The man wavered, and it was obvious that he was indeed busted. He seemed to realize it, for he lowered his voice and said,“Please don’t tell anyone. If word got out, my career would be over. And my marriage. I have two kids, Mrs. Kingsley.”
“I’ll leave it up to my uncle to decide how to use this information, Mr. Beblo,” said Odelia.
“But you’re a reporter. You’ll write about this in your newspaper.”
“If what you have to tell me is useful to the investigation, I don’t see the need to divulge your private business to my readers, Mr. Beblo. After all, you are an adult, and so is Mrs. James. Though you might want to talk to your wife and tell her what’s going on.”
He bowed his head.“I’m afraid Danny is right, though for the life of me I don’t know how he found out. His mother and I have always been extremely careful.”
“So where were you when Dave James was murdered?”
“Well… there’s a hotel where we like to meet. They rent out rooms but also bungalows, which are located at the back and offer more privacy. One of those bungalows has become the regular spot where we meet.”
“How long has the affair been going on?”
“Maybe a year or so? You see, Veronica, when we first met, struck me not only as a very beautiful and intelligent woman, but also as extremely unhappy in her marriage. The last couple of years she and Dave had grown apart, and had been leading separate lives. And as I got to know her, mainly through many discussions about Danny’s behavior, we grew closer, and then one thing led to another and before we knew what happened we found ourselves having an affair.”
“Does your wife know?”
“God, no.”
“Sooner or later you’re going to have to tell her what’s going on, Mr. Beblo.”
“I know, but I keep putting it off. I always thought this affair was just a temporary thing, a moment of insanity, you know. And that things would inevitably wind down after a while. But it’s been more than a year, and we’ve grown closer instead of apart.”
“And how is the relationship with you wife?”
“Not too good. We’ve been married twenty-five years now, and have two absolutely wonderful kids, but we’ve entered the stage of a marriage where we’re in some kind of a rut, and it’s obvious that she’s not happy, and I’m not happy, but we stick it out, and stay together, partly out ofhabit, partly for the kids.”
“So what are you going to do?”
He shook his head, looking miserable.“I don’t know. I really don’t.”
“Now that Dave is gone, Veronica is free to remarry,” Odelia pointed out.
“Yes, but do I want that? Does she? Will things still be the same between us when we’re not sneaking around and enjoying the thrill of meeting in secret?” He sighed and gave Odelia a crooked smile. “I’m struggling with this, Mrs. Kingsley, but then I imagine I’m not the only one. In fact I’m probably the kind of walking and talking clich? you must see all the time: a middle-aged man struggling to stay in a marriage that’s over, and still unable to commit to his girlfriend.”
“What does Veronica have to say about this?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t spoken since this thing with Dave happened. I imagine she’s pretty busy right now, dealing with the aftermath of this tragedy.”
And as he scribbled down on a piece of paper the name of the hotel where he and Veronica James had engaged in their affair, I wondered why a woman like Veronica, who was always looking for better and greater things, and loved wealth and luxury more than anything, would fall for a school principal, not exactly the hottest and most glamorous job in the world. Then again, maybe she really was in love, which is always a possibility, of course, even with a woman who comes across as some sort of ice queen.
Maybe she liked Adolpho because he was the one guy who could melt her cold heart?
And as we left the school, we happened to pass the playground, and saw how Danny was putting the squeeze on a younger kid, and watched as the younger kid handed Danny some money, in exchange for which Danny returned his sweater to him.
The interaction ended with Danny giving the younger kid a thump against the head, at which point the kid hurried off and Danny casually started counting the money.
“He really is a bully, Odelia,” I said.
“Yes, that certainly is how it looks,” Odelia agreed.
“But is he capable of murder?” asked Dooley, voicing the question that was in all our minds. Odelia had found the principal agreeable to opening Danny’s locker in her presence, but had found nothing of note in there. Some clothes that needed an urgent wash, a musty smell and one scantily-cladlady pinned to the locker door, but no ax.
Chapter 23
We met up with Chase once more, and the four of us headed out to the Giltmore Hotel and Spa, located in a residential area, to find corroboration for Adolpho’s story.
The Giltmore is not merely a hotel but, as the name indicates, also a spa and beauty parlor, and a place where people like to go to be pampered. When you walk out of the hotel, to the back there are several bungalows, which can be rented on a daily but also an hourly basis, and which provide even more privacy than the regular rooms the hotel has to offer. And it was in one of these bungalows that Adolpho said his love life had experienced a renaissance under the influence of Veronica James.
The hotel manager was at first reluctant to divulge his clients’ secrets, but when he was confronted with not one but two police badges, and Chase’s assurance that they would exercise discretion, he loosened up and was even eager to talk. “Oh, yes, they come here all the time,” he said, studying pictures of Veronica and Adolpho on Chase’s phone. “John Gage and Diana Murphy.” When Chase gave him an odd look, he smiled. “From the movieIndecent Proposal. John Gage was the billionaire played by Robert Redford and Diana Murphy the lady, played by Demi Moore, who got a million dollars to be his mistress for one night. I know my classics, detective.”
“I wouldn’t exactly callIndecent Proposal a classic,” Chase grunted.
“Well, I liked it, and so, apparently, did these two.”
“So they’ve been coming here for a while?” asked Odelia.
The manager nodded.“Twice a week, always on Monday and Thursday night, and they always rent the same bungalow. Number 18, right at the back. Very private.” He grinned.
“So can you tell me if they were here on Monday, and at what time?” asked Odelia.
The man consulted his computer.“They were here, all right. In fact I see that a noise complaint was brought against them that evening by the guest renting Bungalow 17.”
“A noise complaint?”
“Yes, a Mrs. Baumgartner had rented the bungalow as part of our Beauty Deluxe Package, and was resting after her steam bath when she heard sounds that greatly disturbed her. She said it sounded as if a woman was being murdered. One of our staff members went out to check and said they were the normal sounds of a woman in the throes of ecstasy. And anyway, when the couple checked out they both looked fine, so obviously Mrs. Baumgartner was mistaken. Then again, the sounds a person produces when in the throes of passion can easily be mistaken for those of a person in distress.” He leaned in a little. “Did you know that there is a fine line between fear and rapture? No? It’s an interesting subject, and one I’ve studied extensively.” When only two blank stares met his eye, he sobered. “Well, as the manager of this fine establishment it is of course important to me to gauge the satisfaction of our guests, and so a certain knowledge of human psychology is always… At any rate, I trust I’ve informed you sufficiently?”
“Absolutely,” said Odelia, and I had the impression he’d informed them a little too well. Sometimes less is more, especially when it comes to the details of human passion as practiced in private bungalows.