Organized to Death (32 page)

“But who shot at Nicky and Rachel? Ted was in the office when that happened. And who followed Charles and me? Ted was in jail when that happened.”

Hank played with the speared broccoli. “Don’t know. That’s a loose end, for sure. Maybe he had an accomplice.”

“Don’t know who that could be. He’s new in town. Have you found anything to tie him to someone else here?”

“It’s not ‘us,’ Tina. I’m not investigating, remember? Not my area.”

“But you’re plugged into the pipeline.”

“Not really. I can ask questions, but they don’t have to tell me anything, let alone everything.”

“Oh, I thought Lisbeth probably told you everything you wanted to know.”

Hank grinned. “You’re jealous of Lisbeth? ‘By the book Beth’?”

Tina couldn’t help smiling. “Is that what she’s called?”

“Sometimes. Not my type, Red. But since she’s pretty much a rules person, she’s not about to give me a lot of details.”

“You and John not buddies?”

Hank grinned again. “‘Jumpy John?’ Most timid guy I’ve ever seen join the force.”

Tina laughed out loud. “He’s afraid of Princess.”

“I’m not surprised. He’s afraid of a lot of things. He and I didn’t, shall we say, bond when we first met, and things have not improved.”

Tina grinned. Then she sobered. “You don’t really know any more than you’ve told me?”

“‘Fraid not. There’s still someone out there who has a secret they don’t want known.”

“We knew the Lunch Bunch mothers had a secret, but it doesn’t seem to be one anyone would kill for. I did have a thought, though, about that. That maybe Dr. Stevenson was still giving the drug out after doctors were told not to. I searched around on the computer and found out he gave it to our mothers after it was general knowledge that it didn’t work.”

“Even if he did, that would mean he’d be the only one who had a motive. And I just can’t see him murdering Crystal, especially in the state he’s in now, can you?”

“No. And then following us around in a white car. But what about one of the mothers finding out he gave the drug after he shouldn’t have? Revenge?”

“After all these years? Seems a stretch to me.”

“Maybe she just found out, searching around on a new computer, like I did.”

Hank looked thoughtful and took a sip of his drink.

“We talked a bit before about Ted’s mother,” he said. “Who was she? She probably lived on the island. Maybe a patient, co-worker, or a neighbor.”

“That puts the Lunch Bunch mothers back in the suspect pool. His nurse passed away last year, but there’s Betsy.”

Tina watched the blood drain from Hank’s face and felt the same thing happening to her. “Ted look anything like her?” Hank asked.

“Let me think. She’s short, he’s tall, but that can happen with mothers and sons. She’s also plump, so it’s hard to tell if their facial features are similar.” Tina closed her eyes to concentrate better. “They both have brown eyes. I think brown eyes are the most common in the world, right?”

Hank nodded.

“Maybe the nose. Hank, this is ridiculous. They certainly don’t look enough alike for me to say yes, he’s her son. Actually, he looks more like Dr. Stevenson. But maybe Crystal found out she
is
his mother. And Betsy killed her for that? After all these years, why would she care about her reputation?”

“This is Newport, remember? Everyone always cares, especially the older folks.”

“You’re right.” Tina took a sip of water. “But still, it could have been anyone. Anyone at all.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“I wonder if my mother knows who Dr. Stevenson was having an affair with. Or any of the other women in the Lunch Bunch. I bet they do.”

The waitress came to see if they wanted anything else. Hank asked her to just bring the check.

As they left, Tina couldn’t help glancing over to where Brandon sat with Brenda. They made an attractive couple. She felt a pang, but it didn’t stop her from walking out with Hank. Hank the Hunk.

He put a jazz CD in the player, and Tina relaxed against the passenger seat. All thoughts of old secrets and murder left her, and she simply enjoyed the ride. She watched Hank’s hands on the steering wheel, looked at his rugged profile, enjoyed the scent of his aftershave, and she decided she wanted him. She didn’t picture herself as seductress, but certainly she could try. Drive him crazy. Should be easy.

When he pulled into her driveway, she sat, knowing he’d come around to open her door. When she stepped out, she leaned into him, her lips meeting his, her body pushing gently against him. He kissed her back. She figured that was a good sign. When she thought she’d worked him up enough, she stepped back.

“Thanks for dinner,” she said softly.

He stood and watched her walk to the front door. After she unlocked it, she turned to wave. The streetlight shone on him, and she saw the need in his face.

Resolutely, she went inside. Let him simmer a bit. Until done.

How could they do that? How could they put Doctor in an institution, as if he were defective in some way?

Betsy drove home in a daze. Everything was unraveling. She supposed she should go visit him, but she hadn’t even thought to ask where he’d gone.

Gone. The word echoed in her mind. Her heartbeat sped up, and she became short of breath. She couldn’t lose him. He was all she had. All she’d ever had.

That Hank Silver had been in on it—had helped put the doctor away. She’d never thought he’d do such a thing. And Tina had smiled at her. Had she been gloating, knowing she’d survived the poisoned egg salad?

No, the police would have come to talk to her if they suspected her of anything.

You’re no good
. The voice was keeping her awake at night. The voice of her long-dead mother. The mother she’d killed in a fit of rage. Just as she’d killed Crystal.

She’d been good. Good all those years as Doctor’s office manager. Started out as a clerk and he’d liked her. He’d loved her, finally. She bore his child. And because he wished it, gave him up. Gone back home to Ohio in disgrace to hear her mother saying “You’re no good. I always said so.” And belly out to
there
, Betsy had shut her up. With a different gun. She made it look like a burglary. Pretended to come home and find her mother murdered. No one wanted to believe that a pregnant daughter had murdered her own mother.

She had always been clever. Doctor had liked that in her, she remembered. Clever Betsy, he’d called her.

Maybe she’d become too clever for her own good.

She parked in the garage and went to the kitchen. The brandy bottle stood on the counter. No sense in putting it away anymore.

No good.

The knock on the door startled her. Who could that be? No one ever came to see her anymore. Since she’d retired, she no longer received any respect.

Tina glanced at her watch after closing the door. Later than she thought, but not late enough to go straight to bed.

She went to the old parlor and booted up her computer. Googled DES again. Here it was, just as she remembered—a bulletin had been issued in 1971 telling doctors to stop using it. But Dr. Stevenson had continued for who knew how long. Would Dr. Stevenson, after he found out about his error, have told his lover—Ted’s mother? Possibly.

Tina imagined Crystal’s rage when she found out about the drug being used after it shouldn’t have been. Crystal couldn’t easily go after the drug company or the federal government, but she could make life miserable for Dr. Stevenson.

Tina was so intent on her thoughts, she jumped when Laura touched her shoulder. She hadn’t heard her mother come in.

“You at it again?” Laura asked. She walked over to her chair and sat down.

“Yes. I know Crystal figured out the Lunch Bunch’s secret. Maybe she also learned Dr. Stevenson had an affair. Maybe even knew that Ted was his son. Then someone killed her because she was either blackmailing Dr. Stevenson or was making noise about exposing him.”

“You don’t think Dr. Stevenson killed Crystal?” Her mother looked horrified.

“No. No, I really don’t. He doesn’t seem to be able to hold a thought long enough to do that. Someone chased Crystal from her house to Rachel’s with a gun. I just can’t see Dr. Stevenson, in the condition he’s in now, doing that.”

“I don’t think so, either. But who else would care that much?”

“Ted’s mother.”

Laura gasped. “No.”

“You know who she is.” Tina made it a statement.

“No. No, I don’t. For sure.”

“Well, who do you suspect, Mom? People are being threatened—Rachel and Nicky and Charles.” She wasn’t going to tell her mother about someone following her.

Laura sat, shaking her head.

“It’s one of the Lunch Bunch, isn’t it? One of them had an affair with Dr. Stevenson before her marriage or at least before she had a DES Daughter. Who?” A horrible sudden thought hit Tina. “Not you?”

Laura gave a shaky laugh. “No, thank goodness, not me. Your father was still alive when all this was going on, remember? We’d been married several years before I had you. I was crazy in love with your father. I wouldn’t have … “

“No, of course not,” Tina said quickly. “Then who? Brandon’s mother? Brenda’s? Surely not Crystal’s own mother. Hank’s and Sally’s?” She swallowed hard.

Tina watched her mother’s face crumple. “Mitzi?” Tina whispered.

Laura nodded. Tina realized that both she and her mother liked Mitzi the best of all the other mothers. Ditzy Mitzi, as the kids used to call her, cruelly. But she had been the most fun, too, the most outwardly loving, back then.

“But Tina,” Laura said. “She wouldn’t… Mitzi couldn’t … “

“No, I don’t think so either. And wouldn’t she have gone after Dr. Stevenson? Not Crystal?”

Laura sighed with relief. “Yes. I think you’re right. And you should know, she had the affair with Dr. Stevenson before she married Jasper.”

Tina nodded with relief. “Some of the others also had an affair with him?”

“I was never positive, but sometimes I thought Brenda’s mother did. But again, wouldn’t she have gone after Dr. Stevenson? Not Crystal? Why would any of them wait so long? We’ve known for years.”

“Not that he kept giving the drug after he shouldn’t have. You didn’t know that until just now. But maybe the killer was more concerned about the affair becoming known. Or that her daughter would find out about the cancer risk. But it does seem unlikely. Who else did Dr. Stevenson bonk?” At her mother’s stricken expression, Tina apologized. “That was pretty crude, but he seems to have been quite the Romeo in his time.”

“Yes, I suppose so,” Laura said, her voice faint. “I don’t really know of anyone except—except Betsy. Everyone was pretty sure they had something going.”

“You didn’t know definitely?”

“No. But it was obvious she adored him. And he was the type of man who would take advantage of that.”

“Ever any evidence that she was pregnant?”

Laura hesitated. “I don’t know. It was so long ago—she could have hidden it, then gone away to have the baby.”

“To Ohio,” Tina said.

“Yes. As a matter of fact, I remember that she was from Ohio. Came to Newport to go to Salve Regina U and stayed.”

It amazed Tina the details of people’s lives her mother could retain. Sometimes she thought it happened to everyone who was born and raised in Newport.

“I better call Hank,” Tina said.

“I suppose so. But you can’t tell him about Mitzi and Dr. Stevenson.”

“No. No, I can’t do that to him.” But she could pray it wasn’t Mitzi.

He answered on the first ring, and Tina told him everything Laura had revealed except the part about his own mother.

He didn’t say anything for a few moments. “You have no proof of anything. Possible motives, yes. But nothing concrete to go on.”

“But can’t you bring them in, question them?”

“It’s not my case, Red.” He sounded annoyed. She couldn’t tell if it was with her or with the situation.

“You can tell Lisbeth, though.”

“I’ll tell her, but I don’t know what she’ll do with it. In the meantime, you stay away from Betsy. Especially don’t eat anything she makes. No cozy lunches.”

Tina was glad her fanny was planted firmly in her desk chair. “What do you mean? You think she poisoned me?”

“It’s a strong possibility if she murdered Crystal.”

“Oh.” She saw her mother’s stricken look. “I’ve got to go.” She hung up without another word.

“Hank thinks it was Betsy and she poisoned you at lunch?”

“No. No, he was just warning me.”

“My God,” Laura said. “If it’s Betsy, would she be crazy enough to try and kill everyone Crystal knew, for heaven’s sake?”

“If she was desperate enough. And whoever killed Crystal had to be desperate to chase her like that.”

Laura fingered her necklace. “What’s Hank going to do?”

“I’m not sure. Talk to Lisbeth, at least.” Tina stood up, feeling restless. If Hank went snooping around, he’d be the one in danger. But he was trained. Didn’t matter. Trained professionals got themselves killed every day. “I’m going out for a while.”

“Where?” Laura looked alarmed and stood up.

“I’m going to see Leslie.” The lie came quickly, easily. She went upstairs to change into jeans and to put the few items in her dressy purse back into her everyday one, gun on top. She paused at her doorway, her stomach in knots. She was only going to drive around, first to Betsy’s, to find Hank. The thought of seeing Betsy herself made her shiver. No way was she going to confront the woman. No way.

Tina was surprised to see it was raining when she stepped outside. She dashed to her car, wishing again for a big enough garage so both she and her mother could park inside.

After starting the engine, she put the heater on high against the wet chill and clicked on the windshield wipers. Then she pulled out of the driveway, headed toward Betsy’s house.

Hank stood on Betsy’s doorstep, dripping. She still wore her coat and didn’t want to let him in. She wanted to be alone with her brandy. But she did need to know where they’d taken Doctor, so she opened the door wider.

He stepped inside, took off his canvas duster and handed it to her. She hung it in the hall closet.