Free The Coal Black Asphalt Tomb: A Berger and Mitry Mystery (Berger and Mitry Mysteries) by David Handler Page B

Mitch. “Hobe Sound was their place. The only reason to go to Barbados was because of a certain doctor who practiced a certain kind of medicine there.”
    Mitch helped himself to another cookie. “And Chase knew about this?”
    “Chase Fairchild was no fool,” Sheila said. “But he adored Beryl and he stuck by her.”
    “How about Glynis? Does she know?”
    Sheila considered this, her deeply lined brow furrowing. “I doubt it. That’s not the sort of a thing a mother tells her daughter.”
    “And yet you know.”
    “We do. But we keep our secrets to ourselves. The only reason we’re telling you this is because something quite extraordinary happened today. And because we trust you to share it with Des and Des only.”
    “Thank you for your confidence, Sheila.” Mitch nibbled on his cookie in thoughtful silence before he said, “Helen, who was the other girl?”
    Helen looked at him blankly. “What other girl?”
    “The girl Lance had on board the Monster with him that morning.”
    “Oh.…” She cleared her throat uncomfortably. “It was Frances Shaver, Buzzy’s kid sister. And I was shocked to see Frances there, believe me, because she was engaged to marry Luke Cahoon at the time.”
    “ The Luke Cahoon?”
    Helen nodded. “She and Luke were childhood sweethearts. Frances was a lovely, sensitive girl. And the poor thing was easy prey for Lance. She fell hard for him. Hard enough to go sneaking off to Block Island with him behind Luke’s back. When they got home Lance tossed her aside—same as he did me.”
    “Frances was so ashamed,” Sheila recalled, her face darkening. “She couldn’t face Luke after that. She felt she’d destroyed any chance for happiness that they had together. Broke off their engagement and went into a complete emotional tailspin. Ended up taking her life a few weeks later. She slit her wrists. It was Buzzy who found her in the bathtub. She’d locked the door. He had to break it down. It was an awful, awful thing. Gladys Shaver was never the same after that. Nor was Luke. Frances was the love of his life. And Lance just used her and discarded her. Lance Paffin killed Frances Shaver. He didn’t care about her one bit. The only reason he went after her was to provoke Luke.”
    “Why would he want to do that, Sheila?”
    “He and Luke despised each other’s politics. Luke came back from Vietnam an outspoken opponent of the war. Lance was very gung ho.”
    “The two of them used to get into raging arguments at the club,” Helen recalled. “They had one the very night Lance disappeared. Things got so heated between them that Luke challenged him to step out into the parking lot.”
    “And did they?…”
    “No, Lance just laughed him off,” Helen replied. “Same as he laughed off everything. When I clocked out that night Lance was still sitting with the gang at their table, drinking and having a fine old time. Most of the staff had gone home by then. It was late. But it wasn’t unusual for members to stick around and close up themselves. It was their club. They stayed as late as they wanted to.”
    “I’m confused about something, Helen. Frances Shaver had killed herself over Lance, right?”
    “Right.…”
    “And Luke knew all about what happened between her and Lance, right?”
    “Right.…”
    “Then how could he sit around and socialize with the guy?”
    “It wasn’t like that. They didn’t invite Lance to join them. Lance was … Lance . He’d show up at a dance in his fancy uniform and cruise from table to table, invited or not. If he felt like perching at their table he’d do so, and they’d tolerate his presence. Bob wasn’t going to tell him to get lost. Lance was his big brother. Bob idolized him.”
    Mitch drank some more tea, sorting his way through it. Luke Cahoon had despised Lance Paffin because of what Lance did to Frances. Chase Fairchild had certainly harbored no warm, fuzzy feelings for him—Lance had gotten the future Mrs. Fairchild