The Ginseng Conspiracy (A Kay Driscoll Mystery) (16 page)

“It must have been his favorite. It looks like he wore it a lot.” There were holes at the elbows. “I'll fold it for you.”

She started to look through his desk drawers, while I kept packing up the many books. After emptying one of the drawers, she said, “This drawer doesn’t close all the way. It sticks out a little bit when I try and close it. Something must be stuck in the back.”

I got down on my hands and knees and saw a small folded up paper taped to the underside of the drawer. Mary Ann pulled the drawer out. I glanced up, looking towards the door. No one was around.

After retrieving the paper, I put it in the bottom of a nearly filled box. “We can look at it when we get back to your home.” I walked over to the door. No one was in the hallway. I went back to the desk and started to look under the other desk drawers.

When we were just about finished boxing everything, Sherman’s secretary came in and gave Mary Ann a hug.

“We sure will miss Sherman. He was such a great guy. Take good care of yourself, Mary Ann, and don’t be a stranger around here.”

Professor Laska walked back into the room. “It looks like you're just about finished here. Sherman often discussed his work regarding the book he was writing. He said it was almost completed. I would be honored to finish the book for him. It would be a shame to leave it undone. Did he ever talk to you about any of the findings?”

“No. We both agreed Sherman should leave his job at the office when he came home, and so we never discussed it.”

“Think about it. If you would like me to go over his papers he had here or at home, please call me. I'd be happy to do that for him.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Richard.”

This sounded more than a little suspicious to me. Why was Dr. Laska so keen to get his hands on Sherman's papers? Was I the only one who didn’t buy what this guy was selling?

When it was time to leave, Mary Ann ran her hand over the top of Sherman's desk chair as she exited the room. I grabbed two small plants, put them on top of papers in a box, and followed her out.

After Mary Ann and I arrived at her home, I dug out the folded paper we had put in the bottom of a box. On it were three names followed by dates.

Carson 2009

Ploughman 2007

Fellman 2008

“I wonder what these names and dates mean?” I asked.

“I've no idea,” Mary Ann said.

“It must be something important for Sherman to have hidden this,” I said. “You said he was in this same office for two years. Surely in that amount of time he would have checked into why the drawer wouldn’t close. He must have hid the paper. But why? Did he suspect some wrong doings?” I looked at my watch. It had been an eventful day. “Mary Ann, I better get going.” I copied down the names and dates.

“Okay. Tonight I'll try and tackle some of this, and tomorrow I can start on Sherman's home office.”

On the way home, I thought about Elizabeth and her outbursts. She hadn't followed the plan and brought Mary Ann into the fold before I was ready to. She was obviously a loose cannon, liable to cause this whole investigation to fall apart if she wasn't kept in check. Sometimes I still wondered if it was a mistake telling Elizabeth and Deirdre about Sherman instead of handling it myself.

I pulled out my cell phone and made a conference call to Deirdre and Elizabeth as I walked. When they were both on the line, I took a deep breath. “I’m going to tell you something we found, but I need you to keep quiet about it all. First, Elizabeth, I want to tell you I was shocked this afternoon when you started telling Mary Ann about Sherman. You knew I still had my suspicions about her.” I went on to tell them about the paper with the names and dates and what it said. “Elizabeth, when you work at the college on Monday, could you check out these names in the college database and see if you can find anything out?”

“Sure. What else did you find?”

“I didn't see anything else of importance in the boxes. Just lots of personal items, books, class notes, student papers. Nothing about his book. Mary Ann will look everything over more carefully tonight.”

“Maybe someone went through his office first,” Deirdre said.

“That's exactly what I thought,” I said. “They'd have had five days to do so. I did notice the page for last Friday was torn out of Sherman's appointment book.”

“That's strange,” Deirdre said. “It may have held a crucial clue.”

“Like who he was meeting with that evening,” I said. “You should have heard Laska talking to Mary Ann about wanting to help finish Sherman’s book.”

“Elizabeth, did you get a chance to talk to the police officer who was limping?”

“Yes. He said he hurt his foot jogging.”

When? The night of the Ball running after me?

“Tomorrow should be interesting watching Margaret's and Al’s homes,” Deirdre said. “Are we all ready? I want to get started early.”

“We can all start early,” Elizabeth said. “I just cancelled my date for tonight with Dave. A shame. I'm going to miss him.”

“I think, going forward, we should all discuss what we're going to be doing and saying during this investigation before we take action independently. You know, stick to the script instead of improvising?”

“Good idea,” Deirdre said.

There was a momentary silence on the line. “Sounds good to me,” Elizabeth said. Another momentary silence. “Sorry, Kay. I was out of line.”

“Okay, see you both tomorrow morning.” I ended the call. Things were starting to heat up. I needed the support of my friends for the upcoming phases of the plan. Elizabeth's access in the college would prove to be especially invaluable. The minor squabble was behind us. It was time to move forward.

Saturday, November 5

Saturday morning, Deirdre called on her cell. “I’m just passing Margaret’s now,” she said. “I’ll park about half a block down the street so I can get a good view of her house.”

I laughed. “Sounds good.”

“What are you laughing about?” Deirdre asked.

“Elizabeth just walked in. She's wearing a black knit top, black leather pants and stiletto heeled boots.”

“Perfect for a stakeout.”

“Is that Deirdre?” Elizabeth asked. “Let me talk to her.”

“Deirdre, I'm going to put you on speakerphone.”

“Hi Deirdre!” Elizabeth said, smiling in the direction of the phone. “Did you bring your crystals?”

“Funny, Elizabeth! I’ll let you know if anything happens. There sure isn’t anyone around here this early,” Deirdre said.

“We'll probably leave in a few minutes,” Elizabeth said.

“Deirdre, Elizabeth, you're both hearing this for the first time.”

Elizabeth looked over at me and raised her eyebrows.

“I remembered a conversation between Al and a co-worker of his when I was at the post office the week of the Halloween Ball. The co-worker asked Al if he'd be able to work for her today, this morning. Al said yes. His wife would be busy visiting her father, and she always had lunch with him on Saturdays. Here's what I'm thinking. Why stake out a place if we know no one's home? Elizabeth and I can still go to Al’s house, but we should go inside.”

“What? Kay, are you insane?” Deirdre's shrill voice came over the phone. “That's illegal, not to mention dangerous. You're talking about breaking and entering. Elizabeth, what do you have to say about that? Talk some sense into her.”

“We'd be like Carolyn James, the detective,” Elizabeth said. “Sounds dangerous, but I could get into that. Count me in! I’ll be right back.” She trotted to the front door and slammed it behind her.

“Looks like Elizabeth thinks it’s a good idea,” I said.

“Figures.”

“I don’t know why Elizabeth left. She just ran out the door. I can see her through the window. She's crossing the street toward her house. Deirdre, I feel okay about going into Al's house. I'm doing this in the name of justice. What could be more moral than that?”

“Do you know how stupid that sounds? I should have done your horoscope for today. But I don't need it to tell you you're taking a big chance. Maybe I should have brought my crystals after all. I wish I could say something, anything to stop you.”

“If we're going to get anywhere in this case—”

“You know Al's a murderer. What if he comes back with Bill Murphy?”

“I have this absolute calm flowing through me. That stillness of mind you're always talking about?”

“Give me a break. Since when do you listen to me?”

“Look, the evidence we need isn't going to just fall into our laps. Oh, Elizabeth is coming back.”

“Listen, you aren't being rational.”

“I think it's a great idea,” Elizabeth said, coming in the door.

“Fine, I can tell you're determined not to listen to reason. Call me as soon as you get out of Al's, and make sure you turn off your cell phones in case someone calls while you're in the house.”

“We’ll do that right now,” I said. “Wish us luck, Deirdre.”

“You'll need more than luck.”

* * * *

We drove past Al’s house, which was on a corner lot, and parked across from the entrance to his alley. He lived in a beautiful old stucco-sided bungalow. There wasn’t anyone out on the block. Beyond the tall pine trees, opposite his house, I caught a glimpse of the river below flowing past and heard a spinning sound. Far in the distance, I saw an angler standing in the river flicking a line in and out of the rippling water. Gazing at the water, I drifted off, thinking about Mary Ann and why she would have thrown her marriage to the winds by having an affair with Dave. Obviously, Sherman was obsessed with his work. He didn't make time for Mary Ann. Had Sherman known how Mary Ann felt? If so, would things have changed? Had she tried to talk to him about his neglect?

“The sunroom in the back must have been an addition,” Elizabeth said redirecting my attention back to our task at hand. “Do you think his wife left yet?”

“We may have to wait a while,” I said. “I’m glad we came in Will’s old gray Chevy. It's pretty nondescript. No one would recognize it.”

“That's right.” Elizabeth looked back over at Al's. “It’s a good thing Al's backyard has hedges going all the way around. It'll cover us somewhat as we go in,” Elizabeth said. “Look...the garage door is going up.”

Al's wife backed her Audi down the driveway and turned in the opposite direction from where we were parked.

“Nice car on a postal worker's salary. Al said his wife didn't work.”

“Sure is. What time is it?”

“Nine-thirty. That should give us a good two hours before Al gets back from work.”

I waited until Al's wife turned the corner, started the car, and drove a quarter of the way into the alley before turning off the engine.

We got out of the car and headed down the alley. I opened the gate that led to Al's backyard, let Elizabeth pass, and closed it behind me without making a sound.

“Harvard lock,” Elizabeth said when we reached the back door. She took what looked like a black manicure kit out of her pants pocket. It was filled with a number of thin metal tools.

I raised my eyebrows. I was shocked for two reasons: first of all, that Elizabeth could even fit anything into her tight leather pants, and secondly, that she possessed tools for breaking into a house.

“Where'd you get those from? You haven’t done this before, have you?”

“I knew these would come in handy someday.”

“You continue to amaze,” I said, shaking my head.

“How did you think we were going to get in?”

“That we’d find a door unlocked, or maybe a key under a flowerpot?”

“Only in the movies.”

After Elizabeth tried a third tool, we heard a soft click, and the door opened. No alarm sounded. We were lucky there wasn't a security system. We entered the back hall without wasting a second, closed the door and relocked it, and went into the kitchen.

“Look, everything's so spotless. I can see myself in the sink,” Elizabeth said. “I'll have to ask Al who his cleaning person is.”

“You'd better not! Remember, keep away from the windows.”

The sunroom was off to the side of the kitchen. As I walked into the living room, a soul wrenching déjà vu feeling unsettled me. A Steinway upright stood against an inner wall; and as I looked at it, a few bars of music played in my memory. I had been in this room before. In my nightmare. How was that possible? Maybe I should tell Deirdre. She’d have an answer for it.

The furniture smelled of fine wood. An overstuffed sofa and two matching chairs took up much of the rest of the room. I looked to see if there were piano windows. Sure enough, sunlight streamed through them. A ficus tree covered part of the front window. I glimpsed through a doorway off to the side that led into a small dining room. A beautiful crystal chandelier hung above the table.

We went down the hallway to a study. The room contained an old oak desk, a worn leather rolling chair, built-in bookcases, and beautiful stained glass windows. I wondered if the windows were original to the house. There was a closet, jam packed with clothes, a number of boxes, and photo albums sat on shelves.