Sue Grafton - V is for Vengeance

I arrived at my office at 9:00 the next morning, unlocked the door, and gathered up the pile of mail the postman had shoved through the slot the day before. I tossed the stack on my desk and went down the hall to the kitchenette, where I put on a pot of coffee. When the machine had gurgled to a finish, I filled my mug. I was pleased to discover the milk was still fresh when I subjected it to the sniff test. I added a dollop to my coffee. Life is good, I thought. Then I returned to my office to find Marvin Striker standing by the window, looking out at the street.

I only slopped the tiniest bit of coffee on my hand as I cycled through alarm, uneasiness, and guilt, wondering if he meant to take me to task for crashing Audrey’s visitation. I said, “Ah! Mr. Striker. I didn’t hear you come in.”

He turned to look at me with brown eyes that in happier times might have held an impish light. His smile was subdued but at least suggested he wasn’t feeling churlish. “The door was unlocked. I knocked a couple of times and then let myself in. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. You want coffee? It’s fresh.”

“I’m not much for coffee, but thank you. I’d hoped to talk to you after the service, but you were gone by then.”

“I shouldn’t have been there in the first place. I never met Audrey…”

“No need to apologize. William said he talked you into it. He didn’t know her either, but I appreciated his being there. He’s a good man.”

“He is,” I said. “How are you holding up? It’s been a rough few days.”

He shook his head. “The worst! I can’t believe this is happening. If you’d told me a week ago my fiancée would take a dive off a bridge, I’d have laughed in your face.”

“I wouldn’t jump to conclusions,” I said, wincing at my choice of words. “The police haven’t made a determination yet, at least as far as I’ve heard.”

“None of this makes sense to me. Does it make sense to you?”

“Not at this point, no, but I don’t know the whole story.”

“Neither do I, which puts us in the same boat.”

I sat down at my desk, expecting him to take the chair across from me. Instead, he remained on his feet, hands in his trouser pockets. He was short and compact, wearing a navy pinstripe suit and a pale blue dress shirt. The knot in his tie had been pulled loose and the top button of his shirt was undone, as though he’d dressed properly that morning and then found himself impatient with the necessity. “You have another appointment or something? I don’t want to hold you up. I know you’re a busy lady.”

“This is fine. Take as much time as you need.”

“William said you were at Nordstrom’s when Audrey was… you know, picked up or whatever it’s called.”

“I was there,” I said, cautiously. I didn’t want to launch into an account of the incident without first finding out what he knew and how he felt about it.

“Here’s what I don’t get. Audrey was a good person. She was a sweetheart. We had a lot of laughs and I don’t have a clue what went wrong.” He blinked and ran a hand down his face, brushing tears aside with the back of his hand. He pulled a neatly folded handkerchief from his back pocket and blew his nose. “Sorry about that. Shit catches me by surprise.”

“Mr. Striker, would you like to have a seat?”

“Let’s make it Marvin and Kinsey, if you don’t mind.”

“I’d prefer it,” I said.

He was clean-shaven and I picked up a whiff of his aftershave. He blew out a big breath to calm himself. “I don’t know what to do with this. I don’t believe Audrey was a thief. I don’t believe she killed herself. It’s just not possible.”

“You were the one who put up bail?”

“I did. She called and I went to the police station where they had her in a holding cell. First time I’ve ever been down there. I wasn’t even sure where it was. I’d seen the place in passing, but who pays attention? I’ve never been arrested in my life and I’m not sure I know anyone who has. Until now.”

“What did she say when you picked her up?”

“I don’t remember. Seems like weeks ago and I’m drawing a blank. I know I’m not getting the big picture, which is why I’m here.”

“You want me to tell you what I saw?”

He laughed with embarrassment. “No. Not really. But I guess I better hear it.”

“Stop me if you have questions. Otherwise, I’ll just lay it out the way I remember it.” I went through the preliminaries: setting the scene, time of day, why I was there. “I first noticed Audrey when I was looking for sales help. She was talking to a younger woman I assumed was a clerk until I realized she had a purse and a shopping bag like everyone else. I found what I was looking for and I was on my way to the register when I saw Audrey again. This time, she was looking at a stack of silk pajamas I’d considered buying myself. As I watched, she picked up two pairs and put them in her shopping bag…”

“Did she seem nervous?” he asked.

“Not at all. She was casual. Completely matter-of-fact. So much so, I thought I must be seeing things. I stepped to one side and looked through a rack of house robes so I could keep an eye on her. She moved to another table and while she was sorting through the items on display, I saw her palm a teddy-”

“What’s that?”

“A one-piece lacy undergarment with built-in bra and panties. She gathered it with her fingers and slipped it in her purse. I went to the nearest register and reported her to the clerk, who notified security. A couple of minutes later, the loss-prevention officer came into the department and stopped to chat with the saleswoman, whose name is Claudia Rines. She happens to be an acquaintance.”

“In what respect?”

“Strictly casual. I see her occasionally at Rosie’s, the tavern down the street from my place. Claudia was the one who filled me in on what happened later, which I’ll get to in a bit.”

Marvin had dropped his head and he was shaking it.

“Are you okay?”

“Don’t mind me. Go on with your story. I’m having a hard time, but what else is new? So this loss-prevention guy comes into the department and then what?”

“Audrey seemed to sense she was the subject of conversation, and she left the lingerie department and went across the aisle to the ladies plus-size department. The loss-prevention officer sent Claudia down to the second floor in case she tried to leave on the escalator.”

That apparently sparked his recollection because he snapped his fingers and pointed at me. “Yeah, yeah. I remember now what she told me and here’s the deal. She had no idea why he stopped her. She wanted to be cooperative so she did what he said. She was mortified when she realized she had the stuff in her shopping bag. Because okay, she’d picked up a few things, but she decided to put ’em back. You know how it is. What do you call it, buyer’s remorse. Anyway, she was thinking of something else and it slipped her mind. She said it was a simple oversight that got blown out of proportion. It was stupid of her. She admitted that.”

I was already shaking my head. “Don’t think so. Uhn-un. I’m not buying it.”

“I’m just telling you what she said.”

“I understand that, Marvin, but my guess is there’s more going on. I was a police officer for two years and I dealt with situations like this. People will tell you anything to get themselves off the hook. This wasn’t ‘a simple oversight.’ She was working with someone else, a younger woman who was stealing items from the same department.”

His expression was pained and I could see his resistance surface. “What, like she and this other woman were confederates?”