Deadly secrets, p.24
Deadly Secrets, page 24
“That’s what they say.”
“That’s very good news. I like Sarajane. I respect her as a person and as an artist.”
“Did you know anything about her being involved with Tony Oakhurst?”
“Of course not. If I’d known that I would never have hired him.”
“Did you know anything about Oakhurst at all?”
“Only that he was a celebrity chef who got a lot of publicity. He seemed the ideal choice for our opening.”
“You mean, Haley never said anything to you about him? Ever?”
“What could she have said? Are you suggesting she knew something about him?”
“Only that he once had an affair with a woman she was in love with. And that he probably raped her as well.”
She sat up straight, her eyes opening wide. “You mean he raped Haley?”
“No. He raped the woman Haley was in love with.” I watched Valerie closely to see if there was any response to what I was going to say next. “Her name was Madeline Vincent. Have you ever heard that name before?”
Valerie’s cool didn’t desert her. “No. That name doesn’t mean anything to me. I find this all very hard to believe. Where did you get this information?”
“From the horse’s mouth. Haley herself.”
She shook her head in apparent disbelief.
“How many years have you and Haley been doing business?”
A pause before she answered. “A long time. More than ten years, I should think.”
“And you never talked about anything personal? All you ever talked about was business?”
“Of course not. We socialized a bit, but we never became close friends. Perhaps because our personalities were quite similar, I think. We’re both Type A. We’re entrepreneurs. We want to succeed. Talking about our personal lives was not what we did. It was just outside our focus.”
“That’s exactly what Haley said. How do you feel about that now? Don’t you think she might’ve warned you about the kind of man you were dealing with?”
“Why would she? This show had nothing to do with Haley. I never discussed it with her.”
“What about after Oakhurst was murdered? When you were in Paris?”
“You know. It never came up.”
“Well, I have news for you. I think I can tell you why it never came up.” I leaned forward to give my words emphasis. “Because Haley didn’t want it to.”
“And why was that?”
“Because your business associate, Haley Sanford is in more than the art business.”
“I suppose you’re now going to tell me she’s a drug dealer.”
She got me with that one. “You mean, you know she is?”
Without answering, Valerie opened a drawer in her desk and removed a small notebook. She turned pages for a while. “Ah. Here it is. This is my business diary. I made this note three years ago, in November of 1997. I saw some people in her gallery who didn’t look as if they belonged there. I can’t explain why. Haley was off in a corner with them and when I came in. She abruptly stopped talking and rushed toward me. They left immediately. Haley was not quite her usual composed self, at ease and in complete control. I sensed something was wrong. I asked her if everything was all right. She reassured me that everything was fine. Just a little problem with a supplier. Later that night, the scene stayed with me. I made this note. The note was a question. The question was, ‘Is Haley doing drugs?’” She smiled at me. She had the satisfied look of someone who’d just swallowed something scrumptious.
“So you’re pretty smart, aren’t you? You suspected something that long ago?”
“I didn’t really. I never looked at or thought about that note again.” She stood up. “I must get back to work. All this won’t help me get things right out there.”
“Wait a minute. There’s more.”
She opened the door. “Not today, there isn’t.”
CHAPTER 54
Cool. That’s what she was. And infuriating. Damned infuriating. I never got a chance to talk about Julia, Madeline’s mother. She said the name Madeline Vincent didn’t mean anything to her so I suppose she would’ve said the same thing about Julia Vincent. The thing is, that as cool as she was, I had no doubt she was holding out on me. I was sure there were things she knew that she wasn’t willing to tell me. That left me disgruntled, because I had no idea how to pry anything more out of her. I’d hit her with the big one about Haley’s drug business but she hadn’t even blinked. She said she didn’t know about it but went right to the note in her diary that all but says she did know.
I drove home with the top still down but didn’t enjoy the ride. I was too busy feeling bitter and frustrated as well as aware of my aches and pains. What was I going to do next? When I got home, I reluctantly switched on the computer. I’d start my search for Julia Vincent there. The problem with that was that the computer was an unwelcome stranger in my house. I had it because I thought I ought to have it. But I hardly ever used it. Like the cell phone. I was not adept. If I needed information, I still had to go to the library.
I Googled Julia Vincent, the name Chantal had given me and got more than I bargained for. There were Julia Vincents all over the place, in all parts of the country. I immediately realized I had to add something to narrow it down. Of course, even if I did get some meaningful hits, it could still be a wrong way street. The woman could’ve married, could’ve changed her name, could have died. All distinct possibilities, but since I had nothing else I decided to keep plugging away. I tried “Julia Vincent France.” That didn’t do much. Then I found a sponsored site that traced people for money. The good thing was that even without payment they had photos, and more important, a list that included age. That was my first break. I could figure out her probable age based on when her daughter was born. Again, I had to make an assumption that Julia was somewhere between eighteen and twenty-five when she had the baby. I could see Madeline Vincent’s gravesite and the gravestone as if I were standing right there. Madeline Vincent was born in 1974 and died in 1993. Assuming her mother was around twenty in 1974, that would mean she was born in 1954 or thereabouts. We were now in the year 2000 so the arithmetic narrowed Julia Vincent’s current age to somewhere between forty-five and fifty.
I went back to the list and focused on those ages. There were too many to even try counting them. My frustration with the process was increasing by the minute. Besides, my eyes were having trouble reading the characters on the screen. I suddenly realized I was tired. I looked at my watch and noted with astonishment that I’d been at the computer for more than three hours. Abruptly, I was once again conscious of my body and how much I was hurting, courtesy of little Alice. It wasn’t right that a vicious bitch like that should be named Alice. But what’s in a name, right? A rose by any other...Some rose. A two-headed thorn was more like it. I wished I were the type to hunt her down so I could beat the shit out of her. But that wasn’t me. If I found her in the act of doing something bad, then maybe I could do it. But I doubted it. I’d get more pleasure out of seeing her in jail.
I saved all the information I’d found in a file I named JuliaV, not very original, and switched off the computer. I thought about eating but I wasn’t hungry enough to go to the trouble of cooking. I didn’t even feel like having a drink. Wow! I didn’t want to eat and I didn’t want to drink. I was sure a long way from getting back to normal.
I searched the freezer and found a container of onion soup I’d made some time ago. I had no idea how old it was but didn’t care. I had a baguette in there, too. I defrosted a piece of the baguette and heated the soup. When the soup was hot, I dropped the bread into it, added a few drops of extra virgin, sprinkled a little Parmesan on the surface, and found the dish more than satisfying. I hit the sack, hoping to get a better night’s sleep than the one before.
In bed I had another idea. Sienna might be the answer to the search. All I had to do was convince her to get some computer nerd in her department to do the search for me. That ought to be a breeze, right? No problem. I think I was smiling at my own joke as I fell asleep.
CHAPTER 55
The next morning the phone rang showing a caller ID I didn’t know. It turned out to be Haley Sanford, wanting to know how I was progressing.
“Slowly. But I’d like to know something. I asked Valerie Venable if the two of you had ever talked about Oakhurst’s past and she said no. Is that true?”
“Entirely true.”
“How come? You’ve known each other for years.”
“The subject never came up. I certainly wasn’t going to talk about him, especially when I learned she’d hired him to do the opening at her gallery.”
“Of course. You were doing business with him. And Valerie knew nothing about your other activities?”
“Nothing. I don’t think she’d have continued working with me if she’d known. She’s very straight-laced.”
“I’ve got what might be bad news for you, then.”
“What’s that?”
“I told Valerie about you.”
Her sigh was loud enough for me to hear. “I suppose it was inevitable that she’d find out some day, it might as well be now. I’ll have to call her and see how she’s taking it. Chantal has gone back to Paris, by the way.”
“How about little Alice? Did she go too?”
“No. Alice stays with me. She makes an excellent bodyguard.”
“Anything else she does for you?”
Her voice became harsh. “Don’t be disgusting, Mr. Wanderman.”
“Sorry, I’m the nosy type. Was she with you the last time you were here?”
“You already know the answer to that. Now I’d appreciate your not interrogating me. I’m paying you to do a job that has nothing to do with either Alice or me.”
“I hope that’s true. If it isn’t, there’s going to be a lot of trouble. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get to work.”
I hung up on her. The woman pissed me off. In fact, all the women in this case pissed me off. Except for Sienna, of course. In her case, I pissed her off, or so she said.
The phone rang again. Morty. Good, I needed a friend. I regretted that I hadn’t paid enough attention to him since I’d been back. Sure, I’d been distracted, but he was the one who’d gotten me into this in the first place. I owed him contact, at least. “What’s up?”
“Good morning to you, too, asshole,” he said.
“What’s your problem?”
“How about saying hello, or good morning, or how the hell are you?”
“You got me at a bad time, Morty.”
“Never mind. I’m calling to tell you Sarajane and Margo are here. They’re staying with us. We called the lawyer, what’s-his-name, to set up an appointment with the cops. You want to be there, don’t you?”
“Absolutely.” A thought came to me. This gave me a good excuse to call Sienna and maybe get back into her good graces. “Tell you what. How about I call Detective Nolan? See if I can speed things up a little.”
“Right. That good looking babe. Do I imagine it, or do you have the hots for that lady?”
I had no idea he had so much as an inkling. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. This is your old buddy you’re talking to. You’re different when she’s around. You’re as tight as a violin string. And I’ll bet she knows it, too.”
“All right, all right. I’m not denying it, but nothing’s happening. We are definitely not an item. So don’t tell the Post’s Page Six. Okay?”
He didn’t laugh at my feeble joke but he agreed to keep his thoughts to himself and we said we’d be in touch as soon as either of us heard anything from the law.
CHAPTER 56
I called Sienna, using the cell phone number I’d remembered to save. She answered on the first ring.
“How’d you get this number? Never mind. I know. I called you so it’s on your phone. What do you want this time? Nothing urgent, I hope.”
Her attitude was as bad as Morty’s. I needed a suit of armor this morning. “I heard that Sarajane is back. I wanted to know when you’re going to do her interview. I want to be there.”
“I don’t think so. Her lawyer is enough.”
“Her father wants me there. That ought to count for something.”
“Counts for nada, Jake. This is a murder investigation.”
“But you already said you’re not going to charge her with anything.”
“I didn’t say that. I said she was no longer a suspect unless something new turns up.”
“What if her lawyer won’t let her answer any questions?”
“She made a promise to answer questions, so that’s not going to happen. If she tells all she knows, I’ll be satisfied.”
Ugh. What if Sarajane mentioned the dope? Would they try to get her on some kind of charge? Destruction of evidence? Obstruction? I had to speak to Morty and the lawyer about it. I mentally slapped myself. Why didn’t I think of this before?
“Okay. I hear you,” I said. “Now I’ve got a favor to ask.”
“Aha! The real reason for your call.”
“You’re a cynic. I wish you wouldn’t be, where I’m concerned.” I hoped she heard what I was really trying to say. Then I explained about looking for Julia Vincent and what I’d done on the Internet. I told her who Julia Vincent was and that Haley Sanford was an art gallery owner whom I’d met in Paris and that I was working for her. “She wants to find this woman for personal reasons. I want to find her because I think it could help in learning who killed Tony Oakhurst.”
“I don’t see the connection.”
“I could explain but it’s complicated. Also, I don’t want to have an argument with you about this. But at least go along with the idea that I may be right. I’m not good with the computer. I’m uncomfortable and slow as molasses. What I’m asking is that maybe you could get some computer maven cop to do this research. I’d really appreciate it.”
“You’re kidding, right? Get a cop to do your job?”
“It would take me forever. It would probably take him a few minutes.”
“Jake, you don’t know what you’re asking. This is a busy cop shop. Nobody has time to fool around.”
“Everybody has time to fool around. It’s government, isn’t it? Don’t tell me you’re all busy all the time. Not possible. What do you say? Do me this favor.”
There was a pause. That was a good sign, I thought. At least, she wasn’t instantly telling me to take a flying fuck.
“I’ll see what I can do. What did you say that name was?”
I repeated Julia Vincent’s name and the age bracket I was looking for, between forty-five and fifty-five.
“I don’t know why I’m even considering doing this,” she said. “If I get anywhere with it, I’ll let you know.”
“You’re the sweetest thing alive,” I said.
“Don’t push it, Jake,” she said, hanging up.
CHAPTER 57
I notified Morty that I was not going to be allowed at the interview. It was to be the girls and Jeremiah Longwood, the lawyer. Nobody else. Then I told him my concerns.
“Thanks for that, Jake. I’ll bring it up with Longwood. He should know the whole picture.”
“Let me know how it turns out.”
My worries about Sarajane and the dope turned out to be unnecessary. There was no fall-out, at least as far as the law was concerned. Forensics had shown that Tony Oakhurst had a snootful of coke in him when he died. They’d also found traces of cocaine on Sarajane’s and Margo’s clothing, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise for them to learn about Margo’s theft. What they’d really wanted was confirmation of what they’d guessed all along. Sienna let them go with just a warning to stay out of trouble in the future.
Morty was okay with it, too. He understood my not telling him was for his state of mind and not just to keep him out of the loop.
But Sienna was not okay with it. Not one little bit. She appeared at my house with steam coming out of her ears. What sudden anger’s this? How have I reaped it? I knew how I’d reaped it.
“You blindsided me, Jake. I’m so mad I can’t see straight. And all along I thought you were working with me, not against me.”
“I was. But I couldn’t tell you about the dope. I had to protect Sarajane, didn’t I?”
“You could’ve told me once the two of them were out of the country.”
“Right. If I’d told you, what would you have done? You wouldn’t have let them off the hook. They’d still be in London, afraid to ever come here again.”
We were in my kitchen. The sun was coming in through the windows, bright and cheerful. I hoped it might change her attitude. Instead, she suddenly did a double take and looked closely at me.
“What’s the matter with your face?”
“Oh that. It’s nothing.” I’d forgotten what I looked like. The swelling had gone down but of course, some of the color still showed.
“It looks bruised. What happened to you?”
I tried to avoid answering. “Want some coffee? Espresso?”
“Come on. It looks like you’ve been holding out on me in more ways than one.” Those green eyes were burning a hole in me.
“I apologize. Sincerely.”
I was on shaky ground. I wanted to be honest with her but I also wanted her on my side. Only I didn’t know how to get her there. I ground some beans and poured them into the gizmo that fit into the espresso machine I’d picked up on sale at Target. I’d never given a thought to an espresso maker but no way could I resist a bargain.
“Am I going to hear an explanation, or not?” she said.
The machine began making hissing sounds and then gurgling. It was telling me to make up my mind. “Okay. You deserve to know everything. Have a seat.”
I started at the beginning. I told her about London and Shaved Head and the deal I’d made with him. I told her about his murder. I told her about my interviews in Paris and what I’d learned. I told her about Haley and Chantal and Frenchie. I told her how I’d almost been killed in the Paris alley. And I told her about Chantal and Rowdy Hall and what had happened with Frenchie. I reached for the tape recorder intending to play it for her so she could more fully understand, but I changed my mind. She didn’t need to hear any more.
