Connecting Rooms (6 page)

“Dirty work?”

“Staking out people who try to defraud insurance companies. Trapping embezzlers. Finding missing persons. That kind of thing.”

“And you got tired of it?”

“Let’s just say I woke up one morning and realized I didn’t like my clients any more than the people they paid me to catch. The insurance company executives spent their time trying to avoid paying legitimate claims. The corporate executives were more cold-blooded than the embezzlers who stole from them, and the missing persons usually had very good reasons for not wanting to be found.”

Amy smiled sympathetically. “Nothing was black-and-white, huh?”

“Just shades of gray. A lot of gray. I had made some money on the side by buying fixer-uppers, doing the repairs myself in my spare time and reselling the houses at a nice profit. I decided to invest some of the money and use the rest of it to fix up my own life.”

“On Misplaced Island.”

“That’s it.” Owen looked at her. “What about you?”

“Me?”

“What made you decide to move to Misplaced Island?”

“Seattle real estate is hard on a body. I worked the downtown condo market. There was a lot of pressure. I guess I burned out, too. Also, I wanted more time to write. And then something happened last year.”

“Your aunt called it a ‘dreadful incident.’ ”

Amy grimaced. “I still get occasional nightmares.”

“What happened?”

“Most people don’t realize it, but real estate agents tend to lead adventurous lives. They never know what they’re going to find when they open the door of what is supposed to be an empty house or condo. I’ve had a variety of surprises.”

“Somehow, knowing you, that does not amaze me.”

She smiled wryly. “I once showed a condo to a staid, elderly couple. I’d finished the tour of the front room, kitchen, and bedrooms. We walked into the master bath and found two people making love in the jetted tub. They were so involved in what they were doing that they never even heard us.”

Owen grinned briefly. “Make the sale?”

“Yes, I did, as a matter of fact. It was the jetted tub that clinched the deal. The elderly couple couldn’t wait to try it out themselves.”

“I take it that was not the ‘dreadful incident’ that made you decide you’d shown one condo too many.”

“No.” Amy propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands. “Walking in on a murder in progress did that

“Murder.”

“Uh-huh. I came through the front door just after a respected businessman named Bernard Gordon had shot his partner. A little dispute over investment capital, apparently. Gordon was on his way out of the condo just as I arrived. We collided in the front hall.”

Owen’s gloriously unhandsome features shaped themselves into an ominous mask. “You could have been killed.”

“Gordon tried to do just that. He knew I could identify him. Fortunately, he was already rattled because of the first killing. His shot went wild. I had a chance to hurl my cellular phone at him. He instinctively ducked. I ran back the way I had come and headed
for the emergency stairwell. I didn’t dare wait for the elevators.”

Owen closed his eyes briefly. “My God.”

“Gordon tried to chase me down the stairwell. But he stumbled on one of the steps.” Amy shuddered. “He fell to the bottom. Broke his neck.”

Owen exhaled heavily. “Damn.” He reached across the table and took one of her hands in his. He crushed her fingers gently in his own.

Silence descended once more. Amy and Owen watched the ducks on the pond for a long while.

•  •  •

“Nothing. Nada. Zilch.” Owen glanced at the notes he had made during his last phone call. He flipped the small notebook shut and tossed it onto the bedside table. He looked at Amy, who was lounging, arms folded beneath her breasts, in the connecting doorway. “Arthur Crabshaw is as clean as you can expect a fifty-five-year-old businessman to be.”

“No scandals while down in Arizona?”

“No. At least not that my sources could determine in such a limited period of time. I suppose it’s possible that Crabshaw left a few bodies buried under one of his strip malls, but I don’t think it’s very likely.”

Amy tapped her toe, thinking. “The blackmail arrangement we witnessed this morning seemed fairly amateurish, didn’t it?”

“Yes.” Owen walked to the window and looked out at the park. “A toilet tank lid in a library restroom. Definitely the work of an amateur. And a local amateur, at that.”

“Local?”

“Crabshaw was told to leave the money in the public library. The implication is
that he’s being blackmailed by someone here in Villantry.”

“Okay, that makes sense. But he’s been gone for thirty years.”

“And that means that his deep, dark secret, whatever it is, probably dates back thirty years,” Owen said softly.

“To the time when he worked for Raymond C. Villantry?”

“Yes.” Owen turned away from the window. “I think it’s time I paid a call on Arthur Crabshaw.”

“I’ll get my purse.”

“You will stay right here in this room,” Owen said.

“I’m paying your tab, remember? That means I can make executive decisions.”

“When I’m on a case, I give the orders.”

“You need me to help analyze his reactions,” Amy said persuasively. “I’m very good at that kind of thing. It’s my real estate sales experience, you see. I’m what you might call an amateur practicing psychologist.”

“Forget it, Amy. I’m handling this alone.”

•  •  •

Arthur Crabshaw looked momentarily nonplussed to see Amy and Owen on his doorstep. Amy was sure she saw evidence of tension around his eyes. But he recovered with alacrity. He smiled genially and ushered them into his front room.

“Well, well, well.” He closed the door. “This is a surprise. What can I do for you two?”

“How was the golf game this morning?” Owen asked softly.

Arthur’s smile slipped for only an instant. He quickly got it back in place. “Fine. Just fine. Shot a three over par. Although I have to admit that on the Villantry Golf
Course that’s not saying a great deal.”

“Must have been a fast round,” Owen said.

Arthur’s gaze turned wary. “Why do you say that?”

Amy held her breath as Owen removed the incriminating envelope from his pocket.

“Because you finished in time to visit the library, didn’t you?” Owen said.

Arthur stared at the envelope. Then he raised his eyes to meet Owen’s unrelenting gaze. His expression crumbled into weary despair. “How did you find out?”

“Amy and I were in the library at the time. We saw you go into the restroom. I went in after you and found this.” Owen glanced at the envelope. “I thought maybe you’d like to talk about it.”

“There’s not much to say now, is there?” Arthur sank down heavily into an armchair. “If you’ve got the money, that means the blackmailer didn’t get his payoff. He’ll reveal the truth, just as he threatened to do in his first note.”

Owen went to stand in front of Arthur. “What happens if he does reveal the truth, Crabshaw?”

“Madeline Villantry will be humiliated in front of her family and the entire town.” Arthur sighed. “And I seriously doubt that Bernice will marry me when she discovers that Madeline and I once had an affair. Bernice is such a sensitive woman. Bad enough that Madeline used to steal her boyfriends back in high school. How will she feel if she finds out that I was once Madeline’s lover?”

“I think you’d better start from the beginning,” Owen said.

“I worked for Madeline’s husband, Raymond C. Villantry.” Arthur massaged his temples. “Just like almost everyone else did at the time. I was young. Couldn’t afford college. But I was determined to make something of myself.”

“At Villantry?” Amy asked.

“No, I had my sights set a lot higher. But Villantry was a start, and a good one. I knew who Madeline was, of course. Everyone in Villantry did. Her family was as rich as the Villantrys. I didn’t move in Madeline’s circles in those days, though.” Arthur grimaced. “Only the Villantrys did.”

“Go on,” Owen said.

“Madeline married Raymond Villantry right out of college. Everyone said it was a perfect match. I honestly believe that she was wildly in love with him in the beginning. But Villantry just took her for granted. He was accustomed to getting whatever he wanted. Then, after he got it, he lost interest. The only exception was the company. He was passionate about it.”

“What happened?” Amy asked gently.

“I was doing well at Villantry.” Arthur leaned his head back against the chair. “Had a flair for business. Madeline and I were thrown together on a number of occasions because she was on the planning commission for the original library building. Civic duty and all that.”

“Why did that bring the two of you together?” Amy asked.

“Villantry’s firm had expanded beyond fishing by then. It was into construction. It was going to build the library. I was assigned to act as a liaison between the planning
commission and the company. Raymond Villantry had better things to do with his time than fuss with the library that was to be named in his honor.”

“Such as?” Owen asked. He was aware that Amy’s gaze was softening rapidly. He was not surprised. He recalled their conversation regarding his move to Misplaced Island. He’d suspected all along that she had a soft heart.

Arthur’s mouth twisted. “Such as making a number of trips to Seattle. Villantry was having an affair in the city. A lot of people were aware of it, but of course no one actually said anything to Madeline. No one thought she knew. I came across her one day after a committee meeting. She was sitting all alone in a conference room, crying her heart out.”

Amy looked at him with sympathetic eyes. “And you comforted her?”

Arthur nodded. “One thing led to another. She wasn’t in love with me, nor I with her. But she needed someone, and she was a lovely woman. And so very brave.” He moved his hands in a vague gesture. “What can I say? We had an affair.”

“What ended it?” Owen demanded. “Did her husband discover what was going on?”

“Oh, no.” Arthur frowned. “No one ever discovered us. At least, I thought no one knew. We were very, very careful. Madeline had her reputation and her family to consider. She was so terrified of being caught that she ended the affair after a couple of months.”

Amy frowned. “Why?”

“She said she had to consider the future of her two young children. She didn’t want to jeopardize their inheritance by risking a divorce. And she had her parents to think of, too. She was their only child. She was afraid that they would be humiliated if we were
found out.”

“Hmm,” Amy said.

Owen glanced at her. He was starting to recognize that tone in her voice. “Yes? Did you have something you wanted to share with the rest of the class?”

Amy shrugged. “Not really. It just occurred to me that Madeline made a very financially astute decision.”

“It was a very brave decision,” Arthur corrected gallantly. “For which she paid a great price. She endured an unhappy marriage for years in order to salvage her children’s inheritance and to protect her family from humiliation.”

“There is that,” Amy agreed.

It occurred to Owen that Amy had already deduced the truth about Madeline Villantry’s marriage from the photo she had seen in the old edition of the
Villantry Gazette
. He turned to Crabshaw. “How many blackmail payments have you made?”

“Two. Or rather, one. I got the first note a few weeks ago, right after Bernice and I announced our engagement.” Arthur nodded glumly at the envelope Owen had placed on the table. “The thousand in there was supposed to be the second payment.”

“So the blackmail is recent?” Owen asked sharply. “You weren’t bothered by any demands until a few weeks ago?”

“No.” Arthur dropped his head into his hands. “I thought there would only be the one payment. Then, two days ago, there was a second demand.”

“There always is,” Owen said.

“But it hasn’t been made, because you took the envelope,” Arthur whispered hoarsely. “Now it will all come out into the open. Madeline’s reputation will be ruined. Bernice will be crushed. And all because of me.”

“No.” Amy stepped forward quickly and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Arthur. Owen will take care of everything. He’ll find out who the blackmailer is and stop him before anything else happens.”

Owen stared at her. “I will?”

She gave him a bracing smile. “Of course you will.”

Owen narrowed his eyes. She had apparently forgotten that she had hired him to discover Arthur Crabshaw’s secrets. He had done precisely that. Nothing had been said about saving Crabshaw’s rear. “Uh, Amy, maybe we’d better discuss this out on the porch.”

“Later, Owen. Right now we need to figure out how to keep the blackmailer silent.”

“The quickest way to pull the blackmailer’s teeth is to call his bluff,” Owen said.

“I can’t risk it,” Arthur whispered.

“Of course not,” Amy murmured. “Owen will handle this.”

Arthur sighed heavily. “What can Sweet do? It’s too late to replace the money. I left that envelope in the restroom shortly after ten this morning. It’s nearly five. By now the blackmailer will have checked the toilet tank lid and realized that I didn’t follow his instructions. He’ll be furious.”

“Don’t fret about it, Crabshaw,” Owen said. “There will definitely be a second chance. And a third and fourth chance, as well. If we allow this thing to go on that long.”

“Which we won’t,” Amy said confidently.

Owen raised his brows but offered no comment. He didn’t need a weather report to tell him that Amy had recently undergone a sea change.

Arthur lifted his head and gave Owen a quizzical look. “What do you mean there
will be a second chance? The blackmailer said in his note that he would reveal everything if I didn’t make the payments.”

Owen smiled grimly. “You’re a businessman, Crabshaw. Look at this from the blackmailer’s point of view. If he reveals the truth, it’s all over for him. He can’t expect his victim to make any more payments once the secrets are out in the open.”

The anguish and frustration faded in Arthur’s eyes. Intelligent perception replaced it. “Good point. I hadn’t thought of that.”