Died to Match Read online

  Happy clients, that was the ticket. Happy clients who would recommend me to their happy, wealthy friends. My silent partner, Eddie Breen—never silent for long—was always pushing me to advertise more, while I favored word-of-mouth among brides and their mothers.

  One thought sparked another. “Zack, are you full-time with the Sentinel now or do you freelance elsewhere? My partner’s been pestering me about jazzing up our web site.”

  It was like flipping a high-voltage switch.

  “Sure!” Zack’s face lit up, and he seemed to forget all about my charms for the moment. “I’d do it for cheap, too. I need more stuff in my portfolio. We could start right away.”

  “Whoa! Eddie and I need to brainstorm a bit first. Right now the site is just a scan of our print pamphlet—”

  “Brochureware!” he groaned. “That is so lame.”

  “Well, excuse me!”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean… that’s what everybody starts with, really. But you can do, like, tons more than that. I’ll help you brainstorm. I’ll come tomorrow afternoon, OK?”

  “Well, OK. Eddie’s not usually there on Sundays, but he’s wrestling with some new software, so he said he’d be in.”

  “Oh. Will you be there, too?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact. So tell me, what could we do that wouldn’t be lame?”

  The Aquarium’s rental rules called for low-volume music in the Dome room, which made dance floor conversation possible, and Zack took full advantage of the fact. He regaled me feverishly with the on-line wonders he could perform for Made in Heaven, becoming almost agitated as he raved about JPEG files and animated GIFs and why frames, like, totally suck. Amused, I made fascinated and admiring noises.

  “You’re really interested in this stuff, aren’t you?” he asked at one point.

  “Sure,” I lied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Well, some people think it’s boring. Or, like, nerdy or something.”

  “Who thinks that?”

  But the song ended and he fell abruptly silent, unsure of his next move in this adult ritual. I could almost read his mind: Do we just go on dancing, or am I supposed to ask her, or what? Or maybe Zack had forgotten he was dancing at all, lost in cyberspace.

  I took the lead. “That was nice. Now I’d better get back to work.”

  “I’ll come with you,” he said. “Maybe I can, you know, help you and stuff.”

  “There’s really nothing for you to do, but thanks.” He tagged along anyway, and as we took the stairs to the pier level, I privately admired his well-filled doublet and hose.

  Hmm. Must lift weights.

  “What made you choose Robin Hood, Zack?” “Oh, stories, I guess. When I was a kid, we had this book of stories. When I got to that shop and saw the costume, I remembered. Robin Hood was always riding to the rescue and everything. How come you’re a witch? I mean, dressed as a witch.”

  I laughed. “I’ve been feeling a little witchy tonight! But no reason, really. By the time I got around to picking, the glamorous stuff was all taken.”

  He stopped abruptly at a landing and gazed into my eyes, too close for comfort. “I think you’re always glamorous.”

  It was an absurd situation, made more so by the fact that I was suddenly and warmly aware of Zack’s body, and my own. If he’d had a little finesse, I might have forgotten the gap in our ages, at least for the moment. Instead he lurched forward and kissed me, clumsily but with great gusto. It was like being leapt upon by a huge, overfriendly young Labrador retriever. One who tasted like gin.

  “Zack, cut it out!” I pulled away and my witch’s hat rolled to the floor. When I stooped for it I bumped heads with someone in black: Aaron, coming right behind us. As Zack muttered an apology and continued on upstairs—good, let him go cool off—Aaron returned the hat with a flourish and a laugh.

  “Cradle-robbing, Mrs. Robinson?”

  “Oh, shut up. He’s just a kid.”

  “Some kid.” Aaron fell into step beside me. Despite the laugh, he looked annoyed. “Young Zack spends more time coming on to women than he does working.”

  “Well, nobody’s working tonight but me. Did Corinne find you?”

  “No. You saw her?”

  “In the ladies’ room. Aaron, I think she’s drinking too much.”

  “That’s funny. I’ve been fetching her Perrier all night.”

  “Well, it wasn’t Perrier she was chucking up. Do you want to go look for her?”

  “No,” he said, as we came out onto the pier. He stopped and faced me, and the party guests milling around us seemed to disappear. “No, I want to stay right here and gaze at the city lights and say romantic things to you. For instance, I’ve noticed that you walk in beauty like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies. Plus, as a bonus, all that’s best of dark and bright meet in your aspect and your eyes. I admit you’re not quite as dark as Lord Byron’s girlfriend must have been, but you know what I mean.”

  I sagged against the wooden railing and took a deep breath of the damp night air. Elizabeth had insisted that the rain would hold off tonight, and she was right. Maybe she cut a deal with Mother Nature. Far out on Elliott Bay, a ferry was lit up like a birthday cake against the black mirror of the water. Aaron and I had begun our current spat on a ferry ride, and continued it back at my houseboat a few days later, with encores on the telephone after that. But I never fought with the men I dated, never. What was going on?

  “Aaron, I’m working tonight. And besides…”

  “Besides what?”

  “I’m just not sure. About the romantic part.” I noticed I was kneading the brim of the witch’s hat in my hands, round and round, and made myself stop. “Aaron, I like you a lot. I care about you, but we keep arguing.”

  “Then let’s not, Stretch. Let’s do this instead.”

  He’d been moving closer as he spoke and now he kissed me, one brief kiss and another, and then another, longer this time. He didn’t touch me at all except with his lips, warm on mine. He was right, I was the Wicked Witch: melting, melting…

  Then several things happened at once, none of them pleasant. A scream. A splash. A shout of alarm. “Somebody’s in the water!”

  People surged toward the railing, roughly jostling me and Aaron as we peered downwards. The green-black water of the harbor was dappled with light and dotted with debris: cigarette butts, a paper coffee cup, chunks of sodden driftwood. And one wavering luminous shape, trailing strands of fair hair, and edges of pallid cloth that rippled just below the surface, slowly sinking and rising. Two ghostly arms spread wide, the pale fingers parted as if to conjure something up from the depths.

  Then the man who made the splash diving in—it was Donald, the security guard, I recognized his crew cut— reached the body, hooked an elbow neatly under the chin, and towed it to a wooden ladder that rose up along a piling. A cacophony of shocked, excited voices filled the night, and people fell over one another in their haste to help him hoist his dripping burden to the pier.

  I stepped back from the melee and called 911.

  Chapter Four

  THE MEDIC ONE GUYS SAVED CORINNE CAMPBELL, BUT IT was touch and go. They say King County is the best place in the world to have a heart attack, and it’s an auspicious spot for a near-drowning, too. We had a fire truck on the scene in minutes, and the paramedics shortly after. Aaron and I stood rooted, our hands knotted in each other’s, while they resuscitated Corinne and swathed her in blankets.

  When they went for a stretcher, we crouched beside her on the deck. Rivulets of water snaked from Corinne’s hair and costume, making a puddle that soaked through the thin skirt of my gown. I was distantly aware of Marvin, my other guard, directing the crowd back out of the way, and of Lily, ever practical, borrowing a blanket for the soaked and shuddering Donald. Elliott Bay is deep, and deadly cold.

  Through all this I chafed at one of Corinne’s hands, trying to will some life into her. Her hand was icy, the nails bitten to the quick, an
d her face was a blue-white mask, violated by grotesque smears of mascara and lipstick, and traces of blood from a deep abrasion on one cheek. She was silent at first, then began an agonized muttering.

  “How could he!?” Her head swung rapidly from side to side, as if she were being slapped. “How could he, how could he…”

  “Corinne!” said Aaron, his features contorted with distress. He cupped her face gently in his hands. “Shhh. Don’t think about Boris. Everything will be all right.”

  I felt a pinprick of jealousy, and guiltily suppressed it. They were coworkers, of course he cared about her. As a friend. The paramedics reappeared and shunted us briskly out of the way. Elizabeth, stiff with shock but self-possessed, climbed into the ambulance with Corinne, her broadsword and leather kilt bizarre among the high-tech medical gear. Paul, hovering nearby, moved forward as if to follow but she waved him away, in command as usual.

  “Follow us in the car,” she told him as the doors swung shut. “Carnegie, handle everything!”

  Paul turned to me with a dazed air. “What about the party?”

  “Party’s over,” I told him. “Marvin and I will clear the building. You just take care of Corinne.”

  The ambulance rolled away at the stroke of midnight, so we were actually on schedule, though we ran a bit behind because of the explanations. Everything’s fine, Marvin and I repeated endlessly. Yes, someone fell from the pier but she’s now getting help, and please, the party’s over, drive safely, thank you for coming, yes, everything’s fine, she’s getting help, good night. Some of the revelers, especially the Sentinel crowd and the people who’d seen Corinne in the water, went away with shocked expressions and hushed voices.

  Other guests had left before it happened: I didn’t see Syd Soper, with or without Mercedes, or Roger Talbot either. I did talk to the Visigoths, but not Dracula, and I wondered idly if he had scored with the hippie chick. Zack, apparently, had taken himself and his romantic impulses out of the way, which suited me fine. The rest of the guests now departed calmly enough, strolling out into the night, trailing their costumes and props, and calling boisterously to each other as they headed for their cars. I saw Angela, the third bridesmaid, departing with Barney the Dinosaur. She had her pregnancy-pillow under her arm and her nun’s habit in black billows around her, and she was laughing. A good time was had by almost all.

  Corinne got help, but it was almost too late, I kept thinking. If only I’d helped earlier. Whether she was drunk and lost her balance or was distraught enough to jump, as her words suggested, surely I could have hung on to her in the ladies’ room for a heart-to-heart talk. I said as much to Aaron as he accompanied me on my final walk-through of the Aquarium. The grottos were empty, the corridors dim, and our footsteps echoed on the decking.

  “She was taking this breakup much too seriously,” I said as we passed the marine mammal tanks. The wavering upward light sent little rings of brightness and shadow chasing across our faces. “There are lots of men who’d be interested in Corinne. I should have warned her about Boris in the first place. He’s strictly good times and no strings. I should have—”

  “Carnegie, you can’t take charge of this, too,” Aaron exclaimed.

  “What do you mean, too?”

  “I mean you’re always stepping in, taking charge, knowing best. You can’t manage everybody’s life for them.”

  “I don’t manage people’s lives! Just their weddings. If I happen to have an opinion—”

  He snorted. “You always have an opinion.”

  “Aaron, is this about Corinne or about us? It’s not my opinion that smoking can kill you. It’s a fact. But you won’t even try to quit—”

  “Why the hell should I?” He reached reflexively for a cigarette, remembered the no-smoking rule, and smacked the railing instead. His mouth was tight with anger. “You keep me at arm’s length, and then you want to dictate my behavior. We might as well be married!”

  “What?! Is that your idea of marriage?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Well, what are you saying? If I sleep with you, then you’ll stop smoking? Is that the price tag on the deal?”

  “There’s no deal, Stretch.” He sighed and stared down into the tank, tired and discouraged. His dashing black costume was damp and smudged and his hat, along with mine, lay forgotten somewhere back on the pier. A harbor seal, huge and sleek, cut a sudden arc on the illuminated surface just below us, but Aaron didn’t seem to notice.

  “I’m sorry,” he said at last. “The truth is I’m mad at myself, not you. Corinne was my date, I knew she was depressed, I should have stayed with her instead of wandering off with you. Christ, if she’d killed herself—”

  “Well, she didn’t,” I said, pushing away the image of her pale, pale face. “We don’t even know if she meant to. She could have just fallen. Either way, blaming yourself won’t do anyone any good. Look, why don’t you go on home? I’ll be here for another hour at least; I’ve got a cleaning crew coming.”

  “You don’t need a ride?”

  “Nope. Lily took Donald home in a cab, so I’ve still got Vanna White.” That was my aging but faithful white van.

  “All right, Stretch. I’ll call you.” No good-night kiss, not tonight.

  The moment Aaron left, I wished he had offered to stay. I was tired and discouraged myself, and we’d left so much unsaid. Well, I’d be home in bed soon enough. I went through the exhibits on automatic pilot, making mental notes for the cleaners. The Aquarium contract requires only that the floors be vacuumed, but I like to leave my venues spotless—you never know when you’ll need a last-minute reservation somewhere, or just a good word on the grapevine. And after a fiasco like Corinne’s fall, the word would not be good, for the Aquarium or for me.

  I was determined to call it a fall.

  Busily fretting for my reputation and checking for damage, I inspected the length of A Watershed Journey, starting with the artificial marsh, whose hollow plastic log had earlier sheltered Florence Nightingale, giggling madly, and a remarkably vocal mime. It was empty now, I was happy to see, with no bits of nursing apparel left behind. Along the artificial stream, wire mesh had prevented a blob of carpaccio and a couple of caviar blini from joining the ecosystem. So far so good.

  I checked the river otters’ playground near the artificial waterfall, then stood by the cascading water, staring into its endless foaming descent, while my troubled mind went blank and still. I even closed my eyes for a moment, pleasantly deafened by the roar, nearly asleep on my feet. Then I started awake when someone laid a hand on my arm.

  It was Marvin, a look of concern on his comfortable, old-shoe face. “Everything all right?”

  “Fine!” We could hardly hear each other over the roaring water, so we stepped outside. “Did you check the shorebird area for trash when you closed it off?”

  “Not really, just looked around that nobody was in there. I was kinda busy—”

  “No problem. Let the cleaners in when they get here, OK?”

  “Will do.” He went back inside. I made my way down the corridor, through another entrance, and past the post-and-rope barrier he had erected across the Northwest Shores grotto. Not much litter on the floor here, that was good, but I wanted to be sure no one had flung anything into the tide pool or onto the little beach. You can’t have the marbled god-wit eating caramel brie for breakfast.

  The tide pool was unsullied, but when I rounded a broad concrete pillar to check the beach, I stumbled over something that shifted, soft and heavy, under my feet. Kneeling down, my eyes adjusting to the dimness after the brighter light outside, I made out grizzled hair and a Kelly-green jacket very much the worse for wear. A mushroom cloud of Guinness fumes clinched the ID.

  “Tommy? Hey, Tommy, wake up!”

  His head lolled silently, and for a moment I thought we were due for another ambulance. Then the bleary Irish eyes flickered open and a palsied hand lifted high.

  “Stop it!” said Tommy hoarsely
. “Stop it, you’re killing her!”

  “Stop what? What are you talking about?”

  But the hand dropped down, the eyes rolled up, and Tommy was no longer with us. I laid him gently back against the pillar and straightened up to use my radio.

  “Marvin, we have a stowaway. There’s a gentleman passed out near the door to… to…”

  “Carnegie? Hello? I’m losing you. Should I come over there?”

  “Yes,” I whispered, staring down into the shorebird exhibit, and going slowly cold all over. The radio slid from my hand and I spoke into the air. “Yes, come.”

  A garish heap of patchwork and ruffles lay on the little beach exhibit, half in and half out of the water. Slim brown legs extended from it among the coarse tufts of salt grass, and one slender outflung arm, still adorned with showy bracelets, stirred gently in the shallows. Long hair, midnight-black, curled and twisted like weeds beneath the surface, obscuring the downturned face of Mercedes Montoya.

  I vaulted the handrail and hit the sand with a jolt that clapped my teeth together. As I hauled at Mercedes’ shoulders to roll her clear of the water, elusive scraps of CPR training scattered from my mind like minnows from a shark.

  There was an ABC, wasn’t there? A, what was A? Airway! Tilt the head back to open the airway. Then B, check for breathing, or is B for bleeding? Oh, please, what do I do?

  Mercedes wasn’t breathing, so I crouched low and pressed my mouth to hers, forcing air into her, again and again. No response. When I sat back, dizzy with the effort, her head fell lifelessly to one side. Sand had crusted in the scrapes and scratches on her cheeks. I positioned my hands on her chest to begin pumping, then stared at my fingers in disbelief. They were blotched with dark smears that spread over my hands and up my wrists. Dark, sticky red smears…

  Then I saw the blood on the sand and the stones, and the way the perfumed mane of Mercedes’ hair was matted against the nape of her neck. I lifted the curls aside tenderly, like a lover, afraid and yet certain of what I would see. And there it was. Behind her left ear was a ragged concave wound the size of my fist, dark with blood but showing pale glints of bone. Mercedes hadn’t drowned in those few inches of water. Someone had bashed in her skull.