The Girl in White Pajamas Page 17

  “Have you heard anything from your car insurance company?” he asked.

  Bailey sat rigid, staring at the screen without speaking. When Bogie was about to return to his work, she said, “They denied all the claims.”

  “Why?”

  “I guess my insurance wasn’t in effect. There was some sort of mix-up, and it was cancelled.”

  “What kind of mix-up?”

  She shrugged. Her fingers moved over the keyboard, and she ignored him.

  Bogie stared at her back realizing that she was on the hook for thousands of dollars to replace her car and all the others she damaged. Four years earlier, he would have gotten steamed, sat in the kitchen chain-smoking and killing a six pack of Buds. Now that his options were more limited, he walked in the kitchen and had a bottle of spring water then did some isometric exercises until he heard Angel unlocking the cellar door.

  Opening the door into the kitchen, Angel grinned. “Qué paaaaasa?”

  “Same shit!” Bogie answered sourly.

  “Hey, man, you sore about the…” Angel pointed to an area over his eye where Bogie still had a bandage.

  Bogie studied Angel and the corner of his mouth twitched. Angel had two black eyes and a cut lip. “I’m coming back tomorrow and finishing the job,” Bogie said flatly.

  “Dream on, old man!” He then glanced from Bogie to the dining room where Bailey was sitting at her desk working on the computer with her back to them. Angel pointed his thumb toward her and raised an eyebrow.

  Bogie nodded then motioned for Angel to follow him down the cellar steps.

  “Anybody at the nursery school see this person watching Isabella?” Bogie asked.

  “Not according to the teacher. Izzy was scared and told her some big monster person was watching her and tried to reach over the fence and touch her. None of the other kids noticed anything because she was in that section alone.”

  “Why was she alone?”

  Angel laughed. “She’d go outside and run. She’d run from the door to the end of the property and back. She’d do that over and over again.”

  Bogie studied him without expression and then said, “Rose told you to say that, didn’t she?”

  Confused, Angel asked, “What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t even get a chance to talk to Rose about this.”

  Bogie shook his head. “I used to do the same thing when I was a kid.”

  “Why?”

  Bogie shrugged. “Too much energy, bored with things around me.” He almost smiled as he remembered his mother throwing shoes at him and the nuns chasing him with a strap or heavy ruler.

  “Well, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. She’s the same way. Maribeth, the teacher, said she’s self-contained and doesn’t ‘play well with others’.”

  “What, she fights with other kids?”

  “Oh, no. She ignores them. She isn’t into kiddie games and things.”

  “She’s three years old,” Bogie said. “What the hell’s she into, working on a cure for cancer?”

  “Maribeth said she’s super smart and the other kids bore her.”

  “That’s Weston speak for ‘the kid doesn’t play well with others’.”

  “See. I told you!” Angel said raising his eyebrows and turning both palms up.

  “And Maribeth just confided all this information to you knowing she could get fired for discussing one of the kids?”

  “Well, I sort of took her out.”

  Bogie laughed. “You really don’t have to fuck all the women you interview. It’s not in your job description. You almost got fired over that other woman.”

  “She seduced me,” Angel said simply.

  “She’s a witness! Her testimony might be a tad tainted if anybody finds out the two of you…”

  Angel just grinned. “Hey, man, I’m just a love machine!”

  35 CHRISTMAS IN APRIL

  Weston, Massachusetts

  At eight o’clock in the morning, Isabella looked out the front window while Angel removed the black covering from it. She pointed to the US Mail truck that stopped in front of the house. The driver got out and carried two fairly large boxes that appeared to be heavy. He rang the doorbell and Angel unsnapped his shoulder holster under the arm. He motioned for Isabella to move away from the window. She stepped back and watched Bogie coming down the stairs. “What’s going on here?” Bogie asked.

  “Looks like a couple packages are being delivered,” Angel said.

  Bogie yelled up the stairs. “Bailey did you order something?”

  “No,” she answered.

  Bogie shouted to the closed bathroom door. “Kim, did you?”

  “No!”

  Bogie gestured for Angel to stand to the side with Isabella. “I’ll answer the door. If anything goes wrong, shoot!” Bogie accepted the packages from the mailman and looked at the return address.

  “Who are they for, Da-dee?” Isabella asked excitedly.

  “I’m not sure yet,” he answered seeming distracted. As he looked at the return address, he said, “Leave them right here! Don’t touch them!” Bogie grabbed his cell phone and made a call. “James, this is Bogie. Did anyone in that house send two packages to Isabella?”

  Bogie listened then asked, “And she had you carry those frigg’n boxes down to the post office?” After a few seconds, he said, “It doesn’t matter! She had a hell of a nerve! I don’t think she was being cute or funny! I appreciate this, James. You take care!” Bogie sighed as he ended the call. He reached in his pocket and took out his key-ring. He chose a small, plastic bottle with a label reading Iron City Beer from among the keys. He removed a small, sharp tool from the inside of the bottle and made one quick slice across the top of each box where it closed. Opening the lid, he looked at the contents then motioned for Isabella to come over to the boxes.

  “Mandie sent these to you! These were books your mother gave Mandie when she used to be her babysitter.”

  Isabella’s face lit up and she held her hands to her heart. “All these books! For me?”

  Bogie carried the books upstairs to Isabella’s room as she followed him. “Look, Da-dee, ‘Stuart Little’. That’s one of my favorites!” The child’s excitement was palpable as she carefully placed the books on her shelves. Standing in the doorway, Bailey watched as Bogie sadly opened one of the books inscribed To my little sister, Mandie. While Isabella excitedly placed her books on the shelf, Bogie looked at Bailey and saw the hurt in her eyes. When she opened her mouth to say something, he looked at her and shook his head.

  “This is so wonderful!” Isabella exclaimed. “All these stories for me! Isn’t Mandie wonderful?”

  As Bogie nodded, an envelope fell out of one of the books. It was a letter addressed to him from Bailey. “That’s the one I sent you last year,” Bailey said softly.

  Bogie gingerly picked it up and put it in his pocket. “I’ll read it later. You’ve got to get to work.”

  Bailey returned to her room to finish dressing as Isabella continued to stack her shelves. Christmas in April!

  36 MANY QUESTIONS, NO ANSWERS

  Bogie, Isabella and Angel headed for Lincoln Street and R&B Investigations after dropping Bailey off at her office where Jesus took over her protection. When she entered their building, Isabella exclaimed that the décor was the most beautiful in the world. She repeatedly told Rose what a wonderful place this was.

  Isabella wandered to the back and entered the room where the men practiced martial arts. Although her father thought the room smelled of too much sweat and testosterone, Isabella believed it was one of the best places on earth, better than Disney World.

  While Isabella stood in a corner watching the men, Bogie and Rose walked into the conference room and sat at the table. Bogie slid an opened envelope with Bailey’s letter inside over to Rose and ran his finger down a sheet. He looked up at Rose. “You don�
�t have your hours here.”

  “Gratis,” she said absently as she read the letter.

  “You don’t have to—”

  “I know. It’s for you, not her.”

  “Thanks, Rose. I’ll transfer the money into the business account and I’ll be in your debt.”

  She folded the letter again and looked at him. “You already are, Sport. It’s been days, and nothing’s happening. How much longer do you plan on bleeding money?”

  Bogie shrugged. “Trust me. I’m not happy about this. It’s not just about the money. I feel like we’re not getting anywhere. It’s time to rattle some cages.” When Rose’s eyebrows went up, he added, “Have you noticed how Jack’s been invisible? Since he’s living about twenty feet from Bailey, that’s not easy. And Rubin! I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since I’ve been back. He’s her uncle. He was my attorney. Every time I come into the office, he’s already gone for the day. And George, I know George is covering up something. He won’t even look me in the eye. If we’re not talking about Isabella or superficial crap, he’s got nothing to say.”

  “What! You’re going with some sort of conspiracy theory?” Rose asked.

  “No, I’m thinking they all know more than they’re saying. I’m getting really annoyed now! Their silence is wasting time and costing me a lot of money! Meanwhile, Margarita and Carlos are fighting; and I’m really pissed at Amanda. I’m sitting here with my thumb in my ass while my family’s going off the rails.”

  “What are you talking about?” Rose asked

  “Remember that heavy suitcase Amanda brought with her to Boston?”

  Rose nodded.

  “She carried all the books Bailey had given her over the years. The ones you shipped with her dolls and things to Florida. Not that she ever read them, but she’s become quite the bitch! She sent them to Isabella. It was unnecessary for her to do that and involve James.”

  “James?” Rose asked.

  “He’s almost eighty years old and she had him carting those fuck’n boxes down to the post office so she could make a bitch point!”

  “A bitch point? What the hell’s that?”

  “A point a bitch makes!” Bogie said angrily. “And you know what else?” He pointed to the letter on the table. “That letter was sent to me over a year ago. Mandie had it all this time!”

  Rose picked up the envelope and looked at the postmark. “And you just got it now?”

  “Mandie sent it along with the books! I don’t think she planned on my being there when the boxes arrived.”

  Rose shook her head.

  “No excuses for her?” Bogie asked since Rose was always Amanda’s chief defender.

  Rose shook her head again. “I’m very disappointed in her! I don’t know if you heard about how she talked to Ann. Granted, Ann was dead wrong to insult Zoe, but Amanda had no business speaking to Ann the way she did. Pop always says that two wrongs don’t make a right. And this letter! This is way over the line. Keeping a letter from you! I understand she was hurt that Bailey asked her to hand you a letter four years ago, but that didn’t authorize her to censor your mail.”

  “Thank you!” Bogie said.

  “For what?” Rose asked.

  “Agreeing with me for a change. She’s spinning out of control! How bad was she with Ann?”

  “Pretty bad! It was not one of her finer moments. Oh, and just for shits and giggles, Amanda told Annie that Zoe wasn’t the one who got the answers to the famous exam that led to them being expelled. Amanda was.” As Rose watched Bogie’s jaw tighten, she said, “Listen, Don Quixote, you’ve got enough windmills to chase right now, save that battle for another day!”

  Bogie nodded. “Any word on how the police investigation is going?”

  Rose said, “Forensics picked up some wool fibers from under Bud’s nails. The fibers won’t do much good until they have something for comparison. They could be from a coat, but nobody believes the killer was that close. Oh, and this is strange—when they found him, Bud was on his back, but he was shot in the back of the head.”

  “Somebody moved him?” Bogie asked.

  “Or turned him over to make sure he was dead.”

  “That’s creepy! A .45 in the back of the head does the job. It’s not necessary to second guess it.”

  “Speaking of a .45, Bud owned one but they can’t locate it in his apartment.”

  “If his place is as much of a shithouse as Jeannie’s, they wouldn’t be able to find two elephants and a gorilla in there! What are they looking for? They’re thinking he committed suicide with a .45 to the back of the head?”

  Rose laughed. “Hardly! There is the possibility he was killed with his own gun, though.”

  “Do they have anything for comparison?”

  Rose shook her head. “He never fired a gun on the job and never carried the .45. It just came up when they were running computer searches.”

  Bogie nodded. “So! What did you think of the letter?”

  Rose shrugged. “I feel bad! It’s obvious that Bailey loves you. She’s sorry, and she wanted you to know about Isabella. What are you going to do?”

  “What I should have done a long time ago. I’d better get Isabella. She’s probably in the way in there.”

  “No,” Rose said holding up her hand. “Leave her here. I think she’s having a good time.”

  37 WARRIORS – OLD AND NEW

  At a little after two in the afternoon, Bogie walked down School Street and stopped at number twenty-seven. The small building housed a Starbucks and boutique-type stores on the street level while several attorneys and accountants had offices on the floors above. Jack Hampfield’s office was on the second floor. George looked stunned when Bogie walked through the door into the tiny reception area that barely had room for George’s workstation and two hardback visitor chairs. “Hi! What?—”

  “I want to see Jack,” Bogie said then gave him a Bogie smile.

  “He might be busy.”

  “I’ll wait,” Bogie said then sat down.

  George pushed his long hair behind his ear, stood up and walked to Jack’s office. Bogie studied George’s back wondering if his black suit was an Armani. It looked good, better than his own that seemed boxy-looking compared to George’s suit.

  George came back in a few minutes. “He’s with clients, but he’ll see you after that.”

  Bogie nodded and George quickly went back to working on his computer.

  Two attractive, blonde women walked into the small reception area followed by Jack. They said goodbye to George and left the cramped space.

  Walking behind them, Jack extended his hand to Bogie like a politician looking for a vote. After they shook hands, Jack said, “Thanks for the referral to Ann. That was an easy afternoon!” Jack walked into his small office with Bogie at his heels.

  Bogie nodded once as he took one of the two chairs facing the desk. “Make sure you send her a bill. Mail it to the house, and I’ll make sure she gets it. In the meantime, I need to ask you a couple questions.”

  “Wow, sounds like cop talk!” He tried to joke, but Jack wasn’t convincing.

  Staring at Jack, Bogie asked, “Do you know anybody who has a grudge against Bailey?”

  “No,” Jack answered.

  “What about old clients, defendants?”

  “No. Why would clients have a grudge against her? She’s doing personal injury work. Defendants? For the most part, the defendants are represented by insurance companies. You think Liberty Mutual and AMICA are going fifty-fifty on a hit man?”

  “Why is she doing personal injury when she was doing corporate work for Mintz Levin?” Bogie asked.

  “Don’t you think you should ask her that?”

  “But I’m asking you, Jack,” Bogie said sharply.

  Jack shrugged. “It’s no secret. She walked out on Mintz Levin after working eight or nine months as a firs
t year associate. That didn’t exactly make her marketable in another corporate law firm.”

  “Why’d she do it?” Bogie questioned.

  Jack looked at him incredulously. “Are you shitting me?”

  Bogie shook his head.

  “She was pregnant with Isabella, you were gone. She thought everybody there was looking at her sideways after all that publicity surrounding the deaths of your father and Olga. And all the news stories dragged Bailey into the mess and called her ‘the babysitter’. That handle might play well on The Maury Povich Show but doesn’t do too well in a Boston law firm. Besides, she hated the work, so she took off.”

  “She never told me she was pregnant.”

  “I know,” Jack said. “Anyway, by the time she decided to come back, nobody would hire her so she went to work for Rubin.”

  “She pissed away her career,” Bogie said.

  “Not really. Even before the scandal, Bailey complained about corporate work with the long hours, mind-numbing assignments and the ass-kissing that went with it. I don’t think she’s happy working as a lawyer in any capacity.”

  “Then why the hell did she go to law school?” Bogie asked.

  “You’re the one who kept pushing her, telling her she should be a lawyer,” Jack said as he nodded toward Bogie.

  Bogie remembered arguments he had with a very bright, young Bailey who couldn’t make up her mind what she wanted to be when she grew up. “You said that Bailey had an accident and fell on the ice on Saturday, April second. Where’d she fall?”

  “You can ask—”

  Bogie cut him off. “But I’m asking you, Jack.”

  “It was on the street.”

  “What street? What time?”

  “On Washington Street. I don’t know the exact time,” Jack shot back.

  “Was it morning, afternoon, evening?”

  “Evening.”

  “Early evening? Late evening?” Bogie asked.

  “Maybe nine or ten o’clock.”

  “What was she doing on Washington Street at that time?”

  “Coming out of the office. She was working.”