Free The Nesting Dolls by Gail Bowen Page B

but it’s embarrassing to talk about because it makes me sound like a stalker.” She inhaled deeply. “On Friday evening when Jacob and his mother left, I tried to follow them.”
    Zack had often remarked on Mieka’s solid common sense. He was genuinely gob-smacked. “Whatever made you do that?” he asked.
    “Impulse? I don’t know. I was just … uneasy,” Mieka said. “It was closing time and Jacob and his mother were stillthere. Maddy and Lena had their jackets and boots on and were chomping at the bit to go home, so I went to Abby and said I was sorry but I had to close up. She got herself and the baby ready to leave and came over to pay her bill. She seemed very tired, but after she paid me, she didn’t leave. She gave me this … penetrating look and asked me if I believed in God. When I said I did, she asked how I could reconcile my belief with the cruelties of the world.”
    “The unanswerable question,” I said.
    Mieka nodded. “Except Abby was so intense. It was as if she had really hoped I might provide an answer. When I didn’t come up with anything, she thanked me and said that I shouldn’t feel badly because there was nothing anyone could do to help her. Then she left.”
    Noah put his arm around his wife’s slender shoulders.
    “It was so sad, and so final,” Mieka said. “I locked up. When the girls and I started towards our car, I saw that Abby was parked close to us. She was getting Jacob in his car seat and strapping him in. That always takes a while, so I hurried the girls and, when Abby left, I followed her.”
    “Where did she go?” Zack said.
    “I don’t know,” Mieka said. “She drove down 13th, but when she got to Albert, she ran the light and turned left. There was a car coming across, so I had to stop. By the time the light changed, there must have been twenty cars between us, so I went home. All I know is that she was driving a Volvo – same vintage as yours, Mum, but black. I did manage to get her licence. It was an Ontario vanity plate that spelled out the word LECTOR – easy to remember because of Hannibal Lecter in
Silence of the Lambs.”
Mieka’s eyes were both sad and puzzled. “She didn’t seem like the kind of person who would pay money to have the name of a cannibalistic serial killer on her licence.”
    “How was it spelled?” Noah asked.
    “L-e-c-t-o-r,” my daughter said.
    “Lector is Latin for ‘reader’ or ‘lecturer,’ ” Noah said. “That might be significant.”
    Zack nodded. “If somebody’s willing to pay money to have a word put on their plate, that word has significance for them.” He took out his BlackBerry and called police headquarters. “Debbie … we may have a break.”
    As Mieka gave her information to the Inspector, the Wainbergs zipped Jacob into his snowsuit and snapped him into his car seat. They both looked worried. No one offered words of comfort.
    After we closed the door on the Wainbergs, Zack went to change for supper, and I made a last pass through the dining room to see if we’d forgotten anything. Taylor was there, adding a place setting. The slacks and shirt she’d been wearing under her choir robes had been replaced by a deep red jersey dress with a wide black patent-leather belt and a gently flowing skirt.
    “Did I miscount?” I said.
    Taylor folded a napkin and placed it on the bread and butter plate. “No. I invited somebody. Is that okay?”
    “Sure. Anyone I know?”
    “You met him last night at the concert. Zack knows him.” She straightened a fork without looking up. “It’s Declan Hunter.”
    “Hmm,” I said.
    Taylor’s gaze was level. “Is that all you’re going to say?”
    “Your friends are always welcome. You know that.”
    “Has Zack said anything about Declan?”
    “Zack never talks about his clients.”
    “But Declan’s not Zack’s client. His dad is. Declan’s just … ” Taylor shrugged and smiled her old open smile. “He’s just Declan.”
    “Well, I’m glad