Motherhood Is Murder Part 8

'Do you think her husband was having an affair?' I asked.

Margaret looked taken aback. 'Bruce? No. I don't think so. They were having problems, sure, but I don't think he was cheating on her. At least Helene never gave me any indication . . .' She looked miserably at what was left of the brownie on her plate, then shrugged and popped the rest of it in her mouth. 'Well, these really are extenuating circ.u.mstances, aren't they?'

I nodded. 'Go ahead, I promise no nutrition police are going to pop out of the woodworks here.'

She motioned toward my latte. 'You're not drinking your coffee.'

'Uh . . .' I glanced at Laurie.

'Oh!' Margaret said. 'I know how protective new moms are. Here, give me the baby. I'll tell you I never, not once, spilled hot liquid on my kid's head. But I know how obsessive the thought can be.'

I unstrapped Laurie and handed her to Margaret, who smiled for the first time that afternoon. The smile brought relief to her face while at the same time highlighting her swollen eyes.

She gazed at Laurie. 'You forget how tiny they start out. I mean . . .' She gestured to her baby in the stroller, who was now snoozing. 'Marcus is only six months old, but he seems gargantuan compared to your little thing. I can't believe that he was this size only a few months ago.' Margaret stroked Laurie's hair. 'Is she lifting her head ninety degrees during tummy time?'

What? Ninety degrees!

I knew I was slacking on that tummy time!

I sipped my latte. It was ice cold. 'I don't know. I don't think so.'

Margaret's eyes grew wide. 'Oh,' she said, rounding her mouth and eyes in an exaggerated way.

Was Laurie supposed to be able to hold her head up ninety degrees?

'I mean, she lifts her head. She certainly lifts her head when we do tummy time.'

Margaret nodded sympathetically.

I tried to calm the defensiveness that was swelling inside me. Was my face red? I sipped the cold latte, ignoring the acid flavor. I needed the caffeine anyway.

'When are they supposed to be able to do that?' I asked.

Margaret glanced at her baby and fidgeted slightly. 'I don't really remember, but I thought it was around two months.'

'Well, Laurie's not quite two months yet. She's only seven weeks.'

Margaret smiled. 'Of course, she'll be holding her head up in no time. So anyway, I was in this cla.s.s at the hospital and was becoming very friendly with Evelyn. Helene had the nice idea of forming a group. We would meet at each other's houses and organize events and stuff. It worked really well for a while.'

'For a while? What happened?'

'I got pregnant again and my neighbor Sara did, too. We asked her to join our group. This may have been one of the things that set Evelyn off, I don't know. But she seemed different. And we ended up having to ask her to leave the group.'

'Is that why there was so much tension with Evelyn on the cruise?'

Margaret looked at me and shrugged.

'What about the fight Evelyn said she overheard between Helene and Sara?'

'I don't know anything about that. I asked Sara about it at the funeral, but she said Evelyn was exaggerating. Which, knowing Evelyn, is not at all surprising. I have to find out what happened to Helene. I need your help, Kate.' At this, her eyes filled with tears.

I handed her a napkin off the table. She dabbed at her eyes.

Here was my moment to tell her I didn't have a license.

It's nothing to be ashamed of-after all, it's true. Say it, say it, say it.

'There's something . . . uh . . . I want-'

'Kate, I have a semiconfession.'

I stopped stuttering and focused on Margaret.

'When I met you and you said you were a PI, I knew I needed to hire you.'

'Hire me for what?'

She sighed. 'I've suspected for a long time that Alan's been having an affair. He's been coming home late and acting distant . . . and . . . well, really the list can go on and on. Point being, I thought I could hire you to follow him. And then maybe, finally, I'd have the truth . . . And . . . Oh G.o.d. I feel so guilty.' She broke down and sobbed.

Kenny looked over at us from his table. He made a little sad face showing sympathy then ducked his head again to fiddle with his iPod.

'What do you feel guilty about?' I asked.

'Kate.' She pressed a hand over her heart. 'It's all my fault. I'm scared that it's my fault.'

'The affair?'

She shook her head vehemently. 'Helene!'

'I'm not following you.'

Margaret glanced around the cafe to see if anyone was listening. At the moment, the only other patron was Kenny, who was vigorously tapping his foot to the beat from his iPod. The barista was refilling the pastry case with chocolate-covered croissants and miniature pumpkin pies. She looked about as interested in our conversation as going to the dentist.

Despite this, Margaret leaned over and whispered, 'I think Alan was trying to kill me and instead killed Helene by accident.'

CHAPTER EIGHT.

Safekeeping

I fought to control my shock. 'What? Why?' I asked. I was stunned by Margaret's words. 'You think your husband is trying to kill you?'

Margaret squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. She was still holding Laurie and subconsciously pulled her closer.

'Why do you think that?'

She uncrossed her legs, leaned forward in the chair, and recounted the evening for me. 'While we were getting ready for the cruise, Alan and I kept bickering. Everything was going wrong. Remember we were late? I had confronted him about the affair-well, my suspicions about it, and of course, he denied it. But he got very angry, and even though he denied it . . . I know there's something going on. He didn't want to go on the cruise at all. But we never get any time alone together anymore so I forced the issue.'

She shrugged. 'I guess I thought if I cooled my heels and just showed him we could have fun together that he would fall in love with me again.'

I listened to Margaret in silence. Kenny got up from his table and wiggled his fingers at me and then at the barista on his way out. The barista waved back at Kenny, then looked at our table to see if we needed her. When she noticed we seemed rooted to our chairs, she took off to the back room.

Margaret wiped her eyes. 'We left the house, then Alan doubled back saying he forgot something. When I asked him what-he got very upset and started acting so strange-that I dropped it.'

'Just because he was mad at you doesn't mean he was trying to kill you,' I said.

She put her hand to forehead and rubbed her temple. 'There's more. On the cruise we were at the bar-Helene, Bruce, Alan, and I.' She glanced around the cafe. 'Alan bought the drinks, he grabbed mine from the bar, and I can't remember exactly-but he seemed to hold on to it for a while, then he sort of made a big deal about which one was mine. Said mine was a double and made a stupid joke about me needing it to loosen up.'

I nodded and waited for her to continue.

'Then Sara and her husband came over and the men all started talking about investments or whatever. And Helene and I were chatting and, I don't recall exactly, but we were messing around and I think we got our drinks mixed up. Remember she was so tipsy. I think she drank mine and I think Alan slipped something into it.'

'Do you think he went back to the house to get something to put into your drink?'

'He has a lot of prescription stuff at home. He's a podiatrist M.D. and he has . . . well, never mind, let's just say he has access to whatever he wants.'

'Margaret, have you spoken to the police?'

Her eyes widened. 'Kate, please don't tell anyone about the drug thing or, really, any of this!'

Why doesn't she want me to say anything? That doesn't make sense.

'If you think you're in danger, you have to tell the police.'

'I called the ME's office after I spoke with you yesterday. Well, after Alan left. He came home for lunch. Can you believe that? He never never comes home for lunch. I think he's trying to keep tabs on me or something-find out what I know. Anyway, after he left, I called the ME's office and asked the things you asked me, you know, about broken bones or head trauma and stuff. I pried as much information as I could out of the a.s.sistant but she didn't disclose much, just said they were waiting for the toxicology report and that she couldn't release any more information. I asked her if it looked like murder and she said the office wasn't calling it a homicide yet.' comes home for lunch. I think he's trying to keep tabs on me or something-find out what I know. Anyway, after he left, I called the ME's office and asked the things you asked me, you know, about broken bones or head trauma and stuff. I pried as much information as I could out of the a.s.sistant but she didn't disclose much, just said they were waiting for the toxicology report and that she couldn't release any more information. I asked her if it looked like murder and she said the office wasn't calling it a homicide yet.'

'Then why were homicide cops at the funeral?'

Margaret looked surprised. 'There were?'

I nodded.

Margaret stroked Laurie's head and looked down at her baby in the stroller. I motioned for her to hand me Laurie. She did, then absently picked up Marcus's hand and stroked it while he slept.

'So why would the a.s.sistant medical examiner tell me it wasn't a homicide yet? Do you think she didn't believe me?' she asked.

I shrugged. 'They probably have a protocol to follow. Did you tell her about the drinks and your suspicion on the mix-up?'

Margaret begun to cry. 'I don't want him to find out, Kate. I feel like I'm still in danger. I'm a nervous wreck. I'm not eating at home thinking he might poison me somehow. And forget about sleeping next to him.'

'You have to tell the police. You can't live like this.' I reached across the table for her hand.

'I need to know what happened.'

'Is there somewhere you can go for a while?'

Margaret shrugged. 'Maybe. My mom lives on the peninsula. I was thinking about taking the kids there for a while.'

'That's a good idea, but you need to talk to the police first.'

Margaret dropped her baby's hand and looked a little like someone had given her an electrical shock. She nodded then closed her eyes tight, but a tear still escaped. 'I never thought I would find myself in this situation.'

'There's something I need to tell you. I don't have a PI license.'

Her baby started fussing.

She leaned down and grabbed his hand. 'What do you mean? A license?'

'You need several years' experience before you can apply for your own license and I don't have that yet.'

'Kate, I don't have time to shop this around. I'm scared out of my mind. Please help me.'

I marched home excitedly.

I have a case! My career as a PI is taking off.

She didn't care that I didn't have a license; she'd signed my contract without even blinking! I was going to do this with or without Galigani's support. I did a happy dance with Laurie in the carrier then stopped suddenly when I spotted someone on my front steps.

Uh-oh!

It was Inspector McNearny. I froze.

He semifrowned and semiglared at me. 'Mrs. Connolly.'

I unstuck myself and moved past him on the stairs. I jabbed my key in the front door. 'What can I do for you?'

'Does trouble follow you or are you the cause?'

I stopped fussing with the door. 'Are you accusing me of something?'

'No.' He tapped his foot impatiently. 'I'd like to ask you a few questions about the cruise the other night.'

'Come on inside.' I opened the door and called out to Jim.

There was a note on the dining room table.