A Lie for a Lie (20 page)

“All those board barbecues and bake sales I’ve cooked for, all the nights rearranging pews or chairs in the parish hall. All the rummage sales! You have no idea how many rummage sales and bazaars I’ve staffed. That has to count for at least three years of seminary.”

He actually smiled. Fleeting, but unmistakable. “Why do you want to talk to her?”

“Isn’t that privileged?”

“Don’t push your luck.”

“I want to see if she needs anything. I want to see if she’ll tell me why she was backstage.”

“You’re investigating again, aren’t you? You didn’t learn anything last time?”

“I’m not!”

“You don’t think I can tell?”

“I swore off investigating. I’ve taken up committee work.”

He stopped and turned to look at me. “You hate it, don’t you?”

I closed my eyes for just a moment. How had he known? “With every fiber of my being. But I’m good at solving problems.”

“If I put in a good word and we get you in to see her, promise you won’t solve this problem? Leave the investigations to us.”

I parted my lips to do just that, but they closed of their own volition. The second time, the intended message was a little different, but more acceptable. “I’m not planning to solve anything. I’m not going in with that in mind.”

“I ought to lock you up, too.”

“Think of the trouble I’d cause.”

Back inside the station he pointed at the chair I’d vacated, and I took it without another word. Half an hour later a cop in uniform came out and led me back through a maze of hallways to what was now the Emerald Springs jail. This was what Ohio called a five-day jail, a short-term facility meant for overnights and for holding prisoners before transfer. Luckily Nora was still here.

He sat me at a counter with a window separating me from a room on the other side and told me how to use the telephone intercom once Nora was brought in. Then he left me alone.

I made a mental list of questions, starting with “How are they treating you?” but I abandoned that when she was brought in. She was chatting with the uniformed woman, and Nora laughed at something the woman said. When she spotted me, her smile widened. She looked relaxed and confident as she took the seat across from me.

I picked up the receiver and she picked up hers.

“Aggie,” she said, and under the circumstances I was touched she’d remembered my name. “It’s a pleasure to see you.”

“Well, I wish the circumstances were better.”

“I’m not worried, and you shouldn’t be, either. Things will work out the way God intends. We’re in His hands.”

My personal theology was more along the line of “God helps those who help themselves,” but I wasn’t there to question.

“Henry came by this morning and asked me to see you. Everyone’s worried.”

She shook her head fondly. She looked rested, clean, thin—but that wasn’t new. “Henry’s faith is tried at times like this.”

I hoped this was simply an expression, and there hadn’t really been “times like this” in her past. Previous murders would certainly be a black mark against her.

“Nora, I was backstage most of the night Grady was killed. Were you really there? Because I didn’t see you.”

“I wasn’t there for long. That morning I had a strong premonition Grady was in danger. I prayed about it, and I was led to go and see him. Grady had strayed terribly through the years. Evil is like a magnet, it attracts more evil. Grady was sinking under the weight.”

“Is that what you told him?”

“Yes, and I told him it wasn’t too late to change his ways, but if he didn’t, I saw a terrible end for him. I asked him to join us, to use his money for good and help us build our biosphere. He wasn’t happy to see me. He didn’t recognize me at first, then he was angry I’d sought him out. He knew I was in town, of course, but I think he believed I would stay away because of old hurts.”

“It’s none of my business, I know, but Henry asked me to find out what I could from you . . .”

She smiled. “You want to know about those old hurts, don’t you? I can understand that, although I imagine they’ll be public soon. I met Grady on a movie set. We were both impossibly young. He’d made a splash in
Wayfarers
and the studio tried to follow up his success with something in the same vein, fantasy, legend, or history with a sentimental score to go along with it. He made two movies in quick succession, both with limited appeal. Next they decided to do something colorful and completely different. They had a script that had been floating around for years about a young man who joins a circus to hide from a murderer. It was called
Circus Train to Nowhere
.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve never heard of it.”

She smiled, as if that was understandable. “I was traveling with our family circus, and a talent scout tapped me to try out for the female lead. I was blonde and photographed well. They thought my act would look great on film, and they were sure I could be trained to act. They were wrong about that part. The movie was dreadful, and I was dreadful in it. Grady wasn’t much better. It flopped, but by then neither of us cared. We were madly in love, the way only people that age ever can be. We married right before the premiere, and right afterwards we both knew it was a terrible mistake.”

The woman who’d brought Nora into the room looked at her watch.

I spoke faster. “You weren’t married long?”

“His contract with that studio wasn’t renewed. He had nowhere to go and nothing to do, so he traveled with us, Nelson-Zimboni that is, for about six months. Several months into it he convinced Caprice Zimboni to have an affair with him. Caprice was a few years younger than I was, and although I wasn’t wise, she was even less so. She was the Zimboni star, a lovely young woman who had all the family athletic ability. She was a high-wire genius, and my best friend.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, it was a long time ago. It lost its power to hurt me. Now I know Caprice was simply seduced by a master. She was young and not very sophisticated. Her parents were old school, and they watched over her like she was a chest of precious jewels. Unfortunately Grady was my husband, so not to be feared. I’m sure he told her that he and I had fallen out of love, that I wasn’t treating him well. All the usual. I learned of the affair the same day I learned she was pregnant with his baby. Our families had been together for generations, and suddenly we were torn asunder. I divorced Grady. The circus divided assets, and we went our separate ways. Then Grady left Caprice at the altar. He didn’t want her or their child any more than he’d wanted me. He had been bored and between movies. We all paid the price.”

“And you hadn’t seen him since?”

“No. Not even on the silver screen. Not until the night he died.”

Nora’s jailer tapped her wrist, signaling that we needed to wrap this up.

“What happened to Caprice?” I asked quickly. “And the baby?”

“Caprice took the child, a girl, I’ve heard, and moved to Italy where the Zimboni family originated. I wish I knew where she was so I could tell her I forgave her a long time ago. Everyone was damaged. For years, I’m told, the Zimbonis talked about a vendetta against Grady. But I’m sure that was only talk. They weren’t violent people.”

I was sure the police knew this history. And what a motive for murder, both for Nora and Caprice. But twenty-four years after the fact? That seemed a tad long to wait for just the right moment to kill him.

The jailer held up her arm, watch turned toward me. I nodded and held up one finger in plea.

“Nora, could somebody have gotten into your house and taken Yank’s knife? Do you know how that could have happened?”

“I’m sure it did happen, since I didn’t carry it there myself. Yank and I are so careful. It’s not that we don’t trust those who travel with us, but it’s our job to protect them from themselves. In a moment of anger, tragedy can be averted by keeping weapons away from those who might want to settle a score. And there are children traveling with us who must be protected, too. So no, I don’t know how or when it might have happened. I just know that it must have.”

Our time was up. I told Nora good-bye and wished her luck. I also told her I would do whatever I could to help. Then I watched her being led away, poised, serene, and sure that all was still well.

What had I meant by those parting words? What could I do? Nothing had changed. I was still powerless. I was still an outsider in the investigation.

But something
had
changed. I had come here not knowing whether Nora Nelson had killed Grady Barber. I hadn’t been sure of anything. Now I was sure that she
hadn’t
. She had said she was a terrible actress. But even if she hadn’t said so, I was positive she hadn’t been acting today. Someone else had killed Grady, and nobody with authority was going to investigate any further.

Where exactly did that leave
me
? And wasn’t that a moral dilemma worthy of even Teddy’s consideration?

After lunch Ed left for a meeting of the local clergy. Deena, who had been as visible as a ghost since the night of Madison’s party, took a sandwich to her room and mumbled that she was going through her clothes to see what no longer fit. Since that was one of the chores she had to complete before we talked about restoring privileges, I felt somewhat encouraged that our standoff would eventually end. Deena hadn’t had much to say for herself after her hangover subsided, and that had continued. So far we hadn’t received an apology. I suspected she was slowly processing what she had done and why, and eventually we would be able to talk about it. For now, though, silence reigned.

As good as alone, I contemplated my choices. The Idyll was over, and the remainder of the summer beckoned. Lucy had a couple of houses in mind for us to buy and flip, but the owners had inflated ideas of their worth. By late summer, if they hadn’t sold to someone else, we could start negotiations. In the meantime I could run errands and car-pools, clean the house from top to bottom, put lots of casseroles in the freezer while fresh vegetables were readily available. And . . . or . . . I could do just the tiniest bit of sleuthing.

Sister Nora wished that she knew what had happened to Caprice Zimboni. Me, too. That seemed harmless enough. If I stumbled on the fact that Caprice was living here in Emerald Springs under an assumed name, then that would be an
investigation
, and of course, I’d turn that piece of information right over to Roussos and back away fast. More likely I’d discover Caprice was living in Venice, cheerfully walking a tightrope over the Grand Canal, and this would simply bring peace of mind to a fine woman who was unfortunately facing murder charges.

So Caprice went on my list, but she was hardly more than an asterisk. Buy paper towels at the grocery store and caulking at the hardware store. Oh, and find Caprice. Not enough.

Roussos hadn’t chosen to investigate Fred as a suspect, or at least he hadn’t admitted to this. How hard would it be to simply dial Fred’s cell phone myself? I had the number, of course. I even had it on speed dial thanks to Deena, my techie expert. When Fred was in town we had talked often. Was this investigating? Or simply one friend checking on another after a traumatic event?

“Checking works for me,” I said, cautious Aggie talking to free-spirited Aggie, and unfortunately, doing it out loud.

I knew I was making excuses, but they were good ones, and I was proud of them. I decided to start with Fred since I didn’t want to brave the Internet without somebody riding shotgun beside me. With my luck the moment I typed Italy into a search engine, I’d end up with a prepaid trip to Rome, Florence, and Sicily. One way, at that.

I got my cell phone and proudly pressed the correct key and waited. Fred didn’t answer, but his voice mail did. I took no chances on skipping the message by pressing another key. I know my limits. I listened, then waited until it was my turn to speak.

“Fred, this is Aggie Sloan-Wilcox. I’m sure you’ve heard about Grady. I just wanted to touch base with you. Will you give me a call? I wondered what you might know about his relationship with Nora Nelson, his first wife. Any info would be appreciated.” I left my number in case it had been deleted from his address book.

I actually did want to know what Fred could tell me about Nora, but even more so, I wanted to know what Fred could tell me about Fred. Of course I wasn’t going to leave that part on his voice mail. I hung up and wondered if he would ever return my call. If not, I would keep trying at odd hours and hope he picked up by accident.

“Well, that took a full minute.” I plopped down on our sofa and stared glumly at the fireplace. Even having a fireplace seems an abomination in this heat.

I wondered if there was anything else I could check on while I had time. After all I . . . I was running out of excuses. The desire to ease Nora’s mind. Comforting Fred. Truth was, I wanted to know more. I just did. Unanswered questions bother me. Not the big, existential ones that seem to worry Ed and Teddy. But the more manageable ones I can really sink my teeth into.

Like, who killed Grady Barber and tried to pin it on Sister Nora?

My mind drifted to the evening of Grady’s accident. The trooper at the scene had said something about the way Grady had grown up here. What exactly? Something about Grady’s people skills being so bad because of the way he had been raised. The version I’d heard of Grady’s years in Emerald Springs hadn’t hinted at this. He was the product of a poor but hardworking single mother who taught her son the importance of following his dreams.

In what way would that upstanding background teach the guy poor people skills? Somehow I trusted the trooper’s version more than I trusted Grady’s publicist. Maybe it wasn’t important which version was true, but without jetting off to Los Angeles or the scenes of the other shows he had judged, this was something I could check out in my spare time. And what better place to start than with Veronica, his childhood friend?