Brutality (19 page)

“The woman who was attacked in her Hyde Park home more than a week ago died from her injuries last night at Mass General,” a perky reporter said, trying hard to mask her enthusiasm with a note of gravitas. “This morning, Liz Barone’s mother, Bobbi Barone, announced that Liz had left her brain to the Brain Bank affiliated with Boston University, where it will be studied for signs of degenerative neurological disease. At the time of her death, Liz Barone was pursuing a lawsuit against New England University related to brain damage she allegedly suffered as a student athlete at NEU.”

“Did you know about this?” Milloy asked. He muted the broadcast, which had moved on to a story about a new diet guaranteed to rev up your sex drive.

“It’s the first I’ve heard.” Fina chewed a bite of toast. “A heads-up would have been nice, but there you have it.”

“Is this good or bad news?”

She considered the development for a moment. “I think it’s good. It’s good for science, obviously, but it’s good for the case, too.”

“How so?” Milloy asked.

“If BU looks at her brain and finds evidence of damage, that will have huge ramifications in terms of the lawsuit, the prospect of which has to make a lot of people nervous. When people are nervous, they get sloppy. Sloppy works in my favor.”

“Sloppy is also more dangerous,” Milloy noted.

“Murder cases are dangerous,” Fina said. “It’s the nature of the beast, and I’m always careful.”

“And yet, you still get jumped.”

“I said I was careful, not omniscient,” Fina said. “I promise to stay on my toes.”

“I wish that were more reassuring than it is.”

Fina squeezed his biceps, which was smooth and sculpted. “I’d go with it, if I were you.” She rose and went into the kitchen.

“Sure I can’t make you some eggs?” Milloy asked from the other room.

“And waste perfectly good Nutter Butters?”

—

T
he first time Fina walked into Barnes Kaufcan, she hadn’t any preconceived notions, but things had changed. Liz’s death had soured her mood, and Kevin Lafferty had lied to her and wasted her time. Both were transgressions she didn’t easily forgive.

On Monday morning there were two security guards at the lobby desk, one of whom looked fresh out of high school, the other approaching retirement. The older guard was standing, pulling on his coat, so Fina fiddled with her phone. She couldn’t be sure that the older guard was the more conscientious of the two, but sometimes you had to gamble, and her instincts told her that the younger one would be more likely to succumb to her charms. Fina watched him for a few moments after the older guard had left. The manner in which he eyed the young female visitors, and his lack of a wedding ring, gave her confidence in her assessment.

She walked over to the desk and leaned toward the young man.

“I was wondering if you could help me,” Fina said, signing in to the electronic visitors’ log, smiling. She looked around surreptitiously and pulled out her PI license. “I’m doing some work for a client”—she let him have a quick glance at her ID before putting it away—“and I’m wondering if you could check something on your visitors’ log.”

“You’re a PI?” he asked.

“I am.”

“That’s cool.”

“I like it. So, the visitors’ log?” Fina asked.

“I’m only supposed to give access to the log when there’s a written request.”

“I don’t actually need access. I just need to check for a name. It’s electronic, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s all here.” He gestured toward the computer in front of him, and his sleeve rode up his arm. Fina could see a tattoo peeking out.

“Another good thing about being a PI? You don’t need to cover your ink,” she said conspiratorially.

“That would be awesome,” he said. He considered her for another moment before relenting. “What were you looking for?”

“I just want to confirm that a woman named Liz Barone visited in the past two months.” Fina leaned even closer. “My client, he’s a young guy and thinks his fiancée has been cheating on him. The wedding’s in March.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, I’m hoping to save him a lot of grief and money.” Fina grinned and brushed some hair back from her face. “If I can give him the proof he needs, he can call the whole thing off.”

“How do you spell the last name?” he asked.

Fina spelled it out and waited. She hoped the older guard had gone for a long lunch break, not just a quick cup of coffee.

“Here it is,” he said. “She was here twice. Do you want me to write down the dates for you?”

“That would be great. Let me guess: She was visiting Kevin Lafferty at Barnes Kaufcan.”

The guard smirked. “You got it. Bummer for your client.”

“Yup.” Fina smiled and took the Post-it from him. “You should think about being a PI. I bet you’d be good at it.”

“You think?” He beamed and sat up straighter in his chair.

“Definitely. I can tell you’ve got good instincts.” Fina winked at him and went to the elevator.

Louis, at the Schaefer Lab, would have a stroke if he witnessed such a dereliction of duty.

—

I
have an appointment with Kevin Lafferty,” Fina told the receptionist. “My name is Fina Ludlow.”

Fina stood at the desk while the young woman picked up the phone and engaged in a brief conversation.

“Ms. Ludlow?” She hung up the phone. “Mr. Lafferty’s assistant doesn’t have you on the schedule.”

“Did you speak with Colin?” Fina asked.

“Yes, but he wonders if you got the wrong day.”

“I’ll just go back and clear things up,” Fina said, leaving the reception area.

“You’re not supposed to—”

“I don’t mind!” Fina called out cheerily over her shoulder. She arrived at Colin’s desk to find him hanging up the phone, a queasy look on his face.

“Ms. Ludlow, I’m so sorry, but there’s been some mistake. Mr. Lafferty doesn’t have an appointment with you today.”

“Trust me, Colin. He’s expecting me.”

Colin glanced down at his computer screen. “I’m happy to find another time for you.”

“No need. Now is good.”

He glanced between her and his boss’s closed door.

“You can call security and have me thrown out,” Fina said, “but I think a better course of action would be to let Kevin know I’m here.”

The young man came around the desk and tapped lightly on Kevin’s door, then stuck his head inside the office. He gave Fina a glance before stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. Fina took the opportunity to examine what he’d left up on his screen. It was Kevin’s schedule, and lo and behold, she wasn’t on it.

A moment later, the door opened and Colin reemerged. “He’s ready to see you, Ms. Ludlow. Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, Colin, but thank you for asking.” Fina crossed the threshold and closed Kevin’s door. He was sitting behind his desk, the crystal paperweight in one hand.

“Your manners are lacking, Ms. Ludlow.”

“That’s what my parents always say, but wasn’t that kind of
their
job?” Fina took a seat across from him.

“You could have called and made an appointment,” he said. “I would have been happy to make time.”

“I know, but that’s what I didn’t want you to have—time. I didn’t want to give you a chance to get your ducks in a row.”

Kevin smiled. “What are you talking about?”

Fina smiled back and leaned toward him. “You lied to me. I hate it when people lie to me. Firstly, because it wastes my time, and secondly, because then I can’t trust anything they tell me.”

“Maybe people lie to you because it’s none of your business.” He rotated the paperweight in his hand.

“Well, sure. In your opinion it’s none of my business, but that is just a matter of opinion.” Fina pulled the Post-it the guard had given her out of her bag. “Were you and Liz Barone having an affair?”

“I’m sorry?” He raised an eyebrow.

“You know, making the beast with two backs?”

Kevin glowered. “No, we were not having an affair, and that really is none of your business.”

“You told me you hadn’t been in contact with Liz in over a year.”

“I haven’t,” he said, looking her squarely in the eye. Either Kevin Lafferty was a good liar or he’d convinced himself he wasn’t lying.

“I’ve heard otherwise,” Fina said.

“Oh yeah? Who told you otherwise?”

“Her husband, Jamie Gottlieb.”

Kevin replaced the paperweight on his desk and got up from his chair. He wandered over to the display cabinet of NEU memorabilia. “Jamie Gottlieb is mistaken.”

“Really?” Fina asked.

“Really.”

Kevin plucked a signed baseball from one of the shelves and brought it over to Fina. “This was from the fourth game of the Founders series. Damon Lackey threw a no-hitter.”

“Fascinating.” Fina took the proffered ball and looked at the signatures scrawled around the dirty leather. It looked like it had been signed by a bunch of preschoolers. “Why are you so sure that Jamie is mistaken?”

“Because I was not having an affair with his wife.” Kevin took the ball back and replaced it on the shelf.

“And you haven’t seen her for over a year?”

“That’s correct.” He sat back down behind his desk.

“Can I have one of those?” Fina asked, pointing at a row of bottled waters on a credenza.

“Be my guest.”

Fina got up and grabbed one of the bottles. “Do you want one?” she asked Kevin, who shook his head. She sat back down, twisted off the top, and took a long gulp. She could tell that Kevin was losing patience, just as she’d hoped.

“So how do you explain the fact that Liz Barone came to see you in this very office twice in the last six weeks?” Fina drank some more.

Kevin’s smile faded, and he rubbed his temple with his hand.

Fina tipped her head. “Comments? Questions?”

“What does that have to do with Liz’s situation?”

Fina screwed the top back on her water. “Her death, you mean. I assume you heard that she died.”

Kevin sneered. “You have no tact, you know that?”

“I can be extremely tactful, Kevin, but frankly, you haven’t earned it. This is about to become a murder case, and I suggest you tell me what you and Liz were discussing during your visits.”

He sighed and looked bored. “We weren’t having an affair. We were discussing the lawsuit.”

“What about it?”

“I didn’t think it was a good idea.”

“Well, obviously it’s not a good idea from your perspective or NEU’s, but why wouldn’t it be a good idea for Liz?”

“Because there would be a lot of publicity, and she wouldn’t want to expose her family to that.”

“So you were trying to protect her from the harsh glare of the media? Why? Why did you care what happened to her?”

“We were old friends. I didn’t want to see her put through the wringer.”

“So your attempts to dissuade her had nothing to do with the potential fallout for the athletic program if the suit went forward?” Fina asked.

“Of course I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of a messy lawsuit,” he said, “but I was concerned for Liz.”

“You were right to be concerned for her.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you were worried about her well-being, and she ended up in a coma.”

“I didn’t have anything to do with what happened to her.”

“That’s not what I said,” Fina clarified.

“It’s what you implied.”

Fina had some more water. She considered asking Kevin point-blank if he was the mysterious note writer, but there was nothing to be gained from that line of questioning. He wouldn’t tell her if he was, and she didn’t want to clue him in if he wasn’t. “Anything else you want to tell me?”

“I have nothing to tell you, and I have a meeting.” Kevin stood and walked over to the door where his suit coat was on a hanger. “I really wish I could help, but I can’t.”

“All righty then. Give me a call if anything else comes to mind.” Fina got up and slipped the water bottle into her bag. “Just to satisfy my curiosity, where were you on the night that Liz was attacked?”

Kevin smirked. “I was at the annual Medical Society benefit dinner at the Westin. You can check with one of the hundreds of other people who were there.”

Kevin pulled on his coat and waited for Fina to exit the office before him.

“Colin,” Kevin said, closing his office door. “Would you please see Ms. Ludlow out? To the lobby downstairs?”

“I can find my own way,” Fina assured them, smiling. “I’m good at finding things.” She walked back to the elevators.

She hadn’t learned much, but she was definitely going to keep an eye on him.

—

F
ina parked her car in the garage close to the Schaefer Lab and locked her gun away in the trunk. She entered the lobby, pleased to see Louis at his usual post.

“Good morning,” Fina said. The security guard looked up at her, expressionless. “Louis,” she said, holding up her hand as if to quell his excitement. “Stop being so emotional. I know you’ve missed me.”

“What do you want today?” he asked.

“I need to see Dr. Mehra again.” She propped her elbows on the desk. “I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but I think the good doctor has been lying to me.”

“Is that so?”

“I need to speak with Dana, also. Maybe you could see if she’s available first?” Fina did need to speak with Dana, but she also knew Dana provided access to Vikram, which would come in handy if he’d already tired of their relationship.

“When did I become your social secretary?” Louis mumbled under his breath, picking up the phone.

Fina pulled off her gloves and scarf and tucked them into her bag while he had a brief conversation.

“Dana says wait at her desk. She’s finishing something up in the lab. ID, please.”

Fina handed over her credentials. He typed something into the computer, and then a visitor’s pass was spit out by a printer underneath the desk.

“You know where you’re going?” he asked.

“Indeed. I will see you soon.” Fina affixed the pass to her jacket and headed toward the metal detector.

She took the elevator to the eighth floor and found her way back to the area where Dana had been sitting during her last visit. She was pleased to find the area empty; she wanted to give things a whirl with Vikram before she moved on to his support staff.