4 A Dead Mother

by Anna Celeste Burke

  “You must have your hands full with the investigation into Marty Hargreaves’ murder. There’s always some twist on what’s going on in the entertainment news shows. I don’t believe most of it.” Kim followed up her last remark with a disgusted look that turned into a smirk, and then a smile. “It’s hard not to follow it, though, isn’t it? Someone must have muzzled the movie queen. She hasn’t been this quiet, this long, ever.”

  “Bernadette said that, too, last night when we were visiting Mom. She’s sure Cassie’s new lawyer has convinced her that Judge Jessop means business and will jail her for contempt if there’s another scene like the one that went on in his courtroom.”

  “I’m more inclined to believe she’s trussed up like a hog in a closet somewhere. Not in that Bel Air mansion though. It’s probably not habitable yet, is it?” Kim asked.

  “No. Jim’s hired someone to clean up, but they’re not going to be able to do that, now. There’s a twist that hasn’t been released to the public or leaked to the infotainment channels. The autopsy report says Hargreaves died from his head injuries. That’s not surprising, but the report says he suffered multiple blows to his head. The most serious one was delivered to the back of his head, fractured his skull, and led to a lot of blood loss.”

  “Okay,” I said. “That didn’t kill him?”

  “Yes. It did. Here’s the weird thing, though. He also suffered multiple blows to the side of his head.”

  “As if someone kicked him once he was on the ground,” Kim interjected without a moment’s hesitation.

  “Yes. That’s what Paul figures, too. We also learned from the autopsy report that fingers on one of Hargreaves’ hands were broken. Paul’s hired a forensics expert to review the findings.”

  “Are you suggesting that someone stepped on his hand and broke his fingers?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Couldn’t he have broken bones in his hand when he punched Jim? Or missed and hit something hard?” Kim asked.

  “I don’t think so. I’m sure he would have led with his right and the broken fingers are on his left hand. We’ll know more once we have someone look at the issue more carefully.”

  “That’s rage. Up close and personal, too, don’t you think? I mean, kick the crap out of the guy after he’s already down.” Kim shook her head. “That’s seriously angry.”

  “It sure sounds like it to me, too.”

  “Jim claims he was down and out before he saw who clobbered Hargreaves. He implied that Hargreaves got the jump on Cassie, too, after she took a swing at him, right?”

  “Yes. If Jim’s telling the truth, though, Cassie could have been angry enough to do that to Marty once she already had him on the floor.” Jerry shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe she got to her baby daddy with the table lamp before he could hit her again, beat him before venting her rage by kicking the crap out of him, as Kim put it so eloquently.”

  “Kim hasn’t heard the scenario in which the lamp could have had a role to play.” I quickly set the scene for her, as Jim had told it, anyway. “If she hit him with the lamp, wouldn’t the CSIs have found blood on it?”

  “One of the problems is that there’s blood everywhere on everything. Not just Hargreaves’ blood because Jim and Cassie were bleeding, too. Paul’s waiting for the findings from the CSIs about what they say happened as that fight progressed. There’s not just the blood evidence, but debris from that fight. Glass shards from the table that shattered, as well as drinking glasses, one of which was thrown against the wall, shattering glass on framed photos. The place smelled like a bar from drinks either thrown or spilled during the fight. Anyway, a blunt object, smaller and more rigid than a table lamp, made the blow to Hargreaves’ head that eventually killed him. Narrower at the end than a baseball bat. No one’s identified that object yet.”

  “From the coroner’s description, it sounds like a classic case of murder by fireplace poker—like the one used as a weapon in Agatha Christie’s Ordeal by Innocence,” I muttered.

  “And in dozens of TV mystery shows since,” Kim added. “A tire iron or golf club might fit, too.”

  “There was a fireplace in the great room, so a poker makes more sense than a tire iron.”

  “If there was a bloody poker lying around, surely the police would have noticed, wouldn’t they?” I asked.

  “Maybe the psycho killer put it back in its place,” Kim said. “That description is still pretty vague. It could have been lots of other things, too.”

  “The fact that they don’t have a murder weapon is the reason Jim’s not going to be allowed to get the place cleaned up. The police are going to go back through the house again, top to bottom, and look for the weapon. If Cassie had owned a cane before the brawl at the party, I’d be searching for that too after seeing how quick she was to use it as a weapon.”

  “Kim could be right about a golf club. I’d check those, too, if there were any close by. I can’t believe the guy survived for a week after taking that beating,” I noted.

  “You’re right about that. He was a fighter.”

  “In a way, hanging on as long as he did means any evidence left behind at the scene has probably degraded or been contaminated. Somebody sure wanted him dead. Good luck figuring out whodunit,” Kim added.

  “Fortunately, I’m not the only one working on the Hargreaves investigation. Paul has a team on it. I’m not even the point person for the team. Several people who were at that party are out here in the desert, so I’ll do the interviews with them. That leaves me with time to help with the investigation into Beverly Windsor’s death. Jessica gave us the basics last night. We missed you, Kim.”

  “Sorry,” she said. “I told Bernadette I’d be there, but I ended up spending the evening with Ruth St. Armand. I had a feeling that might happen.”

  “Jerry’s right that you were missed. You weren’t the only one who couldn’t make it. Tommy, Brien, and Laura showed up, but Peter and Betsy were tied up, and so was Frank. I guess after she got a quick rundown of my day, Bernadette figured I needed my posse even though she didn’t tell me about it!”

  “I’ll bet your dinner was better than mine. It sounds like you got there before Brien scarfed it all down. Brien told me he was starving by the time you and Anastasia showed up ‘after an unexpected turn of events at Beverly Windsor’s domicile,’ to quote the dude.” A smile flickered across her face. “He’s trying to adopt a more professional vocabulary now that he’s training for the security business.”

  Jerry and I exchanged a quick glance. A raised eyebrow registered his surprise. I must have done something similar. Brien called Kim, huh? Talk about an unexpected turn of events, I thought as I scanned the young woman sitting across from me. A deadpan expression had settled back onto her face. She wore another signature “Kim Reed” outfit that combined a black suit with jolts of red in the silk shell worn under her jacket and accessories that included a skinny red headband.

  “Fortunately, our good friend, Detective Hernandez, was in a charitable mood or I could have missed dinner and the impromptu Cat Pack meeting altogether. He had mercy on Beverly’s poor starving poodle. That was considerate of Brien to call and fill you in about what happened when I got to Beverly’s house.”

  “Yes, it was, wasn’t it? I guess he figured I should know.” A little head bobble provided the only editorial comment on that remark. Inscrutable. Jerry winked as though he had picked up more. I’d have to ask him later what he’d seen that I’d missed.

  “As Brien probably told you, I shared what went on yesterday starting with Leslie Windsor’s call and ending with you and Ruth waiting for the police. Then I picked it up again when I got to Beverly’s house and found someone had broken in. Anyway, can you start from where I left you in the parking lot of Desert Park Preserve?” That got a reaction from Kim that I didn’t miss. Her whole body relaxed as the topic shifted from Brien’s phone call back to the business at hand.

  “Sure. The police took photos and bagged the items
left at the scene. At first, I don’t think they got the tie-in to the dead body found out on the road. Ruth made sure they did. It had been a long day for her by the time they showed up and she was done being the polite retired lady. Her speech was way more colorful than it had been when she spoke to us, Jessica.” Kim smiled another of those fleeting smiles that appeared much more often now than when I’d first met the edgy young woman.

  “It had to be a hellish day for her—to lose a friend like that,” Jerry commented.

  “Yeah, a long day too, and it took its toll. She was angry that the police had missed collecting evidence when they’d hauled Beverly’s car off earlier in the day.”

  “She has a point. Leslie may have been right that the police were too cavalier, at least initially, about her mother’s death. On the other hand, we didn’t see Beverly’s sunglasses until Ruth moved her car,” I offered, not sure why I felt I needed to make excuses for the police.

  “True. It’s easy to miss something when you don’t know you’re looking for it. They might not have even considered that Beverly’s car or the area around it could be a crime scene when they towed it away. I asked them to pick up the ticket stub and other debris that may have come from a purse Beverly had left in her car, along with those sunglasses. Anyway, the event hit Ruth hard at the end of the day. When she dropped me off at my car later, she broke down. I was a little afraid to leave her alone until she’d calmed down, so we went to dinner together.”

  “That was thoughtful of you.” My comment evoked another smile. This one lingered.

  “Schmoozing isn’t high on my list, but I like her. She reminds me of Bernadette—tough, takes no guff, but she’s very kindhearted. She’s had an interesting life, too.” Kim gave a little shrug. Enough said.

  “It’s good that she’s made a connection to you. I’m sure if she comes up with anything else about Beverly’s life that strikes her as odd, she’ll call you,” Jerry offered.

  “I hope so. I’m going to have lunch with her again in a couple of days...” she paused mid-sentence, as both Jerry and I reacted with something akin to astonishment at her apparent new-found sociability. “What? I told you I like her. And she just lost her best friend.” She shrugged again.

  “That’s a terrific idea,” I said, marveling at Kim, who seemed to be blossoming right before my eyes. It was harder and harder to believe she was the same sullen young woman I’d met at Mr. P.’s studio in LA. “Not only can you check on her, but you can prompt her for anything new she might remember that can help sort out this mess. Did she say anything more about Cedric Baumgartner? As I said last night, he’s high on the list of people I want us to scrutinize closely.” Jerry nodded and turned to a page in the pocket-sized notebook he likes to use in his role as a private investigator.

  “He’s in my notes already,” Jerry said.

  “When I have lunch with Leslie, today, I’ll ask her about him. Maybe she has an opinion about the man and his relationship with Beverly. Since Ruth suggested there was more to it than friendship. It does seem a little odd that he’d insinuated himself into Beverly’s life so soon after she moved into Araby Oasis. At the time, coming to her aid with the HOA issues she faced seemed natural given his role there. The pace at which they became romantically involved seems less so.”

  “Ruth says she raised that issue with Beverly. The transition from neighbor to friend to lover happened so fast, she was a little concerned about it. Beverly reassured her that she hadn’t been swept off her feet, but considered him attractive and charming. She was glad to have a man in her life who shared many of her interests. They went to lots of community events together over the past few months. Beverly’s daughter might know more about those events. I’m bringing that up because Ruth mentioned that at one of them Cedric introduced Beverly to representatives from some investment group. That struck me as possibly a more sophisticated version of the ‘looking for a purse’ angle Ruth raised as a risk associated with dating at her age.” Acid churned in my stomach as Kim articulated one of my fears about Cedric given that he’d married a woman with money once before.

  “Maybe that was a red flag for Ruth, too, and that’s what caused her to quiz Beverly about how quickly her relationship had become a romance. Are you familiar with the ‘nurse versus purse’ dilemma among senior women?” I asked Jerry.

  “Oh, yes. Tommy doesn’t believe it’s strictly an issue among elders or women.” Jerry smiled in the gleeful way he often did when talking about Tommy. “He’s says it’s not a problem in our case since I’m the purse and he’s the nurse.”

  “Cute! He’s still basking in the glow of finding out he passed his courses and got certified to work as a home health care aide.”

  “Yes. It was a well-meaning gesture toward his parents to make that effort to improve his ability to care for them.”

  “Touching, isn’t it? As far as I can tell, Leslie’s been as devoted to her mother as Tommy has been to his parents. If Ruth didn’t give you a name or say where Beverly was when Cedric introduced her to the members of that investment group, maybe Leslie can tell us.”

  “I asked her that. Ruth says all she can remember is that the company had a ‘high-falutin’ name, and the investments were related to energy, natural resources, or the environment. Beverly was pretty enthusiastic about the venture at first.”

  “It’s another warning sign for me that Cedric so easily mixed business with pleasure. Maybe that’s because of what my mother had to say about him last night. I’m trying not to focus too much on him too soon, but the more I find out about him the more I wonder if you’re right and he saw Beverly as a purse after all.”

  “Why kill her? Why not marry her and lay claim to the contents of her purse as community property?” Jerry asked.

  “A prenup would put a damper on that. Still, I don’t see what he had to gain from murder, either. He’s apparently quite adept at landing on his feet after a divorce and moving on to another woman.”

  “You’re right about not jumping the gun. It’s hard not to wonder who killed Beverly but, technically, we don’t even know for certain that’s what happened.”

  “True, Kim. Nothing’s clear about yesterday, is it? At first, I even hesitated to report the break-in. It seemed odd the alarm wasn’t set given Beverly was so safety conscious with all the work being done on her property,” I said.

  “I’ve been thinking about that. Break-in isn’t the right word, is it, since no one jimmied the locks or came in through a window? Maybe it isn’t that odd the alarm wasn’t set if Beverly was sick or having memory problems. She could have forgotten if she was distracted or more worried than she appeared to be when she met up with Ruth later. If the place was messier than normal, maybe she was in a hurry and searching for something.” Jerry jumped into the conversation before I could comment.

  “I understand what you’re saying. From the way Jessica described what she found at the house, it’s more likely someone was in there snooping. Who knows why? Until Leslie checks the house, though, we can’t rule out theft. If it turns out that Beverly’s laptop is gone, it could have been an opportunistic grab and go kind of thing. Let’s say some worker finds the sliders open, wanders around, poking his nose into things—maybe looking for cash. He sees the computer on her desk in the den, snatches it, and leaves, you know?” Jerry tugged at his chin as if pondering that possibility.

  “I get what you’re saying. If the thief was in a hurry as you’re saying, he could also have accidently let Anastasia out which would explain what she was doing outside. My impression was that the search was hurried, but also more systematic and time-consuming than what you’d expect from a ‘grab and go’ thief. In fact, I doubt this intrusion was about theft at all. There were valuable items sitting right out in the open that a grab and go thief could have pocketed in less time than it would have taken to go through the drawers and cupboards that were left half-open around the house. Steve Landis, the General Contractor, swears he set the alarm and loc
ked up the house when he left around three. If the intruder was a thief, how did he get in?”

  “Or she,” Kim added. “You said you smelled perfume when you walked in.”

  “Yes. That was strange, too. Beverly wasn’t a fan of perfume, so I’m sure that’s one reason I noticed it.”

  “Here’s something else to consider. I can’t imagine that fragrance lingering for long, can you?” Jerry asked. I gulped knowing where he was going with that line of reasoning. “You must have just missed the intruder by minutes, if that.”

  “That must be true, although I didn’t hear anyone leaving out the back. No gate slamming on the side of the house or anything like we heard when that creep Carlos made his escape from Laura’s house. Even if Anastasia isn’t as prone to barking as that neighbor claimed, you’d think a stranger running out the back would have set her off. I would have heard her as soon as I entered the house if that was the case,” I said.

  “Distracted or in a hurry might explain a little disorder and forgetting to set the alarm on her way out. It makes no sense that the back door would have been left unlocked, or that Beverly would have left her dog outside,” Kim offered.

  “I came to the same conclusion and that’s when I decided to call Hernandez. I don’t believe Steve Landis would have lied to the police, either, so someone else entered the house looking for something and didn’t have to break-in to do that.” I repeated parts of my conversation with Mom about the whole house key issue, including the list of names I’d already collected from Leslie.

  “If Leslie finds items missing, it might at least help clear up any lingering doubt about whether the visitor was a thief or a snoop,” Jerry said.

  “Before I left, one of the uniformed officers that showed up with Detective Hernandez told him someone had gone through the jewelry box in Beverly’s bedroom. A couple of expensive watches were still there. We’re back to dealing with the problem that any thief who went through there wasn’t very adept.”

  “Just because someone went through her jewelry box doesn’t mean that’s what he or she was after, does it?” Jerry asked. “People stash other things in places like that—a key or a jump drive or a memory stick.”