A Purse to Die For (13 page)

Chapter 20

Dumont hated the city. The traffic was a nightmare and the noise relentless. You couldn
'
t escape
either
. Massive trucks on the highway, airplanes taking off overhead, the screech of busses braking. It all grated on his nerves. Nothing, not even promotion, could get him to transfer to this place.

He wasn
'
t keen on interviewing here, but
he had to admit
the
Thirty-third
Division cops were good guys
.
He
'
d been through basic training with two of them. Amazing how easy it was to slip back into the old, back-slapping ways. He
'
d go deep into his pocket for beers at the local pub this evening.

He
sat in the borrowed office and looked at the woman across from him.
Not a lot of grief here
.
Maybe it was shock? On the phone
,
she had voiced surprise rather than sorrow, but had been eager to cooperate. After all, a sister didn
'
t get murdered every day
. S
he understood the necessity of being here to answer questions. Of course she would help if she could.

She was attractive in a manufactured sort of way
. W
avy
,
ice
-
blond hair, thin body and heavy makeup. Her face was young,
her
mouth wide, but her neck was surprisingly wrinkled. Did that mean she
'
d had a face lift?
Gina would know
, he thought.
I miss her
.

Snap to it, Dumont
.

The woman was already talking. She liked to talk.

"
My sister was younger by a few years, but she didn
'
t look it,
"
Andrea Mason said. She had the breathy voice of a teenager.
"
Everyone always thought we were twins.
"

Dumont sighed. So she was
that
sort of witness
. I
t was going to be all about her. Competitive
too
. He braced himself.

"
I think the divorce really hit her hard. Of course, her husband was a jerk, but what man isn
'
t at that age? At least, what rich, aging man,
"
she carefully added.
"
Not someone young like you.
"
Her smile was predatory.

"
I told her to not be so dramatic about it all. I mean, we
'
re all modern, aren
'
t we? Move with the times, I said. Have a little affair on the side if you want. But don
'
t divorce the man just because he needs a little female reassurance.
"

Her fingers were drumming on her knee.
"
Can I smoke in here?
"

Dumont shook his head.

She sighed dramatically.
"
Too romantic, that
'
s what she was. Couldn
'
t bear not to come first. I tell you, that sort of nonsense just gets you into trouble. So she divorced him. And she
'
s been lonely ever since.
"

I hate her
,
Dumont thought suddenly. But he kept quiet and let Andrea tell all.

"
It was all so predictable and banal. She started hanging around cougar bars. Just so degrading, don
'
t you think? I mean, why not a golf instructor or personal trainer? At any rate,
"
the fingers drummed relentlessly,
"
about three months ago, she called me to say she
'
d met this gorgeous guy. She was over the top about him. I said,
'
Good for you, do you want to bring him over?
'
"
Andrea smiled.
"
She didn
'
t. I don
'
t know if she was ashamed of him or if she didn
'
t want to take the chance of losing him to me. But I never saw him.
"

Dumont sat quietly with the photo in his hand. Damnation. She wouldn
'
t be able to recognize him.

"
Do you recall his name?
"
Dumont said.

"
She called him Reggie, I think,
"
Andrea said.
"
I know he was dark, and hung like a bull—oops. Shouldn
'
t have said that.
"
Andrea was flirting now.
"
You can hardly place them up against the wall for a police line-up.
"
Her laugh tinkled.

Dumont shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"
Is there anyone else she might have talked to about this man, Mrs. Mason?
"

Andrea smoothed the black crepe skirt over her bony knees.
"
Can
'
t think of anyone offhand. There were her tennis friends at the club, but I don
'
t think they were especially close. She went to Babalon, you know—the hair salon. They might know something. But I think you can take it from me she kept this guy pretty much under wraps. Hell of a lot of competition out there, if you get my drift.
"

"
Do you know where they would meet, Mrs. Mason?
"

"
Her condo by the lake, I imagine. She lived in Harbour Castle. I have a key, if you
'
d like it. I brought it with me.
"
She reached into her purse and pulled out a key chain with a tag on it.
"
That
'
s the suite number.
"

Dumont took it.
"
Thank you. That should make things quicker.
"
At least this woman was intelligent.

"
Oh. And of course you won
'
t know about the cottage in Muskoka. My sister inherited that from the parents. I got the Florida condo. Have you ever been to Palm Beach, Inspector?
"
Her eyes belied her age.

Dumont cleared his throat.
"
Can you give me the address of the cottage, please?
"

"
Of course. I
'
ll write it down.
"
She took out a little gold notebook and slid the matching pen out of the slip.

As she wrote, Dumont frowned in thought. Reggie had to be somewhere. Would he be so dumb as to stay in town? The cottage was a better shot, maybe. And then he had a thought.

"
Did she have a lot of good jewellery, Mrs. Mason?
"

Andrea smiled.
"
You don
'
t know our set very well, do you, Inspector? Her engagement ring alone was worth forty thousand and she never took it off. She had a gorgeous four-karat
sapphire
cocktail ring and several diamond bracelets and earrings. She got to keep them all after the divorce, of course. That
'
s what we do, Inspector. Just like the eastern women who collect gold bangles. We have a shitload of jewellery, all our own, just in case. My European mother used to call it
'
get out of town
'
jewellery, just in case you had to bribe your way out of the country.
"

Dumont looked up sharply. There had been no diamond ring on the victim
'
s finger.

"
Can you describe or draw those rings?
"

"
Of course,
"
she said, drawing on the small pad.
"
The diamond is pear shaped—like this—and about 10 karats. From Birks, so it
'
s a good one. The sapphire is a marquis with diamonds all around it. She also had two-karat diamond solitaire earrings and a bunch of others. Her newest watch was a Piaget. You should find a record of all this in her files in the second bedroom. Look under
Jewellery
.
"

Dumont had to ask.
"
How do you know where to look in her files?
"

Andrea blinked.
"
But Inspector, we always keep records. It
'
s only logical. Mom taught us well.
"

He managed to be somewhat polite as he escorted her out of the office and declined her invitation for lunch at the Bloor Street Diner. Yes, he would be in touch if he needed anything more.
Good God.

He went back to the office and phoned his staff.
"
Jackson, get down here. I need you to check out all the pawnshops in the city. Here
'
s what I want you to do…
"

Five minutes later he leaned back in the chair. First the condo and then the cottage in Muskoka.

Gord sat at the desk in the study and scowled at the papers in front of him.
"
I became a doctor so I wouldn
'
t have to deal with all this financial crap. Let the accountants and lawyers do it.
"

Tony smiled.
"
It
'
s pretty much in order, from what I can tell. When the investments are sold off, Gina should have a little over two million. We split the bulk of the estate three ways: between Gina, Ian and myself. Nellie gets the house and a million bucks
,
and Becki gets a smaller, specified amount.
"

Gord looked up in surprise.
"
That much? I wouldn
'
t have imagined. Where did it come from? Her old man was frugal, but not that big an earner.
"

"
Inherited from a cousin in the old country. Some apartments were sold
.
I handled the transactions from this end.
"

Gord removed his reading glasses. He was a tall, trim man with receding grey hair. Despite what Gord said about not wanting to deal with financial crap, Tony thought his uncle was perhaps the most intelligent man he had ever met. There was a lot going on behind those hazel eyes.

"
I have two things on my mind,
"
Gord said in his even baritone.
"
I know about you and Gina. It was the first thing out of her mouth when we arrived. Not that we hadn
'
t been expecting something of the kind. Or at least, Anna had.
"

Tony shifted in his chair. God, he was uncomfortable. What was he supposed to do or say?

"
I
'
ve only one thing to say about that. Treat her well, Tony. She
'
s the most valuable thing in my life.
"

Tony leaned forward. He felt better; these were words he could relate to.
"
I feel the same, sir.
"

Gord looked at him, appraising, and then nodded once.
"
Now, tell me what the hell has been going on around here.
"

Dumont stood in the hallway of suite 2628 and looked around. He almost whistled. The view out the floor to ceiling windows was breathtaking. Sunlight bounced off the water. He could see the lake glistening with the Toronto islands smack ahead. Little toy boats peppered the harbour, although he reflected they probably wouldn
'
t appear so little when seen close up. Yup, this was a million-dollar view and likely to cost at least that much.

"
Not too shabby, eh?
"
Janet Mitchem said beside him. She was a newly
-
made sergeant, bright and dependable.

"
Over my budget,
"
Dumont replied.
"
I
'
ll take the master. You look for the files.
"

The condo was one of those lofty, two
-
story jobs, with two bedrooms upstairs and main living quarters downstairs. Dumont took the half set of stairs to his right; Janet followed. The two bedrooms had the same view as downstairs. He went to the bigger one first, the one with the en-suite bathroom.