Dark Tort Part 13

Vic's face turned pale under his freckles. He seemed to be struggling with a response when the phone rang. I checked my watch: almost eleven. This was turning into a very long evening.

"Is Vic there?" Sally Routt asked, her voice breathless. "He never came back, and one of the neighbors just called and said somebody was hurt in the street." She snuffled, then started to sob. "I can't, I can't...take any more."

"Vic is fine, Sally," I rea.s.sured her. "We're just going to let him rest for a minute. Then he'll be on his way back over."

"I'm just jittery about everything; sorry." She stopped and took a deep breath, as if trying to keep her composure. "Colin can't seem to stop crying, and I'm trying to get him back to sleep. It feels as if everything is falling apart."

"Do you want to come stay with us? It would be fine, Arch is going over to his half brother's-"

"I just would like you to send Vic back over. I know I didn't want to see him earlier, but now he's being awfully nice and helpful..."

"Right. I'll send him back."

When I told Vic that Sally needed him, he shook his head and stood up. "Yeah, I stayed too long." Vic's dark eyes caught mine. "Mrs. Schulz, you look awfully tired."

I nodded grimly. I did feel numb from exhaustion, not only because it was getting really late, but because thinking about Donald Ellis's party was draining what little late-night energy I had managed to summon after the visit from Claggs et al. In point of fact, I wanted this particular day to end as soon as possible. Still, though, what had Vic said? I'm just trying to help Mrs. Routt, you know? No, I didn't know. Why, all of a sudden, was Vic Zaruski trying to help Sally Routt? Were they particularly close? Or was Vic trying to stay close to the investigation for other reasons? And furthermore: as long as I was being suspicious, had Vic really almost been run down by an SUV? Or had he staged a near accident to make himself sympathetic? Hmm.

"Just a sec, Vic," I said. "Where'd Dusty get the computer? Do you know?"

"St. Luke's parish office. The church was getting a whole new system, so they gave that old thing to Dusty." His face became serious again. "Anyway, Mrs. Routt thought it might be useful to you in looking into Dusty's death."

"I'm not an alternative to the cops, Vic. Remember what Tom said? He's taking it down to the department. In any event, even if I could get something out of that bashed-up machine, which is a pretty big if, I'd be guilty of concealing evidence and obstruction of justice and G.o.d only knows what else, maybe material witness after the fact."

"You can give the cops information that might lead to an arrest, Sally says," Vic continued. "She just doesn't want embarra.s.sing stuff about Dusty appearing in the paper, you know. In case she was, you know-"

"Having an affair with a client of H&J? Selling drugs? Swapping s.e.xual favors for expensive jewelry?"

Vic shrugged. "Whatever. Look, I gotta go."

"Tom," I said after I'd closed the door, "do you trust Vic?"

He c.o.c.ked his head and gave me his patented half smile. "I don't trust anybody until we've got a strong case against a suspect in custody."

"Right. Well, in the meantime, would you be willing to have a look at Dusty's computer?"

"In the morning, Miss G. It'll keep. Meanwhile, you look exhausted."

I peered into the antique gilded mirror that Tom had hung in our front hall. The light shining through the crystal drops of our small overhead chandelier-another antique find of Tom's-cast a prism across the front hall. My dark-circled eyes, pallid face, and head of flattened blond curls did not look too good.

"Exhausted, nothing. I look like h.e.l.l." I glanced back at the kitchen. "You go on up. I'll be with you in five minutes."

"I need to take care of the animals first. Miss G., do not try to mess with that computer tonight. If you do, I'm going to carry you up to bed myself."

"Yeah, yeah, tough guy," I muttered as Tom moved quickly into the pet-care area adjoining the kitchen, where he was greeted by Jake and Scout. Instead of following him, I veered into the dining room. Fatigue or no fatigue, I was consumed with curiosity regarding Dusty's computer.

I frowned at the big plastic-encased box with its small moss-colored screen. The thing was not just a dinosaur, it was a Tyrannosaurus rex that had fallen off a cliff. I didn't recognize the brand, but that didn't mean anything. Like most kids of his generation, Arch was the technological wizard of the household. And he was away, spending the night with his half brother. Since the next day was Sat.u.r.day, he wouldn't be home before Tom carted the thing off to the department. Dammit.

The plastic housing was dented and the screen scratched where Vic had slammed into the car on our curb. Probably won't even boot, I thought as I plugged in the cord. To my surprise, when I pressed what I thought was the on b.u.t.ton, the box started humming. But the screen remained dark. I checked the wires for a loose connection and tapped every b.u.t.ton I could think of that might bring the thing to life, with no result.

Of course, I was desperate to know what Dusty had recorded, if anything. Perhaps she'd fingered someone she hadn't been getting along with, even said how scared of him she was. Yeah, right. Maybe her hopes and dreams were recorded in a separate file. There might even be love letters. I imagined myself reading the inner workings of Dusty's mind. A knot of grief formed in my chest and I rubbed my face. From the entry to the dining room, Tom cleared his throat. He held out his hand. I grasped it and followed him up to bed.

I woke during the night, not because of any noise, but because of the sudden silence. A monumental stillness blanketed our house and neighborhood. More snow, I thought. I'd been too preoccupied with disaster to check the forecast. Worse, I had an event to cater that day, a party that I'd be driving to in a van with only marginally safe radial tires. Then I remembered Dusty, and scolded myself for being upset about something as insignificant as the status of my wheels.

A sob erupted from somewhere in my gut. It took me more by surprise than it did Tom. Tom, immediately alert, pulled me in so that my back was warmed by his chest.

"It's going to be okay, Miss G.," he murmured. "You're going to be all right. Everything will work out."

I cried until I was too tired to cry anymore. Then I allowed Tom's warmth to circle me like a mantle. Like the house, I fell into a deep hush.

When my alarm went off at five, everything outside was still quite dark. I slipped out of bed and tiptoed to a window. About four inches of new snow nestled against the ledge. Not as bad as it could have been, I thought as my eyes inevitably sought out the little Habitat house where the Routts lived. A streetlight nearby barely illuminated the place, which was shrouded in darkness. Sally would be getting up this morning without her daughter there, without her daughter ever coming back. My mind jumped to the thought of the funeral. When would it take place? Too shocked with reality, no one had spoken of it the day before. I hadn't a clue when the coroner's office would release Dusty's body. It was the weekend, so things could be backed up...

Liquid concrete seemed to be pouring into my chest again, so I turned away and sat on the navy, burgundy, and cream Oriental runner Tom had placed in our bedroom for me to do my yoga every morning.

"You should not face the world if you are unable to give to the world," Andre, my catering mentor, had been wont to say. No question about it, I did not feel able to face the world this morning, much less give it a thing. But I needed to go forward. I closed my eyes and prayed for Dusty and her family. Then I crossed my legs and surveyed my narrow piece of carpet. A few minutes later, I began with the cleansing breath and started to move, slowly, slowly through my asanas. Whenever thoughts raided my head, I put them aside with another cleansing breath. It helped.

Something else that would help was a major dose of caffeine, I told myself as I took a quick shower and zipped myself into a clean catering outfit of black pants and white shirt. The house felt cold as I stole down the stairs, and I tried to recall if Tom or I had remembered to turn on the heat. If either one of us had, and the heat wasn't working, that meant there'd been a power outage because of the snow. If we'd lost power, then the espresso machine would be out of commission, and if I couldn't have a four-shot latte before finishing up the prep for the Ellis party, I was going to have to find a tractor to drive into the house of the power company's CEO.

And here I'd been thinking that prayer and yoga had rendered me serene. Well, there were limits.

But the power was on. In less than two minutes I'd turned on the heat in the main-floor rooms and was sitting on one of our new kitchen stools, sipping a quadruple-shot latte made with whipping cream. I slurped down some more coffee and stared at the screen of the kitchen computer. For Donald Ellis's birthday party, I'd already made the empanadas, guacamole, and stuffed Portobello mushrooms. Now I just had to pull together salad ingredients, crush herbs to sprinkle over the beef tenderloin, and prep the ingredients for the Parmesan mashed-potato mounds. The steamed broccoli, snap peas, and pattypan squash, along with their cherry-tomato garnish, could be prepped at the Ellises' house, and the frozen homemade sourdough rolls just needed to be thawed. And there was the Old Reliable birthday cake, which Julian had wrapped and put in the walk-in, and I only needed to frost and decorate the thing.

The other eight H&J lawyers were still in Maui, ostensibly pursuing their continuing-education courses; Georgina, the firm's paralegal, and Marilou, the legal secretary, were taking their notes for them. And Georgina and Marilou wouldn't have been invited to Donald's party, in any event. So the folks from the firm would be Richard Chenault and K.D., his soon-to-be ex-wife, whom Donald had asked Nora to invite, since, Nora had said, she was "such a wonderful person." Claggs and his wife, Ookie, would also be in attendance, Nora had told me, although she warned me that "Ookie always gets plastered at these things, so watch the wine." Oh yeah, right, between roasting the tenderloins and heating the potato puffs, I would just dash out and check on the levels of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. But I had said nothing as Nora had breezed on with the list of guests. Along with Nora and Donald and Nora's father, Bishop Sutherland, there would be three other neighbor couples, "two attorneys and their wives, and a couple, the Odes, who are clients of Donald's." I had catered to a few of these folks, but knew none of them well...except for Michael Radford, the divorce lawyer whom Marla had hired when she'd wanted to protect her wealth from the Jerk. Michael Radford had been good at that.

Now, because that only made thirteen, Nora had asked if I knew of a single female around town who would be appropriate. I'd immediately supplied Marla's name. Nora had barely been able to conceal a wrinkle of disgust-she knew Marla from St. Luke's-before she drew her pretty, impish face into a smile and said that would be fine. Luckily, Marla, the self-proclaimed scourge of the country-club set, could usually be counted upon to keep one or another conversational group laughing. Or crying. But she'd liven up the party, no question. When I'd brightly told Nora this, she'd muttered, "I'll bet."

I removed the tenderloins from the refrigerator. Since the beef required just a short time to roast, I'd be cooking them at the Ellises' house. I washed my hands, took out a batch of frozen homemade sourdough rolls, and started in on the potatoes. Julian had placed himself in charge of the vegetables and salad. I glanced at the clock: incredibly, it was six already. Julian had promised to be here by seven with his supplies, and he was unfailingly punctual.

While the potatoes were boiling, I pulled the sheet cake out of the freezer and placed it on the kitchen table. Nora had directed me to decorate it with something "lawyerly," whatever that meant. But after staring at the large rectangle for a while and trying to think what she meant, I realized I should make the whole thing look like a legal pad. A frosted yellow rectangle covered with thin blue frosted lines shouldn't be so difficult, I thought, as I softened unsalted b.u.t.ter and pulled out confectioners' sugar, cream, and vanilla. Then on one of the lines I'd carefully write "No Law Against Having a Happy Birthday, Donald!" Honestly, the stuff caterers are called upon to do.

While the beaters were mixing the ingredients into a creamy melange, I hunted up my cake-decorating tools, professional food colors, and a plastic ruler. I could only find an old one of Arch's, so I washed it three times in the hottest water I could stand, since I didn't want any bits of dried school glue or old chewing gum sticking to Bishop Sutherland's, or anyone else's, teeth. Frosting the cake itself took concentration, but it was fun, sort of like an elementary-school art project. Once it was done, I snapped a hard plastic sheet-cake cover over my creation. It wouldn't do to get my masterpiece smashed by an errant raw tenderloin. I whacked the walk-in door fully open and carefully placed the sheet cake on a shelf.

Julian was almost due to arrive, so I drained the potatoes and started gathering the serving platters and utensils we would need. Nora's maid was setting the table and cleaning up; Nora herself had ordered Chardonnay to go with the appetizers as well as the Pinot Noir that I had suggested be served with the beef. We would arrive at ten to set up, finish the cooking, and serve, and everything should go like clockwork.

I stared at the steaming potatoes and tried to think, but couldn't. I fixed myself another latte and sat down at the kitchen table. Why had Dusty told me she wanted to learn to cook so she could snag a rich dude? Had she had someone in mind? Did the bracelet that I wasn't supposed to see mean she'd found that wealthy guy? I had no idea, and my memory of Dusty seemed to mock me. Every time she'd mastered a new dish, she'd thrown back her head and laughed with such innocence that I'd found myself smiling. Now I wondered why this had amused me.

Buck up, I ordered myself. But what if Sally called today asking if I'd figured anything out? Dusty's computer, which might or might not yield up any secrets, was worthless until someone was able to fix it, and even that was doubtful. Please find out what happened to my baby, Sally had begged me. I banged my cup down on the saucer so hard that both of them broke.

I cursed and cleaned up the mess. Then I b.u.t.tered my m.u.f.fin tins, mashed the potatoes and mixed in cream, seasonings, and Parmesan, and carefully scooped out smooth b.a.l.l.s of this mixture and dropped them into individual m.u.f.fin cups. So now I was done until Julian showed up. I fixed myself a plain espresso-well, those last four shots had been mixed with cream, so they hardly counted, did they?-poured it into a plastic cup, and scooted back up to my computer screen. I would open a file on Dusty and put in everything I knew so far. I'd pose a few questions, too.

Sipping the dark stuff, I typed up the names and positions of every single person who'd been working at the law firm as of Thursday night, excluding the lawyers, paralegal, and legal secretary in Hawaii: Richard Chenault. Donald Ellis. Louise Upton. Wink Calhoun. Alonzo Claggett. Had Dusty had problems with any of them that neither Wink nor I knew about? Wink had said Dusty had been working on some complicated oil-and-gas leases for Donald Ellis. But then, after Charlie Baker died, dealing with his estate had taken precedence. This work had been b.u.mped up the totem pole because Richard was handling it, and Richard was, as Louise Upton never tired of reminding us, the boss. I wondered if Wink knew the details of either of those chunks of work.

What about clients? I knew some of them from when they facetiously requested my advice, and was occasionally introduced when I brought in drinks and comestibles. Who would know more about the clients with whom Dusty had contact? If anyone would, it would be Wink. I reminded myself to put a call in to her a bit later in the morning.

What else? Well, there was Vic Zaruski. He and Dusty had just broken up, but could he have given her the bracelet when they were going together? I was pretty sure Vic's salary at Art, Music, and Copies could not be much above minimum wage. I also knew vaguely that Vic was trying to make it as a musician. But I doubted any of his gigs would have generated enough cash for him to purchase anything as elaborate as that bracelet.

Could Donald Ellis have given Dusty the bracelet? He was a nerd who was married, and his wife was worth a mint. He sure didn't seem like the cheating type, but maybe he fooled around anyway. Could Richard have given the bracelet to Dusty, as a gift for her work at the firm? If so, why would it have been such a big secret?

And then there was Alonzo Claggett. He was much better looking than either Donald or Richard, and if he gambled and his wife drank, maybe he was looking for an understanding young paralegal-in-training to comfort him. And if Dusty's beau had been Alonzo, Donald, or a married client, then that would explain why she'd felt the need to keep things secret. Or maybe she had worried about the wrath of Louise Upton, if Louise had thought totems on the pole had become involved? Then again, had Dusty been concerned about Vic getting jealous? Who knew?

What about one of the lawyers who was in Hawaii? Was any one of them partial to Dusty? Who would know? Maybe a more appropriate question would be, Who would tell me?

This wasn't much to go on, I reflected as I slid from my seat. But it was a start. Would Alonzo, Donald, or Richard be willing to talk to me about Dusty at the party? Working at the firm, I'd learned lawyers loved to gossip more than high-school girls. Maybe they'd let me in on some inside scoop.

I glanced over at the potato puffs, which seemed to be calling me. Well, I had made plenty. I melted some b.u.t.ter in a small saute pan and fried a fourth of one until it was golden brown. My mouth watered as I placed the potato puff on a plate. With the first bite, I almost swooned. The crispy exterior housed a hot, thick, cheesy interior. Talk about comfort food. Why didn't folks have mashed potatoes for breakfast?

The phone rang. It stopped ringing before I'd finished my last bite, which irritated me no end. I certainly hoped it wasn't Julian, informing us his Range Rover was stuck in a snowdrift.

Tom shuffled into the kitchen in his robe, a mangy gray thing that I was dying to steal and throw away when he wasn't looking.

"That was the coroner's office. Cause of death was lack of oxygen. Manner of death was strangulation. She fought with her attacker, but didn't get any skin under her nails, unfortunately. The coroner's investigating some other things, and we should know more later in the day. Looks like Dusty broke gla.s.s in one of the picture frames, or was slammed into it. Anyway, that was indeed the cause of the gash in her forehead, and all the blood."

"Have they figured out the time of death, anything like that?"

"Whoa, Goldy, we're lucky to have that much. They'll establish a window for time of death when they do the full autopsy. He said they're not too stacked up there."

I looked out the window at the snow and tried not to think of corpses acc.u.mulated in piles.

"Did they find anything at the crime scene? Like that opal and diamond bracelet I was telling you about?"

"Nope. No bracelet. No sign of forced entry either. What's the security like there, anyway?"

"Old-fashioned," I replied. "Keys. Everybody had a set."

Tom looked around the kitchen. "Well, they want me to go in and help them out. I'm going to have to take the computer."

"Tom, please. I don't want to get Sally Routt into trouble."

"Gotta do my job, Miss G. And I don't think you'd fancy being charged as a material witness."

Oh, so that was what I was facing. I put two cups under the spouts of the espresso machine, pressed b.u.t.tons, and tried to think.

"Okay, look," I ventured. "The computer won't boot. Could you see if you can fix it? If you can, I'll print out everything that's in it and look it over. I'll see if Dusty said anything about a new boyfriend, or enemies, or rich clients, or even folks at the law firm. If I recognize any of the people she's talking about, I can tell you. Meanwhile, if it won't boot, you can take it and I'll tell Sally she needs to trust law enforcement more."

Tom raised his eyebrows. "I'll give it an hour. The team won't be a.s.sembled down at the department until nine."

"Get it to work, and I'll make your sausage-and-potato ca.s.serole for dinner tonight."

Tom chuckled. "You make that ca.s.serole, I'll get somebody here now to fix that machine."

Tom moved into the dining room and began puttering with the old computer. As he grunted and complained under his breath, I a.s.sembled boxes to take over to the Ellis place. Julian called and said a Volvo had crashed into a BMW at the bottom of Marla's driveway, and he couldn't get out. Apparently, a tow truck was on the way. He also offered an unprintable curse on folks who didn't know how to drive in snow. He promised to be at the house by eight. I told him it was no problem, I was running ahead of schedule.

Five minutes later, Tom hollered, "Yeah, baby!" in the excited tone he used to celebrate a Bronco touchdown. I hurried into the dining room; the computer screen was lit with a screen saver that was a picture of little Colin Routt. "One of the wires was loose," he offered. I told him I'd checked all the connections. Tom shrugged, then double-clicked and brought up a list of doc.u.ments.

"Okay, Goldy. I'm going to connect my printer to this thing so you can get all the stuff you want. It's better than my messing with your printer, then having to hook it back up to the kitchen computer. Okay?"

"Great. I'll get everything printed out before you leave, trust me."

Tom reached out and pulled me in for a warm hug. "Aren't you glad you have a husband who can fix things?"

I kissed his handsome face on both cheeks, then looked into his green eyes the color of the ocean. "I'm glad I have you. I don't care about the fix-it part."

"Yeah, right." He released me and ambled off to the bas.e.m.e.nt, where he kept his computer, files, and printer.

It only took about another ten minutes before Tom's printer was connected and merrily spitting out reams of paper from the Routts' files. There was a lot of material. Recipes. Addresses. Bills. What looked like drafts of papers and briefs Dusty had written for her first semester of paralegal training courses. There was a file marked "Journal," but I didn't take the time to read any of it, as I was in a hurry to finish. The journal itself was forty-odd pages long, single s.p.a.ced.

"Done," I said to Tom as he reentered the living room, freshly showered and looking snazzy in jeans, turtleneck, and a chocolate-brown wool sweater I'd given him. He glanced at the stack of pages: about four hundred. He c.o.c.ked one of his sandy-colored eyebrows at me. When are you going to have time to read all that? Then he disconnected the computer and heaved it onto the kitchen table. He pulled on his boots, overcoat, and cable-knit brown wool cap, another gift from me. When he was dressed for the outdoors, he pulled me in for a long kiss that reminded me again why I was glad this particular man was my husband, fix-it genius or no.

"I'll call you," he said after he let go of me.

"Wait a sec. When you're down at the department, could you ask the detectives if they picked up on anything in the romantic department for Dusty? I mean, if she was having a fling with someone who gave her that bracelet, would the lawyers or staff be duty bound to tell your guys?"

"Oh, absolutely. I'll ask."

A moment later he was pushing out our back door holding the computer. "You're going to have your cell?"

"I'm putting it in my pocket right now."

Which was what I did. No sooner had he backed carefully out of our driveway than Julian pulled into it. The Rover engine growled as Julian made short work of the snow. On the way in, he put down his bags to pat Scout and Jake. Then he picked up his loads and stamped across the deck to the back door.

"Dammit to h.e.l.l and back that folks from Florida feel they have to make a trek to the farthest grocery store available to get milk when it snows!" were his first words once he'd come into the kitchen.

"And good morning to you, too, Goldy," I said.

"Yeah, yeah." He placed the bags on the counter and gave me his patented furious look, although I knew him well enough by now to tell it was bogus. "From now on," he announced, his dark hair quivering, "I'm going to start filling a really big thermos with espresso and sugar before I go anywhere. Either that, or have a battery-operated coffee machine put in that car, I swear."

"Great idea. Have some caffeine, then let's finish up the food for this lunch."

Julian fixed himself a quadruple espresso, which he doused with his usual numerous heaping teaspoons of sugar. I tried not to look, like on those nature channels where you really don't want to see the alligator eat the flamingo. But it was too late.

"As long as you were running ahead of schedule and I wasn't going to be here on time, I stopped at Aspen Meadow Cafe to pick up some pastries and run them over to Meg Blatchford," he said. When Julian smiled, his entire face lit. "The oldest Episcopalian in Aspen Meadow was out in the snow, no less, practicing pitching her softball into that bucket in her yard. But there was something else."

"Something else?"

Julian chugged his espresso and set his cup in the sink. "There wasn't anything physically wrong with her. You know her, she's so healthy she should be the cover girl for the AARP magazine. What I mean is that she was agitated. She said she'd like to talk to you. Said it couldn't wait until tomorrow's christening."

I looked ruefully at the stack of pages I'd printed out from Dusty's computer. A snowstorm, Julian delayed, and now the ordinarily docile Meg Blatchford needing to see me ASAP. When was I going to get to read what Dusty had put in her computer? What if Sally called demanding to know what progress I'd made?

Julian, sensing my distress, washed his hands, then began retrieving the vegetables he'd brought and running them under cold water. Over the gush from the faucet, he said, "We could make it to Meg's, you know. If we left here at nine instead of nine-thirty. I can finish the prep while you pack the van. No, wait. I had a look at your tires the other day, and you don't want to take the van in this snow. Let's take the Rover."

"Your Rover's not approved as a food-service vehicle."

"Yeah? There isn't going to be any food service if we get stuck in a ditch."

"Look...Julian?"

"Oh, boy. Here it comes."

"I have some stuff I'm desperate to start reading before we go. Any chance you could do all the prep and pack us up?"