Booby Trap (17 page)

I didn’t plan on
liking Jane Sharp. With all the things I’d heard about her, my mind was set to judge her as a vain, calculating, cold-hearted power grabber with hot pants. And she might have been all those things, but like her husband, I found her appealing in a sad and tragic way.

About half past one, I had showed up unannounced at Lil’s, clutching a large bouquet of flowers. I’ve discovered that when you bring flowers, people generally forgive you for intruding. Either that or they’re too polite to bring up the gate crashing in the face of gifts. Upon ringing the doorbell, Lil opened the door to me with a look of haggard surprise.

“I know you’re meeting your daughter-in-law this afternoon, Lil.” I spoke in a rush, trying to hide my buttinski presence with grace and lies. “Since I was in the area on business, I thought these would be a nice touch for your tea party later today.” I knew darn well she was meeting Jane at one but pretended it was at two.

“Jane’s here now, Odelia.” She looked at the flowers and her face brightened a bit. “But thank you for being so thoughtful.” Her graciousness made me feel guilty, but sometimes a person had to be a heel to get things done.

“Please come in.”

“I don’t want to intrude.” But, of course, I did. One day, I knew, I would pull this stunt and someone would say
okay, then goodbye
, and shut the door in my face. I just hoped that day wouldn’t be today.

“Don’t be silly, Jane and I were talking family business, but we’ve just finished.” As her lips moved, Lil’s eyes implored me to stay. I wondered what was up and was glad I had butted in on their meeting. Obviously, her invitation to join them went beyond good manners.

Lil showed me into the dining room and introduced me. Then she excused herself to put the flowers in water, leaving me face to face with Jane Sharp.

The first thing that struck me odd was Jane’s hair. It wasn’t long and blond like in the photos on the website, but chin-length and a light red strawberry blond. Her body was spectacular, and I wondered if her boobs were real or from her hubby’s catalog. Considering what Steele had told me, I was guessing they came from someone’s catalog. She was wearing an exquisite outfit with every detail attended to, from her nail polish to high heels that matched her nearby handbag. Everything about her was chic and expensive, but not over the top. Tasteful with a capital
T
.

And Steele was right. Jane Sharp was incredibly beautiful and did seem rather cold and aloof. Her eyes were like two deep wells that held sad secrets. Her mouth was generous but her smile strictly professional. I took a chair across from her. In front of Jane and at Lil’s place were china dishes with half-eaten salads. Goblets held what looked like iced tea.

Breaking the silence, I said, “I believe you know my boss.”

Jane Sharp looked at me with polite interest.

“Michael Steele,” I continued. “You decorated his condo a few years back. Did a terrific job.”

She looked puzzled, and her eyes rolled upward as she dug into her memory bank.

“Laguna Beach,” I prodded. “On Blue Lagoon Lane.”

She directed her eyes back to me. The corners of her mouth turned upward with a hint of amusement. “Oh, yes. The obnoxious attorney. Drives a Porsche, plays a lot of tennis.”

“You nailed it at obnoxious.”

This prompted a nearly genuine smile. “But aren’t they all, Odelia?”

“Attorneys or men in general?”

The smile blossomed into a slight chuckle. Jane Sharp looked at me, openly taking stock. I felt like a pair of drapes that didn’t quite measure up.

Her decision about me made, she dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a linen napkin. “Odd that you should show up, Odelia. Lil just mentioned to me the favor you’re doing for her. Something involving my husband.”

“Umm.” The comment took me by surprise. Obviously, Lil had said something to Jane, but how much? Did she actually tell her daughter-in-law that she suspected her own son of being the Blond Bomber? I had to tread lightly, something I wasn’t physically or emotionally prone to doing. But I needn’t have worried. Jane helped me out by answering my unspoken question.

“Lil told me everything—how she suspected Brian of being the serial killer and how she asked you to look into it.”

I sighed in relief. Still, where in the hell was Lil? It shouldn’t take this long to stick a bunch of flowers in a vase unless she was hand-blowing the glass.

“Did she also tell you that I don’t think Brian is the killer? I know for certain that he didn’t kill Laurie Luke, the nurse from Hoag Hospital.”

“No?” Jane’s eyes widened in surprise.

I shook my head from side to side. “No. The police are pretty sure that whoever did it made it look like the Blond Bomber.”

Jane didn’t look convinced. “But even if Brian didn’t kill that unfortunate woman, there are still the others, including Amber.”

Had Lil also told Jane about Perfect4u and her online dalliance with Knotdead? I leaned forward slightly, “Are you telling me that you also think Brian is the Blond Bomber?”

Jane Sharp remained as still as a Greek statue, her beauty, tinged with tragedy, only enhancing the similarity. She focused her blue eyes on my green ones.

“Yes, I’ve suspected it for some time, actually.” She paused. “And I think he’s doing it to get back at me.”

Again, the question Greg and I discussed came to mind. “If that’s true, Jane, why didn’t he kill you? Why take out his anger on innocent women who looked a lot like you, at least physically?”

Jane Sharp looked genuinely pained. “You, or maybe the police, will have to ask him that.”

I was about to say something when Lil popped back in bearing a crystal vase with the flowers. She placed the vase on the small antique table and disappeared back into the kitchen without a word. Again, I started to say something to Jane, and again Lil came into the room, this time bearing a tray with two glasses of ice and a pitcher of iced tea. Geez, at the exact time when I didn’t want her around, she decides to play gracious hostess.

“Odelia, I know how much you enjoy iced tea, so I made a fresh pitcher for you. I brought you a fresh glass, too, Jane.” She placed the tray down on the table. “You girls help yourselves while I clear the lunch dishes.”

“Sit down, Lil.” Jane put her hand gently on Lil’s arm. “You and I can clear them after we speak with Odelia.”

“Thank you, dear. But the truth is, I’m too nervous to sit.” She started clearing their luncheon plates. “I’ll be back and forth and can hear most of what you’re saying. If you have any questions, just stop me and ask.”

Jane tried to protest once more, and again Lil waved her off. Just then my cell phone rang. Pulling it out of my tote bag, I saw that it was Dev.

“Please excuse me,” I said to the ladies, “but I have to take this call.”

I got up and moved into the living room for privacy. Dev informed me that the hospital would be releasing Lisa after three thirty. A glance at my watch told me I’d have plenty of time to finish up my chat with Lil and Jane and get to the hospital. When I asked Dev if he had any more information on either Laurie or Amber, he reminded me that my job was to take care of Lisa, nothing more, nothing less.

When I returned to the table, I found all the lunch dishes cleared and my glass filled with tea. I took a long, refreshing drink. I was parched, and the discussion ahead was going to be a scorcher. I also wasn’t sure I wanted Lil around for this conversation. Although she was a seasoned woman, I was worried that Jane might not be totally candid around her mother-in-law. I needn’t have worried.

“One of the reasons I asked Lil to meet with me today, Odelia, was to tell her that Brian and I are getting a divorce.”

So
, I thought,
Knotdead was telling Perfect4u the truth when he told her about the divorce.

“We probably should have done it years ago, but we thought it best for the children.” She paused. “I also think we both hoped we could make it work. After all, it started out so well.”

“What do you think went wrong?”

Jane turned to look out the large window. Beyond it, manicured green grass rolled like a soft blanket.

“Probably our two demanding careers. If I had to pinpoint any one thing as the beginning of the end, it was when my company, Sharp Design, started taking off.” She turned back to look at me as she spoke. “Don’t get me wrong, Odelia, Brian is very proud of my accomplishments, but as my company grew and so did his practice, we spent less and less time together. And when we did, it was all about the kids. Now, with the children grown and about to leave the nest, we’re not sure we want to stay together. And now this Blond Bomber thing …” Her voice drifted off.

I wanted to ask her about the cheating, but how does one do that in a polite fashion? And how does one ask that question in front of the mother-in-law? But in my usual dogged way, I pushed on. After all, it wasn’t like Lil was some innocent babe in the woods, considering her shenanigans online.

“Do you suspect Brian of having an affair? Now or in the past?”

As soon as the question was asked, Lil scooted into the room. She moved slightly behind Jane and stared at me, her eyes wide and frightened. She shook her head back and forth in quick, slight movements. It was a gesture that clearly let me know Lil had not disclosed her online persona to Jane.

“I know he’s had a couple in the past several years. And he’s been discreet, until now.”

“Now?”

Jane sighed. “Not too long ago, he started having a fling with his tarty assistant—Amber, the last Blond Bomber victim.”

“How do you know?”

She gave a slight catty chuckle. “Because the little bitch called me up and told me. Said he was going to marry her.” She took a drink of her iced tea before continuing. “I told her she could have him. I told him the same thing.” Jane cast her eyes downward. “And now she’s dead.”

“Is that why you think your husband is the Blond Bomber? Because Amber’s now dead?”

She shook her head. “As I told you, I’ve suspected for a while. Same as Lil.”

“Think about it, Jane. Do you really believe your husband is capable of killing those women?”

“The man I married, no. But there are just too many connections.”

“Is it because the dead women resemble you or because you are connected business-wise to some of the victims?”

That got her attention.

“You know about that?”

“I know that you decorated Crystal Lee Harper’s ex-husband’s condo and Gabby Kerr’s home. What was the connection with Elaine Epps, the first victim?”

Jane cast her eyes downward again. “I decorated the home of her boss. Elaine was very involved with the project and worked closely with me on it.”

“And did you sleep with Elaine’s boss, as well?”

Her head snapped up so fast you could almost hear it. Her eyes searched my face, trying to pry into my brain to see what else I knew. A moment later, she looked away, deflated and sad. “I slept with them all.”

“Even Gordon Harper?”

She nodded. “Every male client for the past six years—though there were a few who declined my advances.”

Lil left the room, but not before I noticed that she was crying.

Leaning forward, I asked softly, “What happened, Jane? What happened six years ago?”

Jane Sharp got up from the table and retrieved her handbag, which was on the floor next to the small antique table a few feet away. Pulling from it a linen handkerchief, she began dabbing at her eyes. She turned to look out once again over the expanse of rolling green. A few minutes later, after a huge sigh, she returned to the table. Lil had not reappeared.

“Seven years ago, Brian started accusing me of having an affair with my assistant.”

I ran that tidbit across the data bank in my brain. “With Mason Bell?”

She nodded. “Yes. We were spending long hours together getting the company up and running. I assured my husband that nothing was going on, but he didn’t believe it, no matter what I said. Until then, I’d been totally faithful to him. I later found out that his accusations stemmed from a guilty conscience. It turned out he had been having an affair with one of his former patients.”

“So you got back at him for his affair.”