Two ornamental lamps came on, and Crystal, still barefoot, emerged from the house, carrying a tray of cheese and crackers, arranged with grapes and apple wedges. She’d pulled on a heavy navy sweater that hung, fetchingly, almost as far as her knees. She left the door open behind her, glancing over at me. “You look cold. I’m used to the ocean, but you must be freezing. Why don’t I fire up the outside heaters? It’ll just take a sec. You can pour the wine, if you would.”
I did as she suggested and then watched as she hunkered next to a fat propane canister with a heater element affixed. Her fingernails and toenails were both done in a French manicure, white defining the half-moon at the base of the nail and under the rim. The look was clean, though-like her hair-the effect probably cost her dearly and had to be redone every other week. It wasn’t hard to imagine her doing a bump-and-grind routine. She turned a valve, using an electric match to ignite the hissing gas as it escaped. Soon after, the reddening coils glowed nearly white. She lit the second of the two heaters, turning them to face us so that warmth poured out across the space between us. “Is that better?”
“Much.”
“Good. If you need something warmer, don’t hesitate to say so. I have a huge supply of sweaters in the downstairs closet.”
We sipped wine in silence while I tried to decide how and where to begin. “I appreciate your taking the time to talk to me.”
She smiled faintly. “I considered hiring a detective myself half a dozen times, but I didn’t want to undermine the police. I have every confidence in the job they’re doing. Apparently, Fiona doesn’t.”
“She likes the idea of someone devoted solely to the family’s interests. The police have other cases requiring their more immediate attention.” I paused. “I just want to be clear that any comments you care to make will be safe with me. If you have relevant information, I’ll report it to her, but nothing else gets passed on. You can be as candid as you like.”
“Thank you. I was wondering about that.”
“I’m assuming there’s no love lost.”
“Hardly. Fiona’s done everything in her power to make my life hell on earth.” Her face was angular, mouth wide. Her eyes were gray, her brows pale, her lashes thick and black. Aside from mascara, she seemed to wear little or no makeup. I could tell she’d had her eyes done and probably her nose as well. In fact, just about everything I was looking at had been augmented or improved by some merry band of surgeons working on her, piece by piece. Crystal’s smile was brief. Look. I know she’s busy painting a picture of herself as the victim in all of this, betrayed and put-upon. The truth is, she never gave Dow a thing. It was all take, take, take. Dow reached a point where he had nothing left. Poor guy. When I think of the hours he worked, all the sacrifices he made for them, and in exchange for what? For years, the three of them have stood around with their hands out. Fiona in particular. She was always coming up with some new harebrained scheme, her current business venture being one. Interior design? Who’s she trying to kid? She’s a Horton Ravine matron spending someone else’s money and suddenly, she’s talking about her talent and her ‘eye’ for design. She only has one client-some friend of hers named Dana . . .”
“She’s married to one of Dow’s business associates?”
“Joel Glazer, that’s right. How do you know him?”
“I don’t. I know her, or I did back when she was married to someone else.”
“She couldn’t be too bright. Fiona’s milking her for everything she’s worth.”
“What about Dow’s daughters? What’s your relationship to them?”
Crystal shrugged that one off. “They’re all right. They don’t know the half of what goes on. They probably hate me, but at least they’re too polite to say so. They’re usually busy sucking up to their dad. I’m sure they’re worried he’ll die and leave all his money to Griffith and me, which I can understand. I’d worry about the same thing if I were in their shoes.”
She picked up a butter knife and cut into a wedge of Brie. She spread the soft cheese on a cracker, which she held out to me. I took it, watching while she made a second for herself, popped it in her mouth, and chewed. “Anyway, with Dow gone, it doesn’t seem important. Whatever quarrel I have with Fiona is immaterial.”
“You have any idea where he is?”
“I wish. That’s all I’ve really thought about for the past nine weeks.”
“Do you believe he’s alive?”
“No, not really, but I can’t be sure. If I knew he was dead, at least I could make my peace with it and get on with life.”
“The police detective mentioned money missing. He says close to thirty thousand dollars had been pulled from his savings over a period of the past two years.”
“So I heard. I didn’t know anything about that until they brought it to my attention. I know he kept a large sum of money somewhere, but he never said anything else about it. Apparently, the statements for that account were being forwarded to a post office box that I used to keep. Dowan asked about it a couple of months ago and I told him it’d been canceled. Now it looks like he was paying to keep it open all this time.”
“I wonder why he asked you when he already had the answer.”
Crystal shrugged. “Maybe he was wondering how much I knew.”
“Why would he need that kind of cash?”
“I have no idea. He used credit cards for everything.”
“Could it be extortion?”
“For what?”
“That’s what I’m asking. Any ideas about that?”
“You think he’s being blackmailed? That’s ridiculous. How so?”
“Isn’t it possible?”
She stared at me briefly and then shook her head, apparently drawing a blank. “You’d think a blackmailer would be interested in a lump sum, not a piddling three bills a week.”
“Maybe it seemed more acceptable that way. It’s one thing to demand a large sum of cash. It’s something else again if someone asks for help making ends meet.”
“I’m sure he’d have told me if someone were extorting money. Dow told me everything.”
“As far as you know.”
She blinked. “Well, yes.”
“Besides, it might have involved you.”
“In what way?”
He might have paid the hush money in your behalf, as protection.” I don’t think so.” I could have sworn her cheeks tinted, but in the fading light it was difficult to tell. Her hand certainly didn’t tremble as she raised the glass to her lips. She set her wineglass on the deck and pressed her flattened hands between her knees as though to warm them.
I changed tactics, not wanting her to disconnect from the conversation. “Would you be willing to go back and talk about what it’s been like for you the past nine weeks?”
She let out a breath. “It’s been awful. Horrendous. At this point I’m numb, but the first two or three days, I was running on pure adrenaline and it really wore me down. The house was teeming with people-my friends, Dow’s daughters, his friends and colleagues. I didn’t want to see anyone, but I couldn’t refuse. I didn’t have enough energy to resist, so they swarmed right over me. I was barely holding on. All I wanted to do was sit and stare at the phone, pace to the door and back, scream, or get drunk. For days I’d get in the car and drive between the clinic and home, checking every possible route. I’d find myself on the road and then I’d realize how dumb it was. Dow could be anywhere and the chances of my spotting him were astronomically low.”
“Was there anything unusual about the day he disappeared? Any behavior-anything he said-that seems different in retrospect?”
Crystal shook her head. “It was like any other Friday. He was looking forward to the weekend. Saturday, he was playing in a tennis tournament at the country club. Nothing special, but he enjoyed it. Saturday we were going out to dinner with friends- this was a couple who’d recently moved here from Colorado, where they owned some restaurants.”
“Can you give me those names?”
“Sure. I’ll give you a list before you leave.”
“No one else reported anything unusual?”
“Not as far as I know. You can talk to his colleagues and the nursing home staff. I’ve spoken to most of them myself and asked the same question. The police have done informal interviews as well. People have tried to be helpful, but no one seems to know anything, or if they do, they haven’t said.”
“Was he having problems at work?”