Her face grew angry. "That slime ball Leo shows up, telling me that unless I pay him, he"s going to tell everyone what I did. I figured out that it was Betty who must have tipped him off. I told him that I didn"t have the money; that I needed a few days. He said that was fine, but that he needed to lay low until then. He said he owed some people money. I told him about Park View Terrace. I know all the access codes there. He was going to go there while I came up with the money."
"But then I came along and told you about Fat Saul."
She nodded sheepishly. "Something like that."
"After you found out that it was Fat Saul who was looking for Leo, you thought you could tip off Saul and kill two birds with one stone. Too bad for you that Leo managed to get the jump on Saul. Of course, it turned out worse for Saul."
"You have to believe me," she said, suddenly pleading. "I was desperate! I just wanted Leo gone. From Audrey"s life and from mine. I wasn"t thinking. I didn"t mean for him to die. I just thought this Fat Saul guy would scare him away for good."
I didn"t know whether I believed her. I almost didn"t care. "So what happened when Leo came out of hiding?" I asked.
"He called me and told me that my time was up, and I needed to pay him his money," she said.
"When was this?" I asked.
"The day before he came home to Audrey."
"And I imagine that you had to dip once again into Audrey"s trust fund to cover the bill. Poor thing, I hope you left something for her."
A crimson stain crept across Daphne"s cheeks. "Yes. I took the money from her trust. What else was I supposed to do?"
"I can think of at least ten better options right off the bat, but there"s no point in reviewing those now. So you took the money, and then what?" Before she could answer, I held up my hand and said, "Wait, let me guess. Leo told you to take it to Frank Little."
Daphne glanced at me in surprise. "Yes. How did you know that?"
"I talked with Frank Little. He described you pretty accurately. Said a nervous, uptight blonde had dropped off the money. That sounds like you, wouldn"t you say?"
Daphne nodded. "It was horrible," she said, shuddering at the memory. "Those men are thugs."
I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs. "That may be true. But at least they are up front about what they are."
Daphne"s eyes narrowed. "What"s that supposed to mean?"
"Seriously? That was too subtle?"
She pressed her lips together and looked away. "Okay. Maybe I deserved that."
"Oh, you deserve that and much more, I"d say. So, when did you figure out that Betty Morgan and Lizzy Marks were the same person?" I asked.
Daphne didn"t answer right away. "I don"t think I want to talk to you any more about this."
"Too bad. I"ve got a terrible headache, and I"m not in the mood for games. Now, when did you figure it out? Was it when I mentioned the fact that Lizzy Marks was a blonde in her forties with b.u.t.terfly tattoos on her ankle? Because, I have to suspect that that little description might have tipped you off."
Daphne flushed, but at least she didn"t deny it. "It"s true. When you told me that, I figured that they had to be the same person."
Another piece of the puzzle slid into place. "You went to her apartment, didn"t you? You went there to confront her. What happened? Did you kill her?"
"No!" Daphne"s eyes were wide with fear. "I didn"t! I swear to you! I went there, yes. But only to talk to her; to try and get her to see reason."
"What happened? Did she see reason?"
Daphne frowned. "No. She didn"t. She was horrible. She said I was horrible and that she would be happy to ruin me even if there wasn"t any money to be made. We exchanged some choice words, but when I left she was very much alive. I swear to you she was alive!"
"And I"m guessing that when you left you were seen by none other than Leo."
Daphne nodded. "Yes. He saw me. How did you know that?"
"It didn"t make sense that Leo would go to you if he"d seen Audrey leave Lizzy"s apartment. If he wanted to blackmail anyone, he"d go to Max. But it did make sense that he"d go to you if he saw you."
Daphne looked down at her hands. "You"re right. Leo called me the day of the party and told me that he"d seen me leaving the apartment, and unless I paid him again, he"d go to the police."
"Lord, but you are easy to blackmail. Didn"t it occur to you that he had a h.e.l.l of a reason for killing Lizzy himself ?"
She looked at me in confusion. "No. Why would he want to kill her? Weren"t they partners?"
"They were, but Leo must have realized that Fat Saul didn"t stumble across him by accident. He knew that someone had tipped him off. It didn"t occur to him that it was you-he"d never mentioned Fat Saul to you and figured you"d have no way of finding out about him. The only other person who knew where he was hiding and his trouble with Fat Saul was Lizzy."
Daphne paled. "So Leo went there to kill Lizzy?"
I shrugged. "I have no idea. But I imagine that if he wasn"t suspicious of her before, he was after seeing you leave the apartment. Maybe he thought you two had formed a new arrangement. One that didn"t include him."
Daphne considered this, her eyes wide. "Oh, my G.o.d. I was furious with her, but I didn"t want her to die. Do you really think that seeing me there sealed her fate?"
I raised an eyebrow. "That"s a little dramatic, don"t you think? No, I think Lizzy sealed her own fate when she took up blackmailing people with lowlifes like Leo. Now, about the money that you said you gave Leo the night he was killed. There never was any money, was there?"
Daphne bit her lip. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that you never gave him any money, did you? You just said you did so you could have an excuse as to why all that money is missing from Audrey"s trust. Am I right?"
She looked as if she were going to deny it, but thankfully didn"t. She let out a half sigh and half moan and sank back into the couch. After a minute, she said, "Does ... does Audrey know any of this?"
"You mean how you were helping yourself to her money?" Daphne blanched at my choice of words. I didn"t care. I shook my head. "No. Not yet. But she will. And if you have a shred of decency left, you"ll do it yourself."
She nodded. "I will. I just hope she can forgive me."
"Considering what she put up with from Leo, I think she will. She seems to have a very high threshold for tolerating and forgiving rotten behavior."
Daphne dropped her head into her hands. "Oh, G.o.d. I"m a horrible person. Betty was right. What have I done? You must hate me."
I let out a sigh of my own and stood up. "I don"t hate you, Daphne. I don"t like you very much right now, but I don"t hate you. I think you should be more worried about how you are going to explain all of this to your parents and Audrey. If I were you, I"d worry about them, not me. Now, if you"ll excuse me, I am late for a date with a tall gla.s.s of something alcoholic."
Daphne stood up as well. She offered me her hand. "Thank you, Nic. I hope that one day you can forgive me and we can be friends."
I shook her hand. "Sure," I said and then turned to go.
"Wait," she said in a nervous voice. "Aren"t you going to ask me if I killed Leo?"
I turned around and looked at her. "Not today, Daphne. I"ve had about all I can take of this case for one day. Why don"t we leave that question for tomorrow?"
I left her standing in her foyer, her face lined with worry.
thirty-eight.
It was late afternoon by the time I got back to the hotel. Nigel had ordered room service and was liberally sharing it with Skippy. They were both lying on the bed watching Hitchc.o.c.k"s North by Northwest. Seeing me, Skippy let out a happy bark, jumped off the bed, and ran to me, wagging his tail. Nigel remained on the bed, his eyes fixed on the screen.
"Well, it"s nice that one of you is glad to see me," I said as I rubbed Skippy"s ears.
"Shhh," Nigel replied. "This is one of my favorite parts."
"The whole movie is your favorite part," I countered as I crawled onto the bed next to him. Skippy jumped up as well and snuggled against me. I turned my attention to the TV screen. Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint were suggestively bantering back and forth over dinner on the train. "I love this part," said Nigel. "Right here, where Eva Marie Saint says that she "never discusses love on an empty stomach." Watch her mouth. The censors dubbed her line. What she originally said was, "I never make love on an empty stomach.""
"Speaking of which," I said, "pa.s.s me some of that chicken."
_____.
Later, I told Nigel about my discoveries. "I"m sorry, but I"m going to have to call Marcy and bring her up to date," I said as I brushed the tangles out of my hair.
Nigel glanced at me in confusion. "Why would you be sorry? You didn"t do anything."
"I know. But it"s not going to be pleasant for your family. I doubt we"ll ever get another Christmas card from your Aunt Olive again."
Nigel grabbed my hand and gave it a rea.s.suring squeeze. "Darling, Aunt Olive doesn"t send us Christmas cards now."
"You know what I mean."
"I do. But don"t worry about it." His expression grew somber. "Aunt Olive may never thank you properly for all you"ve done, but I hope you know that I appreciate it. And so does everyone else."
I smiled at him. "Thanks."
He nodded. "Just don"t do anything dangerous. I couldn"t live with myself if anything happened to you."
"Don"t tell me that you"ve gotten fond of me," I teased.
Nigel"s expression remained grave. "I"m serious, Nic. Promise me that you"ll be careful."
I kissed him lightly on the mouth. "I promise."
He kissed me back. Giving me a searching look as if to verify my promise, he finally nodded as if satisfied with what he saw. "Okay. Now, go and call Marcy."
_____.
Marcy wasn"t surprised to hear what I"d learned. "We found out that Lizzy had once worked for Max"s firm, too. I just got confirmation an hour or so ago. That led us to check into the construction site as well. So, Daphne was the one who told Leo to hide out there, huh?"
"Yes. Once she discovered that Fat Saul was looking for Leo, she led him straight to Leo."
"Where we are to a.s.sume that Leo killed him?"
"It would seem so."
"And what about what Audrey told you? Do you believe that Leo killed Lizzy as well?"
"I do, actually. I think he thought his big plan to get all that money was crumbling, and he lashed out."
"It does have a ring of truth to it," she conceded. "The problem is that he"s dead. Supposed confessions from dead people rarely go over well with the DA."
I sighed. "I know. What are you going to do now?"
"I"m going to take all this to Tom Cutter. It"s in his hands as to what happens next. But listen, Nic. There"s something you should know. The lab came back with the results on the knife. The only prints on it were Audrey"s."
"People have been known to wear gloves, Marcy."
"I know, Nic. But I think you should be prepared for ... well, just be prepared."
I didn"t ask her for what. I think I already knew.
_____.
Two hours later, Max called to tell us that Audrey had been arrested for Leo"s murder. Nigel asked him if he wanted us to come over. He did. Olive had become hysterical at the news, and Max had finally been forced to give her a generous dose of Valium. She was now sleeping.
By the time Nigel and I arrived at their apartment, Olive"s status had changed from "sleeping" to "resting comfortably." She sat gla.s.sy eyed in her usual chair. She produced a vague smile upon seeing us. Daphne was also in attendance. She sat on the couch near her mother. She ducked her head in embarra.s.sment when she saw me.
"How are you holding up, Aunt Olive?" Nigel asked as he bent down to give her a kiss on her check.
Olive produced a loopy smile. "You"re a handsome devil," she said. "What"s your name?"
Nigel frowned. "It"s me, Aunt Olive. Nigel. Are you all right?"
She smiled again. "I"m just kidding. Don"t worry about me, Nigel dear," she said, her voice slow and a little thick. "We need to focus on Audrey. We need to make the police understand that she didn"t kill Leo." Turning to me, she stretched out her hand and took hold of mine. "Nic? Can you do that? Can you make the police see reason?" She raised pleading eyes to mine.
Shocked that she"d actually called me Nic rather than Nicole, I didn"t respond right away. "I"m doing my best, Olive. I can promise you that," I finally said.
She nodded. "I know you will, dear. You"re a good person. And you really are very pretty. Even when your hair was short. I"m so sorry about all of this. But they"ll see. She didn"t kill him. She didn"t." She leaned her head back against the chair. Skippy sat down next to her and rested his head on the arm of her chair. She smiled at him and began to stroke his fur. "Nice doggie," she murmured before closing her eyes.
I looked to Nigel in mild alarm. Nigel turned to Max. "How much Valium did you give her?" he whispered. "She"s gonzo!"
"Trust me, this is preferable to what she was like before," said Max. "I"ve never seen her so upset. It was torture to see her in so much pain."
"Well, she"s definitely numb now," said Nigel, looking back at Olive. She was still petting Skippy, her eyes closed and a faraway look on her face.
"Can I get you something to drink?" Max asked. "Coffee? Soda?"