CHAPTER 18
Sometimes it was a plus that my family lived hundreds of miles away. It made it easier to fib about how perfectly peachy everything was in my life. After the first three birthday calls, the tall tale started to roll off my tongue with frightening ease. When my phone buzzed again as I walked down the sidewalk toward my car, I was all set to pour on the syrup yet again.
As it happened, I could be myself this time. It was Farrah.
“Hey, birthday chick! Welcome to the wonderful world of thirty. You're gonna love it here, I promise.”
“Really?” I said, with the slightest little whine. “When does the wonderfulness kick in? From where I'm standing, the future's not so bright. In fact, I'd say it's flickering, at best.”
Farrah laughed as if I were the most amusing thing. “Just you wait, girlfriend. Nothing but wonderfulness tonight. Don't forget. Be at the Loose at seven sharp. Fun-filled festivities await.”
“I'll be there,” I promised. And I had a feeling I was going to need all the fun I could get after the ringer I was about to put myself through. After starting up my car, I checked the address I'd jotted down, and headed over to Darlene's house.
It was high time, I realized, to make peace with the woman. I needed to find out what she knew and share with her what I had learned. We needed to work together.
About ten minutes later I pulled into a modest subdivision that abutted a local golf course. It wasn't quite the country club, but it was still nice. Unlike so many newer developments, the homes here weren't cookie cutter. I passed brick colonials, low-slung ranches, and shuttered split-levels. As I watched the house numbers, I saw that Darlene's home was a forest-green Craftsman bungalow. It would have been homey and welcoming if not for the police car parked out front, strobe light silently flashing.
Several other cars seemed to be at the house, as well, in the driveway and on the street. I parked across the street and walked over as Kirk bounded out the door and headed to one of the cars along the curb. Dressed in jeans and a plain light blue T-shirt, he looked even more youthful than when I had met him at the visitation. Spotting me, he twitched his mouth into a rueful smile and raised a palm in greeting.
“Never a dull moment,” he said, getting into the car.
I watched him take off and raised my eyebrows as I caught a glimpse of his vanity plate: KNGLEAR.
I hesitated for a moment on the sidewalk. Maybe this wasn't the best time to pop in on Darlene. On the other hand, I was dying to know what the cops were doing there. It must not be too terrible if Kirk could joke about it.
Just then the front door opened again, and two unfamiliar police officers came outside.
“Hello,” I said, walking over. “Is everything okay?”
The officers eyed me, and one of them pulled out a pocket-size spiral notepad. “There was a robbery here,” he said. “Could I have your name and address, please?”
“Keli Milanni. Twelve-oh-eight East Springfield Lane.”
“You just arrive?”
“Yes. That's my car there.”
“Been here before?”
“No. It's my first time.”
“What's your business here?”
That one threw me for a loop. “I'm, uh, here to see Darlene. IâI knew her mother, who passed away recently. I wanted to see how she's doing.”
The officer wrote this down and seemed satisfied. He shut his notepad and nodded his head at me dismissively. But I couldn't resist trying to get information from him.
“So, what was stolen?”
“That's not for us to say, ma'am. Bye now.”
I shrugged and walked up the steps to Darlene's front porch. I noted the porch swing, the cheerful hanging plants, and the natural jute welcome mat and thought Darlene was a woman after my own heart. Ringing the bell, I wondered if this was where Wes had grown up. The house certainly seemed big enough to raise a family.
After a short wait, Sharon came to the door. She looked tired and worried.
“Hi, Sharon. I stopped by to see Darlene for a minute. Is . . . is she available?”
Sharon slowly shook her head and spoke softly. “Keli, dear, now is not really a good time. Darlene is resting. I'll tell herâ”
“I was hoping to talk to Darlene about the Folio,” I said quickly, before she could turn me away. “But I can see it's not a good time. The police told me there was a break-in here.”
Sharon stepped outside onto the porch and pulled the door closed behind her. She sat heavily on the porch swing. “Can you believe it? First, the Shakespeare book, and now this.”
“Was a lot taken?” I asked, sitting down in a wicker chair adjacent to the swing.
“Some jewelry and cash, for sure. It's hard to tell what else. The place was ransacked, absolutely ransacked. It's almost like they were looking for something specific. Drawers emptied, clothes and papers and books strewn
everywhere
. Oh, poor Darlene.”
Sharon sighed and shook her head. I felt for her and the whole family, especially Darlene. The loss of money and valuables was bad enough, but to have someone go through your things and toss them around . . . I could only imagine how violated she must feel.
I decided to keep asking questions now that I was in full-on detective mode.
“When did it happen?”
“It must have happened this morning, while Darlene was at work. A neighbor came over to leave a box of berries on the back patio and noticed the back door standing open. He called Darlene right away.”
“Is the door usually locked?”
“Yes. The lock had been forced. Wouldn't be too hard for someone to have snuck into their yard from the golf course out back. It's too bad the neighbor didn't come over sooner.”
“I'm so sorry.” I pursed my lips and fell silent, contemplating this new development. Was it connected with the theft of the Folio? Then I remembered the other question that had been gnawing at me for the past week. As much as I hated to, I had to bring it up.
“Sharon,” I began delicately. “At Eleanor's visitation, you mentioned that you thought there should be an autopsy.”
“Oh, there was one,” she said, to my utter surprise.
“There was?”
“Yes, her doctor requested itâfor medical reasons, not police ones. He wanted to find out if she had had a stroke or had gone into cardiac arrest. She was on various medications, and I guess he wanted to see if there was anything he could learn that might help future patients. Eleanor would have liked that.”
“Oh,” I said, still feeling a little stunned. “So, what did he learn?”
“Well, the bottom line is that Eleanor had blocked arteries, so it must have been a heart attack, after all.”
Well, that's a relief.
It was bad enough to be searching for a thief. I couldn't even fathom trying to track down a killer. I sighed, still feeling sad that Eleanor was gone.
“Would you like help cleaning up?” I asked. “I'd be happy to give you a hand.”
“Oh, that's nice of you to offer. But we have enough helpers already. Neighbors keep stopping by, and Kirk will be coming back in a bit. And Wes and Rob should be here soon. Darlene is hoping they'll be able to help determine if anything else is missing.”
“Okay. Well, I'll get going, then. But would you mind asking Darlene to give me a call whenever she feels up to it?” I jotted down my cell phone number on the back of my business card and handed it to Sharon. “Please tell her I'm sorry about all she's going through.”
Sharon thanked me and went back inside. As I walked slowly back to my car, I kept an eye out for Wes or Rob to show up, and I thought about Darlene. I wondered if it was too much to hope that she would actually call me. Technically, it wasn't exactly ethical for an attorney to speak to an opposing party without going through her attorney. But I wasn't wearing my attorney hat today. For one thing, I was on leave from the law firm. Besides that, I didn't intend to talk to her about her lawsuit. I just wanted to talk to her about the missing Folio.
Maybe she had some ideas about who took it.
Or maybe, I couldn't help wondering . . . maybe someone else thought Darlene had it. Maybe that was what they were looking for when they trashed her place.
The question was, did they find it?
* * *
I decided to leave my car at home and walk to the Loose for my birthday celebration. It was a twenty-five-minute walk the long way, but only fifteen minutes if I cut through Fieldstone Park. It was a nice evening, and I looked forward to seeing some friendly faces. Farrah had told me she invited our old friends from law school, as well as fellow regulars we knew from the Loose. And she'd promised me she had banned any and all talk even remotely related to work. If anybody uttered a single word about my office woes, they'd be ousted from the party as quick as Farrah could toss a wink at the bouncer. I smiled at the image.
My spirits lifted even higher when I entered the club and saw my favorite local band setting up on the stage. Spotting a gaily festooned area sectioned off with balloons and streamers at the side of the bar, I headed over to thank Farrah for arranging both the band and the partyâas well as for the fact that there were no over-the-hill decorations anywhere to be seen.
As I passed the bar, Jimi came over and handed me a large fruity cocktail with a paper umbrella stamped
BIRTHDAY GIRL.
“Drinks on the house tonight,” he said, kissing my cheek.
I lifted the glass in a toast of gratitude as he scurried back to the kitchen. Before the evening was over, I planned to corner him and get the lowdown on Wes. Glancing over at the closed office door, I wondered if I would see the elusive Rock Star tonight. Maybe Jimi had even mentioned my birthday to him. It was possible.
When I got to the reserved tables, I didn't see Farrah, but there were half a dozen other friends gathered around already. They all wished me happy birthday. Dawn placed a paper lei around my neck, and Katie held up her wallet.
“First round of birthday shots?” asked Katie.
I laughed. “No, no, please. Not just yet. The night's too young. Unlike me.”
“Aw, you're still a baby,” said Katie. “Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.”
I smiled and shook my head. “Where's Farrah?”
“She was on the phone,” said Dawn, pointing over to the booths along the wall.
I left the group and walked over to find Farrah sitting alone, staring into space. She looked uncharacteristically somber, a telltale line of worry shadowing her usually sparkling eyes. She looked up as I approached and immediately assumed a big smile.
“There's my groovy birthday chick! I see Dawn got you lei'd already.”
I slid into the seat across from her and offered her a sip of my fruity cocktail. She waved it away. “It's all yours, baby. I've got a drink over there on the table somewhere.”
“What's wrong, Farrah?”
“What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong. Everything's perfect.”
I dipped my chin and gave her a “Gimme a break” look. “Farrah. It's me. Who were you on the phone with?”
Farrah heaved a big sigh and rolled her eyes. “It was Jake. The big lug nut.”
“What did he do?”
“He proposed.”
“What!” My eyes popped, and I leaned over the table. “Are you kidding?”
“I wish I were. Can you believe it?”
“He proposed over the phone?”
“No. That was last night. He's been calling ever since I walked out. I told him I need some space, but he won't let up. Finally, I had to tell him to lay off tonight, so he won't keep interrupting the birthday party.”
“Oh, honey. He proposed and you walked out?”
“Well, more or less.”
I sat there quietly, waiting for Farrah to elaborate.
She tapped her fingernails on the table and looked around the room. Finally, she looked back at me. “Okay, so things were going good again, you know? We both agreed we wanted to be together. Only, his version of âtogether' and mine are apparently two vastly different things.”
I nodded at her sympathetically.
“I mean, I'm not ready to settle down. I'm only thirty! You understand. You and me, we're both happily single. We've got our careers, our homes, our oats.”
“Our oats?”
She stood up and took my hand, then pulled me up with her. “Wild oats. Those ones that need to be sown?” She grinned and marched us back over to the party section. “What the heck does that expression mean, anyway? I've never understood it.”
For the next few hours, I was toasted, feted, and generally spoiled. Really, it was much more than I felt I deserved. But I had a great time. We danced, we sang, we laughed. Some of the gang even brought presents. Farrah's gift was the most unique: a jumbo gold-rimmed magnifying glass.
“You're going to need help with the fine print now, given your advanced age and all,” she said with a big wink.
I laughed and hugged her, then looked around the bar for the umpteenth time, hoping to catch a glimpse of Wes. No luck, but I did see Jimi talking to the bouncer at the door. I made my way over there before he could disappear again.
“Hi ya, Jimi,” I said, linking my arm in his. I wasn't quite hammered, but I was definitely emboldened. “Where is Wes tonight? I know all about the cot in the back. No need to be all covert anymore.”
“Sorry about that, Kel,” said Jimi, looking down at me with appropriate contrition. “The cot's gone, anyway. Wes moved in with his parents.”
My mouth fell open, and I was momentarily speechless. I wasn't sure which was worse, a grown man bunking in a bar or a grown man moving back in with his parents. I quickly snapped my mouth shut and twiddled a finger in my hair. “You don't say? When did he do that?”