I RETURN TO MY CONDO, throw tuna and lettuce on a plate. Fine dining and the single girl. My evening looms bleakly before me. I consider TV, debate checking out Facebook. I’m coiled like a spring. I finish eating, then go down to start my car. This is as good a time as any to accost Edith. Find out why she warned me off the case. Find out why Vital Statistics says I don’t exist and why the only living person who knows where I came from won’t talk.
I park across from Edith’s townhouse. The street is empty, except for a dark van that sits at the corner. The wall of windows behind the screen of cherry trees is black. Maybe she’s out. I jog up to the door, push the bell, wait, push again.
The door opens on the chain. Through the chink, Edith peers at me.
“Edith, I need to talk to you.”
Go away? She’s never spoken to me like this before. “Edith, what’s wrong? Let me in?”
She slams the door shut in my face.
I should walk away, but I can’t. I go round the house to the glass door in the dining area, give it a push. It slides open and I step inside. I find her standing near the front door, body rigid against the wall. “Edith, tell me what’s going on.”
“I can’t,” she whispers.
“Are you sick?”
A fat tear slips down her pale cheek. “Jilly, please, you need to go.”
I take her shoulders in my hands. “This is about Trussardi, isn’t it?”
“That’s absurd.”
“What’s your connection with him?” I persist. “His sister told me you did something for him—‘rendered him certain services’ was how she put it.” She sinks into the sofa and I take a seat next to her. “Edith, you can’t hide from me.”
“If you must know, I came into contact with him in the course of my work. I did my job. That was it.”
“If that’s it, why did you tell me not to take his case, Edith?”
“Because he didn’t do the right thing.” The bitterness in her tone rocks me. “A long time ago, I had a file. Vincent Trussardi was the father involved. I didn’t like how he behaved. In fact, I developed a deep dislike for him. I haven’t seen him in years, but I’ll never forget how he treated his child. That’s why I begged you not to act for him.”
Trussardi had a child? What other secrets does he keep stashed in his past?
Edith goes on. “But now, someone’s sent me a warning. Not Vincent Trussardi. I’ve worked with a lot of lost kids and families, poor and rich, and I’ve come to know things. Someone doesn’t want me to reveal the details of their case. Of course, I never would, but they don’t understand that. They’re unreasonable.” She looks at me, fear in her eyes. “This has nothing to do with Laura Trussardi’s murder. Believe me.”
I do. I’ve seen how ugly child protection cases can get, and not just in the courtroom.
“You should contact the police, get protection.”
“Perhaps. But maybe I’m exaggerating this thing, this threat, if that’s what it is.” She manages a laugh. “Chalk it up to middle age. Menopausal moods.” New tears well up. “I tried to live my life in a way that helped others, Jilly. But sometimes I feel it’s all been for nothing.”
I reach out my arm, and she falls limply against my shoulder.
“You helped me, Edith. You got me through. I was headed straight for the correction center, maybe worse, but you found me a home. You found me the Maynes.”
“No, I didn’t—”
“Hush, Edith.” I hold her at arm’s length, survey her face. “I don’t want to get you into trouble, so I’ll go. But I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“No, Jilly, don’t call me. Don’t come to visit me. If they see me with a lawyer, they might—” She breaks off. “Please.”
Something’s not right here, but I can’t help her if she won’t let me. “Okay, Edith, but I’m here if you need me.” I turn and go.
Not much, but at least it’s something, I think, as I rev my car into gear. I still don’t know anything about my own parentage, but I now understand why Edith didn’t want me to act for Trussardi. He’s a man with a past he’s hiding, a man who did wrong and left the detritus of suffering in his wake. But that doesn’t make him a murderer.
As I round the corner to Burrard, I glance into my rearview mirror. The traffic is steady. Three cars back a break opens, and a dark van glides into the space behind me. It follows me all the way home.