To the Last Drop

by Sandra Balzo

  Now, not only had she come to Uncommon Grounds this afternoon but here she was tracking me down at home.

  At dinnertime.

  ‘Wine?’ Sarah was holding up her own glass.

  ‘Oh, I’d love it.’ Lynne sank gratefully onto the couch as I hung her coat in the closet.

  ‘Is everything OK?’ I asked as Sarah poured what was left of the blend I’d opened the night before into Lynne’s glass. When I realized how stupid the question was I shifted to, ‘How is Ginny doing?’

  Lynne took the wine. ‘She and Eric spent the afternoon at Ted’s place watching the baby, which I’m sure helped get her mind off things. They got home just before I left.’

  That explained where my car was.

  ‘Eric is being so kind to Ginny,’ Lynne continued with a wan smile. ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if something good came out of all this and the two of them—’

  My stomach growled. ‘Eric is gay.’

  ‘Oh.’ She took a careful sip of the wine. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Why?’ I said, readying for a fight. ‘I’m not.’

  Lynne blushed. ‘No, I didn’t mean I’m sorry he’s gay, just that I hoped—’ She broke off and took a bigger swallow of wine. ‘Never mind.’

  ‘Maggy knows what you mean,’ Sarah said, throwing me a look as she sat down next to the woman.

  I didn’t necessarily know what Lynne meant. But if there was anything that could make me feel guilty it was Sarah being nicer than me. I reclaimed the chair, tucking my feet up under me, and said, ‘So is there something we can do for you?’ I tried again.

  Lynne drained the remaining wine in her glass and set it on the table. ‘Eric said you and the sheriff are … well, a couple.’

  ‘We are.’ I was wondering what was coming.

  ‘It’s just that I thought perhaps he’d told you what they’d found.’

  ‘Found?’ Other than that nobody had heard or seen anything and all roads led to the medical examiner, Pavlik had been extraordinarily stingy with information. Besides, what he did tell me I’d learned not to blather. Especially to somebody his detectives suspected was hiding something. ‘I’m afraid not.’

  ‘Oh.’ Lynne sat back, looking disappointed.

  ‘You can call him,’ I told her. ‘Or, better yet, one of the two detectives. I’m sure they gave you their cards, right?’ It was standard procedure.

  ‘Oh, yes, they did.’ She opened her purse and started digging through it as if she planned to make the call right then and there.

  Frank, having recovered, chose that moment to stalk back into the room and, eyeing Lynne on the couch next to Sarah, gave it as wide berth as the room allowed and harrumphed himself down on the floor in front of me. I checked the clock on the mantle. The food was late and Frank had decided Lynne was to blame.

  The culprit came up with three business cards. ‘I have each detective’s card and one from the medical examiner’s office, too. The detective said if I called tomorrow they might be able to tell me when William’s body will be released.’

  Sarah stirred next to her. ‘Do you have a funeral home?’

  ‘Brookhills Funeral Home and Cremation. The lady – I think her name was Mimi – said she’d take care of it from there, once the medical examiner says it’s all right.’

  ‘So your husband did have life insurance?’ Sarah asked. ‘You’ll be able to pay for the funeral and all?’

  Smooth.

  But if Sarah’s motive for the question was transparent Lynne didn’t seem to notice. ‘That’s very kind of you to ask but I think I’ll be able to cover the initial costs from our joint account.’

  Sarah’s brow furrowed. I wasn’t sure if it was because she still hadn’t gotten an answer to her question or because she realized that Lynne had taken it as a loan offer.

  I suppressed a grin and said to the widow, ‘It sounds like you have things covered. At least as much as possible for now.’ When she didn’t answer – or leave – I tried again. ‘Is there anything else we can do?’

  ‘No. I mean, yes.’ She flushed. ‘I was wondering what they’d found in William’s office.’

  I assumed she meant his cell phone. ‘His cell was on his desk, though I’m not sure if you’ll be able to get it back immediately. But, like I said, ask the detectives.’

  ‘Thing is,’ she said, fingering the card in her hand, ‘it’s not the phone I’m concerned about, it’s something else. And if they haven’t come across it I don’t necessarily want to bring it to their attention.’

  I frowned. ‘Why not?’

  ‘Maybe that’s not your business, Maggy,’ said Sarah.

  ‘I appreciate your input, Sarah,’ I said measuredly. ‘But Lynne came here to my house, asking for my help. I think I have a right to know why.’

  Lynne jumped up. ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—’

  The doorbell rang. Frank looked at me expectantly.

  ‘I’ll get it,’ Sarah said. ‘Where’s the money?’

  I should have known that even in her new, kinder persona, my partner stopped short of paying. ‘Table next to the door.’ I turned back to Lynne. ‘Sit down, there’s plenty for the four of us.’

  ‘The four of us?’ she said uncertainly as Sarah came in carrying a brown paper bag, Frank on her heels. ‘Your dog eats Chinese?’

  ‘Turnabout’s fair play,’ Sarah shot over her shoulder as she unpacked the contents of the bag on the coffee table.

  Lynne didn’t seem to get it and I wasn’t about to explain. Especially over dinner. ‘I don’t mean to be rude, Lynne. I know this has been a horrible day but you can’t ask me to use my sources,’ or source, singular, ‘and not tell me why.’

  ‘Don’t say a word until I get back,’ Sarah cautioned Lynne.

  I eyed my partner. ‘What are you, her lawyer?’

  Sarah snorted. ‘Of course not. I don’t want to miss anything.’

  That was more like it. My partner disappeared into the kitchen. I grabbed a domed container from the coffee table and followed.

  ‘Dinner, Frank,’ I said, cracking off the top and setting the black plastic tray on the floor.

  ‘So onions are bad for dogs, but egg foo yung is OK?’

  Frank sniffed and then swallowed the patty in one gulp.

  ‘I guess we’ll find out,’ I said. ‘Seemed like the safest item on the menu.’

  Frank burped and sat down.

  ‘He looks like he’s waiting for the entrée.’

  I rustled in the cabinet and found a box of dog treats. ‘Dessert, Frank?’

  He got to his four feet and stalked out.

  ‘I try,’ I said, putting the treats away.

  ‘I know you do. That’s what scares me.’ Sarah pulled three plates out of the cabinet. ‘Get the silverware.’

  I obeyed. ‘There’s more wine in the pantry. Grab the cabernet.’ There went my ‘one glass per night.’

  Sarah claimed the bottle and started for the living room. Being a good wingman, I remembered the corkscrew and followed.

  ‘Help yourself,’ I said, handing Lynne her silverware.

  She opened a carton and peered in. ‘Umm, beef something?’

  ‘Mongolian beef.’ I stuck a serving spoon into the carton, almost taking off her nose. ‘There should also be Kung Pao chicken and broccoli with garlic sauce. And rice, of course.’

  Sarah had the second bottle of wine open. ‘Refills?’

  ‘Please.’ I dug out rice and ladled Mongolian beef on top of it, adding a dollop of the Kung Pao for variety. ‘Now, where were we?’

  ‘You were interrogating the prisoner.’ Sarah refilled Lynne’s wine glass.

  ‘That’s right. And Lynne, you were going to tell us what you’re afraid the investigators will find in William’s office.’

  Lynne had touched neither her food nor her second glass of wine, but she swallowed anyway. ‘Divorce papers.’

  FOURTEEN

  ‘Happy family’s not so happy, huh?’ Having finished pou
ring wine all around, Sarah waved to the Chinese takeout cartons. ‘Appropriate, no?’

  More appropriate than my partner ever was.

  ‘No,’ I said, but I was thinking about the apparent strain between William and Lynne at the book club. ‘As for the divorce, who was serving whom?’

  Lynne looked surprised at my question. ‘I was divorcing William. Why? Did he say something to Ted?’

  That Ted, in turn, blabbed to me? Fat chance. I didn’t even know he had a partner until Lynne had told me. ‘No, he didn’t. Do you have reason to think William planned to divorce you?’

  ‘That would put a whole new spin on things,’ Sarah said, serving herself rice and Kung Pao chicken. ‘And a pre-emptive strike is always a nice move.’

  Lynne blinked. ‘I’m sorry?’

  ‘I think she means if you filed for divorce because you knew William was and wanted to beat him to it.’ Sarah was right. If William had planned to file for divorce, Lynne solidified her position at the front of the suspect pack.

  But the widow was shaking her head. ‘No, I’m nearly certain William wasn’t contemplating divorce.’

  ‘Then why did you bring it up?’ Sarah said, starting on her food.

  ‘I didn’t,’ the financial planner said, ‘or at least I didn’t mean to. It just took me by surprise when Maggy asked who was bringing the action.’

  ‘You see, it was Ted who served me with notice that he’d filed for divorce,’ I explained. ‘I had no idea until that moment that he was fooling around with his dental hygienist and wanted to marry her.’

  ‘That’s honorable, at least,’ Lynne said.

  From Rachel’s perspective, maybe. But that was dirty bathwater down the drain. Which reminded me – the baptism was tomorrow. ‘Did Eric say anything about bringing my car back tonight?’

  ‘No, but we didn’t really talk. I was on the phone to my divorce lawyer when they came in, so I went into my bedroom to continue the conversation.’

  ‘Which was about what?’ I’d set down my plate at Lynne’s mention of the divorce and now picked it back up. A girl’s gotta eat, startling revelation or not.

  Tears were rising in Lynne’s eyes. ‘I was checking on the papers.’

  ‘When were they served?’ I asked.

  ‘Yesterday.’ The tears spilled over. ‘When Ginny texted me that she was driving Eric home I immediately called my divorce lawyer and left a message. In fact, I was ending the call when you arrived for your appointment.’

  ‘You wanted to hold off?’

  ‘Of course. There was no reason for Ginny to be caught in the middle of this. I followed up with an email, just to be safe, saying we’d wait until Ginny was back at school.’

  ‘Didn’t she say the kid flunked out?’ Sarah asked me.

  ‘I didn’t know that then,’ Lynne said testily through the tears. ‘Or that the idiot Milwaukee divorce lawyer I hired doesn’t check his messages.’

  ‘But when was the notice served?’ I asked. ‘William didn’t act like a man who was being sued for divorce when he arrived at Uncommon Grounds. Unless he’s a really good actor.’

  ‘Oh, he is,’ Lynne said. ‘Or was. But no, I’m told the papers were served to William outside his office last night.’

  Before William sailed out the tenth-floor window.

  ‘Looking good for a finding of suicide,’ Sarah said. ‘So when you checked his life insurance, was there a suicide exemption?’

  Lynne blinked but she didn’t deny Sarah’s assumption. ‘It may have expired.’

  ‘You should check that,’ Sarah said, shooting a triumphant glance toward me.

  Seeing as my partner had led us to the subject, I might as well pursue it. ‘The exemptions expire?’

  ‘It depends on the policy,’ Lynne said. ‘Sometimes they won’t pay out if the policyholder commits suicide within a certain length of time. That way somebody can’t buy a policy solely to support their family after they take their own life.’

  Sarah picked up her glass. ‘Or somebody takes it for them.’

  But then that wouldn’t be suicide, would it? ‘How did the process server know William would be at his office? If it weren’t for the argument with Ted he would have stayed for the book club.’

  ‘The server would have waited until he got back to the office. I’m certainly paying enough.’

  ‘But that doesn’t answer Maggy’s real question,’ Sarah said. ‘Somebody had to tell the server your husband was going to be at the office late last night.’

  ‘Yes.’ Lynne shifted on the couch, unnecessarily adjusting and then plumping the pillow next to her. ‘I’ve … well, I’ve been having William followed since we moved here. It was the same company – Brookhills Investigations and Process Serving.’

  Sarah grinned. ‘One-stop shopping. I like it. Kind of like a burger joint having a cardiac unit.’

  ‘You obviously suspected something,’ I said to Lynne. ‘What?’

  Swope seemed to be considering and then apparently came to a decision. ‘William’s been cheating on me. For years, apparently.’

  ‘In Louisville?’

  ‘And every city that hosted a dental conference, most likely.’

  I knew how that went. I was just surprised William and my ex hadn’t met on the circuit earlier. Though Ted and Rachel probably hadn’t left their hotel room long enough to socialize. ‘How did you find out?’

  ‘A text message that seemed to be setting up a liaison, among other things,’ Lynne said. ‘That’s why I started going along to conferences like the one where we met Ted. I thought he’d try to talk me out of it when I first suggested it.’

  I’d finished my plate of food and wanted seconds, but not badly enough to interrupt the flow of information. ‘And did he?’

  She shook her head with a wry smile. ‘Damned if he didn’t act like he was thrilled.’

  ‘Yet you believe—’

  ‘I honestly doubted myself. Until his office manager knocked on my front door in late March, confirming everything I’d suspected for years.’

  ‘She ratted on him?’ Sarah asked. ‘Good for her.’

  I frowned. ‘You said that William’s Louisville office was training a new manager. Was that a replacement for – what was her name?’ I looked to Lynne for the answer.

  ‘Bethany,’ she supplied with a sigh. ‘Young, blonde and beautiful, like most of William’s hires.’

  Which explained what the oral surgeon meant by ‘dressing up’ Thorsen Dental, though he’d never had the chance. ‘Bethany left the practice around the time she came to see you?’

  ‘Exactly,’ Lynne said. ‘And she didn’t rat on William, as Sarah put it, so much as confess.’

  ‘Bethany and William were having an affair,’ I said.

  ‘Indeed they were. She even showed me the cell phone pictures he’d sent her.’ A brittle smile.

  The widow had my partner’s attention. ‘Please don’t tell me they were weenie shots – you’ll ruin my appetite.’

  It’s true that the male penis is not the most photogenic of body parts.

  ‘I’m afraid so,’ Lynne confirmed. ‘And I’d know William’s anywhere. He had a little … bump.’

  Moving on. ‘But you’d already suspected, correct?’

  ‘There was the text message, of course.’ Lynne was tapping her fingernails on the wine glass. ‘And that every employee William hired was female and drop-dead gorgeous. He said it was good for business so I tried not to let it bother me. After all, they all seemed to be happily married. We’d even go out with them and their husbands to dinner or the theater at William’s suggestion.’

  ‘And Clay Tartare,’ I asked, ‘and his wife or girlfriend?’

  Lynne glanced quickly at me and away. ‘No, William and Clay didn’t socialize much.’

  I noticed she didn’t say if there was a woman in her former boyfriend’s life. ‘Dangerous,’ I said, earning me another startled look from the financial planner. ‘I mean, dangerous for Willi
am to set up double dates with his affairees and their spouses.’

  ‘I think the danger, as you put it, gave him a rush. But he also was very careful to choose women who had as much to lose as he did.’

  ‘Meaning their marriages,’ I said. ‘But wouldn’t Clay have picked up on something at the office?’

  Lynne snorted. ‘Clay could be very obtuse – or maybe naïve is a fairer word. And if he did suspect William was having an affair he certainly didn’t tell me.’

  ‘Man code.’ Having apparently recovered her appetite, Sarah was helping herself to broccoli. ‘You having any Kung Pao?’

  ‘No, go ahead.’ Lynne still hadn’t touched the food, but I grabbed another spoonful of the spicy chicken before Sarah could empty the carton on her plate.

  ‘My husband could be very charming and attentive.’ Lynne was looking off into the distance. Which, in my living room, was the stucco wall eight feet away.

  ‘I’m sure he told them how smart and beautiful and funny they were,’ she continued, ‘all the while being respectful and perfectly honest about the fact that he was married. He loved his wife, he’d say, and had no intention of leaving her. Before they knew it they’d practically be begging him to make love to them.’

  There was something in the woman’s expression …

  ‘You were one of them,’ I said.

  Lynne’s eyes flew wide. ‘What?’

  ‘You had an affair with William yourself.’ I was guessing but, given Lynne’s reaction, I must have nailed it. ‘When you were the office manager and dating Clay?’

  If the financial planner’s face had been flushed earlier, it was on fire now. ‘That was different. I was widowed and didn’t realize he was married. At first.’

  ‘And once you did you liked the challenge,’ I guessed. ‘The adrenaline rush, just like William did. Who wouldn’t have chosen the charming, married Doctor Swope over the “obtuse,” available Doctor Tartare.’

  ‘Anybody in their right mind,’ Sarah muttered. ‘So who blabbed to Swope’s wife? Tartare?’

  ‘Clay never would. He’s too honorable.’ A wistful look crossed Lynne’s face. ‘She just … found out.’

  ‘Right,’ Sarah said. ‘Anonymous note or email? It was probably pre-text message so you couldn’t plant one of those, right?’