KELLY STARTED in the basement, and I continued looking through the boxes in the closet. She hadn’t been down there twenty minutes, when I heard her yell, “EUREKA!” It had been a rough night; I hadn’t found anything and Kelly was becoming a regular Indiana Jones. Oh, well, I thought, at least we got something.
Kelly brought in an old projector, a screen, and several reels. I assumed the reels would contain something on the family. While Kelly set up the projector, I continued looking through the last box. I found a picture of Judge Taylor and a white girl. They were standing in front of a corner deli in Harlem, dressed in skirts and knee-high socks. I turned the picture over and read: Jennifer and Adrienne Jefferson, ages 6 and 8. I was floored.
Then it all came to me at once. Images from the Four Seasons flooded my mind. I understood now. The Judge was arguing with her sister in that suite. But why? Then I began to think the unimaginable. Did Adrienne have her sister killed? If so, why?
“Kelly, you better take a look at this.”
“What?” I handed her the picture. “Adrienne is Jennifer’s sister?”
“Apparently. You know what that means, don’t you?” I asked.
“The white woman at the Four Seasons is this little girl?”
“Yep.”
“Oh, my God. Then that means Judge Taylor’s own sister could have had her killed. But why?”
“I don’t know. Let’s keep digging,” I said, with renewed vigor. “Who knows what else we’re going to unearth.”
As I continued searching the box, I found more pictures of Adrienne and Jennifer. They were both beautiful women. I saw the pictures of whom I presumed were their parents. I wasn’t sure, so I went to the living room and looked at the black couples on the wall. Removing the photo from one of the frames, I was able to see the names of their parents written on the back. Thomas and Vivian Jefferson, it read. Although I now knew she and Jennifer were sisters, I found it hard to believe that Adrienne was black. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a Nordic nose.
I went back in the bedroom, still puzzled by the difference in the physical characteristics of the two sisters. Maybe Vivian had had an affair with a white man. That would explain the differences. But it would also mean that Thomas would have had to have known about it. Or maybe she had a relationship with a white man before she even met Thomas, and he had accepted mother and daughter. That was plausible, too.
Kelly finally got the old projector to work, and we watched old family movies for about an hour. We learned quite a bit. Thomas married Vivian when Adrienne was a baby. Apparently, she had a relationship with a white man during the Harlem Renaissance. That sort of thing was widespread at the time. But it still left many unanswered questions. For example, if Adrienne was behind the killings, what could possibly be her motive? Sterling Wise knew but refused to say.
After we finished watching the home movies, Kelly took the projector back to the basement while I went through the last box. I found some pictures of Adrienne’s wedding to a white man. It was Jason Bellamy. Kelly came back into the room. I showed her the picture.
“I think we hit the mother lode, Phoenix.” She beamed.
“Kelly, if you were black but looked white, would you hide your identity and live among whites? Or would you stay with blacks?”
“Tough question, Phoenix. You know I’m not racist, but at the same time, there are privileges and advantages to being white. For example, do you think she could have married Bellamy if she looked more like Jennifer, who was darker and had more African features?”
“Probably not,” I said. “Assuming that Adrienne is behind all of the killings, what’s her motive?”
“Maybe she was trying to hide the fact that she was black pretending to be white?”
“Is that a reason to kill that many people?”
“Well, consider what she had to lose, Phoenix. Jason Bellamy was a billionaire. He inherited most of the Bellamy money and the businesses, which he evidently left to Adrienne. If people knew she was black pretending to be white, she might lose a lot of influence.”
“True, but do you kill your own flesh and blood for that? If the world found out, she would still be a billionaire, wouldn’t she?”
“I think there’s something else going on, Phoenix.”
“Me too, Kelly. I think that Martha Blevins probably disapproved of the marriage. According to Coco, Martha was supposed to be brutalized first, then killed.”
“You ready to have Sterling give her a call?”
“We don’t need him any longer. The only thing left to find out is why she did it. Let’s call it a night and get some rest. Tomorrow, we find out everything there is to know about Adrienne Bellamy.”