But as I cynically waited for the other shoe to fall, I had a funeral to attend. Anthony Mason had texted that the funeral was today at ten o’clock. Seemed a little early in the morning for a funeral but what is a good time? I hadn’t attended that many funerals to know just what the best time was. And for loved ones, there wasn’t one, I was sure.
The church was on a side street in the older section of Lake Tahoe. Not being Catholic, I wasn’t sure what exactly would happen and glancing a peek at the program thrust into my hand when I entered, I still wasn’t quite sure. But I had some time before the ceremony started and looked to see what I could see. A huge, oval shaped room with many wooden pews faced a long table, crucifix on the wall and a podium. A wall of windows brought in much needed light to the darkened room with a few lights suspended from the high ceiling. High beams made the church resemble a mountain lodge with pine greenery placed here and there.
A man seated at a grand piano off to one side played soft, soothing music for the people who filed in to pay their last respects. And many did. The place was packed which surprised me slightly. I’d gotten the feeling when I met Louis Laparu that he didn’t have many friends. Who knew? Maybe he played Father Christmas at the local orphanage every year and was Man of the Year in Lake Tahoe.
I didn’t see anyone I knew—I didn’t expect to—and was thinking about skipping the burial when I unexpectedly saw Eddie on the periphery of some people. Or I thought I did. After the lovely ceremony, several people rose to say nice words about Louis, I wandered outside holding my hand up against the bright sun. As I fished around in my purse for sunglasses, a man walked up to me.
“Miss James?”
I squinted at him before finding the sunglasses. “Mr. Laparu? Nice to see you again. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” His gaze dropped to his very expensive shoes. “I…ah, would like to apologize for my behavior the other day.”
I pushed the glasses on my face. “That’s all right.”
“No,” he looked at me, “it isn’t. I disrupted you at your place of business—very unprofessional of me—and just threw my assumptions at you. It wasn’t called for and I’m sorry.”
Wow. I didn’t get many apologies. I gave them generally, so this was another first for me. I wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Um, well…”
“I’m sure if you had anything to say to me about my father, you would.”
“Actually, Mr. Laparu, I have a few questions.”
“About my father?”
“Yes.”
He shrugged shoulders in that fine silk suit. “Go ahead. We have a few minutes before heading to the cemetery.”
“Do you know anything at all about what your father did in France? Before coming to America?”
“I know he sold dental supplies to dentists in the Paris area. My father was a salesman, Miss James, and a very good one.”
I chewed on that a moment. That would be how he knew Alain LeBeau, a local dentist.
“He never mentioned a dentist named Alain LeBeau?”
“No, never.”
“Did he ever mention what he did after the war?”
“In what respect?”
“Any sort of activities that seemed secretive?”
He shook his head. “No. My father was close-mouthed about what he did in the war and after. I only know he came over in 1955 and set up his real estate business in San Francisco. He never mentioned anything about his past.”
“Did that seem unusual to you?”
“No, not really. I’ve met a few people from that generation and most of them wanted to forget what happened to them during the war.”
“He never mentioned anything about Nazis?”
Kent stared at me. “You must not know that my grandmother, Louis’ mother, was Jewish, Miss James. The Nazis and what they did to Jews in France was never mentioned when we were growing up. I only found out about my grandmother when my father wistfully talked about how great a cook she was one time when I was around twelve. He never spoke of her again. I assumed she died during the war.”
I thought about that for a moment. “One last question, Mr. Laparu. How was your father’s health on the day I visited?”
He looked away and back. “About the same. He had a bad heart and was under a doctor’s care. That said, he was also 90 years old and had had a good life. Apparently he died sometime in the night. He never woke up, I’m told. I spoke with him about eight that night, after you’d been there, and he mentioned that he was ready to go, if it was God’s will. He felt at peace.”
“At peace with what?”
“Life, I assumed.” His eyes widened. “I’m not sure actually. My father always seemed to hold something back. Maybe you’ll find out what it was.”
It was announced that we should follow the limousine carrying the body of Louis Laparu to the small cemetery up the road. I turned to walk to my car when I definitely spied Eddie Burns up ahead. What was my landlord doing here at Louis’ funeral? I’d never told him about Louis Laparu and he couldn’t have known him so why was Eddie at the man’s funeral?
I took off in a different direction from the long line of cars heading to the cemetery. I felt I could pay my respects in a better way by fulfilling the man’s dying wish. I drove back to Reno to pick up Cindy. I felt a little shaky doing this…this last wish on my own and Cindy volunteered to go with me. After leaving both Napoleon and Baskerville with Mrs. Murphy, I changed to my standard uniform of jeans and a tee shirt to find out the mystery of Louis Laparu.
* * *