Red Julie (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 2) (15 page)

“What? So?” Brad said.

“Dmitri Siderov. The cross necklace. The letter ‘S’ is engraved on it. Could it be his necklace?” Olivia asked.

The three stared at each other.

“Siderov?” Joe said, sitting back down.

“How would Andersen have had it if it belonged to Siderov?” Brad asked.

“He lived next door. The Siderovs wanted Andersen’s house. Things got testy between them. I don’t know. Somehow Martin got hold of it. It’s possible, isn’t it?” Olivia said excitedly.

“So what happened? Siderov gave Andersen the necklace?” Brad asked, confused.

Olivia stood up and walked back and forth, her mind racing. “No, no. It wouldn’t have been a gift. They hated each other,” Olivia said.

“Rodney Hannigan said that Andersen and Siderov never met,” Joe said. “There was an intermediary who made the offers for the house.”

Olivia paced faster. “Yeah, Rodney said they’d never met,” she said to no one in particular. “But…the necklace could belong to Siderov. It’s clear that Andersen slipped the necklace to me. He didn’t just
hand
it to me. He needed to hide it.”

Joe said slowly, “Liv, maybe the necklace was in Andersen’s hand at the accident. Maybe when he was clutching at you, it just fell into your pocket. Maybe he never intended to drop it. Or give it to you.”

Olivia stopped and stared at Joe. She was quiet. She had never considered the option that Joe proposed. She sat back down. “That’s possible.” She turned her head to the ocean. “So maybe this necklace thing means nothing at all. Maybe he didn’t pass it to me in secret.” She looked down at her hands. “Maybe Aggie just died of a heart attack like the police said.” Olivia’s shoulders were hunched.

Brad piped up. “But why was Andersen’s tongue cut out? He had been shot, for God’s sake. Why did that guy at the scene scare Andersen so much?”

Olivia lifted her eyes to Brad’s.

Brad went on, “What if…what if that guy at the scene was there before you?”

Olivia leaned forward. “I thought I saw a man there when I got to the accident. I thought I saw someone running away from Andersen’s car. But it was so dark and I was focused on Martin. I can’t be sure if I saw someone or not.”

Brad’s talked faster. “What if that guy was the one who cut out Andersen’s tongue?” He stood up. “That’s why Andersen panicked when the guy showed up again.”

Olivia straightened up. “What if the necklace belonged to that guy? Maybe Andersen didn’t want him to get it back, so he slipped it into my pocket.”

Joe’s voice was weary. “I don’t know. Maybe you two have seen too many detective shows.”

“It makes sense, Joe. As soon as the guy appears, Andersen freaks,” Brad said. “He didn’t want that guy to get the necklace. Or he was afraid the guy was going to kill him.”

Olivia nodded. “You’re right, Brad. The guy at the scene…he’s a link. Why didn’t I think of this before?”

Brad was excited. “Maybe the guy caused the accident. Maybe he was chasing Andersen. Maybe he shot Andersen. Maybe he was after the necklace. What if he saw how badly hurt Andersen was, cut out the tongue, then came back again to check to be sure he was dead?” Brad’s eyes widened. “What if the guy is working with Siderov?”

“This is crazy,” Joe said.

“It fits, Joe,” Olivia told him.

“I could come up with a number of scenarios that fit,” Joe replied. “You two are going off half-cocked. Just because the cross has an ‘S’ on it doesn’t link it to Siderov. It could belong to anyone.” He leaned forward. “We wondered if it belonged to Magdalene Streeter. Her last name starts with an ‘S’. She loves jewelry. She’s supposed to be in financial distress. She had a run in with Mrs. Callas. She wants us to sell our houses. She must want to sell Andersen’s house too. Maybe she represents Siderov. Let’s list everyone in town whose name starts with “S”. I bet we can come up with any number of reasons why they could be behind all this.”

Olivia and Brad stared at Joe, processing what he suggested. A shadow of uncertainty flickered over Olivia’s face. “That guy who showed up at the accident was frightening, Joe. I felt in danger. Mortal danger. The way Martin Andersen reacted to him tells me there is reason to suspect him.”

“We need to find out who he is,” Brad said.

“How?” Joe asked.

Brad turned to Olivia . “You think you saw him in Boston.”

Olivia nodded.

“You were followed on the highway,” Brad went on. “Maybe this guy was watching you. He might have wanted to frighten you…or find out what you were up to… find out what you knew.”

“Yes. That could be,” Olivia said.

“You haven’t seen him since?” Brad asked.

“No. I haven’t. We need to find out who he is.”

“Maybe we could draw him out again,” Brad said.

Olivia’s face was questioning.

“Maybe we could do something to get him to show himself again,” Brad thought out loud.

“How?” Olivia asked.

“What if we put an ad in the town paper? Describing the necklace. You know, like a lost and found ad. Say you found it and are looking for the rightful owner.”

“No.” Joe’s voice was loud. “I don’t like this. You could be putting Liv in danger.”

“Joe, I thought you believed this was just our imaginations?” Brad asked.

“Well, if it isn’t…” Joe said more quietly. “No one knows you have that necklace. It could put you in danger to make it public knowledge.”

Olivia touched Joe’s arm. “This whole thing is upsetting to all of us. You know that I feel an obligation to Andersen. That I need to find out if he was trying to tell me something…or not. He and Aggie were connected somehow. Maybe Aggie gave him my name. Maybe that’s how he had my name in his wallet.” Olivia shifted her eyes to the ground. “The most important thing of all…maybe I can figure out what happened to Aggie.” She raised her head. “I need to find out, Joe.”

“I know.” Joe’s voice was soft. “But I’m afraid.” Joe’s eyes pierced Olivia’s. “I’m afraid we’re getting in this mess too deep.” He paused. “I’m afraid of losing you, too,” Joe said, his voice cracking.

Olivia knelt next to Joe’s chair and wrapped him in her arms. “I’m not going anywhere. Nothing’s going to happen to me.” Joe blinked at her. “You’re stuck with me,” she said.

Joe cleared his throat and sighed. “Okay, come on. Let’s go inside and use the laptop. Let’s see what we can find out about Siderov. And maybe we can write up an ad together for the newspaper…about that damn necklace.”

Inside Joe’s house, the three sat around Joe’s laptop and Googled Siderov’s name. “How can there be nothing of importance about this guy?” Brad asked. “Especially if he is an international businessman.”

“Only pictures and articles about him at charity events, country clubs, golf tournaments.” Olivia said.

Joe shrugged. “What do we expect to find?”

“Why don’t you Google Martin Andersen and his company,” Brad suggested. “Maybe there will be a link between him and Siderov somehow.”

Joe keyed the name into the search engine.

“I did Google him, Brad. Nothing like that came up,” Olivia said.

“Well, here’s a picture of Andersen and Hannigan at some charity event,” Joe said squinting at the screen. “Caption says, ‘Martin Andersen of Andersen Financial of Boston and S. Rodney Hannigan of the law firm Hannigan, Windsor and Riley of Boston attended the…”

“Wait,” Olivia said. “Did you say ‘S. Rodney Hannigan’?” Olivia peered over Joe’s shoulder to get closer to the computer screen. She stood straight. “’S’?” She and Brad exchanged looks. “
S
. Rodney Hannigan?”

“Did the cross necklace belong to Hannigan?” Joe asked.

“When I spoke with him, he didn’t acknowledge the necklace. I asked him about it. I asked, did Martin own a gold cross necklace? He said ‘no’.”

The three of them stared at each other, each one considering.

“Do you think he lied to me?” Olivia asked quietly.

“That’s a good question,” Brad said.

“You asked him if
Andersen
had a necklace, you didn’t ask Hannigan if
he
owned a necklace,” Joe pointed out. “Maybe he omitted that information. Conveniently.”

“What if Hannigan is behind all of this?” Brad asked. “What if
he
killed Martin Andersen?”

“Ugh.” Joe whispered. “His own partner?”

Olivia’s eyes went wide, and she shook her head. “No, I don’t believe Rodney is guilty. What connection would he have with Aggie’s death? He seems too sincere in his loss.”

“Maybe he’s a good actor,” Brad suggested.

“It’s just a coincidence that his name starts with an ‘S’,” Olivia told them. “But, I’ll make an appointment with him to speak face to face. I want to ask him where he was the night that Martin was killed. And I want to see his reaction when I show him the gold cross necklace.”

“Maybe that’s not a good idea. If he’s involved…” Joe cautioned.

“I’ll meet him at his Boston office,” Olivia said. “Nothing can happen to me in the offices of that large law firm.”

The next day Olivia was back at work in the antique store. The painting of the shop walls had gone much more slowly than Olivia had thought it would. The store space wasn’t that large, but the walls had windows on two sides, crown moulding along the ceiling, and some built-in cases attached to the walls that required precise and careful painting around many edges. Olivia had been painting and cleaning for a full week.

It was just before ten at night when Olivia completed the last display case. She was pleased with the way the shop looked. Tomorrow she would tackle assessing the inventory and cleaning the interior of the cases. She thought that she would be able to open the shop in another week. She took the brushes and paint cans to the back room and put the brushes in the sink. She wiped off the excess paint around the rim of the can and put the cover in place. She used paper towels to squeeze out extra paint from the brushes, and turned the faucet on to let water run through the brush bristles. She glanced out the little window above the sink. A plain white van had stopped at the corner to let some people cross the street on their way back from the restaurants in Perkins Cove. The back door of the van opened with a jolt and a young woman who looked to be in her late twenties, wearing a cotton shirt, jeans, and flip flops, jumped out and started to run to the sidewalk. The passenger door flew open and a man lurched for the woman and caught her by the arm. A chill ran down Olivia’s arms and she turned off the sink water, anticipating that she might need to call 911. The woman stood in a stance of defiance and yanked her arm out of the man’s grasp. He slapped her across the face, the force of it knocking her back a step. The woman stood still and slowly turned her face back to the man, her hands clenched by her side. She spit onto the sidewalk in front of him. The man’s arm twitched as if he might strike her again, but another group of people turned the corner and walked past them. The man said something that Olivia couldn’t hear. The woman reached for the rear passenger side door, slid it back, and climbed into the van. As the man turned to take his seat in the front of the van, the streetlight illuminated his face. Olivia dropped the brush she was holding. It was Alexei.

The van drove away just as a knock sounded on the front door of the shop. Olivia jumped and her heart thudded against her chest. She peered around the corner from the back room and saw Brad at the front door. She let out a big sigh and went to let him in.

“Hey,” Brad said. “I knew you’d be working late, so I …” Brad’s smile vanished. “You ok?”

“Yeah,” Olivia said stepping back so Brad could come in. “I just saw something strange though.” She led Brad to the back room and indicated the small window over the sink. “I was cleaning brushes in the sink and looked out the window. A van stopped at the corner. A woman jumped out the back of the van. She looked like she wanted to get away. A guy got out of the front…the passenger side, and he grabbed her, very rough and mean.” Olivia paused for a breath.

“What happened?” Brad asked.

“The woman didn’t fight or anything. It was hard to see her face because of the dark, but she seemed kind of…defiant, I guess. She pulled her arm out of the guy’s hold. He hit her across the face, Brad. Then she spit on the sidewalk in front of him.”

Brad looked out the window to imagine what took place.

“Then she just got back in the van,” Olivia told him.

“She did? Maybe it was a lover’s quarrel or something?’ Brad asked.

“It was Alexei. The guy who grabbed the girl was Alexei.”

Brad’s mouth opened but he didn’t say anything.

“Should I have called the police?” Olivia asked.

“I don’t know.” Brad thought about it. “She got back in on her own. He didn’t force her. Right?”

“No, not physically.”

Brad shook his head. “I guess not. She would have to press charges and if she got back into the van on her own…I mean, she could have yelled if she was afraid…there are always people around here. So I guess not then.” He shrugged. “But what the hell is up with that Alexei?”

“I don’t know. But it shook me up. There’s something wrong with that guy.”

Brad nodded. They went back to the front of the shop. “Listen, I came by because I saw Joe in town when I was closing up the store. He said he needed to talk to us. He’s down in the cove right now…meeting with some guy about a house to renovate. He said he’d be done a little after ten and could we meet him at the bar in the cove.”

“What’s it about?” Olivia asked.

“He said he heard something of interest today and wanted to talk to us about it.”

“Well, I’m done here. Let’s go see what he has to tell us,” Olivia said.

Olivia and Brad headed down to the cove.

“Did you see our ad about the necklace in today’s paper?” Brad asked while they walked.

“I did see it. No one has called or emailed about it so far,” Olivia told him.

“Maybe tomorrow. Or maybe the person in question won’t reply so as not to call attention to himself,” Brad suggested. “You armed your burglar alarm when you left the house, right?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Listen, Liv. I know you’re a big girl and all…” Brad started.