Dead in the Water (30 page)

“
Oops.” Grandfather pulled something out of his pocket. It was one of his snakes. This one must have been injured during the fall. It didn't wriggle much.

“
Will it die?” Not that I cared. I was just curious. As much as the little bugger had helped us tonight, my sensitivities did not extend to reptiles.

Grandfather laughed. “It's only a rubber snake. I threw it in with the others. Why not? The more, the better.”

Frida looked at him in disbelief. “Put it back in your pocket.”

It was the beginning of a long night.

“
She'll get her lawyer.” Frida looked exhausted as did we all. Grandfather had put his head into his arms on Frida's desk and appeared to be sleeping. Sammy and I sat on a bench outside Frida's office and leaned into each other.

“
Can we leave now?” I unfolded myself from my seat.

“
Sure. Listen, I'm about to send two uniforms over to Alex's to pick up Darlene, but here's the bad part. Mary won't talk, we don't have Boris, and I haven't located Sophia. I'd like to be able to put some pressure on Darlene to see what she might be willing to say to save her skin. I know you're exhausted, but you do owe me. How could you not tell me about the kidnapping?”

“
There was no kidnapping, remember? It was a hoax to get my uncle's money and then mine.” Since she hadn't mentioned Madeleine's kidnapping, I didn't see the need to complicate things further.

“
Of course I remember, but you thought it was real and didn't inform the authorities.”

“
They didn't want the authorities involved. I wanted to do what my uncle would have wanted me to do.” I flapped my hand at her. “We've gone around and around on this one tonight. You're right. I owe you.”

“
I hate to put you in this position, Eve, even though I know how you like to do my job for me, but I could use your help.” All the spunk seemed to have gone out of Frida, too, because she could hardly work up one of her crooked, snide smiles.

If there was a chance these creeps could get away with my uncle's murder, I was willing to do anything to prevent that, even tolerate Frida's sarcasm and not reply in kind.

“
Can I take Grandfather with me? Make it seem like we just got out of the swamp?” I shared with her what I had in mind, and this time, it was a decent strategy with police backup and everything. Frida approved.

“
Darlene, are you here?” I used my spare key to Alex's house to let Grandfather and me in.

She wandered out of the living room looking wider awake than I expected.

“
What's going on? I couldn't sleep because of this storm. I've been listening to Alex's transistor radio. I guess it missed us, went south of here. I hope Boris and Sophia are okay.”

She seemed too chatty for someone who was terrified by the hurricane.

“
We had a rendezvous with them in the swamp earlier. They had some very interesting things to say about you.”

“
What did they say? It's not true.”

“
They said you were responsible for Winston's death. They told us all about the phony kidnapping and the murder and said you planned the whole thing.”

Darlene's face turned an unpleasant color of green. “I didn't. It was Sophia. She masterminded the plan.”

“
Now you know that's not true, but I thought you might want to know that Boris escaped, although we grabbed the sister, Sophia's younger sister, the one you said she hated so much. Anyway, Boris is probably just waiting for the storm to abate, and then he's coming for you.”

Grandfather stepped forward. “I heard him say they were going to kill you anyway. That you were a troublesome woman.”

Her color faded into ghostly white. She grabbed her throat and her eyes darted around the room. “I've got to get out of here.”

“
Don't be silly, Darlene. He can find you anywhere. He might not be a crack shot, but he's smart. He'll simply have Sophia take you out.”

“
She wouldn't do that.”

“
Why not?”

“
She never knew a thing about the phony kidnapping. She thought it was for real. It was planned by Boris and the younger sister. Sophia is a real letter-of-the-law kind of person. She'd never have gone for the plan, so Boris thought up the phony kidnapping, and Sophia's concern made it seem real.”

I thought about that. Sophia's concern? Well, I guess she was worried, genuinely so, but sometimes it sure was difficult picking that out from all the ice encasing her personality.

“
Your only hope is to come with us and turn yourself in before Boris does what he threatened. I can speak to my friend, the one who's the detective here. I'm sure you can cut a deal if I tell her how cooperative you've been.” I hated saying these things when what I wanted most was to put my hands around her throat and squeeze.

I heard a noise behind me. Both Grandfather and I turned at the same moment. Had Boris worked his way out of the swamps?

I turned. Behind me stood two men. The Hardy brothers, Digby and the bigger one, whose name I'd never heard, stood in the shadows. They stepped forward. Each carried a gun.

Grandfather tapped my shoulder. “His name is Darwin.”

“
Not now,” I whispered.

“
I told them the money was at your place.” Darlene tried on a weak smile, which turned into a grimace of fear.

“
We need our money,” Darwin said.

I knew Frida was right behind us, but I wanted to do something to these two that they'd remember for a while.

I leaned over to Grandfather and whispered again in his ear. “Let them have it.”

He looked at me, puzzlement on his face.

“
Give it to them.”

This time Digby heard me.

“
You got something else for us?”

I nodded.

Digby stepped forward and held out one hand. “Don't try nothing funny.”

Grandfather reached into his pocket and placed the snake gently into Digby's hand.

Digby yelped, dropped his gun and stumbled into his brother. Darwin regained his balance and leveled his gun at Grandfather. I think he would have fired it, but another deeper, more commanding voice came from behind him.

“
Drop it.” It was Mr. Napolitani.

Darwin did as Nappi commanded, and both brothers twisted their heads in all directions searching for the snake. Darlene had jumped onto a chair and stood there holding the hem of her nightgown. She was also scanning the floor. To my surprise it wriggled under Alex's sofa.

My mouth dropped open. “I thought that snake was rubber.”

“
No, this one is.” Grandfather pulled the fake one out of his pocket. “That one was the real thing.”

I thought I heard sirens in the distance. “Frida's right behind you.”

Nappi nodded, but kept his eyes on the Hardy brothers. “I know. I saw her at an intersection where some debris had been blown into the road. I'd come through before the road was blocked. They had to clear it for her to get here.”

“
Well, then. It appears we have a nice surprise for her.” I smiled at Nappi, hoping he would return the look. He did not.

“
Eve, my dear. We need to talk. Meantime, I will keep these two for myself. They have some explaining to do to their bosses. I think it's better we allow them that opportunity.”

Digby began to whimper. “No, take us to jail. I don't want to explain nothing. It was just bad luck.”

“
Take it like a man.” Darwin slapped his brother, but I thought his face also seemed a bit drawn in worry.

Several of Nappi's men joined him, and they walked the Hardy brothers out of the house and pushed them into the vehicles waiting out front.

“
Frida won't like that I let you take these fellows.”

Nappi gave me a Mafia smile—one with no humor behind it. “How will you stop me? Threaten me with a rubber snake?”

“
What about me?” Darlene was shaking, her red curls bouncing as if they were alive. “And where's that damn snake?”

The sirens grew louder. I looked through the window and watched the car with the Hardy brothers in it pull away from the curb as Frida's police cruiser pulled up.

“
You'll go with her,” I said and nodded at the police cruiser.

Darlene seemed relieved. I guess she worried I'd send her off with Nappi. I should have.

I found a piece of paper and pencil and scribbled Alex a note. It read, “I meant to get you a houseplant as a thank you present for doing all that work for me, but instead I found something more lively. Maybe you'd better call the exterminators. The upside is that there's a bounty on these things. You can collect on it.”

I gave Grandfather a hug and thanked him over and over again for his help; then I drove him and Sammy back to their house. No one said much on the way there. The storm was over and the moon had come out, big and white as if it had been washed clean by all the rain.

“
So now we know everything.” Sammy unfolded himself from my car and helped Grandfather get out of the back seat.

“
I guess so. It all makes sense now—horrible, greedy, murderous sense. At least I know what happened and who was responsible for my uncle's death. I don't know why he left me all that money or who removed it from his accounts. I still think he was at heart a good man. He tried to rescue a child he probably never met because he felt he owed it to her mother and her siblings.”

I said goodnight then because I just couldn't think about this anymore.

On the way home, I finally felt able to grieve for my uncle. Tears filled my eyes. I reached in my pocket for a tissue and pulled out … the rubber snake. Grandfather Egret had stuffed it in my jacket as a souvenir. I chuckled to myself. I loved that man.

W
hen I stepped onto my porch, I knew something was not right. I always left a light on in the living room. It was a habit of mine, one I never broke. I was convinced it made it look as if someone was home, a deterrent to burglars. Alex said anyone surveilling the house would figure out it was a ploy. I did it anyway. It made me feel safe.

I was too tired and too sad to play heroine if my house was being burgled, so I did something all my friends had wanted me to do from the beginning of this murder/kidnapping case. I called Frida on my cell, inserted my key in the lock and stepped into the darkened living room. No one had to tell me who was there. I knew immediately from the earthy, moldy smell of the swamps.

“
Did you manage to hang onto your money, Boris? Or was it gone with the wind, back into the swamp?” I reached for the switch inside the door and flipped it on. Nothing. Did I feel like an idiot! The bulb must have burned out. No. Wait a minute. I flipped the switch to turn it on. If the bulb had burned out, the switch would already have been in the “on” position.

“
I get it now. You unscrewed the bulb. I know you're here, Boris.” I heard someone take a deep breath from across the room.

The table lamp beside the chair in the living room came on.

“
You think you're pretty smart, but you're just another spoiled American woman. I have a passport, and I will go home with money. I come to take the money Darlene hid.”

Now, how did he know it was here? Or did he?

“
I followed Darlene here the other day and then to your boyfriend's house. She wasn't carrying the bag she arrived here with. It has to be the money bag.”

I glanced around the room. It hadn't been searched yet, so Boris must have just arrived.

“
You're lucky to be alive.”

“
I'm a strong man. No bunch of snakes or a swamp can do me in.”

I thought about that old Russian joke, “Strong like bull, smart like tractor.” I smiled.

“
You think this is funny? I will give you your life if you give me the money.”

I wanted to stall him more, but I could tell he was impatient to leave. I wanted to believe he would spare my life, but I couldn't count on it. I hoped the call I made to Frida had connected and that she was hearing the conversation. The one time I reach out for help, there's no one there. Where the hell was she? Where else? Home in bed, sleeping soundly, secure in the knowledge that the case was wrapped up.

No one was coming to rescue me.

“
The money is in the bedroom,” I said.

He gestured with his gun to indicate I should lead the way.

The only light in the bedroom came from the moonlight through the window, not enough to see well. I walked into the room and turned on the bed table lamp. “It's in the closet. In the duffel.”

“
Get it.”

I went to the closet and fumbled around on the floor.

He came and stood over me. “Turn on the light.”

“
The bulb is burned out.”

Boris reached up and pulled the cord. Nothing happened.