Lou Potter pulled his police cruiser into one of the metered parking spots in front of the Endicott Hotel, thankful that he wouldn’t have to walk too far on this windy, rainy morning. In its day, the Endicott had been a grand hostelry, the centerpiece of Monroe, located smack in the middle of Main Street. Thanks to the care of Jake Smith, it remained a fine establishment, although there was nothing trendy about it. The dining room still served pork chops, fried chicken and prime rib, as it always had. And, for breakfast, they served a feast worthy of a farmhand. Sausage and scrapple, eggs, pancakes and fried apples. Lou knew he wasn’t supposed to eat like that – his doctor was always lecturing him about his angina and his test results. But this morning he thought maybe he might stop in the dining room and treat himself, once he finished talking to Miss Mallory. She and her boyfriend were flying out early, and she wanted to speak to him before the airport limo came to pick them up. He’d been forced to skip breakfast at home in order to get here early enough.
Lou climbed the marble steps and opened the large, carved mahogany door to the lobby. The lobby of the Endicott was the kind of place that made you want to sit down and put your feet up. There were several groupings of comfortable armchairs and loveseats in faded velvets, illuminated by old standing lamps with silk shades. The flower arrangements on the many occasional tables were elaborate, and made of silk.
There was a large hearth but the fire was not lit as it customarily was. This struck Lou as kind of sad. Evidence that Jake Smith was distracted and had lost heart for the job after the death of his child. Lou was thinking about where to sit down when the elevator door opened and Laura Mallory came into the lobby, followed by her boyfriend with the glasses and thinning hair. She gave Lou a wave and then looked around anxiously.
‘Your bags are behind the desk,’ said the clerk, emerging from the back. ‘All ready for you.’
‘Oh good,’ said Laura. Even though it was warm in the lobby, she pulled her coat tightly around her, and indicated a gold sofa nearby. Lou, who disliked sitting in sofas, sat down opposite it in a brocaded armchair. The couple sat on the sofa, side by side, holding hands. They both looked extremely tired.
‘So, you two are leaving today,’ said Lou, his hands resting on his thighs.
Skip nodded. ‘Temporarily. We’re going to come back and get Ron when you say it’s all right for him to leave.’
Lou heard the criticism and the disbelief implied. Naturally, these people would find it hard to believe their friend was a killer. It spoke well for them as friends, and for Ron’s ability to command loyalty, but lots of the people filling up penitentiaries had loyal friends and families.
‘Will he be staying with you?’ Lou asked, as if agreeing that it soon would be all right for Ron to leave. He had no wish to pain or antagonize them.
Laura nodded. ‘For a while. Our house is big enough so we won’t be tripping all over each other. It’ll give him a chance to decide what to do. His old boss is eager to have him back.’
‘Well, that’s good,’ said Lou. ‘He seems to have a lot of friends.’
‘He’s a wonderful man,’ said Laura.
Lou sighed. In these domestic things it usually wasn’t a case of one person being bad and the other being good. It was usually about people knowing how to push one another’s buttons. Then, one of them snaps out in rage and you’ve got violence. Hardly ever violence this extreme, but it happened.
‘He didn’t deserve this,’ Laura went on. ‘Well, nobody does. I mean, you always think, “why me?” But that’s one of those questions without an answer. You have to find a way to go on.’
‘That’s true,’ said Lou. For a minute there was an awkward silence. ‘What time’s your flight?’ Lou asked.
Laura and Skip glanced at one another. ‘We’re on different flights,’ Laura explained. ‘I have some … I’m headed to Chicago. Skip is going back to Boston.’
‘Well, I won’t hold you up,’ said Lou. ‘You said on the phone you might have remembered something.’
Laura leaned forward and kneaded her hands together. ‘I’m not saying that I know what happened,’ she said.
‘I understand that,’ said Lou.
‘OK. I was thinking about what you’d asked me. If Jennifer ever confided anything in me …’
‘And …’ he prodded.
‘Well, you know Jenn and I were friends for about five years. Very close friends, but I didn’t know her when … when her sister died.’ She bit her lip and squinted into the dark fireplace.
Uh oh, Lou thought. What’s this all about?
Laura sat up and intertwined her fingers with Skip’s once again. ‘After the funeral, I fell asleep while Skip was reading to me …’
A dream. Dandy. Just what I need. He was not one to rely on dreams, premonitions, or portents. He had been hoping for some real information.
‘And when I woke up, I remembered something that happened.’
Lou felt guardedly interested again. ‘Something that actually happened,’ he said, making sure.
Laura nodded. ‘I never saw these letters, you understand. That’s why I didn’t think of them right away.’
‘What letters?’ Lou said warily.
‘Well, after her sister was … after she died, the family was convinced that the Riley fellow was responsible.’
‘There was no evidence of that,’ Lou said stubbornly. ‘I don’t know how many times we have to tell you people that …’
‘I’m not saying …’ Laura collected herself and began again. ‘You asked me about any enemies that Jennifer might have had. You can have an enemy and not know who it is.’
‘I suppose,’ said Lou, frowning.
‘Jennifer was trying to find some kind of proof that Brian Riley had killed her sister. She talked to the doctor who examined her body, and to people that knew Brian …’
‘She talked to me,’ said Lou irritably. ‘And I told her what I’m telling you now …’
‘I know, I know,’ said Laura. ‘I’m talking about the letters. Sometime after she came home here, trying to dig up some information, she received a couple of letters. Anonymous letters.’
‘Oh?’ said Lou.
‘As I said, we met after this happened, so I never saw the letters. But I remember her telling me about them. Basically, the letters were threatening. They told her to stop involving herself, stay out of it or else. That kind of thing. I don’t remember the wording.’
‘Did she … have any idea who sent them?’ Lou asked.
‘Well, naturally she thought it was Brian.’
‘Naturally.’
‘But it wasn’t. I forget how they determined that. Wait, I remember. They were postmarked from here, but he had gone away after Tanya’s death. I think he went to California. Anyway, she was satisfied that he hadn’t sent them. But she wondered who had. After a while, I guess she stopped caring who sent them. There was nothing she could do.’
‘Well, it’s interesting,’ said Lou. ‘But I don’t see how it could matter now …’
‘Well, you wondered if she had enemies. I’d say she had at least one enemy in this town. Wouldn’t you?’
Lou nodded. ‘That could be.’
A horn sounded outside and Laura and Skip exchanged a look. ‘I’ll go see,’ he said. He got up and walked over to the front door and looked out. Then he nodded and walked over to the front desk.
‘The airport bus,’ she said apologetically. Lou shook his head. ‘You were saying?’
‘Well, I got to thinking. If she still had the letters, maybe your department could determine who sent them. Fingerprints or whatever. I think now you can identify the sender by DNA from saliva on the envelope. They might still be among her belongings. I didn’t want to upset Ron with this until I mentioned it to you.’
Lou nodded slowly, avoiding her gaze.
‘Honey,’ Skip called from the door of the hotel.
Laura stood up. ‘I don’t know if that helps, but it seems to me it might be important. I’m sorry to have to run …’
Standing up, Lou said, ‘It’s all right. Thanks for telling me. And I will see to it that the matter is looked into.’
He watched the two of them pick up their bags, hurry down the steps and bundle into the van. He waved to them, and he could see their hands, like white moths against the tinted windows, waving back. Then he turned slowly and headed toward the dining room.
‘Sit anywhere,’ said the hostess, indicating the half-empty pink room with its snowy linen and mirrors. Lou walked to a nearby table and sat down.
A young girl in a white shirt, gray skirt and a ponytail came up to him and smiled brightly into his ashen face. ‘Coffee?’ she chirped.
Lou nodded, and she filled the cup. ‘I’ll be right back,’ she said.
Lou put his forearms against the tabletop and lifted the cup toward his mouth.
The cup shook in his hands. Brian, he thought.
He took a sip and the coffee hit his stomach like a rabbit punch, backing up and burning his esophagus. Lou tried to burp, to get rid of the burning sensation, but he couldn’t. He fumbled in his pocket for an antacid tablet and popped it in his mouth. His mind was churning along with his stomach.
It had been such a long time since Tanya Smith had died. One of those things that people got all upset about at the time, and then it blew over. Sweat broke out on his forehead, and he mopped it with the large linen napkin.
Lou never could understand, not for the life of him, why Jennifer refused to let it go. People slipped in the shower every day. She seemed unable to grasp that fact, no matter how many times she heard it. She was determined to try and ruin Brian’s life with her suspicions. She didn’t realize the anguish she was causing, going on about it like she did. And now Jennifer was dead, and once again there were people trying to implicate Brian. It never seemed to end.
If only Brian had not been acting so recklessly lately. Disregarding Lou’s warnings. Still trying to get to Dena Russell. He didn’t seem to understand that there was only so much you could do. Only so many times you could keep something quiet. Cover it up. Even when you knew you were doing what you had to. Doing what was best for everyone. But, even as he thought it, he recalled his conversation with Laura and Skip just minutes ago. She had been saying what a wonderful man Ron was, and Lou had been thinking that it was difficult to believe the worst of the people you cared for. Like Brian …
No, Lou thought again, absently rubbing his gut, waiting for the antacid to kick in.
It was impossible. Brian’s behavior had been – annoying, not dangerous. Men who harassed their wives or girlfriends weren’t killers. Not usually. It was something men understood about other men. You didn’t have to explain it to everybody. The occasional flare-up with a woman didn’t mean a man was bent on murder.
No, it couldn’t be, he tried to tell himself.
But, of course, it could. Lou was not a fool. He knew that such things did happen. It was just that he’d gone so far in protecting him, he thought. People were beginning to question his motives, and he couldn’t let them find out. Even Tyrell, whom he had trusted, and taken under his wing, was questioning him now. And what would happen if these meddling friends of Jennifer’s got their way? Dredged up these old letters. What if everything started to come out into the open?
A pain scalded the inside of Lou’s chest like a branding iron. The girl in the ponytail came up to Lou’s table, pencil and pad in hand. She looked down at the gray-complexioned man clutching his chest and her smile faded. ‘Is something wrong, sir?’ she asked, a faint sound of worry in her voice.
Lou looked up at her, his eyes dull. ‘I think I need a doctor,’ he whispered.
‘Right,’ she said. Then she turned, calling out the name of the hostess in a high, urgent voice.
Lou stared at the coffee cup without seeing it. He was seeing Brian, all innocence, smiling up at him. It felt as if an iron claw was reaching into his chest and squeezing on his heart. Around him, he could hear murmurs of concern, people pushing their chairs back and standing up to stare. He wanted to tell them to sit down and stop gaping at him, but all his energy was focused now on that burning hole in his chest, the shooting rays of pain that were in his shoulder, his arm. He reached for the glass of water at his place and missed, knocking it over. Water ran everywhere as Lou’s weakened hand groped and then grasped the white linen of the tablecloth. He held onto it, trying to stay upright, but it was no use. There was a crash of silverware and glass breaking as Lou toppled from his seat, and hit the floor.