The Master Plan (2009) (5 page)

"So Lucas hit you?"

"Not all the time," Judy said quickly. "Just once in a while
when I acted crazy and he needed to calm me down."

"Did you know you were acting crazy?"

"Sure. It was mostly when I was working on a painting.
Sometimes I get real uptight and emotional about my art. It's
all I can think of and that makes me ignore Lucas and his
needs"

"And that made Lucas angry?"

She nodded and touched her face where Lucas' fist had
obviously connected with her flesh.

"Tell me what happened the last time you saw Lucas"

"I was working on one of my paintings and Lucas came
home and asked what I was cooking for dinner. I said I had to
finish the painting and he could call the place downstairs and
get a pizza or something. He said he didn't want a pizza; he
wanted me to cook him a regular meal. I told him I didn't
have anything to cook because I was working on the painting
all day and didn't get to the grocery store. That's when he
got mad and hit me" Judy stopped and winced as if she were
seeing her husband's fist coming at her again.

"What happened then?" Dana asked kindly.

"He socked me so hard I fell down and bumped against the
easel. That made my painting fall on top of me. The paint was
still wet and it smeared. I started screaming at Lucas that he
ruined my painting. I told him to get out and leave me alone.
He picked up a tube of paint and threw it at me and then he
slammed out of the apartment"

"And you haven't heard from him since?"

"No, and I'm worried sick. It's been over a week now
and I can't eat or sleep I'm so upset"

"Has Lucas ever done anything like this before?"

"No. Whenever we fight and Lucas hits me, he runs out of
the house, but he always comes home in a few hours. He usually brings me flowers or some other little gift. He begs me
to forgive him. I do and we make up and things are good
again."

"Do you know if there's a particular place Lucas goes
when he leaves the house-a bar, a restaurant?"

"He usually goes to the pool hall down the block. We
don't have a car right now, so he can walk there. I think it's
called the Pool Palace."

"Have you checked back with Detective Harrison to see
if he has any leads?"

"No. He said he'd call me if anything turned up, but I
haven't heard a word. I'm so scared that something happened to Lucas that I can't function. Del expects me to deliver more paintings for the exhibit and be interviewed and
stuff, but I can't paint right now. I'm too upset"

"What about Lucas' job? I assume you've checked with
his employer."

"He was working at a grocery store, but he got laid off. So
he signed up with one of the temporary agencies and they
were sending him out on jobs. He hated most of them."

"What grocery store did he work at?"

"It was the Sunflower store on Twelfth Avenue."

Dana drew a pad from her purse and made a note. "I know
the store. I shop there sometimes. Do you know the name of
the temp agency?"

"I'm not sure, but his last paycheck came in the mail yesterday. It's probably on there"

"Yes, I'm sure it is. Can you get it, please?"

Judy put her hands on the table and pushed herself to her bare feet and went off to find the piece of mail. She returned
with a long white envelope in her hand. It was unopened.

"You haven't opened it yet?"

"No. Lucas didn't like me opening his mail."

"Do you and Lucas have a joint checking account?"

"Yes, but he took care of all our money. I'm not good
with things like that."

Dana copied down the name and address of the temp
agency on her notepad and handed the envelope back to Judy.
"You need to open that and deposit the check into your bank
account. You also need to get a copy of the last bank statement and see what's in the account now. If Lucas left on his
own, he may have taken the money from the account"

"That's what Detective Harrison said too"

"So did the detective check on it for you?"

"I don't think so. If he did, he never told me what he
found."

Dana took a deep breath, she silently agreed with Detective Harrison that Judy Porter was probably better off without Lucas Porter, but the girl would need some help and
guidance to stand on her own two feet again."

"Tell me, Judy. Before you and Lucas were married, did
you handle your own money?"

"Not really. I lived at home and my dad took care of it.
Not that there was much to take care of. I was in art school
and not earning much"

"Where is your dad? Can you call on him for help?"

"He died two years ago, and my mom died when I just a
baby. I really don't have any family to speak of, just Lucas
and now he's-" Judy stopped as tears clouded her eyes.

Dana quickly reached across the table and grabbed hold of her hand. "Listen to me, Judy. You've got to stop feeling
sorry for yourself and take some action. I'll bet you don't
even know if your rent or utilities are paid, do you?"

"No," the artist whispered softly.

"I want you to take a shower and get dressed. While you're
doing that, I'll clean up your kitchen for you"

"Oh, no," she protested. "I couldn't let you do that"

"I want to," Dana insisted. "I grew up on a farm where
dishes were always hand-washed so I'm an expert. After
you're dressed, I'm going to take you to the bank and find out
how you stand financially."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Judy asked.

"Because you are important to Del Pitman and Del is a
good friend of mine. He asked me to help you and that's exactly what I'm going to do"

"Are you going to look for Lucas?"

"Yes. I'll look for Lucas, but not until I make sure you
won't get thrown out of this apartment or have your electricity turned off."

Judy's eyes widened. "Gee, I hadn't even thought of that.
Lucas-"

"I know," Dana said, interrupting her. "Lucas took care of
those things, but he's not here right now, so you and I will
have to do it."

Judy nodded and got up from the table. Dana watched her
go off in what she assumed was the direction of the bathroom.

Dana pulled up the sleeves of the brown cashmere sweater
that went so well with her beige slacks and headed for the
sink. As she began to stack the dishes for washing, she smiled
to herself. Her mother always said that the kitchen was the center of the house and once that was in order the rest of the
house and the people in it could function properly.

Dana worked quickly and had all the dishes washed and
stacked neatly in the drainer by the time Judy Porter returned
to the kitchen. Dana had also wiped down the table and the
counter.

Judy looked around and almost smiled. "I didn't think it
would matter, but having clean dishes does make me feel a
little better."

"Good"

Judy's hair had been shampooed and fastened into a ponytail. She was wearing a nice blue sweater and a clean pair
of jeans that hugged her hips and showed off her lithe figure. "Now what?" she asked Dana.

"Now gather up all the mail you have in the house. We
need to go through it and see if there are any outstanding
bills or if there is a current bank statement I can look at "

For the next half hour, Dana and Judy went through the
mail. The bank statement for the month of January was there.
The names on the account were Lucas and Judith Porter. That
and the fact that the difference between the beginning balance and the ending balance was the total of the checks that
had been written against the account told Dana that Lucas
had probably not taken any money from the checking account. There was also a saving's account statement from the
same bank, but the beginning and ending balance on that were
the same except for a small amount of interest that had accumulated in January.

"So," Dana said. "You have a little over seven hundred dollars in your savings account and thirty nine dollars in your
checking account. All the checks written in January seem to be for January bills, rent, electric, gas and so forth. Lucas disappeared on January 29 and I doubt if he paid your rent or
utilities for February."

"He told me he couldn't pay bills until his next check
came from the agency." Judy picked up the still-unopened
envelope and handed it to Dana. "You open it, please."

Dana quickly slit the envelope open with the edge of the
kitchen knife she had been using as a letter opener. It was for
$352.29. Dana glanced at the sheet of paper where she had
listed Judy Porter's rent and utility amounts that totaled eight
hundred and sixty dollars. "We'll have to go to the bank and
deposit this check and transfer some of the money from your
savings account in order to pay your February bills."

"But how can we deposit Lucas' check if he's not here to
sign it?" Judy asked.

"I'll show you how," Dana said. "And since it appears that
Lucas took the checkbook with him the night he left, we'll
have to get money orders or counter checks from the bank
to pay your bills."

Judy covered her face with her hands, seemingly overwhelmed by the tasks Dana was outlining.

Dana stood up. "Let's go, Judy. The sooner we get this
banking business done, the sooner I can start looking for Lucas"

it was after two when Dana got to her office. There was a
message from Del Pitman with his cell-phone number. Dana
called him back to report on her morning with Judy Porter.

"First of all, Dana, let me thank you for looking into this
situation for me. I owe you," Del said.

"Good," Dana replied with a smile in her voice. "Then as
soon as I get some paintings done, you can host an exhibit
for me"

"I'd be happy to, darling, but I'll bet you're still working
on the landscape of your parents' farm."

"I'm afraid so," Dana admitted. "But I'm going to hold you
to that promise. Anyway, I spent the entire morning with your
artist. Did you know her husband abuses her?"

"I suspected it, but never talked to her about it "

"Judy Porter is still wearing the bruise he gave her the
night he disappeared, but she wants him back. Her apartment
was a mess; she was a mess. I managed to get her cleaned up and to the bank. She had Lucas' last paycheck from the temporary agency he works for and between that and some of
what was in her savings account, we got her rent and utilities
paid for this month"

"Was there any money missing from the account?" Del
asked.

"There didn't seem to be. So that leads me to believe that
Lucas probably didn't run off on his own, unless he had a
rich girlfriend on the side."

"It would have to be a pretty desperate rich girl," Del told
her. "Have you ever seen the lunkhead?"

"Judy gave me a photo of him and it's obvious she doesn't
love him for his looks" Dana had the photo set out on her
desk. Lucas Porter's body was shaped like a pear, his face
was puffy, his eyes dark and beady. He was bald on top with
stringy blond fringes of hair that hung down to his slumped
shoulders.

"I've only met him once or twice and his personality borders on belligerence," Del said. "To be honest, if I'd met him
first, I wouldn't have sponsored his wife."

"Yes, you would have," Dana insisted. "I took her to the
bank and to lunch and then had her show me her studio and
the paintings she's working on. She is very talented"

"She is, but if she doesn't supply me with something to
sell, I've wasted a lot of time and money on her."

"Well, that's the good news, Del," Dana told him. "We had
a long talk over lunch and when I left her she was back at
work in her studio."

"You're a magician!" he exclaimed. "How did you manage
that?"

"I told her that I would do everything I could to find Lu cas, but in return she had to hold up her end of the bargain
with you. I also told her that for me, painting is therapeutic,
a world that I can control. She told me earlier that when she
is working on her art, she loses herself in it. I hope I made
her realize that sitting around crying and worrying about Lucas is not going to bring him back. She has to find comfort
in her work. I also told her that February is a short month and
her rent and other bills will be due again, so she had better
do something to earn some money to pay them or she'd find
herself and her paintings out in the street"

"If it comes to that I can help her financially," Del said.

"I know that, but Judy Porter has to learn to take care of
herself."

"It sounds like you don't expect to find her husband"

"No, I don't," Dana admitted. "I only have a few leads to
follow, and if those don't give me any clues to his whereabouts, I'll be stumped"

"What about Bruno? Will he help?" Del asked.

"He said he would. He's talking to the detective who
works missing persons for me"

"Well, I don't care if you find the lunkhead or not. I just
want my artist functioning. If she follows my directions, she
can have a successful career and I can recover some of the
money I've invested in it "