One Deadly Sister

“You can say that again,” Sandy replied. “Okay, slow down. You called him Albert. You knew him from the restaurant, I suppose.”

“No, we would never go to the restaurant together, never. The way it started, they told me he’d be speaking at a street fair one day, so I followed him around. I flirted with him like I was told and it worked. That was the plan. He didn’t take the bait immediately, but I know how to get a man interested.”

“No kidding.”

The woman was excited. “They’ll find some of my things in his apartment. They'll arrest me. I didn’t kill him. It’s all political and terrible and all screwed up.”

“What plan? Slow down and start at the beginning.”

“I was supposed to meet him and have an affair. I was to leave a trail of evidence so when people checked it out, it would look like he was having an affair with Norma Martin.

Sandy didn’t get it. “You mentioned your people. Who are we talking about here?”

“Some of my Tampa relatives are part of La Familia. I don’t understand it all, it’s about politics. Anyway, after his campaign got rolling, all the evidence about him being involved with Norma Martin would come out and embarrass him. She’s married and the scandal would ruin his election. Then I’d disappear, move back to Tampa.”

“In the first place, I don’t think a politician as smart as the senator would get involved with a married woman.”

“He didn’t get involved with a married woman, he got involved with me. He checked me out and found I’m not married. But of course, Norma Martin is.”

That stopped Sandy. It took a moment for her to ask slowly, “So, you’re not Norma Martin?”

“She’s my mother. Just turned sixty but looks much younger, so she fit the plan okay. She’s the one who runs the restaurant.”

“So, who are you?”

“Elena Duarte. I’m an accountant from Tampa. They brought me down here just to set up the senator.”

“You’re telling me Towson actually fell for this charade? Who did he think you were?”

“I was myself, Elena Duarte from Tampa. That’s why I checked out okay for him. Why would he suspect anything? He saw my driver’s license, passport, and everything. We took some great trips. He didn’t show me off in public around here because I’m twenty years younger. Why be common about it, he once said. But if it ever did come out, so what, he was a normal bachelor dating a younger woman, both single, no big deal. Might even gain him some votes. He wasn’t aware that in the meantime, we were spreading the rumor he was seeing a married Norma Martin.”

Sandy understood. “It might work for awhile. Rumors don’t have to be precise. Some would believe it and some wouldn’t; the confusion would be all that was needed. Even so, eventually someone would tip him to the rumors going around.”

“The plan was to keep it going until he figured it out. It only had to work for a month or so. At a critical time, they would drop both names like a bomb on the Towson campaign. He’d have two women to explain: was it a mother and daughter thing, or was he only doing the daughter?'

“It would ruin him.” Sandy realized she might not get another chance at getting answers out of this woman. “Did you shoot him?”

“No! Don’t you see my problem? I fell in love with him.” She stared off into the distance, her mind apparently overtaken by a cloud of memories. She started to cry. Sandy handed her a tissue. It took a minute before she could stop and speak again, “He was my lover and now he’s dead.” The crying began again.

“But, if you loved him wouldn’t they be afraid you’d come forward and reveal the plot? What could they do?”

“I don’t know. They might kill me or go after my mother.”

“Geez, they play rough. And a dead mistress would be even better. Norma, ah, Elena, this was a scummy deal you were pulling.”

“I know, I know. But I had to. I refused at first. I told them I’d date him but that was it. Truthfully, I haven’t been around that much; I’m a lot of show but not much go. I wasn’t going to do the whole sex bit with some strange man, even if he was a rich, good-looking bigshot. I’m an accountant, for God’s sake. That’s when they sent Pirro around to explain how it was going to be.”

“Pirro?”

“He’s one of the goons that do dirty work for La Familia, the strong arm stuff. He said I must become Towson’s girlfriend and do what girlfriends do, the whole enchilada. The creep said he’d be glad to help me practice. He said to either screw Towson or screw him.”

“The old fate worse than death thing.”

“Yes, and I could die. Pirro uses whores. Mom calls it VD but it’s HIV. He doesn’t care about spreading it. He’s the lowest lowlife. One day, in the restaurant kitchen, he started telling this long dirty joke, loud to everyone one in the room, except I was the girl in the joke. He kept putting my name in his filthy joke as if I was doing all that stuff. I was embarrassed and terrified. Mom overheard him and lost it. She flew into him, slammed him up against the wall, and held this monstrous kitchen knife across his throat. She said if he ever touches me, she’d cut off his cojones. You understand?”

“Got it.”

“But crazy people like Pirro don’t scare easily. He got mad, said nobody threatens him, and someday he’d do her, while I watched.”

“If she gets in his way, why doesn’t he just kill her?”

“He doesn’t dare to kill anyone unless he’s ordered to. He tried to scare her once though. Mom’s fourth floor apartment has a tiny balcony. He tried to get her to step out there with him one night. Said he had something to show her down below in the pool. He was just trying to scare her. He wouldn’t kill her, at least not when he’s sober.”

“But it’s alright if he screws you guys?”

“Not exactly alright but the family realizes sex happens. It’s something else. Not a big thing with them.”

It occurred to her that Elena wasn’t telling the real story. “So, Mom is saving you from Pirro.”

“Yes, to some extent. He’s scared of her threat. But he’s been after me since the first. Every time he sees me, he corners me and tries to feel me. He puts his awful breath in my face and describes his—you know—his arousal to me. Now he’s free to do what he wants.”

“Why now?”

“Because the game is over. He knew the plan was important to La Familia while Albert was alive. Pirro fooling around with me in the middle of things could mess up everything. So, it was hands off. La Familia doesn’t need me for the plan now because Albert’s no longer a political threat. They have what they want, and Pirro has a green light with me. If he touches me I’ll get sick. My perfect lover is dead, and I’m running from both Pirro and the police.”

She was crying again so Sandy changed the subject, “Do you have a red and blue scarf?”

“Yes I do, silk with red and blue triangles. I got it at Burdines years ago. I wear accessory scarves a lot. I suppose you found it, huh? I left it at Albert’s with my white leather jacket in the small closet off the master bath. That doesn’t mean I was there when he was killed. I have other things there too.”

“Were you in his apartment the day he was killed?

“Am I supposed to answer these questions?”

Sandy reached in her purse. “Here’s the card of Detective Goddard. He’s a straight shooter and he needs your help. He needs your fingerprints and your DNA and what you saw and when, all that.”

“Sure, and then he arrests me.”

Sandy had a momentary guilty thought that she’d rather see this cookie behind bars than her brother. Then it would be a fast trip back to Philly. Still, she had to be honest with her. “The detective needs your help to catch the real killer. But if you killed Towson or were even in his apartment that day, you need to immediately get yourself a lawyer.”

“I just want to go back to my life in Tampa.”

“The police will find you. They have evidence you’ve been in the apartment. And you still must keep Pirro