Murder with a Twist (13 page)

twenty-eight

Nigel and I were
sitting quietly at a table when it happened. Olive had just cut in on Janet and Max after their third dance. She and Max were twirling and spinning to the band’s music when a high-pitched wailing sound made itself heard. I looked over at Nigel in confusion, unsure if I was interpreting the sound correctly. From the alarmed expression on his face, I knew that I was. The rest of the crowd suddenly became aware of it as well. The dancers slowed and then stopped. People glanced around uneasily. Finally, someone caught the attention of the band leader, and the music came to an abrupt halt. The awful silence that followed was cut by a woman’s hysterical screams.

Bedlam ensued as people tried to locate the source. It was found
standing at the ballroom’s entrance. It was Audrey. Her silver dress was smeared with blood. In her hand was a knife. It, too, was covered in blood. “He’s dead!” she screamed. “Dead! Leo! Someone’s killed Leo!”

Amidst several camera flashes from the press, Audrey collapsed to the floor. More cameras flashed.

After an initial hush of shock, the guests began screaming and crowding their way out of the ballroom. The bandleader grabbed the microphone and pleaded for everyone to remain calm. I appreciated his quick thinking, but I did wonder what kind of venues he normally played for him to react so calmly. Nigel and I pushed our way through the panicked crowd to where Audrey lay on the ground sobbing.

I grabbed a napkin off a nearby table. Using it, I reached over and gently took the knife out of her shaking hand. Nigel wrapped his arm around her shoulders, picked her up, and steered her to a nearby chair. “Where is he?” I asked. “Where is Leo?”

Audrey covered her face with her hands. Then, realizing they were covered in blood, pulled them away. “He’s in there,” she said, pointing toward the entrance of the men’s room.

Leaving Nigel to calm her down, I went to where Audrey had indicated. Just inside the door was a lounge area with several club chairs. Leo was sprawled on the floor in front of one. His eyes stared unseeingly at the ceiling. I slowly walked to him. He was covered in blood. It appeared that he’d been stabbed in the back. From the position of his body, it seemed likely that he’d been seated when he’d been stabbed. I bent down and felt for the pulse that I knew wasn’t there. Then I opened my purse and took out my phone.

“Marcy? Hi, it’s me. Listen, I might need your help tonight. Someone’s killed Leo Blackwell.”

“Seriously?” she said. Her voice was sleepy. I glanced at my watch.
It was a little after midnight. “Where are you?”

“In the men’s room of the Ritz. Leo’s here on the floor.”

Marcy swore. “Did you find him?”

“No. Audrey did.”

“Well, don’t touch anything. Has someone called it in?”

“I think so,” I replied, trying not to look at Leo’s face anymore.

“Okay. Well, I’ll call it just in case. Do you want me to come?”

“If it’s not too much trouble,” I answered.

“Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can. You know the drill, though. Don’t touch anything, and don’t move the body.”

“Yeah, about that first part
…
”

“What?”

“Audrey was the one who found him. She picked up the knife.”

Marcy swore again. “That’s not good, Nic.”

“I know,” I sighed. “That’s why I called you.”

_____

I hung up with Marcy and went out to the lobby. The hotel staff was on the phone with the police and their own higher-ups. I told a woman behind the front desk to assign someone from hotel security to guard the entrance to the bathroom. She nodded at everything I said, her face pale with horror. “So, it’s true, then? Someone died in the bathroom?” she asked, her voice a high squeak.

“The guest of honor’s husband,” I answered. “Did you see anything?”

The woman shook her head. “No. I just heard the screaming. When I looked up, I saw that woman standing in the doorway covered in blood.”

I thanked her and walked back to where Nigel sat with Audrey. He was trying to get her to drink something. Olive and Max crowded around her as well. “Audrey,” I said, “tell me everything that happened.”

I pulled up a chair next to hers and waited.

“I … didn’t know where Leo was,” she began. “I couldn’t find him. Aunt Olive said that it was almost time to cut the cake and that Leo needed to be with me.” Her voice broke. Nigel squeezed her hand. “I couldn’t find him,” she repeated.

“Why did you go into the men’s room?” I asked.

Audrey looked at me, her eyes dazed. “It was the only place I hadn’t looked. I thought maybe he was … in there.”

I stared back at her. “You didn’t think to ask one of the male guests to check for you?”

Audrey shook her head. “No. I thought
…
” she looked down at her hands. Seeing the blood on them, she quickly jerked her gaze away. “I wondered if he … I just wanted to see
…
”

“You wanted to see if he was fooling around with someone in the bathroom?” I finished for her.

She averted her eyes from mine. “Yes,” she whispered. Seeing my look of disbelief, she added, “It’s happened before.”

“Oh, Audrey, my poor darling!” Olive said, as she stroked Audrey’s hair. Looking around, she asked, “You had a knife. Where did it go?”

Audrey looked down. “I don’t know,” she glanced vaguely around for the item in question.

“I have it,” I said.

Audrey closed her eyes. “I picked up the knife,” she said dully. “The one used to kill Leo.”

“Do you mean someone stabbed him?” Olive screeched.

I looked at her in annoyance. “That would seem to be the case.”

“But why would anyone do that?” Olive asked. “This is the Ritz for God’s sake!”

“Yes, well, I’ll speak to management about that when I get a moment,” I said. Focusing again on Audrey, I continued, “Audrey? Do you feel okay? Can I get you anything?”

Audrey shook her head. “No, I’m okay. But … but what am I going to do?”

“Don’t worry about a thing,” said Max. “We’ll take care of it.”

Daphne and Toby rushed up. Daphne gave Audrey an awkward hug, trying not to get any of Leo’s blood on her own dress. “Audrey! Oh my God, you poor thing. How did it happen?” Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “This is a nightmare!”

Toby pulled up a chair next to Audrey’s. He handed her a wet napkin to clean her hands. She smiled gratefully at him and began to rub at the blood. “Have you called the police?” she asked.

I nodded. “The hotel staff called. I also talked to one of my former colleagues. She’s on her way as well.”

Olive looked at me sharply. “Why on earth would you do that?” she asked.

“I have a feeling that Audrey is going to need all the help she can get,” I said, my tone matter-of-fact.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she snapped at me. “How dare you infer
…
”

“Imply,” corrected Nigel.

“
…
that Audrey had anything to do with that man’s death! Why, I’m sure there are loads of people who wanted Leo dead!” Olive glared at me and then belatedly realized her blunder. Turning back to Audrey, she said, “Oh, Audrey. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just want to protect you.” Olive’s eyes welled with tears, and she blindly grabbed Max’s hand for comfort.

Audrey didn’t respond. I did. “Olive, I’m not saying that Audrey killed Leo. However, she did go into the men’s room and because she picked up the knife that killed him, her fingerprints will be all over that knife. Thanks to yesterday’s article and accompanying photograph, half of New York knows that their marriage was in trouble. Those facts alone are going to guarantee a police investigation into Audrey’s possible motives for killing Leo. And God help her if it comes out that she went to Lizzy Marks’s apartment and not only found her dead, but then said nothing about her discovery to the authorities.”

“What are you saying?” Audrey asked, her voice dull.

“Among other things, you need to tell the police about your visit to Lizzy Marks’s house,” I said.

Toby disagreed. Rather strongly. “Absolutely not!” he hissed, quickly looking around to make sure no one could hear us. “I told you before what I thought of that idea. They’ll crucify her!”

“What do you think they’ll do once they figure out that she was there and never came forward?” I asked.

“There is no law that says she has to do anything. She is under no obligation to go to the police to report the death of a person that is already known to be dead. You of all people should know that. As her lawyer, I will make sure she understands that,” Toby said.

“Well, for a lawyer, I think you’re giving her pretty crappy advice. The press is going to go crazy with this.”

Toby sighed. “Look, Nic, I get what you’re saying, but I don’t think this is the time or the place to discuss this. She just found her husband dead—murdered. I think it would be extremely foolish to say anything now. Not until we have a game plan.”

I looked at Audrey. She was staring at the floor, a dazed expression on her face. I realized that as much as I disagreed with Toby in principle, he probably did have a point. To make Audrey tell the police about her visit to Lizzy Marks now would probably result in her immediate arrest.

twenty-nine

Marcy arrived soon after
the other police. She found me and I told her what I knew. Which, admittedly, wasn’t much.

“So, Audrey says she couldn’t find Leo and went to look for him?” Marcy asked me.

“Yes. I guess they were about to cut her birthday cake.”

“And she went looking for him in the men’s room why?”

I shrugged. “I think she was suspicious that he might have been entertaining a guest there.”

Marcy raised an eyebrow. “In the men’s bathroom?”

“Well, in the men’s bathroom at the Ritz. You have to admit, it’s a cut above your average bathroom. But, to answer your question, yes. She thought he might be in there with someone. Apparently, he’d done it before.”

Marcy shook her head in disgust. “Real classy guy, this Leo was.”

“That he was,” I agreed.

“So, she finds him on the floor, covered in blood. She grabs the knife—why?”

“I have no idea. I think she was in shock. She ran out of the bathroom and into the ballroom and started screaming. I went into the bathroom and saw Leo on the floor. I made sure the hotel posted security at the bathroom’s entrance and called you. What do you think they’re going to do to Audrey?” I asked.

Marcy looked over to where Audrey sat talking with the lead detective, Tom Cutter. Marcy didn’t look optimistic. “I don’t know, Nic,” she said. “Cutter’s a nice guy, but he’s also pretty cynical. I don’t know if he’s going to buy her story about trying to catch Leo in the act.”

I looked at her. “Do you buy it?”

Marcy didn’t answer right away. “I don’t know, Nic. I wish I could tell you different, but I just don’t know. But it’s not up to me. It depends on whether Tom Cutter believes her.”

_____

As it turned out, Tom Cutter did believe Audrey, but he made it clear that it was not a binding decision. Olive was, to say the least, outraged that Audrey could in any way be considered a suspect, and to prove her point screamed at the police. When they finally left, she turned her fury on me. It was only after Nigel and I returned to our rooms and took the phone off the hook that the yelling stopped.

thirty

The papers had a
field day with Leo’s murder and Audrey’s discovery of the body. They all stopped short of setting themselves up for being sued for libel, but only by a hair. There were two schools of thought. One was that Audrey killed Leo in a drunken fit fueled by jealously. The second was that she deliberately killed him to rid herself of a two-timing cash hound. The only difference between the two theories, really, was a few drinks.

Nigel and I sat in our hotel room reading the various versions of the story. “This one says Leo was stabbed in the chest,” said Nigel. “And this one,” he pointed to a different paper, “says he was stabbed in the neck.”

“Well, he wasn’t,” I said. “Not that it matters in the end. He was stabbed, and he’s dead, and everyone thinks Audrey did it. Why the hell did she pick up the knife? Who does that?”

“Audrey, apparently,” said Nigel.

“This isn’t good, Nigel,” I said. “In fact, this is really bad.”

“Yes, dear. I know. I might be new to all this, but I did gather that much. The question is, what are we going to about it?”

A knock on our hotel door saved me from having to answer this. It was Daphne.

“I’m sorry to bother you like this, Nic,” she said.

“Not at all,” I said. “Come on in. Nigel and I were just reading the paper. How’s Audrey?”

Daphne followed me into the front room where Nigel was sprawled on the couch. “She’s finally sleeping, thank God. We gave her a sedative from Mother’s private stash.” She took off her coat and laid it over the back of the desk chair. For once, she seemed a loss for words.

“Can I get you a drink?” Nigel asked.

“Yes, please. Do you have any vodka?”

“I think so,” I answered.

“Fine,” said Daphne. “Mix it with anything you’ve got, or I’ll take it straight.”

I glanced at Nigel. As it was only 9:30 in the morning, I had been thinking more along the lines of coffee. Nigel shrugged.

While I made her a drink, Nigel said, “What’s wrong, Daphne?”

“Besides the fact that someone killed Leo and the police suspect Audrey?” she asked.

“Is there a besides?”

Daphne looked down. I finished making her drink and handed it to her. She took a long sip. “Yes,” she finally said. “There is a ‘besides.’ This is really awkward, but I need to ask Nic something about Leo.”

I sat down next to Nigel. “Fire away.”

Daphne took another sip. “When you found him, was there … was there any money on him?”

“Money?” I repeated. “I don’t know. I checked his pulse, not his wallet. Why?”

Daphne’s cheeks flushed red. “It’s just that … this is awkward, but I’d given Leo money earlier that night. A great deal of it actually.”

“Why?” I asked.

Daphne glanced down before answering. “Blackmail. Leo saw Audrey leaving that woman’s apartment. Lizzy. You know, the one who was killed?”

“I’m familiar with the situation, Daphne,” I said.

“Right. Of course you are. Sorry. Anyway, Leo saw Audrey coming out of Lizzy’s apartment. Audrey didn’t see him. He went in after she left and found Lizzy dead. Leo told me that unless I paid him off, he was going to go to the police and tell them that Audrey killed Lizzy. I told him he was crazy and that no one would believe him, but then he said that if I paid him, he’d leave. Forever.”

“Why did he come to you?” I asked. “I would have thought he would have gone to Max or your mother.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow. “Are you kidding? Can you imagine the scene my mother would create if Leo tried to blackmail
her
? Leo had gumption, but not
that
much gumption.”

“Point taken. When did this happen?” I asked.

“He called me the morning of Audrey’s party,” Daphne said. “He said that I was to give him the money at the party or he’d go to the police. He promised to stay for the party, and then he would leave Audrey for good.”

“Just like that?” I asked.

“Well, not exactly. He wanted me to deposit money into an account for him every month. The amount wasn’t outrageous. We could afford it.”

“Who’s we?” I asked.

“The family,” Daphne said, flushing a little. “I was going to talk to my dad about it and see what we could do.”

“Did Audrey know about this?” Nigel asked.

“Of course not! I couldn’t tell her. But I agreed to it. I didn’t want
Audrey hauled up on charges of murdering that woman! Audrey didn’t kill her. I know that, but the police might not see it the same way. And here was a chance to get Leo out of her life. For good!”

“Seems that happened anyway,” said Nigel.

“Well, yes,” agreed Daphne. “But I didn’t know that was going to happen. I just wanted to protect Audrey.”

I tried to piece together what Daphne was saying. “How much money did you give him?” I asked.

When she told me the amount, I stood up and made myself a drink with vodka as well. “Better make me one, too, darling,” said Nigel.

When I returned to the couch, I handed Nigel his drink. “Where did you get that kind of money, Daphne?” I asked, hoping I was wrong about the answer I suspected I was going to hear.

Daphne flushed red. “Audrey’s trust fund. I took it out of the trust.”