J. Jance - Betrayal of Trust

“Yes,” Monica Longmire said, peering out past the security chain. “May I help you?”

Mel produced her badge. “We’re looking for Giselle,” she said. “We were told she’d be here with you and your husband. We need to ask her a few questions about Josh Deeson’s circle of friends.”

“I’m sorry. Gizzy isn’t here right now,” Monica said, opening the door. “She’s out with her boyfriend. They were planning on seeing a movie and then she’s going back home. That seemed like a bad idea to me-not the movie, going back home.”

Monica motioned us inside the house and directed us to seating in the family room.

“Frankly, I thought she and Zoe would be better off being here for the next few nights so they could escape some of the drama,” Monica continued. “It’s hard for kids to hang around home when everyone is so upset. I’m pretty much an outsider when it comes to what goes on with Marsha and Gerry, but I know they’re both really hurting. As for Josh? That poor kid never had a chance. And poor Zoe, too,” she added. “Finding Josh’s body like that must have been a horrible shock.”

Monica’s apparently genuine concern for her stepdaughters didn’t sound like part of the usual evil-stepmother tradition. But neither Mel nor I let on that as far as Governor Longmire knew, Giselle was still scheduled to stay with her father. Telling both sets of parents one thing and then doing something else is standard teenage behavior, even without a death in the family.

“We’d appreciate any insight you could give us,” Mel said. “Did the two girls talk about Josh much?” she asked.

“When Josh first went to live with them, Zoe especially was all excited about it. Gizzy was less so. Zoe was under the impression that since they were so close in age they’d end up being great pals. I think it hurt her feelings when that didn’t happen, but what do you expect when you start blending families? There are always a few bumps in the road. My boys are three and five years older than Giselle. The only thing they have in common with the girls is that they ostensibly belong to the same family. They share the occasional meal, usually on holidays, but they are not good friends, and they’re never going to be. That’s just the way it is. Sid and I are in love. The kids aren’t in love. Deal with it.”

“So Zoe was disappointed that she and Josh didn’t bond,” I said. “What was Giselle’s reaction?”

“To having Josh parachuted into their lives?” Monica paused to consider for a moment before she answered. “Let’s just say she wasn’t thrilled. Gizzy isn’t someone with the milk of human kindness running through her veins. We talked about the situation with Josh a few times. I tried to explain to her that there was nothing else Gerry and Marsha could do. Josh didn’t have anywhere else to go or anyone to look after him. I think Gerry and Marsha both deserve credit for trying to do the right thing.”

I had to admit to myself that Monica didn’t come across as a conniving “other” woman who had broken up Marsha’s longtime marriage. Like Mel with Kenny Broward, I had come here expecting to find a marital “bad guy.” So far there didn’t appear to be any.

“What do you know about Janie’s House?” Mel asked. “Did the girls ever talk about it?”

“Well, sure. The girls’ school encourages involvement, even though I don’t really approve,” Monica said. “That whole noblesse oblige, us-and-them thing bothers me. Yes, I know the official Olympia Prep position is that student involvement with less fortunate kids is supposed to be great for everybody, but who are they kidding? I mean, poor kids already know they’re poor without having the rich kids hanging around rubbing their noses in it.”

“So you’re not enamored of Janie’s House?” I asked.

“Not at all, but that’s just me,” Monica said. “Both Zoe and Giselle were really caught up in helping out there last year. Zoe’s the kind of kid who would break her neck trying to put a fallen bird back in its nest. As for Gizzy? I think her involvement with Janie’s House was more of an ego thing than it was anything else. She’s been back there again this summer, but only because Ron is still there.”

“Ron?” I asked.

“Ron Miller is Giselle’s boyfriend. He’s a year younger than she is and graduated from OP two weeks ago. I thought. . no, make that I hoped that being apart for a year would be the end of their romance, but I was wrong. They’re still as head over heels as ever. Next year could be a little tougher. He’ll be going to Stanford, and she’ll still be going to school in Tacoma. That will put a whole lot more distance between them. As my mother used to say, ‘Distance is to love as wind is to fire. Blows out the little ones and fans the big ones.’ ”

“Sounds like you’re hoping for the first option.”

Monica nodded. “And, at Sid’s insistence, keeping my mouth shut about it, too,” she said with a tight smile. “It’s the voice of experience speaking when I tell you that first-boyfriend types don’t always make the best husband material. Ron is certainly smart enough, but he has a mean streak. Sid takes the position that saying one bad word about him would just mean pushing Giselle in Ron’s direction that much more. Sad to say, that’s probably true.”

“In other words, you don’t like Ron much?” Mel suggested.

“Yes,” Monica answered, “but I try not to show it.”

“What does Ron do at Janie’s House?”

“He’s some kind of special assistant in the computer lab. He’s into computers in a big way. I think he’s planning on studying computer science in college. But didn’t you say you wanted to talk to Gizzy about Josh’s suicide? What does any of this have to do with that?”

I could have given her chapter and verse. Let’s see. Some poor little rich kid with a mean streak who was romantically linked to Giselle and who was intimately involved with the Janie’s House computer system sounded like exactly the kind of person we needed to find, not so much because of Josh’s suicide but because of Rachel’s murder. We didn’t have to tell Monica Longmire that, and we didn’t. It was time to back off from angling for more information about Ron Miller right then for fear of tipping our hand.

“We’re just looking for background material,” Mel said reassuringly. “Trying to understand what sent Josh over the edge.”

“ ‘Edge’ is the right word,” Monica said. “That must be how Josh felt-like he was walking on the edge of a cliff. From what the girls said, I’m sure there was a chasm between his old life and his new one. It doesn’t surprise me that he couldn’t bridge it. It’s a tragedy, of course, but somewhat predictable.”

“You have a nice place here,” Mel said, abruptly changing the subject.

It was important to keep the interview on a cordial basis. Mel’s comment was designed to maintain the smooth flow going with the added benefit that it was also true.

The house was stylish but more comfortable than your basic House Beautiful photo spread. We were in a great room that was part kitchen and part family room. The kitchen was all granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, and a huge flat-screen TV was situated over a gas-log fireplace in the family room area. Out through a set of sliding doors were a patio with a swimming pool and hot tub gleaming in the nearly setting sun. Beyond that I could see a golf-course fairway. Even in Washington’s down real estate market I estimated the place was worth more than a million bucks, give or take.

Monica looked around and laughed. “Yes,” she said. “Not nearly as grand as the governor’s mansion, but a little more modern.”