“What do you mean?” I was controlling my temper with increasing difficulty. “Of course you had choices. If you really were in love with Boom Boom, you could do without a lot of things. And he didn’t exactly live in poverty, even by Lake Bluff standards.”
Her honey-colored eyes were filled with tears. She held out a hand in a beseeching gesture. “Vic, Niels pays for everything. This place, all the furniture. My bills at Saks and I. Magnin run me a thousand dollars a month alone. He pays those without question. If I want to go to Majorca for a month in October, he pays the American Express bills. I owe him so much. It seemed like such a little thing to go out with your cousin a few times and see if he had learned anything about the invoices.”
I gripped the side of the chair to keep from rising up and strangling her. “Such a little thing. You never thought of Boom Boom as a person, with feelings, or the right to live, did you?”
“I liked Boom Boom, Vic. Please, you must believe me.”
“I believe nothing you say. Nothing. You dare call me insufferable!” I stopped and checked myself. “Tell me what happened that day you went sailing. That Saturday before my cousin was murdered.”
She winced. “You mustn’t say that, Vic. It was an accident. Niels assured me it was an accident and the police believe so, too.”
“Yes, well, tell me about the sailing trip. Mattingly was there, right? And Phillips. Grafalk, of course. What was the purpose? Why did you drag Boom Boom up for that?”
“Mattingly wasn’t there, Vic. I keep telling you I don’t know him. You accuse me of being unfeeling, but I’m not. When I told Niels that Boom Boom had—gotten close to the truth on the invoices, he wanted Clayton to get rid of him on the spot. But I told him not to.” She lifted her chin and looked at me proudly. “We went up there to see if Niels could persuade Boom Boom to see things their way. On Saturday it looked as though he might. But the next Monday he had a terrible argument with Clayton over the matter, and Niels said it was no use trying to talk to him, in fact that we’d better do something before Boom Boom called Argus. But then—then he slipped and fell and that ended the matter. I was so relieved. I was terrified Niels might do something dreadful.”
It was my turn to be speechless. I couldn’t find words that matched my horror and my anger. Finally I choked, “You tried to bribe Boom Boom and he didn’t live that way. You vermin just couldn’t understand that. You gave him a chance to be corrupted and he refused to take it … What about the water in the holds of the Lucella? What did that have to do with Clayton and Niels?”
She looked blank. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The Lucella couldn’t take on a load of grain because someone had poured water into her holds. Boom Boom was going to talk to the captain about it before he called Argus … Never mind. What about Clayton? Were you with Niels Sunday morning when he put a big hole in the side of Clayton’s head?”
She looked at me with gentle reproof. “I don’t think you should talk to me like that, Vic. You may not approve of my relations with Niels, but he is my lover.”
I gave a crack of manic laughter. “Me not approve! Christ, Paige, you’re a whole separate universe. Why should I give a damn about you and Grafalk? It’s what the two of you did to my cousin that I care about. That’s what makes your relationship stink.”
Paige looked at her watch. “Yes, well, I don’t agree with you. I think I pointed out to you what an obligation I’m under to Niels. He’s coming over in a few minutes, too, so unless you want to meet him I’d suggest you leave.”
I got up. “One last question, Paige darling. Was it the photocopy of Grafalk’s invoice you were looking for in Boom Boom’s apartment the day after the funeral? If it was, I’ve found it. And as for the letter Boom Boom wrote you—‘Beautiful Paige’—I don’t think he sent that to the Royal York in Toronto at all. He wrote you the Sunday before he died, didn’t he? To tell you he didn’t want to see you again. You put it in an old envelope to prove to me that you were writing each other love letters. You knew I’d look at the heading and not read the letter.” I choked on a sob and swallowed it. If I stayed any longer the last threads of my self-control would snap.
Paige watched me with dark, angry eyes as I walked across the Persian rug to the front door. For once her exquisite poise deserted her, lines appeared around her mouth and eyes and she looked older.
26
On the Tiles
Back outside I sat on the stoop, unable to move any father. Fatigue fogged my brain. The day had started at Jeannine’s with confirmation that her husband pushed Boom Boom under the propeller of the Bertha Krupnik. Now came the news that her sister had gone out with Boom Boom only to spy on him for Grafalk.