Guilt (37 page)

“Guess he improvised.”

“Why would he?”

“I thought you might be able to tell me.”

“Well, I
can’t
, I have no
idea
why.”

“Then I’ll take a guess, Prema. Subtle hostility. He didn’t much care for Donny, because he’d learned what Donny is like. He knew that Donny wouldn’t be happy about your consulting a child psychologist. So he mimicked Donny. Mel’s little bit of nasty irony.”

She stared at the water.

I said, “Mel refused to tell me which kid I’d be seeing because the answer was none of them. The kids didn’t need help, they were doing fine. All things considered.”

She looked at me. Her eyes were wet. “I’m doing my best.”

“I believe that you are. So the question remains: Why did you want to see me? I’m a child psychologist so it wasn’t about therapy for you. That leaves some kind of family issue.”

She didn’t answer.

I said, “Maybe a marriage that’s unraveling? A concerned parent wanting to learn about the impact on the children? And how to minimize it?”

She covered her face with both hands.

I said, “You care about everyone and everything. Donny couldn’t care less. You always wanted kids, he never did. You convinced yourself his attitude would change once he saw how cute they could be. It didn’t, he cut them off completely. And they know it. That’s why that picture in the lobby was so stressful. It was his idea, the first time he’d shown any interest in family life, so there had to be an ulterior motive. What was he planning to do with the shot? Use it for publicity?”

She raised her arms, punched air clumsily. “Damn him! For a stupid movie! Big lead role for him, he was going to play a
dad
.”

“Typecasting.”

Her laugh was bitter. “Caring, bumbling, lovable
dad
. Can you believe the morons who thought of that?”

“Not exactly
Citizen Kane
.”

“Not exactly
Citizen
Sane. Piece-of-crap script, piece-of-crap casting,
his
big comedy debut, it was going to open a whole new world for him.”

She got up, walked several steps away, returned.

“His
plan
was to sell the photo to
People
for big bucks. He never asked me, knew what I’d say. Instead he sprang it on me as we drove from the airport into the city. He’d instructed the driver to go straight to the theater, his agent had paid to rent the lobby. The whole purpose of the trip was educational. Show the kids the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, the planetarium. I was surprised when he offered to come along. Allowed myself to be hopeful, maybe he’d seen the light. Then he pulled that! Expecting them to pose for hours of pictures. Him with the tribe, both of us with the tribe. He wanted them to jump in the air and laugh and hug him and kiss him!
Disgusting!
I killed it. The rule from the beginning was always they
never
got used. For his crap or mine. He knew that and now he’s trying to
change
it? Because someone’s paying him to be a
dad
? He tried to force the issue, I stood my ground. It got ugly, I told the kids to wait in the limo. By the time I got back to the lobby, he was gone. He drove straight back to Teterboro, chartered a plane to Vegas, stayed there for weeks, doing his Vegas thing. The tribe and I tried to make the best of it. I’d rented a big quiet apartment on Sutton Place, doorman, security, off the beaten path. I managed to take them a few places without attracting attention. They wanted to know where he’d gone. I said he wasn’t feeling well but they knew I was lying. I tried to reach out to him, maybe we could talk, work something out. He wouldn’t take my calls. Then he texted me a picture of himself and some … girls. Let me know quite graphically that he didn’t miss me.”

Her face tightened. “After that, we moved even further apart.”

“Lovable dad,” I said. “Don’t recall that film.”

“Never got made.”

“How come?”

“Maybe someone realized how bad he sucks as an actor?” Shrug. “That’s the way the business works, mostly it’s air sandwiches.” Her toe nudged the rock rim.

Time for me to nudge her. “Have you told the kids about Adriana’s death?”

“Of course not!”

“How did you explain her absence?”

“I said she went away on vacation. It would only matter to Boo, Adriana was Boo’s person, the others don’t need anything like that.”

“A nanny.”

“Not even a nanny, just someone to watch Boo when I’m tied up.”

“Four kids,” I said. “Sometimes you can get spread pretty thin.”

“I manage.” She sniffed. “There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.”

Out of my pant pocket came a piece of paper. I unfolded, pretended to read.

She pretended to ignore me. But it had been a long time since she’d performed and she struggled with her curiosity. “What is that?”

I handed it over. Fumbling in her bag, she produced her glasses. Scanned the receipt from JayMar Laboratory. The copy I’d kept for myself. “Beetles? Scalpels? What is this?”

“Check the name of the recipient, Prema.”

“Who’s that?”

“Someone who buys stuff for you through Apex Management. For you only.”

Her mouth dropped. “What? That’s ridiculous. I’ve never heard of this place! Beetles? Scalpels—a
bone
saw? What the hell’s going on?”

She tried to return the receipt. I kept my hands in my lap. “Kevin Dubinsky ordered all that stuff for you.”

“Mel handles my purchases.”

“You wanted something, you’d tell Mel, he’d pass it along to Kevin?”

“Who’s Kevin? I don’t know any Kevin. Everything’s done by email, anyway.”

“You’d email Mel and he’d pass it along to—”

“This is crazy.” She re-read. “Der-mestid—sounds gross. Why would I want bugs in my house? We pay a pest service to get rid of bugs, last year it took two days to clear a wasp nest. Kyle-Jacques is allergic to bees and wasps.”

“Dermestid beetles aren’t household pests, they’re specialists, Prema.”

“At what?”

“They consume flesh. Quickly and cleanly. Scientists use them to clean bones.”

“That’s disgusting! Why would I want something like that?”

Her hands shook. The paper rattled.

I’d given her the perfect opening but she’d made no attempt to weasel out by offering a plausible explanation.

Oh, those beetles. I forgot, they were part of the kids’ science project. I’m big on teaching them science, you saw that yesterday
.

She said, “Beetles? Scalpels?” She turned white. “You’re saying someone cleaned
Mel’s
bones? Or Adriana’s—omigod—”

“Mel was shot and left intact. Same for Adriana. Is anyone else authorized to contact Kevin Dubinsky on your behalf?”

“I keep telling you, I don’t know any Kevin Dubinsky. My life—you delegate, things get … away from you.”

“Who has access to your email account?”

“No one has access to my personal account. I don’t use it much, anyway, try to stay off the computer because the Internet’s nothing but mental pollution. I’m into reading. Books. Never had much school, I need to catch up. So I can be smart for the tribe, already they know stuff I don’t. Especially K.J., he knows so much math.”

“Are there other email accounts at your home?”

“Of course, for the household,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many or who uses them—I sure don’t. We have a computer company, they set it up. For day-to-day things.”

“Would those household accounts be used for shopping?”

“For food, toilet paper. Not bugs!”

“Who’s on your staff?”

“Total? If you mean people coming in and out, like gardeners, pool service—those pest-control people—I couldn’t even tell you, there’s always someone around fixing something.”

“Who lives on the premises, like Mel?”

“It used to be crazy, we used to have an army,” she said. “After I stopped working I began to pare down. Mel is—was the overall manager. I used to have a personal assistant but I let her go a few years back, the only reason most people have P.A.s is they’re afraid of being alone. I
relish
being alone.”

“Does Donny have an assistant?”

“Always,” she said. “They come and go. Girls, always girls. The
latest one I couldn’t even tell you her name, we live … Other than that there’s just the housekeepers. Imelda, Lupe, Maria, I need three to keep the place clean, it’s a big undertaking, they’re lovely. Religious ladies, cousins. That’s it. Oh, yeah, a cook. For healthy food.”

“Plus Adriana.”

Tears filled her eyes. “Plus her. She was also religious. I could tell because she kept a Bible by her bed and sometimes I’d see her praying. Personally, I’m not into that but I respect it. Are you saying the same person who killed her killed Mel?”

“Too early to tell,” I said. “Have you moved to replace Adriana?”

“I’m not sure I need to, Boo’s growing more independent. More interactive, hanging out with the tribe more.”

“Do you have chauffeurs?”

“We used to have two, one for him, one for the rest of us, but that was a waste, we don’t go out much, I switched to a car service.”

“Did Donny keep his driver?”

“No … I don’t think so.”

“You don’t know?”

She exhaled. “We don’t exactly live together.”

“Where does he live?”

“Next door. The adjoining property. I mean it’s one property, I bought it years ago, but it’s three separate parcels. I was going to develop it as one big estate but then … things changed. The tribe and I use the big lot. Seven acres, a main house, some outbuildings, tennis court, pool, stuff.”

“And Donny?”

“He took the middle one, around three acres. The smallest one is a little less than an acre. No buildings on it, no one goes there.”

She thrust the JayMar form at me. “Take this back, it’s freaking me out.”

I pocketed the paper. “When you heard about Adriana, did you talk about it to anyone?”

“No.”

“Not Mel?”

“Why would I discuss it with him?”

“People work together, they talk to each other.”

“Mel and I weren’t like that,” she said.

“No socializing.”

“We talked when there was something to talk about. Don’t get the wrong picture, I didn’t snob him out but it’s not like—wasn’t like we were friends, a friend is someone who likes you for yourself. Mel wouldn’t have stuck around for a second if I didn’t pay him.”

Her smile was grim. “I don’t have friends, Dr. Delaware. I have people I pay.”

Thinking of all the women Robert Sommers had spotted parading in and out of Wedd’s apartment, I said, “How was Mel’s love life?”

“He had none that I knew about.”

“No girlfriend?”

She smiled. “Mel was gay.”

“You know that because—”

“He told me. Like I said, when there was something to talk about, we talked. One time Mel was looking upset and I asked him what was wrong and he told me. I have to admit, I had no idea, he never gave off any gay vibe. What was bothering him was he has—had a brother, some macho cowboy-type, and they hadn’t seen each other in a long time because Mel had run from who he was. Now Mel wanted to … what’s the word he used—
resurrect
, he wanted to resurrect the relationship, was worried once the brother found out it would screw things up permanently. Why is his love life important?”

“Someone gets murdered, it’s good to know about their relationships.”

“Mel may have had some but I’m unaware of them. Why did you show me that beetle thing?”

“The night Adriana was killed, something else was found in the park. The skeleton of a two-month-old. The bones had been cleaned by dermestid beetles.”

She gasped, made a retching sound, bent low. “I’m supposed to be connected to
that
? That’s
insane
.” She clawed her hair. “This
can’t
be
happening
!”

“Who’d want to set you up, Prema?”

“No one.”

I said, “One more thing. After the bones were cleaned they were coated with beeswax.”

She clutched my arms. Looked me full in the face. Shrieked.

Springing to her feet, she backed away from me as if I were diseased. Ran toward the house, made it to the kitchen steps but didn’t climb them.

Instead, she began pacing the yard. Fast, robotic, tearing at her hair. Great workout companion for Milo.

On her ninth circuit, she sped to the rear of the yard where tall trees blacken the grass. Leaning against the trunk of my oldest coast redwood, she sobbed convulsively.

Just as I’d decided to approach her, she straightened her shoulders, sucked in breath, and returned to the teak bench.

“The park where she—where they were both found. If they mentioned it on the TV, I didn’t hear, I really wasn’t paying attention until I heard Adriana’s name. Was it Cheviot?”

“How’d you know that, Prema?”

“Oh, I know.” Gripping her knees with both hands, she put herself in an awkward crouch. As if prepping for a leap off a cliff.

Nowhere to fly. She remained frozen. Moaned. “I know all
sorts
of things.”

M
ilo was at his desk. “You did
what
?”

“It started out as surveillance,” I said. “Things progressed.”

“You told her everything?”

“I told her enough to get through to her.”

“She’s your new pal.”

“She’s not the offender.”

“You know that.”

“I’ll put money on it.”

Silence.

I said, “You need her and at this point she thinks she needs you.”

“Needs me for what?”

“Keeping her kids safe.”

“All of a sudden Devil Princess is a saint?”

“Think of it this way,” I said. “You may get out of garbage detail.”

“She came to your house alone? No paparazzi in the bushes?”

“Not her style, anymore,” I said.

“Just a simple gal. Your new best friend.”

“Love to chat, Big Guy, but you need to get over here.”

He grumbled. I heard a door slam. “On my way.”

“Good man.”

“So few of us left.”

Back in the office, I poured Prema herb tea, gave her some playtime with Blanche, allowed her to drift into abstract discussions on child-rearing. Then I got back to the questions.