Murder Ink Page 6

  I found a spot under a shady tree and checked out the area for my mark. I smiled thinking I sounded like my fictional detective, Derek Streeter. I wasn’t sure what good watching them would do, but Evan seemed to want it and the client was always right.

  I’d barely been there a few minutes when they arrived. Evan surveyed the area and gave me a nod when he saw me. Trying to be a good detective, I zeroed in on Sally and checked out her clothes. She was wearing jeans rolled up at the cuff and ballet flats. She finished the look with a red sweater. I was amazed at how different she seemed now that she was out of her business attire. It fascinated me how clothes defined the perception of people. When she’d been dressed in the yellow pencil skirt and suit jacket, she’d seemed full of authority. And the heels had made her walk differently.

  From what I could see, Evan seemed nervous and Sally was too busy looking around at everything to notice. I chalked it up to first-date jitters. They hung out for a few minutes watching some ducks glide across the water. She pointed to the pathway out of the peaceful area and they were on the move. I kept my distance behind them. Their interaction had changed slightly. Evan didn’t seem as nervous and she’d become very animated, doing all the talking and gesturing with her hands. I made a mental note that if he wanted me to write to her again to be sure and include something regarding what she’d talked about. I had the feeling that being listened to might be an aphrodisiac for her.

  They glanced at the aviary and moved on. It continued on that way with them barely noticing what species they were passing. They never seemed to consider going into any of the buildings that had indoor housing for the animals. He continued hanging onto her every word and she continued throwing out a lot of them for him to hang onto. She seemed upbeat and I guessed that she wasn’t complaining, but I wished I could hear what she was saying.

  She was still talking when they exited the zoo. Evan stole a look back and when he saw me pointed across the strip of park to a coffee spot. Now that I knew where they were headed, I gave them a wide berth of space. I wasn’t so sure about the next part. The plan was I’d happen to run into them, and Evan would invite me to join them. He’d offer to get me a drink and while he was getting it, I’d talk to Sally and see how it was going. As I crossed the street, I tried to remember how I was supposed to know Evan. I thought I’d claimed to be his neighbor. Now, I wished I’d asked him where he lived. It wouldn’t do to break my cover. I laughed at myself, thinking I was getting carried away with playing the detective.

  They went into a small coffee place and I watched from the outside until they’d gotten a table. Evan looked up as I walked in and then he came up to the counter, so we were standing next to each other as if we were each going to place an order.

  ‘I think it’s going great,’ he said appearing enthused.

  ‘Do you still want to stick to the plan?’ I asked.

  ‘The plan? What were we supposed to do?’ he asked, seeming a little discombobulated.

  I was about to remind him, when I sensed someone stop next to us. I looked up, and was surprised to see Luke Ross. His head was down as he unzipped his windbreaker and it wasn’t until he got it open that he became aware of his surroundings. I smiled prepared to greet him, but he surprised me by talking to Evan.

  ‘Hey, man,’ Luke said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. ‘You’re my hero.’ Then Luke caught sight of me. He nodded a greeting before glancing back at Evan and then at me probably trying to figure out if we were together. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more complicated, Sally joined us, seeming a little breathless.

  She held up her phone. ‘Don’t get anything for me,’ she said to Evan. ‘I just got a call that there’s a problem with the event I arranged at the hotel.’ She appeared apologetic as her gaze moved over the group. ‘Maybe you can all have coffee together another time.’

  Evan’s bright expression instantly faded, and his shoulders slumped. He caught my eye and seemed to be pleading with me to do something. I wasn’t a matchmaker, but he seemed so desperate I felt like I had to do something. While Sally was checking something on her phone, I leaned close and surreptitiously whispered something in his ear.

  He smiled and nodded before he took her hand. ‘It’s been a pleasure,’ he said, lifting her hand to his lips and giving it a gentle kiss.

  Her face broke out in surprise and her eyes twinkled. ‘You’re so sweet,’ she said. When he released her hand, she gave his cheek a pat and with a wave headed out the door. Evan watched helplessly as she hailed a cab.

  ‘I guess I better go,’ he said, not looking in my direction. I sensed he didn’t want me to see his expression, which I imagined was crushed. I wasn’t sure what had just happened. Was the work thing an excuse to cut things short or was it real? I thought I should say something to him, but honestly, I didn’t have a clue what to say.

  Evan made a move to leave as well. The way his shoulders were slumped, I assumed he was admitting defeat and it was the end of his plan to win her heart. But just as he opened the door, he seemed to stand a little taller and he said he’d call me later to talk about next steps.

  NINE

  ‘What was all that about?’ Luke asked, glancing in the direction that Evan had gone. I hesitated for a moment while I considered what to say. It wasn’t like I was a lawyer or anything and had to keep things confidential, but I also didn’t think Evan would want me sharing that he needed help in the romance department, since he seemed to know Luke.

  Finally, I just shrugged, and said, ‘I’m not sure.’ It was the truth. I really didn’t know what had occurred other than it seemed like Evan wasn’t going to give up. Luke seemed OK with the answer and I was relieved he didn’t ask for any details like how I knew Evan.

  I felt at a loose end with my mission suddenly aborted. I decided to get a coffee after all and ordered their special blend. Luke had already ordered his and we stood around the counter waiting for the drinks to be served while we made small talk about the different roasts of coffee. I didn’t know that light roast had more caffeine.

  Our drinks came up at the same time. ‘Do you want to sit?’ he asked, indicating the tables at the back. I hesitated, looking out at the waning afternoon.

  ‘I’d like to but it’s Sunday, which already means the buses run slow and as it gets later, they come even less often, and I have to transfer.’

  He offered a sympathetic nod. ‘Public transit, huh?’ He went to grab his drink. ‘I have my car here. I’d be glad to give you a ride home.’

  I laughed. ‘Pretty brave of you, since you don’t know how far away I live. I could live way out someplace like Waukegan.’

  ‘It sounded like you only have to transfer once,’ he said, smiling. ‘So I took a chance.’

  ‘You’re right. I live in Hyde Park,’ I said.

  He nodded with a smile. ‘I think I can manage that.’ He gestured toward the tables again. ‘Shall we?’

  My relationship with my clients was varied. I was probably too involved with Evan and I’d been mostly distant with Luke. I’d never really spent any time alone with him, even when I was writing his wedding vows. All I really knew about him was that Rachel had been crazy about him and Mrs Parker seemed to dismiss him. But now I saw that he had an easy charm that made me feel instantly comfortable. I started to mentally say that he was easy on the eyes, but stopped myself from even thinking the cliché. The phrase didn’t do him justice, anyway. True, he looked like a model for men’s cologne, but what struck me was the warmth behind his symmetrical features.

  The comment he’d made about me not keeping in touch with Rachel had been weighing on me since he said it. I felt comfortable enough to bring it up while we had our drinks.

  ‘What did you mean that Rachel could have used a friend?’ I asked.

  ‘I’m sorry I said that. It’s just that dealing with Camille gets me riled. Rachel was having a rough time. It didn’t help that Camille was always critical of her and telling me I should do something
about the situation. I tried to talk to Rachel, but it seemed to make it worse. I guess in hindsight I thought if there was somebody she could open up to … She’d seemed comfortable with you.’ He shrugged.

  He’d opened the door on discussing Rachel’s problems, so I felt it was OK to walk through it and ask for details. ‘What was going on with her?’ I asked.

  He took a moment to collect his thoughts. ‘It was as if she’d become delusional. Packages came with clothes and cooking supplies that she insisted she hadn’t ordered. And yet when I checked the online account, the orders were there placed with her credit card. I’d get a text that she was stopping for groceries and then she’d come home empty-handed with no memory of sending me the text. It didn’t help when I showed her her phone and the text was there. She was having a lot of trouble sleeping. She seemed worried all the time. I thought it might get better when the school term began, and she went back to work.’ He stopped and seemed to be remembering something unpleasant. ‘Camille insisted we go to a fundraiser at an estate in Glencoe at the end of August. It was filled with all the elite people the Parkers mixed with and Rachel had a meltdown. She thought she’d lost a bracelet I’d given her and came unglued. Luckily, I was able to get her outside before anyone noticed, but the Parkers were embarrassed anyway. They pushed it on me to do something. But I couldn’t say anything to Rachel about it without her falling apart. Her head was filled with nonsense. She thought I was going to leave her.’ He paused and let out a heavy sigh. ‘All the Parkers care about is keeping up an image of being this perfect family.’ He let out a long sigh. ‘Mr Parker managed to get the coroner to ignore the message on her cell phone.’

  ‘What sort of message?’ I asked.

  ‘It just said, “I need help”. The recipient wasn’t typed in. It seemed like the modern version of a suicide note.’ He shook his head as if to clear it. ‘I had no idea it was that bad for her.’

  ‘Then you weren’t there when she, uh, fell,’ I said, careful with my words.

  ‘No. She was home alone. I was at work.’ He let out his breath. ‘Maybe the Parkers are right, though. Maybe it’s better to leave it as inconclusive or accidental. What’s the point of saying it was deliberate?’ He turned to me. ‘Just do the best you can honoring her memory.’ He’d kept his voice low because we were in public, but he sounded intense.

  ‘That’s the plan with the little book,’ I said. ‘I already started collecting anecdotes. I went to her school and talked to some of the teachers.’ I told him about their praise of her, but left out their concern about how she’d been acting. ‘They mentioned she was taking some dance lessons she enjoyed,’ I said.

  ‘They were more like an obsession. She got in her head that she needed to lose weight and it seemed like she went to a class almost every day. I thought they’d be good for her. You know how they’re always saying that exercise is good for mental health. She seemed to have someone she hung out with. But they weren’t lessons. She corrected me when I called them that. She said it was a dance gym and they’re members not students.’

  ‘That might be something for the book. Do you know what kind of dance classes she took? I like to be specific,’ I said. I didn’t elaborate, since I doubted he was interested in hearing my thinking, but it was something I always told the writers’ group. Being specific about something made it seem real. Instead of saying a tree-lined street, it was better to describe the old elm trees that shaded the street and had managed to survive all the years of bad weather and disease.

  He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I think she tried all different kinds of dancing. She seemed to have a lot of different kinds of shoes.’ He toyed with his cup and then took a long sip.

  ‘Do you happen to know the name of the place? Maybe I can get something for the book.’

  The idea of the anecdotes was great, but I was beginning to realize that tracking them down was hard.

  ‘She never mentioned the name. I think she was afraid I might show up and watch her dance or something.’ He almost smiled. ‘She kept making the point that it was for fun and exercise, not so she could try out for the Rockettes. It’s somewhere in the Loop. It could be on Wabash Avenue because she mentioned the noise of the El trains.’

  The Loop was what people called main downtown zone. It seemed that the name came from the fact that the subway and elevated trains looped around the area.

  Luke let out another sigh. ‘Can we talk about something else? I’m crushed by what happened, but I can’t wallow in it. I hope that doesn’t sound uncaring.’

  ‘Of course, all of this has to be very difficult for you. I understand you need to keep going with your life,’ I said. As I said it, I thought back to the background noise I’d heard when I’d called him. Hadn’t there been a woman calling him honey? It made me wonder how quickly he was moving on.

  I noticed that his dark blond hair looked windblown and put it together with the windbreaker he was wearing. It wasn’t particularly windy outside, but he’d clearly been somewhere the wind was blowing. He sensed me looking at his hair and raked it with his fingers. I thought of the boats I’d seen bobbing in the nearby harbor. ‘Were you out on a boat?’ I asked, leading the way to a new topic.

  His expression instantly brightened, and he smiled. ‘Very good,’ he said, sounding impressed. ‘Rachel told me that you’d written a mystery. I guess you must have developed some detective skills along the way.’ He looked at me expectantly. ‘Can you tell me why, though?’

  I thought for a moment. My first thought was fishing, but he didn’t look the type. ‘It was a beautiful day, so I’m thinking it was for pleasure.’

  ‘Actually I was showing our boat to a potential buyer. It was a gift from the Parkers, but now it seems it was more of a loan. They’re insisting I sell it and turn over the proceeds.’ He took out his phone and thumbed through the pictures and then handed it to me. ‘That’s the boat, in case you know anybody in the market. The couple I took out today passed.’

  I took the phone from him and checked out the boat mostly to be polite. I nodded and said it looked great, and then as I went to hand it back to him, I accidentally swiped the screen and another picture took over. I was about to ask who it was and then I realized it was Rachel. I tried to hide my shock. She looked nothing like the wedding picture I’d chosen for the memory book. She’d lost her soft curves and was a gaunt, muscly sort of thin that wasn’t attractive. Her eyes were like dark haunted pools. Most unnerving was it was the first picture I’d seen of her where she didn’t have a smile. No wonder the teachers said she’d seemed different. She looked like a ghost of the person I’d known.

  I knew he didn’t want to talk about her anymore, so I made no comment and tried to swipe the screen back to the boat.

  I noticed that it had gotten dark. He drained his cup and saw that mine was empty. ‘Shall we …?’ he said, getting up.

  His black Porsche was parked about a block away. I wasn’t really surprised about the car. He seemed like somebody who’d have a sports car. I watched a bus go by, glad that I didn’t have to deal with it. Getting into the car, I felt like I’d been offered a magic carpet ride compared to the trip home on a couple of buses that took a convoluted route and made a million stops. He took the Lake Shore Drive and I looked out the window. The streetlights had come on and it was hard to tell where the lake ended and the sky began. I gave him directions from the 57th Street exit and he double-parked in front of my building. ‘I love these old brick buildings,’ he said, gazing up at the white columns that bordered the front balconies.

  I gave him the rundown on how old the building was and noted some of the charming details and not-so-charming one of having no elevator to carry me to the third floor.

  ‘Once everything gets settled, I’m thinking of relocating away from downtown.’ He glanced at the wrought-iron fencing that enclosed the planted area next to the entranceway porch. A sign hung on it noted that one of the units was for sale. ‘Who knows, I could end up your nei
ghbor.’ His tone was light, and I knew he was just making conversation.

  I thanked him for the ride and just before I got out, turned to him. ‘The reason I didn’t stay in touch with Rachel is that I assumed that she’d want me to disappear once the vows were done. I accept that it is part of my job that people usually want to forget I was ever there. Like disappearing ink,’ I said with a smile. Then I bid him goodnight and got out of the car.

  My landline was ringing when I unlocked the door. Having a landline was beginning to seem redundant to a lot of people since their cell phones had become practically an appendage. To be honest, I kept the landline mostly for sentimental reasons. It was the same number I’d had my whole life and it bothered me to think of somebody else having it. But it was a little strange to get sales calls asking for my father.

  I rushed to get the phone and didn’t bother to check the caller ID. I was pretty sure I knew who it was anyway. Still, to be on the safe side, I didn’t add a name to my greeting until I was sure.

  ‘Hey, Evan,’ I said after he’d greeted me excitedly.

  ‘So don’t you think it went great? What do we do now?’ he said, his words tripping over each other. I wasn’t sure how to respond. It sounded like he might be doing wishful thinking. I doubted he’d considered the idea that her abrupt departure might have been her way of saying ‘not interested’. Her reaction to the hand kissing could have just been polite.

  ‘It’s up to you,’ I said. ‘I just give you the words.’ I knew he wanted to talk about his potential future with Sally, but I really wanted to know how he knew Luke. I also didn’t particularly want to let on that I knew Luke, so I couldn’t ask him directly. ‘It was nice how your friend said you were his hero,’ I said finally. ‘What’s the story on him?’