Joe forced a smile. “Did you notice anything else unusual about the visit?”
“No. He was out of sorts, but I’d seen him like that before. He asked me to let him know next time I planned to visit so he could tidy up the place. But I never cared about that anyway, and I told him so.”
“I bet he insisted.”
Doreen chuckled. “He did at that. You know him well.”
Not nearly as well as he’d thought.
“He’ll be pleased to have some company tonight,” she said. “I’m sure he’ll want to see you, too.”
“Actually, I’m just your chauffeur tonight, Doreen. I’d like to visit, but I’ve been instructed not to. The investigation is ongoing, and since it’s not my case, I’m not to have contact with him.”
“But you visited with him on Thanksgiving. ... Oh. Did you get into trouble for that?”
“Slap on the wrist,” he told her. “Nothing to worry about.”
“Oh dear,” she murmured. “We don’t want that, now, do we? I’ll pass along your greetings to him, shall I?”
By the time the visit was over and they were on their way home again, it was clear Doreen had passed along more than that. Her cheeks were flushed, and her hands shook as she clutched her purse.
“I don’t understand it.” Her voice warbled. “I upset him, Joe. If you’d only seen his face right before he stormed out.”
Joe checked his mirrors, then glanced at the woman before slowly pulling back onto the main road. “He cut the visit short?”
“By half, I’d say!” she cried. “Every minute with him is precious, and he gave up half our time together. I’m sorry, Joe, but he’s upset with you, too. More so than with me, or so he says. It was the bottles that set him off. I never would have guessed. All I said was that I’d been using those bottles he’d given me to decorate your family’s home for Christmas, and how lovely they looked.”
“That made him angry?”
“It made him on edge. What made it worse was when I told himyou and I talked about those bottles for a good bit of the drive out here. Believe you me, I had no idea if it was to be a secret. Empty bottles used as vases! What could be more mundane than that?”
The hair rose on the back of Joe’s neck. “Do you remember what he said exactly?”
“I’d be surprised if I ever forgot it. He slammed his palm on the counter and yelled, ‘It’s none of his business. If he knows what’s good for him and you both, and for everyone he loves, he will leave it the fudge alone.’ Only he didn’t say ‘fudge.’ Swore like the drunk his father was, when he knows I don’t abide that filthy talk. I do wonder now if he was trying to drive me away, knowing that I’d not stay and hear more. But he took that choice away from me when he stalked off.”
Joe saw it in his mind as she described it. The flaring temper, the outburst, the red-faced cursing. Thing was, Connor only swore when he was scared. It was bravado, a last-ditch attempt to persuade when he didn’t trust his reasoning to carry the argument.
“Did you know the subject would upset him so?” Doreen asked.
Shaking his head, he kept his hands steady on the wheel. “I never heard about those bottles until tonight.”
CHAPTER
25
MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1925
Dr. Westlake!”
On the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lauren turned to find Daniel DeVries looking as though he were being chased. A stab of alarm shot through her.
“Good grief, Dr. DeVries, is everything all right?” With a clutch of dread, she added, “Have you heard from my father?”
“Yes.” He’d caught up to her now, slightly out of breath. “Let’s go inside.”
She hastened to lead him downstairs and into her office. If something had happened to him ... She shuddered as their most recent conversation played in her mind. She prayed it wouldn’t be their last.
“Is he hurt?” she asked, hanging her hat and coat on the tree behind her door.
