Murder After Hours Page 15

  Mention of the man struck a chord.

  Carla cleared her throat as she smoothed the folds in her skirt. “We grew up near here in an area called the Valley of Heart’s Delight before being dubbed Silicon Valley. Our father had an appliance store in what has become a bedroom community for high tech employees.”

  “Valley of Heart's Delight,” Maddy repeated. “How did the area get such a lovely name?”

  “For its large concentration of flowering trees and plants. Before computer industries replaced the orchards, it was the largest fruit production region in the world. A delightful place to spend one’s childhood.”

  Maddy considered her relationship with Lea. “Were you and your sister close?”

  “We were close through school. After my senior year, we lost touch. I went off to college where I lived on campus. My sister graduated with little interest in pursuing her education. She stayed close to home. Got a job with a cleaning service. Occasionally, attended night classes.

  “When she found herself pregnant and abandoned, my parents took her in. After the cost of housing went through the roof, Mary couldn’t afford to move out. She ended up staying for most of Sandra’s childhood.”

  “What can you tell me about the father?”

  “Not much. My sister was tight-lipped about the whole affair.”

  “I’d like to hear the story, if you don’t mind,” Tom said.

  She turned up her nose. “Are you really interested in the tawdry details, Detective?”

  “I wouldn’t ask you to relive unpleasant memories except we never know what might prove relevant. Sometimes, the smallest detail leads to a killer’s identity.”

  Carla's look was one of resignation. “All right. If it might help.”

  She folded her hands in her lap and tilted her head back.

  “I remember the night it started. Mary came to see me after her cleaning shift. I was busy with work from the office. She acted silly, giggling and blushing. At first, I thought she’d been drinking. She told a crazy story about being in a man’s office when he walked in. She apologized, telling the man she’d return later to clean.

  “He asked her to stay. He’d received bad news and wanted someone to talk to. He seemed sincere. She comforted him. One thing led to another…”

  She shook her head as the memory unfolded. “I told her she was being foolish. Expressed concern about any future with them being so different. She was hurt by my reaction. We argued before she left.

  “I was right. He ended it after several months.” Her voice dropped. “A few weeks later, she learned she was pregnant.”

  “Was she able to support herself and the child?” Maddy asked.

  “My sister was always a hard worker. Within a year, she was supervising the cleaning crews. When an opportunity came for her to buy the business, she borrowed money from our father and jumped in. By the time her daughter started school, Mary had repaid every cent of the loan.”

  “How did Mary and the girl end up in Buena Viaje?”

  “Mary had a friend who raved about living there. The idea of more affordable housing and living close to the ocean appealed to my sister. She sold her cleaning operation and went to Buena Viaje with her teenage daughter.”

  “Our records show Sandra’s mother is deceased.”

  Carla’s eyes dimmed with sadness. “After our parents moved to a retirement community, they wanted to deed their house to us. They decided it made no sense to wait for them to die to make use of it. I had a house, but Mary was excited.”

  “Are you saying she planned to leave Buena Viaje to move back here?”

  Carla nodded. Her gaze drifted to an invisible place outside the window. “All those years, my sister kept track of Sandra’s father through business and society headlines. He married into a wealthy family before becoming successful in his own right.

  “After receiving the house, she read an interview in which he talked about his wife’s unsuccessful battle with cancer. To Mary, it seemed like destiny. With some cockeyed notion of their getting together, she packed all her things and lit out for Silicon Valley.”

  “The stuff dreams are made of,” Tom said under his breath. He suddenly felt weary.

  “What about her daughter?” Maddy asked.

  “By that time, Sandra was married with a good job and a house of her own. She had no interest in moving.”

  “Did things pan out as Mary planned?” Maddy inquired, hoping to hear a happy ending.

  “She fell asleep at the wheel a mile from our parents’ house. Died at the scene.”

  No one spoke for several moments.

  “Do you know what became of the man?” Tom finally asked.

  “He relocated to the East Coast where he started his own internet business. From rumors in the industry, he’s become even wealthier.”

  Her lips stretched in a thin line as she thrust her chin in the air. “He never tried to find either Mary or the child.”

  “Was Sandra close to her mother?”

  “Not particularly. She was closer to our parents, especially my dad.” She sighed. “I think her grandfather took the place of her absent father.”

  “That’s understandable,” Tom said.

  She held up a finger. “There is one thing she got from her mother.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A desire for a life free of the hardships her mother endured. An only child herself, she longed for a large family but not as a single breadwinner. She didn’t want to struggle financially.”

  Tom turned to Maddy and dropped his voice. “An interesting point. I doubt she found those things with Henry. From all reports, he has no interest in raising children or providing a steady income.”

  Carla leaned forward. “Why are you stirring up this history, Detective?”

  “Sandra’s father, Andrew Carlisle, became gravely ill. He tried to contact Sandra before she was murdered.”

  Mary’s sister did not try to hide her disgust. Her tone was bitter. “A dying man’s efforts to make amends.”

  “He claims he wanted to make things right by naming his daughter in his Will,” Tom told her.

  “Poor man,” Carla said, with no attempt to conceal her sarcasm. “With her gone, he’ll have no chance to clear his conscience.”

  Tom’s mind drifted. It will be even harder if he learns he was the cause of his daughter’s death.

  A question from Carla brought his attention back.

  “Has he no interest in his other heir?”

  “Sorry. I don't understand your question.”

  “This man, Andrew. What's his last name?”

  “Carlisle.”

  “Andrew Carlisle has a grandchild.”

  “Henry and Sandra have no children.”

  “I’m talking about what happened before she married Henry.”

  The detective leaned forward. “Please tell us.”

  “Like mother, like daughter, Sandra bore a child out of wedlock.”

  Tom and Maddy looked at each other, stunned.

  “Sandra got pregnant her senior year of high school,” Carla continued. “My sister wanted to tell the boy’s parents, certain they’d make their son do the right thing. My niece had no choice but to tell her mother the truth.”

  “The truth about what?”

  “The boy who got her pregnant wasn’t the jock who pretended to be her boyfriend. Instead, Sandra was dating a dropout whose sole possessions were a motorcycle and a surfboard. He’d been arrested twice for drugs.”

  “How did your sister react?”

  “How do you think? She was upset, of course. Told Sandra she’d be ruining her life if she wed that boy. To her surprise, Sandra agreed. Neither she nor the boy wanted marriage.”

  She wrung her hands as she continued. “The similarities in the mother-daughter story end there. The idea of raising a child on her own didn't appeal to Sandra. Her mother helped make arrangements to give the baby up for adoption.”

  Tom lowered hi
s voice. “Did they consider an abortion?”

  “Sandra might have except our family is Catholic. Mary was willing to help, but not with that. She let her daughter know she’d never speak to her again if Sandra had an abortion. The girl wasn’t ready to break ties with her only parent.”

  “She had the baby,” Maddy said.

  Carla nodded. “When her baby bump began to show, she came to stay with me. She gave birth and returned home shortly after. No one in Buena Viaje knew. The three of us never spoke of it again.”

  “Did Sandra ever try to locate the child she gave up?” Tom asked.

  “To my knowledge, no. It made her all the more anxious to have another baby. To give a child the life it deserved.”

  “Did she ever tell her husband?”

  “She meant to. When she realized Henry was not interested in children, she buried her pain inside.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Tom drove to a restaurant which featured an expansive view of San Francisco Bay.

  “You're in for a treat,” he told Maddy, guiding her through the entrance. “This is one of my favorite places.”

  They were seated at a reserved table next to floor to ceiling windows and Tom selected a bottle of wine.

  Reading the menus, they realized how hungry they were. They were ready with their order when the waiter returned with the wine.

  Tom tapped Maddy’s glass with his own. “Thanks for making this trip special for me.”

  “Here’s to all our special times together, big or small,” she replied.

  The restaurant overlooked the Marina where they saw boats with colored sails, kites, and seagulls. They watched bikers and joggers weave in and out among the trails. Maddy pointed out an ocean liner gliding smoothly under the Golden Gate Bridge.

  “Have you ever wanted to jump on a ship and cruise to Hawaii?”

  He looked at the hundreds of tiny windows on the ship.

  “It’s not my thing. Too crowded and cramped. As soon as I arrived, I would want to come home. I'm not good at lying on a beach doing nothing.”

  “You and my sister. Lea’s claustrophobic. One night in a small cabin and she would jump overboard.”

  “I remember when she was locked in the cabin of that hoodlum’s boat at the Harbor,” Tom said.

  Maddy laughed. “I don’t know what she would have done if the dogs hadn’t rescued her.”

  “How about you? Ever been on a cruise?”

  She snorted. “The closest I ever came was a ferryboat ride around the Bay with my ex.”

  “That sounds romantic.”

  “It was, until I asked why he kept taking pictures of us. He wasn't over his wife divorcing him and moving their kids to San Francisco. It was a childish attempt to make her jealous by showing her what she was missing.”

  It bothered Tom to hear her speak of her ex-husband. “Was she? Missing much, I mean.”

  “I ended up divorcing him, too. What does that tell you?”

  Savoring the smell of the French bread delivered to their table, Tom asked her opinion. “What do you think of Carla?”

  “The woman, or her story?”

  “Both.”

  “A pity she didn't give herself another chance at love.” She ran her fingers up his arm. “It worked for me the second time around.”

  He raised his glass. “I’ll drink to that.”

  “As for her story, it was quite a surprise.”

  “It may be a bigger surprise to Brody than it was to us. If he got Sandra out of the way to secure Andrew Carlisle’s fortune for himself, he’s in for a rude awakening.”

  “Assuming someone is able to find the baby Sandra gave up for adoption.”

  “I’ll put Pat on it. She’s a bulldog when it comes to tracking. Besides, she has resources not available to PIs.”

  “It's a shame Andrew Carlisle doesn’t know he has a grandchild, even though he went years showing no paternal interest. I doubt Brody will tell him.”

  “It doesn’t matter what Brody does or doesn’t do. I have every intention of informing Carlisle myself.”

  “Is that your responsibility?”

  “I feel responsible to do the right thing.”

  She pressed against his shoulder. “That’s something I love about you. Now, it’s your turn. How do you feel?”

  “Like this case is driving me crazy.”

  “In what way?”

  “Everyone involved has a hidden, darker side. First, there’s Henry. Most people consider him a nice guy. He’s also an alcoholic abuser with a bad temper. Likely engaged in something illegal, although I haven’t figured out what.”

  “Next, Brooke Fields,” Maddy said. “Perceived by her fans as the girl-next-door, but extremely ambitious.”

  “Don’t forget Ian, the seemingly trustworthy insurance broker,” Tom continued, “Not above breaking the law to get the wealth he covets.”

  The detective stopped talking while the waiter served their plates.

  After Tom sliced more bread and passed the tray, he continued. “Then, there’s Brody Hall.”

  “The man you caught breaking into Henry’s house.”

  “Ask yourself. Is Brody sincere about reuniting his employer with a long-lost child? Or was he disposing of an heir who could bar his succession to the Carlisle empire?”

  “Don’t neglect to include the victim in your list of duplicitous persons.”

  Tom looked puzzled at first. After a moment, he nodded. “You’re right. Sandra was cheating on Henry and planning to divorce him.”

  “Which brings us to her lover, the other person unfaithful to his spouse,” Maddy concluded.

  Tom threw his napkin on the table. “As I said, everyone in this case has secrets.”

  Maddy ran a finger around the top of her wine glass. “Don’t you think it’s true for most people?”

  “What are you suggesting?”

  “Are any of us exactly as we appear? You, of all people, know about skeletons people have in their closets.”

  “It’s true,” he said. “I’ve seen it all from men shoplifting as a child to leading dual lives as an adult. Most secrets are fairly innocent. Embarrassing family history, debt, or phobias.”

  His mood became somber. “Other secrets are more damaging. Addiction, cheating someone out of money, getting a colleague fired, or wrecking someone’s marriage.”

  “Why are people so worried their secrets will be discovered?”

  “They’re afraid to receive disappointment or anger from family members and friends. Instead, they bottle up their secrets allowing them to fester. They fail to realize even small secrets weigh on a person, gnaw at them, make them feel guilty.”

  “Do you have any secrets?” she asked between bites.

  He flashed a boyish smile. “I took a twenty dollar bill from my mom’s purse when I was a kid.”

  “If that’s the worst you’ve done…”

  “I compounded the original sin. When Mom discovered it missing, I lied. My brother took the blame and was punished.”

  “Did your brother tell your mom the truth?”

  “It didn’t do any good.” He grinned. “I was the youngest. Her favorite, although she wouldn't admit to having favorites. She accepted my story over his.”

  Maddy laughed. “I tried to get my sister blamed for stuff I did. It never worked. Don’t get me wrong, Lea never ratted on me. It didn’t matter. Dad always figured out who was guilty. I don't know if he believed her more than me, or knew because he was a cop.”

  “You have the same problem with me you had with your father. I believe you because I love you. But don’t forget, I’m a cop by nature.”

  “I’ll remember that,” Maddy said. She dropped her head so he couldn’t see her eyes. “Does that apply to keeping things from you as well?”

  Tom sensed the conversation had changed course.

  “What do you mean?” he asked warily.

  “We’re talking about people being honest with each o
ther, but secrets can be tricky. Knowing when to keep a secret or when to tell. It isn’t always clear.”

  He looked at her more closely. “I don’t understand the distinction. Keeping secrets is as bad as telling lies.”

  Maddy pushed a fork around her plate. “Information may be withheld to protect someone or keep another person out of trouble.”

  He pushed his plate to one side and leaned forward on his elbows. His tone was sharp. “Is there something you should tell me, Mad?”

  She sensed the romantic mood of the evening slipping away. “There's a side to Brooke you haven't seen.”

  “Besides being attractive enough to have every man in the county interested in weather?” Sensing her reluctance, he continued. “I'm aware of her cat fights with Sandra.”

  “Something else.”

  She was torn between keeping Brooke’s secret or disclosing facts vital to his case.

  “It has nothing to do with your investigation.”

  Tom held her eyes, rendering her powerless to turn away. “Let me be the judge of that.”

  She raised her hand to break the tension. “All right, I’ll tell you.”

  A mix of emotions between relief and guilt swept over her.

  “Brooke and her husband swap partners.”

  Tom’s face registered neither surprise nor disapproval, a policeman's nonjudgmental reaction. “That fact, in itself, is not particularly significant.”

  He appeared uninterested in the disclosure. She breathed easier until he continued. “Unless she feared consequences of her extracurricular activities being made public.”

  A stern look replaced his earlier smile. “How did you uncover a fact she wouldn't want people to know?”

  She squirmed. “Brooke asked if you and I might be interested in attending one of their parties.”

  His jaw dropped. “You’re kidding! She tried to entice the man leading the investigation of her murdered friend?”

  “Not exactly. She suggested it when I mentioned I had a boyfriend. I didn’t tell her who my boyfriend is.”

  He struggled to keep his voice calm. “Speaking of keeping things from people, how will Brooke react when she finds out she nearly propositioned an officer of the law?”

  Maddy twisted a strand of her long, brown hair. “I hadn’t considered that.”