

  “The good-looking gal, yeah. Dodie something.”

  “You heard her name?”

  “Just the Dodie part. Tina came down and they went outside.”

  “Did you hear anything they said?”

  “They must have waited till they were outside to talk. I heard their voices for a coupla minutes but that was all. They must’ve walked away.”

  “Did you hear them again? When they came back?”

  “No. I went in the kitchen for a beer and then I went upstairs.”

  “Do you remember when?”

  “Maybe ten. Maybe later.”

  “Did you see Tina again?”

  “Nope.”

  “Did you hear her when you were upstairs?”

  “I can’t tell who I hear when I’m upstairs.”

  “So you never saw her after she walked out of the house with Dodie?”

  “Never.”

  “Anyone else come into the house last night?” Jack asked.

  “Just the guys who live there.”

  “Do you lock the door at night?” I asked.

  Kyle and Danielle exchanged looks. “We fight about that,” he said. “Some guys want to lock it, some don’t give a…damn,” he said, making a quick try at cleaning up his language, probably on my behalf. “It’s a pain to carry a key.”

  “So it wasn’t locked?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Did you know this Dodie woman? Had you seen her or talked to her?”

  “I saw her on the beach. I think I ran into her once in the liquor store. I never met her.”

  “Did Tina ever mention her to either of you?”

  They looked at each other, but both said no.

  “You’d never seen her at your house before?”

  Their nos were stronger this time.

  “How long are you both staying in Blue Harbor?” I asked.

  “I want to get out of here as soon as I can,” Danielle said. “And I never want to come back. We’re supposed to be out by tomorrow anyway. The Kleins let us stay on this week after Labor Day but I think they’re coming out tomorrow to assess the damage.” She said this disparagingly, as though the Kleins assumed the renters had torn apart their house when, in fact, they had cared for it well. “Will we still have to talk to that cop?”

  “You will,” Jack said. “He’s going to have to get a statement from everyone in the house. He’s probably looking for you now. He may not be happy that we’ve spoken to you before he could get to you. I would guess he’s been busy with the county people and he’s probably talked to whoever’s in the house.”

  “That’s what he was doing when I left,” Kyle said. “He’s asking everyone about the earring.”

  Jack and I spoke at almost the same moment. “What earring?”

  “Didn’t you hear? One of Tina’s diamond earrings is missing. I never saw her without it.”

  “Nor I,” I said. I glanced at Danielle, who looked confused. “Was it—was it ripped off her ear?”

  “Nah.” Kyle spoke almost casually. “Looked like someone had removed it without pulling it off. You know, like unscrewed it. They’re in two parts, aren’t they?” He looked at Danielle, who nodded. “Those crime scene guys are combing the grass for it. You think that Dodie killed Tina?” he asked us.

  “I wouldn’t hazard a guess,” Jack said. “I’d like to know what Chief Springer found, how Tina was killed, how long she’s been dead. Is there any other house she could have spent the night in?”

  They didn’t seem to think so, especially, Danielle said, because she hadn’t made many friends. She had kept to herself, hadn’t gone out at night, hadn’t seemed interested in socializing.

  Of course there was Chief La Coste, I thought. And it was possible that I was the only one who knew about that.

  —

  Jack walked Danielle back to the house, but Kyle stayed behind.

  “She found Tina, you know,” he said.

  “She told us. It must have been the worst moment of her life.” I had found some bodies myself in the last couple of years, since I almost inadvertently started investigating murders, and I knew how terrible it was, even the time when I expected to find one. In Danielle’s case, it was a surprise and a shock, and to make matters worse, it was the body of a friend. “Is there anything you can tell me about Tina that might help in finding her killer? I have a special reason for being interested. I saw her come out of the Buckley house during the fire and although I spoke to her, she denied she’d been there and denied we had spoken.”

  “She was a strange person,” Kyle said. “I liked her. I was interested in her, but she didn’t seem interested in anything this summer.”

  “Maybe she was recovering from a rela
tionship that ended,” I suggested.

  “Could be. She didn’t talk much about herself, just her job and how she and Danny had decided to come out here. She kept to herself, took a lot of long walks. She didn’t sit out on the beach, said she burned easily, but she went in the water once in a while, usually early in the day or after the sun was at its hottest.”

  “Makes sense if you burn. Were you involved in selecting the house?”

  “Nah. I didn’t do anything except write a check. Some of the others came out in the spring to look at it but I didn’t bother. I heard it was close to the beach so I said, count me in.”

  “Did she tell you why she came to Fire Island?”

  “She said she’d always wanted to come here, said she’d heard a lot about it.”

  “Did she ever mention Ken Buckley, the fire chief who died in the fire on Monday?”

  “Not to me.”

  “Where were you during that fire?”

  “I was on the beach. I saw the smoke and I saw everyone running but I stayed where I was.”

  “Did you see Tina?”

  “I saw her before the fire. We were walking on the beach together.”

  “And then what?” I said.

  “She said she had somewhere to go.”

  “And she left you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re sure she left the beach before the fire?”

  “Oh, yeah. Half an hour or so. She went up the dune, back toward the house.”

  I wasn’t surprised that Tina had lied to me about walking on the beach during the fire. I knew where she’d been, but this was corroborating evidence that her walk had ended before the fire.

  “This Dodie woman,” I said. “Did you happen to see her around the time of the fire?”

  “I don’t remember. I could’ve. She’s a gorgeous woman. I liked to look at her. I was surprised when she came to the house last night. I wondered what connection she could have to Tina.”

  “I wish I knew,” I said.

  14

  Jack came back just as Kyle was leaving. “I’ve got the Kleins’ phone number,” he said. “I think we should call them. Springer’s looking for a killer in one direction, but I think the way we’re going will be more fruitful.”

  I agreed. I told him what Kyle had said, and added, “It sounds like Tina had somewhere to go before the Buckley fire.”