Slice and Dice, page 25
part #5 of Sophie Greenway Series
Arthur thanked her profusely for finding Nathan. He said again how worried he was about him. When Sophie asked where Constance was, he nodded toward one of the bedrooms but offered nothing more. He was obviously in no mood for a chat. Before she left, he asked for directions to the monastery. She assumed he intended to drive out to talk to Nathan. She didn’t mention how drunk Nathan was likely to be because she didn’t think he should be alone tonight. Arthur might be the last person on earth Nathan wanted to see, but perhaps, in some convoluted way, he was the best person for the job.
Sophie still wanted to talk to Emily about the Buckridge Culinary Academy, specifically office 404, but after what the poor woman had just gone through, it wasn’t the right time. Paul was another possible source of information, but he’d never been all that friendly to her, and he, too, had just suffered a major emotional blow. Her questions would have to wait. Not that she would put them on hold for long. A man’s life was at stake. She thought about going to the police and telling them what she knew, but since her information implicated Nathan, she wanted to wait until she knew more. She didn’t want circumstantial evidence to convict another innocent man.
After dinner, she and Bram walked back to the hotel and turned in early. Bram didn’t feel much like talking. He’d been his usual charming self at the restaurant, but once they were alone, Sophie sensed his fatigue. And because she had so much on her mind, engaging in their normal banter would have been a struggle. She was actually grateful for Bram’s pensive mood.
When the alarm finally went off at seven A.M., Bram stayed in bed while Sophie showered. As he was getting dressed, she prepared a light breakfast of whole-wheat toast, fresh melon, and yogurt. Whatever problems he’d had on his mind last night were still on his mind this morning. Over breakfast she made a few tentative stabs at getting him to talk about it, but he changed the subject each time. Before he left for the station, they stood at the front door and kissed goodbye.
“Everything’s okay, isn’t it?” she asked. She couldn’t let him go without reassurance that he hadn’t found out about her and Nathan. It was hard to accept that for the rest of her married life, a sword would be hanging over her head — a sword she’d hung herself. “Have I done something to upset you?”
“God, no,” he said, kissing her again and then holding her tight. “It’s not you. It’s a friend. I think this person may be in some serious trouble and I don’t know how to help.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said, feeling herself relax in his arms. “Is it a close friend?”
“Sort of,” he said after a few seconds. “I guess I care more than I thought I did.”
“You’ll think of something.”
“I hope so.” He backed up. “Say, Soph? Have you found out yet when the Buckridges are leaving town?”
She was instantly on guard again. “No.”
“Could you?”
“I could try. Why?”
He paused for a moment, then continued. “There’s something important I want you to read tonight. And don’t give me any excuses about having to work late.”
“Is it about Nathan?”
“It’s about his whole family.”
“Come on, Bram. I can’t wait until tonight.”
“I’m taping an interview with Governor Ventura in less than an hour. I can’t stay. But remember your promise to stay away from Nathan.”
Sophie wasn’t sure she’d ever made such a promise, but she didn’t want him to worry. “I’ll be careful.”
“Good. That whole family is a disaster, Sophie. Stay away from all of them.”
She scrutinized his face. “Why would you say something like that?”
“I’ll let you see the proof tonight.” He gave her one last peck on the cheek, then hurried down the hall to the elevators.
As she cleaned up the breakfast dishes, she wondered what information he could possibly have on Constance Buckridge and her family and where he’d found it. If he’d somehow gotten ahold of a copy of the Lippert interview, well, sure, it made some awful accusations about Constance and her brother, but they posed no danger to Sophie. And what could he have on Nathan other than his general antipathy toward one of Sophie’s ex-boyfriends?
Pouring herself another cup of coffee, she took it into the living room. She was about to sit down on the couch when she heard a knock at the door. She immediately thought of Nathan. Although she had mixed feelings about seeing him this morning, she still hoped it would be him. When she answered the door, she was surprised to find Constance standing in the hallway.
“Are you alone?” she asked, smiling at Sophie with that same open yet mischievous look millions of TV viewers had come to know and love.
“My husband just left,” she said, holding the door open. “Come on in.” Surely Bram had to be wrong. Constance might be many things, but she wasn’t dangerous. At one point in her life, Sophie had thought of Constance as her ftiture mother-in-law. They’d even been fairly close. Of course, all that had ended when she broke it off with Nathan.
As Constance entered, her eyes fell on Ethel, who was snoozing on her pillow under the dining room table. “So that really is your dog,” she said, crouching down to get a better look.
“Afraid so.”
“I’ve seen her downstairs on her pillow in the lobby. She makes an unforgettable hotel mascot.”
Ethel’s eyes opened slightly, sensing that she was being talked about.
“She’s old,” said Sophie, “but young in spirit.”
“She’s not a terribly active animal.”
“No. She’s always been far more cerebral, if you know what I mean. Guarding tennis balls and examining bugs represent the limit of her athletic accomplishments.”
Ethel yawned, smacked her jaws a couple of times, then closed her eyes.
“I guess I’m not very interesting,” said Constance.
“Oh, don’t take her apathy personally. She’s apathetic about most everything.”
“Except tennis balls and bugs.”
“And cookies. She has standards.”
Constance watched her a few more seconds, then stood up, straightening her belted sweater and wool slacks. “We’ve hardly had a chance to talk since you came to Kitchen Central with Nathan last weekend. I thought it was about time I remedied that. Did I come at a bad moment?”
“No, not at all.” She led the way into the living room. After everything that had happened yesterday, Constance looked none the worse for wear. Sophie figured her reasons for dropping by extended beyond mere sociability, so her natural curiosity lucked into high gear. “Can I get you something to drink? Some coffee?”
Constance patted her stomach as she sat down on the couch. “No thanks. I just finished breakfast and I’m stuffed. Both Arthur and I have really been enjoying the Fountain Grill.”
“It’s a great cafe,” agreed Sophie, sitting down opposite her. It felt funny talking so casually after what she’d just learned. Perhaps, somewhere in the back of her mind, she did believe Laurie Lippert. At the very least, the woman’s accusations colored the way she looked at Constance now. “So what’s it like being back in Minnesota after all these years?”
“It’s been profitable in terms of the book tour. I’ve done almost a dozen interviews, four bookstores, several radio shows, and a couple TV shows. Can you believe that this is the first time I’ve spent any real time here since I moved out east?”
“Nathan mentioned that. I assume Minnesota holds some bad memories for you.”
Constance turned her attention to a tall white vase of bright yellow daffodils sitting in the center of the coffee table, then glanced admiringly around the room. “Yes, a few. Nobody really wanted to start the tour here except for Nathan.”
“Because of New Fonteney?”
She nodded. “It just wasn’t the right spot for us. I know he’s disappointed, but Paul pretty much runs the culinary academy and he was against it.”
“Perhaps Nathan could be in charge of this branch?”
“You know, when we first started up the school, I wanted Nathan to run it, but he turned me down flat. I suppose, in the long run, Paul was the better choice. He’s a lot like his father, a natural at business. Nathan is more artistic and more introspective. Perhaps that’s why I love him so much. Oh, he does some guest lectures occasionally. He’s quite a brilliant chef, you know. I’d love him to do more teaching, but he seems to need his freedom right now. That’s why he likes running around the country making sure the restaurants we own are up to snuff. Kenneth Merlin, my son-in-law, handles most of the business details, but Nathan is in charge of the culinary integrity at each site, and that’s every bit as vital to me as the financial bottom line.”
Sophie nodded, sipping her coffee. Everything Constance said was interesting, but she wished that she’d get to the point. “You look well. Stardom must agree with you.”
Her smoothness faltered. “Celebrity has its ups and downs. Speaking of which, I, ah … I understand you came to the door yesterday during a family meeting.”
“I guess I showed up at a rather bad time.”
“Oh, don’t apologize. You had no way of knowing. You see, Sophie, I won’t bore you with the details, but an extremely vicious woman picked yesterday to slander me in the worst possible way. Unfortunately, she passed her lies on to my children. You saw the result. They were so totally unhinged, they just exploded. They wouldn’t even give me a chance to explain.”
“I’m sorry. That must have been a terrible position to be in.” Sophie tried to keep her comments sympathetic. Actually, she was surprised that Constance would talk to her about it Pulling a small throw pillow in front of her, Constance continued. “There’s a woman, her name is Marie Damontraville. She’s writing a biography of yours truly. Unauthorized, of course. She’s been doing research in town all week. And lucky me, she happens to be staying right here.”
“Damontraville?” said Sophie. “I don’t remember that name on the guest register.”
“That’s because she uses an alias, which should give you some indication of the sort of person she is.”
“What name did she register under?”
“Lela Dexter.”
Sophie’s eyes opened wide.
“Do you know her?”
Taking a moment to let it sink in, she said, “No, but my husband does.”
“Well, tell him to keep away. She’s a black widow spider, Sophie. A wretched, pathetic woman who feeds on other people’s tragedies. Her books are notorious for being sleazy tell-alls, pure tabloid journalism.”
“Didn’t she do one last year on Elton John?”
“Yes, and I’m amazed he hasn’t sued. Yesterday she supposedly interviewed a woman who worked for me back in the early Seventies. Somehow, she managed to slip copies of the interview under my children’s doors here at the hotel. Well, of course they were shocked at what this onetime employee said. I was shocked, too. We called an immediate family meeting, but it disintegrated into a shouting match.”
“I heard that part.”
“I’m sure the entire floor heard it. You know how much my family loves to argue, Sophie. You’ve been there for some of our finer moments. Nobody ever agrees on anything, and I’m used to that. But to get blindsided by this woman and not even have the chance to defend myself — well, needless to say, I spent a sleepless night. Arthur and I met with the children again this morning and tried to get them to listen to reason. I mean, for all I know, the entire interview was made up by Ms. Damontraville. If she did talk to that ex-employee, what she got was the result of a long-standing grudge, a vendetta that’s been smoldering inside that woman’s head for years.”
“What grudge?”
“I fired her for stealing, Sophie. It was right after Wayne died. Even before he died, we’d both noticed some things were missing: a pair of twenty-four-carat gold cufflinks from his dresser drawer, an antique pearl-handled letter opener from my office, and about five hundred dollars in cash from a small metal box we kept in one of die closets. I mean, I couldn’t believe it was happening. I liked Laurie. I trusted her. But one morning, just two days after Wayne’s funeral, I caught her going through my jewelry box. She’d already pocketed one of my favorite rings. I guess she figured I was too grief-stricken to notice what was happening. Weil, I fired her on the spot, but she begged me to keep her on for another two weeks. She said she hadn’t saved any money, and if her parents found out what she’d done, they’d kick her out of the house and she’d have no money and no place to live. I guess I’m a sucker for a sob story, so I let her stay until the end of the month. I checked her pockets and backpack every night before she left. On her final day, she took me aside and said she’d given it some thought and she wanted me to know that she planned to get even with me one day. Nobody messed up her life like I had and got away with it. I should have turned her over to the police right then and there. I regret now that I didn’t.”
“So you’re saying the entire interview was a lie?”
“Absolutely. Arthur made an impassioned plea to everyone this morning. He denied everything the woman said about us. I mean, what she accused us of was totally insane! Thank God, they all listened to reason. As Arthur said, we can’t let someone as morally bankrupt as Marie Damontraville destroy everything we’ve all worked so hard to build. Kenny stood immediately and backed him up. Of course, Kenny’s primary concern is that his children receive their rightful inheritance. Same with Emily. And I want that, too. Nobody knows die kind of blood and sweat I’ve put into my career except me. And nobody, especially not some lowlife like Damontraville, is going to take it away from me with a bunch of unsubstantiated rumors.”
“Did Nathan attend the meeting this morning?”
“Of course. Arthur drove out to New Fonteney last night and brought him home.”
Sophie was relieved.
“I understand you found him for us. That was another reason I wanted to come up here this morning. I wanted to thank you.”
“I was worried about him, too.”
“I know. I couldn’t be more pleased that you’re back in his life again. I haven’t seen him so happy in years.” She uncrossed her legs and sat forward a little. “Listen, perhaps this is none of my business, but did Nathan say anything to you last night about the interview?”
“Nothing,” replied Sophie. Here was another reason Constance had come. She wanted to find out what Sophie knew.
“Good. That’s good. The less people who know about it, the better.”
“What will you do if Marie Damontraville makes the information public?”
“We’ll sue. Essentially, it all comes down to one embittered employee’s word against mine and Arthur’s. There are no other witnesses. That’s the point I made at our meeting this morning. On the one hand you have Laurie Lippert, a thief, a woman who’s carried a grudge all of her adult life. Damontraville simply put the gun in her hand. On the other side of the equation, you have an eminent clinical psychologist, a man who has helped thousands of people over the years with his books and his approach to personal therapy. And finally you have me, a national figure. My life is an open book, Sophie. My honesty is unquestioned. I don’t think I’m being overly confident to believe a judge would take our word over hers. But we’re still hoping we can do something to prevent the book from ever being published. Kenny is an excellent lawyer. And when it comes to the family business, he takes his job very seriously.”
“I’m glad everyone’s calmed down,” said Sophie. “It’s hard to live with a lot of family strife.”
“Especially when it’s so unnecessary.”
Sophie had to reread the interview. She wasn’t as confident as Constance was that if it came to a trial, it would be resolved that easily. Laurie Lippert’s account was credible and compelling. Even if it didn’t turn out to be true, all it would take was one person to sniff out the story and print it in a newspaper or a magazine. It would be like lobbing a hand grenade inside the Buckridge food tent. Sophie was certain that what had motivated Constance’s children to keep silent on the matter wasn’t just their belief in her ultimate innocence but rather their own sense of self-preservation.
Sophie had always known that Constance was a complex woman and that her reasons for acting the way she did were rarely ever simple. That’s why she wondered if Constance hadn’t appeared on her doorstep this morning for another reason as well.
Perhaps she thought that Nathan would eventually talk to Sophie about the interview. Before it happened she wanted to make her pitch that it was all a lie. Interestingly, she had explained why it had happened, but not what had happened. In essence, she’d programmed Sophie to adopt a certain position without revealing any of the details. If Sophie hadn’t already read the interview, she might have taken Constance and Arthur’s side out of… what? Loyalty? A sense of shared history? Lack of any real, concrete information? Or perhaps mere nostalgia? She’d known and liked these people in the past. How could they have changed that much? Whatever the case, Constance undoubtedly hoped to buy herself some insurance where Nathan was concerned by making sure Sophie felt she understood the real story, even though, cleverly, she’d never said what it was. And that little maneuver had created more doubt in Sophie’s mind than anything Laurie Lippert had said.
Now that she’d gotten what she’d come for, Constance rose from the couch. “Well, I guess I’d better let you get some work done. You’re a busy woman these days, I hear. I’ve taken up enough of your time with my problems.”
But Sophie wasn’t done yet. “How long will you be in town?”
“We’re leaving on Sunday. Arthur and I, and then Emily and Kenny, will all go on to St. Louis. Paul flies back to New Haven. The academy is starting its summer semester next week, so he has to be there. And Nathan …” She paused, looking uncertain. “I’m not sure what his plans are. He told me this morning that he may stay on a while longer in Minnesota. I assume you have something to do with that.”
