“Five thousand. That’s a lot of money.”
“It is, and I’m lucky enough that I can afford it. But since he said this was only the beginning, I know it won’t end there. He’ll just keep asking more and more. And even though my husband has money, I can’t possibly ask him to hand over his entire fortune, only because he married a woman with a dark secret in her past.”
“Does your husband know about your first husband and the bank robbery?”
“He does. When we met, at first I didn’t want to tell him, but the night before our wedding, I decided I couldn’t go through with it unless I told him who the woman was he was about to marry.” She looked up, and had tears in her eyes now. “So I said I was going to tell him something very important, and give him the opportunity to back out before it was too late. To his credit, not only didn’t he back out, but he also told me that he thought I was the victim here, and had nothing to blame myself for. He also said he would have understood if I’d kept quiet about my past, but I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to go into this marriage with absolute honesty as a basis to build a solid relationship. No lies.”
“Did you tell him about the blackmail?”
“I did, actually.”
“And what did he say?”
“He told me to go to the police. He said blackmailers will never stop asking for more and more money, especially when they see how easy it is to get it. I told him I couldn’t go to the police, since the blackmailer would make sure the story of my first marriage would get out, and frankly I don’t think I could face it. More importantly, I don’t want my kids to face the consequences of my mistake in marrying their father.”
“So what do you propose? No police?”
“Absolutely no police,” said the woman adamantly.
“So you’re going to pay?”
“I’m going to pay—but only this once.” She gave Odelia an anxious look. “Several of my friends have told me that you are very clever and very resourceful, Mrs. Kingsley. So I was hoping that you might know of a way out of this. Without involving the police.”
Odelia took a deep breath.“So you want this blackmailer to stop, but you don’t want him arrested.” She leaned back and thought this over.
“There must be a way to make sure my secret doesn’t get out, but also that this blackmail stops.” She gave Odelia a look filled with hope.
“Frankly, in my experience blackmailers can only be stopped when the truth comes out and the secret they use as a weapon against their target is no longer a secret.”
“My secret cannot come out—that’s absolutely out of the question. Nobody can know that once upon a time I was Wendy Atcheson. For my children, for their future.”
“How old are your kids?”
“Todd is sixteen and Aisha is fifteen. And then of course there’s the baby. Alisa.”
“So what age were Todd and Aisha when this happened?”
“Todd was seven and Aisha was six.”
“Do they still remember their dad?”
“Yes, they do, though we hardly ever talk about him now. It just wouldn’t be fair to Tilton—though I’m sure he would take it in stride. He’s the most wonderful and patient man I know, and has raised Todd and Aisha as if they were his own flesh and blood—which is more than I could ever have hoped for.”
“Let me think about this, Mrs. Bond. I have an idea, but I will need to discuss it with my husband first.”
Mrs. Bond’s face clouded. “Your husband is a police detective, isn’t he?”
“He is, but I can assure you that he won’t breathe a word about this to anyone.”
Mrs. Bond didn’t look entirely convinced, but since she didn’t have a lot of options, she reluctantly agreed. “All right, but you’ll have to think quick. The drop-off is arranged for tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“That’s right. I’m to drop off the money in the park at midnight, and make sure I’m not being followed, and that there is no police anywhere near the drop-off point.”
“Which is where?”
“The playground. I’m to put the money in a plastic bag and put it in a nearby trashcan, then immediately walk away.”
Odelia nodded thoughtfully.“That doesn’t give us a lot of time.”
“I know. I think he’s doing it on purpose. Make sure I don’t have time to think this through, or to set up some kind of counter… initiative.”
“You know what? We’ll make sure that we’re ready for him.”
“He said no police.”
“Don’t worry. He won’t see us. The important thing to remember is that a blackmailer relies as much on his anonymity as he does on the secret he’s got on you, and the fear he can put into you. So when we know who he is, we’ve already won half the battle. At that point, if we want, we can confront him.”
“But won’t he simply start spreading rumors about me? Or whatever evidence he has of my real identity?”
“To be honest with you, Mrs. Bond, at this point I’m as much in the dark as you are. And I think we need to play this by ear, and the first step we can take right now is to make sure we know who we’re dealing with. Find out who this man is.”
The woman nodded.“Of course. You’re right.”
“Now let’s go over this again, only this time in more detail, and if you can give me your phone, and show me the number this person called you from, I think we can start to find out what we’re dealing with here.”
And as Mrs. Bond handed Odelia her phone, and they started making arrangements on how to handle this blackmailer, Dooley said,“I don’t think she’s had a facelift, Max.”
“And why is that, Dooley?” I said, ruminating on Mrs. Bond’s predicament.
“Can’t you see? Her nose is where it should be, and so is her mouth and all the rest.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Imagine having to talk through your chin. That would be awkward, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, it most certainly would, Dooley,” I said with a smile.
Chapter 3
After Rosa Bond had left, Odelia had gone into her editor’s office, to talk the thing through. I could see from the expression on my human’s face that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with this latest assignment. And this is what she told Dan.
“She specifically asked me not to write about the blackmail,” she said. “So frankly I don’t see how this will work, Dan. I mean, she isn’t paying me, and the police department isn’t paying me for my time, but I still want to help. So how do we do this?”
“I’ll pay you for your time,” said Dan.
“But didn’t you hear what I just said? I won’t be able to use any of it for the paper. So what’s the point?”
“The point is that you will be helping a woman in need. And that’s all that matters.”
“But—”
“She can’t go to the police?”
“No. She doesn’t want to expose her kids to what happened nine years ago.”
Dan shrugged.“So you help her. And so what if we can’t use it for the paper? Sometimes we simply want to help people, Odelia. Because it’s the right thing to do.”
“But, Dan…”
“Do you think I haven’t hunted down stories and not been able to use any of it in the end—simply because people asked me not to print it? Of course I have!”
“I see.”
“Look, we’re reporters, and we’re in the business of looking for great stories. But because of our very specific skillset sometimes we’re able to do what the police can’t. And that’s fine. In fact that’s great.” He gave her an encouraging smile. “Now go out there and make an old man proud. Catch this blackmailer and make sure he never blackmails again.”
“You’re a very peculiar editor, Dan, has anyone ever told you that?”