Brutality (40 page)

“So what did you want to ask me about Kevin?” Kelly asked. “I don’t really know him.”

“Did you ever get the sense that he fooled around with some of the soccer players or any other students at NEU?”

Kelly didn’t respond. She pulled a twenty-pack of single-serving fruit cocktail off the shelf and heaved it into the cart. “He had a bit of a reputation,” she finally answered.

“A reputation for?”

“For being a flirt. He loved hanging around the sports complex, but he seemed to like hanging with the guys just as much as the girls.”

“So as far as you know, he wasn’t having a fling with anyone?” Fina asked.

“Well, he might have been. I don’t really know.” She sounded annoyed.

“Oookay,” Fina said, tamping down her frustration. “Did you see any evidence that he was having an affair with a player or a student during that time?”

Kelly pushed some hair behind her ear. “I didn’t see any evidence, but that doesn’t mean something wasn’t going on.”

“Right, but why assume that something was going on if you didn’t have evidence of it? Do you suspect that something was happening?”

Kelly shoved an enormous package of toilet paper onto the bottom shelf of the cart. “I don’t want to bad-mouth anyone.”

“Of course not. I’ll keep that in mind,” Fina said, thinking of Pamela’s similar protestations. Fina always took that sort of comment with a grain of salt. The people who really didn’t want to bad-mouth anyone just didn’t.

“He seemed pretty chummy with a few girls on the team, but I never saw him do anything. He’s a good-looking guy; I’m not surprised the girls found him attractive.”

“But you didn’t? Find him attractive, I mean?” Fina asked.

Kelly shrugged. “He was cute, but I didn’t go out with him, if that’s what you’re asking.”

She ducked into the refrigerated room and came back carting two gallons of milk. In the alcohol section, Kelly chose a few bottles of white wine that she dropped in the cart. She hesitated over the reds and walked away, then turned back and plucked two from the wooden display crates.

“When you were in college, Kevin was, what, ten years older?” Fina asked. “Nowadays there’s quite an age difference between him and the undergrads.”

“Sure, but some women like older men,” Kelly commented.

Fina had sometimes wondered if her father ever cheated on Elaine. She imagined that he would be quite a catch for certain women. He was handsome, rich, and powerful. He was also bossy, domineering, and uncommunicative, but some women went for those qualities, too.

“Did you know that Liz’s boss, Vikram, lives in your neighborhood?” Fina asked.

“Liz had mentioned it. She hated seeing him outside of the office.”

“Did they have any run-ins close to home?”

Kelly shook her head. “Not that I know of, but I know she dreaded bumping into him at the neighborhood store. She would have been thrilled if he’d moved.”

They made their way toward the checkout lines, Kelly adding various items to the cart. At the end of one aisle, a display of vending machines caught Fina’s eye. One was on sale for $5,900. She examined it.

“You’re in the market for a vending machine?” Kelly asked.

Fina put her hand on it. “You don’t understand. This is the answer to all my prayers. I never realized you could just buy one.”

“For your house?” Kelly asked with wide eyes.

“I know, it’s crazy, but then I could use my kitchen for something else, like storage.”

Kelly kept walking, and Fina worked to steer the heavy cart around other shoppers.

“Anyone you think I should talk to about this?” Fina asked as they took a spot in the checkout line. Even at only half full, the cart held enough food to feed a small army.

“You could ask Tasha,” Kelly said, “but she can be a tough nut to crack.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sometimes she’ll talk about things, and sometimes she won’t.”

“What about Gus Sibley?”

“What about him?” Kelly asked, unloading a packet of gym socks onto the conveyor belt.

“He’s been around as long as Kevin has. Presumably, their paths cross pretty often. Gus might have something to say about it.”

Kelly shook her head. “I doubt it. He was always really focused on our injuries and the games. But I could be wrong.”

In the parking lot, Kelly rummaged through her purse for her keys, cursing under her breath when the innards tumbled to the pavement. Fina helped her gather the items, locate the keys, and load her purchases into the back of her minivan.

“Thanks for letting me tag along,” Fina said.

“I don’t think I was very helpful,” Kelly said. “Thanks for helping with my shopping.”

“I don’t think
I
was very helpful, but you’re welcome.”

Fina brought the empty cart over to the corral in the middle of the lot and watched Kelly pull out.

Either Kevin really had been up to no good or at least two people didn’t mind suggesting that he had. Either scenario warranted a closer examination.

—

F
ina needed to make some calls, a task that didn’t lend itself to setting up shop in a Starbucks. She could have done it in her car, but she felt like her corneas might peel off her eyeballs soon in the dry heat of the enclosed space. If Fina were closer to the city, she would have gone to Ludlow and Associates and claimed an empty office or conference room, but she didn’t want to drive there only to have to return to the MetroWest area later. Instead, she decided to drop in at her home away from home.

“Hiya, sweetie,” Frank greeted her when he opened the front door.

“Are you in the middle of something?” Fina asked. “I wanted to say hi, and also camp out and make a few calls.”

“We’re just a pit stop to you, is that right?” he asked, chuckling.

“Basically, and the food’s good.”

Fina left her boots and jacket in the front hall and joined Frank in the living room. “Peg should be home in an hour or so,” Frank said.

“How goes it?”

“Terrific. This semiretirement thing is really working out. I’m getting to all those things I never had a chance to do earlier.”

“Like what?” Fina asked. “Bungee jumping? Snowboarding? Please don’t say golf. It will ruin my image of you.”

“No golf or extreme sports, but I’m sprucing up my workshop in the basement, and I have more time to read, one of life’s great pleasures.”

“What are you working on now?” Fina asked, gesturing at the book on the small table next to Frank’s recliner.

“It’s a biography of Winston Churchill. Fascinating stuff.”

Fina feigned a yawn. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“What’s going on with Risa’s situation?” Frank asked.

“That’s why I wanted to stop by; we met Greta Samuels yesterday in Kittery.”

“And?”

Fina tapped her fingers on the arm of the couch. “I told Risa that I was going to withhold judgment until I had time to think about the meeting.”

“I’m guessing you already have a judgment in mind,” Frank said.

“Honestly, Frank, I think the only reason she contacted Risa was for her kidney,” Fina said. “I don’t think Greta would have made any effort to find Risa if her life didn’t depend on it.”

Frank frowned. “Do you think Risa thinks the same thing?”

“I don’t know, but I didn’t want to influence her before she had a chance to give it some thought.”

“You don’t think she should give her the kidney?” he asked.

“I’m not saying that, but I don’t think Risa should give her a kidney believing that this is going to be the start of some beautiful friendship. It wouldn’t surprise me if Greta drifted away after getting the organ.”

Frank shook his head. “Sounds like a real pickle.”

“Indeed.” Fina rose from the couch. “How about if I go make my calls in the kitchen and let you get back to your reading?”

“Sounds good. Help yourself to a snack if you’re hungry.”

Fina grabbed a diet soda from the fridge and settled down at the kitchen table with her phone and laptop. She typed in the name of the sock manufacturer that Mary had provided the day before, but the website wasn’t helpful. Tekmark only sold their products directly to retail stores, and when Fina tried to use their search tool to find retailers in Massachusetts, she got an error message.

She dialed the 800 number for the company, and after being passed around to a couple of people, she was connected with a woman whose lilting accent led Fina to believe she was in Mumbai or Delhi at that very moment, but that didn’t stop her from giving Fina the names of three stores in the state that sold Tekmark products. One store was in Worcester, another in Quincy, and the third in Medford. Fina smiled when she heard the name of the Medford store where Joe and Stuart worked. A return visit was definitely in order, and she gave them a quick call and asked if Joe or Stuart was there. Joe’d be there until five, the helpful associate told her, at which point Stuart would be in.
Perfect,
Fina thought.

She caught up on some administrative tasks before closing her machine, draining her drink, and pitching the can in the recycling bin.

Frank was engrossed in his book when Fina returned to the living room.

“All done?” he asked.

“Yup. Think I might have a lead.”

“You still working on that NEU case?”

“Yeah,” Fina said. “Liz Barone.”

“Good luck with that, and let me know what happens with Risa.”

“Will do. Thanks, Frank.” She leaned over and kissed his whiskered cheek. “Give Peg my love.”

Fina sat in her car for a moment, contemplating her next step. She had time to kill before heading to Medford. She dialed the number for Gus Sibley’s office and was told he had left for the day. When she reached someone in the athletic department at NEU, she was informed that Dr. Sibley was at an off-season training event in western Massachusetts for the women’s soccer team.

She mentally ran down the list of people related to the case and stopped at Kevin. She still wasn’t ready to confront him about the cheating rumors, but maybe it was time to have a chat with Mrs. Lafferty.

In general, Fina tried to steer clear of any potentially volatile domestic situations. Her arrangement with Ludlow and Associates meant she rarely had to take on domestic cheating cases, which were boring and fraught at the same time. Calling out adulterous spouses or getting mixed up in their drama was at the bottom of her to-do list, but sometimes it couldn’t be avoided.

She pulled up to the Lafferty home, which was on the Newton-Wellesley line. One of the more modest houses in the neighborhood, it was a yellow colonial with a small farmer’s porch on the front. The original structure was dwarfed by a newer-looking two-car garage and the bonus space above it.

The driveway was empty, but that didn’t mean no one was home. A lot of people parked their cars in the garage when it was freezing or there was a chance of snow. Fina had never understood people who filled their garages with crap and kept their cars outside in the winter. Why would anyone choose to dig out their car if they didn’t have to? But perhaps the woman who moved into a dead woman’s apartment and kept it exactly as it was wasn’t in a position to comment on the sentimentality of objects.

Fina rang the bell and looked through the pane of glass embedded in the door. The more modest staircase one would expect in a traditional colonial had been replaced with a two-story entryway and a wide stairway. A woman appeared, and Fina took a step back. She didn’t want to seem rude or nosy.

“Yes?” the woman asked after opening the door.

“Are you Mrs. Lafferty?”

“Yes. Who’s asking?”

Fina pulled a business card from her bag and handed it to Sheila Lafferty.

“A private investigator? What’s this about?” she asked.

“Could I come in and ask you a few questions? I won’t take long.”

Sheila glanced at her wristwatch. She was wearing scrubs with teddy bears and rainbows on them, her feet in athletic socks.

“I’m getting ready for work, so I don’t have much time. You didn’t say what this is about.”

“I’ve spoken with your husband already,” Fina said. “It’s regarding a lawsuit and NEU.”

Sheila studied her feet for a moment. “I’m not the right person to talk to; I don’t have much involvement with NEU.” She had wavy brown hair cut in layers, the longest pieces just reaching her shoulders. She was pretty, but not beautiful, and the scrubs didn’t do much for her figure.

“That’s actually why I’d like to speak with you. I wanted to get an outsider’s perspective,” Fina said. She really would say just about anything to get in the door.

Sheila stepped back, opening the door wider. To the immediate right was a living room with a large-screen TV and two couches, a cream-colored shag area rug, and a ficus tree in the corner.

“You can leave your boots by the door,” Sheila said.

Fina took off her boots, coat, and scarf and piled them near the front door. She followed Sheila into the living room and sat at the opposite end of one of the couches.

“I’m guessing you’re a nurse,” Fina said, trying to break the ice. Sheila had invited her in, but there was something cool about her demeanor. Most people offered Fina coffee or water, but there was no attempt on this hostess’s part to make Fina feel particularly welcome.

“At Children’s.”

“Right. Hence the teddy bears.”

“When did you talk to my husband?” Sheila asked.

“I’ve spoken with him a couple of times, actually,” Fina said. “Both at his office and at the NEU sports complex.”

“What does he have to do with this case?”

“I don’t know how much you know about it,” Fina said. Sheila shook her head, which only confused Fina. She knew? She didn’t know? Fina decided to dive in. “I’m working for the family of Liz Barone. She was a soccer player at NEU about twenty years ago. Her estate is suing NEU for damages because she suffered cognitive disabilities from playing soccer.”

“Allegedly suffered, isn’t that right?” Sheila asked.

“Correct,” Fina conceded. “Her attorneys are alleging that she suffered the damage as a direct result of playing soccer at NEU.”

“And NEU should have known better?” Sheila asked, raising her eyebrow in skepticism. “Twenty years ago?”