Death Angel (32 page)

“I will personally be in charge of the
investigation. Sometimes one individual can get a better overall picture. If I
had all the facts, I might be able to discover who killed your daughter.” He
reached toward her, but when she stiffened he withdrew his hand. “What I’m
trying to say is that because of your loyalty, I think you’ve withheld information.
You can’t hurt either Richard or Jenny by telling me what you know.”

“I don’t know anything, Carl.”
 

Afraid he would read too much in her
eyes, Kate bent her head, hiding behind a veil of hair.

“Sometimes knowledge can be dangerous.
And your input could be important.”
 

“Please, Carl, I don’t want to talk
about it anymore,” she said. Nodding her head in dismissal, she stepped around
him.

“Just think about it, Kate.”

His words followed her as she hurried
away, but she did not respond. She was upset by her meeting with Leidecker. His
attitude was different than it had been several days earlier. It wasn’t the
words so much as the expression on his face and the tone of his voice. He
sounded as if he were warning her.

She wished she knew if Leidecker could
be trusted. No matter what Mike and her own instincts told her, for a moment
while she was talking to him in the alcove, she had almost told him her
suspicions about Garvey.

On second thought, it was just as well
that she hadn’t. More and more she was beginning to wonder if she were losing
her grip on reality. Mike could be right. Garvey might just be an ordinary
asshole. Maybe tonight she’d get some answers.

She was a bit apprehensive about the
evening ahead. Mike had called yesterday to invite her to an awards dinner at
the Pickard Country Club to raise funds for the Fine Arts Council.
 

“It’s a low-key event with some speeches
and no entertainment.”

“I don’t know,” Kate had resisted.
 

“You’ll have to start going out.” His
voice was understanding. “This would be a good place to start. Besides I’ve got
an additional incentive. Joseph Garvey and his wife are the chaircouple.”

“Oh.” Kate felt a flutter in the pit of
her stomach.

“I thought that might pique your
interest. You should see the man in some other context than the office
situation. If nothing else, it’ll give your opinion some balance.”

“You could be right.”

“I’ve been trying to get you for the
last couple days. You’re not avoiding me?”

“No. I’ve been spending a lot of time at
the library.”

There was an ominous silence on the
line.

“The library?”

“I’ve been looking up things. You know.
Checking on Garvey and the others.”

“What others?”

Suddenly she felt defensive. “I just
thought as long as I was spending time looking up Garvey, I might as well check
on a few other people.”

“Good Lord! Do you know how dangerous
that could be?”

“I don’t see that it’s any more
dangerous than looking up information on Joseph Garvey.” Kate was annoyed. “I
can’t sit around doing nothing. For the first time since Jenny died, I feel
like something I’m doing might be a help in finding her killer.”

“I’m sorry, Kate,” he said. “It’s just
that I’m worried about you.”

“I’m sorry too,” she conceded. “But I
can’t wait for Leidecker to come up with a solution. I have to actively do
something or I’ll go crazy.”
 

“I understand that, but it’s Leidecker’s
job to investigate. Not yours.”

She pressed her lips together and made
no comment.

“You’re not going to give this up, are
you?” he asked and she could hear the annoyance in his voice.

Mike had been a solid friend. For the
support he’d given her, he deserved honesty.
 

“No. It’s something I need to do. I’m
sorry.”

“You’re a very stubborn woman, Kate.”
His words were not meant as a compliment. “I can’t caution you enough to be
careful. There are people out there who may be on the edge emotionally.”

After a few less inflammatory comments,
Mike had renewed his invitation to the Fine Arts dinner. She felt she had
little choice except to agree. She hoped the concession would patch things up,
and prove she wasn’t always pigheaded.

Preparing for the evening, she wasn’t
sure it had been the right decision. She hadn’t gone to a social event since
Jenny’s death. She felt very alone, and she missed Richard’s companionship.

Aside from that, she was frightened
about seeing Garvey again.

Eyeing her reflection, she wondered if
there was any chance that he’d recognize her. She didn’t think so. To all her
temp assignments, she’d worn plain, matronly clothes to make her less noticeable.
Tonight she’d chosen a sleeveless silk sheath with a sash belt. The light blue
color accentuated her tan and the simple styling was youthful and very
feminine.
 

She brushed her hair into soft curls and
left it loose. She wore plain gold hoops and in the V-neck opening of her dress
she wore the angel necklace. Staring into the mirror one last time, she touched
the winged angel for luck.

And
don’t break your neck,
she thought, as she navigated the stairs in her
white sling backs. The doorbell rang and she glanced at her watch in surprise.
Pulling the door open, she said, “Did the hospital burn down? I’ve never known
you to be on time.”

Mike stood in the doorway, his
expression so unsettling that Kate glanced over her shoulder expecting to see
something ominous behind her in the hall. Turning back to Mike, she was
relieved to see a smile appearing on his face.

“For a moment, I thought I’d been
transported back in time,” he said, chuckling as he entered the house. “It’s
been a long time since I’ve seen you all dressed up.”

Checking the patio doors and turning out
some of the lights, she locked the front door and let Mike settle her in the
front seat of his car.

He seemed to sense how nervous she was
because he spent the drive telling her about the latest scandal at the
hospital. The head of the anesthesiology department had been caught with one of
the nurses in the X-ray processing room.

“He had to be pretty desperate to do it
on top of a metal desk. For God’s sake, it’s a hospital! It was a slow week and
there were at least eight rooms that were empty.” Mike flashed her a grin.
“Maybe I’m getting old. Comfort over passion any day.”

Kate was still chuckling as they drew up
at the front door of the Pickard Country Club. The dinner was being held in the
dining room that ran across the back of the elegant old clubhouse. Beyond the
wall of windows was the golf course, wide maple-lined fairways and manicured
greens, a lush backdrop in the early evening light.
 

She nodded to people she knew as Mike
steered her toward the bar. He took a sip of his martini as she raised a glass
of wine to her lips. Mike touched her elbow and she followed him to a corner
where they could survey the room. Because of his height, he was able to locate
Garvey after one sweep of the crowd.

“I’ve got him.” He leaned over, speaking
quietly into Kate’s ear. “Just to the right of the dais. See the hot redhead in
the clingy black dress? Lordy. Lordy! Check that cleavage. Definitely implants.
Looks like Wes Upton’s work. A good boob man, but he tends to go for the bigger
cup size. Find her, and then Garvey’s in the group to her right.”

Mike’s humorous aside helped to ease
Kate’s tension. She found the redhead then the group on the right. She scanned
the men’s faces, jumping in reaction to her first look at Garvey. Mike squeezed
her shoulder, leaving his hand there as if to reassure her of his presence.

Perhaps she had been expecting to see an
ogre or monster because she had a sense of disappointment at the ordinariness
of Joseph Garvey. She knew it was a cliché, but in his tuxedo with his stocky
build he looked exactly like a penguin. Almost as if he’d read her thoughts,
Mike patted her shoulder.

“He makes a lousy bogeyman,” he said.

“Yes,” she admitted.
 

Two people joined the group. She watched
as Garvey was introduced. His mouth widened into a friendly smile.
 

“He certainly isn’t very threatening.
Tonight he just seems” — she shrugged. — “normal.”

“Now you can understand why I’ve had so
much trouble imagining him as some sort of homicidal maniac. I don’t know him
well, but he’s always struck me as fairly harmless.” He was silent for several
minutes, then asked, “How’d you make out at the library?”

“I was doing fine until I ran into
Leidecker,” she said, earning a sharp glance.

“Leidecker? Was he looking for you?”

She shook her head. “Just bad luck.”

“What did he have to say?”

“Not much.” She stared down at her wine.
“I’m not comfortable around Leidecker. Unconsciously, I blame him for what
happened to Richard.”

Harumphing, Mike said, “Don’t feel bad.
I have much the same reaction.”

“He says the case isn’t really closed.”

Mike leaned toward her. “Be careful of
that man, Kate. I’ve told you before I don’t trust him. No matter what you
think, he’s not your friend.”

Even though Kate herself had questioned
Leidecker’s motives, she felt the need to defend him. “I think you’re being too
hard on him. Carl’s an honest man. Although I may have accused him of having a
personal vendetta against Richard, I don’t think he did.”

“Maybe.” His face was far from
encouraging. “I’m just asking you to be careful around him.”

“I will.”
 

She was relieved when he dropped the
subject, and led her over to their table and introduced the people they’d be
sitting with. Members of the Fine Arts Council, she didn’t know any of them.
Mike talked easily to them, letting Kate fade into the background. She leaned
back and sipped her wine, surveying the room.

She recognized Nate Nathanson cutting
through the crowd. Mike had told her that he was one of the award recipients.
She was pleased. She’d always been impressed with his enthusiastic coaching of
Jenny’s soccer team. The emphasis had been on fun rather than competition. She
smiled at the look of surprise when he spotted her. He hurried around the table
to greet her.

“How good to see you, Kate. How are
you?” he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

“Fine. Every day a little better,” she
responded vaguely. “And you?”

“Good. Good. Very good.”
 

He shook her hand in rhythm to his
words, then stared at her as if unsure of what to say next. Since Jenny’s
death, Kate had encountered this reaction before and knew it would be up to her
to take the initiative in the conversation. Gently she pulled her hand away,
nervously fingering the angel charm on her necklace.

“Congratulations on your award, Nate.
Mike told me about your work with the children’s concert series. I’m ashamed to
say I didn’t realize that was your pet project.”

“Yes.” He beamed at her words. “I grew
up in a small town and as a kid loved parades and band performances. Just a way
of passing on my own fantasies.”

“Well, it’s a real plus for Pickard. The
summer concerts in the park have been a big success. Must be a real labor of
love.”

He laughed self-consciously. “You’ve hit
it on the head. And, of course, the kids are a great joy to work with.”

“Congrats, Nate.” Mike stood up and
slapped him on the back. “You’ve done a fine job. Everyone on the council’s
really pleased with your award.”

“I’m overwhelmed by all the praise.”
Nate inched away, putting some distance between himself and Mike’s solid
presence. “I enjoy everything I’m doing, so I feel sort of like a hypocrite.”

The overhead chandeliers blinked.

“Thank God,” Mike said. “I thought
they’d never serve dinner. I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving.”

“You have more to fill up than we do,”
Nate said. With a wink, he headed for the dais.

“Should I be insulted?” Mike asked,
glaring after the slender young man. “Scrawny guys like that are always making
jokes. Little twerp.”

Kate ate her dinner, surprised to
discover that she actually was hungry. She let the conversation swirl around
her, taking little part in it. By turning her head slightly, she was able to
observe Garvey, seated on the dais beside his wife.

She’d never met Lisa Garvey. She looked
older than her husband, but that might have been an unfortunate trick of the
lighting. She wore a short emerald green sequined dress that did little to
disguise the broad hips and thickened waistline. Outwardly the Garveys appeared
to be a contented couple, although Kate noticed that they rarely spoke to each
other.
 

When dinner was over, Lisa gave a brief
welcoming speech and then led into the awards section of the evening. The
awards were distributed and thanks given. At the end Garvey stood up and
thanked everyone for coming and made a straightforward pitch for contributions
to the Fine Arts Council.