Later, Alyx made a sandwich and heated a can of tomato soup while I did some thinking about what Ethan had said earlier regarding Jonathan Steele. We evidently both thought it an odd coincidence that she could meet two people in Beachside who had both lived in the same city on another continent. She took the last bite of her chicken salad sandwich, just as the doorbell sounded its Westminster chime.
Jonathan Steele stood at the door with a grin, a bag of Lilly espresso coffee and a box of Amaretti cookies.
“Italy was one of the last places I visited,” he said, offering her the coffee and cookies.
“Well, thank you,” she said, hesitating a moment, not sure what to do. “Would you like to come in and have some coffee and cookies?”
“I’d love to. It’s been a long day––a very busy day.”
She prepared the coffee, put a few cookies on a plate, and carried them to the living room along with the espresso.
He took a sip from the demitasse cup, “It’s very gracious of you to invite me in without my calling you first. I took a chance, and I’m glad you didn’t disappoint me.”
“Well, I am sort of surprised. Earlier, I was telling my son about you and your store, and he mentioned the fact that you’re the second person I’ve met here in Beachside with a direct connection to Africa.”
I watched his face closely when she said that.
“Africa is a big nation.”
“Strange enough, my friend lived in Sierra Leone, where you said you were born.”
“What’s your friend’s name?” he asked, showing only polite curiosity.
“Her name is––was––Althea Burns. She died a few days before Christmas.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Was she a close friend of yours?”
The way he said that made me think that it was the right time to give Alyx the amber bead that we’d found in Althea’s condominium. I ran to the laundry room where I’d stored it for safekeeping. I realized I couldn’t drop it at her feet in front of Jonathan––I had to get her to the laundry room alone. So, I did my loud, frantic meowing routine, but unfortunately, only Misty and Pooky showed up. I told them what was going on, and soon there were three cats frantically meowing. Alyx still didn’t come right away, but eventually she did and she looked annoyed when she did. I pointed out the amber bead. I was glad to see her pocket the bead when Jonathan called out and asked if everything was all right. I was sure she got my message when she whispered, “Good job, kitty-cats.”
The three of us ran ahead to the living room where Jonathan remained seated.
“I remember hearing you say that the last place you visited was Lithuania. What are they best known for exporting?” asked Alyx.
“That would be amber, gintaras in Lithuanian, found on the Baltic Sea shores, and considered the best variety of amber.”
“I didn’t get a chance to take a close look at the jewelry counter in your store,” said Alyx. “Did you bring back some amber jewelry?”
The question startled him. He quickly regained his composure, letting Alyx know that she’d asked one too many questions. But it was too late to change the subject.
“So, what brings you to the neighborhood?” she said.
“I wanted to see you,” he said simply. “I brought the coffee and cookies to entice you, hoping you’d ask me to stay and share.”
“It looks like it worked.”
She stood up slowly, “Will you excuse me a minute? I’ll be right back.”
I sensed the fear in her, and I meowed once, the pre-arranged signal for the felines to take their strategic places––Misty on the back of the couch, Pooky next to Steele and I had the floor.
Alyx kept a small, six-inch gun hidden among the towels in the bathroom and when she came out, the gun securely held behind her back, she said “Sorry, coffee has that effect on me.”
“You can put the gun away, Alyx,” he said. “You don’t need it. I’m not a murderer.”
Alyx brought the weapon forward and rested her hand on her lap, finger solid on the trigger.
“I don’t know how you guessed,” he said, then added, “Althea was my mother, but I didn’t kill her.”
“Your mother? Were you at her condominium before she was killed?”
He nodded. “But I didn’t kill her!” he repeated, running his fingers through his hair.
Alyx did her best to remain calm. It was clear she didn’t know what to believe and neither did I. “Tell me what happened,” she demanded of Steele.
“I learned about my kidnapping when my mother––or the woman I thought was my mother––died last year. In a deathbed confession, she told me the truth. She had been employed as a domestic in Althea’s house in Africa. She––that is the woman who I have called mother––was appalled at what she perceived was Althea’s apparent neglect of me. She couldn’t have any children, and when her husband approached her with an idea, she agreed to the kidnapping only if they could keep the baby. She and her husband had friends in the right places, and with their help, they got out of the country with me and the ransom money.”
He paused. Alyx didn’t ask any questions, and so he continued.
“We vacationed here in Beachside every year until I graduated from high school. I’ve always loved this area, and since my father was already living here, it made sense to open my business in the area as well. He actually found the location for me, and I pretty much did everything long-distance.”
He took a sip of coffee, “I thought it a happy coincidence when I found out that Althea also lived in Beachside, thinking we could take our time to get to know one another as mother and son. However, she ignored the correspondence from the investigation firm that I’d hired to find her, and she refused to see me when I tried contacting her personally. On an impulse, I took a chance, believing that if I just showed up in person it would strike a motherly cord or something, so I went to see her and brought her a delicate necklace of amber beads. She was horrified to see me and when she opened the box that I forced on her, she immediately tried to pull the necklace apart, throwing it hard against the stairwell while she screamed at me to get out. I quickly picked up the necklace, put it back in the box and left. I was devastated. Later, I learned she was dead.”
I wasn’t sure I believed the man and everything he’d said––Althea screaming and throwing things against the wall didn’t fit the character of the woman I knew. However, it was true that Althea hadn’t told the whole truth about herself, had she?
“Have you tried to get in touch with your cousin, Carole Berth?” Alyx asked him.
He nodded, leaned back, and draped his arm across the back of the couch, invading Misty’s space. She didn’t budge, and he removed his arm.
“She refused to see me and told me not to call her again.”
“Did you know that Althea was a wealthy woman?”
“Yes, I did,” he sighed. “That gives me a solid motive, doesn’t it? Except, I have plenty of my own money and I certainly wouldn’t kill for more,” he added emphatically, if not necessarily convincingly.
“I’m never surprised at what people will do for money,” she said off-handedly.
For an instant, his eyes turned hard, and then he looked away.
“Were you angry at her when she refused to acknowledge you?” she asked.
“At first I was, but I knew about her illness, and that excused her behavior in my mind. I’m fine with it now. I have no feelings for her one-way or the other. I looked for her believing it would ease her pain of not knowing what had happened to her child, but apparently I shouldn’t have bothered.”
“I think she blocked out your existence to protect herself.”
He said he was fine with it; but I heard something different in his voice.
Alyx began in a soft tone, “I met Althea when she came into the store last spring…”
She then told him all she knew about his real mother up to the day that she’d found her body. Jonathan sat quietly and listened. After that, they ran out of things to say.