Closet Confidential (25 page)

Wendy said, “I loved that dress and I had a lot of fun wearing it, and I don’t want to get rid of it. I’m digging my heels in on that.”

“Special events?” Lilith said. “What? Costume parties? Were you going as Big Bird? Wait! It has everything
but
feathers.”

I decided at that moment that Lilith and I needed to agree on a verbal code that signaled “give it a rest,” “chill,” or maybe plain “shut up.”

“Laugh all you want. The dress stays.”

Lilith wiped the tears of laughter from her face. I thought Wendy showed great restraint in not mentioning that the time would come when Lilith’s bright spiky teal hair and piercings would be passé even with disaffected youth. Wendy and I knew that even if Lilith didn’t yet.

“Oh well, I guess memories are good. We got rid of everything else with hardly any hair being pulled,” Lilith said. “We’re still tight for room, and Wendy’s going to need some new stuff, so I’m pushing for it to go.”

“And as for the dress, Wendy, if you want to keep it as a souvenir, perhaps a photo of you wearing it might do the trick. Put it on your bedroom wall. Better than hunting in the back of the closet for memories.”

“Especially if it’s in Seth’s closet,” Lilith interjected.

“That photo technique is not a bad idea, and Lilith suggested it for a couple of other items. I think I’ll do it for the Christmas sweaters. I made them for all of us when the boys were little, and we do have photos of them.”

“None for this?”

“Oh sure. Brad is always big on photos. But the thing is, I love this dress. Even if it’s out of style and I’ll never wear it again, although it still fits.”

“What do you like about the dress?” I asked.

“I have to hear this,” Lilith teased.

“The color. Isn’t it happy?”

“Yes. It’s like wearing a happy face,” Lilith said. “Round and . . .”

I shot her a look. She caught my expression and said, “Oops, Charlotte thinks I’ve gone too far. Sorry, Wendy. I was just having fun.”

“Pfft,” Wendy said, with a wave of her hand. “Me, too. With a house full of men and boys, I can take a little teasing.”

Lilith looked relieved, and I certainly felt it.

I said, “So the color?”

“And the fabric. It feels so good, light and filmy, yet solid and substantial. If I ever found something made out of fabric like that again, I’d buy it, no matter what it was. I have a wedding to go to and I’ll never find anything I like as much as this. In fact, the way I’m going, I’ll never find anything, period. Especially on my budget.”

Lilith couldn’t contain herself. “Promise me you’re not even thinking of leaving the house again in this dress!”

Wendy said, “I’m silly and sentimental, but I’m not planning social folly.”

Lilith clutched her chest, indicating that she might have missed a career on the stage. “What a relief.”

I stepped over to the dress and touched it. Wendy had a point. The fabric did feel silky. It would be lovely next to your skin. That’s something to think about when you get dressed up, the sensuousness of the clothing you’re wearing. And the color was spectacular, even if a bit overwhelming.

“I have an idea.”

“Please, tell me you don’t,” Lilith again, back in play mode.

“I do.”

Wendy looked up expectantly.

“Lilith, what exactly is wrong with this dress?”

“We already talked about the color.”

“Yes, but we all like the color.”

“Not an acre of it. You could erect a tent with less fabric.”

“What else?”

“Are you kidding? Do you not see those sleeves? In the circus maybe.”

“So far so good. And then?”

“What are those? Rhinestones? It’s like a kewpie doll dress.” Lilith couldn’t hold back.

“Those were the times,” Wendy said.

I said, “But not the skirt?”

Lilith tilted her head. “The skirt’s okay. It’s a nice classic shape.”

I reached over and picked up the dress. I tucked the overwhelming top inside the skirt. I laid the “skirt” on the bed and peered into the closet. I didn’t find what I was looking for, so I snatched up a long-sleeved navy tee and displayed it on top of the skirt.

“Wow,” Wendy said.

“That rocks, Charlotte!” Lilith did a little dance to illustrate approval.

“Right. Bright gathered skirts are very useful items for a wardrobe. What I suggest, Wendy, is that you ditch the top, put on a waistband and shorten the skirt, and you can wear it with a plain neutral top. All you need is a good dressmaker. Although you should try it with the top tucked in before we get too excited.”

Sometimes you get it right. The outfit was going to be spectacular on Wendy, although maybe not with her sneakers and cotton socks.

Wendy said, “I’ll find a dressmaker.”

Lilith said, “Hold the phone, lady. I can do those alterations for you. I get all my stuff at the Goodwill. I hope you don’t think I can afford to go to college
and
get my clothes altered.”

“Talk about a full-service package,” Wendy said, then added, grinning, “although I know that extra charges may apply.”

“Problem solved,” I said. “We’ll take a look to see if you have the right shoes for it and the right purse and—”

“She does. Remember? The shoes and purse were classic and fine,” Lilith said. “Although she could still benefit from a trip with you to shop for something more fashion forward.”

“Oh boy. I couldn’t wear anything like that.” Wendy pointed at my sling back pumps. “Hey, I owe you two so much. You’re going far beyond the call of duty. I don’t know how I can make it up to you.”

Lilith said, “We’re taking your hundred dollars. Don’t forget that.”

“Listen, I mean it,” she said.

I hesitated. “We’re not even finished yet, Wendy. We still have to set up your storage systems.”

“I will still be grateful.”

“Tell you what, I would like to speak to your husband. I have a question that pertains to his work. Would you ask him to give me a minute or two?”

“You can have Brad for as long as you want him.” Wendy heaved herself out the bedroom door. “I won’t let you keep him, but I won’t be counting the minutes. Seth, where’s Dad?”

“He’s in the kitchen packing his lunch.”

I headed downstairs to talk to Brad out of hearing of everyone else. I thought as I spotted him that he was the perfect partner for Wendy. He was almost as mellow and even more unshakeable, I guessed. He was the face you’d want looking down on you if you were lying incapacitated on the floor of your kitchen or if you were trapped in a car that was about to catch fire. No question about that. I found myself wishing he’d been on duty on the too frequent occasions when I’d found myself in an ambulance.

“How can I help?” he said.

I admired the trim insulated carrier and the matching drink container.

“It’s a bit awkward.”

“Go ahead. Try me. You’ve made Wendy very happy.”

“It’s about Anabel Beauchamp.”

He blinked. “What about her?”

“I understand you were at the scene of her terrible accident.”

The smile slid from his face. I got a flash of how a tragedy like Anabel’s must haunt emergency personnel; then, just as quickly, he assumed his public expression. The casual friendliness was gone, too. “It was terrible. I don’t know what information I can give you.”

“I’m sorry. I realize it must seem like a very insensitive question, and I’m sure you don’t want to revisit something like that. But Anabel’s mother keeps insisting that someone killed her. I don’t know what to say. I’m not looking for the gruesome details. I thought perhaps you could reassure me that didn’t happen. I can try to help her mother deal with it. I suppose it’s grief, but this idea is certainly ripping her apart.”

Brad’s face was calm, impartial yet sympathetic, a useful expression in his line of work. “It would sure rip me apart if it had been one of mine.”

I nodded. “So you can confirm what the police are saying?”

He looked surprised. “What are the police saying?”

“That there was no indication of foul play.”

I didn’t interrupt as he concentrated. “We don’t look for signs of a crime. We’re all about the injured person. Although we do look around to see what might have happened. But I didn’t see anything to indicate that she’d been attacked.”

“That’s a relief,” I said. “I don’t want to be giving her mother false reassurances, but I’ve been hoping that she wasn’t murdered.”

He shrugged. “I asked myself that at the time. How could she have fallen right there? Why didn’t anyone see or hear or come to her aid?”

I nodded encouragement.

He said, “Where were her co-workers? Didn’t people on the street hear anything? What was she doing there in the first place?”

“So you suspected something was wrong?”

“It’s not my job to suspect. It’s my job to keep people alive. God knows, I wanted to keep that girl alive. But she was definitely gone before we arrived.”

“Do you think it was not an accident?”

His knuckles were white on the handle of the lunch pail. “An accident seems likely, but I don’t know how the police or anyone else could possibly feel confident making a statement that it definitely
was
an accident. The site was so churned up by those first two cops on the scene, there wouldn’t be much hope of finding any evidence, footprints or anything like that. The second guy was all right, but the other was a total loose cannon. A panicky jackass. I think he’s the one they’ve got a warrant out for now. Now I wonder if he wasn’t involved in Anabel’s accident, too.”

“Wait a minute. There were two cops?”

“Yup.”

“One was Nick Monahan. He’d be the panicky jackass, I guess. But who was the other one?”

Brad shook his head. “I don’t know their names. I knew them both to see them, that’s all.”

“You said they churned up the site. But the paramedic team was there, too. You would also have tramped in the mud, no?”

“Sure, and the firefighters were on site, too, but we focused on our jobs. And we didn’t tramp all over everything. We didn’t walk all around the perimeter or pace in the mud. There wouldn’t have been much left for the cops to find.”

We stood there silently after that, looking at each other.

“Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate your candor.”

He shrugged. “You ask me. That and three bucks still won’t get you much of a sandwich in this town.”

I had a lot on my mind, but I needed to drop by Woodbridge General to see how Pepper was doing. First I made a flying trip to Kristee’s Kandees to pick up some of Kristee’s black-and-white fudge. I actually think that this fudge might be a wonder drug. I bought a gift box for Pepper and a couple of miniboxes in case I needed a bribe.

I knew the nurses wouldn’t tell me anything, and I’d gotten Sally’s voice mail when I called. I’d had a half-baked idea that I might locate Benjamin and badger him for information. He also has a weakness for black-and-white fudge.

First I decided to check at the information desk. To my relief I was given a room number for Pepper.

“That’s good. I was worried she might have been moved back to the intensive care unit,” I said.

The smiling volunteer behind the counter assured me that Pepper was still in the regular unit. That was good news. It probably meant the injury was less serious than they’d thought. I already felt well disposed to people who volunteered their time to the community that way and flashed her my biggest smile. I stopped at the hospital gift shop and picked up some magazines for Pepper to go with the fudge. Nothing useful. Nothing practical. Nothing motherly.

More good news. I recognized the cop who was stationed at the door of her room. Luckily it wasn’t the bright young officer who had driven me home. He would have been tricky to get past, even with a bribe of fudge. No, this one was DeJong, the overgrown, awkward, and not-so-smart guy with the mustache that made me want to reach for a razor. I remembered him from Bakker Beach. Of course, I’d seen him on guard duty at the hospital as well. I was counting on him remembering me, too, and thinking I had a right to be there.

I smiled up at him and said, “Sorry, I’m late.”

He frowned at me. Didn’t like the sound of late.

“I couldn’t help it,” I said. “I was held up. Why don’t you check with Detective Tierney?” Given the tone that Tierney had used with him at Bakker Beach, he would eat crushed glass before he followed up on that.

“Well,” he said with great and totally unmerited dignity, “don’t let it happen again.”

I wasn’t sure what he thought I was late for. Or why he wouldn’t have been informed. It was a good thing that I didn’t intend Pepper any harm if this was the person they had protecting her.

Even so, I handed him one of the two miniboxes of fudge. “I hope this will save my reputation.”