Fatal Connections

Chapter 30

"You say they lived like most other people," I said. "In what ways were they like most other people?"

Her lips formed a rosette. "Oh, I couldn't tell you specifically. My impressions came from those little things you pick up when you pick up after people." She laughed at her own verbal cleverness. "Things they do around the house. Their habits." She gave me a sly smile. "Now and then, they'd invite a few neighbors over. Have drinks or whatever."

"Big parties?"

She shook her head. "Oh, no. Quite the opposite. There'd be four of them, at most."

Okay. Let's make the math clear. "Do you mean four other people or only four people?"

"Only four. Like, you know, another couple?"

That was interesting. Maybe. And, then again, maybe they had known only one other couple.

"What were these get-togethers like? Did you ever see them?"

"Oh, no," she said, her expression suggesting such a thing was unthinkable. "In fact, it was only now and then that Ron and Marian were too tired to clean up afterward. That's the only reason I knew about them at all."

"Sounds like they entertained a lot."

"Oh, I don't know. I got the sense that they just liked to have people over. Maybe to feel more connected with the people who lived near them." Jingle-jangle, clatter-clatter went the bracelets.

Yeah. Maybe. Approaching from another angle, I asked, "Did you have much contact with the children?"

"I got to know them fairly well while I was going through that rough patch," she said. "Amy, in particular, liked to talk. She was at a tricky age." Lupe did a tinkly comme ci, comme ça wave with her hand. "That anxious phase that hits girls right before middle school."

I paused again to get just the right words. Since she had obviously liked the Harcourts, I needed to be careful not to say anything that would alienate her. I finally settled on, "How would you describe her relationship with her parents?"

She hesitated for just a moment, suggesting that she, too, was thinking about how to respond. "They pretty much got along. Amy acted independent, mature. More like an older teenager than a child on the verge of adolescence. Even so, she still had the changing body, mind, and questions of a middle-schooler."

I sensed a problem beneath the rhetoric—that Amy had tried to act more mature than she actually was but might have felt out of her depth because of a lack of parental guidance.

Lupe paused again, before adding, "You asked about the parties. There is someone who might know more about who attended them."

I gave her my patented interested look, but I didn't have to fake it this time.

"I remember they had a cook at that time by the name of Frank Minetti. He handled everything related to food for the family." She paused with a small start. "I might even be able to find his email for you."

I jotted down his name as Lupe checked her phone. After a few seconds of scrolling, she rattled off his name, email address, and phone number. Duly noted.

Lupe stared for a moment at her phone, which now displayed the time. In general, her body language indicated I should wrap things up.

"Just a couple more questions," I assured her. "Who was the nanny at the time you worked for the Harcourts?"

Lupe looked like she had just taken a big bite of a lemon, but that expression disappeared quickly. "The first one was Sasha." She shook her head. "I'll admit we weren't the best of pals, but my job didn't require that. And neither did hers." She shrugged and her expression scrunched up again. "She was kind of a tight-ass."

Sasha Krikorian. The strict one, according to Amy. "Who was the next one? What was she like?"

Lupe squinted. "Something Swedish? She came on not long before I left. Inga or something."

Seemed safe to assume she meant Ingrid Swenson. "I don't suppose you have anyone's contact information?"

"Naw."

"What can you tell me about Jaden?"

Lupe's mouth dropped open and her eyes had that "don't get me started" look. "Now, that one was a whole 'nother story. He was in middle school, but he was well on his way toward full-on teen rebellion."

"Any idea where he is?"

"No. Like I said, we didn't really keep in touch after I closed the business." Lupe looked sad.

"How about close relatives? Did everyone get along?"

Lupe jerked upright, as if surprised. "I suppose. I never heard them argue."

I was trying to think of what I might have missed, when it hit me like a slap in the face. "When you worked for the Harcourts, did you ever get the sense they were concerned about their safety?"

Lupe pulled a prune face. "Not at all. Like I said, they were lovely people."

I considered asking her about the Harcourts' relationship, but decided not to waste our time with a continued litany of the couple's virtues.