The Girl in White Pajamas Page 29
Bailey turned pale and put down her cup of tea.
Bogie motioned them in and said, “Bailey and Jack are going to talk. George and I are going to take Isabella for a ride on the Swan Boats.” He hugged Jack and bumped fists with George.
George picked up Isabella. “Hey, girlfriend, what’s happening?”
Bogie and Bailey rolled their eyes as Isabella recounted every detail of her wonderful trip to Palm Beach and how her parents snatched her away and didn’t bring her kick boxing outfit to the airport. She ended her dissertation by telling them she was watching TV this morning and Da-dee shut it off.
Bogie whispered to George, “What the hell is it with her and Jerry Springer?”
George shrugged. “She’s got some kind of radar for that show. You know she just does it to piss you off, don’t you?”
“Tell me something I don’t know! I’m just curious how she knows how to find it.”
“She’s a very smart little kid.”
Bailey got up from her chair, walked to Jack and hugged him and sobbed.
Bogie quickly helped Isabella get dressed so he and George could have the thrill of yet another Swan Boat ride. As they walked out the main entrance of the hotel, Bogie looked around and took a deep breath. “This is what Boston is all about! About ten days a year the air is clear and beautiful. Those days fall in May, June and October. Every other time it’s up for grabs.”
“Like the weather is better in Florida!”
“It is. Other than hurricane season, it’s pretty good. I could live with a lot less humidity, but what the hell!”
“So you’re entrenched there?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m planning on talking Bailey into relocating there.”
George smiled but Bogie could see the hurt and anger in his eyes. “That shouldn’t be difficult! The house is being foreclosed. At best, Bailey and Jack will probably get charged with obstruction and lose their licenses to practice.”
Bogie shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I even brought up the whole mess. But since I have, I just want to ask you one question.” As George rolled his eyes, Bogie continued, “Why Weston? Why the hell did you move to such an expensive town?”
“Bailey. She was making big bucks working for Rubin and wouldn’t listen when we tried to tell her it wouldn’t last. Sal gave her what she thought was a sweet deal on the house. Even with that she couldn’t make the payments alone, so she kept pushing for us to move into the carriage house and pay one third of the monthly payment.” After pausing for a minute, George said, “That was the biggest fight we ever had. We almost had a smack down over that frigg’n house. Jack wimped out, and I got to go along to get along.”
“Just to live in Weston! Bailey never seemed so driven to climb the social ladder,” Bogie said.
“Jack said she never got over the family losing everything and moving back to Sutton, West Virginia. He said they had the high life in a big house in Nashville. They each had ponies and the works. Then something happened with the IRS. They took just about everything, and Hank almost ended up in prison. He was still embroiled in a lawsuit with his business manager when he died. Their mother and father both crawled in a bottle and rarely came out for air. The kids just got to watch the meltdown. When their plane crashed, Hank was trying to make a comeback.”
Bogie studied George then asked, “So buying a house in Weston was going to make up for it?”
George shrugged. “Maybe to Bailey’s way of thinking. She’s very insecure.”
“I know,” Bogie said softly. “But why was the house only in her name? Why wasn’t it in all your names or, at the very least, in her name and Jack’s name?”
George made a sound that was half a ‘humph’ and half a laugh. “Since Jack’s a sole practitioner, he thought it would be better to have it in Bailey’s name in case someone sued him. He said, ‘if I can’t trust Bailey, I can’t trust anybody’.”
“Uncle George, we have your suitcase,” Isabella announced as they walked.
George glanced at Bogie who said, “She’s the only one who noticed that Louis Vuitton went for a ride.”
George laughed. “Thank you, Izzy. I’m glad you’re looking out for me.”
The child smiled and nodded.
After two rides on the Swan Boat, Bogie called James and told him they’d stop by. It was one-thirty by the time they walked to the McGruder house with Izzy’s short legs getting tired. When the old man opened the door, Bogie introduced him to George and then handed over Isabella as he carried in bags of food from a local restaurant.
“Where’s Trudie?” Bogie asked as he looked around.
“She’s upstairs resting with a bad cold. The skylight window in our room has been leaking. We’ve had a bit of rain and it’s made the room cold and damp.”
“Why didn’t you say something before?” Bogie asked.
“To whom? The Mrs. and Ann have been in Florida.”
“Are there any tools or caulking around here?”
“Maybe in the basement.”
While the others ate, Bogie went down to the basement and came up with some rusted tools and a caulking gun that had seen better days thirty years earlier. He had a roll of silver duct tape around his wrist. “If nothing else works, at least I’ve got the greatest all-purpose tool.” He lifted his arm to show off the tape.
“James, please call upstairs and tell Trudie I’m coming up so she doesn’t have a heart attack when I walk in her room.”
James smiled as he dialed the house phone. “Maybe she’ll think you’re a secret admirer.”
Twenty minutes later Bogie came downstairs carrying the tools and a tray of empty cups and glasses. The window will be okay for a day or so. I’ll send somebody over to replace it. The whole frame’s rotted. Geez, that room’s cold. Can’t you put a space heater in there?”
When James told him they used to have one until it burned out, Bogie went up to the second floor and brought the heater out of Elizabeth’s room. He carried it to the third floor and plugged it in. He came back downstairs telling James to take better care of Trudie. Bogie placed the leftover food in the refrigerator instructing James to make sure Trudie ate. He stuffed bills in the old man’s hand telling him to get Trudie whatever she needed. As the men embraced, Bogie said, “You know it wouldn’t be a bad idea to pinch a bottle of Scotch from the den. A taste would warm you both up, and they sure don’t need it.”
As they walked back to the hotel with Bogie carrying a very tired Izzy, George looked at him and smiled. “You’re really a soft touch!”
“No, I’m not. I’m mean and tough and don’t you forget it.”
“Yeah, sure.”
When they got back to the room, Isabella was fast asleep and Bailey and Jack were sitting on the sofa holding hands. Their eyes were bloodshot and brimming. Tissues were wadded up around them. Bogie placed Isabella in the center of the bed, took off her shoes and covered her. He smoothed her red curls away from her face and kissed her cheek.
Sitting in a semicircle with Bailey and Jack on the couch and Bogie and George on chairs, Bogie looked around and said, “The house is gone. I ran the numbers and had a contractor do a quick and dirty estimate on what it would take to even make the house saleable. The numbers are ugly. I don’t know how that house ever passed inspection to get a mortgage, but that’s another issue. The house is so far under water it’s bumping into the hull of the Titanic. It’s not worth a fraction of the mortgage on it and can’t even be sold on a short sale. Bailey’s credit will be ruined, but I think it’s heading in that direction anyway. The problem here is housing.” Bogie looked at Jack’s sad face. “I have the house in Quincy. Chan, the neighbor, has been trying to buy it for next to nothing since the housing market went down the toilet and the tenants moved out. He and I couldn’t agree on a price so there it sits. It’s not Weston, but it’s a decent neighborhood in North Quincy. Jack, you liv
ed there during the summers when you were in high school.”
Jack nodded.
“You and George can move in there and stay as long as you want, months, years, I don’t care. All you have to do is pay the taxes and utilities. That’ll be a fraction of what you were paying in Weston. George can have the place looking like it belongs on the pages of House Beautiful in no time. Oh, and you’ll probably have to learn Cantonese so you can communicate with the neighbors.”
After tears were shed all around, Jack blew his nose and said, “What about Bailey, she’s not supposed to leave the State?”
“Remember the condo in Allston?”
“You still have that?”
Bogie nodded. “Yes, but it’s being rented now. The building’s a combination of apartments and condos. I’m trying to get a short-term sublease on the third floor. It’s the same two bedroom set up. I should know by four o’clock.”
Bailey looked at him. “Are we going back to Weston today?”
Bogie looked at his watch and shook his head. “We’re way past check out time. You’ll have to suffer through another night at the Four Seasons.” With everyone more relaxed, Bogie continued, “Now we’ve got some really serious problems to discuss.” Checking out their wide eyes and open mouths, Bogie said, “The rat in our midst!”
Bailey, Jack and George collectively said, “What?”
“Unless the house was bugged, which, by the way, it wasn’t, somebody there was feeding information to Bud. He wasn’t an oracle, he was a sneak. He had somebody reporting on Bailey’s movements.”
Together they said, “Kim!”
Bogie nodded. “Unfortunately, the cops probably already know that. They can go through Bud’s cell phone records and come up with a number they can tie back to her. Where was she when you got home covered with blood? Where was she when the clothes were buried?”
No one could remember. Bailey was traumatized and in shock. She remembered standing under a hot shower until she almost passed out. She remembered balling up the clothes and boots and carrying them into her bedroom. She knew that Kim was there because she was staying with Izzy, but she didn’t remember seeing her when she got home. The following day was a haze. She could barely get out of bed. Her head was pounding and she considered going to Mass General Hospital just to get checked out, but decided she felt too bad to do that. She remembered she felt just as bad on Monday and cancelled the deposition. Maybe it was Tuesday when she and Jack decided they should bury the things that had been rolled up in a sheet in her bedroom. Of course, Kim could have seen them. She hadn’t said anything, just acted scared and creepy.
“What was she scared of?” Bogie asked.
“I don’t know. She was okay on Sunday morning. I told her I didn’t feel good so she took Izzy downstairs. They watched TV or something.”
Bogie glanced at George. Bailey looked at him and said, “What?”
Bogie smiled. “I think I know where she got her appreciation for the Jerry Springer Show. Sorry for the interruption. When did she start acting scared?”
After thinking for a moment, Bailey said, “Sunday afternoon or evening. I caught her staring at me a couple of times. When I asked her if she had a problem, she just cowered and said she was concerned about me.”
Bogie said, “So by that afternoon she learned that Bud was dead. If she knew he might try to confront you at the office, she probably suspected you had some involvement in his murder.”
Bailey nodded. “How could she betray me like that?”
Bogie thought about that then said, “I don’t think she betrayed you. She was just doing her job. Don’t forget, it was Bud who brought her there. She wouldn’t have left a kid in Dorchester to work for what you were paying her. I think she had a side deal with him. He didn’t just pick her name out of a hat. There was some history there. She hasn’t been to the house in days. Have you been able to reach her?”
Bailey speed-dialed Kim’s number. Kim’s mailbox was full. She wasn’t listening to messages.
Bogie looked at Jack. “Are they still checking out your car?”
Jack nodded.
“You know they still might find a trace—”
“I know,” Jack said dejectedly. “But at least that can be explained away in some bizarre way. If you hadn’t taken those clothes, we’d really be fucked!”
Bailey looked at Bogie. “You knew?”
“I figured it out. Fluffy helped me do it.”
Bailey stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I realized if the ground was too frozen to bury a plant, it was too frozen to bury the cat. When Isabella and I went to plant flowers, she told me George took the shovel the day before. Since George hadn’t touched Fluffy’s grave, he must have been burying something else.”
“And you didn’t say anything?”
Bogie pointed at her. “That’s what you were supposed to do! If I hadn’t brow beat these guys, and they weren’t reasonable enough to confide in me, yes, you’d be fucked!”
George looked from Bailey to Bogie. “Is this where we leave so you can fight?”
They both smiled and Bogie said, “Nope! We’re now on Version 2.0 of our relationship, no more secrets!”
66 KILL BILL
By their second morning at the Four Seasons, the little family was almost in a routine. Bogie and Bailey were asleep entangled in the sheets while their daughter sat on the couch with the remote control in her hands. She moved buttons with a skill few adults had mastered. She scanned the screen until she found her favorite movie.
Although the sound was low, Bogie heard a young female voice sing:
I was five and he was six.
We rode on horses made of sticks,
He wore black and I wore white,
He would always win the fight.
Bang bang, he shot me down,
Bang bang, I hit the ground.
Bogie wondered if children ever questioned the words to some of these songs. He drifted back to sleep knowing his little daughter finally understood what she could and could not watch on TV.
The next sounds Bogie heard were the strumming and thumping beat of music followed by a man moaning. When a female voice angrily said, ‘Your name is Buck, and you came here to fuck’, Bogie reached down, picked his boxers off the floor and slipped them on. He got out of bed and sat down next to Isabella on the couch. She was so engrossed in the movie that she hardly noticed him. Bogie studied her and tried to appear calm. “Why are you watching that? That’s not for children.”
Her fingers moved over the remote as she pushed the pause button. “This is my favorite movie.” She pointed to the frozen characters on the screen. “There’s an important part coming up.” Isabella pressed the remote again. The Bride used a wheelchair to get to the parking garage where she located a bright yellow pickup with Pussy Wagon written in hot pink lettering on the back. “See that, Da-dee?” Isabella asked.
At a loss for words, Bogie stared at her.
Isabella studied him then asked, “Don’t you understand? He’s a bad man. He has a pussy wagon. Kim said he went around killing cats…like Fluffy. Maybe there’s a man in our neighborhood who has a pussy wagon.”
Bogie nodded slightly to let her know he was considering this clue. “So you and Kim watch this movie?”
Isabella nodded. “It’s a secret. We love this movie! And look, Da-dee! The Bride is able to wiggle her toe. See! She has a nose just like ours.” Isabella touched her small nose and said, “Some day mine will be like that.”
The corner of Bogie’s mouth twitched as he began to understand her interest with his nose and realized Isabella’s bride was Uma Thurman. “How did you find the movie on this TV?”
She looked at him as though he were dim-witted. “You go to the main menu.” Her small fingers flew over the buttons. “See! Here are the movie listings. You go d
own to Kill Bill.”
“You can read?”
Again, she looked at him with disbelief. “Yeees. Everybody reads. I can’t read everything but I can read Kill Bill.”
Bogie looked at Bailey who was sitting up watching them. “Did you know that she can read?”
“Of course. She’s been reading for about a year.”
“But she’s only three years old.”
“So what! She’s a smart little cookie, aren’t you, Baby?”
Isabella just grinned at her mother.
“Do you know what she’s been watching?” Bogie asked.
“I heard. Now I know who she’s trying to emulate, Uma Thurman.”
Bogie looked from Bailey to Isabella. “You know what I think? I think she’s a forty-year-old midget posing as a three-year-old kid.” He got up, went into the bathroom and took a shower.
Bailey called the office and spoke to the receptionist. Bailey learned that Mark Curtis, the other man thrown from a third floor window, had been arrested on an assault charge. He was being held in the Dedham jail. Bailey’s only thought was ‘and they said he wouldn’t walk again’. Both men had already been arrested, and they hadn’t even started the litigation process.
When Bailey asked to speak to Rubin, she was surprised to learn that he was in the office and even more surprised when he picked up the phone. “Did you enjoy your vacation?” Rubin asked formally.
“Yes, I did. Thanks for asking. What’s going on there?”
“Well, we’ve been hounded by reporters and photographers. A few even snuck up to this floor. The woman from Channel 7 called me at home. She wanted to interview the uncle of the Persons of Interest.”
“I’m sorry,” Bailey said softly.
Rubin sighed. “I was going to wait till next week, but I’m closing the doors on Friday. I’ll just finish up the cases from home.”
“Do you want me to come in and go over—”
“No! I don’t need another sideshow around here!” After pausing to catch his breath, he said, “I’m sorry. Just give me a verbal update and I’ll figure out the files.”