Murder in the Middle: A Susan Wiles Schoolhouse Mystery (9 page)

Chapter 29

“Mike, come on in. They’re showing Sophie now,” said Susan. Johann was curled up on her lap, purring like a lawnmower. Mike plopped down on the couch.

“Mrs. Bartolo, let me start by saying how glad we are that you’re safe. You gave this town quite a scare,” said the reporter. “Tell us your story.”

“It’s a little hard to talk about, but I’ll try. I was at work early, before anyone else was in the office. I was sitting at my desk checking e-mails when Caleb Bartolo came storming into my office. I was surprised, and a bit afraid, to see him. He started hurling threats he was going to go to the police with proof that I’d killed his brother. I never would have killed Adam. I loved him. We struggled. He grabbed my wrists really hard and pushed me against the desk. He started throwing things on the floor. Then he picked up the bronze paper weight off of my desk, held it over my head. Then the last thing I remember is seeing it come toward me. When I woke up, I was tied to a bed, with duct tape over my mouth.”

“How horrible,” said the reporter. “Did he torture you while you were being held captive? I know you were checked over at the hospital and released this afternoon.”

“No. He didn’t physically harm me, but psychologically it was beyond horrible. Excuse me a minute.” She pulled out a tissue and wiped her eyes. “At least he brought me food and water every night. By day, I assume he was at work. I was always tied to the bed with the tape over my mouth so I figured I must have been somewhere near other people and he was afraid I’d scream. Now I know I was at a motel.”

“What do you think he was after? There was never a ransom note.”

“He wanted me to confess to killing his brother Adam. Even though I was terrified that he was going to kill me, I wasn’t going to admit to something I didn’t do.” She sniffled and again dabbed at her eyes.

“Now, tell us how you managed to escape.”

“One night, he didn’t come by with my dinner. He didn’t show up the next two nights either. I wriggled my hands against the ropes all night long and somehow I managed to loosen up the ropes enough to escape. That’s when I ran out into the street and that Good Samaritan picked me up.”

“I’m sure your family is thrilled to have you back. Thank you for sharing your story.”

Mike clicked off the TV.

“Glad that story had a happy ending. At least for Sophie. Now let’s go pack for our outing to the city,” said Mike. He gave her a playful swat on her behind.

“She looks awfully good, don’t you think? I mean for being tied to a bed and not eating for three days, she’s lucky not to be staying at the hospital rather than going home.”

“She looks like a strong woman. Anyhow, she’s probably still running on adrenaline.”

“I guess you’re right. Let’s pack.”

Chapter 30

Susan barely slept. She tried her left side, then the right, but couldn’t get comfortable. She kept imagining what her birth mother looked like and ruminated over reasons why her mother didn’t keep her. Maybe she’d been a pregnant teenager, unable to care for a child. She could have given her up so her baby could have a better life than she could offer. That would have been a noble thing to do.
Perhaps they had to rip me from her arms. Maybe she wanted to keep me but her parents wouldn’t let her.
She pulled up the extra blanket, then kicked it off. Maybe her mother was in fact married and had other children. Maybe she just didn’t want to raise another baby.
Was she too selfish to raise a child? Did she really want to meet this woman?
This whole Georgia Babes thing could be a complete red herring. Would she be disappointed if it was, or relieved? She flipped the pillow over. The alarm buzzed. She heard Mike downstairs starting the coffee.

“Should I make us some eggs?” asked Mike.

“I have a better idea. Let’s stop for blueberry pancakes. Howard Johnson’s is right on the way.”

Still full from breakfast, they arrived in Manhattan later in the morning and walked around Rockefeller Center. The Christmas tree was already gone, but they stood and watched skaters before doing some window shopping. Susan drank in the aroma of hot pretzels and chestnuts as they walked by street vendors. Although she was stuffed, she couldn’t resist trying one.

“It’s almost time for my appointment.” said Susan. Her hands trembled and she dropped the hot pretzel she’d just bought. “I was looking forward to eating that.”

“I’ll buy you another pretzel. Remember that if anything comes of this, you still have the choice not to contact her. Your life has been pretty darn good without her.”

“You’re right. Maybe I should blow this whole thing off and we can go to Macy’s instead.”

“It’s your call. Your birth mother could have even died years ago. There may be nothing to find.”

Susan sighed. “We’re here now. Let’s head over to the hospital. I’m just ready to get this over with.”

At the hospital, they easily found the lab and sat down in the waiting area. There were half a dozen others, all about Susan’s age, waiting to be called. Naturally, they were all anxious to share their stories with each other––perfect strangers who shared a unique bond.

“So where are you from?” asked a woman wearing a leather coat. “Wouldn’t it be great if we can get some answers out of this? All my life I’ve wondered about my parents.”

“All your life?” said Susan. “I just found out about being adopted last year when my mom, I mean my adoptive mom, died. I felt so betrayed that she’d kept this from me my whole life. It wasn’t right for her to hide this from me. Did she think I’d run off and try to live with my birth mother for heaven’s sake? My mom was my mom. I wish she had realized that I loved her too much to ever leave her.”

“Really? You just found out? That must have been quite a shock. I feel for you. What makes you think your adoption is related to this whole Georgia Babes thing?”

“I saw it on
Sixty Minutes
. I’d been hitting dead ends everywhere and this made sense. Falsified records? And my mom had a sister who lived in Georgia.”

“Same here––
Sixty Minutes
I mean. I’ve been looking for over a decade.”

“If we do find relatives, just think how strange it will be to meet them. What if they’re horrible people or they didn’t want to be found?”

“Then they wouldn’t have joined the registry.”

The nurse called Susan back.

“Good luck,” she said to her new acquaintance. She scribbled down her e-mail address. “Take this and maybe we can stay in contact. Maybe we’ll even find out that you and I are sisters. Wouldn’t that be funny?”

Susan just wasn’t in the mood for funny. She sat down on one of those chairs they use to draw blood, thankful she was just having a painless cheek swab. Still, her knees were shaking. Mike put his hand on her shoulder. The whole procedure took less than five minutes.

“We’ll have the results soon and will enter your information into our database. If we get a match, we’ll contact you.”

“How long will you keep me registered?”

“We’ll keep all our participants in our database indefinably. It may take years, but if a match comes forward we’ll let you know.”

“Come on,” said Mike. “Let’s go to the hotel and relax for a bit. Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m relieved that it’s done. The dye is cast, as they say.”

“I know you. You would have kicked yourself forever if you hadn’t taken this opportunity.”

“You know me better than I know myself sometimes.” She squeezed his hand.

“We’ll try that restaurant Carmine’s that Scott recommended. Italian food always cheers you up,” said Mike.

At the restaurant later that evening, Susan and Mike were seated near the window, where they could watch the hustle and bustle of the city while they ate. The table was covered in white linen, and a candle encased in frosted glass created a relaxing ambiance. Susan looked into Mike’s eyes and was overcome with gratitude that he was her life partner. He was a flying buttress, forever supporting her.

“This eggplant parmigiana is out of this world,” said Susan.

“So is my lasagna. I’m stuffed.” He patted his stomach.

“Me too, but I saw the waitress go by with the dessert tray. It would be a shame to miss out on the tiramisu.”

As they ate their desserts and sipped expresso, the man at the next table got up and staggered toward the restroom. His companion jumped up and grabbed his arm but couldn’t prevent him from falling onto the floor.

“I’ll call 911,” said Susan. She reached for her cell phone while Mike jumped up to help. His experience as a volunteer fireman had proven valuable on more than one occasion. He bent over the body. Susan knew he was listening for a breath. The waitress and manager came over immediately.

“Is he choking?” asked the waitress.

“No, no. He’ll be okay. Give him a few minutes. This has happened before. I’m his wife. He just started a new medication for his high blood pressure and sometimes he gets dizzy if he stands up too quickly.” She helped her husband up into his chair. “He’ll be fine. Thanks for your quick action though.”

Another waitress came over and handed the man a damp towel for his forehead.

“She handled that like a pro,” said Susan. She couldn’t help thinking that she wouldn’t have handled it so gracefully had it been Mike keeling over on the floor. Even if this wasn’t the first time it happened. The thought of it made her shudder.

Chapter 31

A few days later, Susan was reminiscing about that double-sized tub at the hotel as she fought with the broken handle of her own tub. It had been on the verge of breaking for a while, but Susan hadn’t gotten around to getting it repaired. Now she had no choice––at least not if she wanted to shower or take a bath. She figured she could fix it if she had a new part, so she headed over to the plumbing business owned by Rusty’s family.

When she pulled into the parking lot, Susan saw Lindsay, Caleb’s crazy ex-girlfriend. For a moment Susan wondered if she was simply here because she too had a plumbing issue.
No, that would be too much of a coincidence. Something’s fishy here.
Heeding her intuition, she decided to watch. Lindsay went into the shop, then came out minutes later with Rusty’s arm around her. Rusty pulled out a cigarette and offered one to Lindsay.
I didn’t realize they knew each other,
thought Susan. They finished their smoke, then froze right there in front of Lindsay’s car and started kissing.
This has to mean something. It can’t be a coincidence that Sophie’s high school boyfriend and her brother-in-law’s crazy ex-girlfriend are involved with each other.

After Lindsay left, Susan entered the overheated shop. The dry heat gave her a headache.

“May I help you,” said Rusty.

“I hope so.” She explained her plumbing issue and Rusty quickly found the correct replacement part.

“I should have taken care of this earlier,” said Susan.

“This will be an easy fix. Remember, lefty loosey, righty tighty and it’ll be a snap to fix. You just saved yourself the cost of a service call.”

“That’s good news. Lots of good news lately. For example, isn’t it wonderful that the kidnapped bookkeeper, Sophie Bartolo, has returned safe and sound?” Susan knew that was an awkward segue, but hoped Rusty didn’t notice.

“Yeah, you bet. That creep Caleb Bartolo sure got what was coming to him though.”

“No one deserves to be murdered in his own home,” said Susan. “I’ll bet it was someone he dated––an ex-girlfriend maybe. Most murders are committed by someone the victim knows.” Susan stared into Rusty’s eyes, but didn’t detect a reaction to her statement.

“If he’d gotten a place in town rather than on that desolate farm, maybe things would have turned out differently for him.”
So, he and Lindsay both knew where Caleb was living.

Rusty’s father came in from the back carrying a laptop. He slammed it down on the counter. The sound made Susan jump.

“Rusty, something’s wrong with this thing. Can you fix it for me? This is no good for my blood pressure. I don’t care how many pills I take, this computer is gonna do me in.”

“Sure, Dad. Give me a few minutes.”

“So you’re good with computers?” said Susan. “My son too. Your generation is so much more comfortable with technology than us old timers.”

“You can say that again,” said Rusty’s father. “If it weren’t for Rusty, I’d have thrown that thing against the wall and broken it by now. He can do just about anything with computers.”

Rusty just shook his head. “Good luck with that tub of yours. Like I said, easy fix. Call the shop if you have any problems.”

She got into her car, and saw Lynette and Jackson pull up.
What are they doing here?
Surely the police didn’t need them to hunt down a piece for the station toilet. Luckily, she was parked in the side lot and they hadn’t noticed her. Getting out of the car, she decided to perch herself under a partially opened window and see what they were up to.

“May I help you?” said Rusty.

“Hope so,” said Jackson. He flashed his badge, and Lynette did the same. “We got an anonymous tip that your plumbing van was parked on Orchard Road, outside Caleb Bartolo’s place the night he was murdered.”

“No, sir. I wasn’t nowhere near Orchard Road that night.”

“Can you tell us where you were?”

“Bowling at Westbrook Lanes with some buddies.”
Sure, I bet you were,
thought Susan
. More likely hanging out with Caleb’s crazy ex-girlfriend. Maybe they both killed him.

“What time did you arrive at the bowling alley and when did you leave?” asked Lynette.

“Got there around 8:00, left around midnight.”

“Can anyone verify your alibi?” asked Jackson.

“Sure.” He scribbled something on a notepad and shoved it in Jackson’s face. Jackson took a step back. “These are the guys I was with. You can check it out.”

“We will,” said Lynette.

Yes, we will,
thought Susan
.
She wanted to be sure that Jackson and Lynette had a head start, so she stayed crouched under the window for a few more minutes. She wondered if she’d be able to unkink her legs when she tried to stand up. Had she inherited her weak knees from her birth mother? Rusty’s voice floated through the window.