Keeping Mum (A Garden Society Mystery) (13 page)

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Authors: Alyse Carlson

BOOK: Keeping Mum (A Garden Society Mystery)
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“Okay. Don’t imagine for a minute I’m sympathizing with Elle, but . . . what if her guest took her?”

“Might have, but they seemed to take a bag for her, too. It looks to me like the small suitcase is gone from this set. You’ve noticed the toothbrush. It would be impossible to sort if clothes were gone with all this, but there seems to have been stuff packed for her to go somewhere, at least overnight.”

“Yeah. I agree there. She wasn’t taken by someone who doesn’t care. But then again, neither was Dad, if you think about his medication being gone.”

“You think . . . what? Someone took them to sit in a room and work it out?”

“Maybe.” Annie sounded like she knew she shouldn’t believe it, but wanted to.

“What about his call?”

“He got away for a minute. I hope they didn’t hurt him when they got him again.”

“I hope so, too.”

They walked down the stairs with their arms around each other. It didn’t seem like there was going to be any further information up there, so they wanted to see if Rob or Jake had found anything. Annie gave them the news.

“Annie, I have to let the detectives know,” Jake said.

“In a minute? When we have a chance to sort things out a little?” Annie begged.

Jake nodded.

When they all gathered again in the kitchen, Rob held out a folder. “Contradictory, unfortunately, but helpful.”

Cam took it. She had to be fast to beat Jake’s grab, but she got there first, probably because Annie was scolding him about the lameness of the bag of chips he’d found as a snack.

It was an investment portfolio. Melvin Entwhistle was the financial adviser, but it looked like, other than normal market fluctuations, Senator Schulz hadn’t lost anything. He apparently hadn’t been pulled into the scheme that Derrick Windermere had cooked up.

But Cam was confused. She’d seen his name on the list, and Annie said he didn’t like Entwhistle.

“Do you remember your dad ever talking about Derrick Windermere?” Cam asked.

“Do you know how much attention I pay to the names my dad drops?” Annie said.

Cam had figured as much. Annie hated name-droppers. But the list she couldn’t mention in front of Jake bugged her. She flipped over the page.

“This is Elle’s.” She pointed out the name on the top of the statement. “I think we need to talk to Melvin. Obviously a bunch of his clients lost huge amounts of money. Your step-monster didn’t. Why?”

“Why wouldn’t Elle save her husband if she knew something? It changes all this a little, doesn’t it? Maybe whoever did this was the person behind Derrick’s scam, and they took your dad to keep Elle quiet,” Rob said.

“Well, that’s not good. That kind of person might hurt Dad,” Annie said.

Cam knew that upset Annie, even if it was true. But in her mind, finding Annie’s dad was more important than putting things in a happy light at the moment, and this definitely sounded like a motive to kidnap him.

“Okay, Annie, calm down. We’re only generating suspects. That just increases our need to talk to Melvin, right? I nominate Jake.”

“Won’t do any good. The man is very tight-lipped,” Jake said. “I already talked to him about the party. He acted completely clueless. Claimed he only knew Windermere professionally and hadn’t even talked to him that night, which I know from Rob is a lie.”

“I have an idea,” Cam said.

“Of course you do,” Jake said. He didn’t try to hide his annoyance.

“Evangeline Patrick met with him just yesterday—I saw him. I bet she’d be willing to meet with him again, and make it worth his while to answer some questions.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because she’s a good person—ethical. She would want him to answer and be willing to withhold her business if he wouldn’t when Annie’s dad has his life on the line.”

“I really don’t think it’s a good idea to involve more civilians,” Jake said.

“Oh, come on. It’s a great idea. If he didn’t
do
this thing, he will answer. And if he doesn’t answer, we’ll know he’s involved.”

“And then Evangeline’s life is in danger, too.”

“Not if she plays dumb, which I know she’s smart enough to do,” Cam said.

“Come on, Jake. What other lead do we have?” Rob asked.

But Cam thought it was Annie’s teary look that made him give in.

“Fine. Evangeline is, indeed, a great person to try to approach Entwhistle, since he stonewalled the police. I have to call this in about Elle, though. In fact I’m doing it right now.”

They knew he was right, so nobody argued. But they weren’t dropping the other angle they had.

“I can call Evangeline tonight. Hopefully, she can set it up for tomorrow,” Cam said.

Rob winked at Cam. She knew it was about outplaying the cop. Life, to Rob, was mostly a game, and the best player always deserved credit.

“I have a few more drawers in here,” Rob said, pointing back at Elle’s study.

“I can look in Dad’s,” Annie said. “Then Cam and I can check the rest of this floor.”

“What about your dad’s bedroom?” Cam said.

“Would
you
want to check
your
dad’s bedroom?” Annie said.

“Fair point, but I don’t think it should go unchecked.” Cam thought it sounded downright awkward, but somebody had to. “I’ll do it. You and Rob cover the rest of this floor when you’re done.”

Annie shrugged and headed for her dad’s study, shouting hints at Jake about where the good snacks were.

If she were honest, Cam wasn’t all that comfortable poking into Senator Schulz’s things, either. She and Annie had been best friends since middle school, but the senator had always seemed sort of untouchable, even if he greeted her kindly when he saw her. The conversations Cam had had with him always felt formal, as if she were interviewing to be a friend for his daughter. In fact, when Annie was present, she usually blew up over it. She didn’t want a screener for her friends and she didn’t choose who she spent time with by how well they did this or that.

Still, Cam figured she was probably the best person to do this, as she had known the senator the longest, other than Annie, and would be most likely to recognize anything unusual. And she understood Annie’s hesitation on the matter. There were things you didn’t want to know about your own parents.

His bedroom was immaculate. If Cam didn’t know he had a housekeeper, she would have questioned his relationship with Annie, a notorious slob. It was decorated with deep gold walls and bronze fabrics, all with subtle navy and deep red undertones. It was definitely a man’s room.

Cam wasn’t sure what she was looking for, so she began opening drawers near the bed, always fearing the sex toys it was rumored some people kept there. But his drawers seemed pretty normal. There was a mystery novel she’d heard of. Nail clippers. A little fabric bag she thought had rice in it that she knew could be heated in the microwave to apply to sore muscles.

On the other side were a notebook, an old-fashioned Rolodex, and pens and business cards. This was clearly the work side of the bed. She opened the notebook to see if she could learn anything that way.

She thought it was like deciphering another person’s shorthand. There were words, but also a lot of symbols, though not symbols she’d ever learned. She knew a few medical ones from friends and a lot of editing ones from working with the press, but these were probably legal marks. Alden Schulz had been a lawyer before he was a politician, and she guessed that was where the extras had come from.

Finally, she figured out that it was a record of suspicions of infidelity. There were times and dates and notes such as “spa” and “gym.” Things Cam thought Elle had said she was doing and about which there was evidence to the contrary. It wasn’t a ton of occasions, but enough that it seemed reasonable he’d been suspicious of his wife. She couldn’t think of what else she’d find in the bedroom that would be more informative. This wasn’t the place he’d store information on political rivals. She wondered if he had hired an investigator to check out Elle. He had the means, and if she had been in his shoes, that’s what she would have done, assuming there was an infidelity clause in the premarital agreement, which surely there was.

She gave a cursory look through the rest of the room, but it really seemed like more of a movie set of a man’s bedroom than an actual place that was used.

She went back down to ask Annie if she’d found anything like that—either evidence of a PI or a copy of a premarital agreement.

“I bet it’s in his safe-deposit box,” Annie said. “That isn’t the kind of thing you leave lying around when your wife has full access to everything.”

“Does he keep an office anywhere else?” Cam asked.

“Not anymore.”

“And how do we get access to the safe-deposit box?”

Jake sighed. He didn’t like where this was headed. “No way short of a subpoena. They’re pretty ironclad that way.”

“And what do we need for a subpoena?” Annie asked.

“More than you have now.”

“But we need to find Elle to find my dad.”

“So maybe we figure out who might lead us to Elle,” Jake said.

“And our most logical clue is Mike Sully,” Annie said. “How do we do that?”

Jake shrugged and walked outside. Cam got the distinct impression that their options were only marginally legal. Jake would help, but he would follow their lead, rather than directing them to do something illegal.

Rob made sure Jake was out of earshot, then spoke. “We figure out where he is and what he’s driving and put a GPS device on his car. That way, we can check anywhere he goes, especially if he makes some unusual stops.”

“How hard is that?” Annie asked.

“Not hard at all if we can find him. Let’s hope he goes home tonight.”

• • •

• • •

R
ob used a newspaper search engine for public records. There were three vehicles registered to the Mike Sullivan they finally decided was the right one, and that night when they drove past the address listed, two of the cars were parked outside his home. Cam kept watch, feeling like a secret agent, as Rob attached the GPS tags to each in the wheel well, a trick he had learned from shadowing Jake. They then returned to Annie and Cam’s house.

“Just a matter of time.”

“Unless he’s using the missing one, which you know he is,” Annie said dryly. “So what’s the plan tomorrow?”

“We talk to Melvin with Evangeline’s help, and we look into whether Chad Phillips had any connection to either victim,” Cam said.

“And is Evangeline on board?” Annie asked.

“I left her a message. I assume she will be, but she’s been out this evening, so I still need to talk to her. You don’t have any more of those bugs left, do you?”

“I’ll drop a couple in your purse when I leave for work tomorrow.”

Cam wondered if that meant Annie would have to nick them overnight or if she just had them upstairs. It was one of those questions she preferred not to know the answer to.

She didn’t have any doubts about Evangeline participating. It was the kind of thing she seemed to enjoy, but Cam had tried to call her three times now and hadn’t gotten an answer. She wondered if Evangeline had forgotten her cell phone somewhere so she couldn’t get to it. She couldn’t think of another reason the woman wouldn’t respond.

CHAPTER 11

C
am still hadn’t heard from Evangeline when she headed to work the next morning and so was a little surprised to be practically assaulted when she got to her office. Evangeline, in spite of the two of them being there alone, was whispering.

“Sorry I didn’t call you back. I just don’t want to worry Neil, but I’m happy to help. What do you need me to do?”

Cam remembered that Neil had high blood pressure and so she understood Evangeline’s concern. She suggested they go get coffee and a pastry while Cam filled Evangeline in, just in case someone else arrived while they were discussing it.

Evangeline grabbed her coat and purse and then held Cam’s arm as they went down the elevator. The nearest coffee shop, aside from the one in their building, which seemed too public, was just a short walk, so they waited until they were there, had ordered, and finally had a chance to sit before they got down to business.

“So you don’t actually think Melvin is involved, do you?” Evangeline asked when Cam had finished her story.

“We don’t know. He may be. But it’s helpful to double-check if he’s not, too. This hint we got suggests he’s not—that he got used, and Elle Schulz knew some reason not to trust the deal.”

“Elle? Not Alden?”

“No. I guess Alden doesn’t actually like the man much, so he lost quite a bit, but through another broker.”

“Oh! I’d forgotten about that—I mean, I wasn’t here for the falling out, but Neil told me it had happened. So Elle knew something and didn’t help him? Her husband?”

“I know it doesn’t make sense. We want to know if Melvin knew
why
Elle backed out. That might be our clue as to who is really behind everything.”

“And what is it you want me to do?” Evangeline asked.

“Maybe ask him about the loss? Not accusingly, but like you need to understand it.”

“For tax purposes!” Evangeline said.

“Perfect! But maybe play dumb and pretend you don’t know anything yet. Claim you just happened across the loss.”

“That should be easy.”

“Oh, stop it. You’re one of the smartest people I know,” Cam said.

“A lot of people can’t get past the beauty queen stuff. They want to believe I’m stupid, so when I act like it, they’re satisfied rather than surprised.”

“That may be, but that works in our favor. And for the record, I know better.”

“Well, thank you for that.”

“Remember, we want it to seem as natural as possible.”

Evangeline called to make the appointment with Melvin, but had to leave a message.

Cam thanked her. “Just call me if there’s anything. Wait!” She dug in her purse. “Are you comfortable carrying this?”

“What is it?”

“It’s a bug. Rob and I can listen . . . maybe even from just around the corner.”

“You don’t think this will be dangerous?”

“No. We
think
he got used, remember? And if so, then he should want to help you out. But it’s possible he’s guilty, and if he is, then it’s also possible he’s dangerous.”

Evangeline glared at the bug like it might bite her. “How do I use this thing?”

“Just put it somewhere that reception should be pretty good. If you had a lapel pocket, that would work. Or if you put it in your purse, leave your purse open and set it between you.”

Evangeline gingerly took the device and put it in the front pocket of her purse. “I suppose.”

“And if you could call me and tell me the meeting time so we know when to listen . . .”

Cam walked Evangeline back to the office, gave her a hug, and headed for home. She had a few work ends to tie up for the day, but she could do them from there and was ready to be away from people for a while. Before she began, though, she needed to talk to Joel Jaimeson.

• • •

• • •

“C
am? What a lovely surprise.”

Joel sounded as sincere and annoying as he always did, but Cam knew she had to keep on task.

“Joel, how are you? I just had a few questions for you about the other night. I’m sure you heard . . .”

“It’s tragic! Mr. Windermere was such a great philanthropist.”

Cam couldn’t classify political donations as philanthropy, but she didn’t argue. There was no point.

“Listen. This is strange, but . . . you didn’t lend anybody your phone that night, did you?”

“As a matter of fact, I did . . . Alden Schulz!”

“Senator Schulz? Why would he need your phone? He had his own.”

“Oh, no. The man who asked for it specifically told me he didn’t—he lost it.”

“What man was that?”

“He didn’t say,” Joel said, sounding peeved to be questioned.

“Would it be possible to see your phone?” Cam asked.

“Of course not, silly. It disappeared when the senator did.”

Cam sighed and hung up.

She sat down to work, but her phone buzzed just as she settled down in front of her computer. “Cam? Jake found Mike Sullivan.” It was Rob. “He’s following him. And . . . um, I’m following Jake.”

“I take it Jake doesn’t know you’re following him?”

“That’s true.”

“Take me, too. He expects these shenanigans from me.”

“Can’t. I’m tailing the old-fashioned way.”

“In the Jeep? Yeah, that’s inconspicuous.”

“Look, it’s a fluke I even heard. I stopped at the police station to talk to him when the call came over a radio that one of the units had spotted him. Guess he ended up on the official radar after all. Jake sprinted out, so I followed.”

“Good thing I put a GPS tracker in your phone.”

“You did not!”

“I did. It was Annie’s idea. And it’s not activated, but this is exactly why. You get yourself into trouble!”

“Only when I’m with you.”

That was true, but Cam didn’t want to admit it. “I put one on mine, too. We seem to be in this crime-solving business now, and I just thought it would be safer. You get back to keeping an eye. I’ll get Annie and we’ll follow.”

She hung up before he could make his case for them not to follow him, then speed-dialed Annie, glad it was about closing time for Sweet Surprise.

Cam explained the mission, and Annie immediately agreed. “And you’re not going to believe what I found out,” she said.

“What?”

“No time! I’ll pick you up in five. I just need to lock the doors. My car is a lot stealthier than yours.”

Cam would have argued, except it was true. A tiny green Bug was not nearly as conspicuous as a specially ordered bright yellow Mustang, if only because half the time it was hidden by bigger cars.

Cam changed into jeans and a T-shirt, then as she waited, worked her phone to pick up the GPS signal on Rob’s. She hoped Evangeline wouldn’t need them during this bad-guy chase, but surely Melvin wouldn’t be able to meet for at least a few hours.

When Annie screeched into the driveway, Cam hopped in the car and began giving a stream of directions. Annie was infinitely easier to direct than Rob, who wanted three-blocks warning for turns and if she changed her mind, started ranting that she didn’t know where she was going. Annie would turn on a dime and was fond of saying, “There’s no shame in a U-turn.” There had been moments Cam had been tempted to point out that in fact sometimes it was against the law, but today wasn’t one of those days.

Unfortunately, when they reached the small apartment building where “Mike” had been headed, it turned out it was a friend of Mike’s who was using his vehicle. Cam and Annie were bolder than Rob, or rather, had the option to get a lot closer in their less conspicuous car. They passed Rob, who’d parked half a block back, pulled into a street spot much nearer to Jake, and got out so they could listen.

“Do you know where we could find Mr. Sullivan?” Jake asked.

“He left town for a few days. Asked me to stay. I’m watching his cats.”

“He lives here?”

The man stuttered for a minute. “Well, sometimes.”

“Would you mind if we came in and had a look?” Jake asked.

“Yeah, uh . . . I’d be happy to let you if it was my place and all. But it’s not. I’d have to ask Sully, and I don’t expect to hear from him for a couple days.”

“So I need to get a warrant?”

“Yeah, I guess I’d have to let you in then, right?”

“That’s right. Then it’s the law.”

The guy looked uncomfortable, but Jake pressed on.

“Do you know this woman?” he held out a picture.

“Ellie. Sure.”

“How do you know her?”

“Knew her since we were kids. She and Mike lived around the corner—she’s closer to my age, so we went to school together.”

“She and Mike lived together as kids?”

“Yeah, and Lenny, and their parents. Ellie’s the baby sister, isn’t she?”

“That was my news I forgot to tell you,” Annie whispered. “I found some wedding pictures at Dad’s place.”

“Sister? I thought her maiden name was Chamberlain,” Jake said, voicing Cam’s question.

The man shrugged. “It’s his sister. I don’t know why the names are different.”

Cam tried to assess how that changed the situation. Was it any better to have your brother kidnap your husband than your lover? Possibly, but the degree of difference was pretty minor in relation to the act of kidnapping somebody. It eliminated the likelihood they were having an affair, though.

Jake left after that. Cam wasn’t sure if Rob followed, because Annie flatly refused to get back in her car.

“Jake may not be able to go in there, but we can,” Annie said.

“Annie, that’s breaking and entering!”

“Not if we show up with a half case of beer pretending we want to party with Mike.”

Cam stared at her. “Holy crap, Annie. Do you know how dangerous that is?”

“If by dangerous, you mean brilliant!”

Annie finally hopped in the car, but only to go as far as a corner market. She ran in, Cam trailing. They discussed beer and decided on something just a little exotic. They bought a half case of Molson and then got back in the car.

“I can’t believe you want to do this.”

“Tell Rob to come as backup—to knock in about twenty minutes and start a fight so we have a reason to leave.”

“If I call him now, he’ll start the fight immediately.”

“Okay, draft a text that you can send in about fifteen minutes.”

“You’ve gotten more devious since you started dating a cop, you know?”

“Well, yeah. I look at it as a challenge.”

Cam rolled her eyes, but somehow had never been able to resist these risky ideas of Annie’s.

Cam’s phone vibrated when they pulled back into the apartment complex, but she chose to silence it instead of telling Rob what they were doing just yet. She didn’t want to argue. An apology after the fact was always easier.

Annie gave her an evil smile and led her up the stairs to the apartment. The mailboxes said Sullivan was in number eight, so they knocked.

The man they’d seen earlier opened the door, and Annie, bold as brass, just walked in.

“Sully around?”

“No. Who are you?”

“Fiona. This is Ursula. He said to stop by with some beer sometime, so we’re stopping.”

“He’s not here.”

Annie got really close to him. “Do
you
want a beer?”

Without waiting for an answer, she set the half case on a coffee table, opened it, and sat back with a beer on the sofa, throwing her feet up next to the box.

“Er . . . I guess. But I really can’t let you stay long.”

“Why not? Is your girlfriend coming over?” Annie asked, sounding like she was actually interested.

Cam thought she might as well join the act. Standing there gawking, she was only going to interfere with Annie’s plan, whatever that was. She strolled over, grabbed a beer, and then sat in a chair.

“So do you live here?” she asked.

“No. Sully’s out of town. He asked me to stay to watch the . . .” He looked at the beer longingly and seemed to give up his hesitation, so he grabbed one and sat.

At that, the end of the guy’s sentence jumped in Cam’s lap. A big black cat so heavy it felt like it almost crushed her.

“Well, hello.”

“That’s Frank, and Joe is around here somewhere.”

Annie snorted. “Who woulda thunk Sully was a Hardy Boys fan?”

“I think he inherited them from a girlfriend, but he likes them. They’re good cats.”

Frank had begun kneading Cam’s legs and she was glad she had on jeans instead of the linen slacks she’d worn earlier. When she scratched his ears he settled right in.

“I should use the loo before I get buried in cat, too,” Annie said.

“It’s on the end,” he said.

“We didn’t catch your name,” Cam said.

“Leo. And I think you’re the first Ursula I’ve ever met.”

“There aren’t a lot of us,” Cam said, cursing Annie for giving her such an odd name. “Does Sully have any snacks or anything?” She was unsure what someone in this situation would really say. She’d never been in the habit of dropping in on people, let alone friends of friends.

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