Haunted in Death

Eight

Eve had Peabody stop at the bank Hopkins had used for his loan on Number Twelve. But there was no safety deposit box listed under his name, or Bray’s, or any combination.

To Peabody ’s disappointment, Eve took the wheel when they left the bank.

She couldn’t justify asking Roarke to do the search for a safety deposit box, though it passed through her mind. He could no doubt pinpoint one, if one was there to be pinpointed, faster than she could. Even faster than EDD. But she couldn’t term it a matter of life and death.

Just a matter of irritation.

She put in a request to Feeney to assign the task to EDD ace, and Peabody ’s heartthrob, Ian McNab while she and Peabody headed back to Bygones.

„McNab will be so completely jazzed about this.“ Smiling – as if even saying his name put a dopey look on her face – Peabody wiggled in the passenger seat. „Looking for a ghost and all that.“

„He’s looking for a bank box.“

„Well yeah, but in a roundabout way, it’s about Bobbie Bray and the ghost thereof. Number Twelve.“

„Stop saying that.“ Eve wanted to grip her own hair and yank, but her hands were currently busy on the wheel. She used those hands to whip around a farting maxibus with a few layers of paint to spare. „I’m going to write an order forbidding anyone within ten feet of me from sayingNumber Twelve in that – what is it – awed whisper.“

„But you just gotta. Did you know there are all these books, and there are vids, based on Number Twelve, and Bobbie and the whole deal from back then? I did some research. McNab and I downloaded one of the vids last night. It was kind of hokey, but still. And we’re working the case. Maybe they’ll make a vid ofthat – you know, like they’re going to do one of the Icove case. Completely uptown. We’ll be famous, and – “

Eve stopped at a light, turned her body slowly so she faced her partner. „You even breathe that thought, I’ll choke you until your eyes pop right out of their sockets, then plop into your open gasping mouth where you’ll swallow them whole. And choke to death on your own eyeballs.“

„Well, jeez.“

„Think about it, think carefully, before you breathe again.“

Peabody hunched in her seat and kept her breathing to a minimum.

When they found the shop closed and locked, they detoured to the home address on record.

Maeve opened the door of the three-level brownstone. „Lieutenant, Detective.“

„Closed down shop, Ms. Buchanan?“

„For a day or two.“ She pushed at her hair. Eve watched the movement, the play of light on the striking red. „We were overrun yesterday, only about an hour after you left. Oh, come in, please. I’m a little flustered this morning.“

„Overrun?“ Eve repeated as she stepped into a long, narrow hallway brightened by stained glass windows that let in the winter sun.

„Customers, and most of them looking for bargains. Or wanting to gawk over the Bobbie Bray collection.“ Maeve, dressed in loose white pants, a soft white sweater and white half boots led the way through a wide doorway into a spacious parlor.

Tidy, Eve thought, but not fussy. Antiques – she knew how to recognize the real thing, as Roarke had a penchant for them. Deep cushions in rich colors, old rugs, what looked to be old black-and-white photographs in pewter frames adorning the walls.

No gel cushions, no mood screen, no entertainment unit in sight. Old-world stuff, Eve decided, very much like their place of business.

„Please, have a seat. I’ve got tea or coffee.“

„Don’t worry about it,“ Eve told her. „Your father’s here?“

„Yes, up in the office. We’re working from here, at least for today. We’re buried in inquiries for our Bray collection, and we can handle those from home.“

She moved around the room, turning on lamps with colored shades. „Normally, we’d love the walk-in traffic at the shop, but not when it’s a circus parade. With only the two of us, we just couldn’t handle it. We have a lot of easily lifted merchandise.“

„How about letters?“

„Letters?“

„You carry that sort of thing? Letters, diaries, journals?“

„We absolutely do. On Bobbie again?“ Maeve walked back to sit on the edge of a chair, crossed her legs. „We have what’s been authenticated as a letter she wrote to a friend she’d made in San Francisco – ah… 1968. Two notebooks containing original lyrics for songs she’d written. There may be more, but those spring to mind.“

„How about letters to family, from her New York years?“

„I don’t think so, but I can check the inventory. Or just ask my father,“ she added with a quick smile. „He’s got the entire inventory in his head, I swear. I don’t know how he does it.“

„Maybe you could ask him if he could spare us a few minutes.“

„Absolutely.“

When she hesitated, Eve primed her. „Is there something else, something you remember?“

„Actually, I’ve been sort of wrestling with this. I don’t think it makes any difference. I didn’t want to say anything in front of my father.“ She glanced toward the doorway, then tugged lightly – nervously, Eve thought – on one of the sparkling silver hoops she wore in her ears. „But… well, Mr. Hopkins – Rad – he sort of hit on me. Flirted, you know. Asked me out to dinner, or drinks. He said I could be a model, and he could set me up with a photographer who’d do my portfolio at a discount.“

She flushed, the color rising pink into her cheeks, and cleared her throat. ‘That kind of thing.' „And did you? Have drinks, dinner, a photo session?“

„No.“ She flushed a little deeper. „I know when I’m getting a line. He was old enough to be my father, and well, not really my type. I won’t say there wasn’t something appealing about him. Really, he could be charming. And it wasn’t nasty, if you know what I mean. I don’t want you to think…“

She waved a hand in the air. „It was all sort of friendly and foolish. I might have even been tempted, just for the fun. But I’ve been seeing someone, and it’s turning into a thing. I didn’t want to mess mat up. And frankly, my father wouldn’t have liked it.“

„Because?“

„The age difference for one, and the type of man Rad was. Opportunistic, multiple marriages. Plus, he was a client and that can get sticky. Anyway.“ Maeve let out a long, relieved breath. „It was bothering me that I didn’t mention it to you, and that you might hear about it and think I was hiding something.“

„Appreciate that.“

„I’ll go get my father,“ she said as she rose. „You’re sure you won’t have coffee? Tea? It’s bitter out there today.“

„I wouldn’t mind either,“ Peabody put in. „Dealer’s choice. The lieutenant’s coffee – always black.“

„Fine. I’ll be back in a few. Make yourselves comfortable.“

„She was a little embarrassed about the Hopkins thing. She wanted to serve us something,“ Peabody said when Maeve left the room. „Makes it easier for her.“

„Whatever floats.“ Eve got to her feet, wandered the room. It had a settled, family feel about it, with a thin sheen of class. The photos were arty black-and-whites of cities – old-timey stuff. She was frowning over one when Buchanan came in. Like his daughter, he was wearing at-home clothes. And still managed to look dignified in a blue sweater and gray pants.

„Ladies. What can I do for you?“

„You have a beautiful home, Mr. Buchanan,“ Peabody began. „Some wonderful old pieces. Lieutenant, it makes me wonder if Roarke’s ever bought anything from Mr. Buchanan.“

„Roarke?“ Buchanan gave Peabody a puzzled look. „He has acquired a few pieces from us. You’re not saying he’s a suspect in this.“

„No. He’s Lieutenant Dallas’s husband.“

„Of course, I forgot for a moment.“ He shifted his gaze to Eve with a smile. „My business keeps me so much in the past, current events sometimes pass me by.“

„I bet. And speaking of the past,“ Eve continued, „we’re interested in any letters, journals, diaries you might have that pertain to Bobbie Bray.“

„That’s a name I’ve heard countless times today. Maeve might have told you that’s why we decided to work from home. And here she is now.“

Maeve wheeled in a cart holding china pots and cups.

„Just what we need. I’ve put the ‘links on auto,“ her father told her. „We can take a short break. Letters.“ He took a seat while Maeve poured coffee and tea. „We do have a few she wrote to friends in San Francisco in 1968 and 1969. And one of our prizes is a workbook containing drafts of some of her song lyrics. It could, in a way, be considered a kind of diary as well. She wrote down some of her thoughts in it, or notes to herself. Little reminders. I’ve fielded countless inquiries about just that this morning. Including one from a Cliff Gill.“

„Hopkins’s son?“

„So he said. He was very upset, nearly incoherent really.“ Buchanan patted Maeve’s hand when she passed him a cup. „Understandable under the circumstances.“

„And he was looking specifically for letters?“ Eve asked.

„He said his father had mentioned letters, a bombshell as he put it. Mr. Gill understood his father and I had done business and hoped I might know what it was about. I think he hopes to clear his family name.“

„You going to help him with that?“

„I don’t see how.“ Buchanan spread his hands. „Nothing I have pertains.“

„If there was something that pertained, or correspondence written near the time of her disappearance, would you know about it?“

He pursed his lips in thought. „I can certainly put out feelers. There are always rumors, of course. Several years ago someone tried to auction off what they claimed was a letter written by Bobbie two years after her disappearance. It was a forgery, and there was quite a scandal.“

„There have been photos, too,“ Maeve added. „Purportedly taken of Bobbie after she went missing. None have ever been authenticated.“

„Exactly.“ Buchanan nodded. „So substantiating the rumors and the claims, well, that’s a different matter. Do you know of correspondence from that time, Lieutenant?“

„I’ve got a source claiming there was some.“

„Really.“ His eyes brightened. „If they’re authentic, acquiring them would be quite a coup.“

„Were you name-dropping, Peabody?“ Eve gave her partner a mild look as she slid behind the wheel.

„Roarke’s done business there before, and you guys went there together. But he doesn’t mention Roarke at all. And being in business, I figured Buchanan would keep track of his more well-heeled clients, you know, and should’ve made an immediate connection.“

„Yeah, you’d think. Plausible reason he didn’t.“

„You’d wondered, too.“

„I wonder all kinds of things. Let’s wonder our way over to talk to Cliff Gill.“

Like Bygones, the dance school was locked up tight. But as Fanny Gill lived in the apartment overhead, it was a short trip.

Cliff answered looking flushed and harassed. „Thank God! I was about to contact you.“

„About?“

„We had to close the school.“ He took a quick look up and down the narrow hallway then gestured them inside. „I had to give my mother a soother.“

„Because?“

„Oh, this is a horrible mess. I’m having a Bloody Mary.“

Unlike the Buchanan brownstone, Fanny’s apartment was full of bright, clashing colors, a lot of filmy fabrics and chrome. Artistic funk, Eve supposed. It was seriously lived in to the point of messy.

Cliff was looking pretty lived-in himself, Eve noted. He hadn’t shaved, and it looked like he’d slept in the sweats he was wearing. Shadows dogged his eyes.

„I stayed the night here,“ he began as he stood in the adjoining kitchen pouring vodka. „People came into the studio yesterday afternoon, some of them saying horrible things. Or they’d just call, leaving horrible, nasty transmissions. I’ve turned her ‘links off. She just can’t take any more.“

He added enough tomato juice and Tabasco to turn the vodka muddy red, then took a quick gulp. „Apparently we’re being painted with the same brush as my grandfather. Spawn of Satan.“ He took another long drink, then blushed. „I’m sorry. I’m sorry, what can I get you?“

„We’re fine,“ Eve told him. „Mr. Gill, have you been threatened?“

„With everything from eternal damnation to public flogging. My mother doesn’t deserve this, Lieutenant. She’s done nothing but choose poorly in the husband department, which she rectified. At least I carry the same blood as Hopkins.“ His mouth went grim. „If you think along those lines.“

„Do you?“

„I don’t know what I think any more.“ He came back into the living area, dropped onto a candy-pink sofa heaped with fluffy pillows. „At least I know what to feel now. Rage, and a little terror.“

„Did you report any of the threats?“

„She asked me not to.“ He closed his eyes, seemed to gather some tattered rags of composure. „She’s embarrassed and angry. Or she started out that way. She didn’t want to make a big deal about it. But it just kept up. She handles things, my mother, she doesn’t fall apart. But this has just knocked her flat. She’s afraid we’ll lose the school, all the publicity, the scandal. She’s worked so hard, and now this.“

„I want you to make a copy of any of the transmissions regarding this. We’ll take care of it.“

„Okay. Okay.“ He scooped his fingers through his disordered hair. „That’s the right thing to do, isn’t it? I’m just not thinking straight. I can’t see what I should do.“

„You contacted the owner of a shop called Bygones. Care to tell me why?“

„Bygones? Oh, oh, right. Mr. Buchanan. My father sold him some memorabilia. I think maybe Buchanan was one of the backers on Number Twelve. My father mentioned him when I gave him the five hundred. Said something like Bygones may be Bygones, but he wouldn’t be nickel-and-diming it any more. How he’d pay me back the five ten times over because he was about to hit the jackpot.“

„Any specific jackpot?“

„He talked a lot, my father. Bragged, actually, and a lot of the bragging was just hot air. But he said he’d been holding onto an ace in the hole, waiting for the right time. It was coming up.“

„What was his hole card?“

„Can’t say he actually had one.“ Cliff heaved out a breath. „Honestly, I didn’t really listen because it was the same old, same old to me. And I wanted to get him moving before my mother got wind of the loan. But he said something about letters Bobbie Bray had written. A bombshell, he said, that was going to give Number Twelve just the push he needed. I didn’t pay much attention at the time because he was mostly full of crap.“

He winced now, drank again. „Hell of a thing to say about your dead father, huh?“

„His being dead doesn’t make him more of a father to you, Mr. Gill,“ Peabody said gently.

Cliff’s eyes went damp for a moment. „Guess not. Well, when all this started happening. I remembered how he talked about these letters, and I thought maybe he’d sold them to Bygones. Maybe there was something in them that would clear my grandfather. Something, I don’t know. Maybe she committed suicide and he panicked.“

He lowered his head, rubbed the heel of his hand in the center of his brow as if to push away some pain. „I don’t even care, or wouldn’t, except for what’s falling down from it on my mother. I don’t know what I expected Mr. Buchanan to do. I was desperate.“

„Did your father give you any indication of the contents of the letters?“ Eve asked. „The timing of them?“

„Not really, no. At the time I thought it was just saving face because I was giving him money. Probably all it was. Buchanan said he hadn’t bought any letters from my father, but I could come in and look at what he had. Waste of time, I guess. But he was nice about it – Buchanan, I mean. Sympathetic.“

„Have you discussed this with your mother at all?“ Peabody asked him.

„No, and I won’t.“ Any grief seemed to burn away as anger covered his face. „It’s a terrible thing to say, but by dying my father’s given her more trouble than he has since she divorced him. I’m not going to add to it. Chasing a wild goose anyway.“ He frowned into his glass. „I have to make some arrangements for – for the body. Cremation, I guess. I know it’s cold, but I’m not going to have any sort of service or memorial. I’m not going to drag this out. We just have to get through this.“

„Mr Gill – “

„Cliff,“ he said to Eve with a weak smile. „You should call me Cliff since I’m dumping all my problems on you.“

„Cliff. Do you know if your father kept a safety deposit box?“

„He wouldn’t have told me. We didn’t see each other much. I don’t know what he’d have kept in one. I got a call from some lawyer this morning. Said my father’d made a will, and I’d inherit. I asked him to ballpark it, and the gist was when it all shakes out, I’ll be lucky to have enough credits to buy a soy dog at a corner cart.“

„I guess you were hoping for better,“ Peabody commented.

Cliff let out a short, humorless laugh. „Hoping for better with Rad Hopkins would be another waste of time.“