03 Murder by Mishap (16 page)

He shook his head in a stubborn gesture. “She might be back by now. I’m going to check.”

“Then I’ll come with you.” Starling
stood,
an angry note in her voice. “If she
is
home, I want to know why she pretended not to know a thing about photography. I feel like a fool, giving kiddy lessons to an award-winning photojournalist.” She looked at Edna.
“You coming, Mom?”

“I don’t think so, dear. I’d like to hear what she has to say, but I think I’ll stay here in case Peg should call.” Thinking of her friend, Edna put up a hand to stop Charlie from leaving the room. “Have you found out anything about
Goran
Pittlani
?”

“Only that he has a strange name. ‘
Goran
’ is a popular Slavic name and ‘
Pittlani
’ is Taiwanese. Quite a combination,” he said before following Starling into the front hall.

Impatient with having to wait for news, Edna wondered what she should do to occupy
herself
and keep from going stir crazy. Her primary choice for relaxation was to putter in the garden. Obviously, she wouldn’t be doing that today. Cooking was a second-best activity, so she went to the pantry in the mudroom for her recipe card file and brought it to the kitchen table. She had browsed about a third of the cards in the file, having found nothing to tempt her so far, when she heard the side door open and then close quickly again to shut out the noise of the storm. She was about to rise when she heard Charlie and Starling talking and guessed they’d come in through the mudroom to avoid dripping water over the front hall rugs and wood floor.

“That didn’t take long,” she greeted them as they entered the kitchen.

“She’s still not home.” Looking dejected, Starling slid onto one of the kitchen chairs. When Benjamin jumped into her lap, she mechanically began to stroke his fur. “I think you’re right about the note. She must have written to cancel our plans for today.”

“Do you know what vehicles she owns?” Charlie asked Edna, lowering himself onto the chair next to Starling’s.

“What do you mean?”

Her daughter replied. “When she didn’t answer the door, we looked in the garage windows to see if her car was there. Her car is gone, but there’s a motorcycle parked next to her scooter.” She frowned. “It seems like an awfully big bike for Jaycee, and why would she have both a motorcycle and a scooter?”

Edna thought for a few seconds and frowned. “The only motorcycle I’ve seen around here belongs to Peg’s gardener.”

“A gardener who rides a Harley,” Starling said with amazement. Before Edna could respond, Starling turned to Charlie with a sudden twinkle in her eye. “There are depths to Mom and her friends that I will probably never know.”

Edna smiled to acknowledge her daughter’s teasing, but she didn’t feel cheered or pleased. She repeated with emphasis for Charlie’s benefit. “Except for the occasional scooter like the one Jaycee has,
Goran’s
is the only motorized bike I’ve seen in the neighborhood since we moved in last year.”

Starling looked skeptical. “What would Aunt Peg’s gardener’s bike be doing in Jaycee’s garage?”

“That’s what I’d like to know, but I can’t think of anyone else it might belong to,” Edna replied. She puzzled over the implications before explaining to the others. “They know each other, so it’s possible
it’s
Goran’s
bike, but I introduced them only yesterday afternoon when Jaycee stopped by to give me your message.” She spoke to Starling before turning to Charlie. “Peg sent
Goran
to pick up some iris bulbs. Jaycee was here when he arrived, so I invited the two of them in to tea.” She stopped to imagine her two guests in the kitchen, wondering if she’d missed some spark between them. Deciding she hadn’t, she went on, “I had hoped to learn something about either one, but they both were extremely adroit at dodging personal questions.”

Charlie frowned. “It sure looks like they’ve gone off together. Are you certain they’d never met before yesterday?”

“Maybe
Goran’s
a fast mover,” Starling interjected, gently poking Charlie in the ribs with her elbow.

The disquiet Edna had felt in
Goran’s
presence came flooding back into the pit of her stomach. “What if Jaycee didn’t go off with him willingly?”

“What do you mean? You think she was kidnapped?” Starling’s tone implied how absurd she thought the idea. “What would give you an idea like that?”

“I don’t know,” Edna replied hesitantly. “Something has been bothering me about
Goran
since I first met him. Whenever I’ve been around him, I’ve had the feeling that he’s not who he pretends to be.”

“Look,” Charlie interrupted the conversation between mother and daughter. “We’ve nothing to go on except the fact that her car is gone and his motorcycle, if it
is
his, is in her garage. Other than the fact that they’ve driven off somewhere, probably together, there is no reason to suspect foul play.” He ran a hand through his hair and stood up. “I’ve got to get back to work. Call me if you hear from her, okay?”

“We will,” Edna said as he turned toward the mudroom to retrieve his coat. “And you’ll let me know if you find out anything about
Goran
?”

She thought again of the envelope lying in her desk drawer, but as before, decided to say nothing about it. If Jaycee didn’t show up by the end of the day, she might think more seriously about showing it to Charlie, but for now, he was right. There was no reason to suspect anything sinister had occurred.

Chapter Fifteen

“What will you do today?” Edna asked Starling when Charlie had gone. The question was mostly for conversation and to distract
herself
from the myriad of unsettling thoughts galloping around in her head.

“If the rain ever lets up, I might drive along the coast and photograph the waves. I’d love to get some decent shots of spindrift, but that depends on the wind, of course.” Walking to the sink, she looked out the window and sighed. “It doesn’t look like it will clear any time soon. I guess I’ll go upstairs and work on my laptop for a while.” She turned quickly to face Edna. “I wasn’t thinking, Mom. If you’re going to drive to Aunt Peg’s, would you like me to go with you?”

“No, dear.
Thanks, but I’m not certain Peg will even want me to visit. Geoff was still there when I spoke to her this morning, so she’s not alone. I’ll read for a bit and, if I don’t hear from her first, I’ll call her later to see how she’s doing.”

Edna put a disc of Chopin piano music on the player in the living room and had just settled in her chair by the still glowing fire with her knitting when the phone rang. It was Peg.

“How are you feeling,” Edna asked.

“I’m better, thanks.” Peg sounded only slightly less tired than she had earlier.

“Is Geoff with you?”

“He left a few minutes ago.”

“Would you like company? I could drive up.”

“You’re a true blue friend, Ed. What would I do without you?” Peg paused briefly, as if to consider Edna’s offer, then said, “If you don’t mind the drive to Providence again, I’d love your company. I want to start organizing Virginia’s belongings, but I don’t relish the thought of going through her rooms by myself. I spoke with her sister this morning. Janette lives in New Hampshire. She and her husband will drive down as soon as we know when the body will be released, and we’ll talk about funeral arrangements then, too.”

“Did she have relatives other than her sister?”

“A nephew and a niece and three or four cousins, I think. Janette is going to notify the rest of the family.”

“Do you need boxes for Virginia’s belongings? I think we still have a stack out in the garage left over from our move last year.”

“That would be nice. I’m sure I’ll need them. We can only guess at what Janette will want to keep and what she’ll want to give away, so we’ll have to organize and label carefully--which means lots of boxes.” Peg sounded as if she were getting tired just talking about what needed to be done. “When can you get here?”

“I’ll leave at once and should be there in less than an hour.” After ending the call, Edna went upstairs to let Starling know she was leaving.

“I’ll call if I won’t be home for supper,” she told her daughter.

“And I’ll call
you
if I get Charlie to take me to dinner. He owes me a few evenings for all the dates he’s cancelled.” Starling gave a crooked smile. “I’m not holding my breath, though. Two nights off in a row is rare for that guy.” More somberly, she added, “Give my love to Aunt Peg and tell her I’m so sorry about Virginia.”

Edna nodded, hugged her child and headed to Providence for the third time that week. She was grateful to notice the rain and wind lessening as she drove farther north. She made good time and was at Peg’s doorstep in forty-five minutes.

Looking pale and drawn, Peg let Edna into the house and, after a long
hug,
the two friends went through to the kitchen.

“I made tea,” Peg said, placing both hands on the kitchen table and lowering
herself
onto a chair. She had dark circles beneath her eyes, and her brow was creased with concern.

Edna was alarmed, sensing something besides grief in her friend. Removing the cozy from the tea pot, she sat and began to pour as she waited for Peg to speak.

“The police called about twenty minutes ago,” Peg began, staring at the stream of hot liquid cascading into her cup. “They said Virginia was poisoned.”

Edna frowned, confused. “That’s what you’ve thought all along, isn’t it?
Food poisoning?”

“Apparently what they found is not typical food poisoning. The medical examiner discovered a toxin in her blood that’s similar to snake venom.”

“Snake venom?” Edna was skeptical. “Where would snake venom have come from? There aren’t any poisonous snakes native to Rhode Island. When could she have been bitten, and wouldn’t she have said something to you?” Edna shuddered at the thought of snake bites and considered the garden. Maybe
Goran
had stirred up a nest with all the tilling he’d been doing.

Peg broke into her thoughts. “It wasn’t an actual snake bite. The poison is something that acts in the body
like
snake venom, they said.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

Peg shook her head. “They didn’t go into detail, only told me not to touch anything in her rooms. The police are sending a forensic team to go through everything.” She pulled a handkerchief from the pocket of her slacks and began to dab at the tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t understand any of this.
How could Virginia have been poisoned, and in this house?”

Edna reached across the table to put her hand on Peg’s arm. “Have you eaten today?”

Peg shook her head before blowing her nose. “I don’t think I could hold anything down.”

“What about soup? Shall I heat some for you?”

Peg shrugged and gave Edna a weak smile. “I know you’re right. Maybe a little soup will be good. Thanks, Ed.”

Opening the pantry door, she noticed an apron hanging on the back. Plucking it off the hook, she draped it over her head and tugged on the sash to tie it behind her waist. As she did so, she felt something hard bump against her thigh. Reaching into the pocket, she pulled out Virginia’s red rosary. It was made of seeds, Edna
realized,
and not ceramic as she had supposed when she’d seen it in Virginia’s hands a few days before. Each scarlet seed had a jet-black spot on one end. She turned toward Peg, studying the strand as something began to nag at her subconscious, but before she could bring the thought into focus, Peg’s question distracted her.

“What have you found?”

“Something you’ll want to put with Virginia’s things,” Edna answered, striding to the table, her hand outstretched with the rosary dangling from her fingers.

Peg was reaching for the rosary when a faint noise caused her to look behind Edna, and her eyes widened with surprise. Edna swung around to see Stephen standing in the doorway to the dining room. In three long strides, he crossed to her and took the rosary before she could either move or object.

“We’re seeing a lot of you lately,” he said, gazing briefly at the red necklace, as if it held little interest. Switching his gaze to Edna, he slipped the rosary into his coat pocket before moving to the coffee pot on the counter beside the stove. Neither woman spoke as they watched him take a mug from the cupboard above the machine and pour himself some coffee. He then turned and rested a hip against the oven door. Arms crossed and mug balanced in the crook of his elbow, he stared at Edna as if waiting for an explanation of her presence. His expression was placid, the rosary apparently forgotten.

Before Edna could recover her astonishment at Stephen’s arrogance, Peg spoke. “What are you doing home, Stephen? I thought you had a meeting.”

“The police called. Said they would be going through Virginia’s things, so I rearranged my schedule. I don’t want you to have to deal with them.” His eyes flicked to Peg before returning to Edna. It was as if he were willing her to disappear, as if silently telling her she wasn’t needed now that he was home.