Sweet Karoline

SWEET KAROLINE

Catherine
Astolfo

SWEET
KAROLINE

Copyright © 2013 by Catherine Astolfo. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. And any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead (or in any other form), business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

http://www.catherineastolfo.com

FIRST EDITION eBook

Imajin Books—
www.imajinbooks.com

July 14, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-927792-06-3

Cover designed by Ryan Doan -
www.ryandoan.com

Praise
for SWEET KAROLINE

"
A deliciously vibrant portrait that realistically muddles good and evil
." —Kirkus Reviews

"Astolfo's wonderful first sentence in
Sweet Karoline
explodes on the page and resonates right to the end of this twisting examination of dangerous minds. Never have I encountered a narrative voice that alternates more deftly between alienating and enticing." —Mel Bradshaw, author of
Fire On The Runway

"A deliciously twisted story about the perplexing power of adult female relationships. By turns scathingly funny and darkly insightful,
Sweet Karoline
is a hedonistic journey with all the right ingredients: lust, betrayal, true love and mystery. Grab a glass of wine and have the bottle handy. A compelling read from the start through to the surprising end." —Robin Spano, author of
Death's Last Run

"In Catherine Astolfo's chilling new novel
Sweet Karoline
, things aren't always as they seem. Anne, the multifaceted anti-heroine in this noir tale takes a fateful journey into her forgotten past, uncovering the painful roots of her childhood. While furrowing for answers, a mystery unfolds, truths swirl to the surface, a heinous murder occurs. Who's the killer? Caught in a tangled web of greed, lies and deceit Anne must come to terms with her past, present and future, and the bleak realization that those we hold close may be the last ones to trust. Compelling, visually descriptive, deftly delivered…Catherine Astolfo's got the goods!" —Douglas Wickard, author of
A Perfect Husband

"
Sweet Karoline
is a multi-layered mystery, where nothing is as it seems. The story grips you on page one and leads you through a maze of history, twisted relationships, and ultimately the darkness of the human mind." —Liz Bugg, author of
Oranges and Lemons

"In
Sweet Karoline
, Astolfo has created a daring hybrid mystery that combines elements of romance, history, and suspense in a carefully crafted story that keeps you guessing to the very end. Astolfo explores new boundaries as she extends her reach beyond the cozy mystery in this psychological exploration of the mind of a killer. A unique exploration of guilt and revenge." —Michael J. McCann, author of
The Fregoli Delusion

"The clever plot twists in
Sweet Karoline
will enrapture you from page one through the last paragraphs of this fast-paced modern mystery. Author Catherine Astolfo exhibits a strikingly perceptive gift for believable dialogue and rich character development. Her dry wit and colorful descriptions will have you howling in laughter at points, but in tears at others as she digs deep into the themes of guilt, race, and relationships. The powers of love and redemption are strong, but does the heart of an Ice Queen ever really melt? Enjoy the romp from Los Angeles, through Canada, to a priceless Italian rendezvous—all in the pages of
Sweet Karoline
, where long-buried secrets lie." —Lisa Pell, award-winning author of
Who's Your Daddy, Baby?

For
my mother and her life of song and resilience.

Acknowledgements

I am such a fortunate person having my partner, my family and my friends in my life. I love you all so much! My very first manuscript-in-progress readers are also my inspiration: my husband, Vince Astolfo, and my daughter, Kristen Henderson. My son, James Henderson, and his wife Meredith provided not only encouragement but also "LA talk" and tours.

Special thanks to my readers of the first draft for their careful, thoughtful responses and suggestions: Maire Kearns, Melodie Campbell, Sarah Barkwell-Mann, Meredith Henderson, Ruth Ellen Henderson, Frances Daley, Tanya Buchanan and Tara Mann.

A special thanks to Frances Daley for crafting the insightful, intelligent Book Club Questions. Genius!

A huge thanks to the historians in Brantford and Paris, Ontario. I didn't always follow their facts, however. I like to play with reality (as you can tell) and I just had to throw in some family folklore. So please take it all with a spirit of imagination.

I am grateful to the Crime Writers of Canada community, my Sisters (and brothers) in Crime Toronto, my critique group MCM, and my Orenda Writers Group for all their support and encouragement. What a delight being surrounded by smart, creative people.

My appreciation for Cheryl Tardif, my publisher, and her team, grows with every book. I thank them for their advice, suggestions, assistance and most of all, for giving
Sweet Karoline
a home. Special thanks to my editor, Todd Barselow, for his brilliant "polishing."

"
Sweet Caroline

Good
times never seemed so good

I
'd be inclined

To
believe they never would…"

Neil
Diamond

"The truth is never far behind

You
kept it hidden well.

If
I live to tell

The
secret I knew then

Will
I ever have the chance again…"

Madonna

"
When the truth is found to be lies

And
all the joy within you dies

Don
't you want somebody to love?"

Jefferson
Airplane

Chapter 1

I met Ethan on the day that I killed Karoline.

Other
than a few minor adjustments, I believe that I have handled her murder exceedingly well.

The
state of my car, for instance, has become something of a nuisance. Bits of tissue, used napkins, paper cups and pop cans litter the floor at my feet or fly out the window as I drive along. I am invariably subjected to a barrage of honking whenever I reach a red light.

People
these days have no patience. They ought to understand that I am busy examining the stray bits in my car. Some of them are works of art. I don't notice the change to green because they are so infinitely interesting.

This
study of creative possibilities has become somewhat of an obsession. In the back of my mind I know that all I have to do is clean it up. Yet the thought of actually tackling the onslaught of debris leaves me inert and helpless.

Ethan
offered recently to take me to the car wash. He'd help me dump the debris and vacuum the inside, but I have seriously considered the idea that I may be destroying a future Picasso. I have thus far refused his proposition. Not that I have shared my vision of a Picasso with him, of course. I just say that I never have time.

I
have acquired a habit of going shopping. I make lists of things in my mind—groceries, toiletries, cosmetics, medicines, vitamins or clothing—that seem absolutely essential to the arrival of tomorrow. But once inside the pharmacy, the clothing store or the shopping center, the bright lights mesmerize me. My eyes blur and I can't for the life of me remember what I have come for.

When
I do buy something, I am left vaguely dissatisfied, certain that I could have gotten a better bargain somewhere else had I only looked a little longer. Depressed because I had to use my credit card again and this purchase will become just one more thing to do. Write the check. Buy the stamp. Walk to the post box. Mail the envelope.

The
little, unfinished things do sometimes bother me. Dirty laundry is piled up in the closet. The bed is always unmade. In the bathroom, the ceiling is slowly cracking from some unspecified leak that I have failed to report to the superintendent. The drapes in the living room neither open nor close anymore.

At
first I tended to watch television all night long, despite the fact that the next day I was a zombie. After I decided to go on an extended sick leave, it didn't matter. I started to sleep all night and all day, never moving unless forced to by some phone call, knock at the door or the call of nature.

I
spend hours at the sink. For some reason, the suds and the water are calming. So far I have washed every dish, bowl, and ornament in the apartment two or three times. I reenact advertisements for the latest dishwashing liquid, showing off my lovely long fingers and hands to, well, myself. I speak in a sing-song voice to the imaginary audience, telling them how kind the dishwashing liquid has been to my hands over the years, encouraging them to run right out and buy this product before it disappears from the shelf.

After
I've allowed the water to swirl down the drain, I shift to spending hours in front of the little mirror that hangs in my kitchen. People tell me that I am a very beautiful woman. On good days, when I feel haughty and happy, I can gaze into the polished glass and agree with their assessment. On other days, I notice the nose that's a little too upturned. The lips that protrude a bit too much. The dark birthmark above my left eyebrow. The ears that don't lie flat against my head. I have no idea why I am considered flawless, for I have many perceptible flaws, both inside and out.

My
father is white and my mother is black with some Native American thrown into her background. My parents have always bragged that I inherited all the great physical features of those races. Their perspective is far less critical than mine. They focus on all the positives. Naturally wavy hair. Large brown eyes with long curling lashes. High, full cheekbones. A small, pert nose. Lips just thick enough to be called luscious.

I
am one of those fortunate people who can eat all day and not gain an ounce. Thus I am described as tall and lean as opposed to thin. I have full breasts and a narrow waist. I am a fast runner and good at any sport I attempt. In Hollywood, I am considered full figured.

My
skin is a light brown, the color of coffee with cream I guess you would say, that makes me look as though I've just stepped out of a tanning bed. Heads literally turn to stare at me in the street, from across a room, or on the subway. Male
and
female. To me, it's a constant source of surprise, chagrin and exasperation.

Lots
of people, especially women, have jealously told me that I should be grateful for my looks. But I hate being identified as beautiful. Men tend to stare only at my chest when they talk to me. Or they show me off like some trophy and do not bother to ask my opinion on anything. I have been approached in bars and stores alike. Even in this land of plastic enhanced faces, I literally cannot go anywhere without being stared at or even followed. Most people, in fact, are convinced I am a movie star or model. These are not careers I've ever wanted.

I
have often been stalked, thus the three sets of locks on our door. Our telephone number is always unlisted and has to be changed once some obsessed man discovers it. When you are lovely on the outside, it's always difficult to entice people to look for the true person underneath. I'm learning through Ethan that it's exactly the same for truly ugly people.

Over
the years, I learned to live at the surface. It wasn't hard to do in Los Angeles, where even the air is insipid.

I
would prefer to be considered intelligent, but that's probably not an attribute anyone would mention when they speak of me. I worked very hard to acquire the position of Executive Assistant at Grace Film Productions, which is where I was employed up until last month.

I
was one of the very lucky ones who loved what I did every day and rarely considered it an effort. My former office is surrounded by windows and is fairly well designed. My desk is large and my chair comfortable. The office building, which houses Grace as well as several other companies, is an architectural beauty. All blue glass and steel, round and elegant, surrounded by greenery and topped with a beautiful grey crown that's actually an enormous rooftop patio. The front doors open with a swish. The security desk is classy, the carpet plush. The employees are welcoming and friendly. In the lobby and elevators, hushed music fills the air to calm nerves on the way to hear someone's decision on the success or failure of a movie script.

Grace
Films takes a script all the way from the editing stage to production. Sometimes my employers are heavily involved in the resultant movie and sometimes they take an Executive Producer role, basically handing the project off to other producers for the detailed work. My position requires juggling numerous prickly clients, writers, producers, and even actors, who are either nervous or over-confident artists.

I
also organize the lives of my bosses, who have enormous egos and expect everything to be done yesterday. I am able to handle details and disasters with a calm, objective exterior and an inner patience that stems from my adoration of talented people. Or, as Karoline would tell you, my love of power.

I
frequently go on set to distract or pacify our clients. I learn about their backgrounds, families, likes and dislikes, and treat them accordingly. Some of my employers have become my friends. Some of the writers and directors and actors are now my dependents.

When
my bosses are on location, I am solely responsible for answering the myriad of calls and managing the frantic problem solving. I am able to handle the stress of my position quite serenely. Or, make that, I used to be able to…

I
am aware that looks are part of the charm. I can give the clients a smile and they are instantly under my spell. Mine was the first voice they heard. The first face they saw if they got that far. I was often the one to give them the bad or good news about their scripts. In fact, I was the one who often read the first scenes to see if it was worthy of being handed to our producers.

In
the good times, I did feel grateful for my appearance. I learned to use it to my advantage. Happiness and overconfidence would swell like the ocean tide warming the shore. I had been taught by my parents to be self-centered and proud. I lived a hedonistic lifestyle, unaware that there could be any other way to live.

In
the very recent past I loved getting up in the morning. On weekdays I looked forward to traveling into the city. I would hop out of bed, anticipation fuelling my energy level, already going over the day in my head. Living in Pasadena meant rising very early, but it was worth the long commute, the clogged roads, the incessant weaving in and out of traffic.

Our
little section of L.A. County is green, safe and friendly. I'd go for a quick run most mornings. When it was too hot or, infrequently, rainy, I'd swim or work out in the gym. It's amazing the number of people I used to meet jogging on the street, doing laps in the gym pool or running on the treadmill.

Our
apartment building is like a village. Everyone knows everyone and all their business, too. When someone dies as ostentatiously as Karoline did, the gossip is rampant. Now my fellow residents avoid me as though I have an infectious disease or have changed places with an alien life form who speaks no discernible language.

On
weekends, there was always something going on. Every Friday night I'd be in a bar, toasting and talking over the week with my colleagues at Grace, before I hopped back into the car. In the past, Karoline and Giulio would either come drinking with me or they'd be off with their own colleagues and we'd meet in the parking lot.

Saturdays
and Sundays were usually untouchable. Film stars don't want to work on weekends. Whenever Karoline was away for the weekend on business, which was often, I hung out with Giulio or stayed home reading scripts. We had settled into a comfortable, satisfying routine that lasted until Italy. My life didn't often involve worrying about men or going out on a date.

I
have not had many happy or haughty days lately, that's for sure. I no longer get up from bed eager to start the day. In my little mirror I see only the lines below my lip, etched by worry and stress. I see the dark shadows under my eyes created by sleepless nights or pills that cause unconsciousness but not rest. I am jumpy and pimples have sprung up out of the unnatural hormones racing through my fearful body. I spend much of the day gazing at the distortions of a face that used to be peaceful, content, ambitious and young.

Recently
I hadn't even answered my mother's telephone messages. My mother and father still live in Bell Canyon. I haven't really let Mom in on the aftermath of the tragedy, not the details at least. I don't want to worry her. She is a well-meaning mom, despite the fact that I spent half my life being ashamed of her. I'm not sure she ever knew of my treachery, but somehow I cannot bring myself to turn to her, or to my Dad, for comfort. Although I am not deserving of their support, my main reason for avoiding them is that they are part of the betrayal. They have a mutual treachery of their own.

Another
thing I used to love is our apartment. It's part of a Moorish-Spanish designed collection of buildings that boast a beautiful stone façade, light brown stucco walls and rounded bay windows. Every balcony is bounded by gorgeous wrought iron, except for ours, which has rather high stone walls instead. The only drawback is that we have to stand up to see any view.

I
used to shiver with delight and pride every time I entered the stone archway that graces the front entrance. Now I shiver for a wholly different reason.

Karoline
and I lived in the top of two turrets that face the garden-side of the complex. In the 1940's, her Jah-jah and Boosha—don't ask me the real spellings of the Polish words—came to California to live on streets of gold. As soon as Jah-jah died, Boosha hightailed it back to Poland.

By
then, Karoline's mother was already married and residing in Bell Canyon. Halina's brothers went back to the old country, too. Maybe that's why she got pregnant so quickly and so young. Otherwise, she would have been alone.