The Happy Housewife (Samantha Sherman Book 1) (12 page)

Helen’s head was getting lower and lower, bending towards the top of the table. Sam felt like she was punching her with each sentence but, she told herself, you’re doing her a favor. Sam wanted to say more, needed to say more, but she realized she should wait and let Helen process what she had said.

“Well, maybe you’re right. I guess I’m in denial. I had started to believe that I had atoned for my sins and that the past was gone from my life. Telling the police about it feels like I’m going back thirty years. I’ve changed my life, Sam. I don’t even know that radical person I used to be anymore.”

“I know you have changed, Helen, and this won’t set you back. Most likely it’s not even relevant and, while you’ll be embarrassed to look at the police, you’ll never see them again. I know this has been tough on you, losing a friend, particularly to violence, but I think being honest is the way to go. You’ve got nothing to hide.”

Helen finally looked up. Her eyes glistened but she kept it together, “Okay, I’ll talk to them. I guess I should call right away?”

Sam hesitated. She knew she should watch getting too involved but Helen seemed so delicate. She had to help. “Why don’t you let me call Detective Vitriola? He’s an old family friend and much more approachable than his partner. I think he’s more likely to be understanding about this. I’ll ask him if he’ll come over to the house to talk. How does that sound?”

“Will you be there when I talk to him?”

“Of course I will, Helen.” Sam paused and then decided there was one more thing she should talk about with Helen and it had to be done before the police were involved again. She started, “
Um,
Helen, there’s one more part of this that we should probably discuss.”

Helen was looking at her so expectantly, so trustingly, Sam felt terrible about crushing her. “Helen,” she started again, “I think you should consider telling the police about Clint, Marjorie, and anyone else who was at your meeting on Sunday. It makes sense to tell the police about everyone Dan had contact with before he was killed. Again, it’s about telling the whole truth. You could explain it to your friends afterwards by saying that the police asked you to retell what happened on Sunday and you were too scared to lie. I know these people are like family to you but telling the police the whole truth this time is so very important.”

Helen looked so stricken that Sam stopped. “But Sam, they weren’t even there when it happened. Why drag them into this?”

Sam chose not to answer the question. She didn’t want to let on that she had been spying so she tried another way, “Helen, how well did Clint, Dan, and Marjorie get along?”

Helen averted her eyes before answering, “Oh we’re all old friends. Of course, you can’t go this long without some tension here and there but it’s all low level kinds of things.” She gave a little laugh which sounded desperately fake.

“Okay, Helen, I didn’t want to tell you this but the vent in my bedroom lets me hear what is going on in the kitchen. I’m kind of embarrassed, although I shouldn’t be because it’s my house, but I heard most of your conversation with Clint and Marjorie. It sounded to me like there were issues between Dan and them and I know there was at least one other person, Pete, who was at your house Sunday.”

The glistening in Helen’s eyes had finally spilled over and a lone tear meandered down her cheek. Sam felt her stomach turn over. She moved over next to Helen and put her hand on top of Helen’s slightly shaky one. “Helen, isn’t it time to tell me the whole story? I realize you’ve kept things close to the vest for a long time but you’ve got to be forthcoming about all this or I really believe this could get bad for you.”

Sam stopped and they sat together like that for a time. Helen sniffed and cried although no more tears came out. Sam studied her face. Helen was crying the kind of silent cry where no noise comes out but the shoulders heave. When Helen finally spoke, there was a quiver in her voice, “I don’t know where to start.”

“Why don’t you tell me what everyone did back in the movement, including Pete?”

“Well, John and I got to know Dan in California. I think I told you that? He was a fervent believer in establishing a Cuban style revolution. He was always very gentle, however, and while he liked the idea of revolution he had no stomach for involvement in violence. His part in the movement was to try and reach out to the governments we admired. He had meetings with the North Vietnamese in Paris and had been on a trip to Cuba. Clint, as you can imagine, was more militant and thought Dan was weak and riding on the backs of those who were more willing to take physical chances. Marjorie was not and is not a strong personality and sort of drifted into the movement. I never got that she felt that strongly about things; she just seemed to be one of those middle class kids who felt lost in college and liked a hippie lifestyle. Clint provided her with direction and, during the time we were all active, she listened to every word he said. I think he abused her a bit, not physically hurting her, but, verbally and I don’t think he was always faithful to her. They’ve managed to work things out though.”

“It seems like there was more to it than that, Helen. They aren’t married but monogamy got mentioned sarcastically, I believe.”

Helen coughed, “Well, at some point Marjorie and Dan had some kind of affair. I don’t know when and I don’t think it’s important.”

“Helen,” Sam tried to sound kind and not condescending, “I think the police might care as that’s a motive for Clint. It’s also a motive for Marjorie depending on how the affair ended.” When Helen didn’t respond, Sam didn’t force things further. She moved on to another question. “What made everyone else leave the movement? Particularly Clint. He seems so hard core now, I can’t imagine how fiery he must have been back then.”

Helen chuckled, it actually sounded natural, “Yeah, he was something else.” She smiled and then continued, “Well, you know why I left. Dan left eventually because of the violence. Clint left once most of the people in the movement were on the run. The final impetus was watching our people get arrested. Clint believed in the cause but he’s smart and he realized success wasn’t going to happen this way. He came to believe that the moment for a Cuban style revolution had passed. He stayed in the movement for a couple years after Dan and I left and then drifted away. Marjorie, of course, paralleled what Clint did. She almost broke away from Clint with Dan, but in the end she wound up with Clint. Maybe she just needs the structure that Clint provides.”

Helen was talking in choppy sentences with moments of quiet in between them. She fell silent again so Sam jumped in and prompted her, “Who is Pete?”

“Pete’s a tough case. He was very active in the movement and unfortunately also became heavily involved with drugs. He did a lot of them, particularly LSD. At some point he went beyond the point of return. He hasn’t done drugs for years but is what you would call ‘slow’ now. He works at the school as a janitor. He used to be a brilliant writer.”

Sam really wished Helen would just come out with her full story. It was getting annoying having to prod her along. She tried to remember patience and asked another question. Unfortunately, a bunch of questions came flying out. “So at what point did Marjorie, Clint, and Pete join up with you? Have you traveled together all these years, making amends? How has Dan been involved? Are there more people in your group?”

Helen shifted in her seat and gave a small grimace, “Oh gosh, it’s not a group and we definitely never made plans to wind up teaching at the same school. Clint and Marjorie have been in the Washington, DC, area for a long time. I don’t know exactly where they went during the couple of years after I got out of the movement but for the last ten to fifteen years at least they’ve lived in this area. They are involved in local elections and like being near national politics. Pete was in hiding for awhile and has lived all over the United States. When I heard he was down to living on the street in New York City, I brought him here and helped him get the janitor job. Dan moved to DC right away when he left the movement, after helping me move back to Chicago. He worked in Democrat Party politics but eventually became apolitical and focused on teaching. He just moved to Chicago recently. He said he needed a change.”

“Why did he lie about living in Chicago his whole life?” When Helen looked at her quizzically, Sam continued, “When I met Dan, he said that he had lived his whole life in Chicago. I thought it was weird that he didn’t know why it’s called the Windy City. It was obvious once I figured that out that he couldn’t have lived there his whole life. Why lie about it?”

“Sam, lying about our past is just instinct. You’re right. There was no reason to lie in that instance. I’ve just been covering for my past for so long that it’s normal to lie. It’s natural for all of us.”

“
Hmmm,
okay, why did Dan move? Was it a result of the affair? Was anyone mad he left?”

“I really don’t know when the relationship with Marjorie occurred. Pete was upset Dan was leaving. I couldn’t get him to understand. Sometimes he still thinks he’s in the movement so he thought Dan was abandoning ‘the cause.’”

“Helen. I really think you need to tell the police all of this. It may not matter at all but you need to cover yourself. I know these people are your family but they’re looking out for themselves too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I noticed that Clint told you he doesn’t think you need to mention him and the others to the police. Of course he doesn’t! He’s protecting himself. He one hundred percent has a motive, or at least has cause to not want to talk to the police. It also sounds like Pete might have reasons to keep away from the police as well. Even Marjorie has a motive because we don’t know on what terms her affair with Dan ended.”

Sam let what she was saying sink in for a minute. Helen needed to start thinking about herself. She started again, “So do you still want me to call Detective Vitriola? Remember he’s the nice older police officer.” Helen nodded and so Sam continued on, feeling as though she was winning Helen over. “I think Detective Vitriola will be understanding about what happened and he has lots of experience so he isn’t likely to overreact.”

“The other detective seemed as though he was suspicious of me.”

Sam smiled, “Well, don’t feel bad. Detective Barrett almost threw me out of your house! He is on loan from the DC police so I think he’s a little high strung.”

Helen almost smiled but choked up as she spoke, “I’m ready, Sam. If you think we should call, then let’s call.”

“Good, Helen. I know this is hard but I really think it’s the right thing to do. I’m going to go grab Detective Vitriola’s number. I have his card in my purse.”

Sam had brought her purse upstairs with her when she left Helen and her friends alone to talk. As she headed up to get it, she felt a surge of confidence.
I haven’t felt that in a long time
, Sam suddenly realized. She remembered the feeling of walking out to the HH65 Dolphin, the helicopter she flew in the Coast Guard, to do a pre-flight check of the aircraft. She remembered the feel of her flight suit, it’s almost pajama like comfort and the softness of one that had a few years of wear. Whenever she walked out to the flight line she looked at the helicopter and felt a surge of pride; she flew it, she commanded a crew. It was a neat accomplishment. She felt like she knew what she was doing, that she was in command of her life.

Sam grabbed her purse and found Don’s card. When she got back downstairs she smiled brightly. “I got it!”

Helen looked nauseous but smiled weakly. Sam grabbed her cordless phone and started dialing before Helen could change her mind. Don picked up right away. “Vitriola,” he said quickly. He sounded busy.

“Hi, Mr. Vitriola. It’s Sam Sherman.”

His tone immediately changed to a friendly one, “Sam, great to hear from you. How’s everything going over there?”

“Helen and I are both doing fine but I wanted to talk to you about what happened yesterday at Helen’s.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Sam wasn’t sure where to start. It was probably best to tell as much as possible in person
.
“Well, Mr. Vitriola, of course I’m not an expert, so I’m not sure what the right process is for this, but Helen would like to speak to you again. She was in such shock on Monday that she realized today she might have some important background information that she left out. Would it be possible to arrange a meeting?”

“Of course, how about I come by tomorrow and we’ll chat? Is there anything big I should know about, Sam?”

Sam loved that Don always treated her as if she was still a professional, like he cared about her opinion on things. She responded to his question, “There is one big thing, Mr. Vitriola. Dan changed his name about thirty years ago so if you fingerprint him I’m not sure what will come up.”

“Wow, that’s kind of a big thing, Sam. Helen knew Dan for thirty years? And why would he change his name? This just slipped her mind?”

“Yes, she was scared. Helen and Dan were involved with some radical groups in the 60s and eventually changed their names for a fresh start. Her fear and the shock of Dan’s death made her realize that she should have told you this even though it probably doesn’t have anything to do with the burglary.”

“Well, the crime scene is being processed and we have this Loudoun thing going on so it’s been busy. If we had gotten those prints back before knowing this it would have been bad news for Helen. Tell you what; I’ll spare you the lecture. This isn’t your fault. I’ll definitely come by tomorrow after the funeral and we’ll get this sorted out. Is 1:00 p.m. all right with you?”

“Great, Mr. Vitriola. We’ll be here and I can have lunch ready for you.
Um
, one more thing. Would it be acceptable if I sat in with Helen? She is very nervous.”

“Sure, that all sounds fine.”

Don and Sam said their good-byes and Sam felt good; she had fixed a problem. She replaced the phone and turned to comfort Helen who was crying again with those heaves of the shoulders without making any noise or producing tears. “Really, Helen, Mr. Vitriola is a great guy; he seemed to be understanding. He did say, though, that it was a good thing for you to come forward now.”