The Brutal Heart (24 page)

“Cristal went to university?” I said.

Laurie bit her lip. “I told you she was smart. Anyway, she hugged me, and it wasn’t one of those fake girly hugs. It was sincere. She said, ‘I hear you’re getting married. Me too – same reason.’ Then she asked me when I was due – it was a couple of weeks before she was due, so we shared a hormonal moment. I remember us standing in front of the office of the Wadena News blubbering, then wiping our eyes. And Cristal leaned close to me and asked me if I loved Steve.

“Of course, I said yes. Then she said she loved the man she was marrying too. She said – and I remember this – ‘If I couldn’t have him, I wouldn’t want to live.’ She asked me if I felt that way about Steve. Of course, I said I did, but that wasn’t the truth. Don’t get me wrong. I love Steve. He’s a good husband and he’s a big part of my life, but I’ve never felt I wouldn’t have a life without him.”

Cass started to cry in the other room, and Laurie stood up to go to her.

“Wait,” I said. “What happened to Cristal’s baby?”

“I have no idea,” Laurie said. “The next time I saw Cristal, I had Jack with me. She didn’t even look at him and she didn’t say a word about the time we talked at Christmas. I remember trying to check her left hand without seeming to. There was no wedding ring. I assumed the man she couldn’t live without decided that he preferred to live without a wife and a baby.”

We didn’t stay long after Laurie came back with Cass. We still had to talk to Mandy, and Margot had a late appointment with a client in Regina.

Mandy Avilia’s house was on the street next to the golf course. It was a nicely kept bungalow with a picture window, a double carport, and two concrete-resin deer grazing on the lawn. When we pulled up outside, Margot took her BlackBerry from her purse.

“What did lawyers do before there were BlackBerrys?” I said.

Margot cocked her head. “I can’t speak for the profession, but I, personally, was on my cellphone all the time, checking my voice mail and hectoring my assistant to see if I had any messages.” She scrolled down the items in her in-box and whistled. “Now this is why we have our little office in a pocket.”

“Something useful?”

“Very. Mandy didn’t know where her sister’s will was. So I went on-line to the Law Society and asked if anyone had a will for Cristal Avilia. No news till today. Guess which firm did Cristal’s legal work?”

“Falconer Shreve?”

“Bingo. I’m going to call my new partner and see if he can get me the file.” After Margot talked to Zack, she handed the BlackBerry to me.

“How’s it going?” he said.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll tell you when we get back. Anything happening there?”

“I have a new client – a doctor who’s suing another doctor for malpractice. We don’t get many of those. And Cristal’s client list has ended up on the Internet, so the shit is hitting the fan.”

“Busy morning,” I said.

“I’m not through. Pantera ate the remote.”

“That’s the third remote he’s eaten. What did you do?”

“Ordered another one.”

I laughed. “Never a harsh word for that dog.”

“Nope. Love my dogs, love my kids, love my woman.”

“I’ll call you when we’re close to the city.”

“Why don’t you bring Margot in for a drink? I’ll have Norine courier the Avilia file here – save Margot a trip downtown.”

“And if you’re lucky, she’ll open the file in front of you, and you’ll know what’s going on.”

“You know my methods, Ms. Shreve.”

“I do indeed.”

Mandy led us into the living room. Like the rest of the house it was spotless except for the dining-room table that was covered with everything a dedicated scrapbooker would need. “Come, see,” she said. “You’ll be interested in this, Margot, and Mrs. Shreve – ”

“Joanne,” I corrected.

She dimpled. “Joanne, you might think it’s fun too. Do either of you scrapbook?”

Margot and I both shook our heads.

“Well, I do, and I love it.” Her face looked hollowed. Her sister’s death had hit her hard, but she was still full of spikey energy. “Sometimes I get so interested in what I’m doing, I forget to eat. Anyway, I’m really proud of the scrapbook I’m working on now. Do you want to see it?” When we said yes, she took us both by the hand and drew us towards the table. “Did you know that this year will be the twenty-fifth anniversary of Cut ‘n’ Curl?”

Margot was pensive. “I guess that’s about right. Rhondelle gave me my first dye job there. My mother just about killed her – and me.”

“If you can find a picture, I’ll make a page for you. We’re having a surprise party for Rhondelle at George’s Steak House on the long weekend. I’m going to present her with this scrapbook.” Mandy picked up a page from the table. A photo was already glued into place in the upper left quadrant of the page. “That’s Cristal getting a spiral perm for grad.” The photo was of a very young Cristal, draped in a plastic cape, half her hair wound around medieval-looking rods, looking nervously into the beauty shop mirror as a generously proportioned redhead wound another strand of her hair around yet another rod.

Mandy picked up another picture, one of Cristal in her prom gown. Rhondelle had triumphed. Cristal’s hair was an explosion of curls. “Remember what Rhondelle used to call this style?” Mandy said.

Margot chortled. “Jacked-up-to-Jesus hair.”

“I was going to write that on the page,” Mandy said. “ ‘Cristal with her Jacked-up-to-Jesus hair,’ but I was afraid it was sacrilegious.”

Margot touched the photograph of Cristal gently. “Put that on the page,” she said. “It’s not sacrilegious. It’s just Rhondelle being Rhondelle.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Mandy said.

“I’m sure,” Margot said. “Look, Mandy, I’m sorry. We can’t stay very long, but I wanted you to know where things stand with Cristal’s estate. I’ve just discovered the name of the law firm that drew up the will. I should have some information for you tonight.”

Mandy bit her lip. “I really appreciate this. I don’t have a clue how these things work.”

“Well, I do, but I don’t know how to cut hair, so we’re even.” Margot said.

Mandy looked down at the photo of her sister. “If Cristal’s boyfriend gets involved, I won’t have to deal with him, will I?”

Margot stiffened, suddenly alert. “I didn’t know Cristal had a boyfriend.”

“Oh yes. Those other men – that was just her business. He was the one she loved.”

“Do you know his name?” I asked.

“She never told me. He didn’t want anybody to know who he was.”

“Was he married?” Margot said.

Mandy looked miserable – trapped. “I don’t know. All I know is she said she loved him, but she was afraid of him” – suddenly, the old bounce was back – “and you should never be afraid of the man who’s supposed to love you.”

“Did you and Cristal talk about this?” I asked.

Mandy placed the scrapbook page back on the table, positioned the photograph of Cristal on her prom night, then laid a paper frame carefully over it. The frame was the same shade of foam-green as Cristal’s dress. “The frames just came in the mail today,” Mandy said. “I was afraid the colour wouldn’t be right.”

“It’s a perfect match,” I said.

Margot swept her hand across her eyes. “Goddammit,” she said. “Mandy, this is important. Did Cristal never tell you her boyfriend’s name?”

“She said if it got out they were together, it would hurt him professionally.”

“And that didn’t worry her?” Margot’s hands were at her sides, balled into fists.

“It worried me,” Mandy said simply. “And I must have asked her a million times to tell me his name. She’d never tell me. She’d just laugh and say he was her perfect three.”

I felt my nerves twang. “And that meant something to you?” I said.

Mandy’s brown eyes were guileless. “Sure. It was a game the girls at our school played. It’s been around forever.” She looked at Margot. “You must remember.”

Margot nodded. “The girl subtracts the number of letters in the name of the boy she likes from the number of letters in her name. The difference is supposed to be the number of kids they’ll have when they get married.”

“And Cristal wanted three children,” I said.

Mandy shot me a grateful look. “That’s right,” she said. “Cristal always wanted three kids: two girls and a boy. I guess when her life turned out the way it did, she had something done so she wouldn’t get pregnant.”

Margot sat down in the chair opposite Mandy and leaned forward with her chin cupped in her hands. “Do you have any idea why your sister ended up the way she did?”

“As a prostitute? You can say the word. Cristal knew what she was, but she wouldn’t talk about how it happened. I think it was because of her boyfriend.”

“He made her do it?” I said.

“I don’t know for sure. All I know is that the last time I talked to her, Cristal said she did everything he wanted, but it was never enough.”

Margot couldn’t seem to get out of the house quickly enough. She embraced Mandy and told her she’d call her that night, then she sprinted to the car. I barely had my seat belt buckled before she backed her
BMW
out of the driveway and hit the road. We didn’t get far. As soon as we were on the outskirts of town, Margot drove onto the lot in front of an Esso gas station.

“Is there a problem with the car?” I said.

“No, there’s a problem with me. I knew if I didn’t get out of there, I was going to spontaneously combust. Why would any woman let a man do that to her life? What was the matter with Cristal? God damn it to hell. What was going on in her head?” Margot banged her fists against the steering wheel until the tears came. Then she blew her nose, checked her lipstick, and turned to me. “I’m okay now.”

“Are you okay enough to do a little elementary math?”

Margot narrowed her eyes. “Shoot.”

“There are thirteen letters in Jason Brodnitz’s name and there are thirteen letters in Cristal Avilia’s name. Thirteen minus thirteen is zero.”

“Jason’s not Cristal’s perfect three.”

“Apparently not.”

I called Zack when we were on the outskirts of the city. “We’ll be home in ten minutes,” I said. “You can open the Bombay Sapphire.”

“Hallelujah.”

I closed my cell. “The martinis will be waiting,” I said. “Are you going to claim Zack’s tie?”

“On the basis of a game Cristal played with her boyfriends’ names? I may be a cockeyed optimist, but I’m not stupid. I have to tighten my case before I take Zack’s tie.” She gave me a sidelong grin. “But I will take immense pleasure in drinking his martini.”

When Margot turned onto our street, Sean Barton’s blue Camry Hybrid was in our driveway.

“Company?” Margot said.

“Sean Barton.”

“As ever, eager to serve,” Margot said tightly. “Joanne, I’ll come in to get my file, but I’m going to take a rain check on that drink.”

“You don’t like Sean.”

She shrugged. “I’ll learn to get along with him. I just don’t want to start today.”

Zack and Sean were in the office. They both had their laptops open, and the dogs were with them.

I went over and kissed Zack. “Good day?”

“Profitable,” Zack said.

Sean stood and offered Margot his chair, but she refused with a smile, then bent and put her arms around Pantera’s neck. “How are you doing, big boy? That remote you ate giving you any problems?”

“So far so good,” Zack said. “I called Peter, and he said to let it pass.”

“Oldest vet joke in the book,” I said.

“But good advice,” Margot said, scooping up the sealed envelope that contained her client’s file and dropping it in her briefcase.

Zack raised an eyebrow. “Am I ever going to know what’s in there?”

“After my client does,” she said. “That’s the way it works, remember?”

Zack chuckled and looked between Margot and me. “Exactly what I need in my life, another ethical guide.”

Margot met his gaze. “An ex-boyfriend of mine said men get the women they deserve.”

Sean was smooth. “Then the men of Falconer Shreve are lucky. I understand that you’re joining us.”

“I am,” Margot said.

“That’s good news for me,” Sean said. “It appears I have a lot to learn.”

“We all do,” Margot said. “That’s why they call it ‘practising law.’ I’ll call you later, Zack.”

Zack and I saw the two of them out and watched as they drove off.

“Alone at last,” Zack said. “How was your day?”

“More questions than answers,” I said. “Let’s save the talk till later.” I moved behind him and started rubbing his shoulders. “Your neck is tight,” I said. “You need a swim.”

“A martini works quicker.”

“But the effect doesn’t last. Swim first, then a drink.”

“You’re tough.”

“But I’m fun. Come on, let’s get our suits on.”

We’d just started our swim when Taylor came in from school. “Anything you need me to do?”

“Sure,” I said. “You can make dinner.”

Zack came over and grabbed the edge of the pool. “I’ll take care of dinner,” he said. “Where do you want to go?”

Taylor was quick off the mark. “The Chimney,” she said. “I am so in the mood for liver.”

“Fine with me,” I said. “There are days when only organ meat will do.”