Her Last Letter (26 page)

“Okay. I’ll bring dessert.”

“Super.”

I could feel my spirits lift as soon as I stopped by the grocery and picked out chocolate ice cream and home-baked sugar cookies. As I mounted the stairs to Caroline’s second story apartment, I caught a whiff of freshly brewing coffee. She’d left the door ajar, but I gave it a knock anyway.

“Come on in,” she yelled out.

Her one bedroom apartment was spacious, the way apartments used to be built years ago, with full country kitchens and large bathrooms. The building itself housed ten units, and was over forty years old.

Caroline sat watching television, knees curled beneath her on the L-shaped couch. She picked up the television remote and clicked off the set as I walked over.

“What’d you bring?” she asked, rising.

“Ice cream and cookies. Your place looks great,” I said.

“Yeah, took me two days. I would have hired a Jiffy maid, but I would have been embarrassed to let her see it. You use those guys, don’t you?”

“Once in a while. Trevor doesn’t like strangers in the house. I need to be there.”

“He thinks they’ll steal something?”

“No, I think he’s worried they’ll break something, or scratch something.”

We settled onto the couch with our ice cream and cookies. Later, after second helpings and extra cups of coffee, I drew out the contract and pushed it toward Caroline.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“My contract.”

“Ooo, I want to see.” She snatched the paper from my hand and began to peruse it.

“I didn’t tell her everything,” I said. “She knew right away I was hiding something. I suppose I’ll have to fill her in eventually.”

“Why didn’t you? What are you afraid of?”

“Everything. God, Care, what if it is Trevor? What if he had something to do with Kelly’s death? It sounds so bizarre to even say it, but what if he did? Maybe I don’t know him at all.”

“Good reason to find out then, right?”

“Yes. I’ll call her. I’ll tell her everything I know.”

“Investigative Agreement.”

“What?”

“That’s what this contract is called. Yep, and it says right here, ‘you agree to provide accurate information as a basis for this investigation …’ And here’s a big one, all capital letters, bold print … says they don’t have to promise or guarantee the outcome of the case. Well, that sucks.”

“I know. I read it. And she implied as much.”

“But Nate did say she was good. And I don’t think he’d vouch for her unless she was. I wonder what she’ll do? You’ll have to tell me everything. Unless-you don’t want to.”

“I’ll let you in on it.”

“She didn’t trust me, did she?” Caroline handed the contract back to me.

“No, it wasn’t like that. She doesn’t know you.”

A pen lay on Caroline’s coffee table. I reached for it, then signed my name on the dotted line. “Can I use your phone? Guess I might as well get this thing started.”

“Okay, sounds like you want the deluxe package with all the trimmings.” Sue held a clipboard and took notes as I walked her through the house. She was wearing jeans and a baggy sweatshirt, and outside the sign on her van read
Cybernetics
, computer installation and repair. She’d dropped the southern accent, along with the blonde hair, replaced by a cropped brown wig with razor straight bangs. Her light blue eyes had vanished too, now brown with thick black lashes-the result of contact lenses and mascara, I presumed. No tan either. It was hard to tell she was the same person. She’d warned me not to be surprised.

“I have a small crew I work with,” she said. “They’ll be by tomorrow. Did you tell your husband what I asked you to?”

“Yes, that I’m having trouble with the Mac, and I might want another computer, and maybe we should get a new one for his office too.”

“And how did he react to that?”

“Very hesitant, then a definite no-at least for now, he said.”

“I expected that.”

I could swear her voice had dropped an octave too, and was more matter-of-fact, like the part she was playing-computer repair geek.

“And you told him we’re coming the day after tomorrow, not tomorrow, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

We walked into Trevor’s office. “How much time does he spend in here?” she asked.

“Quite a bit. He’ll go in after dinner, sometimes as soon as he gets home. It depends on what’s going on at work.”

“So, he works a lot?”

“Yes.”

“Gets home late most weekdays?”

“Yes.”

I glanced over at her. She was taping our conversation-so she didn’t miss anything-was how she’d put it. I’d given permission, still, it made me nervous. It wouldn’t look good if she caught me in a lie later on. I’d been straight with her so far. I’d also shown her Kelly’s letter, related my fears about Wolfgang and Trevor, and my serious doubts of any guilt on Josh’s part. I’d told her about Sylvia too, and my suspicions. Sue had asked me for videos taken at family gatherings, especially any of Kelly. She’d also asked me lots of questions, some of which I had to admit seemed pure nosiness.

“We’ll bug your husband’s office, and I’ll put microphones and cameras near all the house phones too.”

“
Near
the phones? Can’t you bug the phones themselves?”

“I could, but I won’t. Phone taps are illegal. I could go to jail, get a fine, and lose my license. It’s done, but not by me.”

“Oh. I thought we’d be able to listen in on his conversations.”

Her news was a serious letdown. This was one of the items that had interested me most.

“Sorry, but it won’t be necessary. There are other ways of getting the information we need.”

“But, even if you don’t do it … can you at least give me a clue as to how it is done?”

“Depends on who you are, law enforcement or an individual.” She stopped and eyed me. “
You
could go to jail too, Gwyn. And if your husband stumbles on your home-grown recording device, our cover is blown.”

“I wasn’t planning to do anything on my own. I was just curious.”

She smiled and raised her brows. “Just curious, huh? I’ll tell you this, it’s so easy to do it’s laughable. It’s done all the time, by husbands mostly, checking up on their wives or girlfriends, sometimes both, and sometimes it’s the local pervert hoping to get his jollies. In fact, I’ll be doing a sweep of your place, just in case your husband thought to listen in on you. Of course, if you are,
just curious
, everything you need to know is on the Internet.”

She gazed around Trevor’s office, then eyed his computer. “We’ll start checking his emails here and at his office, and we’ll have him under surveillance twenty-four seven.”

“How will you check his emails? You don’t know the code to his computer, or the password for his email.”

“We’ll know it soon enough. Tomorrow he’ll have a computer meltdown, supposedly. You’ll tell him he might need to reinstall the code. Just say the power went off while we were working, possibly messed things up, and he should check it out. When he does punch in the code, we’ll be watching. I’ll be installing some special software on his computer as well.”

“Where is the camera going to be? Won’t he notice it?”

“No. We use what’s called a pinhole-lens camera. I’d tell you where it’s going to be, but you’d look right at it every time you walked in the room. And keep the maids out of the house for a while. Also, I want to install a microphone in his car. Does he ever let you borrow it?”

“No, I own a Jeep. He’d rather use the Cadillac for business.”

“Okay, here’s what we’ll do. When he gets up tomorrow morning, there’ll be what looks like a nasty oil stain under his car on the garage floor. It’s not permanent, and easy to remove if you worry about that sort of thing. So, we hope he’ll notice, but if he doesn’t, you point it out. Then you offer to take his car in for service and let him borrow yours. Chances are he’ll be in a rush and will go along with it. Later, if he wants to know what repairs were made on his car and has to talk to someone, you’ll have a number he can call. Tell him your regular guy was busy, if you have one. One of our guys will be on the other end to give him the particulars when he calls. Oh, and try to keep him in the house as much as possible after he gets home tonight. We’ll be in and out of the garage quick, but it will help if we’re not interrupted.”

“Okay. I can do that. Of course, my main concern is Wolfgang. I want you to concentrate most of your efforts on him. I think he’s the one responsible for my sister Kelly’s death. I’m worried for Linda. So far, she’s okay. But who knows?”

“Do you want someone watching out for her too?”

“Definitely, but make sure she’s not aware of it. She notices everything.”

“She won’t have a clue. I hope you realize this is going to cost you one very big bundle,” she said.

“Whatever it costs, it’s worth it to me. I want this guy caught. He doesn’t deserve to live.”

I felt like I might be coming down with a cold on the night of Linda’s party. The back of my throat was a little sore, and I’d sneezed a couple of times. I was taking a tissue from my purse when Trevor walked into the kitchen.

“Wow, you look fantastic,” he said. “Great dress.”

“Thank you.” I was wearing a cream-colored long sleeved wool dress with a deep V-neck. Though I’d planned on wearing my violet backless beaded dress, I decided against it because of my cold, plus the temperature outside was hovering around fifteen degrees. The wool would be warmer, though not as daring, but with Trevor’s gift of diamond earrings and bracelet I could at least pull off a little elegance.

“How do
I
look?” he asked.

“You look great. You’ll be the best looking guy at the party.”

“Well, that’s a given,” he said, grinning back at me. “But thanks for the compliment.” Trevor was wearing a custom-made ebony black suit, complete with cream shirt, striped tie, and gold cufflinks.

“Oh,” he said, “and thanks again for letting me borrow your car yesterday. Can’t figure out how so much oil leaked out from a loose cap. But they checked it out and couldn’t find anything else wrong. No problem today either.” He shrugged.

“I’m sure the car is fine.”

“Maybe I’ll start looking around for something else … just in case.”

“I guess you could, but the Caddie’s practically brand new. How many miles did you say it has?”

“Barely any. A few thousand. Yeah, you’re right. I’m sure it’s fine. Ran good today. Man, first the car, then the computer. I hate it when stuff breaks.”

I took a sip of hot tea and watched as Trevor moved about the kitchen, opening cabinet doors, and finally, the refrigerator. He pulled out a block of cheese, drew a knife from the drawer, and began to slice off chunks. “I’m hungry,” he said. “I hope she has lots of hors d’oeuvres.”

“You’re joking, right?”

He chewed, gazing at me. “I hate to walk into a party and right away start stuffing my face. That dress. New, isn’t it?”

“Sort of. I haven’t had a chance to wear it since I bought it, so I guess it’s still new.”

“Where’s the zipper?”

I pointed over my shoulder. “In the back, but it’s covered, of course. Why? Is something wrong? Oh, don’t tell me …”

“Yes, I do see something here.” He began to ease the zipper down.

“What?”

He pulled the zipper all the way to the small of my back, then placed his hands beneath my bra clasp and caressed me along the spine. “We have time, don’t we?”

“No, honey, we don’t,” I said, wiggling away from him. “You’ll mess up my hair, and my make-up, and you’ll probably catch my cold.”

“Awww. I don’t care about that. I like your germs. We can share them.”

“No, Trevor.”

“And here I thought you loved me. Come on, Gwyn. You look so good. I won’t mess up anything. Promise.” He kissed me on the back of the neck, then dropped his head over my shoulder, kissed me again, and looked up at me. “Please?”

“All right. But quick, okay? I don’t want to be late for the party.”

“Oh, wow,” he said, lifting the hem of my dress to my hips. “You’re wearing the sexy garter belt I bought you. The one I got you for your birthday. God, you are so incredi-fuckably gorgeous. Thank you, baby. Thank you. Thank you.”

We were a half-hour late, but I’d called Linda and made up an excuse, said we couldn’t find the car keys. She didn’t seem to care, probably into her second martini and feeling happy.

Jazz, the deep resonant notes of a saxophone, bass fiddle, and drum trio, greeted us at the door, opened by a teenaged boy in a tweed sport coat. “Good evening,” he said, waving us in. “May I take your coats?” I didn’t recognize him, but later learned he was the son of the bartender.

I searched the crowd for Caroline, curious to see if she’d brought her new guy friend, Nate, to Linda’s party.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Josh, then glanced quickly back at Trevor, who was picking a piece of lint from his sleeve.

Wolfgang worked his way toward us.

“Dressed to kill,” he said, eyeing us both. “Hope you brought something warmer for later. I’ve got some mean machines parked out back.”

“We did,” said Trevor. “But Gwyn probably won’t be going snowmobiling. She’s catching a cold.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” he said. “You’ll miss out on all the fun.”

“I still might go,” I said. “I haven’t decided. Where’s Linda? I don’t see her.”

Wolfgang turned and pointed toward the corner of the room by the Christmas tree. “Over there, last I looked.”

But Linda wasn’t by the tree, so I tried the kitchen, then spied her walking quickly away from me down the hall. “Linda,” I called out.

She stopped and turned around. “Oh, hi, Gwyn.”

Something about her didn’t look right, as if she were trying to hide tired eyes behind too much makeup. I wondered if she might be getting sick too. “Sorry we’re late.”

“Well, you misplaced your keys. I’m sure you didn’t do it on purpose, right?”

“Well, no.”

“So what do you think? How’s it look out there? Is everyone having a good time? I haven’t had a chance to check.”

“It’s going great, and the jazz combo is awesome.”