"The Freeman curse?" she said. "You know, last night, when you called and told me what happened to Elise, I actually started thinking about that. Wondering if our family is doomed and I'm next. This morning, I woke up, decided that was stupid superstition, it was time to have a lovely day-you know, don't even bother copying, keep it. I don't know why I held on to it in the first place."
I said, "What you've told us about your father might help explain why Elise made some high-risk choices."
"Such as?"
"She binge-drank."
Sandra Stuehr's eyes got huge. "You're kidding. Are you sure?"
"We are."
"Wow," she said. "I've always thought of her as the moderate one. From the time she turned twenty-one all I got were pompous lectures about the need to control my drinking. We were both attending Blessed, she was a senior, I was a sophomore. Got into partying pretty hard."
"Did you see each other much in college?"
"Not even then. It's a small school but we managed to avoid each other. What did she drink when she binged?"
"Vodka."
"Interesting," said Sandra Stuehr. "Something else we had in common."
She drank her Fresca. "Not a coincidence, I suppose. Part of her sermon was, 'If you're going to be pigheaded and make a fool out of yourself, Sandy, at least drink vodka, it'll keep your breath fresh, no one will know you're a reprobate.'"
I said, "You avoided each other but she found time to lecture."
"Exactly. My best years were the two after she graduated, I could finally be myself. Did she do anything else high-risk?"
Milo said, "The coroner found opiates in her system."
"Like heroin?"
"Or something similar."
Sandra Stuehr placed the flat of a hand against her cheek, as if propping her head. "Unbelievable."
"People change," said Milo.
"There's change and there's charade," she said. "All this time I've seen her as the smart one. Are there any other crushing insights you want to give me about my sister?"
Milo said, "You lived near Pimlico. Any sign Elise played the ponies?"
"She gambled?" said Sandra Stuehr. "This is like meeting her for the first time. No, I never saw her wager on anything and I sure spent some time at Pimlico. She was the smart one, guys. Summa cum laude at Blessed, Hopkins offered her a scholarship to go to grad school in English. I, on the other hand, barely passed the teacher's licensing exam. Though that was 'cause I was distracted by my relationship with Frank. She went to the track?"
"No, but she did go to Reno and play blackjack."
"Must be genetic. He played the ponies. Nothing serious that I knew about, he'd take twenty, thirty dollars to the track, rationalize his losses as 'recreation.' Otherwise, he was a total cheapskate. How often did Elise go to Reno?"
Milo said, "We know about once. She went with her boyfriend, guy named Sal Fidella."
"Sounds like a Mafia type."
"He's an unemployed salesman. He and Elise won a five-thousand-dollar jackpot in Reno, lost it the same day."
"Like Father, like daughter," said Sandra Stuehr. Her mouth turned down. "Hope that doesn't end up applying to me. I can't see how it would."
I said, "What else can you tell us about Elise?"
"She enjoyed lying."
"Lying about what?"
"Anything, really. My theory is it began with him. When she was around twelve she began faking illness, probably to keep him out of her bed. She did it all kinds of ways-putting a finger down her throat and vomiting all over herself, soaking a thermometer in hot water, rubbing her skin with one of those sandpaper dish-sponges to bring up a rash, complaining of horrible cramps. She also lied about things that seemed pointless. Not eating the lunch he fixed but telling him it was delicious. Or just the opposite, finishing every bite but coming home and telling him she'd lost her lunch, was starved. I guess she was trying to feel in control. She'd pull sneaky pranks on him. Hiding his slippers, putting his reading glasses where he'd have trouble finding them. Once, I looked out my bedroom window in the middle of the night and saw her letting air out of one of his tires."
"How old was she?"
"A teenager… maybe fifteen."
"Did you let her know you'd seen her?"
"No way, I wanted her to like me."
"Did she lie to anyone but your father?"
"Sure," she said. "She cheated in school, stole old tests and sold them. I found out because a boy who'd bought one bragged about it to his friend. That night, I searched Elise's drawers, found a wadded-up bunch of money. I didn't count it but it looked like a lot. She never got caught, at graduation she won honors and commendations for character."
"Did your father ever figure out she was pranking him?"
"Not a chance. In his eyes, Elise could do no wrong. She was the clear favorite."
I said, "Too bad for her."
Sandra Stuehr turned to me. Her eyes were wet. "Good, bad, right, wrong. Sometimes it all gets scrambled. You're sure she didn't suffer?"
Further questioning produced nothing and we were preparing to go when a soft knock sounded on the front door.
Sandra Stuehr said, "It's open, honey, come on in."
The man who entered was midtwenties, good-looking, Asian, with expensively spiked hair. He wore a white silk Nat Nast bowling shirt with blue vertical stripes, cobalt linen slacks, brown hand-stitched deck shoes, and a rose-gold Rolex.
She got up, took his hand, kissed his lips lightly. "Perfect timing, we're finishing up."
Milo introduced himself.
"Will Kham."
Sandra Stuehr said, "Will Kham, M.D. Chief resident in rheumatology at Cottage Hospital."
Kham toed the floor. "It's okay, Sandy- "
"Will's been on call for three days, finally has a day off. I'm sure you guys won't mind if we get going."
Milo said, "Thanks for your time, Ms. Stuehr. If you think of anything else, please let us know."
"Of course," she said. To Kham: "They don't think she suffered, baby."
Kham said, "That's good."
As we closed the door, she was saying, "I'm thinking San Ysidro Inn, baby, that new chef they've got is fantastic."
CHAPTER 17
Milo scanned the clippings on Cyrus Freeman's murder before slipping them back into the sleeve. "Nothing more than Sandy just told us." Flipped the sleeve onto the backseat and checked his Timex. "Four hours of freeway for the Sister Who Knows Nothing."
"And yet she told us so much," I said.
"Elise might've killed Daddy? Maybe so, Alex, but I'm not curious enough to find out."
"I meant Elise developing her lying skills early, as a survival strategy. Faking illness to avoid getting raped was as good a ploy as any, but there's always collateral damage. That's consistent with chronic depression, drinking, using sex as a means of control, and hooking up with a hustler like Fidella. Same for concocting an extortion scheme involving her sexuality. But what really interests me is her selling tests back in middle school. That kind of thing would come in handy at a place like Prep."
Traffic slowed along the beach. We caught the long stoplight at State. More tourists, easels full of sidewalk art, a few homeless guys lounging on the grass, playing critic.
He said, "She peddles exams, then tries to beef up the take with a little extortion?"
"Picking the wrong sucker could be hazardous to your health."
"Wonderful. Even if I put the rape aside, I can't avoid the damn school."
He closed his eyes, rested his head against the seat. "Best way to find out if she was raking in a lot of extra dough are those goddamn financials."
Another set of calls made him smile. "On their way and her phone records are on my desk. What do you think about Elise two-timing Sal with a young guy, and Sandra leaving her husband for a young guy? Some sort of symbolic distancing themselves from their old man?"