Beware False Profits (16 page)

“What do you think it means?” Lucy asked.

I was thinking and didn’t answer. Something was nagging at me. Maybe if my mind had been slogging along at its usual rate, I could have figured out what it was. But I wasn’t at top form. I just knew there was a key to this, and I was missing it.

Ignored, Lucy began her personal analysis out loud. “It’s unlikely Joe just happens to know a lot of people named Belcore and he’s gathered a stack of clippings about them. That’s too weird. Unless he’s related to them somehow. Maybe his mother was a Belcore, and these are cousins. But didn’t Cilla say Joe was an orphan? Without any family?”

“Fairheart.” The frazzled ends of two clues finally connected. I felt a jolt of electricity. “Josephine Fairheart.” I looked at Lucy. “Belcore is Italian for fair heart.”

She wrinkled her unlined forehead, just for me. “And this is relevant why?”

“Joe was going to New York every month to perform at a club there. His stage name was Fairheart.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “Aggie, you said
Josephine
Fairheart.”

I had and wished I hadn’t. But it was time to go all the way. So far Lucy had been a big help, and she would be more help if she knew the truth. “You have to keep this to yourself, Luce. It’s Joe’s business and not ours to judge.” Then I proceeded to tell her about Joe’s extracurricular activities.

“You went to the Pussycat Club without
me
?” She leaned forward and slapped me on the knee. “I can’t believe it!”

“What, you wanted me to fly you in for the night? Ed and I had been checking leads all day, and we just stumbled on it.”

She pouted. “We could have had such fun.”

“And if I’d been with
you
, we would have squeezed out a few minutes to watch the entertainment. I was cheated.” I told her quickly about Dorothy and what she’d told us. “I got a couple of makeup tips, too.”

“For a small-town minister’s wife, you do pretty well for yourself.”

I lowered my gaze like the modest woman I am. “It’s a gift. So now, how do we find out what connection Joe has to all these people?”

We batted around ideas for the next ten minutes. Maybe the adrenaline was stronger than whatever I was fighting off, but I started to feel a bit better. We discussed and rejected a plan to track down whoever we could from the articles and ask them point-blank about Joe, explaining he was missing. Joe had gone to some lengths to hide these clippings and perhaps his relationship to these people. We had no idea why or what can of worms we might be opening if we outed him.

We considered looking up Z. Belcore in Dedham, or Ben Belcore in Quincy. We could ask Z if his reading skills had improved, or query Ben about his haircut, but what good would that do? How did you move from haircuts to a missing man in Ohio?

Lucy leafed through the clippings again, and so did I. I stopped at the obituary, and a plan began to form, based on another bout of sleuthing we had done together.

“You remember the time you called that Realtor in Kentucky and pretended you were interested in vacation property?”

“I know, I thought about calling the Realtor who’s handling the development in that real estate ad and asking if this development has any connection to the Belcore family. Think I should?”

That wasn’t where I’d been headed, but it wasn’t a bad idea. “And what will you say if he says yes?”

“
She
. I’ll probably tell her I’m looking for a house and have some notes from a friend, but they don’t make any sense. Then I’ll ask her to enlighten me. And I guess I’ll ask exactly what the connection is and go from there.”

“You frighten me. You just came up with that?”

“Aggie, I make cold calls all the time. I’ve developed the fine art of finding out what I need in as little time as possible. That’s all.”

“Some people would say you aren’t exactly telling the truth.”

“Am I hurting anybody?”

That was a moral dilemma best left to Ed. “So while we’re discussing your abilities, could you do something with the obituary?”

“Like what?”

“Well, the guy who died had a sister who’s married to a Belcore. A Mrs. Dan Belcore in Braintree. Maybe you could call and pretend to be somebody from a life insurance company? You could say the payment’s due on a policy for one Joseph Belcore, and he gave their address as a backup.”

“Good story, but why them in particular? Why not one of the other Belcores?”

“Because I think we’ll have better luck getting gossip from a woman. Not to stereotype, but if there’s a story, maybe she’ll be less wary. She’s married to a Belcore, she’s not one by birth. She’s probably not as protective.”

“You think
I’m
devious? And what’s this about me doing the calling? This is your idea, you call.”

I wheedled. “I’m not nearly as talented or experienced.”

“If you’re going to stick your nose in other peoples’ business, you need to be.” She took pity on me. “I’ll go first. You work on your patter. And don’t forget this is a good cause. Joe Wagner may be in trouble somewhere.”

“Situational ethics.”

“Get over yourself, Aggie.”

Lucy dialed the number on the real estate ad without taking even one extra moment to work on her spiel. I was torn between awe and horror as somebody answered, and she was off and running.

She hung up a few minutes later. “Here’s what we’ve got. We’re lucky to be living in Emerald Springs because those prices in the ad? That includes next to nothing. Everything is an upgrade. Like toilets and, floors, I don’t know how—”

“Dispense with the real estate, okay? What did she say about the Belcores?”

“Creative Construction is building all the units. It’s owned by a man named Jake Belcore and his sons. Apparently there are a lot of sons, too. And even though she was trying hard to cover it up, I don’t think she’s too high on them. She said the date to take possession listed in the paper has been moved back. There were some problems.”

“Lovely. Did she say what they were?”

“No, she downplayed, of course. She was trying to sell me a house.”

“Nothing else?”

“She did mention Jake Belcore was ill. She used that as a reason for the delay. But she said he’s doing better now and things are back on track.”

“Could Joe be one of Jake’s sons? Or a nephew? And why would he lie? She said lots of sons. That would mean Joe has lots of family.”

“Some of those Belcores in the clippings might be sons. So now it’s up to you to find out more for us. Ready to make your call?”

“Not with you listening!”

“Fine, I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll wash my hands for fourteen seconds, like we’re supposed to, and I’ll comb my hair. Then I’ll go in the kitchen and see if you have anything worth drinking in your refrigerator. But when I’m done rummaging, I’m coming back.”

Making the call to information for the phone number of Dan Belcore in Braintree was easy. I jotted down the number and took a deep breath. The hard part was coming up, but I knew Lucy wouldn’t be gone forever. I dialed.

A woman answered. She sounded middle-aged and tired.

I realized I hadn’t invented an insurance company. I didn’t want to use a real one in case the Belcores got suspicious and made some calls of their own.

I cleared my throat. “My name is Agate Sloan, from the Consolidated Community Life Insurance Company of Ohio.” I had always thought the name of our church had better uses. I felt a thrill of pride. Next I’d be cracking safes and socking money in overseas accounts.

“Is this one of those phone solicitations? Are you trying to sell me something? I’m on the do-not-call list, you know. I could have you arrested.”

I winced. “I’m not trying to sell you a thing, Mrs. Belcore. I’m trying to find a Joseph Belcore. Mr. Belcore has a policy with us which is about to expire. All our premium notices were returned, so it seems he’s moved and forgotten to give us his change of address.”

I was doing okay, but my stomach was tied in knots. On the other hand, she sounded less tired now, almost perky.

“Joseph Belcore? Why are you calling me? My husband’s name is Dan.”

“This was the alternative address he gave us.”

“Joseph gave you our address?”

For a moment I forgot to speak. There
was
a Joseph Belcore. Of course
their
Joe could be someone else. Joe isn’t an uncommon name. But still.

I realized she was waiting. “Yes, and I got your phone number from information. Can you give us his new information so we can send the premium notice right out? It’s a sizeable policy, and we don’t want it to expire before he does.” This was a touch of life insurance humor, but apparently she missed it because she didn’t laugh.

“I can’t believe Joe would give our address. We haven’t heard from him in years. Nobody has. There was that business with the FBI. Then he just disappeared off the face of the earth. Poor old Jake’s never gotten over it.”

“I’m sorry. The FBI? That sounds like something we might need to know about.”

“I don’t see why. It blew over after he left. Personally I think somebody made it go away, if you know what I mean.”

“What went away?”

“I don’t know, except that nothing was ever proved. Still, you have to wonder why Joe took off. I always wondered if he got fitted with a pair of concrete shoes, but now you’re telling me he’s alive? And he gave you our address? But how could he have? We just moved into this house in April, so no way would he have it. You’re saying he gave it to you since then?”

“No. No, our letter to your old address came back, but it had a forwarding address from the post office. I just decided to look you up and call because it’s quicker than sending out the letter again.”

I was amazed how fast I had come up with that. Apparently I was born for this. What a shame.

Mrs. Belcore tsked sadly. “Well, you found us, but we can’t help you find Joe. Nobody in the family even talks about him anymore. Not when I’m around, anyway. It’s hard on Jake. He misses Joe something awful.”

I could only think of one other thing to ask. “Would you mind telling me how long Joseph Belcore has been missing?”

“Maybe fifteen years, I’m not sure. He was a college student. The only brother to go, you know. Jake was so proud. Then Joseph comes home for the summer, the you-know-what hits the fan, and he’s gone. Forever.”

“It’s a sad story,” I said, and meant it.

“Yeah. And Jake’s not getting any younger. If you track down my brother-in-law, you tell him to get himself back here to make things right with his dad before he passes on.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him. Thanks so much, Mrs. Belcore.” I hung up before she could think to ask me to repeat my name and the name of the company I was with.

Applause sounded from the doorway. “A star is born,” Lucy said.

“It’s no wonder so many people get ripped off. Once she warmed up I could have gotten her bank account and PIN numbers.”

I told Lucy everything Mrs. Belcore had said. Lucy sprawled on the sofa beside me and listened raptly.

“What’s your gut instinct? You think it’s the same Joe Belcore?”

“Why else would he have the clippings?” The thrill of discovery was dying now, and I just felt sad for an old man who had lost his son. I also felt sorry for the young man who kept in touch with his family by clipping articles about haircuts and bank booklets.

I turned so I was half reclining, my knees to my chin. “If Joe left his family to escape arrest for some crime he committed, then maybe he left Maura and Tyler for the same reason.”

“I missed something. Who wanted to arrest him this time?”

“Junie saw Joe’s photo a couple of days ago. She’s almost sure she saw him at Mayday! She says he came into her tent, but he left without having his fortune told. The light wasn’t bright, and he didn’t get close. But Teddy was there, and you know Teddy. She did an imitation of the man’s voice…”

“And it sounded like Joe?”

“Afraid so. Exactly.”

“You think Joe killed Hazel Kefauver? That maybe he pretended not to come home when he was supposed to, then he sneaked into Mayday! without anybody knowing he was there, poisoned her without being seen, and left again? Half the town was there, Aggie. Somebody who knew him would have spotted him. Does your story make sense?”

“Put like that, no. But nothing makes sense to me. I just can’t believe Joe’s a murderer.”

“I could point out that you also liked the last two killers you caught.”

“So much for my instincts, huh?”

“What’s up next? We’ve got some idea who he was and where he came from, but no idea where he went.”

“Roussos might be able to find him. The problem is that Maura hasn’t reported him missing. And she’s not going to report it because she’s afraid he’ll lose his job. Besides, now, with all this other stuff lurking in Joe’s background, Roussos is going to be immediately suspicious.”

“So you’re not going to tell him?”

“No, but I am going to see him. Tomorrow, if I’m feeling better. I want to find out whatever I can about Hazel’s death. I owe it to Brownie
and
to Joe.”