The Cin Fin-Lathen Mysteries 1-3 (47 page)

“Mommy, can you please bring us something less revealing to
wear?”

I lifted my hand to my ear and shook my head.

“You can too hear me!”

I just stood there laughing at them for a moment.  “Hang on
I will be right back.”

I walked into the house and up to my room.  I gathered what
I needed and made my way back to the beach.  I tossed each of them something to
wear.

“No way!” Harry protested

“You’re out of your feckin mind,” Alex complained.

Each boy held up a pair of pink and black Scottie panties.  Their
expression of utter disgust was too good to be true.  I did cave in and throw
them each a pair of Harry’s shorts I had also taken.  But I took my time.

Alex’s guitar chords drifted down from the second floor and
over to the hammock where I was lying.  After a hot shower and plenty of soap,
I felt better.  Earlier while the boys frolicked in the ocean, I took the
opportunity to look in on my car.  All seemed fine. I was surprised to see that
Dudley had filled the tank.  What a guy.  I almost felt bad he was an idiot.  Laughter
bubbled up, and I knew I was going to be fine.  After finding towels and piling
them on the beach, I found myself lured to the hammock.  It only took three
tries to get on and stay on.  I wondered what graceful people did with all the
time they didn’t spend dusting sand off their behinds.

Harry’s voice fell in with Alex’s as they worked on some
harmonies for a song that Alex had written.  Could life be any better?  Well,
minus the murders and poisoning attempts and police harassment, it wasn’t too
bad. 

My cell phone’s ring sent me in pursuit of which pocket I
had put it in.  Finding it almost unseated me.

“Hello?”

“Cynthia, this is Manfred Tuttle.”

My hand started shaking, and I had to grab it with the other
one to keep from dropping the phone.  “Yes, Manfred.  This is a surprise.”

“Tobias and I were talking last evening about your valiant
rescue of us Tuesday.  It occurred to me that Tobias and I have not adequately
thanked you for the part you played.”

“Really, Manfred, you don’t have to.”

“Nonsense.  How about joining old Tobias and me today for
lunch?”

Not in a hell’s breath.  “Manfred, I’m really going to have
to ask for a rain check.  I’m entertaining a guest at the moment.  Some other
time.” I kept my voice as friendly as possible.

“Quite understandable.  I will ring you early next week.  Ta
Ta.” Manfred hung up.

Alex was leaning over the balcony.  “Who was it?”

“Manfred.”

“Manfred.  Hey Harry, isn’t he one of the murder suspects?”
Alex called into the house.

Harry came out with his mouth full of toothpaste.  “Manfred
is one of the old farts.  Why?” he asked.

“Because he just called Mom on the phone.”

Harry spit the toothpaste out, just missing me.  He leaned
over the rail.  “You’re kidding?”

“Nope.”

“Shit.  What did he want?”

“Wanted me to go to lunch with Tobias and himself.  Wanted
to thank me for my involvement in their rescue.”

“Nearly killing you wasn’t enough?”

“We don’t know it was them...” I started to say.

“It was them.  I know it was them.  What did you say?” Harry
demanded.

“I declined.  Told them I was entertaining.”

“How’d they get your cell number?” Alex asked.

“Probably had it on Manfred’s phone under missed numbers.” 
I shrugged my shoulders. 

“I’m going to finish getting dressed.  I think we should
move you.  Just in case he has some idea of where you might be.”

“Wait.”  I stopped to gather my thoughts.  “I think Manfred,
if he is indeed our killer, is trying to flush us out.  He doesn’t know where
we are. You’re renting this house, correct, Harry?”

“Yes, but...”

“Is your name listed in the phone directory?”

“No, but the school has this as my address.”

“Mom, he has a point there.  If the killer is clever enough
to get away with killing Carl without a peep, then hacking into the school
computers wouldn’t be too hard,” Alex added.

“Maybe.  I think before we go scurrying about, maybe we
should let the police know about the phone call,” I suggested.

“I’m on it,” Harry said, disappearing into the house.

The phone rang again, and I was flabbergasted to see the
caller ID.  I took a deep breath and answered, “Luke?”

“Hello, Cindy.”

I winced at the Cindy.  Even though we were no longer a
couple, I thought he would at least remember that I didn’t like to be called
Cindy.  “What do you want?”  I asked, trying to keep the chill out of my voice.

“Can’t I call my ex-wife without wanting anything?”

“Not in my experience.”

“Well, I don’t know about that.”  He paused, and I could
almost hear the gears turning.  “Anyway, I wanted to know if you’d rented out
the mother in-law apartment yet?”

“No.  Why?”  I was getting a bad feeling.

“I’d like to use it for a while.”

“You can’t.”

“I believe since we still jointly own the house, I can.”

“No, you can’t because it’s not safe.”

“You better explain.”

“Not before you tell me why you and missus moneybags need to
live in my backyard!”

“Just me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, we’ve hit a bump in the road.”

Oh, I knew what kind of bump, the kind that wiggles and
giggles and pretended to be a flight attendant.  Luke was irresistible to
women, and they saw him as a possible road to retirement.  I didn’t really
expect his present situation to crash and burn so quickly, although inwardly I
was feeling quite smug.

“How soon do you need the apartment?”

“Why?”

“Well, it’s not safe presently.”

“There’s that ‘not safe’ again.  Please, explain.”

I started to fill him in on what had happened.  I could tell
he was only half listening until the words multiple murders and police
protection came up, then I had his attention.  He asked questions and offered
to come home and take Harry’s place as body guard.  I declined.

“The basic situation is that no one in our family is going
to be safe until the killer is caught.  I suggest you find a nice hotel where
you can cool your heels until I call you.  Don’t you have a job to go to?”

“Well, that bump in the road includes the loss of my job.”

I steeled myself before my nurturing went into high gear.  “Are
you looking for another job?”

“There are a few I heard of in south Florida.”

“Why here?”

“Why not there?”  I could now hear the insensitive tone I
was used to in his final days at home before he admitted to having an affair
with the pickle heiress.  “You don’t have dibs on the state!  I own half that
house and still pay for the kids’ colleges.  Right now, the jobs are there.  If
you want to get off your soft ass and go to work then...”

“Shut up,” I couldn’t believe I said that.  “I have a very
nice settlement that you will have to abide by.”  I stopped.  “Listen, I will
call you, or Alex will, when the police say we can inhabit the house.  Right
now, you will be making a killer very happy by presenting yourself all tied up
neatly in a bow.”

“You are such a problem.  Always getting into scrapes.”

“Listen to me.  All the people died quite painfully, and if
you want to join them, so be it.”

“I’ll be out of the country for a week or so.  I’ll just
stay with you and Alex, where are you staying?”

“None of your business.”  I was determined to keep Luke out
of trouble and out of my life at the same time.

“That’s childish.”

“We’re staying with a friend, and the police would like us
not to tell anyone - and that includes you - where we are presently.”

“Oh, well, that’s different.  I’ll call you when I get into
Florida.  Have the place cleaned.”

“You clean it,” I snapped and hung up.

“Who was that?” Alex asked, leaning over the deck looking
down at me.  “You look like you could kill someone.”

“Oh, I could.”

“Was that the killer?”

“No, it was your father.”

Alex rolled his eyes.  “What did Daddy Dearest want?”

I told him about the “bump in the road,” and he just shook
his head.

“I guess we’re going to have a full house soon.”

“He doesn’t have to live with us.”

“No job, and I doubt he’s saved much.”

“I suppose Noelle and I better start looking into student
loans.”

“Might not be a bad idea,” I pondered out loud.  “Let’s just
take this one day at a time.  First let’s catch a murderer, and then we will
deal with your father.”

“I wonder which one will be hardest?”

I looked at my son and him at me.  We didn’t need to
vocalize the answer.  Luke coming home was going to be a nightmare.

I’ve never been one for patience.  Sitting still while
others were in danger wasn’t a forte of mine.  Noelle and Luke’s comments hit
home.  I had found myself in a few jams over the years.  The trip to Cornwall
was the first encounter in my banner year of involvement with psychos.  All I
wanted was a trip to the UK to see my daughter.  I didn’t mind the work of
cataloging music and instruments.  In reality, the trip, involved the police,
knives and three people’s death, two of which I was in part responsible for.

I eased myself out of the hammock, kicked off my slippers
and walked to the water’s edge.  The Atlantic was peaceful, waves caressing the
shore with plenty of time for the sandpipers to run and feed in between.  The
warm September wind blew my hair away from my face and dried the tears as they
fell.  I mourned the end of my marriage, Maurice Sherborn, Carl, Cheryl, Miles
and the young policeman, whom I had only for the briefest of time met.  All
this death, attached somehow to me. 

True Maurice was not on my plate but the others were.  What
was I missing?  If Harry was right, why would Manfred and Tobias kill these
people?  Was I the reason or just the next victim?  I had no training in
investigation so Tony had every right to resent my and Harry’s involvement. 
But how can I not be on the offensive.  I, quite reasonably, had a reason to be
afraid.  I had to be careful here.  It wasn’t just me involved but my whole
family and, yes, my family of musicians too.  People whose only crime was that
they liked to make music, sometimes noise, but mostly music.

Alex’s music drifted over, calming me.  I took a deep breath
and squared my shoulders.  The sadness was replaced with a new determination. 
It was time for me to use my head.  As my favorite little Belgian detective was
oft to say, I needed to “use my little grey cells.”

Walking back to the house, I admired the setting.  It sure
would be nice to be able to afford a house on the water, be so rich that you
wouldn’t worry if a hurricane blew it all down.  Just throw up your hands, open
the check book and start again.  But my present life barely gave me enough to
put a roof over my head, and that I now had to share with my ex.  There would
be no watching the sunrise on the Atlantic from my patio.  The best I could do
was enjoy this as long as it lasted.

I wondered if it was this urge for the better life that
pulled Luke away from me.  “It couldn’t have been my fashion sense,” I thought
as I looked at my ensemble.  I was styling.  I returned to the hammock, successfully
situated after the third try.  “Sure, classy and graceful,” I said as I closed
my eyes.

~

I heard the gravel crunch as a car pulled in behind Alex’s
car.  I eased out of the hammock and carefully crossed the yard and peered
around a tree.  Pete and Sergeant Dave were getting out of Dave’s 4 Runner.  I
followed behind them to the door.

“What’s wrong?”  I hissed.

They turned around, and Pete had drawn his gun.  Dave put
his hand on his arm and guided it down.

“She’s friendly.  Bites but friendly.”  Dave walked over and
hugged me.

“Something must be wrong.  Tell me.”  I looked over his
shoulder at Pete.

“Tony’s missing.”

“Wha... Tony?  What’s going on?”

“Are the boys inside?”

I nodded.

“Let’s go in. I’d rather tell one story.  Saves time.”  Dave
kept his arm around me as we walked into the house. 

“Come on.”  I walked into the living room.  “Alex!  Harry! 
We have company.”

By the sound of the pounding feet you would think I was
living in a house with a Marine platoon instead of two boys.  Harry came down
the south stairs and Alex the north set.

“Alex, this is Officer Pete Smith and Sergeant Dave
Buslowski.  Gentlemen, my other son, Alexander Lathen.”

“Sirs.”  Alex shook each of their hands.

“What’s wrong?”  Harry was on the same wavelength as I was.

“Let’s sit down.” 

Each of the boys flanked me on the couch.  Pete and Dave
chose chairs across from us.  I don’t think anyone was breathing deep enough. 
The stress level of the room was extremely high.

“Tony... ” Dave started. “Tony has been missing for four
hours now.  He went to check out a lead and didn’t return.  He hasn’t answered
his phone.”

“We know that he was heading over to speak to Doctor
Sanders.”  Pete bit his lip. “We do know where he was going, but we don’t know
where he is now.”

“He knows where Mom is.  Shit!”  Alex shot a glance at
Harry.

“Whoever has him is going to try to get him to tell where
Cin is.”  Harry thought a moment.  “He’s not going to tell unless there is some
kind of leverage.”

“Leverage?” Pete asked.

“Another band member, Bernice or some other innocent?” Alex
fished.

“I just talked to Bernice.  Lord, too many people have
died.  Did you put out a warrant for Doctor Sanders?”

“No witnesses, no warrant.”  Dave sat back.

“So this guy doesn’t even know that he’s a suspect, does
he?” I said.  “He’s moving around with the cocky confidence that he is a
supreme being.  No one can touch him. Bastard.”

“Manfred called Cin not long ago,” Harry spouted.  “We may
not be dealing with Doctor Sanders but the old farts.”

Pete and Dave looked over at me, and I recounted, word for
non-contracted word, what Manfred had said to me.

“Seems like an invitation to me...” Pete started.

“An invitation to death,” Harry pointed out.

“Public place, what could happen?”

“They killed Carl during a public concert, hung Miles with a
police escort.”

“Now that was different,” Dave defended Pete’s merging idea.
 “You could meet with the charming bassoonist, and we could be close.  This way
we could rule him out.”

I shuddered before speaking, “Do we really have time for
this?  Tony’s been gone for some time now.”

“I don’t know, Cin, we’ve not located Doctor Sanders yet. 
But if I was to follow Harry’s line of thinking, Manfred and Tobias couldn’t be
killing if they were dining, let’s say, with you?”  Dave looked at me, and I
swore his eyes dared me to comply.

“You’re forgetting Doctor Sanders.  Do we give him free
reign while I entertain the terrible twosome?”

“Do you know where he’s at?  Where would he keep Tony?  He’s
not an easy man to move with his girth,” Dave pointed out.

“So, we’ve narrowed it down to Doctor Sanders and the
bassoonists, or is there anyone else?” I asked the policemen.

They looked at me and down at their notes.  I wasn’t sure,
but did Pete start to shrug his shoulder?  I glared at him.

“Okay, whoever has Tony, what is the next move?” Pete asked
the group.

“The theater.  They’re heading, or will head, for the
theater,” Harry said and looked at me for confirmation.

“You’re right.  That’s where all the scenes were set.  Don’t
be Late.  Copying killed the Copycat.  We hung this one on Miles.  Last but not
least, She was too blind to see.  He’ll call me when he’s ready.  He’s counting
on that I don’t know about Tony’s abduction.  Somehow they’re going to lure me
and/or Harry to the Avery.  Gentlemen, we need to get there first.”

“What if he senses the trap?” Alex asked.

“He will kill Tony instantly, remember the curare,” I warned
everyone.

“So we need to be stealthy.  Do you know a way we can get in
without being seen?”  Dave looked at Harry.

A smile broke on Harry’s face.  “There is a way in.  There’s
a utility tunnel under the road that runs from the library to the theater.  I
learned about it from the student that had my job before me.  You can get to it
from the lower lobby of the Avery, and it connects to the library in the
utility closet of the men’s washroom.  I used it a couple times when I didn’t
want to get wet when it was raining, when I needed a book or just wanted to
screw around.  It scares the hell out of the librarian when you come out of the
john after hours.”

“I’ll get my sharp shooters to the library in unmarked
vehicles.  Don’t look at me like that.  There are, too, unmarked vehicles. 
They will use their own cars, Cin.  You get them in, Harry.”

“Sure, no problem.”

“Wait a minute.  Harry isn’t a policeman.  I’m sorry, but
you know the type of maniac or maniacs we are dealing with.  They may have
spray, darts, gasses - all poison.  All geared to instantly kill.”

“And your point being?”  Harry folded his arms.

Alex started to speak up.  Dave held up his hand to stop the
all-volunteer boys club from making plans.  “Harry, you show us the route and
then you and Alex will leave.  Plain and simple.”

“I can’t talk you out of this?”

“No.”

I grabbed Alex’s arm.  “I suppose you have to go too?”

“Where Harry goes, I go,” Alex said calmly.

“We’re going to fight poison with prevention,” Pete said
making some notes.  He looked over at Dave and asked, “Can you get a hold of
enough gas masks? I think that we need to protect ourselves as if we would
encounter nuclear fallout.”

“Makes sense,” Dave nodded and made a likewise note.

“So, then I get to stay here and use the Jacuzzi,” I said
glancing longingly outside.

“No, you’re calling Manfred and accepting his invitation to,
let’s say, drinks at the Queen Palm,” Dave instructed.  “I will have a few
plain clothes people there, say seven thirty?”

I picked up my cell phone, cruised through the last few
calls and pressed redial.

“Why Cynthia, I did not expect to hear from you so soon.”  He
sounded genuinely pleased to hear from me. 

“My calendar just opened up, and I was wondering if we could
meet at the Queen Palm, say for cocktails and munchies?”  I paused a moment and
lowered my voice seductively, “Of course if the missus doesn’t let you out
after dark…”

He burst out laughing, roaring into the phone, “Oh, no, I
was just trying to remember where the Queen Palm was.”

“Just the east side of the bridge, east of the theater about
a mile on the Intercostal side.”

“Oh, yes, I remember.  Charming little place.  Tobias will
meet us there as I believe he has a prior engagement.  Let us pin down a time.”

“Seven thirty, I’ll make the reservations for...” I hedged,
hoping the wives would be there too.

“Make it for three.  Nice and cozy, the three of us.”

My stomach rolled, and I fought the urge to throw-up.  “Three
at seven thirty,” I confirmed and added, “I’ll get us a table with a view.”

“Wonderful.  See you then, ta ta.”

I lowered the phone and gazed at the group.  “You’ll have
your people in place?” I asked Pete.  He nodded.  “And you boys will stay out
the fray?”  I looked Alex in the eyes and then Harry.

“Just going to show them the passage and...”

“Head home,” I instructed.  “We are going to leave the
theater business up to the professionals,” I said more for my benefit than the
boys.

They nodded, placating me for a moment.

“What are you going to wear?” Harry asked.

I walked over and picked up the shoes that Officer Dudley
had brought in from the car.

“Oh, those are going to look so nice with your cargos and
sweatshirt,” Harry’s sarcastic tone drilled into my head.

“I suppose I better go shopping because I’m not going home,”
I said, looking at the shoes and trying to visualize what I would buy to go
with them.

“So typical.”  Harry sighed. “When the going gets tough, Cin
goes shopping.”

“Pete, Dave, can you guys monitor my cell phone?” I asked.

“Not easily.  We don’t have the resources.  It would take
too long to set this up.”

“Okay then, I’ll call you after my meeting with Manfred.  I
will just have to take for granted that all of you are in place.”

“What if no one arrives?” Pete asked Dave.  “We are just
guessing here.”

“Then we will have had a great terrorist drill.”  Dave held
out his hands.

“Let’s get going.  Alex, you drive Harry. Pete is with Dave,
and I will drive the BMW.”

“In bunny slippers?” Pete asked.

“If I have to.  I don’t see me navigating too well in these
ankle breakers.”  I held up the shoes and hissed at the height of the heels. 
“Harry, I need my credit card back.”

“What card?”

“Damn it, Harry, get my card,” I growled.

Pete and Dave left, followed by Harry and Alex.  I pulled
out of the garage and let my car fly.  I needed time.  Time to prepare.  The
afternoon sun was killing my eyes even with the sunglasses on. I flipped the
sunshield over the glasses, and it did help.  I had my phone plugged into the
holder.  It was charging as I was planning.