“Probably because Adam is dead now and a wrong has been righted with Adam’s confession. Doctors are like us lawyers, Patty, we take an oath. For all we know, Adam had some kind of agreement with the doctor that said after his death, he could spill his guts. I’m just guessing here because I don’t know. Didn’t your people ask him?”
Patty shrugged. “I’ll go get the report and wait in the lot for Nick to pick me up. I’ll check in when we’re done. Is there anything in particular you want me to look for while we’re there?”
“Anything that screams my name, snatch it up. This is a hot potato, isn’t it?”
“And it’s getting hotter by the moment,” Patty called over her shoulder as she ran to her little office. She was back in minutes with the report. She accepted the key to the Star mansion, which was on a curly purple wrist chain. Patty blew her boss a kiss and raced for the stairs that would take her outside.
By the time Nick pulled up in his convertible with the top down, Patty was drenched with her own perspiration. “You need to put the top up and the AC on full blast, or I’m going to explode. What took you so damn long?”
“I had to get gas. This car does not run on empty, you know.”
It was a running battle with the two of them, with Patty saying to fill the tank when it was a quarter full, and Nick saying his car buzzed when he was down to his last five gallons.
Within minutes, the canvas top curled upward and the AC started to spew cold air. Patty fanned herself with her hands. “You know where to go, right?”
“Yeah, I dropped Sophie off a few times. What’s up?”
Patty told him about the reports as well as what Kala had said before she handed over the key. “I hope I’m not wrong, Nick, but I think Dr. Rosenberg is a key player here whom no one explored, or if they tried, were thwarted for their efforts. Money talks and bullshit walks, as Kala and Jay say constantly.”
His eyes on the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel, Nick said, “Give me your definition of Audrey Star and don’t stop to think about the answer before you reply.”
“In my opinion, Audrey Star was mentally challenged and never progressed beyond the age of sixteen. No one wanted that information to come out. Even Adam, at the end when he confessed to murdering her, never said a word about her mental condition. Maybe it had something to do with the stockholders or something. I would imagine that stockholders have the right to expect whoever was at the head of a monolith like Star Enterprises to be of sound mind. It would be like Kala sending Bobby the office boy to defend a client on a murder charge. Bobby isn’t qualified, and neither was Audrey qualified to run Star Enterprises even though she was the CEO and president. It was in name only. She signed her name. Seems she was real good at that. Hey, what do you want from me, Nick? I’m a reporter, not a shrink.”
Nick shrugged. “Do you think we’ll find anything?”
“No. Well, maybe. It would be nice, though, if we did. Adam lived at the house until the last two weeks of his life. He might well have hidden something in the house, like Audrey’s journals. But would he have left them there to be found, knowing when he entered the hospital he wouldn’t be getting out and going home? I’m thinking the way he saw it was he’d confessed, and that was the end of it.
“If he ever did have Audrey’s journals, he might have hidden them somewhere. I have not discounted in my own mind that Dr. Rosenberg might have them. For that matter, Adam could have hidden them in his locker at the country club where he plays golf. Or if he belonged to a gym, he would have a locker there and could have hidden them there. No one at the firm has gotten that far into this mess yet to have thought of that until today. For all we know, they could be hidden in the trunk of his car.
“Nick, let me ask you a question. Knowing Audrey Star’s condition, knowing she knew she was never going to walk again, knowing everything she knew at the time of her death, what would she write in a journal? Her world was one room. She watched television, her husband read to her, a nurse took care of her needs. What would she write about? Why would she even bother to keep a journal? Before, yes, I understand the need to put thoughts to paper. I think those damn journals are suddenly a very big deal.”
Nick took his eyes off the road long enough to give Patty a piercing stare. “What happens if we can’t find them?”
“We have to find them. We look until we have to give up. That’s the bottom line.”
“Okay, we’re here,” Nick said as he put on his blinker and made a left turn onto a gravel driveway. “I hope you have the code to the security gate. Kala said the other day that all the staff are gone, even the gardeners.”
“Four double zeros,” Patty said. Nick punched in the numbers, and the gate slowly slid to the side. He drove through and continued on under the canopy of ancient oak trees.
It was a beautiful house, a huge Tudor with extensions that ran to the back of the house so as not to disturb the architecture. The shrubbery was dense and lush but overgrown. Flowers bloomed everywhere, but they were leggy and spindly and in need of water. The noonday sun glistened on the diamond-paned windows.
“It’s pretty, isn’t it, Nick? This is the first time I’m seeing it. But Sophie described it to me. She said it was a cold, strange house, beautifully decorated with costly things, but there was no warmth at all to it. Even if I didn’t know the house was empty, I would still think so. It just looks like a shell to me even though I can see window treatments. Is that crazy or what?” Patty asked, getting out of the car.
“That’s because you’re a people person, Patty. But I understand what you’re saying. It’s almost like the house is shouting, ‘They’re all gone and they aren’t coming back.’ ”
“I wonder what Sophie will do with it,” Patty said.
Nick stopped in midstride. “If Sophie were to ask me for my opinion, I’d tell her to burn the damn thing to the ground.”
Patty laughed, a bitter sound. “Funny. I was thinking the exact same thing. Maybe she could knock it down and make a little park with benches and flowers and stuff. A few statues, that kind of thing. A place where people could walk to in the evening after the sun goes down. Let’s hope she asks for our opinions. Okay, here goes. Why do I feel like I should ring the bell?”
“Is that some kind of girl thinking? Just open the damn door already and get this show on the road.”
Patty whirled around. “What’s your problem, Nick? I’m getting sick and tired of your attitude. If you didn’t want to come with me, all you had to do was say no.
Nick walked over to the swing, noticed the patches of mildew, and perched on the very end. Patty leaned against the porch wall.
“They called me early this morning to tell me I have to have the other hip done, and the sooner the better. There goes my career. I thought I could handle it but… I’m not handling it. I have to be up front with all my sponsors, and the sooner the better on that, too. I’m washed up, Patty. Sophie isn’t going to want some has-been like me. That’s what’s bothering me more than the endorsements and my career.”
“Damn, you are one dumb sorry jerk, Nick Mancuso. Right this minute, I’m ashamed to even be talking to you. If you think even for a nanosecond that Sophie would feel that way, you’re even more stupid than I thought. Don’t say another word to me, Nick Mancuso.”
“So you’re telling me this is a guy thing?” Hope was in his voice, but Patty was heartless.
“I can’t waste my time on stupid people like you. Now get off your ass and help me out here or else go home and I’ll call a cab when I’m ready to leave. Don’t you dare talk to me, Nick. I can’t carry on a conversation with someone so stupid.”
“
“I’m sorry about your news. It’s going to be whatever you make it to be, Nick. There are a million things you can do with your life. You’re financially sound, and have your whole life ahead of you. Make it count. Do not whine anymore to me. We came here to do a job, so let’s get to it.”
Nick laughed. Patty could always shake him loose. He followed her into the house and gasped as loud as Patty did when they entered the foyer.
“Oh my God!” they both said in unison.
