Murder In the Past Tense (A Giorgio Salvatori Mystery Book 2) (12 page)

“Who did he say he was?” Giorgio asked.

“He said he was Mr. Montgomery’s great nephew and that he was just passing through Seattle and would only be here a short time. He knew his uncle was ill, so he was really hoping he could see him. It was right after lunch, so I knew Mr. Montgomery would probably be awake. I told him I’d need some ID, and he showed me a driver’s license and an old picture with Mr. Montgomery.”

“Could you recognize Mr. Montgomery in the picture?” Abrams asked.

She fidgeted and glanced at the floor. “I…uh…it was a really old picture. You know, like one of those Polaroid pictures. So it was pretty faded. But it looked like Mr. Montgomery. And there was a blond kid sitting on his lap.”

“What was the name on the driver’s license?” Giorgio asked.

She paused and shot a glance at her boss. “I don’t remember. He showed it to me so quickly and then he got out this other picture. I’m sorry,” she whined as if she were about to cry. “But I had him sign the register.”

“Okay, we’ll take a look,” Abrams said. “So you let him go to Mr. Montgomery’s room.”

“Yes. He came out a little later with Mr. Montgomery in a wheelchair and said he wanted to take him outside for some fresh air. Mr. Montgomery waved at me and had a blanket wrapped around him. The sun was out, so I thought it would be okay. Besides, it was really busy yesterday, and…”

“And they never came back?” Giorgio said.

“No,” she said, slumping her shoulders. “They went out the front doors, and I saw them turn to the right along the pathway that goes to a nice bench out there. I thought that’s where they were headed. A lot of people go out there to smoke. I took a break and didn’t notice whether Mr. Montgomery came back inside. Then, the nurse came looking for him, and I realized they had been gone for over an hour. So I reported it.”

“We looked outside, but of course didn’t see them,” the administrator said. “So we searched the building. It wasn’t until the maintenance man went to throw something into the dumpster that he found him.”

“Is there anyone else who may have seen the two together, or talked to either one of them?”

Abrams asked. “A nurse, perhaps? Or a roommate?”

“He had a roommate,” Ms. Felton said, lighting up a bit. “Mr. Cornwall.” She stood up. “He should be awake. I’ll walk you down there,” she said. “You can return to the front desk, Irene.”

The girl left and the three of them moved past the front desk into the patient wing, where the newly waxed floor gleamed. The smell of urine, however, made Giorgio’s nose twitch. It reminded him too much of the place his grandfather had stayed just before he died of colon cancer. Giorgio didn’t have good memories of that. His grandfather had suffered terribly, making Giorgio glance through open doorways as they passed, wondering momentarily about the patients here.

They stopped at #32 and Ms. Felton knocked and then slowly opened the door. She stepped in first and spoke quietly to Mr. Cornwall. Then she swung the door open wide and allowed the two officers inside.

“Mr. Cornwall said he’d be happy to talk with you. Let me know if I can be of any more help.”

Lying in the first bed was a little, wrinkled old man. His face was covered in age spots, and his blue eyes had turned milky. There was a small explosion of white hair on the top of his head. He greeted them with a smile.

“What can I doose for you boys?” he asked with a fake New Jersey accent.

Detective Abrams shot a glance at Giorgio and smiled. The curtain was pulled back, so he moved to the bed that must have been Montgomery’s, which sat next to the window. It had been remade and all of Carson Montgomery’s belongings removed. Abrams sat down, while Giorgio remained standing.

“We were wondering if you remembered a young man coming to see Mr. Montgomery yesterday.”

His expression immediately became somber. “Too bad about old Montgomery. He was a good egg.”

“Were you here when someone came to visit him?” Abrams tried again.

“Yeah. I was asleep, but whoever it was closed my curtain,” he said, gesturing to the circular curtain that could be pulled around the bed. “And that woke me up. I don’t hear too good anymore, so I probably can’t tell you too much. But I did hear him say the name Freddie.”

“Freddie?” Giorgio repeated. “Nothing else? A last name, maybe?”

“Naw. Just the name Freddie. They were whispering. Then my nurse came in.”

“Did you see them when they left the room?” Giorgio asked.

“No. I was pretty focused on Hannah,” he said with a smile. “She likes to wear her uniform pretty tight, if you know what I mean.”

Giorgio smiled. “Is there anything else you can think of that might be helpful?”

The old man shook his head. “Naw. Sorry.” He glanced up at the two men, his eyes beginning to water. “I’ll miss old Montgomery. He was a cantankerous old coot, but he wasn’t so bad. And now I’ll never have a chance to find out what he knew about that girl.”

“Girl?” Giorgio said, his nerves on alert.

“Yeah. We were out in the activity room watching the news day before yesterday. CNN had a report about that girl’s skeleton they found down in Southern California. Montgomery mumbled something and when I asked him about it, he said I’d have to beat him at poker to find out.” The old man shrugged his skinny shoulders. “Now I’ll never find out.”

Abrams and Giorgio glanced at each other.

“You couldn’t hear what he mumbled?” Abrams asked.

“It was just something like, ‘ruined my life,’ or ‘my wife,’” he said apologetically. “Like I said, I don’t hear too good no more.”

Abrams stood up. “Thank you, Mr. Cornwall. We appreciate your time.” He handed over his card. “Please let me know if you think of anything else.”

The two men headed down the hallway toward the entrance.

“So, it looks like you were right. Someone wanted him dead because of your cold case,” Abrams said.

Just then, the ringtone on Abrams’ cell phone chimed and he answered it. He listened for a moment and then exclaimed, “Shit. Okay. Thanks.”

He flicked off the phone and turned a grim expression in Giorgio’s direction.

“The M.E. hasn’t cut him open yet, but says we need to be looking for a syringe.”

“Why?” Giorgio asked.

“Because Montgomery has a big, ugly puncture wound in his neck.”

Abrams immediately dialed his phone to call someone else. “Tim,” he barked into the phone.

“Get a forensics team out to the Cascades Nursing Home up by Green Lake pronto. Yeah. It looks like that old guy we tracked down today was murdered. Meet me in the parking on the west side of the building.” He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. “Let’s go give the good news to the lovely Mrs. Felton. I want to see if anyone found a syringe when they cleaned out his room, and then check the register.”

They were nearly to the lobby when they passed double doors leading to a large activity room. There were several round tables filled with people chatting, playing board games or cards. Giorgio glanced across the room to the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the side yard and the parking lot.

“You go see Felton,” he said to Abrams. “I want to talk to a few people in here.”

Abrams nodded and disappeared. Giorgio pushed the door open and crossed to the window. The front walkway looped around the corner of the building and back along the side street to a parking lot. The front half of the parking lot was right in front of the rec room windows. But from where he stood, he couldn’t see the dumpsters.

Two women sat up against the windows, playing cards. One was wearing a blue robe. The other woman was dressed in a polyester pantsuit. He interrupted them.

“Excuse me, ladies,” he said. “But by any chance, were you here playing cards yesterday?”

The woman in the polyester suit looked up over her glasses. The other one either ignored him, or hadn’t heard him.

“Yes, we were, weren’t we, Sister?”

“Hunh?” the one in the robe mumbled. “Weren’t we what?”

“Playing cards here yesterday.”

Sister looked up at Giorgio as if she just noticed him. “Who are you?”

He pulled out his badge. “I’m a police officer, looking into the death of Mr. Montgomery. Did you know Mr. Montgomery?”

“Knew a Montgomery when I was a kid. Kent Montgomery. He was a real pain in the ass,” she said.

“No, Sister,” the woman in the pantsuit said. “Did you know a Mr. Montgomery here at the nursing home?”

“Bethany, you know I hate it when you call me Sister all the time. I may actually
be
your sister, but my name is Corinne. Call me Corinne. You’d think we were Mormons or something,” she said to Giorgio. “No. I didn’t know Mr. Montgomery. Why are you looking into his death? People die around here all the time.”

Giorgio had to suppress a smile. “We believe someone may have taken him out of here against his will yesterday. Did you happen to see a young man pushing an older man in a wheelchair yesterday, down the walkway into the parking lot?” He gestured toward the walkway outside the big window.

They both turned and looked out the window as if Mr. Montgomery would be out there now. Then the one named Bethany turned back to him quickly.

“Yes, I did. We were just beginning our second hand of cribbage, and I glanced outside. He was a blond kid. Not a kid really, a young man – maybe in his late twenties.”

“Did you see where they went?” Giorgio asked.

“No,” Bethany said. “They disappeared into the parking lot. But he wasn’t gone long. He came jogging back a few minutes later.”

“What do you mean? Like he was running away from something?”

“Not like he was scared or anything. Just in a hurry,” she said. “Then he jumped into a van that was parked right there and drove off,” she said, pointing into the parking lot.

“That's right, and he wasn’t blond anymore,” Corinne said, moving cards around in her hand.

Bethany’s head snapped around. “You saw him, too?”

Corinne looked up. “I know you think I’m half dead, Bethany, but I’m actually quite alive. Yes, I saw both of them.” She looked back at Giorgio. “There was a blue van parked in the second or third spot. He got into that.”

“That’s right, officer,” Bethany said. “But it was gray, not blue.”

“Dammit, Bethany! I know what the color gray is. It’s the color of my hair. And I know what the color blue is. And it’s the color of yours.”

“Ladies,” Detective Abrams said, interrupting them.

They both looked up at the tall detective who had come up quietly from behind. Their eyes said it all – even at their age, they recognized sex appeal when they saw it.

“Did either of you see anyone else in the van? Or a license plate number, maybe?” he asked.

They looked at each other and shook their heads.

“No,” Bethany said. “We were arguing over the card game, so I’m afraid I didn’t pay much attention.”

“Me neither,” Corinne admitted. “Now, if it had been either one of you…” she said with a seductive wink. “I would’ve paid more attention.”

Giorgio smiled. “But you’re sure it was the same person,” he stressed. “One minute he was blond. And the next minute, what?”

“His hair was black,” Bethany said.

“That’s right,” Corinne confirmed.

“And it was the same young man?” Giorgio asked again.

“He was wearing the same clothes,” Bethany said. “Black pants and a black hooded sweatshirt.”

“And he had glasses,” Corinne added. “Which he threw away as he got in the car.”

Bethany stared at her sister in shock. “I didn’t see him do that.”

“No, you were too busy trying to cheat.” Corinne looked up at the two men as Bethany gasped at the remark. “I saw him reach up and take the glasses off as he climbed into the van and toss them away.”

Giorgio was impressed. “Thanks. You’ve been very helpful.”

Detective Abrams pulled out his notepad again. “Can I get your names?”

“I’m Bethany Ames,” the woman in the pantsuit said. “And this is my sister…”

“I think they have that part,” Corinne said with a sneer. “My name is Corinne Paulson.”

“Here’s my card,” Abrams said. “If you can think of anything else, would you give me a call?”

Corinne looked at his card and then back up at him with a mischievous smile. “Is this your home phone?”

“Sister!”

Corinne turned an evil gaze on her sister. “I swear I’m going to rip out your tongue if you call me that one more time.”

The detectives left the two sisters arguing and stepped into the hallway.

“Let’s walk around to the side,” Giorgio said.

They went out the front entrance and followed the path to the side street and the parking lot. The street ended in a cul-de-sac, with the entrance to the parking lot in the middle of the circle. Giorgio stood at the curb, looking back at the windows along the activity room. He couldn’t see the two sisters because the windows were heavily tinted. But he assumed that they could see him.

“From here,” he said, “you can’t see the people inside. You wouldn’t know if someone was watching you or not.”