Chapter 30
Friday evening
“I wonder why Gina wanted a candlelight memorial?” Savannah asked Amanda as she parked her Mini in the member parking lot.
“You didn’t really have to pick us up. We could have taken one of those share-ride cars . . . or even a taxi.” Rachel pushed open her door and stepped out in head to toe white except for bright teal eye shadow that covered her entire lid, meeting up with her penciled eyebrow.
“That’s nonsense.” Faith stepped out of the car from the passenger side of the backseat. She was also in white except for a pale purple slash of eye shadow. “You’re too cheap to call a cab.”
“I prefer frugal,” said Rachel.
“It looks like it’s going to be well attended. The lot is nearly full and we’re almost half an hour early.” Savannah looked around. She saw that the public parking garage also received a steady stream of cars.
“That would be something to find out tonight,” said Amanda. “The invitation was from the Dali Museum using their normal member newsletter. Harriet could have asked Gina or Gina could have done this on her own.” Amanda was also dressed in head to toe white including white sandals and white fingernail polish.
Savannah had chosen a white button-down blouse over a light tan pencil skirt. She wore a pair of tan kitten heels. The instructions in the newsletter had been explicit. She wondered if the dress code had a deep philosophical meaning or was it petty to think that Gina was looking for an artistic image that would align with the Dali esthetic. Savannah preferred to think the former.
They entered the museum and followed the quiet, slow moving crowd out to the garden area. A museum employee stood beside a table outside the double doors. He handed them a small white candle slipped through a white paper circle and motioned for them to join the crowd that was slowly filling up the entire garden area.
“There’s those brothers who have an antique shop.” Faith grabbed her sister’s arm and spoke back over her shoulder. “They know lots of gossip. We’ll find you after the service.” They swooshed away.
Savannah walked toward the green bench sculpture. There was a bouquet of white lilies loosely tied with a white satin ribbon around the green stalks that had been placed on the seat. She felt a heaviness slip into her chest and quickly grabbed Amanda’s hand. “I’m glad that you’re here. It didn’t feel right to ask Edward to change his plans to attend. I could be wrong, of course. We haven’t been seeing eye to eye lately.”
Amanda squeezed her hand. “Even when things don’t work out, a first boyfriend is a special, special person.”
They stood in front of the bench until Savannah felt the sadness lift and a renewed sense of resolve replaced it as she regained her composure. “Let’s move closer to the speaker’s podium. I want to hear what Gina and Harriet have to say.”
The crowd began growing larger as more and more participants dressed in white arrived. It was taking on the look of a Victorian garden party. Conversation was hushed. Even so, the noise level was beginning to rise. Savannah recognized quite a few of the faces she saw at the exhibit opening reception. She caught a glimpse of Dennis’s mother, Betty, and Chuck was looking uncomfortable in just a white sport jacket, white shirt with no tie, over khaki trousers. Lucas was there and had found an all-white uniform.
A few minutes after seven o’clock, Gina and Harriet approached the podium.
Gina’s face was flushed dark and she pulled at the Dali red lips on a black background scarf that was the blatant bit of color in her all-white blouse and her white pencil skirt. Except for her bloodred stiletto heels, of course. Following aggressively closely was Harriet and the reason for Gina’s ire became obvious. Contrary to the instructions in the newsletter invitation, Harriet wore unrelieved black from head to toe. A jaunty black fascinator perched just over her right eye.
Gina placed a sheet of paper on the podium, then tapped the microphone twice politely to not only get everyone’s attention, but also to make sure that it was on. She looked behind her and nodded to Lucas Brown. He stood at a military parade rest position, but his eyes were scanning the crowd. Gina also threw a tiny glance at Harriet.
Gina cleared her throat and stared at the memorial celebration participants. “Thank you.” She paused a moment. “Thank you.” She waited until the crowd fell into silence. “My dear friends, thank you for attending this candlelight memorial for Dennis Lansing. He was a local boy who overcame a troubled misspent youth to rise to the top tier of an elite group of artists. His vision, energy, and creativity never failed to please his benefactors and clients. We have lost a brilliant star. Our memorial tonight pays homage to his enormous talent. I believe we have the peak expression of his talent in our gallery. As a special tribute to his memory, this exhibit has extended its run to the end of next month.”
There was a murmuring rustle through the crowd forcing Gina to tap the microphone again to gain the attention of the crowd. “Please, please.” She paused until there was silence. “Our memorial program tonight is as follows. We’ll have a few words from Dennis’s widow and business partner, Harriet Lansing, followed by the lighting of our candles, during which Kate Finburg, star soprano with the St. Petersburg Opera Company, will perform. At the end, we’ll say our farewells to Dennis by leaving our candles by the green bench sculpture and quietly exiting the garden.” She waved her hand toward Harriet and stepped back to stand by Lucas. Her hands were clenched and her posture stiff.
Harriet spread a small crumpled piece of paper flat onto the podium, then she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Her voice was high and thin as she read her testimonial directly from the paper without looking up. “Dennis was the guiding light of my life. He calmed my nerves as the world turned and now here we are at the edge of night trying to understand that it will be another world without him here.”
Amanda leaned over and whispered softly into Savannah’s ear, which surprised Savannah so much that she jumped. “She must have written that. It’s horrible. Did she think we wouldn’t recognize the names of those daytime TV soap operas? She could have paid someone to write a beautiful testimonial. That’s unbelievably crass and petty. Do you think this is an act of some sort?”
“If she’s hoping for a distraction from being investigated, this is an epic fail.” Savannah shook her head slowly.
Harriet grabbed the crumpled speech and crushed it into a ball. She looked around for somewhere to dispose of it, but ended up just holding it. She stepped back an awkward distance away from Gina.
After Harriet left the podium, Lucas walked over to Gina and lit her candle with a white butane lighter. She allowed the flame to strengthen and walked out into the crowd and lit several of the candles near her. “Please share the light of his spirit.” The visitors began lighting each other’s candles and soon the garden was dotted with the flickering of several hundred candles.
Gina returned to the podium. “Next, we have Kate Finburg, from the St. Petersburg Opera Company. She grew up here and will sing an aria from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. It’s about deep love and tragic loss.” She nodded to a tall, thin, young black woman with wild curly hair and bold pink lips who was dressed in long white robes.
The opera singer stepped in front of the podium and solemnly scanned the guests until absolute silence fell, then rested her sad gaze on the green bench. She leaned down to the microphone and announced, “I am singing the aria ‘O Mio Babbino Caro.’” She lifted her head to look at the sky and began to sing in a lilt that portrayed the tragedy of a life lost before it began.
Savannah thought the selection was perfect and looked at Amanda to see her reaction. Amanda was in thrall with her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open.
Bending down to Amanda’s ear, Savannah whispered, “Is this your first live opera?”
Amanda nodded as tears slipped down her cheeks.
Savannah gave her a side hug. “You’ll never be able to live without it again.”
The clear notes of the diva rose sweetly to a full and rich finale that left a haunting echo hanging large in the warm air.
A resounding slap broke the spiritual silence and everyone turned around and saw Gina holding the side of her face. “You can’t do that!” She stepped back from Harriet and her eyes flashed murder. Harriet screamed, “I’ll have you fired. I can do that now that I’m rich.”
“Rich isn’t going to help you in jail, you killer,” shrieked Gina as she lunged toward Harriet with clutching hands and grabbed her by the throat.
Lucas Brown pulled Gina away from Harriet. “Stop that! Are you two crazy?”
Several members of the crowd began to move toward the disruption. Before anyone got close, Officer Joy Williams suddenly appeared at Lucas’s shoulder. “Thank you. I’ll take it from here. Ladies, this is disruptive behavior. We’re going to have a serious discussion. Is there somewhere inside where we can talk?”
Gina adjusted her skirt and glared daggers at Harriet. “There’s the Community Room just inside.”
“Let’s go.” Officer Williams held both women by their elbows and then looked into the crowd. “Savannah,” she called.
“Yes, Officer Williams, I’m right here.” Savannah moved out of the crowd, closely followed by Amanda.
“Come along, then.” Officer Williams tossed her head toward the entrance to the museum. “We’re going to have a little cooling-off conversation.” She proceeded to propel the two furious women with her firm grip on their upper arms.
Gina’s assistant promptly stepped up to the microphone with a soothing voice and calmly directed the participants to the next part of the ceremony.
The group arrived at the double doors of the Community Room. “I’ll get that.” Lucas Brown unlocked the doors and opened them both wide to let the five women enter with as little crowding as possible.
“You may as well join us.” Officer Williams nodded to Lucas. “The more the merrier . . . except that this isn’t supposed to be a merry occasion.” She released her grip on both Gina and Harriet.
They grabbed their arms in a mirrored action.
Savannah observed that the furnishings were arranged similarly to the café with four chairs at each table. None of the tables were configured for a large group.
Gina rubbed her arm as if it had been mauled by a bear. “We had a luncheon social here, today. The staff should have removed everything and stowed them away. Why does no one ever follow my orders?”
Savannah motioned to Lucas. “Let’s push a couple tables together so we can at least sit down.”
He hopped to it and in a flash they were sitting with Officer Williams at the head of the table and Lucas at the foot. Gina and Harriet sat across from each other closest to Officer Williams, and Savannah and Amanda took the remaining chairs with Savannah between Gina and Lucas.
“I simply cannot believe the behavior you two displayed here tonight.” Officer Williams looked sternly at Gina and then at Harriet. “You are this close to being charged.” Her fingers indicated an inch. “I haven’t decided what the charge might be, but I’m sure I could figure something out. Maybe inciting a riot would work.” She looked back at Gina. “You’re a different case. I don’t think the museum board of directors would be willing to continue your employment if you were arrested and charged with assault.”
Savannah leaned into the table. “Why did you do it?”
Harriet made a choking noise in her throat. “She was Dennis’s lover.” She covered her face with both hands and propped her elbows on the table. “I found a note in one of Dennis’s pockets as I was getting them ready for donation.”
“Well, it certainly didn’t take much encouragement on my part,” Gina said. “He was starved for affection. You were so focused on taking possession of your big trust fund that he was desperate for someone to help him recapture his creative energy.”
“Wait!” piped in Amanda. “Are you saying that Dennis was blocked? He couldn’t create?”
No,” said Harriet. “That is an absolute lie. He was full of new ideas. He said that his life would never be long enough to create everything that he wanted. That’s not true.”
Gina stood up. “And how would you know? When was the last time you even shared a room, much less a bed?”
“This is ridiculous. I don’t have to listen to this.” Harriet looked at Officer Williams. “Do I have to stay here and be ridiculed and insulted while my murdered husband is in the morgue?”
“It depends.” Officer Williams turned to Gina. “Are you going to press charges?”
The room quickly filled with silence. Gina narrowed her eyes and you could see the wheels spinning through her choices. She looked down at the table. “No. It wouldn’t be good for the Dali or for Dennis’s legacy.”
Officer Williams turned to Harriet. “Are you going to press charges?”
“No, I’m just fine.” Harriet flounced out of the room and tried to slam the door, but the door closer piston wouldn’t allow her to do anything but push it slowly. She huffed in frustration, then left the room.
Gina stood but nearly fell backwards. She recovered. “If you have nothing else”—she looked at Officer Williams—“I have guests to attend to.”
Savannah pointed a finger in the air. “Speaking of guests, has the guest list shown up?”
Officer Williams rolled her eyes at Savannah in an I should have asked that look. “Right, you were requested to turn that over to us on Monday, along with the names of the employees who were working that night. Where is it?”
“Oh,” said Gina in a quiet voice. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to admit that our server went down that night.”
“That’s quite a coincidence, don’t you think?” Savannah asked.
Officer Williams gave Savannah a quick hand signal to be quiet. “Why have you waited this long to reveal that? We are, in fact, now in the process of serving the museum with a search warrant for your employee records and all paperwork that is associated with Dennis’s exhibit. You could avoid more bad publicity if you would voluntarily turn over everything you have. The Tampa Bay Times is a fair newspaper, but this will make excellent copy.”
“I know, I know. The press coverage has been distressing to the members of the board. I’ve been able to trace a preliminary guest list that was generated prior to mailing the invitations. We have an off-site records facility and our IT manager was able to extract it. Our employee records were not affected by the server crash. I will turn those both over to you tomorrow. Can I go now?”
“No problem. This was a cooling-off intervention. You’re free to go.”
“Lucas, let’s get back to work.”
Lucas nodded, then stood and followed Gina out of the community room. As he was closing the door, he said, “You can stay as long as you wish. I’ll come back later and lock this up.” He smiled at the three of them.
“We suspected that there was an affair,” said Officer Williams. “Did you?”
Savannah nodded to Amanda. “Yes, I’ve been looking into their social media activity and it looks like their absences are at the same times. I haven’t been able to find out where they were meeting, but I still might be able to track that down.”
Officer Williams turned to Savannah. “You’re going to continue your investigation, aren’t you?
“Yes. This is more to me than investigating encrypted records. One of those women is responsible for the death of my first boyfriend. I’ll keep combing through the past for more clues about Dennis’s gang activities, but I think it was one of those two.”