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The Photograph
Vivian slammed the phone down. “No one is answering at Nora’s, either. Something is wrong. I’m going back to my apartment, Preston. I need to find Bella.”
“If Nora is with her, I’m sure she’s fine.”
“It’s not like Nora to go off on her own and pick Bella up like that, and how did she know Bella was at Maria’s and not with me?” Vivian grabbed her purse and carry bag.
“All right, but we’re going with you,” Preston said. “Let’s take your car, Nick. It’ll be less conspicuous in case the police are watching her building.”
Vivian led the way to the carport. Without a word, she opened the passenger door and waited for Preston to get into the back seat.
He looked at her like she had three heads. “Even if I could squeeze back there, you’d need a mammoth shoehorn to get me out.”
She folded her arms in front of her. “Well, I’m not sitting back there.”
Nick waited in the driver’s seat, impatiently strumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “Will the two of you give it a rest? There’s plenty of room for all of us in the front seat.”
Vivian finally got inside, but with both Preston and Nick standing over six feet tall and well-built, she was cramped and shoulder-to-shoulder with the two of them. So, after Nick headed down the road, she kept nudging Preston’s arm over to give herself more room the entire way.
When they reached the boutique, Vivian told Nick to park in the alley. Preston objected, but Nick pulled into the alley anyway and handed Vivian the keys to her building. She collected her bags and hurried to the side door, but it was already unlocked. Thinking Nora was here, she pushed the door open and went inside.
Nick was right behind her. “Holy crap...”
Preston joined them and ran his hand through his hair. “What the hell...”
Vivian stood there in shock. The entire back room was a disaster, as though a cyclone had hit. All the furniture had been tipped over. Rolls of fabric, sewing equipment, tools, and papers covered the floor in a haphazard mess. Vivian rushed into the display room and caught herself at the doorway. Every shelf and rack of clothing had been emptied, with dresses, blouses, skirts, sweaters, and lingerie spread across the floor.
Practically in tears, she ran through the back room to the hallway, passed by the storage room, and raced up the stairs.
“Vivian, wait!” Preston shouted. “The person might still be here.”
She ignored him and saw her apartment door was wide open. “Bella!” she cried out as she stepped inside. Like downstairs, the place was in shambles, so much so, she could barely walk into the living room.
Preston joined her. “Our mystery man was here looking for the coins.”
“I realize that!” Vivian set her bags down and picked up a few books off the floor, along with nicknacks, pieces of a broken vase, and some loose papers as she slowly made a path to the kitchen. “It’ll take me a while, but I can clean up this mess. I want to know where Nora and Bella are.”
Both Preston and Nick helped her. “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Preston said. “You and Nora seem pretty close. She probably got your message this morning and stopped by around noon to make sure you were all right. If she saw the mess downstairs, she might have called the police, and that’s why they were looking for you at Carole’s. They probably asked Nora who your closest friends were.”
“If that were the case, Maria would have seen the police here and told me about it.”
“That’s true.”
“Maybe this guy showed up after Nora left,” Nick suggested.
Vivian stood there, thinking about it. “Nora is a bit of a worrywart. It’s certainly possible that she was concerned and came by to check on me, especially since I’ve been acting strangely all week. She also knows I leave Bella with Maria once in a while, but that doesn’t explain why she would take Bella with her.” All the blood suddenly drained from her face. “It took hours for someone to do this much damage. What if Nora came here and caught him in the act?”
“Was anyone with Nora when she picked Bella up?” Nick asked.
“Maria didn’t say. I just assumed she was alone.”
“Why don’t I go next door and ask her?” he suggested. “If Nora was alone, there’s probably nothing to worry about.”
“Be careful what you tell her, Nick,” Preston said.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be right back.”
Vivian watched him leave. “Preston, I don’t care about the coins anymore. I’m worried about Nora. We need to call the police.”
“And tell them what, Vivian? The first thing they’ll ask you about is the red jacket on the dead woman. You might be able to get away with saying you sold it to her weeks ago, but how are you going to explain why someone ransacked your home and business? Are you going to tell them your husband stole a coin collection worth two million dollars, and someone was here looking for them?”
She glared at him. “Sometimes, I really hate you.”
“No, you don’t, Vivian. You hate the situation, and I don’t blame you. The trouble is, I don’t trust the police, and you shouldn’t either. Don’t forget that you’re not one of Joe Shaw and Captain Kynette’s favorite people right now. They’d like nothing better than to charge you with...well, just about any crime simply to get you out of their hair. Let’s wait and see what Nick finds out at Maria’s before we think the worst, okay?”
The telephone rang. “Maybe that’s Nora.” Vivian carefully stepped over the items on the floor and grabbed the phone. “Hello? Oh, Lucky...I was hoping you’d call. I have a quick question for you. On Wednesday, I think you saw me leave Brookdale Cafeteria with a gentleman around lunchtime. I thought he was a potential client, but since then, I discovered he gave me a false name. You wouldn’t happen to know who he Is, would you?”
Vivian listened closely as Lucky explained the man’s name was Rocco Rizzoli, a second-rate hoodlum who did odd jobs for a price. He told her that he wondered what she was doing with him, so he did some digging and found out that Joey Carnival had hired Rocco to keep a close eye on her. Lucky wanted to warn her about it, but he couldn’t get in touch with her.
“I had no idea. Thank you, Lucky. I appreciate it.” Vivian hung up yet didn’t move a muscle. Now, on top of everything else, she needed to worry about some lying crook trailing her. Of course, it was her own fault for making a pact with the devil. One thing was for sure. Rocco had nothing to do with the coins.
“Did he give you the imposter’s name?” Preston asked.
“Yes, but he doesn’t have anything to do with this...” She glanced around the kitchen. Every drawer and cupboard had been emptied with pots, pans, silverware, coffee cups, and glasses dumped on the counter and floor.
“How do you know he isn’t involved? What’s his name?”
“It doesn’t matter, Preston,” she said as she shoved some cooking utensils back into one of the drawers. “I’m telling you. He’s not involved. You’re just going to have to trust me.”
“Trust is a two-way street.”
“And there lies the problem,” she replied flatly.
Nick returned and joined them. “Maria said Nora was alone when she came by, and she was taking Bella to the park. Has Nora ever done that before?”
“A few times, but only after talking to me about it first,” Vivian said. “Beverly Gardens Park is just up the road from here.”
“There you go,” Preston said. “What did you tell Maria, Nick?”
“I lied and said I was Vivian’s brother, and we were having a hard time finding Nora. Pretty clever, huh? Sounds like Nora and Bella are okay.”
“I hope so, but that was five hours ago.” Vivian looked around the kitchen again. She wasn’t up to tackling this mess, so she wandered back into the living room. She grabbed the three large cushions and set them on the couch. Then she opened the end table drawer and began putting the contents back inside, which were in a disheveled pile on the floor at her feet.
She spotted her wedding photograph. It took her a moment, but she picked it up and gazed at it for a few minutes. “Arthur was right, George,” she whispered, not realizing Preston and Nick had followed her into the room. “This is all your fault.”
Preston stepped forward. “Who’s Arthur?”
Vivian looked up at him. “Nobody.” Angrily, she tossed the photograph back into the drawer.
It made a clinking noise.
They both stared at it. “Preston?”
“I heard it.” He reached inside the drawer, pulled the photo out, and gently shook the brass frame. It jingled like a tin can full of coins.
“Well, bust my chops, we hit the jackpot!” Nick exclaimed.
“You and your nephew need to read a different book,” Preston snarled at him.
Vivian snatched the picture from Preston, laid it on top of the end table face-down, and carefully tore away at the paper backing. Two dozen silver and gold coins spilled out.
She fell back onto the couch in disbelief. “All this time, they were right here. I was sure George stole them, but I guess deep down, I was hoping I was wrong.”
Preston picked up a few to study them. “These are genuine.”
“What now, Preston?” Nick asked.
“This puts our mystery man out of commission. Now that we have the coins, he doesn’t have a leg to stand on, but we need to find him, whoever he is. He murdered the woman at the observatory, and possibly Tilly. I think Vivian knows who he is.”
She stood up. “Let it go, Preston. The imposter isn’t our mystery man. He had a completely unrelated reason for tricking me.”
“Like what?”
She headed out of the room. “There’s probably a jewelry pouch lying around here somewhere for your precious coins. I’m going to call Nora and see if she’s home now.” Vivian went into the kitchen, grabbed the phone, and dialed the number. “Hello, Nancy, it’s Vivian Steele again. Is Nora there? What do you mean, she never came home last night? But you said...no, I don’t know where she is. That’s why I’m calling. When was the last time you saw her? All right, I’ll let you know if I hear from her.” She hung up. “Preston!”
He and Nick rushed into the kitchen.
“Nancy thought Nora was sleeping this morning when I called, but when Nancy checked on her, Nora wasn’t in her bedroom. She’s convinced Nora never came home last night. She hasn’t seen Nora since yesterday morning.”
“Nora worked at the boutique yesterday, didn’t she?” Preston asked.
“Yes, but I decided to close early to go to Carole’s. Wait, Nora told me that she was going to Ocean Park Beach to see the Kenny Baker concert after work. She was going there with...”
“Damn it!” Preston swore. “Vivian, where are your sketches?”
“By the front door.” She and Nick followed him into the other room and watched him rummage through her carry bag.
Preston pulled out one of the drawings and studied it. “I know where I saw this painting before, the one of Hollenbeck Park from the movie.” He showed them the sketch. “It was hanging on the wall in Freddie’s motel room.”
