Cam was surprised when Louise seemed to find merit in that and nodded then left.
Annie and Elle returned together, and Elle opened a drawer for them. Strangely, in a file marked “Birth Certificates” was their alibi. Elle handed the page to Annie, locked the drawer again, and stood. Cam was glad Annie could maintain a poker face, because she was sure she was confused.
“You two need anything else?”
“We should be asking you. Are you okay?” Cam asked.
“A little scared. I manage, though.”
Cam couldn’t help comparing Elle to Evangeline Patrick, the other trophy wife she knew. Evangeline was leagues ahead of Elle. For one thing, Evangeline was a sincerely nice person, and Cam thought she loved her husband a lot more than Elle seemed to. Elle was barely upset, or at least she wasn’t showing it.
• • •
• • •
W
hen they reached Annie’s Beetle, Annie thrust the birth certificate at her. “Now you’re stuck with it.”
“What?”
“You know me. It would be lost forever at my place. I left it
there
so I knew where it was.”
“It was the only thing I could think of. Elle was grilling me.”
“Okay. It wasn’t bad thinking, especially as it was really there. But you need to file it so I can come get it if I need it. I’m not nearly responsible enough to hang on to anything I need forever.”
“Louise busted me, too.”
“Man. Some spy you are.”
“I just told her what we were doing . . . well not what, but why.”
“She’s probably been spying, too,” Annie said.
“Should we talk to her?”
“Yeah, but at home. We’ll stop by her place tonight. Take her a bottle of bourbon. She’ll talk happily then, and Elle won’t know anything about it.”
At the next stoplight, Cam noticed Annie’s hands were shaking on the wheel.
“Hey, are you holding up okay?”
“It’s just . . . I know I complain and everything . . . but this is my dad.”
“I know. We’ll find him, okay?”
Thankfully, home wasn’t far away and Annie managed to get there without breaking down.
“Do you want company? Or would you rather be alone?” Cam asked.
“Company. Jake’s coming over later, but not until six. I may go nuts if I have to be alone.”
“My place or yours?”
“Mine. I need to bake.”
That was normal for Annie—baking as therapy. So they filed up to Annie’s chaotic apartment. She handed a bottle of wine to Cam to open and then started getting out ingredients for something fussy.
Cam pulled glasses from a cupboard and poured them each a glass of wine, and Annie strapped on an apron, a sign she intended to do this like a kamikaze.
They spent the next two hours baking and drinking wine, though Cam intentionally paced herself. She didn’t want a headache and figured at least one of them ought to stay sober. Finally, Rob and Jake arrived together with takeout from a nearby Italian place.
• • •
• • •
“S
o how’s the murder investigation going?” Cam asked.
“Well, I still have a job, which is good,” Rob said.
“Griggs was ticked, then?”
“Wouldn’t you be? Junior reporter scoops you on one of the biggest stories of the year—one you were present for, and the punk has already scooped two murder stories this year?”
“When you say it like that . . .” Cam smiled a little, feeling proud.
“He found out by reading the article, too. It’s not that I didn’t try to let him know, but he must have gone for drinks with somebody after the fund-raiser, because I got Kathy when I filed the article.”
Kathy was the assistant editor, and normally Rob didn’t get along with her quite as well as he did with Griggs; she thought sports was a fluff topic. But on this, she’d probably been pleased to rush through an important piece while her boss was busy.
“I noticed there was no mention of the kidnapping.”
“That cop asked me to keep that quiet—said it could put the senator in more danger if it became public.”
Cam nodded. It was what they’d heard the night before, too, and what she expected was being weeded from her press releases.
“But Griggs got over being mad?” Cam asked.
“Yeah. He swore at me awhile, then confessed he was mad at himself.”
“Was he willing to tell you what he saw?”
“He sure was. Got an eyeful.”
Jake eyed Rob. Cam thought maybe Rob had waited to tell them when they were all together.
“Griggs thought it looked like Derrick was basically campaigning for Koontz. He went from table to table, group to group, always with the same couple of lines. He thought it seemed really important to Derrick that Koontz win. Pretty normal for a fund-raiser, if you ask me. But he also saw Derrick, and this is different from what we’ve heard, get into a fairly nasty argument with Melvin Entwhistle. They had words, Melvin walked away, and then Melvin came back a little while later with one of the women who’d been with Derrick. Griggs thought maybe she’d been sent to appease Entwhistle.”
“I’ll bet,” Annie said.
“Any other arguments?” Cam asked.
“Not that he noticed.”
“Okay. How about you, Jake?”
Jake gave her a look to mind her own business, but he’d known her long enough to know that would never happen. Rob slurped his last strand of spaghetti.
“They figure it’s either a political rival or one of the people he bilked.”
“Genius. Who thought of those motives?” Cam asked. Annie swatted her, not appreciating the sarcasm, but Cam had thought those two angles were obvious the night before.
Rob eyed Cam, and she realized he knew more, but wasn’t going to tell her in front of Jake. That probably meant he’d either been told in confidence, or he’d been told by his non-Jake police source—a guy in the forensics lab whom he preferred to keep secret from Jake. Otherwise, the guy would get reprimanded and Rob’s source would dry up. She decided to tackle what they
could
talk about.
“So is there a list of people who lost their shirts to Windermere’s business strategies?”
“Those financial records have been requested, but there are an awful lot of people to sort through,” Jake said.
Cam sighed. “Okay, what about witnesses?”
“We’ll start looking more tomorrow. Only thing we know is the screamer was a pregnant woman.”
“Jessica,” Cam said. She’d been the only noticeably pregnant woman at the party.
“Shoot,” Annie said.
“What?”
“I keep ruining our leads. She’s official, too. She was screaming for the game—an official witness. She probably didn’t actually see anything.”
“You don’t plan to tell me anything else, do you?” Cam asked Jake.
“He’s just doing his job,” Rob said reasonably.
He wouldn’t get away with the “just his job” card on that front, not with Annie as his girlfriend, but it could wait.
“How about the kidnapping then?” Cam said to Jake.
“They think I’m too close. They don’t want me investigating it. Besides, Len is coordinating with Special Forces. FBI does kidnapping, especially with a public figure.”
“Seriously?” Annie asked. She looked devastated.
“Hey, I’ll still talk to the guys so I know everything they can share and will keep you in the loop.”
“Jake?” Annie said. “Dad hinted last night that he was leaving Elle.”
“Hinted?”
“You know Dad. He never says
anything
outright.”
“I’ll tell the guys. They’ll listen to my input. They just won’t let me be out in the field on it.”
“Speaking of field,” Annie said. “I bet Louise is home!”
“Louise?” Rob asked.
“She’s been my dad’s housekeeper since I was six. She’s a gem and I love her, and Cam and I were going to ask her if she knew anything. Can we all go?”
“Ah! That Louise. I like her,” Rob said.
“Won’t she feel overwhelmed?” Jake asked.
“No, silly. You’re my boyfriend. Rob is Cam’s. She’s known Cam and me forever, like family. It will be nice. She’ll be glad to help us.”
Cam wasn’t sure she’d be
glad
, but she’d sort of forgotten their plans for Louise when they invited the boys over, and she really wasn’t in the mood to wait. Besides, Louise was pretty unflappable. She’d even made the media feel stupid in her days as a senator’s housekeeper.
They all went in Cam’s car, since it was the most comfortable for four people. Louise obviously hadn’t been home very long. She still had on her housekeeping dress. But she invited the four of them in, and when Annie handed her the bottle of bourbon, Cam explained. She hoped that in doing so, she could also avoid Louise mentioning her and Annie’s trip to the house later in the conversation. Thankfully, Louise was quick on the uptake and used to Annie keeping a secret now and then.
“Louise, have you met Annie’s boyfriend, Jake, and my boyfriend, Rob?” Cam asked.
“I think I remember Rob. You and he have been together quite some time, haven’t you?”
“We have.”
“Good to see you again. And it’s nice to meet you, Jake.”
“Jake is a police officer. He’s not officially investigating Senator Schulz’s disappearance because of his relationship with Annie, but we thought maybe you might be more comfortable thinking about all this at home with people who know you instead of at work when it’s official.”
“Well, yes. I suppose.”
“Louise, I know it’s horrible to think about,” Annie said. Cam was glad she finally chimed in. “I don’t think Elle would hurt Daddy.”
“Well no. She’s not . . .” Cam thought she was hesitant to say anything bad about her employer. The pause was fairly long, but then she looked at Annie and went on. “ . . . not my cup of tea, but I always thought, to the extent she can, she loves him.”
“Did you know Daddy planned to leave her?”
Louise looked very uncomfortable. “I might have guessed.”
“Do you know why?”
“There were a lot of phone calls. Some were at strange hours,” she said.
“Do you think she was having an affair?”
“Well I don’t know about
that
, but I suspect your father thought so. She refused to answer questions about it. I heard her say she’d clear it up.”
“With her marriage on the line?” Annie asked. Her eyes were wide.
“Miss Annie, your daddy is not always so forthcoming. He
told her
he understood and he’d give her time to explain. You and I have known him a long time and know that means a day or two. But Miss Elle sees the world through rose-colored glasses. She probably wished so hard he meant weeks that she made herself believe it.”
Cam had known people like that. They were frustrating to deal with, but she could see Elle being that way.
“So you don’t think she knew he was leaving?”
“Well, it’s possible I hinted that to her.”
“How?” Annie asked.
“She called to speak with your father and he wasn’t here. She said some things she thought I should do, and I disagreed and knew your father would, too. I refused. She threatened what she’d do when she got home, and I said something like . . . I wasn’t sure she would be welcome. She just made me so mad. Of course, I got my punishment. She was home two days later, far earlier than scheduled. I don’t know what she thought!”
Cam did. The woman heard she might be evicted and was planning to squat. Cam wondered if there’d even been a call from a brother. Coming home to squat, though, was a lot better than returning from Europe to kidnap or murder your husband. So in a way it was hopeful.
“Have you noticed anything strange around the house since Senator Schulz was taken?” Cam asked.
“Other than Miss Elle refusing to leave? Not really. I mean . . . your dad being taken, of course, but not before that.”
“Would you mind . . . keeping an eye open for odd things?” Annie said.
“Of course not, sweetheart. You’re like my own daughter, and Senator Schulz has been good to me over the years. I’m happy to keep an eye out.”
They all rose and Annie hugged Louise. Cam was surprised neither Jake nor Rob had more to add, but they’d gotten some decent information anyway.
• • •
• • •
“I
think we should call it a night,” Jake said when they arrived back at Cam’s and Annie’s apartments.
Cam agreed quickly, not because she was tired, but because she thought she and Rob might make more progress without a cop and a very upset girl in their midst; plus, she was still dying for his secret information.
They made it inside and Cam cracked a Diet Pepsi and handed Rob a beer.
“So can we compare notes?”
“We can. And for the record, I’m not sure these cases are related, but until we are sure they
aren’t
, I think all the information should go in the same pool,” Rob said.
