Chapter Nineteen #2
“I’m not sure.” Sam felt like shit for lying to them. But she would wait for Elijah to get there before they shared the dreadful news with the children. “How about some lunch? Is anyone hungry?”
Aubrey shrugged as if nothing would interest her except her mother.
Sam’s heart broke for them both. After lunch, she would call Trulo for some advice on how best to go about telling the children. The thought of having to shatter their little world made Sam ache.
She glanced at Shelby, who blinked back tears.
“How about grilled cheese?” Shelby asked cheerfully. “Scotty says mine are the best ever. You want to see if he’s right?”
Aubrey nodded. “Okay.”
Thank God for Shelby, Sam thought again as they trooped downstairs. Her sweet sincerity was what they needed.
“Let me settle Noah, and then we’ll see about some grilled cheese,” Shelby said. She kept a small portable crib in the laundry room off the kitchen.
Sam had poured apple juice for the kids and gotten them settled at the table when her phone rang.
“Go ahead,” Shelby said. “I’ve got this.”
“Thanks,” Sam said, taking the call from Freddie. “What’s up?”
“Might be nothing, but I found a report in the system that warrants further investigation. A traffic altercation Cleo had on Friday. Apparently, a fender bender escalated into a screaming match.”
“Send it to my email. Anything else?”
“Jeannie and I are working the neighborhood again today, and Green is taking a closer look at the kids’ school.”
“What about the school?”
“I’m not sure yet. He said he’s following a hunch.”
“Tell him to call me and clue me in on this so-called hunch.”
“Will do. We’ll be there at four or we’ll check in.”
“Sounds good. Thanks.” She ended the call with him and took a call from Green five minutes later.
“Afternoon, Detective.”
“Hey, Lieutenant. Cruz told me to give you a call to fill you in. In addition to following the money trail, I’m taking a high-level look at the school. I’ve heard a few things from friends who’ve had kids go there that makes me think it’s worth a deeper look.”
“What kinds of things?”
“Mostly about the parents being crazy, for lack of a better word.”
“How so?”
“Competitive, malicious, vindictive. Too much money, too much time on their hands. That kind of thing.”
“Sounds like a lovely place,” Sam said.
“It sounds like private school.”
“And you have some experience with private school?”
“Far too much. Thirteen years of that nonsense. My mother could tell you a few stories about the parents.”
“I’d be interested to speak to someone who has kids there now. Preferably someone normal.”
“I have someone you can talk to. I’ll have her call you. Her name is Marlene Peters. I play football with her husband, Dave.”
“You play football?”
He laughed. “Flag football. We’re all too old and too busy to risk injury.”
“This I need to see.”
“You’re more than welcome to come by the field any Sunday, but only if you cheer for my team.”
“I’d love to. We’ll make a plan for that.”
“Sounds good. I’ll have Marlene call you. She reached out to me when she heard about the Beauclairs.”
“How come?”
“First to ask me if it was true they were killed and then to express disbelief.”
“Did she know them?”
“She knew Cleo but not Jameson. Apparently, Cleo was known as a supermom. She was the mom who volunteered for everything, had the elaborate birthday parties, organized playdates and crafts and generally made everyone else look like a slouch in the mom department.”
The description alone was enough to make Sam feel inadequate.
Should she be organizing playdates and crafts for Scotty?
Would he suffer someday for not having had a mother like that?
The thoughts overwhelmed and saddened her.
She would never be that kind of mother, but no one would ever love him as much as she did.
“Sam?” Green said. “Are you still there?”
“I’m here. Just trying to process everything these poor kids have lost.”
“How are they?”
“Confused and quiet. The boy, Alden, hasn’t said a word to any of us. I’m particularly concerned about him. Their older brother, Elijah, will be here later today. I’m hoping he can help us break through to poor Alden.”
“I hope so. It’s such a sad thing.”
“Yes, it is. I’ll let you go to keep pursuing the school angle, and I’ll look forward to talking to Marlene.”
“I’ll have her call you right away.”
“Thanks, Cameron.”
“No problem.”
Sam closed her phone and went into the kitchen to join the kids for lunch. She had downed half a grilled cheese when her phone rang again. She left the kitchen and took the call from a number she didn’t recognize. “Lieutenant Holland.”
“This is Marlene Peters. Cam asked me to call you?”
“Yes, thank you. I appreciate you taking the time.”
“You’re kidding, right?” she asked with a laugh. “I’ll dine out for weeks on the fact that I got to talk to you. My friends will be green with envy.”
Sam was never certain how to reply to comments like that. “Oh, um, thank you?”
She laughed again. “I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I know you want to talk about Cleo and her family. I’m so heartsick over what’s happened.”
“It’s very tragic, indeed.”
“The children… I can’t stop thinking about them.”
“They’re okay, all things considered. We’re waiting for their brother to arrive from college, so we can tell them what’s happened.”
“Those poor babies. Cleo was such a wonderful mother.”
“That’s what I’ve heard. Can you tell me more about her?”
“She was amazing, the kind of woman you’d love to hate if she hadn’t been so damned sweet and kind and caring.
At first, people at the school weren’t sure what to make of her.
We knew her husband was loaded, but we weren’t sure what he did, so of course there was speculation that he was into something illegal.
And then there was the fact that she never once left the school while the kids were there, which was weird.
Most moms live for that little break from their kids, but not Cleo.
She stayed and filled in wherever she was needed.
We joked that she made the rest of us look like slackers.
But I sensed that she stayed because she was afraid of something happening to the kids when she wasn’t there. ”
“What made you think that?”
“There was a wariness to her. As sweet and kind as she was, she didn’t get close to any of the other moms. Her kids started in the summer program, and we were both room moms. I didn’t know her any better months later than I did at the beginning, even though I talked to her almost every day.”
“Did she ever mention her husband or their marriage or anything like that?”
“No, never. I never heard her speak of him at all. Their neighbor, Lauren, she knew him a little because her husband played golf with him a couple of times. She said he seemed like a nice guy, but like his wife, he kept his cards close to the vest. He never talked about his work or anything overly personal except when it came to the kids. They both obviously adored their kids and were extremely devoted to them. I can’t help but wonder what they had to hide that made them private to the point of being secretive, you know? ”
“Yes, I do, and I know what they were hiding from. You will too before much longer. Suffice it to say they had good reason to keep a low profile.”
“Hmm. Interesting. I like that explanation better than what some people have said about them.”
“And what’s that?”
“That they were standoffish and arrogant. I never picked up that vibe from her, and that’s not how Lauren’s husband described Cleo’s husband. He said he was a friendly guy who was an extremely good golfer.”
“So, they were the subject of a lot of speculation at the school?”
“How can I say this without sounding like part of the problem?” After a pause, she said, “Usually when people move into our part of town or enroll their kids at Northwest Academy, they come with a bit of a pedigree, if you will. They’re CEOs, ambassadors, former senators, prominent lobbyists, grandchildren of presidents, even.
We know who they are. The Beauclairs were the exception to that rule.
No one knew anything about them, which made people rabidly curious. ”
To Sam, it sounded like they needed to get lives of their own, but then again, she never had understood the frantic need to know every detail of other people’s lives. “Was anyone particularly hateful toward Cleo or her family?”
“Enough to murder them? No, but there was one woman, Emma Knoff, the president of the PTO at the school, who was annoyed by Cleo.”
“In what way?”
“She felt Cleo was stepping on toes with all her volunteering and helping out. She was particularly vocal about the fact that Cleo never left the building when the kids were at school. Weird was the word she used to describe it, but Emma is the kind of person who wants to be in charge of everything. Cleo made her feel threatened in her little fiefdom.”
Sam shook her head in disbelief. Who were these people? “Can you tell me where I might find Emma?”
“You won’t tell her I sent you, will you?”
“No, I won’t mention your name. I’ll say some of the parents we spoke to recalled her being upset about Cleo’s presence at the school. Something like that.”
“Well, that’s the truth. She was upset about it.” Marlene gave her Emma’s address and phone number.
“I appreciate your help,” Sam said. “If you think of anything else that might be relevant, feel free to call me back. Just don’t give my number to your friends.”
Marlene laughed. “I’ll do my best to refrain from handing it out.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Before you go if I could tell you that my husband and I… We admire and respect you and your husband so much. Thank you both for your service.”
Touched, Sam said, “Thank you. That means a lot. And thanks again for your time.”
“Happy to help. I hope you’re able to get justice for those poor children.”
“Oh, we will. You can bet on that.”