I set him down on the floor. “No, it’s all right,” I said. “You don’t have to go.” I went over to the sink, washed my hands and then went to the freezer to get out the cookies.
Owen eyed me suspiciously.
I put the cookies in one of my canvas carryalls, picked up my purse and keys again and started for the door. “I’ll give Rebecca your love,” I said. As I stepped out into the porch Owen edged past me. He headed straight for the back door, making little grumbling sounds all the way. Apparently we were going to see Roma after all.
I stopped to give Hercules a scratch on the top of his head. He almost seemed to be smiling at me. “I’ll see you later,” I said.
• • •
Roma was waiting at the clinic. She quickly checked Owen’s ear, and while he wasn’t a model patient he wasn’t any more difficult than usual.
“We’re going to see Rebecca,” I told Roma, explaining about Rebecca’s injury.
“Give her a hug from me and tell her I’ll be over to see her tomorrow,” Roma said.
I’d called Rebecca before we’d left the house to see if she’d like a furry visitor. “I’d love one,” she’d said. “I keep telling Everett that I’m fine but he’s not listening.” She’d raised her voice at the end of the sentence, I’m guessing because she intended her husband to hear what she’d said.
“She’s stubborn, Kathleen,” Everett had said in the background.
I’d laughed. “Owen and I will see you in a little while.”
Victor Janes was just heading up the walkway when I got to Everett’s big brick house. He stopped when he realized it was me and waited for me to join him. I had told Marcus I’d stay away from the man, but I didn’t want to give him any hint that I suspected he was responsible for Leo’s death. I wondered how he could stay in that apartment after what I thought he’d done.
“Hello, Kathleen,” Victor said. He was bundled up in a heavy barn jacket with a navy-and-wine-colored wool scarf looped and knotted at his neck.
“Good evening, Victor,” I said.
“You’re here to see Rebecca, I’m guessing.”
I nodded. “I brought her some cookies.”
He held the door open for me and I stepped into the entryway. “Come in with me,” he said, reaching in his pocket for his keys. “It’ll save Everett a trip down the stairs.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
He opened the door and once again indicated that I should go ahead of him. “Have a good evening,” he said. He turned toward his brother’s apartment.
“You too,” I said.
Owen had stayed silent and out of sight during the entire encounter with Victor but once the apartment door closed he poked his head out of the top of the fabric bag and looked at me. He wrinkled his nose and then looked down the stairs.
“I know,” I said softly. “Victor Janes smells like Biggie Burgers.”
Back before Roma had gotten insistent that I stop letting the cats eat people food, Owen had had half of his one and only Biggie Burger. When he heard the words he still got a blissed-out look on his face.
Rebecca was settled on the sofa in the living room with her knee resting on a pillow and a large cold pack wrapped around it. Owen jumped out of the bag and made a beeline across the room to her. “Hello, Kathleen,” she said before leaning forward a little to talk to the cat.
“How is she?” I said to Everett.
“Stubborn and argumentative,” he replied, rubbing his stubbled chin with one hand. “I wanted to hire a nurse but you’d think I was suggesting locking her up.”
“I think for her it’s the same thing,” I said with a smile.
Owen and Rebecca had a great visit. She fussed over him; he sympathized with her. I left with a promise that I’d be back tomorrow after tai chi. Owen climbed into the bag without argument.
When we got to the bottom of the stairs he poked his head out for a look around but stayed put. It wasn’t until I stepped outside that the bag wriggled against my leg. I moved to grab him but he was already half out. He jumped down to the walkway and disappeared around a large evergreen shrub.
“Owen!” I hissed.
No answer. Why was I wasting time? He wasn’t going to answer and he wasn’t going to come back. It would be faster to just go after him.
The yard of the big brick house wasn’t very large, not a surprise given how close we were to the downtown. There was a small outbuilding by the back entrance. I found Owen pawing at the door.
“Okay, what are you doing?” I said, folding my arms over my chest and glaring at him.
He looked at the door and he looked at me.
“It’s probably where they keep the garbage cans,” I said. “There’s nothing in there for you.”
He continued to look at me unblinkingly.
“We shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Mrr,” he said: Maybe we shouldn’t be, but we’re going to.
There was no sign of anyone else around. I opened the door. Owen squeezed inside and I slipped in as well. There was enough light from a nearby streetlight to see the three garbage cans stacked by the back wall. I lifted the lid of the first one. The empty package of bacon told me it was Everett and Rebecca’s trash. The second can was empty. The third can held orange peels, an empty pomegranate juice container and at the very bottom a take-out bag from Biggie Burgers.
Owen sat on the top of the empty can and sniffed the air.
“You were right,” I said. “Victor Janes had a Biggie Burger for supper.” I pulled out the fast food bag. Underneath it, half hidden under another crumpled fast food bag, I saw the edge of something that looked familiar. Heart thumping in my chest, I reached into the garbage again and pulled out a small plastic container. It was empty but I’d seen many similar ones. I knew stage makeup well and I knew the container had held a tinted base. I rummaged in the bottom of the trash container and found another mostly empty tub of white crème color, a bruise-and-abrasions wheel and a half-used black pencil. I could only think of one reason Victor Janes had stage makeup. He wasn’t sick. He was using it to create the illusion that he was.
I set the containers on top of the adjacent garbage can, pulled out my phone, took several pictures of the makeup and then put everything back. I used hand sanitizer to clean my hands and then I picked up Owen and made my way back to the truck.
I’d just set the cat on the seat when my phone rang. I climbed in next to him, took a deep breath and got my phone out of my pocket. I recognized the number as the library’s. It was Mary.
“Bridget hit a deer up on the highway,” she said. Her voice had a shaky edge. “She’s all right but they’re still taking her to the hospital as a precaution. I know she’s a grown adult, but she’s still my baby.”
“Go,” I said.
“Are you sure?”
“Go,” I repeated. “I’m just leaving Rebecca and Everett’s. Tell Abigail I’ll be there soon.”
I looked at Owen. “We have to get back to the library. And then we’re going to have to call Marcus. I think Victor Janes has been lying about being sick, probably as a way to generate sympathy and work his way back into his brother’s life. It was likely the only thing he thought would work after twenty years of estrangement. If he’s lying about that then maybe he’s lying about some other things, too.”
I had the photos of the makeup on my phone, makeup I felt certain Victor had been using to make himself look gaunt and pale. Would they be enough to convince Marcus that Victor had killed his brother? I started the truck. As soon as I got back to my office I’d find out.
The parking lot was almost empty when I got to the library. Monday nights were sometimes that way.
“Hi,” I said to Abigail as I came in the front door. Owen poked his head out of the bag.