Page 18
“Will you ever get married, Mary?”
I grin at my younger sister. “But I already am Mary?”
She rolls her eyes. “Ha ha ha. You’re so funny. Not .”
“I laughed,” I reply archly.
The two of us are walking home from middle school. It’s our second year in Boston, and we’ve gotten used to the noise and the cars and no longer feel frightened walking to and from the campus.
She rolls her eyes again. “You’re definitely not getting married with that attitude. No one’s going to want to marry someone as not funny as you.”
“Maybe I’ll marry you,” I suggest. “Then I can annoy you all the time, just like a good wife.”
Annie scoffs. “Who says you would be the wife?”
“Well, I’m the practical, sensible one, and you’re the one with your head in the clouds all the time. You’d be the husband with all of his crazy ideas, and I’d be the longsuffering wife who has to try to bring you back down to Earth.”
She gives me a fishy look. “What makes you think that’s how married people act?”
I blink. “Well… I mean, that’s how they act in the movies. Like that one where the little boy wants a BB gun for Christmas. The dad is always crazy and doing silly things like buying a lamp that looks like a leg, and the mom had to be the one to get rid of it because it looks hideous. And she had to tell the little boy that he couldn’t have the BB gun because he’d shoot his eye out.”
Annie scoffs again, but there’s more bitterness than sadness this time. “That’s just movies, Mary.”
I don’t reply for a while. I know that she’s thinking about Mom and Dad. They definitely don’t act like the couple from the movie.
Lately, Mom's been getting worse. Sometimes, she'll go an entire day without speaking to anyone. I've gotten used to making food for us and getting our clothes laid out for school, but I'm worried that Mom might have another episode. I've been thinking about asking Annie if she wants to sleep in my room.
I turn to her and open my mouth to ask her that very question, but she interrupts me. “I want to marry a tall, hot blonde guy with big muscles. He can kiss me whenever he wants, and if he wants me to be naked with him, then I’ll—”
“Annie! Stop! Oh my goodness!” My cheeks are flaming right now. “Why are you talking about that? Where did you hear about all of that stuff?”
She laughs. “Where did you hear about all of that stuff? It’s just natural. It’s what all creatures do.”
“Well, stop talking about it. We’re still too young to think about… Why did you even bring that up?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. I just… I want to be married one day. I want to have a good relationship with a good man.” Her eyes widen. “Actually, I want to have relationships with a lot of men. I want boys to fight over me!”
I throw my head back and laugh at that. “What?” she protests. “I’m being serious! I’ll be one of those ice queens that a lot of people love but who loves no one back. I’ll give them kisses and ‘kisses’ sometimes, but I’ll be my own person. I’ll go wherever I want and be whatever I please, and all around the world, there will be men sighing wistfully at their kitchen tables wishing they could see me just one more time.”
“What a wonderful life,” I reply drily.
She shrugs again. “Whatever. What about you? Who do you want to marry?”
“I’m still determined to be the woman who changes your mind and makes you settle down.”
She giggles. “You’re silly, Mary.” Then she takes my hand. “I love you. Even when I’m married, you’ll still be my best friend.”
I squeeze her hand and smile at her. “Good. In that case, you can marry whoever you want.”
***
I wake with a gasp. My heart pounds in my chest, and cold sweat beads on my forehead. I lay in bed for a while, trying to figure out why I'm so disturbed. For goodness' sake, I didn't have a nightmare. I was dreaming of a good memory.
I finally give up on figuring out a logical reason for my behavior and roll out of bed. It’s six-fifteen, slightly earlier than my normal wake-up time, but I was up late yesterday morning, so I don’t mind the early start today. I dress and head downstairs to the kitchen to make myself some coffee.
As I’m about to start the pot, however, my phone buzzes. I look at the number, expecting it to be Sean calling me, but it’s not him. I let the number go to voicemail and start the coffee. A text interrupts me.
It’s Claudia. I’m downstairs. Talk for a few minutes?
I frown. What could she possibly want this early?
Then I remember Annie. I remember how she told me that we would always be friends, even when she was married. That never happened for us. We had a falling out, and she left, never to be seen again.
I am overwhelmed suddenly with a wave of heartache. I loved Annie so much. I thought for sure that she and I would be friends forever. I realize now that a part of me has been hanging on to my anger toward her to avoid confronting the grief I feel at losing a friend, my best friend.
My breath hitches, and I squeeze my eyes shut for several minutes to stifle my tears. Then I text Claudia. Coming right down. I have some questions for you too.
She replies with a question mark, but I can’t text her my questions. I’ll have to discuss those in person.
I head downstairs. It’s still dark outside, and I have to use the light from my cell phone to get from the elevator to the foyer. The clocks are silent, their hands still, and it hits me that last night is the first night that I don’t hear them chime at midnight. Perhaps they’ve finally all broken.
I reach the foyer and see Claudia standing outside. I open the door, and she gestures for me to step outside. I step outside and immediately begin shivering. She grins and removes one of her coats. “I brought an extra,” she says. “Thought you might need it.”
“Thank you,” I tell her.
I look at her face, so bright, so beautiful and still so young. I can’t help but see the image of my dear lost sister.
“I know I’m back rather early,” Claudia says, “but I was in the area, and I thought this deserved more than a phone call.”
“Speaking of that,” I reply, “how did you get my number?”
“I looked you up. You have quite the reputation, Miss Detective Wilcox.”
Heat climbs my cheeks, and she laughs. The sound reminds me of Annie, and my heart aches again.
“Don’t worry, that’s a good thing. At least, I hope it is. Can you tell me anything interesting, Detective Wilcox?”
I nod. “Actually, yes. Another clock was stolen last night.”
Her playfulness instantly disappears. “Which clock?”
“A miniature table clock known as the Kaiser Wilhelm clock.”
She nods. “Yes, I figured they’d want that one.”
“Who? For what?”
“I told you that Mossad is interested in this case, yes?”
“Yes. Something about Nazi memorabilia that they feel people shouldn’t profit from.”
“Yes. And that’s true. These items are ending up on the black market. Museums all over Europe are being ransacked for Nazi memorabilia and sold for a profit. That’s why Mossad suddenly cares about old Nazi crap when they’ve spent decades not giving a hoot. Someone is selling unique Nazi artifacts specifically related to intelligence and selling them for millions of dollars.”
My eyes widen. “Was the pocket watch sold?”
“Not yet, but I won’t be surprised if it and the Kaiser Wilhelm clock show up on the dark web in short order.” She crosses her arms and tilts her head. “Did anyone behave suspiciously last night? Any thoughts on a potential thief?”
I chuckle. "Honestly, Claudia, it's hard for me to tell what the difference is between suspicious and normal here. Elena is a nervous wreck ninety percent of the time. When she isn't, she's very sweet, but that's increasingly rare. Lukas Meyer was shocked, almost senseless, when he heard that Interpol was investigating this case, and—"
“Wait. Who is Lukas Meyer?”
“Elena’s banker. His son is friends with Sophie.”
Her eyes narrow a little. “Hmm. And they visit often?”
“They’ve been here twice since I’ve arrived. I’m not sure if that’s typical of them.”
She writes a note on her pad. “You said he was shocked when he heard about me. Can you be more specific?”
“He went pale and was very concerned for Elena. He feared she might be in trouble.”
“Did he say why?”
“No, he just found it odd that you were here.”
“Odd or frightening?”
I think back to yesterday morning in the lobby. I remember how Lukas's hands shook and how he paled again when I mentioned the Museum's finances. I've been so thrown off by the appearance of a woman who could be my sister's daughter that I completely forgot about it.
"Actually… Quite frightening. I mentioned that as long as your investigation didn't have anything to do with the Museum's finances, he had no reason to fear. I meant it as a joke, but he reacted very strongly to that as well."
Claudia raises her eyebrow. “Hmm. Do you know where Mr. Meyer lives?”
“No. I only see him when he brings Luc to visit.”
“How interesting.” She smiles at me. “Mary, this is excellent information. I believe I’ll get started on it right away.”
She turns to leave, and I grab her arm. “Claudia, please be gentle. Luc is a sweet boy, and he’s good friends with Sophie. I would hate for her friendship to be affected by this.”
She gives me another smile, but this one is a sad one. “I’ll do my best, but this is the sort of thing that affects friendships no matter how hard you try to prevent it.”
I knew that would be her answer, but it still hurts to hear it. Poor Sophie. And poor Luc.
I release her and return an equally sad smile. “I know. I suppose I just didn’t want to admit it.”
“People don’t live in a vacuum,” she says. “Our decisions affect others. Even when we desperately wish they wouldn’t.” She squeezes my arm briefly, then walks off.
I think of all of the decisions I’ve made, all the decisions Annie made. I think of the pain I’ve suffered for the past thirty years, all of the pain that Annie suffered that drove her to leave us. I wonder if I could have done something different when I was younger that might have led her to stay.
Maybe, maybe not. Time has moved so far ahead of that event that I can’t imagine what life would have looked like if things had turned out differently.
It's not until Claudia is gone for several minutes that I realize I didn't ask her about Annie. That opportunity, like so many others, passed me by before I realized it.