Sour Apples (34 page)

“Of course. Why? Oh…you’re looking for alibis. Yes, I checked, after you asked before. Rick was nowhere near Granford when that woman was murdered—he was with a lot of other people, including me. As for the second murder…I don’t know. There were campaign events early that evening, but later?” She shook her head.

“Alibis aside, if Rick arranged to have a crime committed, he’s equally guilty under the law, you know,” Art said. “It’s called ‘solicitation to commit murder,’ and it’s a felony.”

Lauren was shaking her head more vehemently this time. “No, no, no! Not Rick. I’m less sure about Tom—he may not be an Einstein, but he
is
loyal. To tell the truth, I wondered if we were going to have to rein him in at some point. He’s ridiculously protective of Rick.”

Meg had the fleeting thought that the same could be said about Lauren; she was doing everything possible to excuse Rick. On the other hand, from what she’d seen of Tom, what Lauren said rang true.

“All right, then,” Art said briskly. “We should get going to Northampton. If we’re early, we can fill Marcus in before Rick gets there. Meg, you don’t have to come. I’m sure Seth has all the information you two have put together.”

Meg wondered if she should be insulted at being excluded, but she realized she didn’t really want to be there for yet another confrontation. Let other people take care of this mess. “That’s fine.”

“Lauren, that goes for you, too,” Art continued. “Let’s keep things simple for now.”

“All right,” Lauren said with surprising meekness.

Seth and Art gathered up their coats and left by the back door. From the kitchen window Meg watched them climb into Art’s cruiser and drive off. She busied herself with tidying the kitchen, and Lauren made a feeble effort to help.

“I’m sorry I wouldn’t listen to you, Meg,” Lauren said, leaning on a counter, a dishcloth dangling from her hand. “I really do believe in Rick and what he wants to do for the district and the state, and I thought you were just trying to throw mud at him. You had accepted Seth’s opinion of him without thinking.”

Meg turned off the water and faced her. “Lauren, you should know me better than that. I’ve got a mind of my own. I wasn’t prejudiced against Rick at the start. I realize what’s at stake here, and I don’t toss accusations around lightly. I’ve been on the wrong end of them myself, if you recall.”

Lauren turned away from Meg’s gaze. “I know. I’m sorry.” She reached for a wet cup and began polishing it with the dishcloth.

How well
does
Lauren know me?
Meg wondered as she went back to washing dishes.
And how well do I know her?
As she had told Seth, they had been professional friends, but that had never really extended to their lives outside of work. She knew Lauren was driven and competitive and that the recent turmoil in the banking industry had probably unsettled her. Had she really quit, or had she finally been booted out by the bank? How much did this campaign job mean to her? Was it a simple stopgap or a diversion before she went looking for a permanent job? Or did she envision working for a charismatic congressman in Washington on a long-term basis?

And how far would she go to make sure that happened?

Meg, what are you thinking? It sounds like you’re wondering how much Lauren
really
knew about all of this.
When had Lauren first known about the possible blot on Rick’s perfect record? And would she have tried to make it go away?

Lauren picked up a wet plate and started drying it. “Meg, I believe in Rick Sainsbury. He’ll be a good congressman. I don’t want to think that a mistake made by some of his employees over a decade ago can interfere with that.”

Meg kept her eyes on the dishes in the sink. “Lauren, I admire your loyalty. I also trust Detective Marcus to get things right. If Rick didn’t have a hand in these murders, he’ll be in the clear, and you can go on and get him elected.”

But Meg couldn’t help but wonder: could Lauren have manipulated Tom Ferriter into making the problem go away? Maybe. And Tom, Meg guessed, was dumb enough not to realize that he’d been used. She sighed. She’d probably never know—but she would probably never feel the same about Lauren.

“That’s exactly what I plan to do. Look, Meg, I think I’ll
go back to my motel and wait for Rick to get back. You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, you go ahead. I’m sure you’ll have a lot to do.”

“We’ll talk, okay?” Lauren said as she gathered up her coat and bag. “I know this hasn’t been easy, but I’m so glad you found your killer. Bye, now.” And Lauren was gone.

Seth returned several hours later, but Meg was surprised to see a second car pull into her driveway, with Rick Sainsbury behind the wheel. They both got out and headed for the back door, and Meg opened it promptly. Seth let Rick enter before him, and he smiled at Meg and joked, “No, I’m not under arrest. I’ve told that detective everything I know, but I wanted to speak with you in person.”

Meg’s eyes darted toward Seth, and he nodded. She said, “Please, sit down. Can I get you anything?”

“Nothing for me, thanks. I’ve got to meet with my campaign committee to go over how we handle all this in the press, so I can’t stay long.” He sat. Seth chose to lean against a countertop, so Meg took a chair opposite Rick.

Rick cleared his throat. “Meg, I won’t play games, all right? I’m grateful you didn’t make this into a public confrontation. It’s bad enough that Tom has been arrested for the two murders.

“You know as well as I do that Granford’s a small town.
I grew up here. When I heard about Joyce Truesdell’s death, I knew the property where she was running the dairy. I knew that Pioneer Valley had done work there, because it was our first remediation project. I’m ashamed to admit that I should have guessed that the job was incomplete.

“I’m not going to make excuses, but I’m just trying to explain. Back then—well, my father had been sick for a while, and he more or less ignored the business. Seth, you know what that’s like. I got my business degree and started working there, and gradually I got it back on its feet, and even expanded. That included diversification, and I was the one who added the site cleanup division. I helped them put together a proposal for the Granford site, and we won the bid.”

“What went wrong?” Meg asked.

“I can’t recall the details. I probably pushed the team too hard to get it done, and they may have cut some corners. I didn’t know at the time, I swear. Maybe I didn’t want to know. I read the reports, and they looked fine. The MDEP signed off on it. And we moved on to other things.”

“So you’re blaming your employees?” Meg asked.

Rick shook his head. “No, I’m not. I should have been more on top of it, and I should have asked more questions. But I was involved with the business side of the company, not the science side. I probably set unrealistic goals, and nobody disagreed with me. I realize now that I should have known that the results were too tidy. Seth, I’ll see to it that Pioneer Valley finishes what it started then, at no cost to the town.”

He turned back to Meg. “I didn’t make a point of telling my campaign staff about this particular connection to Granford, because I didn’t imagine it would come up.”

“What did you think when you learned that Joyce had been killed?” Meg demanded.

“I heard it was a tragic accident. It never occurred to me that her death had anything to do with me until you voiced
your concerns to Lauren. And if you’re still afraid to ask the question, no, I did not ask, hint, imply, or suggest that Tom Ferriter
kill anyone
to save my political campaign. What kind of person do you think I am? I’m the head of a thriving company. I’m not running for office to prove anything. I certainly don’t need to kill anyone to get there.”

Rick turned to Seth again. “Seth, I didn’t want to bring this up at Marcus’s office, but I know you’ve been against me from the start. Why?”

“It’s personal, not political,” Seth said.

“Seth,” Meg burst out, “if you say that one more time I’m going to throw something at you. Will you just tell him?”

Seth looked Rick in the eye. “The last game of your senior year. Andy Petruzzi.”

Rick didn’t answer immediately but kept his eyes on Seth. “You remember that?”

Seth nodded, once. “You got away with it. He didn’t deserve what you did, and you didn’t have to do it.”

“Meg knows about it?” Rick gestured toward Meg. Seth nodded again.

Rick looked down at his hands on the table. “I guess it’s what I deserve. I’m not proud of what I did. It was stupid—
I
was stupid. But I was young and pumped up, in the middle of a game. It’s something that happened in the heat of the moment. I really was king of the heap back then, you know? I thought I could get away with anything, and I got kind of carried away. Afterward I did try to apologize to Andy, make it right. My folks even paid for his medical bills. I’d like to think he forgave me long ago. Why are you hanging on to that, Seth?”

“What you did told me something about what kind of a person you were, Sainsbury,” Seth said. “It’s going to take more than your word to convince me that you’re a better man now.”

Rick sighed. “Seth, Meg, I am not a violent person. Ask
anyone who knows me—ask my employees, ask my wife. I rarely even get angry. I want to believe that deep down I’m an honest, moral person. I would not hurt someone just to get what I want—not in my business, and not in a political campaign.”

“Why should I believe you’ve changed?” Seth asked.

Rick sat back and looked directly at Seth. “Because it’s true.”

Seth’s expression did not waver, and Meg waited until the silence became unbearable. What had she expected? Hugs all around? “What about Tom? How’d he get involved?”

Rick smiled ruefully. “I thought I was doing a good deed. I
have
kept up with what’s going on in Granford, and with my old pals. Well, Tom was never exactly a pal—more like someone who followed me around in high school. I was flattered back then. I knew he’d been in his share of trouble since, and I knew he was out of a job. I really believed that if I hired him, even with a lousy salary, maybe it would give him the boost he needed to believe in himself. I was trying to help him out. And I do value loyalty. That’s supposed to be a good thing.

“Look, I know this all comes down to my word against Tom’s, but it looks like he’s confessed to the two deaths here. He claims that he honestly thought he was helping me—obviously I misjudged him. I will publicly acknowledge that the company I was running made a serious mistake with the Granford cleanup, and I will do what I can now to fix it. Will that satisfy you, Meg?”

Meg contemplated the man in front of her. Even in the midst of an apology, he still looked just a bit larger than life. She sighed. “Rick, I don’t know you, and I don’t have a long history in Granford. I trust Seth’s judgment, and I think I’ll have to wait and see if you live up to your promises before I can trust you.”

Now it was Rick’s turn to nod. “I understand. Just give me a chance, Meg.” He stood up, but before leaving, he
said, “I may not deserve it, but I ask your forgiveness. Maybe I’m not ready for to run for office and I should just go back and look after my business—and try to do it right.” Then he let himself out the back door.

Meg remained at the table, feeling drained, and Seth dropped heavily into the chair next to her. “Well,” Meg said, “that was interesting. Do you believe him, Seth?”

He didn’t answer immediately. Finally he said, “You know, I think I do.”

Meg nodded. “All right. The facts, such as they are, can be interpreted in a lot of ways, and it may not be possible to prove anything.” She debated briefly about telling Seth what she suspected about Lauren, but in the end she decided that it still fell under the heading of “unprovable.” Maybe Rick was exactly what he said he was—and maybe Meg had lost a friend. “If Rick decides to go ahead with the campaign, even if he comes clean about the Pioneer Valley cover-up, he might still have enough charisma and backing to pull it off. I guess the only question we need to answer is, can we live with that?”

Seth sat back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face. “Meg, let’s see how he handles himself from here. I’m not God, or even a judge. I’m willing to believe that Tom Ferriter may have acted alone. I think I’d prefer to give Rick Sainsbury the benefit of the doubt and believe he’s made some mistakes and will make up for them. Does that sound too soft?”

Meg leaned against him. “No, it sounds like the fair and decent thing to do, and I wouldn’t expect any less from you.” She glanced up at the clock. “Oh my goodness, is that really the time? Where has today gone?”

Seth stood up slowly. “I should go fill Mom in on what’s happened, and give Max a run.”

“Can I walk with you over to Lydia’s?” Meg asked. “After all this intense stuff I really need some fresh air to clear my head.”

“Sure.”

Meg retrieved a jacket and her keys before joining Seth outside the back door. April had crept up on her and was showing off: a gentle breeze riffled through the emerging leaves in the woods. Meg inhaled deeply. “I feel like we’ve been cooped up for days. At the risk of repeating myself, what a mess. Please tell me you don’t have any aspirations toward higher office,” she said as they set off up the hill behind her house.