Thriller, p.2
Thriller, page 2
“Five days.”
“And you saw her how often in the last six months?”
“Almost every single day. Dogs have to be walked, and I don’t think Lady, her cocker spaniel, has had a walk during the last five days.”
“Would you like to come in?” The mother motioned to the living area, a white leather sofa, blue patterned chairs, and a stone coffee table decorating the room.
An invitation almost always led to a more intimate conversation that led to more details, more solid information.
The two detectives sat in the chairs, mother and daughter on the sofa.
“Tell us about the man who answered the door.”
Alex looked at her daughter and nodded encouragingly.
“I know Ruby,” she said. “She didn’t ever talk about having any kids. I never heard her mention relatives. Her mom and father had passed on and as far as I know there were no siblings. So, after her husband died, it seemed like she was just . . . alone.”
“And the man?”
“He simply told me he was a friend.” The girl shook her head. “He scared me. Like he was able to get very physical. You know, beat somebody up?”
“She’d never mentioned this guy before? A nephew? A friend from her past?”
Emilynn closed her eyes. For seconds. Maybe half a minute.
“Emilynn?”
“There was some guy. She met him on a dating app.”
“And?”
“Probably nothing. She’d never met him in person. They emailed each other. She said the picture he sent was of a very good-looking man. He was a dealer in gems. And she said he offered her a chance to invest in a diamond deal. Somewhere in Africa. I didn’t understand it all, and I don’t think she did either.”
St. Lifer looked at Morisey.
“A diamond dealer? Did she give you a name?”
“No. It was just conversation. Like most of our talks. I’d share something, she’d share something. This time she shared that she was exploring this dating app.”
“And it was . . .”
“The name of the app?”
St. Lifer nodded.
“Over-Fifty.”
“Did you look up the site? Try to find the guy?”
She shook her head.
“No way. Friends have told me that dating apps are dangerous. Hey, I’m not crazy, and I am obviously not looking for someone in that age group.”
“Smart girl,” Morisey said.
“Besides, Mom told me I can’t date until I’m . . .”
“Forty,” Alex said. Mother and daughter laughed.
“We’re going to visit your neighbor and see if Ruby is okay. We’ll let you know what is happening, but don’t worry. Most of the time, there’s a logical explanation.”
The girl glanced at her mother.
“Except when there isn’t. Mom told me about a wellness checkup where they found someone dead.”
“Let’s go into this with a positive attitude,” St. Lifer smiled.
Alex smiled back. “I never should have told her that story.”
“That Alex, she’s a looker,” Morisey commented as they walked toward the ivy-covered house.
“What? A looker? Did you really say that? What . . . did you grow up in the twenties?”
“Well, I’m just thinking that if you were ready to date, you might—”
“No, I’m not ready to date and it wouldn’t be with someone I met on a case.”
“Where else are you going to find someone?”
“Knock on the damn door, Jim. We’re here to find out if Ruby is alive and well.”
“Hey, Evan, this Ruby is single . . .”
“Shut the hell up.” St. Lifer knocked and after a good sixty seconds, an elderly woman answered the door. Five-one, gray-haired, maybe thirty, forty pounds overweight.
“Can I help you?”
“Are you Ruby Abrano?”
“Who wants to know?”
St. Lifer flashed his badge.
“Detectives St. Lifer and Morisey, ma’am. We’re just doing a checkup.”
“I’m Ruby. What’s this all about?”
“A neighbor hadn’t seen you in a while and was worried.”
“No reason to worry. Tell that neighbor I’m fine. And you might tell them to mind their own business.”
“Do you mind if we come in for a moment? Meet the man who is here?”
“Terry? He’s not here. Running some errands. He’s my . . .”
“Family?” St. Lifer asked.
“Sure. My sister’s boy. Thank you for your concern.”
“There was a concern about your dog? Is she . . .”
“She’s fine. How is this any business of yours?”
“We’re just checking up, ma’am. Standard procedure when someone is concerned.”
“I’m fine, the dog is fine, and I would appreciate it if you would go away and not bother me again.”
And she closed the door with finality.
Morisey looked at St. Lifer.
“Evan, there was something missing.”
“What?”
“There was no dog barking. No sign of an animal.”
“Her sister’s boy?” St. Lifer glanced back at the house. “There was no mention of a sister.”
“In fact,” Morisey said, “the girl said that Ruby was all alone.”
“We don’t have any photograph.”
“She looked the age.”
“Not quite the sweet lady that Emilynn painted her to be.”
“But it appears that she’s fine.” Morisey motioned toward Ruby’s house. “We’ve solved a missing person case. Pretty easy this time, right?”
They walked across the lawn back to Emilynn’s house and knocked on the door.
The teenager opened it.
“The lady, Ruby, answered the door,” St. Lifer said. “Told us the man who answered was her sister’s kid.”
Emilynn shook her head. “Ruby was an only child. At least that’s what she told me. There was no one to look after her. She worried about that.”
St. Lifer nodded.
“We believe you, but we can only do so much. There’s really no sign that she’s in any danger.”
The girl’s mother had walked to the door.
“Did you see Lady, the cocker spaniel?”
“No sign of the dog. But we can’t issue a search warrant based on a silent animal.”
“Ladies,” Morisey said, “as far as we can tell, everything is okay.”
“But—” Emilynn started to protest.
“Thank you for your time, officers.” Alex glanced at her daughter.
“If you see anything suspicious, give us a call. But as of now . . .”
“She’s in trouble, detective. I know it.” Emilynn turned and walked down the hall.
“Something really is wrong,” St. Lifer said as he pulled out of the driveway.
“Evan, stop.”
St. Lifer braked.
“What?”
“A car,” Morisey said. “on the far side of the house.”
“So?”
“She said the man was out running errands.”
“So maybe there are two cars.”
“Humor me. Let’s run the plates.”
Morisey stepped out and walked up to the gray Honda Civic. He pulled out his iPhone and took a picture of the plate.
“Out of state,” he said. “New York.”
“I got the impression Ruby’s been here for a while. If that car was hers, she’d have local tags.”
“Run them when we get back to the station.”
Emilynn Lee through her window could see
The house that was sitting beside her.
The lady and Lady nowhere to be seen
She studied the childish poem, not sure how to finish.
The lady and Lady nowhere to be seen
She wished things were back as they were.
It would have to do. No one else was ever going to see the rhymes. Except Luella and Kate, her two best friends. They knew the story, and after the police visit, the three young ladies played Nancy Drew in her bedroom, conjuring up the teenage detective and thinking about how she would solve the case. The Case of the Missing Ladies.
“She answered the door,” Emilynn said. “Told them not to bother her, and then kind of slammed it in their faces.”
“No dog?”
“No. And because she appeared, seemed healthy, and didn’t complain about anything, they said there was nothing more they could do.”
“Would you go back?” Luella asked.
“Well, I suppose if she’s there, and everything is okay, I should go back and just ask her why we’re not walking together.”
Kate adjusted a big throw pillow adorned with a photo of British pop star Jonas Blue, printed with the slogan “They don’t speak our language.” She and Luella on the bed with the soft champagne-colored spread, Emilynn sitting cross legged on the floor.
“Seriously, girlfriend. If the police won’t help, what are you supposed to do.” Kate shrugged her shoulders.
“Rely on your help?”
“What are we supposed to do?”
“You’re right,” Emilynn said. “I need to go over and talk to her. Things just don’t seem right, and unless she’s been lying to me, she’s in trouble.”
“Why would she lie to you?”
“Maybe she exaggerates. About her family and the mafia? I don’t think she was making that up, but I can’t be sure. So maybe she does have a sister. And the sister has a son. And maybe she really didn’t meet a gem dealer online. I mean,” she paused, standing up and staring out the window at the ivy-covered house next door, “I mean . . .” She paused again and her mouth fell open.
“What, Em?”
“There they are.” The girl seemed hypnotized. “There they are.”
“Who?”
“The big guy and some older lady standing just outside the front door.”
The two friends crowded in front of the window.
“Be a great time to confront them.”
Emilynn stayed focused.
“That’s not Ruby.”
“Who is it?” Kate asked.
“It’s a lady who isn’t Ruby.”
“Another lady.” Luella smiled. “How many ladies are in this story?”
“Apparently more than two. We aren’t done with this story yet.”
“Em.” Kate spoke softly. “If you go over there now, what if they’ve, you know . . .”
“What?”
“I don’t want to say it.”
“Say it. Say it.”
“What if they’ve killed her? And the dog?” Luella closed her eyes.
“Why would you even think that? Say that, Lu?”
“Well, you haven’t seen them in how many days, and . . .”
“Just shut up. Okay? I’m going over to see what’s going on.”
The girl stood up and walked out of the bedroom, her footsteps pounding down the stairs.
She knew Luella and Kate were watching the tableau. The odd-looking couple next door, talking and gesturing on the front lawn. Then Emilynn walking into the scene, seemingly self-assured, talking to the duo with her hands. She glanced back at her house, through the branches of a tall oak tree, directly at the second-story bedroom window, knowing her friends were watching, recording in their minds what happened. She needed their support. You could be strong, confident, and positive about the outcome, but it was easier with some backing.
Pointing to the house, she asked the man, “Where is Ruby?”
He shook his head and motioned to the heavy-set lady.
“Ruby is . . .”
Hesitating.
“Ruby is resting. She’s had a rough time of it.”
And Emilynn decided she’d had enough.
“Ruby is a friend of mine. I want to know what’s happened to her and to Lady. If you don’t let me see her, I’ll—”
“You’ll what? Call the cops?” She shook her head. “Seems you’ve already done that.”
The lady put her arm around Emilynn’s neck and nodded.
“Come with me,” she said. “I’ll take you to Ruby.”
Motioning to the man she said, “Terry, I’m going to take this young lady to see our Ruby.”
He looked at Emilynn, then at the woman.
“Just take care of things, okay.”
“I’ll take care of everything, don’t you worry.”
She escorted the young girl through the front door and the teenager wondered what taking care of things meant. She thought about Kate’s comment, suggesting it was possible Ruby and Lady had been killed. And as she followed the mysterious gray-haired woman into the home, she thought about the only person Ruby had ever talked about, the only intimate relationship she’d ever mentioned other than her dead husband. A bond with a person she’d never met, never conversed with. One who flirted with her online. A gem dealer who, by email, invited her to buy into a diamond deal.
“Hey, Jim. We got a lead on the guy who walked away from Plymouth Harbor.” St. Lifer took a swallow of his hot, black coffee.
“Roscoe Griffith?”
“The same. Walked out of the retirement home and they haven’t seen him in a week. Seems he found Speakeasy’s on Fourteenth, and as long as he buys the people at the bar drinks and spins preposterous stories during happy hour, the owner has been putting him up in the room upstairs.”
“Guy is what? Ninety-eight? Probably having the time of his life.”
“Jim, I know we’ve got more important cases to consider, but that meeting with the woman Ruby? What did you get back on the plates?”
“Car belongs to a Betty Grange. Rochester New York. She’s fifty-two, single, and no mention of employment.”
“Jim.” St. Lifer walked to Morisey’s desk. “The girl encountered a large man. The surly woman we met was not the sweet, giving Ruby we were expecting. Probably this Betty Grange. No dog or sign of a dog. And Ruby told the Lee girl that she had no relatives. Yet this Ruby we met tells us she has a sister and a nephew. The big guy.”
“Someone is lying.”
“Exactly.” St. Lifer said.
“Who? The girl? To what end?” Morisey stood up and pointed to his computer screen. “Here’s the list, Evan. Look, we’ve got this Ruby telling us one thing, the teenager another, we’ve got the guy saying he’s taking care of Ruby, and then there’s the mom, Alex who just shrugs her shoulders. She doesn’t seem to be worried.”
“Alex, the looker?”
“Yeah, I know. I’m old.” He smiled. “I understand your frustration. Everyone has a different story, but we can only go so far. It all seems to have checked out.”
“You got time to take a break?”
“I don’t like where this is going,” Morisey said.
“I ran up a history of the Abrano family.”
“Ruby’s family.”
“Her father, Sam Abrano was a thug. He didn’t do a lot during his career, but there is a rumor that he was compensated very well. May have put the bite on a group of companies that distributed linen to restaurants in Manhattan. Took kickbacks from a company that sold seafood and steaks to the same food establishments. You know, typical organized crime schemes. But supposedly he had some serious cash when he passed away.”
“And?”
“My guess is that Ruby inherited a large amount of that money. Either legally or illegally.”
“So, she’s rich.”
“So, she meets this guy online, and he talks about a deal involving diamonds.”
“I see where you’re going.”
“Last year, romance scams reported over $304 million dollars stolen. You can look it up.”
“Now there’s a name for this? Romance scams.”
“The guess is, it’s really double that number but the victims . . .”
“Are embarrassed to admit they were duped.”
“Bingo,” St. Lifer said.
“With no proof of that happening, with our welfare check completed,” Morisey threw his hands up, “what good is there in going back?”
“There was a grainy photo of the family. Sammy, Ruby, and mom.”
“And?”
“Ruby was probably fourteen, fifteen. Doesn’t look anything like the Ruby we met.”
“People change a lot between fourteen and seventy, my friend.”
“She was tall, skinny. The lady we met was short and heavy. I think it’s that Betty who owns the car. We missed something, Jim. I’d like to find it.”
“We’re going back, right?”
“We are,” said St. Lifer. “We are.”
Just then the desk phone rang.
“So Ruby is here? Sick? In bed?”
The lady tightened her grip on Emilynn’s neck.
“Listen you little twit. You sent the cops over here. We don’t need the aggravation.”
She squeezed and pushed the young girl through the house.
“She’s not here?”
“Oh, she’s here.” Squeezing harder.
“Stop. Right now. You’re hurting me.”
“You want to see Ruby? Shut up and keep moving.”
And she did. Wanting to see Ruby and find out the truth. Struggling with the choke hold and hoping her friend Kate wasn’t right. That the male and female duo had killed Ruby and Lady. The two reached the kitchen, and the lady opened a door.
“Downstairs, twit. Move.”
She’d never been inside the lady’s home. Never been invited. Their relationship existed outside, with the dogs, the neighborhood, and the casual conversation. Now, she felt like an intruder. She hadn’t been invited; she’d been pushed into this environment.
Emilynn stumbled down the steep stairs, grasping the railing on her right. The gray-haired lady was right behind her, arm around her neck.
“You want to start something? You want to call the police and try to upset our little business?”
“I was worried about a friend. I don’t know what your business—”
“Ruby says otherwise. She said she told you, and you would probably bring down law enforcement on me and Terry.”
