“I’ll finish that coffee for you, Stephanie,” Josephine said “I think you’ve had enough.” She pulled the cup over to her and took a few sips. “Very good.” She spoke as if she were a bartender evaluating Lurleen for a job.
We waited.
“I want to tell this as concisely as I can,” Josephine said. “I realized something very troubling was happening to Jonathan. He called it a personnel issue at work, and I wondered if it was an issue with women. Men who are Jonathan’s age often get caught up in a midlife crisis that involves women or fast cars or both. He’s ten years older than Stephanie, so the timing would be right.”
“He’s never strayed, Auntie,” Stephanie said.
“How could you possibly know that?” Josephine asked. “He always works late. You assumed it was because of his job, but how could you be sure about that? Anyway, my hypothesis was that one of the women he knew either at work or elsewhere was causing him problems, maybe wanting more than he could give and possibly planning to blackmail him for some relationship they had. Of course, I didn’t know the details, so when he moved out of the house I hired a private investigator and when he came up with nothing I fired him.
“If you want a job done right, do it yourself, that’s always been my motto. The PI listed the women Jonathan had contact with outside the office and that’s where I got the list of people to include in the book club. Nicole was one of them. I knew what she’d done to my nephew’s marriage, so I wondered if she was doing the same thing to Stephanie’s. Perhaps she was getting Jonathan to believe she loved him in order to destroy Stephanie’s marriage.”
Stephanie put both hands in the air. “Stop, Auntie! Jonathan wouldn’t do that.”
“Who knows what he’d do? As for Nicole we had the proof that she would do anything if she thought it might work to her advantage. What I couldn’t figure out was what she might gain by destroying your marriage.”
“So,” I said, “you didn’t think this was about Luke’s death?”
“Honestly, I didn’t know,” Josephine said. “I’ve always believed Nicole was capable of anything, even murder, and I thought we could kill two birds with one stone—find out what Jonathan was up to and see what Nicole might be hiding from her past.
“I gave the list to Stephanie, and she knew all the women. One worked at the CDC and the others, like Nicole, she’d known for ages. One was a neighbor, who seemed particularly keen on joining the group. As it turned out, all of them, except one, were eager to be in Stephanie’s book club.”
I looked over at Lurleen. She’d pulled out a notebook that looked a lot like Lucie’s.
“What’s the name of the woman who refused to come?” Lurleen asked.
“Adeline,” Josephine said. “Adeline Morgan. She works with Jonathan at the CDC in a different division I believe. She’s also a scientist and said she was simply too busy to attend a book club.”
“And the others?” Lurleen asked, pen in hand.
“I’m glad to see you’re taking this seriously,” Josephine said. “Let’s start with Nicole Ash since she’s the first victim.”
“The first victim?” I asked.
“The first victim and I hope the last,” Josephine said. “However, my concern is really for Jonathan and Stephanie. Jonathan is in some kind of serious trouble, and while I think he is a strange man, I don’t believe he is capable of murder, so that would mean the danger is still out there.”
“Nicole?” Lurleen prompted.
“Nicole stayed with Jonathan in the hospital when he went there for evaluation,” Josephine said.
“I thought you told us he refused to be evaluated,” I said.
“He did, but when he had a panic attack that looked like a heart attack, I took him to the ER,” Stephanie said. “They kept him overnight and that’s when Nicole offered to stay with him, the same way she offered to stay with Luke in the hospital. She’s a nurse and my former sister-in-law, so I accepted her offer. I thought we might become friends again.”
“She was never any good,” Josephine said. “You remained too naive to realize that. I wonder if she wanted to be with Jonathan for her own reasons.”
“You think Jonathan was having an affair with her?” Stephanie asked.
“I don’t know, but I do think it’s curious Jonathan wanted her with him and not you.”
“He allowed her to be with him because she was a nurse,” Stephanie said, “not because she was having an affair with him.”
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Josephine said. “You’ve always been too trusting about people.”
Time to change the subject. “Why did Nicole stick around Atlanta after the divorce?” I asked. “As a nurse she could work anywhere, and she probably didn’t need to work.”
“She always said she liked to stay busy, and she wanted to keep the house, I’m sure,” Josephine said, “She also liked her social standing in Atlanta. Don Junior never said a word to the press about why they divorced. As I said he hated scandal. When reporters kept hounding him, he took off for Europe and died there.”
“An accidental death?” Lurleen asked.
Josephine nodded. “Yes. He died three years ago while skiing in the alps. He ran into a tree. There were several witnesses, so at least that death did not involve foul play.”
Stephanie burst into tears. “I’ve lost both my siblings,” she said, “and now perhaps I’m losing Jonathan. How can you talk about all this so casually, Aunt Josie?”
“I’m not heartless,” Josephine said. “I’ve just learned how to keep my feelings to myself. The last thing I want to do is make you miserable. You’re the only relative I have left.”
She hugged Stephanie with what seemed like genuine emotion.
“I simply want to do everything I can,” she said, “to keep you from getting hurt any more than you already have been. As to why Nicole was invited, Stephanie found her number on Jonathan’s cell, which meant Jonathan had been in touch with her, and that was shortly after he was hospitalized with what turned out to be a panic attack.”
“You found it, Auntie. I didn’t want anything to do with searching Jonathan’s phone for messages. He already thought I had betrayed him when I talked to you.”
“Yes. I’ve always been the one to do the dirty work. That’s why I’m so good at my job.”
“Were the messages from Nicole or from Jonathan?” Lurleen asked.
“Both,” Stephanie said.
I stared at Lurleen. “You seem to be suggesting we are going to look into this,” I said.
“Not necessarily. We’ll pass on whatever we learn to the police.”
That stopped Stephanie and Josephine cold.
“This was meant to be confidential,” Josephine said. “I want your help, not an investigation from the police.”
“Please don’t talk to the police,” Stephanie said. “You’ll destroy my marriage, what’s left of it anyway.”
“I’m sorry, Stephanie,” I said. “We have no choice. You know I’m married to an Atlanta police detective, and I’m sure Josephine knew that before she included me in the book club.”
“Of course I knew that,” Josephine said, “but at that point we weren’t talking about a new murder.” She turned to Stephanie. “Nicole is dead and your husband might also be in danger. I can see why the police need to be involved unless you think he’s the one who murdered Nicole.”
“Of course I don’t think that,” Stephanie said.
“Then we can no longer keep secrets from the police or from each other.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Stephanie said. “All I want to do is protect Jonathan and my marriage.”
“Come, come, Steph,” Josephine said. “You are my heart and I’ve known you all your life. I saw how you reacted when I put Nicole’s name on the list of people to be included in the book club. I could see how much you hated her. What was that all about? You knew something about her that I didn’t. What was it? ”
“It’s not what you think. I didn’t suspect they were having an affair, but I knew Nicole better than you ever could. I met her in college, and I was the one who introduced her to my brother and to Jonathan. She was almost the only person I knew in Atlanta when we moved back, and I thought she’d changed.”
I stood, went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Pinot Grigio. “I’m feeling a little frazzled,” I said. “I think I need a glass of wine. Anyone else?”
Lurleen nodded. I poured wine before I spoke again.
“Let me get something straight,” I said. “The text messages you saw between Nicole and Jonathan started after she’d stayed with him in the hospital?”
“That’s right,” Stephanie said.
“Were they friendly, more than friendly?” I asked.
“They started out friendly, but soon they became hostile,” Stephanie said. “Jonathan was angry at Nicole for some reason.”
“The messages stopped shortly before Nicole died,” Josephine said. “I can’t imagine why you thought Nicole could ever be your friend.”
“Why did you think that?” Lurleen asked.
“Nicole got in touch with me immediately when we moved back. She apologized for cheating on my brother. She called to ask if we could start over. She said she was happily married now and had matured. She hoped we could become friends, and once again I believed her.”
“Why?” Josephine asked. “She took Don Junior for a lot of money in the divorce settlement. I think he gave her everything she wanted simply to get rid of her. She had an affair while the rest of us were grieving over Luke. She was in the hospital when Luke died. I thought she was there to help and then I started to wonder. If Luke had grown up he would have cost her a pretty penny.”
“You mean because of the trust your brother established for him?” Lurleen asked.
“Yes, exactly,” Josephine said.
“You still think Nicole might have killed Luke?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Josephine said. “She’s dead and we may never know.”
I looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. It was after eleven. “We have to end this for the evening, but not until you, Stephanie, tell us about your relationship with Nicole. You said you believed she’d changed her ways when you first moved back here. Then it sounds as if you found you were mistaken. What happened to change your mind?”
“It wasn’t something she did to me or Jonathan,” Stephanie said. “I discovered she was up to her old tricks with some new friends. We had coffee a few times, and she introduced me to Crystal. At first the three of us had fun together, dinner or a movie when our husbands were working late. Then we started confiding in each other. Nicole said her marriage to Ben Ash was on the rocks. She said Ben had lost his job and was taking it out on her. She even showed us bruises. We encouraged her to leave him, but she said she couldn’t. He threatened her and she was afraid he would kill her.” Stephanie stopped talking. “Oh God, maybe he did.”
“What did she do that made you think she was up to her old antics?” Lurleen asked.
“We each started talking about problems in our marriages. You’ve heard about mine. I told them how worried I was about Jonathon. I said I couldn’t get Jonathan to go for a medical evaluation.
“Nicole offered to give him some medication that wouldn’t harm him but would scare him into thinking he was having a heart attack, a stimulant of some kind. I agreed to her plan.”
“You fool,” Josephine said. “She could have killed him.”
“I was desperate. We did it on a night Nicole would be working in the ER, and she said she’d make sure she was the one taking care of him. Anyway, I thought she was trying to help me. The same way I thought she was trying to help Crystal a year earlier. Crystal talked about how indifferent her husband was to her. Nicole suggested using a friend she knew who might seem to flirt with Crystal to make her husband jealous.”
“Let me guess,” I said, “the friend was Nate.”
“Yes, but what we didn’t know was that while Nate was taking Crystal out for coffee or drinks, Nicole was spending time with Crystal’s husband.” Stephanie looked at her aunt. “Yes, exactly that kind of time. It all came out when Nate realized he was being used. He unloaded on everyone and I thought I was done with Nicole. She hadn’t changed a bit.”
“So she and Crystal’s husband became an item?” Lurleen asked.
“No. Nicole managed to convince Crystal that all she wanted to do was show Crystal what a bad man her husband was,” Stephanie said. “It’s really ironic. She couldn’t seem to see how bad Ben Ash was, even when he hit her. She’d make excuses for him, claim she was afraid of him or that he’d promised to change.”
“Did you believe what Nicole said,” I asked, “about wanting to help Crystal by showing her what a bad man her husband was?”
Stephanie shook her head. “No. Men were a power trip for Nicole. She liked to play with them, get them to do whatever she wanted, but she had no intention of marrying again. Especially if they couldn’t offer her a fortune, and Crystal’s husband couldn’t do that. I kind of think the only person she ever really loved was Ben Ash, the one man who wouldn’t put up with her antics. Nicole said once she got divorced from Ben she’d never marry again.”
“She certainly got that part right,” Josephine said. “Maybe she got what she deserved; maybe none of this has to do with Jonathan’s problem.”
“Perhaps,” Stephanie said, “except that when I told Jonathan that Nicole was coming to the book club, he got furious and wouldn’t tell me why. ‘You can’t have that woman in our house,’ he said. ‘She looked after you in the hospital, didn’t she?’ I asked. ‘You have no idea what she did to me in the hospital.’ I asked what he meant, but he wouldn’t tell me. I prayed that Nicole hadn’t told him about our agreement, but I thought if she had, he’d be furious at me as well as Nicole.”
“Did you ask Nicole what happened in the hospital?” I asked.
“Of course I did. She said Jonathan was so scared he wouldn’t listen to anything she said. Now, I wonder what it is she might have said to him.”
“Hmm,” Lurleen said, “so do you still think Nicole was connected to Jonathan’s troubles?”
“I don’t know,” Stephanie said. “I only know that if Jonathan finds out what I did to get him into the hospital, that will be the end of us.” Stephanie started to cry. “And now Nicole is dead, so I don’t know what to think or who to trust. Jonathan barely says two words to me. Maybe he already knows what I did.”
She started sobbing more loudly.
“What you did was meant to help him,” Lurleen said. “I’ll grant you it was a mistake to lie to him about it, but it seems Nicole created trouble wherever she went.”
“Enough,” Josephine said. “This is all in the past and Nicole is dead. Spilled milk, to use a tired expression.” She turned to me. “I know you have friends at the CDC, Dr. Brown. You could easily talk to them about the special pathogens branch, and see if they know any of the players, know of any tension in the branch. Perhaps Jonathan’s problems do stem from work, which is what he claims.”
“I can’t get involved with an active murder investigation, Josephine.”
“I’m not asking you to,” she said. “Jonathan is not a suspect in Nicole’s murder. He came home that evening long before Nicole was murdered.”
“How do you know when Nicole was killed?” Lurleen asked.
“I have my contacts,” Josephine said, “as you have yours.”
“Jonathan stayed over that night,” Stephanie said,“not with me but in the guest bedroom.”
“All I’m asking you at this point,” Josephine said, “is to help with a family matter as discreetly as you can. I want to know what is going on with Jonathan, and I still want to know what happened to Luke and my brother.”
“I can’t make any decisions tonight,” I said, “except to give all the information you’ve told us to my husband. He’ll make sure the right people know, and they’ll be in touch with you.”
Josephine wasn’t ready to give up. “You two could ask questions the police would never think to ask and you could do it in a way that wouldn’t scare anyone. Lurleen can make people open up. I’ve seen her do that.”
It was a true statement but it was also something Josephine couldn’t possibly know because Lurleen had been unusually quiet at the book club.
“I don’t respond to flattery from strangers,” Lurleen said.
That was also true.
Josephine shrugged. “You will let my niece suffer rather than help her?”
Somehow, Josephine knew Lurleen’s soft spots as well as she seemed to know mine.
“I don’t want Stephanie to suffer,” Lurleen said. “I’ll do what I can.”
“Good,” Josephine said. “I’ll wait for your decision, Dr. Brown, but I hope your reluctance to help doesn’t put anyone else in danger.”
She marched back through the living room, gathered up coats from the coat rack and urged Stephanie out the door.
I opened the door and a minute later they were gone. I bolted the door, something I normally did only when I was going to bed.
“You really don’t like Josephine, do you?” Lurleen asked.
“It’s not that as much as the fact I want to be done with both of them for the evening.”