“Were you really that afraid?”
“They kept Charlotte off her medication. They killed her. If they were willing to do that, they could do worse. I know that we’re dealing with something bigger than us…”
“But Abram, who is behind this?”
“I don’t know. I think two people do know.”
“Who?”
“Charlotte is one of them.”
Or was.
“Who is the other one?”
“I have to think that Sheryl knows why this is happening.”
“Her?”
“She banned Charlotte from bridge. Bridge grudges run deep.”
Jake pressed the ice a little harder. After all this, he was back where he’d started. Murder over a bridge game. And Abram believed it too.
“Do you feel safe now?”
“I keep a low profile. I’m used to it.”
“I see.”
Abram took Jake’s water glass and refilled it. He didn’t realize he’d finished it. It tasted clean, since he still had the trace of saltwater on his lips.
“Your bruises don’t look that bad.”
“Good.”
“I understand, you know.”
“Understand what?”
“If you quit looking into this. I know that I should move on. I lost a wife before this. I’ve lost a lot of friends. Charlotte and I weren’t young adults.”
Abram flicked his hand in the air, like he was shooing away a fly. Jake took the ice pack off. Numb. He dropped his free fist on the table.
“How can you say that? How can you say that you loved her, and then say that?”
Abram nodded and whispered back.
“I’m sorry you got hurt over this.”
“I don’t care. We’ll get this figured out.”
“Good. We have to.”
“Then what do we do now?”
He kept his notebook open and listened. Abram had a way of waiting before he spoke.
“The way I see it, there are two things we can do. We can find out what happened from two people. Sheryl and Charlotte.”
“Well, let’s start with Sheryl.”
“I believe Sheryl knows something. She knows everything that happens here. Even if she wasn’t directly involved, she’s connected. And she had a grudge against Charlotte.”
“Why does she have a grudge? Charlotte said it was because she’d gotten too good at bridge. Is that it?”
“Are you a fool?” Abram shook his head. “Obviously it was about me.”
“You?”
“Sheryl wanted me for herself. When she finally found out about Charlotte, she punished her.”
“Then why didn’t Charlotte realize that was the reason?”
Abram closed his eyes and sighed.
“She was so naive. She never knew Sheryl wanted me. And I couldn’t tell her.”
Jake wrote it all down.
“So Sheryl punished Charlotte. And to retaliate, Charlotte started investigating her and the Saving Tomorrow Initiative?”
“Exactly. And that made things worse. Regardless, Sheryl knows everything that happens in this community.”
He could tell Abram was holding back. As Jake closed his eyes to think, he saw the bearded man with the red hands. The man from the commercial. He opened his eyes quickly and Abram continued.
“The only problem is that Sheryl is a wall. No one can get through to her, not even me anymore. She won’t tell you what’s for dinner, let alone what she knew about Charlotte. Or what she did.”
Unless she was talking to Gary Novak. Jake would have to confiscate Gary’s wedding ring the next time he saw him. It sent the wrong message. Jake reached out to Abram and, even though it hurt to stretch, patted him on the shoulder.
“I may have a way around that problem. Sheryl will talk for us.”
“Why?”
“I have absolutely no idea why. But she will.”
Abram rose and got Jake another glass of water. When he came back, he was yawning. Jake started to get up.
“It’s late. After nine.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m a night owl. I stay up until nine often.”
“I see.”
“Occasionally 9:15.”
He yawned again.
“I should go home.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I’m supposed to meet someone for drinks. Though since I look like this…”
“You’ll be fine. But we didn’t finish.”
“What do you mean?”
“I said you could find out more from Charlotte as well.”
“But how?”
“Simple.” He walked over to his bookshelf and moved an atlas. He drew an envelope out from inside the cover.
“I can’t go there. And I don’t want you to go yet. But Charlotte’s daughter hasn’t been inside her apartment yet. No one has.”
“Right.”
“Tonight showed us how big this is. You have to go to Charlotte’s apartment and discover what she found.”
“How can I do that?”
“With this.” Abram tore the envelope open. “I haven’t been inside. But I know it works. We used it for late night visits. Special interludes.”
He extended his palm toward Jake. He had a key.
“This is your search warrant for Room 112, Building B.”
CHAPTER 28
Jake was trying to figure out a way to cancel when Kaylie started knocking. There was no point in trying to stop her. He went to the door and opened it. She just put her hands on her hips and stared.
“What the hell happened to you?”
“I got in a fight.”
“You?”
“Yeah, me. Who else?”
“The other guy.”
