A man and woman in white came up from the ambulance. Hammell checked his watch and said, ‘Jane Tyler’s got four more minutes in there. We’ll just wait.’
‘This is really bullshit, Frank. I’ve got a lot to do.’
The ambulance woman rolled her eyes when Wilhelm said this. He was clearly a beloved figure in medical circles.
Jane beat her deadline by a couple minutes. She walked out with her briefcase and glanced around at the new arrivals. When her eyes stopped on Wilhelm her face tightened perceptibly. Then, ‘Detective Hammell, the senator would like to talk to you but I’d like to be with him when you do.’
She was being polite. She had the legal right to be with her client.
But a cop is a cop. ‘That’s fine. But I want to do it at the station.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘Yes, I am. For one thing, Tag has to get in there, and for another the ambulance folks have to do their job after he finishes.’
A hefty man in a Bears jersey with a camera on his shoulder was shooting an attractive blonde woman in a tan Burberry who was talking into a hand-held microphone. The reporters who’ll go on to better gigs are the ones who know stories like these are the ones that will get them there. So they play it big.
‘I’d like to speak to Mr Conrad for a second,’ Jane said.
‘Then you can do it around the corner of the house, lady, because I’m going inside right now. Some of us have more important jobs than covering up for a lying politician.’ Wilhelm didn’t wear righteous indignation well at all.
Hammell nodded and Jane led me down the steps of the porch and a few feet around the house.
‘The senator would like you to drive over to his house and explain to his family what’s going on.’ She was good at reading faces. ‘It’s a terrible job and I told him that. But what he’s afraid of is that Doctor Wilhelm will call the senator’s brother, James, and all the information will come from those two. They’re big friends.’
I couldn’t help myself. ‘Wilhelm and James? Man, that James sure is a loyal guy.’
I was graced by the warmth of her smile. ‘I shouldn’t comment.’
‘You just did.’
‘Anyway, they really need to hear everything from somebody they trust and like. Elise and Maddy despise James. And Doctor Wilhelm started hitting on Maddy as soon as she turned eighteen. They all go to the same country club. The board there warned him he’d be kicked out if he kept it up.’
I thought of Elise’s angry and anguished face when she’d spotted Tracy Cabot at the fundraiser. I was afraid to think about how she would react to this. All I could hope for was that she was stronger mentally than she appeared.
‘To be fair, I have to tell you something about Wilhelm. He’s a wonderful doctor. My brother was in a car crash and we thought he wouldn’t live through the night. Wilhelm saved him through surgery. His problem is with younger women, and one of these days it’ll catch up to him.’
‘I still don’t like him. But I’m glad you told me he’s competent.’
‘More than competent. He’s very good. Now, I need to tell the senator that we have to go to the station. He’s not going to like it.’
‘I can come along if you want.’
She humored me. ‘Anything to get out of going to tell Elise and Maddy, huh? I don’t blame you for that. They’re very sweet people and they deserve a lot better than this.’
I went to my car wondering about her relationship with Detective Hammell. Speculation on the soap opera kept my mind off Elise.
Four
The mansion was a Shingle-style home with a gambrel roof that lent it a Victorian look. It had always been referred to locally as ‘the mansion,’ even though it really didn’t qualify as one. The Logans had liked the fact that it was more than a century old, despite all the renovations it had required before they moved in. The lovingly-tended lawn stretched from the top of the hill on which the house sat all the way down to the rural gravel road below. The driveway was paved and widened in front of the house.
Mrs Weiderman answered the door. She was a tall, somewhat overweight woman with pure white hair worn short and one of those sweet faces that grandmothers order online right after they get the news about the forthcoming child. I had seen her raise hell with reporters, nasty drunks at parties and anyone who spoke ill of any of the Logans, James, unfortunately, included. After she opened the door she stood smiling at me. ‘One of my favorite people.’
‘Let me say the same. How are you, Mrs Weiderman?’
‘Well, I suppose I’d be even happier if I was thirty years younger, forty pounds lighter and fifty times smarter, but I guess I’m doing all right. Now get in here and let me get you some coffee. Are you hungry?’
The house was quiet, though somewhere I could hear a muffled TV. Once she’d brought me into the living room she sat me down and said, ‘I believe you take it black.’
‘Thank you. I could use some coffee.’ I heard the anxiety in my voice and caught myself. ‘When it’s as good as yours it doesn’t matter what time it is, Mrs Weiderman.’
It was a large room of framed Monet prints, comfortable deep- red matching couches and chairs, a stone fireplace large enough to roast a buffalo in and a grand piano in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out onto the forest. There was a dry bar tucked away; I had taken advantage of it quite a few times.
I got up from my chair, sat down again and once more got up. I was just sitting down again when Mrs Weiderman brought me my coffee and said, ‘Maddy wants to see you, too. I told you last time I think she has a little crush on you. They’ll be down in a few minutes.’
I thanked her then stood up again. This time I went all the way over to the grand piano and stared out at the woods. Whenever I got into trouble with my folks as a boy I imagined that I could run away and live in the forest. I never had a clear sense of what I’d do there, especially after nightfall, but eating leaves and tree bark sounded better than facing my parents’ disappointment.
When I heard them I turned around and saw that they knew. They didn’t know what, but they knew it would be bad. Maddy wore a tan crew-neck sweater, jeans and merrily striped socks; Elise was in a white blouse, black cardigan and jeans. Her feet were in black slippers.
‘I’m almost afraid to hear, Dev. I have to tell you that. You could have phoned — Maddy and I both know that this is going to be terrible.’
Maddy and Elise sat on a couch in front of the fireplace. I sat in the chair opposite them.
‘I called Dad’s cell,’ Maddy said. ‘A strange man answered and then let Dad talk. Dad said he was being taken to the police station and that he loved Mom and I very much. And that you were coming over to explain everything.’
So they did know some of the details in broad stroke. A police officer answering and a father telling a daughter that he was being taken to the police station was ominous.
The more difficult part for me would be telling Elise about Tracy Cabot.
‘I want to say right upfront that I believe he was set up by somebody to make it look as if he murdered someone. We all know Robert and we know that he would never kill anybody.’ I tried to establish my professional and moral authority but I doubted they even heard me. They wanted the facts.
Elise was ahead of me. ‘Someone was actually murdered?’
‘Yes.’
‘My God, Dev. A murder. I can’t believe it. Who was it?’
‘A woman.’
‘A woman?’ A subtle shift in her expression and tone of voice. She was figuring out the elements of the equation here. A woman, the police and Robert.
‘Was this a woman Robert knew?’