Chapter 31
Alain came striding into the Frank’s office around eleven and said, “Something didn’t feel right, so I asked the city police to check out the apartment in Vanier. They’re on their way over right now. They’ll be sending a detective over here to talk with Cassie around four.”
Frank looked up and asked, “Why are you here? In person, I mean?”
“Because I thought that Cassie might need a friendly face. I did a bit of checking before I sent the city police on their way and there’s no record of a Gord or Gordon Sanschagrin anywhere in Canada until fourteen months ago and he’s not in any government data bank, except the marriage registry at Ottawa City Hall a year ago where he’s listed as Gordon Réal Sanschagrin. Cassie said that he could turn the charm on and off so I think he might have a record as a con man.” Alain snorted. “Sanschagrin means shameless. It fits.”
Frank looked thoughtful. “That matches the time line. Gord didn’t marry Penny until after Cassie came into her inheritance, which was under Penny’s control because Cassie was still a minor.”
“I really don’t have a good feeling about this, Frank. If Gord was only after money he would have waited until Cassie was by herself at home. He wouldn’t have taken off empty handed in the middle of the afternoon unless something else was going on.” Alain looked sombre.
“Should I pull Cassie out of class?”
“Not until we have news.”
“By the way, thank you for toning down the flirting with Cassie.”
Alain shrugged. “It’s mostly unconscious. But I do have some experience with victims of sexual assault and you did warn me. And she’s younger than some of my nieces. She needs me to be a friend, not another jerk hitting on her.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t believe that a couple of the guys at your client barbeque couldn’t take the hint.”
“Thanks for helping with that. They won’t be invited back.”
“Hey, if those desserts are typical of Cassie’s cooking, I don’t want you guys to have any excuse to drop me from your invite list.”
“She is a good cook and Cassie likes you so she’ll want to feed you properly. And I think we’ll be working together for a few more months.”
Alain snorted. “Years is more likely. And I could use more friends who aren’t on the force. Policemen can get so cynical. It affects the way we look at the world.”
Frank looked at the clock after a short silence. “So we wait?”
“Life of a cop. Five percent adrenaline overload and ninety-five percent paperwork, if you’re lucky enough to get to five percent. And while I’m here I can get an update from Joanne.”
“She should be in shortly. I heard her and the local team leader arguing about the wording of the information they want to file with the court for the civil search warrant. Apparently there were some poorly encrypted files on Tony’s work computer that point to a number of local and offshore bank accounts. Her IT guy found the information very quickly during the initial scan. But the good news is that we’ve only discovered three more participants.”
“How many wrongful dismissal lawsuits so far?”
“Six, including Tony.” Frank gave a bitter snort. “They’ll be petitioning the judge to access the money they stole from Henry to pay for their lawyers.”
Alain let out a bleak laugh. “Happens all the time. Crime pays, at least until you get caught.”
Frank smiled. “But I’ll bet that I sleep better at night.”
“Maybe not. I’m sure that Tony convinced himself that he’s just getting what he’s worth and if Henry won’t pay him properly it’s fine for him to just take it. Trust me, guys like him sleep just fine, until they’re caught.”
Joanne appeared at the door. “Tony? Probably. But two of his underlings know that the special bonuses they took were dirty. They aren’t sleeping well.”
Alain and Frank stood to welcome her. Alain said, “Does that mean that we’ve got someone who wants to deal?”
Joanne sat in the other visitor chair and said, “I don’t think so, yet, but we’re close. Maybe they’ll talk after you explain the charges you could lay against them.”
Alain sat down. “Some of that’s up to the Crown. I’ll need to see some evidence first.”
“Then you’re in luck. Zahar just finished the preliminary review. Home theatre systems are a hot item in the Menzies group of companies. It seems that most of Tony’s special friends get one delivered to their house or their cottage.” Joanne gave a predatory smile. “There are also several new sectional docks with delivery addresses to the same cottages. Those were written off as poor quality rejects. We found out about those because the production line manager in Hamilton came to see us an hour after the team was on site. He was annoyed that so much perfectly good product was being written off as scrap then delivered to his boss’s friends. Then there are the very nice company cars that are on the books but not in the lot.” Her tone turned serious. “Unfortunately, one of the Porsche SUVs they bought this year out of Winnipeg is now registered to a manager in the military procurement section at Public Works here in Gatineau. And one of the docks was delivered to a lieutenant-commander on the procurement team.”
Alain leaned forward with a gleam in his eye. “Do tell.”
Frank sighed. “Yes, Joanne, do tell him about it. Somewhere else. I have other work to do.”
Alain turned back to Frank. “I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything about Penny.”
“I’d appreciate that, Alain.”
———
The clock radio on top of the grimy fridge showed eight o’clock as Cassie stepped nervously over the police tape into the living room of the apartment. Frank asked, “Are you sure you can do this?”
“I’ve been half expecting this since she got hooked on oxys, Frank. It will probably hit me tonight when we get home.”
She surveyed the clutter and the piles of pizza boxes. She let out a big sigh and asked, “You want me to tell you what’s missing? Right? Other than Gord, who you need to locate for questioning?”
The detective nodded. “Yes. We’re hoping that you’ll see something we missed. We have confirmation that Mr. Sanschagrin sold his vehicle yesterday morning and cashed the cheque immediately. Mrs. Sanschagrin’s bank account was drained around eleven at an ATM in Manotick and the maximum cash advance was taken on her MasterCard at the same machine. Miss Bautista identified the car Mr. Sanschagrin was driving as a white 2005 Honda Civic. It was possibly the one stolen yesterday morning from the parking lot of the Loblaws on MacArthur. It hasn’t been located yet.”
Cassie nodded. “So it isn’t likely he’s returning?”
“I doubt he’ll show his face in town any time soon.”
Cassie took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
She walked around the living room and pointed to a dust free portion of the shelf above the television. “There was a computer game console here. Gord’s buddies used to come over to play games and watch porno movies with him. The DVD case is gone, too, and his box of poker chips.”
She moved into the kitchen. There didn’t seem to be anything missing. She pointed at a painting on the wall. “May I take the paintings with me? They were painted by my grandfather. They were the only things Mum could never bring herself to sell.”
The scene technician said, “We can’t let you remove anything until we’ve finished up, which could take a couple of days. But we’ll be gentle with them.”
Cassie nodded and moved into her old bedroom. It was exactly as she’d left it but it didn’t bring her any extra pain to see it this time. The bathroom was just as bare as she remembered.
She peered into the larger bedroom and examined it with a critical eye. “The only things that seem to be gone are Gord’s weight set, his clothes and a duffel bag.” She turned to look at the dresser. “Mum’s jewellery box is gone, too. I don’t think there was any jewellery left in it but I think that’s where she kept her stash.”
The med
ical examiner greeted her with a grim face. “Is there a funeral home you’d like us to deal with?”
Cassie looked at Frank. He shrugged and said, “You know Ottawa better than I do.”
“Can we let you know? Mum did have some friends in this part of town so one of the funeral homes in Vanier would be best.”
Frank asked, “Would you like me to make the arrangements?”
Cassie looked at him in surprise then looked at her wedding rings as she reminded herself that he was her husband and she was allowed to lean on him. She gave him a grateful smile and said, “Yes. Please.”
She turned to the medical examiner. “What did she die of?”
“We won’t be 100% certain until the toxicology report comes back, but there was a syringe next to the body and there was the residue of a fentanyl patch in the kitchen.”
“That’s not possible.” Cassie was emphatic.
“What do you mean?”
“Mum had to take an oral sedative every time she had to get a booster shot or dental work and I had to go with her to keep her calm. She’d go ballistic anytime anyone came near her with a needle. That’s why she used oxys. Pills she could handle.”
“You’re certain?”
Cassie fixed him with a look that dared him to contradict her. “You can call her doctor to confirm; either Dr. Markad at the clinic over on Montreal Road or Dr. Srinivasan in Toronto on King West. Both of them prescribed oral sedatives for her before she got her booster shots. Mum went berserk at the thought of needles. No way she’d willingly inject drugs, no matter how good they were. She couldn’t be in the room with us when the nurse was preparing my grandmother’s chemo doses. She didn’t even have her ears pierced.”
The detective and the medical examiner gave each other a knowing look. The detective said, “Thank you for your help today. We’ll be in touch when we can release your mother’s belongings.”
Frank took Cassie’s arm and led her to the car. “Do you want to go somewhere to pray?”
Cassie nodded then looked at him with dry eyes. “Do you think Gord murdered her, Frank?”
“It’s possible.”
“I’m so glad I wasn’t home. I guess he figured that I’d be staying home eating bon bons now that I’ve married my gravy train.”
“He never bothered to get to know you, did he?”
Cassie shook her head. “Poor Mum. I hope that she knew Jesus. I’ll have to pray for her.”
“There’s always hope. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect, only to have faith in him and to do our best to follow him.” He started the car. “Sometimes our best doesn’t seem sufficient. He knows that we fail over and over again but He loves us and will have mercy if we put our faith and trust in Him before the end.” He turned to his wife who was evidently still in shock. “Let’s go see if anyone is at the church tonight.”
Cassie nodded mutely and Frank drove off.
———
“What an awful thing to have happen, Cassie.” Meghan gave Cassie a one armed hug as she arrived to let Frank go to the funeral home to make arrangements.
“A part of me was expecting it. But it’s still a shock. I mean, Mum just turned thirty-seven.”
Meghan made some sympathetic noises and Cassie continued as they moved to the kitchen where Meghan put a sleeping Cassandra down and covered her with the other half of a small comforter.
After Meghan was able to pay attention, Cassie said, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel, Meghan. I mean, she was my mother but she was never around much. She was always chasing the next thrill, whether it was sex or booze or drugs. She always chose a party or the clubs over spending time with me or Granny. She never really paid much attention to me. She left that to Granny and Dad.”
Cassie sighed. “I was more like the mother than the child when I moved in with her after Granny died. When the first of the inheritance money came through I found us the town house off Donald and I thought we were set up okay and that she was managing her habit reasonably well. But then Gord swept into her life, like dozens of men before him, and I was back at the bottom of her priority list again. I was used to that but this time the guy married her because she was actually single for a change. I guess he wanted a solid claim to my inheritance.”
There was silence for a while “When’s the funeral?”
“The coroner delivered her body to the funeral home this morning. We’re having a small ceremony at the home on Wednesday.”
“I’ll be there.”
Cassie reached out to pat Meghan’s hand. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Meghan moved over to the coffee bar and began looking in the drawer for tea. “What have you got planned for Thanksgiving?”
“We’re expected in Parrsboro for Bonnie’s birthday dinner on Saturday. We haven’t decided if we’re going yet. Regardless, we’ll be back on Sunday night. I’m planning an afternoon dinner on Monday with the van der Broeks and a couple from church who can’t get home to Alberta to visit family and I’m waiting on a few RSVPs. You and Gene would be welcome, too.”
Meghan pondered that for a moment then dug her smart phone out of her purse. “I’ll text Gene to confirm. We have nothing scheduled at the moment.”
A nervous looking Carmen came into the kitchen. “Senora Ellis?”
Fighting a moment of panic, Cassie said, “Yes, Carmen?”
In Spanish, she said, “Senor Ellis’ mother is waiting for you in the front hall.”
Suppressing her surprise, Cassie said, “Gracias, Carmen.”
Meghan trailed her to the foyer where Dorothy was waiting with a pair of suitcases. She came forward to give Cassie a hug. In a sympathetic tone, she said, “Francis told me about your mother when I called yesterday evening. I’m so sorry, Cassandra.”
“I had been half expecting it. Her dependence was getting worse but …” Cassie shrugged.
“Francis mentioned that the police are regarding the death as suspicious.”
“I think she was murdered by her husband.” Then Cassie took note of the suitcases. “Are you here for a while?”
“For as long as you need me to be. I can head back out after lunch if you’d rather be by yourself, but you seem to be more like me than like Francis. He buries himself in work to avoid thinking about things. When Mother died I needed to tell stories about her. Francis was a great help, though, being there and listening.”
“I don’t have many good stories about Mum. She wasn’t a very good role model.”
Dorothy smiled. “I don’t have many good stories about my mother either. She was rather stern and undemonstrative. I don’t think she was a very good role model either but she was my mother and I loved her. I just wish I hadn’t repeated some of her mistakes. So I thought I should offer to be here for you.”
Cassie felt tears threaten. She took a look at Dorothy’s sympathetic face and asked, “Would it be okay with you if I called you ‘Mother’ instead of ‘Mrs. Ellis’?”
Dorothy felt her eyes moisten. “I would be most honoured, Cassandra.”
Cassie turned to Meghan. “Meghan Sokolov, this is my mother-in-law, Dorothy Ellis. Mother, this is my good friend Meghan.”
Meghan said, “We have met a couple of times, in passing. We had a nice chat at the Governor-General’s arts awards gala two years ago.”
Dorothy examined Meghan’s face. “Yes. I remember. You were complaining of morning sickness. Your husband is quite a bit older than you and he’s a research chemist or engineer of some kind, if I remember correctly. Evgeni?”
Meghan smiled. “He’s actually both. His Master’s degree is in engineering and his doctorate is in biochemistry. He’s helping to design cancer drugs based on genetic markers.”
Cassie recovered enough to ask, “Mother, may I show you our guest rooms? You can pick the one you like best.”
“That would be kind.”
Cassie showed Dorothy to her room where she quickly set her suitcases down and followed Cassie bac
k to the kitchen.
In response to the increased noise level, Cassandra rose sleepily from the folded quilt and toddled over to her mother for a cuddle. After a moment, Dorothy asked, “Will she come to me?”
Meghan looked at Dorothy’s silk dress and said, “Probably but you might want to change first.”
Dorothy got a smug smile. “Nonsense. There’s a reason dry cleaners exist. Children are far more important, even if I didn’t learn that lesson properly until my five were grown up.” She held out her arms. Cassandra decided that it wouldn’t hurt to make a new friend and leaned over so Dorothy could take her.