Indulgence in Death (36 page)

“She had an appointment. At three o’clock this morning.”

“With whom?”

“Darrin—” Her voice broke. She shook her head, cleared her throat. “Darrin Wasinski. A client. He wanted to arrange for his daughter to be married there, at that time of the morning. She and her fiancé had gotten engaged there, at that time.”

She put her fingers over her eyes, breathed and breathed. “I’m sorry. I’m trying to think clearly.”

“Take your time. Do you want something? Some water?”

“No. He wanted her to meet him there, to get an idea of the terrain, the look of it at that hour. His daughter wanted romantic, but unique. Something nobody else had done. He wanted Adrianne to handle the logistics. Oh, God, was Darrin killed, too? Oh, God.”

“No. Is he a new client?”

“No. He’s used us before, personally and professionally. He’s CFO for Intelicore, New York operations.”

Of course he is, Eve thought.

“I should have gone with her.” Her breath tore and wheezed as she fought for control. “Adrianne’s so self-sufficient, and God knows she can handle herself. But I should have gone with her. We were at a party last night, and she was going straight from there.”

“Where was the party?”

“Winston Dudley’s home. It was still going strong when I left, about one-thirty. I don’t know what time she left. Did Darrin meet her? Do you know if—”

Eve interrupted. “Did he personally book the appointment?”

“Yes. He e-mailed her yesterday afternoon. Lieutenant, Darrin wouldn’t have hurt Adrianne. I can swear to it. He’s a very lovely man, devoted to his family—which is why he’d go to such lengths to make this brainstorm of his daughter’s happen.”

“Did either you or Ms. Jonas or anyone else on staff actually speak to him about the arrangements?”

“Just by e-mail. It was very last minute, and nothing we’d have taken on except Darrin’s a regular, long-term client.”

And a booking by a regular, long-term client when Jonas would already be out—at the party Dudley had invited her to—ensured she’d be where they wanted her, when they wanted her.

“I’d like copies of the e-mails. Has Ms. Jonas ever facilitated for Mr. Moriarity, Mr. Dudley?”

“Yes. They’re very good clients. Was it a mugging?”

“No.”

“I didn’t see how it could be. She’s trained in self-defense, a black belt in several martial art disciplines, and she carried repel spray and a panic button.”

“In her purse?”

“The spray, yes. Her wrist unit had the panic button. It’s very much like mine.” Wallace tapped her wrist. “Adrianne gave everyone who works with her one. We go into unusual places, often at unusual times. We all take self-defense courses. She wanted us safe,” Wallace added, and the first tear spilled down her cheek. “Can you tell me what happened to her?”

It would be out soon enough. “She was hanged.”

“Oh, God, my God.” She blanched as her hands gripped together in her lap. “Can any of this be happening?”

“I know this is hard, but I need to see those e-mails. It would help if I could go through the apartment. Did she have workspace here?”

“Yes. Yes. We work in the adjoining unit, primarily. It spills over, of course, into the living space.”

“You and Ms. Jonas, and Katie?”

“Oh, Jesus, I have to tell Katie. She’s not due in until noon today. I should contact her. And Bill and Julie.”

“Bill and Julie?”

“Her parents. They live in Tulsa. She’s from Tulsa.”

“We’ll notify her parents. Maybe you can contact them later today after I’ve spoken with them.”

“All right. Yes. All right. I was worried, a little worried, when she wasn’t here this morning. But I thought maybe she went back to the party after her appointment, and maybe she went home with someone. It’s not usual, but she and Bradford Zander—one of the other guests last night—saw each other occasionally. But she didn’t answer her ’link, and she was fierce about always answering, or at least acknowledging a contact. But I told myself it was nothing, to give her a few more minutes, that she might be in the shower or . . .

“Then I saw you at the door, and I knew. We have a whole file on you.”

“You what?”

“Oh, that sounded wrong.” She rubbed her damp face with the heels of her hands. “Adrianne believes in being prepared. You might be a client one day. So we keep files—articles and basic data. She admired you. She believed, strongly, in women leaving a deep mark doing what they were meant to do. And as soon as I saw you, I knew why she wasn’t home, why she didn’t answer her ’link. She’s my best friend in the world, and I knew you were here to tell me she was dead.”

Wallace wiped another tear away, blinked the rest back. “You’ll find who did this to her. She’d have expected that from you. I’ll take you through to the offices.”

As they rose, the buzzer sounded.

“Will you excuse me a minute?”

As Wallace went to the door, Eve angled herself to keep it in view. She watched Roarke step in, take Wallace’s hands. He kept his voice low, so all she heard was the comfort in the tone.

When she turned back, Eve saw the tears had won again.

“I’ll take you both over. I’ll get a printout of the e-mails you wanted.”

“It would be helpful if you’d get me a list of anyone who knew Ms. Jonas was going to the park, and when.” Busywork, Eve thought, but it would give the woman something to do.

“All right.” She walked them back through the foyer and through already open doors to another large unit.

Another living space designed to Eve’s eye to keep clients comfortable. Stylish, sunny built-ins that likely housed entertainment and refreshment equipment.

Later, Eve decided, she’d need to go through the rest of the space, the more personal spaces.

“Can you tell me if she had trouble with anyone? A client who was unhappy or dissatisfied? A personal problem with anyone?”

“She never left a client unhappy. She’d find a way, and if it wasn’t exactly what they were after, she had a talent for making them think it was, or that it was better than they’d expected. On a personal level, she kept things casual. She wasn’t ready, she said, for a serious relationship. I honestly don’t know of anyone who’d do this to her. People liked her—it was part of her success. Giving people what they wanted, and being likable.

She stepped out into another, smaller living space, then turned into an office. It reminded Eve of Mira’s. Not in the decor, she realized, but in that it struck her as feminine, pretty, and efficient all at once.

“I can put those e-mails on disc for you, unless you’d prefer a hard copy.”

“Both wouldn’t hurt.”

“All right.” She sat, engaged the computer. When she’d finished, she handed Eve a thin paper file, and a disc in a case.

“I’d like to scan some of the other correspondence, some of the files.”

“I feel like I have to say this business runs on privacy and discretion. But I’m not in the mood to care about that right now. And I know Adrianne would be pissed off by what happened—that sounded stupid.”

“No, it didn’t. It sounded accurate.”

Wallace managed a weak laugh. “She’d also want you to have whatever tools you needed to do your job. I’d like you to tell me if you make copies or transfer any files.”

“No problem.”

“If you don’t need me to stay, I could really use a few minutes.”

“Go ahead. Ms. Wallace?” Eve added as she started out. “It strikes me Ms. Jonas had good judgment in friends.”

“That was a kind thing to say,” Roarke murmured.

“I’m not feeling very kind. Adrianne isn’t the only one pissed off right now. I told you I could handle this.”

“Do I interpret that as you’re pissed off at me?”

“Not especially.” Eve sighed. “A little, but mostly because you’re here and I could punch you if I needed to.”

“If I hadn’t come, you wouldn’t be pissed off at me, but then I wouldn’t be here to punch.”

“Don’t try to logic me right now. They had a really big night, splashy party, with their private entertainment on the side. Figured on using that party, and each other, for alibis—with the bonus of having a lure for Jonas. One slips out, skewers the chef, then later, the other slips out, hangs the facilitator. And they cover each other.

“You didn’t tell me you owned the building.”

“The majority share, but that wasn’t on my mind when you gave me the address. I knew her a little. Adrianne.”

“Were you a client?”

“No.” He slipped his hands into his pockets, wandered the room. “I can facilitate for myself. And if I don’t have the time, or don’t want to spend the time, I have Caro and Summerset. But she had a sterling rep.”

He touched the frame of a photo where both Adrianne and Wallace smiled, arms around each other’s waist.

“A lovely woman with a lot of style and charm,” he added, “and a talent for fluid thinking. I do know several people who were clients, and worked with her, or with her through Bonita—Wallace,” he added at Eve’s blank look. “How did they get her into the park?”

She ran it by him as she scanned the hard copy of the e-mails.

“This guy, Wasinski, won’t know squat about this. I’ll have to check him out, but he’s the same as the others. Just the dupe—the difference being unlike the others he knew the vic.”

“Adding more connections,” Roarke said.

“Yeah, upping the stakes every time now. Look here, right in his e-mail to her it asks her not to contact him via ’link as he’s in meetings most of the day. Not to leave voice mail, as he wants this to be a surprise and his wife might check his messages, blah blah. Just to use this e-mail account he’s set up—not his regular account—to keep it on the down-low until they check it all out.”

“And she didn’t question it.”

“He’s a client, one she’s known awhile. He uses his daughter’s name, his wife’s name, works in just enough personal stuff. He even mentions he knows she’s been invited to Dudley’s garden party. Why would she question it? It’s probably not the weirdest request she ever got.”

Eve sat on the desk, began to scroll through the most recent correspondence. “Since you’re here and I’m not punching you, maybe you could check out the desk ’link.”

“I’ll do that, on one condition. You stop blaming yourself, right here, right now.”

“I’m not doing that. Exactly.”

She looked at the photo, and noted she’d been right. Adrianne Jonas had been a very pretty woman in life.

“I feel like I’m lagging behind in this contest, and because I am two people are dead. But I also know the contest is rigged. It’s set up so I can’t know who’s a target, and so I have to spend time checking out their dupes and alibis.”

“Why spend the time when you know they’re dupes, and you know the alibis are bollocks?”

“Because I can’t play by their rules. I have to show a judge, and eventually a judge and jury, that I investigated and verified and eliminated. That I compiled the evidence. Maybe this Darrin Wasinski got a wild hair, was carrying on an affair, or wanted to, with the vic. Maybe he decided to try to do a copycat and killed her because she wouldn’t run off to Mozambique, or because she threatened to tell his wife they did the dirty in Mozambique when he was supposed to be in Albuquerque on business.”

“None of which you believe for an instant.”

“Not a nanosecond, but it has to be checked out, verified, eliminated. When I take the dupe out of the picture, leave no wiggle room there, it goes back to the pattern. It goes back to establishing enough probable cause and circumstantial for a search warrant, for me to bring them into the box.”

And, God, she thought, she wanted them there. Wanted those smug, smirking faces in her house.

“These bastards think they’re so fucking smart, so goddamn clever, and more—they think they’re insulated because they’re rich and important, and because I have to play by the rules. But it’s the rules that’ll tie them up and choke them at the end.

“Computer, attempt reply to account on-screen, no message.”

“No. Cancel. First step—the account he set up for this lure is now closed, and you can bet it was closed by remote. We can work with that.”

“We can.” The steps and time factor of her rules might frustrate him, but he could admit mitering those corners rather than cutting them did the job. “Very good. Anyone in EDD can find you the location of the computer used to set up, then close the account. And they’d certainly know that.”

“So they used another dupe’s comp, or a public with false ID. But it leaves a trail. So far they’re ahead on the trail, but they’re leaving a lot of cookie crumbs to follow.”

He had to smile as he brushed a hand over her hair. “That’s bread crumbs.”

“I’d rather have a cookie. And I pick up enough crumbs I can make a damn cookie. But you’re right about EDD. I’ll get them in here to deal with this.”

“I can get your locations in less time than it would take you to arrange that.”

She hesitated. “We have permission. Go ahead. I’m still getting EDD in. They can do what they do, and I can work my way back to Central via the morgue. They’re having a two-for-one sale.”

“Sick,” he commented.

“Yeah, but it helps keep me from being sick. If you’ll get the locations—and keep the work right down the line, no blurs, I’m going to get the go-ahead to check out the vic’s other spaces. You never know.”

 

 

S
he found nothing in Adrianne’s private spaces that applied, but she verified through the files that both Dudley and Moriarity had used her services in the past. With Wallace’s permission, she used the vic’s office ’link to notify next of kin.

When she was done, Roarke leaned over the chair to kiss the top of her head. “Devastating for them. Painful for you.”