"My mom didn"t say anything, she didn"t even get on the phone, but that"s nothing new. Ever since Fiona died, my mom has been, like, a wreck. She started drinking, and now she stopped, but still, she"s just, I don"t know." Allegra faltered. "It"s like she checked out, like I don"t have a mom anymore. He runs the show."
Mary didn"t say anything, because Allegra needed no encouragement to talk, speaking directly from a heart that sounded broken.
"So after the fight, that night, I just didn"t think that even if I had the money it would make any difference, that I would never know what really happened to Fiona, and that I didn"t really have anybody who understood me, or got me, or even wanted me." Allegra swallowed again. "It just seemed like nothing was ever going to change, so I guess, I just, well, I took the pills that Dr. Bright gave me, all of them."
"Were you on meds?" Mary asked, gently.
"I was already weaning off of them, which is why they think it happened. Me, too. The drugs are whack." Allegra pursed her lips. "They"re such a pain, the meds, getting the right one and the dosages. And sometimes they make you sleepy or not think straight, or more depressed than you were before."
"I bet," Mary said, sympathetically. "So what did you take?"
"It was only Wellbutrin, and all they did was make me sick, and the a.s.sistant headmaster found me and got me to the hospital, where they pumped my stomach. It was a pretty big deal, I guess, and my parents fired Dr. Bright and flew up and brought me home." Allegra straightened up, seemingly an act of will, to cheer up. "Then I started to feel a lot better, when I was home. I was in my room, I had my hives, and I saw that I could do what I wanted to with the trust money and I started to feel better. I would never try to kill myself, not really, not ever again. I swear it. If they let me out of here, I will tell the court that. I could explain everything in a way that a judge could understand. You could put me on the witness stand, and I know I could convince him."
Mary patted her hand. "I"m sure you could and I"d bet on you in a minute. But the question is, as lawyers, when is the best time to go to court, and now is not the best time."
"No?" Allegra asked, but it came out like a moan.
"No, I"m sorry." Mary couldn"t stand seeing her so forlorn. "But we all want the same thing, which is you happy and healthy, and back home. And in the meantime, Judy and I don"t have to be idle. We can go forward like we were before. We could still keep going on our investigation of Fiona"s murder. We met today with Lonnie Stall and with his lawyer Bill Brandt."
"You did?" Allegra asked, surprised. "That"s so cool, what did they say?"
Mary thought about Allegra"s letters to Lonnie Stall, but this wasn"t the time to bring that up. "Bottom line, Lonnie Stall says he"s innocent, and his lawyer concedes that he may have not given him the best representation."
"Is that good?"
"Yes." Mary didn"t go into the legal niceties of ineffectiveness of counsel. They didn"t have that much time, and she could already see the guard at the door. "But Lonnie also says that he didn"t have a relationship with Fiona at all."
"Just what he said in court."
"Right."
"Why is he lying?"
"I don"t know." Mary let it go. "We also met with Tim Gage, who didn"t tell us much, because he wasn"t at the party that night and-"
"Tim was at the party. I saw him."
"What?"
Allegra blinked. "Tim was at the party the night Fiona was killed. I know, I saw them together."
Mary and Judy exchanged glances, equally mystified. "Where did you see them, do you remember?"
"Not very well, but I think they were outside, out back, by the back exit. If you knew the offices, you"d understand. I could draw you a picture."
"Not now, we don"t have time. Just tell me what you remember."
"Okay." Allegra frowned in thought. "I remember because my mom and I went looking for Fiona and I found her friends, and not her, and they said she was outside."
"So your mom saw Fiona?"
"I don"t know. I just know I did, and she told me they broke up, or something." Allegra scratched her head. "I don"t know how much I remember. I just know I saw Tim, and that I got the idea that I wasn"t supposed to be there, like she waved me away, or something. Whatever, I saw him there."
"Were they fighting?"
"I don"t know."
"Do you know why he would lie to us about that?"
"No." Allegra looked stumped. "Why is everybody lying?"
"Could you remember wrong?"
"No."
Mary didn"t dare look over at Judy, who was undoubtedly thinking that it was more likely that an almost seven-year-old Allegra was remembering wrong or imagining things, than that everybody was lying. "Were the friends Sue Winston, Mary Weiss, and Honor Jason, and Hannah Wicker?"
"Yes, they were there. Three of them were killed, though, in the accident. It"s so sad."
"We know, Tim told us. But there is one friend, Hannah Wicker, whom he mentioned survived. Do you know where she is?"
"No, I don"t."
"Was she close to Fiona?"
"Not as close as the others, but in the group. She came over our house a lot. She was a great rider and she used to exercise Paladin, my mom"s horse."
Mary thought a minute. "Allegra, let me switch gears for a minute and ask you something. Who are you close to at home?"
"n.o.body, really."
Mary couldn"t even imagine what that felt like. "Who"s in the house on a regular basis, including staff? Is Janet Wolsey there?"
"Yes. How do you know about Janet?"
"Tim told us. How do you get along with her?"
"Great, she"s wonderful." Allegra smiled. "She"s so nice and she practically raised me, after Fiona died. She really loved Fiona, too, and I guess I"m close to Alasdair, too."
"Who"s that?"
"Alasdair Leahy, our caretaker."
"Do you know where he lives?"
"Sure, in a house on the property. He"s been with us for a long time, too, since I was little. He used to drive me to school and stuff, if my mom was drinking." Allegra flushed again. "I feel bad, telling you about that. Don"t tell anybody, okay?"
"Of course."
"Alasdair is great. He does the stables and takes care of the roses, too. He knows everything about horses. He"s super handy, though now that he"s older, his back hurts."
"And how about Janet? Where does she live?"
"She has a room in her own quarters in the house."
Mary got an idea. "Let me ask you something. Was Alasdair or Janet at the opening party, by any chance, the night Fiona was killed?"
"Yes, they were both there. They"re like family."
Mary made a mental note, and she knew Judy would, too. "Let"s switch gears a minute. How about down at the cottage? How does that work? Who"s there?"
"About six people, like secretaries and stuff. The main secretary, I guess she is like an office administrator, is Millie Marco. She"s been there a long time, too."
"Was Millie at the party, the night Fiona was killed?"
"I don"t remember, but she would"ve been there. I"m not as close to the people in the cottage. Fiona used to work there after school, doing filing and stuff, but I was too little. My uncles sometimes come over and work in the cottage, when they don"t need to go into town. They don"t like the drive and it"s easier."
"Tim Gage told us that, at the time Fiona was murdered, she was working on a big project for your uncle Richard, and that he"s really nice. Can you tell me anything about that?"
Allegra shook her head. "No, I don"t know what she was working on when she was down there. Just knew she worked there, and my dad always paid her, which she liked."
"When she was working down there, would you be at the house?"
"Yes, before I went to boarding school."
"Who babysat for you, during those times?"
"Janet."
"Hold on, let me show you something." Mary slipped a hand into her purse, pulled out the sc.r.a.p of paper with the handwriting, and showed it to Allegra. "We found this in our car, which is how we knew you were here. Do you know who wrote this? Do you recognize the handwriting?"
"Yes, totally. Alasdair wrote that."
"Aha! Mystery solved. You"re sure?"
"Totally." Allegra moved her index finger back and forth over the paper. "Alasdair wrote this. He"s English. My mom used to go over there on riding vacations with Fiona, and that"s where she met Alasdair."
"Do you ride?"
"No, I"m allergic."
Mary noticed that outside the door, the escort was standing up and stretching. "Do you know why Alasdair would tell us where you were, when your parents wouldn"t?"
"He loves me."
"Your parents love you, too, sweetie."
"Oh, right." Allegra permitted herself a sardonic smile. "I keep forgetting."
Mary felt her pain. She couldn"t blame Allegra and she didn"t want to judge her. "How did Alasdair know where you are? Would your parents tell him?"
"My mom would have, when she used to ride. He would tack Paladin up for her and they would ride together. But she hasn"t ridden since Fiona."
"So how did he know?"
"He"s in the house all the time. He could have heard them talking."
"How come you didn"t hear them talking?" Mary noticed the escort outside the door, motioning to her through the window, then pointing at his wrist.w.a.tch.
"I was outside a lot. I was actually avoiding them, after I hired you. My dad was p.i.s.sed."
"Okay, I think our time is up." Mary gestured outside the door, then stood up, and so did Judy. "I don"t want to get you in trouble. We better say good-bye, and we"ll be in touch with you tomorrow. I a.s.sume that"s within the rules."
"They gave me a phone in my room, but we"re not allowed to use cell phones and they restrict our email and online. You have to call the main number and connect to me." Allegra rose, her forehead collapsing into a new frown. "This sucks, I hate to see you guys go. Do I really have to stay?"
"Yes, honey, for the time being." Mary opened her arms and gave Allegra a final hug, feeling the young girl squeeze her tight. "Don"t worry, you"re going to be all right."
"Would you visit me? Can you stop by tomorrow?" Allegra sprang out of Mary"s arms, alarmed. "Oh my G.o.d, I almost forgot to ask you. Can you help me out with something really important?"
"Sure, what?"
"My bees are coming in the mail, and they"ll be at the post office tomorrow morning. If you don"t pick them up, they"ll die."
"Live bees?" Mary recoiled. "What, do they come in a box?"
"Yes, with screens for air. They"re Italian bees, very docile, and I even got an Italian Queen."
"Is this a joke? I am an Italian Queen, and I don"t know what to do with live bees."
"You have to get them when the post office opens or they"ll die, and please mist them, first thing when you pick them up. They"ll be thirsty."
"Bees drink?"
Allegra smiled. "Everything drinks."
"What if I get stung?"
"Are you allergic?"
"No."
"Then you have nothing to be afraid of." Allegra smiled in a way that was supposed to be rea.s.suring, but didn"t succeed. "I order from an apiary that sells bees to people who want to get stung."
"They want to?" Mary never understood people"s s.e.x lives. She was Catholic.
"It"s a holistic remedy that helps a lot of people. It"s called apitherapy, and you can even buy bee venom in a bottle." Allegra brightened. "I rubbed propolis on my zits and it helped."
"I"ll remember that." Mary opened the door. "Just tell me what to do with the bees. Let them out, right?"