Flossed (Alex Harris Mystery Series) (24 page)

“I can’t fathom a reason for her killing Doug,” Sam said, “Though I guess it’s not totally inconceivable she had an affair with him, too. But she’s still a suspect in my book for Martine’s death.”

“I guess you’re right. We’ve been ignoring that possibility,” I said.

“There’s something else, though I don’t know if it helps to tell us who the murderer is, but if the floss used to kill both people turns out to be from the same box, then that means either Wanda or Bill killed Martine and Doug
or
the person who killed Martine took a bit extra to use on Doug which means they knew they were going to go after him, too. Or the person went back to Wanda’s to get some more for Doug. So maybe we should talk with Wanda again and find out who’s been at her house recently.”

“That’s an interesting theory except the police have confiscated the box of floss used to kill Martine. But maybe Wanda had several packages.” I was silent for a minute. “You know, we’ve never put Wanda on our suspect list. Not really, anyway.”

“Should we?”

“Well, she did say Bill had had an affair with his previous secretary, and she suspected he and Martine might have hooked up as well. So she could have killed her.”

“And how does Doug tie in to all this?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But John thinks Bill is having big problems with his business. That man, Mr. Lipnicki, is obviously very upset with Bill. Maybe all the problems are Doug’s fault or maybe Wanda
thinks
all the problems are Doug’s fault, so, ergo, she kills him to save her husband’s business.”

“Ergo? Again? Can’t you just say therefore like everyone else?”

“Ergo sounds more Madam Maigret-ish.”

“Hey, you missed our turn,” Sam pointed out when I continued straight rather than turning for our street.

“Harper Pharmaceuticals is down the road. We passed it the other morning when we went to the train station. I remember it because a friend from college went to work at their headquarters in New York after school.”

“So?”

“So. That George Lipnicki works there. That’s what Wanda said.”

“No! Alex, tell me we aren’t going to barge in on a man we were never even introduced to and start asking him questions?”

“Fine. I won’t tell you. But we’ve been looking at this thing the wrong way. We’ve been assuming Martine and Doug were killed because they were having an affair.”

“So?”

I stopped at a light and turned to my sister. “So maybe they were killed because they worked at the same place.”

“Jeez. You’re right. I never thought of that.”

“I’m not sure anyone has. But that would fit with Wanda being the killer. Doug and Martine knew something Bill was up to and threatened to go to the authorities. That would certainly put a crimp in Wanda’s lifestyle. It’s her house, she knows where the dental floss is kept. No one would think it odd if she was in the house during the party instead of outside with the rest of us. And Doug was killed at the office, her
husband’s
office. She most certainly has a key. Bill’s out of town, so she just drives into Brussels and finishes off Doug.”

“You may be on to something,” Sam said. “But if Wanda is a suspect, then so is Bill.”

I mused this over. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. At least for Martine. He was out of the country when Doug was killed. Maybe he and Wanda are in it together, she gets rid of one, he the other.”

“But what does this have to do with Mr. Lip whatever?”

“Maybe he knows something.”

“I think you’re stretching things a bit here, Alex. Let the police handle it. We can’t just start asking this man questions for heaven’s sake.”

I pulled the car into the driveway of a set of high-rise office buildings. The one on the left had a sign for the drug company and I found a parking space close to the entrance.

“Well? Are you coming in with me or not?”

Sam stood next to the car and looked around.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m hungry. I thought if there was a restaurant nearby I could go get something to eat while you get thrown out on your ear.”

“We’ll think about food later. Now, are you coming?” I leaned against the car tapping my short finger nails on the roof.

“Looks like I don’t have a choice,” Sam said begrudgingly. “What makes you think this man is going to talk with us? Or we’ll be able to get past his secretary or receptionist or whatever?”

I took my sunglasses off and tucked them into my purse. “I don’t know. But after today, we’ll never see him again. So even if he throws us out on our ear, what do we have to lose?”

“And I thought I was the brazen one.”

“I’m learning.” I smiled sweetly.

Chapter 35

Luck was on our side. Mr. Lipnicki pulled into the parking lot while Sam and I debated how to interrogate the man. We approached his car. The old gentleman got out of his BMW and looked at the two of us standing before him.

“Yes. Can I help you?”

“Mr. Lipnicki, you don’t know us,” I began, “But we were with Wanda Westlake earlier when you talked with her at the memorial service.” The man just looked at us. “Well, we overheard what you said and we thought maybe we could ask you a few questions.”

“Questions? About what? Did Wanda send you? You can just go back and tell her it won’t work. I
will
confront Bill first thing in the morning.”

“No. No. Nothing like that. It’s just that, well, you see, Bill is a friend and well, I mean, well we’re…”

“Alex, you’re babbling. Mr. Lipnicki.” Sam took over before the man called security. “My sister here, and her husband are very good friends of the Westlakes. That’s why we’re here in Belgium. We’re visiting them, you see.”

“Yes, you said that. I suggest you find yourselves some other acquaintances, young ladies.”

“Well, that’s just what we wanted to talk with you about. You seem so upset with Bill and we were wondering if there might be something we could do. To help Bill. But we’re a bit at a loss. We’ve noticed Bill is under a lot of pressure lately and we’d like to help him but he’s a bit reluctant to open up to us. Doesn’t want to spoil our vacation, you know.”

“That’s right,” I said regaining my composure and jumping back into the conversation, though thoroughly pleased with my sister’s efforts so far. I really had created a monster. “You seemed to be making a few accusations. Could you tell us what that was all about?”

“Don’t know why I should.” Mr. Lipnicki started toward the building.

“Mr. Lipnicki,” I strained to keep up with the long strides of the tall man, “two people have been killed. If it has something to do with the company, maybe you could shed some light on a few things. Please. It might help.”

Mr. Lipnicki stopped and slowly turned back to us. “Well, I don’t see it, but you’re here and this hot sun is giving me a headache. Come on up to the office. I’ll have Suzette get us something cold to drink.”

The man must be pretty high up on the corporate ladder if his office was any indication. It was large enough to have a seating area off to one side. The three of us took seats, Sam and me on a soft, comfortable sofa, Mr. Lipnicki on a plush chair. Suzette brought in three cokes in tall glasses with lots of ice.

“Hope you like ice. The Belgians don’t use it much. Don’t understand how they can drink the stuff warm. It’s never cold enough just coming out of the refrigerator.”

“This is fine. Thank you,” I said.

“Okay, young woman. Give me some background.”

“My husband and Bill were friends at university. John and I just got married a few weeks ago and Bill lives here now.” I was rambling again. “The Westlakes have some friends with an apartment that was going to be vacant during the summer, so we came. For our honeymoon.”

“And what about you?” he asked Sam. “She didn’t marry you, did she? I know about some of these new laws. You’re not from New York are you?”

Sam laughed. “No. I’m her sister.”

“That’s right. You did say that.”

“And my husband and I tagged along.”

“The pushy sort, are you?”

Sam laughed and gave a sharp nod. “Well, yes, I guess I am.”

“So you’re all friends and now you’re worried for Bill.”

“Yes. That sums it up. We are worried. Should we be?” I asked.

“I’m not sure about murder, but I’d say you can start to worry, yes. The man’s in a heap of trouble if I’m any judge.”

“How so?” I asked.

“With his business. Haven’t figured out yet exactly what is going on, but something is certainly not right. I haven’t received a valuation of my investments in over six months. Not that I haven’t asked, mind you. There’s always an excuse. Martine was sick, they didn’t have all the figures in from the various financial institutions, and now it’s a new computer system  holding everything up. Always something.” The man shook his head.

“Six months seems like a long time to come up with excuses,” Sam said.

“My sentiments exactly, young lady. Every time I call, I get the runaround. I’m sick of it. I’ve sent a lot of business Bill’s way. A lot. Mine is substantial enough, but I’ve got about fourteen others here with their investments under Bill’s direction.”

“I don’t know much about this sort of thing,” I said. “Exactly how does it work? You give him money and he invests it for you?”

“Not exactly. I have several small investments. Bill has the power to move the money around within a certain group of funds for me. He doesn’t have direct access to the money.”

“Well, that sounds straight forward enough.” Sam nodded her head.

“Yes, it is. But without getting into any amounts, I also have a few rather large investments in a pool.”

“A pool,” I asked.

“In order to be able to get a certain percent, a higher return than normal, a large amount of cash is required for certain types of investment. Bill’s put together a group of investors, all putting in the same amount. For this particular deal, Bill does have access because he has to constantly move the money and it all has to be under one name.”

“You’d have to trust someone quite a bit to put a large sum under their direct access.”

“Yes, and I did. But something’s gone wrong. I can feel it. Everyone in the group is guaranteed a certain return and so far, we haven’t seen it. We haven’t even seen a statement for six months on the money.”

“This doesn’t sound good,” I mused.

“No, young lady, it does not.”

“Have you thought of going to the police?”

“Yes. We have. And we will if it comes down to it, but it’s not something that we want to bring into light right now.”

I sensed there was more to all of this than Mr. Lipnicki felt comfortable saying.

“Can I ask why?”

George Lipnicki waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, it’s not an illegal transaction. Nothing like that. Just foolish pride of a bunch of aging men who would rather not admit they put their collective trust in a less than trustworthy man.”

“And what happens tomorrow if Bill doesn’t want to see you or if he doesn’t have any answers?” Sam asked.

“Well, I’ll have to take it up with the rest of the men involved, but I can’t see we would put up with it any longer. If he doesn’t come up with our money tomorrow or doesn’t give me sufficient reason why I should wait longer, I believe we’ll be contacting the authorities.”

Chapter 36

“I think I’ll call Wanda.” I looked across the living room to where Sam sat sipping a cup of tea. “What do you think?”

“What for? I thought you didn’t want to have anything to do with her anymore.”

“That was before she became a serious suspect on my list. I’ve narrowed it down to her, Bill, the two of them together, Jane, or Donna.”

“Sounds good. So what are you going to say?”

“I don’t know.” I started to reach for the phone and then pulled back. “I don’t know what to ask her. I could just be direct and say something along the lines of ‘oh, by the way, Wanda, did you kill Martine and Doug because they found out your husband was into something nefarious and it would really put a crimp in your lifestyle if he got caught?’”

“I’m sure she’ll be just as direct with her answer, something along the lines of, ‘hmm, go to hell.’” Sam smiled.

I picked up the phone again and dialed. “I guess I’ll just wing it.”

“Hello, Wanda, I’m so sorry to bother you but I just wanted to make sure you were all right after the funeral,” I said into the phone.

“Oh, Alex,” Wanda sounded a bit like she had been roused out of a deep sleep. “That’s very nice of you. Yes, yes, I’m fine. Well, that’s a bit of a lie, isn’t it? A friend was killed in my bathroom and another killed in my husband’s office. No, I guess I’ll never be fine again.”

“You will eventually. You should get out. Do some things with friends.”

Wanda let out a huge breath on the other end of the line. “I should. Bill works late so much. I do need to get out more. As a matter of fact, I was out the night Doug was killed. With Bill away, I met a friend in Brussels for dinner. It was nice to get out and not think about Martine. Maybe I should do that again.”

“So you were in town the night Doug died? You didn’t, by any chance, happen to be anywhere near the office, were you?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact we had dinner a few blocks away. Why do you ask?’

I leaned forward resting one elbow on my knee. “I was just thinking if you were by the office maybe you might have seen somebody go into the building. Maybe saw something important you don’t even realize is important.”

“Oh! I see what you mean. No unfortunately. I didn’t. I even parked my car on the same street as the office and walked the few blocks to where the restaurant is. Never any parking around the restaurant. But no, I don’t remember seeing anything unusual.”

“What time was this?” I asked.

“Oh, let’s see. I arrived about seven-thirty and must have returned to my car sometime around eleven-thirty. We had a nice dinner, walked some, stopped for a coffee. Now that I’m thinking about it, I do remember seeing a light on. I’m not sure it was the right building. I mean, the office was at the other end of the street from where my car was, and it was almost dark so the light could have been in another building. I’m just not sure.”