Secrets and Lies

by Rachel Sinclair

  “David Taylor, the golf pro that Ava was going to marry?” Now, that was weird. Ava had just died, and her fiancé was already taking up with her identical twin sister?

  “Yes, the same person. After Ava died, he leaned on us for emotional comfort. Emma was around, and she looks identical to Ava, so she and David grew close. David tried to explain to us that he wasn’t looking for Emma to replace Ava, but I think we knew better. Still, David is a good person, and I know that he can grow to love Emma for who she is one day, not just because she looks identical to the woman that he really loves. I know that it’s an unconventional situation, and believe me, our friends think that it’s very strange, but who are we to judge? The heart wants what it wants, and apparently David’s heart wants Emma.”

  I blinked my eyes. “Ava has been dead for less than a month. And now you’re telling me that the man that she found love with, the man who was her fiancé, the man who she was going to leave my client for, he’s already moved on with her identical twin?” For some reason, that piece of information was not sitting well with me at all. There was a nagging voice in the back of my mind that was telling me that there was something that was off about this whole situation.

  At that point, Opal was back in the room. “I know that Matthew has told you that David is now with Ava’s sister,” she said. “I don’t want you to be judgmental about that. They were close friends before Ava died, and they just got closer after she passed. There’s really nothing more to it than that.”

  “Are Emma and David serious?”

  “Yes. In fact, they’re engaged. They’ve announced their engagement and they are to be married this fall at the country club.”

  This was the weirdest thing. Before I visited these people, I didn’t even know that Ava had an identical twin sister. Now I knew that she had one, and that said identical twin sister was engaged to the man that she was in love with, the man that she had wanted to marry. Ava had been dead for less than a month, yet her sister was already engaged to David?

  “What can you tell me about Emma?” I asked Opal. “I’m so sorry, it’s just that the fact that Ava has an identical twin is new news to me, so I need to find out as much information about her as I possibly can.”

  Matthew looked at me suspiciously. “Why do you want information about Emma? What does she have anything to do with how Ava died? After all, that’s why you’re here. You’re here to find information that will help you in your investigation of what happened that night, between our son-in-law and our daughter. I fail to see how Emma figures into your investigation at all.”

  To tell the truth, I didn’t know myself why it was that I wanted to know about Emma. I just thought it was strange that she would move in so quickly on Ava’s love.

  I also noticed that after I started questioning the parents about Emma, their expressions towards me changed. Opal was looking at me suspiciously, and Matthew wasn’t looking at me at all anymore.

  I cleared my throat. I wanted to change the subject. There was just something about me talking about Emma that changed the atmosphere, in ways both subtle and not-so-subtle, and I wanted to get back on track with these people. “Do either of you know whether or not Ava was seeking any kind of medical treatment at the time that she died?”

  Opal shook her head, and Matthew continued to look away from me. “No,” she said uncertainly. “I would have known if Ava was sick or if she had any kind of life-threatening illness, but she never told me anything about that.”

  “Are you certain about that?”

  “I am. What made you ask that question?”

  I didn’t quite know what to tell her. I knew the reason why I wanted to know the answer to that, and that was because Silas insisted that Ava was dead before the fire swept in, but I also knew that Opal and Matthew were not going to be hearing anything that might clear their son-in-law. It was pretty obvious that the two of them wanted him behind bars, and I didn’t really blame them for that. After all, as far as they knew, Silas was an abusive husband to their daughter. They would go to any lengths possible to protect her. Or, should I say that they would go through any lengths possible to make sure Silas would be put behind bars so he couldn’t prey on any other young woman. So they probably weren’t the best people to ask about any kind of health issues that Ava might’ve had. Even if they knew that she was dying, they would never tell me that, because that fact might have exonerated Silas.

  “I’m just trying to cover all the bases. Now, is there anything else you want to tell me about the relationship that Silas and Ava had? Anything at all?”

  “No,” Opal said. “We have told you everything that we know about the two of them. Now, I know that you have a job to do, and your job is to try to make sure that that monster is back on the street. I beg you not to do that. Do what you can to make sure that he ends up in prison. I know that I’m asking you something that is against all of your ethics. But, you have to believe this, nobody belongs behind bars more than Silas Porter.”

  “Duly noted.” I got up from the chair. “I’ll let myself out. And I’m gonna go ahead and give a call to David Taylor.”

  I walked out of the house, and immediately got on the phone with David. He answered on the second ring. I told him what I needed, and he invited me to come over to his office and speak with him the next day. He explained to me that he would be working on paperwork at the country club in his office, and that he would have time to see me tomorrow afternoon.

  The next day, as I headed to David’s office, I just had a feeling that there was something that I was missing. The answer to me was going to be obvious. However, I just couldn’t figure it out right at that moment.

  Maybe seeing David would help clear things up.

  Chapter 15

  The next day, I went to the Mission Hills country club, which was situated on a tree-filled lot that was a stone’s throw away from the Jackson’s house. I went through the doors, and I was directed to David’s office.

  I knocked on the door to the office, and a tall and lean man with a mop of brown hair and green eyes stood up and greeted me. “Hello, you must be Damien. Come in, have a seat.” He gestured to the chair in front of his desk.

  I sat down as he sat casually across from me behind his desk. This man looked a lot more friendly than Silas ever did. Instead of the cold stare that I always got from Silas, David had a warm look in his eyes. His expression was mirthful, and he seemed very relaxed. I was struck by how different he was from Silas, which was probably what Ava was looking for.

  “Now, what can I do for you?” he asked.

  I got out my pad of paper and pen. “As I told you over the phone, I’m the lawyer for Silas Porter. I appreciate you answering my questions, because I’m trying to get to the bottom of what happened between Silas and Ava.”

  “Shoot,” he said. “Ask away. I’m happy to help.”

  It was slightly peculiar that he was so open and willing to help me. After all, I was investigating the murder of his girlfriend, and I was representing her alleged murderer. If I was in David’s shoes, I certainly would not be as affable or friendly as this guy was.

  “Now, I understand that you and Ava were having an affair. Is that right?”

  “Yes. And, to tell you the truth, I think that that was probably the reason why Silas killed her. She was always telling me how scared she was of Silas. I was urging her to leave him, because I wanted to marry her. I wanted to provide a life for her. But she told me that if she left him, he would kill her. In fact, he had told her over and over again that he was going to kill her if she left him. And, I’m not surprised about the way he killed her. He’s just the kind of person who would want someone who he was angry with to die an agonizing death. It wouldn’t be enough for him to smother her with a pillow, or slip something into her drink, or something like that. He was going to want her to suffer. So when I found out that Silas had killed my girlfriend in such a way, I wasn’t surprised.”

  I studied him. Here he was, t
alking about the fact that his girlfriend was murdered, burned alive, and he didn’t seem to have any kind of emotion about that fact. In fact, he was smiling.

  I always was a careful study of people’s expressions and emotions, which was how I was able to pick a jury as well I did. The body language, the facial expressions, everything – these are all things that would belie how a person was really feeling. The words that were coming out of David’s mouth were angry words, but he didn’t have the right expressions or posture to back up those words. He didn’t seem to be angry to me, no matter how angry his words were.

  I wondered if he was the kind of guy who didn’t really get angry. Maybe he was just one of those guys who was happy-go-lucky, and he was someone who could talk about the burning death of his girlfriend with a gleam in his eye.

  “So, when Ava told you that she was afraid of Silas, she was afraid that he would kill her, how did you react to that? Did you help her get a restraining order or anything like that?”

  I knew the answer to that. There were no restraining orders against Silas. There were, years before, but there were none recently.

  “No. We thought it was pretty pointless. After all, you could have a restraining order against somebody, but if that person breaks that restraining order, what can you really do? I mean, I know that you can have the person arrested and thrown in jail, but Silas is a very powerful man, and we knew that there would be no way that he would ever be deterred by a restraining order.” He was still relaxed when he said this. He was leaned back in his chair with one leg crossed over the other at the knee, and his elbow was on his desk.

  “I guess I don’t really understand. It takes so little time to execute a restraining order. It’s literally a matter of filling out a form, filing it, then showing up to court. In fact, you could even get what’s called an ex parte order, without even going to court. And you’re wrong about one thing – if there was a restraining order, then the second he sets foot on her property, he would go to jail. Even before he did anything threatening. So it’s worth the extra steps to get that order, isn’t it?” If he loved her, then that’s what he would’ve done. If he loved her, he probably would have done all he could to make sure that she was safe. It seemed like he did very little, maybe nothing.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I just didn’t see a need for it.”

  “What did you do to protect her? Did you urge her to take any self-defense classes, or show her how to use a gun? Assuming that you know how to use a gun yourself. Did you hire a bodyguard for her? Install an alarm system for her? Did you have her move in with you, and make sure that there was protection for her? I guess I need to find out from you what steps you took to make sure that Ava was safe from Silas.”

  For the first time, he started to seem uncomfortable to me. His eyes flew towards the window, and then he looked down at his desk. I was finally beginning to see some sense of agitation in his body language, but surprisingly enough, it was because I was questioning him, and not because he was upset about the situation with Ava. “I guess I didn’t do anything to protect her. I guess maybe I should have.”

  What an odd response. Damn right, he should have. I looked to see if there was any sense of remorse he had, but I saw that there was none.

  “Now, from what I understand, you’re now living with her identical twin sister, Emma. Is that right?”

  “Yes. After Ava passed away, Emma became my rock. It was during the lowest part of my life, and she and I were always good friends to begin with. You have to understand that I’ve known the family for years. I’ve given the Jacksons golf lessons since I became a pro. But before that, I knew them from the country club. I’ve been a member of this country club since I was a young boy, so I grew up with all of them. After Ava died, Emma told me that she’d always had a crush on me, and it just kinda happened. Surely you don’t begrudge me for having a new love in my life, do you?

  “No, of course I don’t begrudge you. I’m just gathering information.” To tell the truth, I was trying to get information from him, but I wasn’t exactly clear what kind of information I was looking for. “Now, I’m going to ask the same question that I asked Ava’s parents. Was she sick? Was she seeing a doctor for any reason?”

  David shook his head. “No, she wasn’t sick.” That was all he said about that, however, and he answered a bit too quickly for my taste. He didn’t try to ask me why I asked that question. He didn’t look askance. He didn’t pause. It was as if he knew that the question was coming. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” he asked. “I don’t want to be rude, but I do have some new clients coming this afternoon. In fact, they’re going to be here in the next 10 minutes, and I have to meet them on the course. So, if there’s anything else, I can certainly make an appointment for you to come in again.” His demeanor was back to being pleasant, affable and friendly.

  “No. At the moment, I don’t think that any follow-up is going to be necessary. However, I thank you for the open invitation. You’re right, there might be something that might come up in the near future, and then I’ll have to come back here and ask you some more questions. But, at the moment, I don’t really have anything else for you.”

  I walked away from David’s office thinking that I was no closer to figuring out the story than I was before. On the one hand, David confirmed to me that Ava was afraid of Silas, and he also supplied the added detail that she was specifically afraid that he was going to kill her in a way that was painful, because that was the way that Silas was. If he’s enraged, he’s going to make you suffer. On the other hand, David’s demeanor was just so off for the situation. Something wasn’t right with him.

  I got out onto the street, and I decided to turn right back into his office. I knew that David was going to be on his way out, but hopefully I could catch him. I had just one more question for him.

  I caught him as he was coming out of his door. “I see you’re back,” he said with a smile. “Was there anything else that you need to ask me?”

  “Yes. A question just occurred to me. Do you happen to know anything about Silas’s background?”

  “What do you mean by that? What specifically are you asking me?”

  “I’m asking you if you know how his mother died?”

  “Yes. I know. She was killed in a fire, and there was a great deal of suspicion that Silas might have started it. I don’t know how that’s even possible, considering the fact that he was only five years old at the time, but Ava told me he was always fascinated with fire. She’s always told me that she suspected him of setting fires around the neighborhood where he used to grow up. She also told me that she wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he’s starting fires even now as an adult. She said that he talked about it all the time – starting fires now. He played it off as a joke. But Ava was afraid it really wasn’t a joke, and that he would one day end up pushing her into a campfire when they go camping. That’s another reason why I wasn’t surprised that Silas killed her in such a way.”

  Again, he was talking nonchalantly about the love of his life burning to death. So.odd.

  I cocked my head. There was another question that I needed to ask, but the reason why I was going to ask this question was unknown to me even at that time. But for some reason, I felt that it was relevant. “Is your father a doctor, by any chance?”

  “Yes. He is. He’s a PhD chemist, working for the federal government. Why do you ask?”

  “No reason.” And that was true at that moment. I didn’t really have a reason for asking him if his father was a doctor. So his father was a doctor, so what? He wouldn’t poison his own wife. I mean his own fiancé. He would have no reason to have poisoned Ava.

  Would he have?

  Chapter 16

  As I left the country club, I was filled with questions. It seemed that meeting David had unsettled me, even more than meeting Silas did. What was up with that? I mean, the way that he spoke with me about the love of his life being burned to death - it was as
if he was just talking to me about his going shopping at a grocery store that day. Picking up his dry cleaning. Helping one of his clients. He certainly did not have the emotional demeanor of somebody whose love was killed in such a manner. And what was up with him not doing anything to protect her? According to him, Ava had told him that she was afraid of Silas, and that she thought that he was dangerous and fascinated with fire. Knowing all that, and he did nothing to make sure that she was safe? That did not sit well with me at all. Not at all.

  I decided to go to my office, so I could decompress and think about what was going on with David. I called Gretchen to watch the kids. She lived only a few houses down, and she was usually available. If she wasn’t available, then I probably would’ve went on home.

  She was available, and she was happy to go and visit with Nate and Amelia until I could make it home. I was grateful for that. I really needed to be alone with my thoughts. I was so close to figuring out exactly what happened between Silas and Ava, and I just needed to be in the quiet and concentrate. That was most important to me at that moment.

  But I got into the office, and I saw a familiar person sitting on the couch.

  “Hello, Sargis,” I said to Sargis Gregorian. He was an Armenian mobster that Harper knew from working on a case in Los Angeles a few years back. Since then, he had come to visit Harper and me from time to time, and, surprisingly, neither of us dreaded his visits. I knew that he was a cold-blooded killer, as he was a mobster and that’s what mobsters do, but in my job I knew so many cold-blooded killers that it didn’t creep me out to be around him. And he was a surprisingly affable and cultured man. He was the kind of guy that I could picture sitting in a wood-paneled room by the fire, calmly sipping a glass of scotch while he read Proust and listened to Beethoven. He was well spoken, and extremely intelligent.