A Purse to Die For (17 page)

Chapter 27

Rob paced the floor.
Shut this bloody rampage down, Dumont.

Serial murder just didn
'
t happen in Langdon Hills. Had any murder ever occurred here before? Certainly not since his debut in law enforcement. And before that he
'
d lived his whole childhood in this town and try as he might, he couldn
'
t remember a single murder. Not even way back when in his parents
'
or grandparents
'
day.

Things were so close to veering out of control. He could see that. But no, he wasn
'
t going to ask for help. He was still in charge and wasn
'
t going to blow this unique opportunity to use all his training, and prove himself. Above and beyond. But if the investigation went on much longer, he
'
d have to appeal to the OPP, or the RCMP, or both. No choice.

Speaking of the feds, Secret Agent Man was on site. Rob didn
'
t know exactly what the deal was with Tony
'
s gig, but if he didn
'
t hate him quite so much, he would ask him to consult.
Stop. Hate is too strong a word.

He and Tony Ferrero were close once. No, they used to hang together, that
'
s all. The one year age difference gave Rob the upper hand back then. But Tony left town then dared to come back thinking he
'
s
the man
. Dammit if Tony didn
'
t somehow end up with Gina
too
. Gina and Tony were cousins, for crying out loud. Off limits. And since they only just found out they weren
'
t blood-related, how in hell did they get moonfaced over each other so quickly?

Slow it down, Dumont. Pump it way down. Time to interview Becki, right in front of you. She
'
s had ample opportunity to gather her thoughts.

"
Now tell me everything,
"
he said.
"
Everything down to the last detail. What you saw, what you heard, what you smelled, for crissake.
"

Detective Dumont was Becki
'
s turn-to guy in Langdon Hills. He helped them all get through the horrible first murder that took place on the property. He was the one she contacted when she found Carla. But today he was off. Not like she remembered. And not as compassionate as he
'
d shown himself to be over the past several days. His pacing unnerved her. But face it, dust falling unnerved her. Maybe it was she, after all, and not he, who
'
d changed
,
since once you
'
ve discovered a second murder victim at the house you
'
re visiting, things get hairy, right? Especially when one of the victims is someone you
'
ve known for years and years. Becki would have liked to state
known and loved for years and years
.

Rob barked his request again.
"
What do you remember?
"

"
Okay, so I came in to get something to drink…
"
Her thoughts felt jumbled like the letters in her morning Alpha-Bits.

"
Ian was fine when you left him on the deck?
"

Totally freezing in here or her imagination?

"
Yes or no?
"

"
Yes.
"

"
You didn
'
t see a gun?
"

"
No.
"
She thought of the gun Tony had on him the other day. Should she say something about it?
No.
Later, she
'
d get to it later. Or Rob would, in his interrogation.

"
Keep going.
"

"
I took off my shoes and walked to the fridge. That
'
s when I heard the gun shot…I guess.
"

"
You guess?
"

"
Well, then I thought it was a car backfiring. Or a tree branch breaking.
"
She wasn
'
t going to get into the whole squirrel thing.

"
What did you do?
"

"
Went outside to check.
"

"
Serious enough to check, then.
"

"
Maybe in the back of my mind—
"

"
How long were you in the kitchen?
"

"
Four to five minutes.
"

"
Who was with you inside?
"

"
No one.
"

"
Sure?
"

"
That I could see.
"

"
What did you see when you looked outside?
"

She felt like saying, sky, trees, grass…everything but what this interview was about. She held herself back.
"
I didn
'
t see anyone running from the scene. No movement. And Ian surely wasn
'
t moving. He
'
d fallen over.
"

"
You screamed.
"

"
Tried my best.
"

"
You brought Tony and Gina running. Where did Tony come from?
"

"
From behind me.
"

"
From inside the house?
"

"
Think so.
"

"
How long after you screamed did he arrive?
"

"
Under a minute.
"

"
Where did Gina come from?
"

"
Behind me and to my left? Around the corner of the house, I think.
"

"
How long did it take her to get to you?
"

"
Hard to say…maybe two minutes?
"

"
Close. Tony and Gina could have been together somewhere.
"

"
Doubt it.
"

"
Why?
"

"
Just don
'
t think so.
"

"
You touch anything?
"

"
No.
"

"
Maybe try and revive the victim?
"

"
Wish I had.
"

"
No, you don
'
t.
"

"
Yes, I do.
"

"
There was nothing you could have done.
"

"
Thanks for trying to make me feel better.
"

"
Did you see the gun?
"

"
No. But I knew he was shot.
"

"
How?
"

"
That noise I heard.
"
She shuddered.
"
And, of course, there was that hole in his back.
"

Rob heard a commotion coming from the direction of the kitchen—wailing. His abs crunched involuntarily. Linda. He felt so very sorry for Ian
'
s mother.

Nellie usually came home from school through the back. Afternoon snacks were always in the kitchen. But today there were cop cars in front of the house again, and the way to the back was blocked. It was gross having police cars at your house all the time. Kids at school were starting to say mean things.

She opened the front door
,
and that
'
s when she heard the most horrible noise. Like an animal being killed by another animal on one of those educational channels. She crept through the foyer, past the stairs. She needed to find out what was going on, but no need to hurry, right?

Right in front of her, Detective Dumont and Aunt Becki came out of the library. Both with gritted teeth, frown lines. It wasn
'
t a good sign when adults looked like that. Usually adults tried not look upset.

"
Oh…Nellie…honey,
"
Aunt Becki said
.
"
L
et
'
s go upstairs and play in your room.
"

"
What
'
s going on?
"

"
It
'
s Aunt Linda. Her son is…gone. She
'
s so sad right now. And there
'
s nothing you or I can do. Gina and Tony are there to comfort her. Probably Aunt Mandy
too
. And Detective Dumont will help out as much as he can.
"

"
Where
'
s Mom?
"

"
Don
'
t know, but I
'
m sure she
'
d want you to come upstairs with me.
"
Aunt Becki reached out and led her by the shoulders to the stairs.

"
No. I want to know what
'
s going on.
"
She twisted away from Aunt Becki and started down the hall again.

Detective Dumont was in the kitchen. He blocked her view. She was just ducking under him when—

"
Nellie!
"
It was Mom
'
s voice.

Nellie whirled around.

Mom was standing in the foyer, a bag of groceries in each hand.
"
Listen to your Aunt Becki. She only wants what
'
s best for you, I
'
m sure.
"

Nellie never disobeyed Father. That would just be stupid. And she always listened to Mom for a different reason.

Chapter 28

Tony walked into the study and set his gun down on the desk.
"
I expect you
'
ll want this.
"

Rob looked up into hard eyes. He reached for the revolver and sniffed it. No doubt about it—it hadn
'
t been fired recently. He opened the cylinder and spun it, counting the bullets. All there.

"
I thought you Bond types carried semis.
"

"
Semis jam a lot. You get six sure shots with a revolver.
"
Tony sat in the chair opposite and leaned forward.
"
I don
'
t need a semi. I never miss.
"

Rob thought he had never heard a colder voice. He watched as a hard smile worked its way across Tony
'
s face.

"
If you blues practiced more you wouldn
'
t need semis, either. Irresponsible to spray bullets around.
"

The smug bastard.
Rob felt his face go red.

"
Come off it, Rob. I know you
'
re pissed about Gina and me. Well, I
'
m pissed about Gina and you
too
.
"

"
What the hell—
"

"
Did you honestly think she would have any time for you after what you did to her years ago? Get real. And stop taking it out on me.
"

Rob felt the fury build.
"
Get out,
"
he said.

"
Gladly.
"
Tony rose from the chair.

"
And don
'
t leave the house.
"

"
Wouldn
'
t think of it.
"
Tony paused in the doorway.
"
Someone has to figure out what
'
s going on around here.
"

Rob swore. He scowled down at the revolver
,
and it took everything in him not to throw it across the room.

Mandy walked slowly into Gina
'
s room and sat down on the bed. She rested her cane against the side.

"
How are you faring, Gina?
"

She could see the dark circles under Gina
'
s eyes framed by an abnormally pale face. The red shirt, which usually suited her, made her look washed out today. Gina would always be pretty, but right now she looked haunted.

"
All right, I guess. Considering. This is a nightmare. I feel like I
'
m walking through a play.
"

Mandy nodded. She sighed deeply. Her eyes followed Gina to the window where she was standing. Why did Mandy get the impression of Rapunzel looking out the tower window?

"
How
'
s Linda?
"
Gina
'
s voice shook.

"
Quieter now,
"
Mandy said.
"
Jerry is with her. I gave her one of my Ativans.
"

"
That should help.
"

Mandy nodded.
"
It always helps me.
"

Gina continued to stand looking wistfully out the window.

"
Come sit here, Gina. I have something to tell you.
"

Gina looked over. She turned and walked to the bed, then sat down to face her aunt.

"
I didn
'
t tell anyone Tony was adopted because it wasn
'
t done legally.
"
She saw the flush cross Gina
'
s face.

"
Hear me out now. Don
'
t judge me yet.
"
Mandy took a deep breath. This was important. She had to say this right. Tony
'
s happiness depended on it.

"
You know I used to teach in Vancouver.
"

Gina nodded.

"
It was a high school on the North Shore. One of my students got pregnant at seventeen. She came to me for help. She was a bright youn
g thing, very pretty. She hid her pregnancy
well over the winter term and gave birth at the end of August. She told everyone—including her parents—that she was working at a resort for the summer. We took a cabin in the Kelowna area where my old college roommate worked as a doctor. I took the baby home
,
and that
'
s how I got Tony.
"

Gina
'
s eyes were saucers.
"
No one knew?
"

Mandy shook her head.
"
I promised. That was the one condition. My student wouldn
'
t even allow a legal adoption, she was so afraid to have any paper traced to her.
"

"
How sad,
"
Gina said.

"
Not for me.
"
Mandy smiled.
"
I got my baby boy. And you
'
ve got to remember—things were different back then. It wasn
'
t cool to be a single mother. This girl was destined for
a
university
,
and a baby would have changed everything. For me, it was a dream come true.
"

"
What a risk to take.
"

"
Not so great. My name is on the birth certificate. That
'
s the way the birth-mother wanted it. And that
'
s why Tony never knew.
"

Mandy thought back to that time in the mountains. A cabin, they called it, although it really was like a summer home with all the conveniences. It had been a hot summer, she remembered, with little rain. The flies had been a problem. And the endless time on their hands. She cleared her throat.

"
When Tony turned eighteen, of course the adoption didn
'
t matter anymore. I didn
'
t have to worry about losing him, about some agency coming to take him away. I probably should have told him then, but…there didn
'
t seem a good reason to.
"

Gina sat still for a moment.
"
The announcement, during the reading of the will. How did Grandmother find out?
"

Mandy sighed.
"
She knew your uncle was infertile. He
'
d had a bad case of mumps as a teenager. So it was either adoption
,
or I had an affair.
"
Mandy smiled.
"
Even she didn
'
t suspect me of that. I was crazy about your uncle, everyone knew that.
"

There was a sad moment as she reflected on the past.

"
I
'
ve never regretted it, not for a second. He was always my son from day one. Always will be. You will understand that when you are a mother. There is nothing I wouldn
'
t do for him—nothing. You think a mother bear is fierce.
"
She felt her voice grow hard.

Gina reached across to take her hand.

"
But Gina,
"
Mandy
'
s eyes were compelling.
"
Remember that. That
'
s what makes this place so dangerous. I
'
m not the only mother here.
"

Rob put the phone down. The pistol was unregistered, like so many of the guns up here. There was something about the people who lived in the near north, a streak of bloody independence. Then a thought hit him. Damn and blast! How could he have forgotten? He reached for the cell and started punching numbers.

Jeremy Davis was born and bred in the city and despised it. Since day one
,
he had asthma. The smog and traffic were like a toxic prison to him. As a kid he had spent his summers on a puffer, throwing stones down sewer grates, envying the kids that got to go up no
rth to the family cottages. W
hen he graduated from
the
police college five years ago
,
it was a no-brainer. Huntsville—they needed cops, and he didn
'
t need a puffer.

At first he bunked in the basement apartment of a fellow officer. Two years later, he was able to buy his own little bungalow in a small subdivision in the country. Forest surrounded him on three sides. Since then he had acquired a wife and a dog. Except for the brutal blizzards in winter, life was good.

Jeremy swung the cruiser off Muskoka 13 and onto a small laneway. The Best property was in a ritzy part of cottage country
,
and although Jeremy wasn
'
t in that league, he
'
d been through the lakes a number of times on his friend
'
s bass fishing boat. Summer homes of the rich and famous lined the rocky shoreline boasting of wealth. Calling these places cottages was like calling the Taj Mahal a summer camp.

Jeremy reached the end of the drive and eased the cruiser to a stop. Ahead stood a ranch bungalow, probably from the seventies. It was low and long, and looked a little run-down. There was no other vehicle in the driveway.

Jeremy got out of the car and put on disposable gloves. He looked down at the earth for recent tracks. Someone had used the drive during that rain storm last week, he concluded. The ground had been carved and then had dried in ridges. He could make out tire marks, like that of an off-roader…SUV of some sort.

He walked to the front door.
They
would call it the back, of course. On properties such as this, everyone called the lakeside the front even if the obvious entrance faced the road. Some stupid rich person
'
s fancy.

He tried the brass knob on the door. It spun and opened—not even locked. Jeremy shook his head.
Silly rich people.
He moved into the hallway, seeking the kitchen. That was the best place to start looking for occupancy.

At the end of the panel-lined hall stood a seventies Hollywood kitchen right out of one of those sitcoms. He flicked on the big centre light. Jeremy went first to the coffeemaker. Filter still in it with used grounds. Cold, but they weren
'
t mouldy. That told him something.

Then he went to the avocado fridge.
Why in hell would anyone make a colour like that? Let alone buy it.
He surveyed the contents. Homo milk, opened. He picked up the container, opened it and sniffed. Still fresh.

Jeremy felt the cellphone in his pocket vibrate. One hand reached for it.
"
Yeah, someone
'
s been here recently,
"
he said into it.
"
Got some good tracks from an SUV, and the milk
'
s fresh. Hold on a sec—
"

The overhead light was behind him, so his shadow ran the length of the cupboards. Silently, another shadow approached his. His hand went to his nightstick as he spun around.