NAILED (13 page)

“Auntie, come help us,” Kendall called, bringing my mind back to the beach.

I went down to the water’s edge and knelt in the sand helping to dig the moat around the castle. Some things are timeless, like building sand castles at the beach, and making snow angels in the winter. I used my hands to scoop out warm sand from around the castle. Henry found a piece of wood and we fashioned a bridge across the moat. The tide was coming in and I could feel the water lapping at my feet. I turned around and plopped my butt in the sand while Henry took his pail further into the water and filled it up and then dumped it into the moat. He did this several more times, and then both kids sat down next to me and inspected their handy work.

“It’s a good castle,” I said. “Nice job.”

“I think I’m going to build bridges when I grow up,” Henry announced.

“Sounds like a plan, kiddo. You’d be really good at it.”

We sat there a while longer watching the water and dark clouds gathering in the sky. Pretty soon the tide encroached on the sand castle and filled the moat. First one pail-shaped mound fell, and then the rest.

“Did you feel that? It’s raining,” Henry shouted.

“How about we gather up our stuff and get an ice cream before we head home?”

Both kids looked at me from under the visors of their baseball caps.

“Sounds like a plan!” they shouted.

I dropped the kids off. They ran out back to wash the sand from their feet, while I went into the kitchen to talk to my sister.

“What do you think of Brian Jankowski?” I asked.

“Brian? The principal at the kids’ school? Why are you asking about him?”

I had no plans to divulge Kendall’s secret. If she wished to tell her mother that she had seen Jenna Sanjari kissing the school principal that was up to her.

“No reason. I saw someone today who kind of reminded me of him, and it got me thinking about things. He’s single, right?”

“Yeah. Can you believe it? Smart and good looking. Great with kids, obviously. Many a divorced mom has had their eyes on him—hey, wait a minute. Are you thinking that he’s the guy Jenna was having an affair with? Hmmm. I can see it. Jenna was adorable and nice and smart. She’s exactly the kind of woman I could see him with.”

“I don’t suppose you have his home address?” I asked with a sly smile.

My sister laughed. “No, but this is a small town so he’s probably in the phone book or on the net.”

Sam took out her new phone and started typing something in. These darned phones. Thank God my sister had a firm rule of no talking or texting while driving. It was something my entire family adhered to especially after Henry was struck by a texting bastard a year ago.

“Here you go. He doesn’t live in Indian Cove. He lives in Westport.”

I wrote the address down.

“Perfect. I want to see Shirley this afternoon and maybe I can swing by Mr. Jankowski’s home on the way.”

I used Sam’s phone to call Shirley to make sure she would be home, and then said good-bye to the kids and thanked them for spending some time with me. Forty-five minutes later I pulled up in front of Shirley’s house.

“How was your afternoon with the kids?” Shirley asked as she poured boiling water into two mugs.

“We had such a nice time. We went to Branford.”

Shirley lifted one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Branford, huh? Alex, you’re shameless. So, tell me what you found out.”

“The waitress thinks Mystery Woman may own her own business. Says she’s come in several times. On the phone a lot and has a briefcase, and she had the case on Thursday when she met with Michael. He was late, evidently, and Mystery Woman was just about to leave when he showed up.”

Shirley handed me a cup of tea and I followed her into the living room.

“Okay, so it doesn’t sound romantic, does it?”

“Then why all the secrecy? Why not just tell Sam what he’s up to?” I asked.

Shirley pushed her hair behind her ears and reached for her cup of Earl Grey. “I don’t know. He did give the woman a kiss on the cheek. They could have been playing it coy because they were out in public. Maybe she had sexy lingerie in the briefcase.”

“Not helping. Okay, so what have you found out about Victor and Gary?”

“Gary Hachmeister and Victor used to work for a construction company in Rhode Island. They were only there a year or two. Something happened. It’s all kind of vague, but shoddy work was being done and the construction company they worked for was using cheap products. Something about cement. I don’t know, but anyway, a wall on a new office suite they were building collapsed killing the husband and wife who were going to be working out of the building when it was completed. They had some sort of new business venture going and they were renting one of the units in this new complex. There were lawsuits, of course, and the construction company went bust and people scattered. Victor got a job selling cars and Gary got a job as the manager of some store. This is all before Victor married Jenna.

“Anyway, at some point both Gary and Victor returned to Connecticut. They both had a couple of odd jobs and then Gary started at
Connecticut Custom Homes
, and I didn’t know this, but the company is not in his name. It’s in his wife’s name, and he does not work on any of the sites. He’s simply sales and administration stuff all the way.”

I put up my hand. “Wait a minute. The guy is married?”

“Yes, and his wife is like ten years older than he is.”

“Geez. This guy makes a point of staring at my chest every time I see him, and he admitted that he loved Jenna. I wonder what his wife thinks of all this?”

“From what my sources tell me, it started out as kind of a marriage of convenience, on his part, anyway. I guess she really loved him. They’ve been together about ten years. Her father actually started the company. Then the old man died and his daughter, Gail, rebranded the company putting Gary in charge of sales and running the office once they got married.”

“What about Victor?” I asked.

“Victor got a job working for the county as a building inspector after Gary started with the construction company. Gail knows a lot of people so maybe she had a hand in helping him find work.”

“So what does Victor have over Gary that he was able to use to get Gary to hire illegal workers?”

“Well, when Gary worked in Rhode Island, he was Gary Miller. That was the name of his stepfather and he used it. When he came back to Connecticut, he reverted to using Hachmeister, the name he was born with,” Shirley said.

“So maybe the wife didn’t know about Gary and Victor’s past. Was that accident attributed to them?”

“The company cut corners a lot, and used illegal sources for their supplies. They were using all inferior stuff, passing it off as high quality. Everyone who worked there probably knew what was going on.”

I thought this over while I sipped tea and gazed out the front window. “Perhaps Mr. Hachmeister has started using old sources and Victor knew.”

“Could be. I think both Gary and Victor knew things and used this knowledge to keep each other in line.”

“Speaking of construction, I have something for you.” I reached into my purse and took out the brochure Sam had given me. “Here you go, and let me tell you, Sam’s sunroom is gorgeous. If you use this woman, you’ll get something spectacular.”

Shirley picked up the high-end brochure and started looking through the pages of glossy pictures showcasing Kate Cavanaugh’s obvious talent. When she got to the back page she stopped.

“What is it? The prices? I’m telling you she is not cheap, but you’ll get something unique if you decide to use her.”

“No, it’s not the prices.” Shirley folded the back cover over and placed the brochure on the table. She put her finger on a picture of Kate Cavanaugh and tapped it a couple of times. “Her. Right there. That’s the woman Michael was meeting.”

I put my head in my hands. “Oh my God, he’s having an affair with their designer. That’s as bad as sleeping with the babysitter.” I looked up. “I wonder if my sister has already paid her. Maybe she can put a stop on the check!”

“Hold on, weren’t you just saying that the waitress thought it was a business meeting?
I
told you it looked innocent.”

“Oh, come on. Look at this woman!” I lifted my chin toward the picture still sitting on the coffee table. “She’s gorgeous. And talented. And why did Michael need to meet with her on Thursday when the sunroom is already completed?”

“A million reasons. Maybe he wanted her to change something.”

“I would agree with you except he’s been acting strange for a while.”

“There’s one way to find out. You could go see her,” Shirley said.

“Or you could make an appointment with her to get an estimate for your own sunroom. Tell her Dr. Michael Daniels recommended you call, and see what happens.” I gave Shirley my most engaging smile.

“Or I could call her and tell her Dr. Daniels recommended her.”

“Great! Let me know what happens.” I finished my tea and stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“I want to stop by Brian Jankowski’s place and see what he has to say about Jenna.”

******

As it turned out, Brian Jankowski had nothing to say about Jenna because he wasn’t home. After I knocked on his door, an end unit in a small community of attached homes, and got no answer, I walked back to my car. Maybe he was gone for the summer on a European vacation. Did principals get the entire summer off like teachers? I had no idea. The man could be a million places. While I sat there, letting my car’s air conditioning comfort me while I decided what to do next, I had an epiphany. The man was at the grocery store, or, more accurately, had just been at the grocery store. I deduced this not because I have psychic powers I never told you about, but because he had just pulled into his driveway and was now taking a bag of groceries and a large watermelon from the trunk of his car.

“Are you Mr. Jankowski?” I called as I locked my car door and quickly ran up the walk.

“Yes, I’m Brian Jankowski. How can I help you?”

“I’m Alex Harris. We’ve actually met a couple of times. Kendall and Henry Daniels are my niece and nephew.”

“Oh, of course. Nice to see you again.”

“I was wondering if I could speak with you about what happened to Mr. Sanjari?”

“I take it this has something to do with your sister. How is Sam? I heard that the police arrested her?”

“Can I help you with something?”

“Sure, grab that other bag.”

I took the other bag of groceries out of the trunk and closed the door.

“Come on inside. There’s ice cream in there.”

I followed Mr. Big into the house. We entered straight into the living room. At the back of the house was the kitchen. It was all actually one long room with beautiful hardwood floors, a nice sectional sofa, big screen TV, and a few pictures on the wall. The kitchen looked like it had been recently updated. There was a staircase that divided the room in half with kitchen and dining on one side and living room on the other. It wasn’t very big but it was a nice, neat space.

“Have a seat while I put this stuff away. Can I get you something cold to drink? Iced tea or lemonade?”

“Lemonade sounds good,” I said.

Mr. Jankowski poured two large glasses of lemonade. He placed one in front of me and took a big gulp from the other.

“So, your sister? Is she okay? I talked to the police when they came to the school. They spoke with everyone, but who would have thought they would settle on Sam. Call me Brian, by the way.”

“She’s fine, thank you. It was all a big mistake. I guess she had some words with Mr. Sanjari the morning before he was killed and it got back to the police.”

“That would be the work of Mary McCarthy,” Brian said as he put a number of items into the freezer. “She has a great kid, but she likes to stir the pot and get attention. Knowing her the way I do, she probably exaggerated what she heard between your sister and Victor and made the police think it was worse than it was. And she volunteered the information, they didn’t ask. I saw her run after one of the detectives as they were leaving. I know what Vic was like and your sister is not the only woman at the school that he bothered.”

“Brian, I actually wanted to speak with you about something else.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Are you Mr. Big?”

Brian stood perfectly still. “Who told you that?”

“Maddi, Jenna’s sister, found Jenna’s diary. There was an awful lot in it about a man she called Mr. Big.”

Brian lowered himself onto the stool next to mine. He ran a hand through his thinning blond hair and looked at me. “Yeah, I was Mr. Big. Jenna thought it was funny. She really liked that show about the single women in New York.”

“How did the affair start?” I asked.

“She and Victor were separated. I would never have started anything if she hadn’t been. We used to meet at various hotels. She didn’t want my neighbors to see her until we had everything sorted out. I loved her and I think she loved me. I wanted her to divorce Victor and we could start a new life with Moshi. I was willing to relocate to get away from Victor.”

“But she got back with him?”

Brian took a deep breath. He looked like he was trying to control his anger. “He begged her to give it another try. I told her to just walk away, but she had Moshi to consider. She said she would never forgive herself if she didn’t give her marriage one more try, but I think she knew it was over. I wanted Jenna and Moshi to come live with me, but she told me that even if she left Victor for good, it would be on her own terms and that she would take care of herself. She was independent and wanted Moshi to be that way, too. I think she had enough of being under Victor’s control for so many years.”

“Along with the diary, there was quite a bit of cash,” I said.

Brian nodded his head. “That figures. Jenna was a planner. If she was planning on moving, she would have been prepared. Maybe that’s why she got back with him, so she could save up more money. I really believe she was going to leave him soon, this summer maybe, but then she told me that he planned a nice getaway. I don’t think she wanted to go, but she was probably trying to do the right thing.”