03 Murder by Mishap Page 11

  “You mean like ‘gone fishin’?” Starling gave a short laugh at her own humor before saying more seriously. “I think the -RRY at the end might be ‘sorry’ and she was breaking our plans for today.”

  “You might be right,” Edna mused.

  Starling tossed the wrinkled paper back onto the counter. Half joking, since the weather had dampened her plans anyway, she said, “Well, that’s a fine ‘howdy do’ after I planned the day to show her around. Maybe I’ll call Charlie and see what he’s doing. What’s the forecast?”

  “I haven’t heard, but it looks to me like we’ll have rain off and on all day.” Turning her thoughts to her own plans, Edna sympathized with her daughter. “I’m sorry your plans fell through, dear, but if Peg needs me, I’ll probably drive back to Providence.”

  Starling went upstairs to phone Charlie on her mobile, and Edna returned to her office. Deciding to phone Peg first instead of Albert, she entered the Providence number.

  Peg picked up on the second ring, sounding weary. In answer to Edna’s query, she said, “No, I didn’t get much sleep last night. Geoff’s still in bed, and Stephen’s gone to the bank, work as usual.” She spoke offhandedly, as if she didn’t mind, but Edna resented Stephen’s callousness. He should have stayed home with Peg at a time like this. Certainly, he could take time away from his precious bank for once. Peg’s voice interrupted Edna’s bitter thoughts.

  “I was going to make breakfast, but I don’t seem to have the energy. Besides, the police took away most of our food.”

  “Have you heard from them as to cause of death?”

  “Not yet. It will take time, they said, but didn’t tell me how much time.”

  “Would you like me to bring you some groceries?”

  “No, thanks, Ed. Geoff should be up soon. I’ll see if he wants to go out for breakfast somewhere.”

  “Okay, but I’ll be home, so call me if you need anything.”

  After hanging up, she was still staring at the phone when Starling came downstairs a few minutes later. “Charlie’s coming over. He said to tell you he has news about Jaycee. He sounded concerned that she didn’t show up this morning or answer the door. He also didn’t like the fact that she might have had a visitor in the middle of the night. Sounds to me like he’s making a mountain out of a mole hill.”

  Edna decided Charlie must not have told Starling about the call from his friend Dietz and the request to keep an eye on Jaycee. Looking thoughtfully at the drawer that held Jaycee’s envelope, she wondered if it was time to show it to Charlie.

  Chapter Fourteen

  While they waited for Charlie to arrive, Edna phoned Albert. He picked up immediately, but his voice didn’t hold its usual enthusiasm. “Hello, sweetheart.”

  Edna was on immediate alert. “You sound tired, dear, or discouraged. Is Stan not doing well?”

  “He’s doing as well as can be expected, but I’m not getting much sleep. Bea wants to talk long into the night about their wedding, his work, their plans for his retirement. I think it’s her way of holding onto him--something like, if she keeps talking, he won’t die--but she’s wearing me out.” He gave a short laugh, trying to insert some humor into the situation.

  “What’s his prognosis? Is it so bad that Bea feels she’ll lose him?”

  “Actually, his doctors and I are encouraged with his progress. Bea’s imagining the worst. He’s getting a couple of stents tomorrow morning. I’ll be in the O.R., but only to observe. He’s not as strong as we’d like to see, but the doctors here don’t think there’s any danger with him going into surgery. I agree with them. If he pulls through, and I have no reason to think he won’t, I’ll stick around here with Bea if we can’t move him by the end of the week.”

  “How are George and Arthur?” Edna asked about the other men who made up the foursome for the week’s golfing getaway.

  “They leave Sunday morning, as planned. Since it’s early in the season, the manager will let me rent the condo for however long we’ll need it, but I doubt it will be more than a few days before Stan’s ready to travel. I’ll rent a car and drive him and Bea home.” Albert changed the subject abruptly. “Enough about Stan. Tell me how you are. Any big news on the home front? How are the kids?”

  Not wanting to add to his worries by telling him about Virginia, Edna merely said, “Nothing new at home, dear. The children are fine. Starling is spending a few days with me, and we miss you.” At that moment, a flash of lightning flooded the room with its brilliance, followed by a clap of thunder so loud that Edna nearly dropped the phone.

  “What was that?” Albert shouted. “What’s going on back there?”

  “We’re having rain and thunder. The storm seems to be getting worse, so I’m going to hang up. I’ll call you later.” Without bothering to wait for his reply, she disconnected. Having grown up with land lines and the danger they presented from lightning, she was still uncomfortable about using a phone during severe storms. Besides, it was hard to hear over the claps of thunder and the rain beating against the windows.

  Charlie still hadn’t shown up and Starling had gone up to her room to work on her computer, so Edna dusted and polished the furniture in living and dining rooms to work off some nervous energy. She thought about Peg and Virginia, and wondered where Jaycee might have gone. Edna wished the note hadn’t been washed out. Had someone really been walking up Jaycee’s driveway last night or had the image been a trick of light and shadow? Had Mary heard a motorcycle or had that too been a trick of the imagination? How did she know the late-night rider was visiting Jaycee and not simply passing through the neighborhood? Edna’s head was beginning to ache with so many unanswered questions.

  Absently, she put away the dust cloth and furniture polish and went to her office where she opened the drawer and stared at the manila envelope. She wondered again if she should show it to Charlie. They wouldn’t open it, of course, but maybe he could call the number. She was fantasizing about who would answer if they were to phone Chicago when she heard the doorbell chime. Closing the drawer with a guilty start for thinking of betraying Jaycee’s implied confidence, she rose to greet Charlie.

  Starling sprinted down the stairs and was heading for the front door as Edna reached the hall. “I’ll get it,” she said, hurrying to let her detective in out of the rain.

  “Hmmm,” he murmured, kissing her lightly on the lips, then blushing as he raised his eyes and caught Edna’s smile.

  “Come in,” she greeted him, swallowing a laugh at his sheepish expression. “We’ll light the fire in the living room and talk there.”

  Starling pulled Charlie to the sofa to sit with her at right angles to the hearth. Edna sat in her favorite armchair across the coffee table from them. Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, Charlie stared fixedly into Edna’s face for several seconds before speaking.

  “Have you told her anything about Dietz’s call,” he asked, flicking his eyes toward Starling.

  “No,” she responded. “Have you?”

  “Hey, you two,” Starling cut in. “I’m in the room. Sitting right here. You don’t have to talk around me.”

  Charlie sat back and took her hand. “Sorry, babe. I only wanted to know where to start.”

  She pulled her hand away and half turned on the seat to face him. “You can start by telling me what’s going on. Who’s Dietz?”

  So Charlie told her about the hurried phone call and about asking Edna to help him by getting to know Jaycee.

  “That’s the story,” he concluded, reaching again for her hand. “I don’t want her to know we’re keeping an eye on her until I find out why Dietz wants her watched. When she told your mother about needing pictures to illustrate a cookbook, introducing the two of you seemed like the perfect solution for us to learn more about her and, at the same time, keep her under observation.”

  Starling crossed her arms over her chest, tucking her hands out of his reach. She glowered first at Charlie, then at Edna. “Why didn’t either of y
ou fill me in,” she snapped. “I feel like you don’t trust me.”

  “Of course we trust you, dear,” Edna said soothingly before Charlie could speak and make matters worse. “We didn’t want to take the chance that you would feel self-conscious and make Jaycee suspicious. If she’s hiding something, she would have clamed up. If she isn’t hiding anything, we could frighten her unnecessarily. We wanted you just to be yourself, get to know her and be friends.”

  “And then you would have pumped me for information. I see.” Starling’s face was flushed with resentment.

  Edna knew the best way to defuse her daughter would be to ignore her irritation and bring her into the conspiracy. “Let’s hear what Charlie has found out, and you can help us decide what to do next.”

  Arms still crossed tightly over her chest, Starling slouched back into her corner of the sofa and stared expectantly at the man seated next to her.

  Looking none too happy himself, Charlie leaned back into his own corner and stretched out his legs, crossing his ankles beneath the coffee table.

  “The woman who bought the house next door is Joanna Cravendorf, not Jaycee Watkins,” he began to explain what his investigation had unearthed to date. “Cravendorf lives in Florida under the name Jo Fitzgerald. She’s a widow and ‘filthy rich,’ as the saying goes. Gerry Fitzgerald was her fourth husband.”

  That bit of news made both Edna and Starling sit up with interest and curiosity. Starling unfolded her arms and brought her knees up onto the seat. Her eyes widened as she faced Charlie square on.

  “And she’s a relation of Jaycee’s?” Starling’s guess was posed as a question.

  He nodded. “Her grandmother. Cravendorf’s second husband was Ira James, Jaycee’s grandfather. When she was married to James, Joanna went by the name of Anna. For some reason, she used a different variation of her first name with each husband.”

  “So where does the name Cravendorf come into it and why didn’t she use her present name to buy across the street,” Starling asked, now looking more curious than angry.

  “First husband, deceased,” Charlie said, “and the one whose legacy she used to make the purchase. I don’t know why.”

  “Maybe because he was the one she was married to when they lived in Westerly,” Edna suggested. “All these names for one person are very confusing. Can we agree to call her Joanna for the purpose of our conversation?” When Charlie nodded his consent, she continued, “Is she Jaycee’s maternal or paternal grandmother? Where does the name Watkins come in?”

  “Joanna is Jaycee’s maternal grandmother. Actually, Ira James is still living. I traced him to a nursing home near Chicago. He’s not well, but he’s alive.”

  “Chicago.” At last, a connection, Edna thought, visualizing the phone number on the envelope in her desk drawer. She still was uncertain about showing it to Charlie. Would he insist on opening it? She thought he would probably see no sense in only looking at the outside of the envelope. Aloud, she said, “You’ve found grandparents, but where are Jaycee’s parents?”

  “I think they died in an automobile accident, but I’m trying to verify that.”

  “What about your friend Dietz? Does he know anything about the family?”

  “I haven’t been able to reach him. My guess is he’s on a case and has left his personal cell phone at home. He carries a phone with a blocked number when he’s in the field, so he won’t be getting non-essential calls at inappropriate times.”

  While Edna and Charlie were talking, Starling had left the room and returned with her mobile on which she was typing rapidly. Distracted and slightly irritated by her daughter’s rudeness, Edna was about to suggest that she go to another room if she wanted to text people when Starling suddenly flipped the phone around so they could see what she’d been doing.

  “I thought Jaycee looked familiar. When you mentioned the name James, I remembered. Don’t you think this is Jaycee?” She passed the phone to Charlie who examined the portrait on the tiny display before passing it across the low table to Edna.

  With her artist’s eye for faces, she agreed immediately. “Her hair is longer and darker, but either this is Jaycee or she has an identical twin.”

  “That’s a picture of Carol James,” Starling informed the other two. “She’s a free-lance photojournalist. I caught an article about her in a magazine a few months ago. That’s where I remember seeing her picture. I knew she looked familiar,” Starling added, puffed with pleasure at having solved a piece of the puzzle. “She was featured in an online article after she got some incredible pictures of an arsonist setting fire to someone’s house. It was a suburb of Chicago, and thank goodness the family got out okay. According to the article, Carol James caught the arsonist purely by accident. She was in the ritzy neighborhood taking pictures for a photo spread in which she intended to compare the wealth of residents to the elaborateness of their Christmas decorations. Apparently, the guy intended to make the fire look like it had been caused by faulty wiring in a string of lights.”

  Edna thought the story was interesting, but she noticed that Charlie was listening with rapt attention. “I think it’s about time I paid a visit to your neighbor.” He pushed himself up from the sofa.

  “She’s not home,” Starling said, and told him how she’d gone to Jaycee’s earlier that morning.

  He shook his head in a stubborn gesture. “She might be back by now. I’m going to check.”

  “Then I’ll come with you.” Starling stood, an angry note in her voice. “If she is home, I want to know why she pretended not to know a thing about photography. I feel like a fool, giving kiddy lessons to an award-winning photojournalist.” She looked at Edna. “You coming, Mom?”

  “I don’t think so, dear. I’d like to hear what she has to say, but I think I’ll stay here in case Peg should call.” Thinking of her friend, Edna put up a hand to stop Charlie from leaving the room. “Have you found out anything about Goran Pittlani?”

  “Only that he has a strange name. ‘Goran’ is a popular Slavic name and ‘Pittlani’ is Taiwanese. Quite a combination,” he said before following Starling into the front hall.

  Impatient with having to wait for news, Edna wondered what she should do to occupy herself and keep from going stir crazy. Her primary choice for relaxation was to putter in the garden. Obviously, she wouldn’t be doing that today. Cooking was a second-best activity, so she went to the pantry in the mudroom for her recipe card file and brought it to the kitchen table. She had browsed about a third of the cards in the file, having found nothing to tempt her so far, when she heard the side door open and then close quickly again to shut out the noise of the storm. She was about to rise when she heard Charlie and Starling talking and guessed they’d come in through the mudroom to avoid dripping water over the front hall rugs and wood floor.

  “That didn’t take long,” she greeted them as they entered the kitchen.

  “She’s still not home.” Looking dejected, Starling slid onto one of the kitchen chairs. When Benjamin jumped into her lap, she mechanically began to stroke his fur. “I think you’re right about the note. She must have written to cancel our plans for today.”

  “Do you know what vehicles she owns?” Charlie asked Edna, lowering himself onto the chair next to Starling’s.

  “What do you mean?”

  Her daughter replied. “When she didn’t answer the door, we looked in the garage windows to see if her car was there. Her car is gone, but there’s a motorcycle parked next to her scooter.” She frowned. “It seems like an awfully big bike for Jaycee, and why would she have both a motorcycle and a scooter?”

  Edna thought for a few seconds and frowned. “The only motorcycle I’ve seen around here belongs to Peg’s gardener.”

  “A gardener who rides a Harley,” Starling said with amazement. Before Edna could respond, Starling turned to Charlie with a sudden twinkle in her eye. “There are depths to Mom and her friends that I will probably never know.”

  Edna smiled to ackno
wledge her daughter’s teasing, but she didn’t feel cheered or pleased. She repeated with emphasis for Charlie’s benefit. “Except for the occasional scooter like the one Jaycee has, Goran’s is the only motorized bike I’ve seen in the neighborhood since we moved in last year.”

  Starling looked skeptical. “What would Aunt Peg’s gardener’s bike be doing in Jaycee’s garage?”

  “That’s what I’d like to know, but I can’t think of anyone else it might belong to,” Edna replied. She puzzled over the implications before explaining to the others. “They know each other, so it’s possible it’s Goran’s bike, but I introduced them only yesterday afternoon when Jaycee stopped by to give me your message.” She spoke to Starling before turning to Charlie. “Peg sent Goran to pick up some iris bulbs. Jaycee was here when he arrived, so I invited the two of them in to tea.” She stopped to imagine her two guests in the kitchen, wondering if she’d missed some spark between them. Deciding she hadn’t, she went on, “I had hoped to learn something about either one, but they both were extremely adroit at dodging personal questions.”

  Charlie frowned. “It sure looks like they’ve gone off together. Are you certain they’d never met before yesterday?”

  “Maybe Goran’s a fast mover,” Starling interjected, gently poking Charlie in the ribs with her elbow.

  The disquiet Edna had felt in Goran’s presence came flooding back into the pit of her stomach. “What if Jaycee didn’t go off with him willingly?”

  “What do you mean? You think she was kidnapped?” Starling’s tone implied how absurd she thought the idea. “What would give you an idea like that?”

  “I don’t know,” Edna replied hesitantly. “Something has been bothering me about Goran since I first met him. Whenever I’ve been around him, I’ve had the feeling that he’s not who he pretends to be.”

  “Look,” Charlie interrupted the conversation between mother and daughter. “We’ve nothing to go on except the fact that her car is gone and his motorcycle, if it is his, is in her garage. Other than the fact that they’ve driven off somewhere, probably together, there is no reason to suspect foul play.” He ran a hand through his hair and stood up. “I’ve got to get back to work. Call me if you hear from her, okay?”