“Thank you for understanding, dears,” Delores sighed deeply, “I wish I could, but I do think it’s best if I don’t go down there with you. Doc told me that if I went, he’d have to schedule a pre-frontal lobotomy for me. He was just teasing me, wasn’t he, dear?”
“Yes, Mother, I’m sure he was,” Hannah said.
“You still haven’t told us why Norman’s here,” Michelle pointed out. “Why did Doc call him?”
“Doc wants Norman to go down there with you. When I told him that I had to go with you because it would go faster if three people searched, he went straight to the phone and called Norman. And when Norman agreed to go to Tori’s condo with you, Doc told me that I was no longer needed and that he wanted me to stay home with him.”
“He strong-armed you,” Michelle remarked.
“Yes, in a way. But he was only trying to protect me. Or perhaps he was trying to . . .”
“What, Mother?” Hannah asked her.
“Perhaps Doc was simply trying to get a good night’s sleep. Every time I had a nightmare about finding Tori, he sat up with me until I calmed down.”
Hannah laughed. “You could be right. But it’s okay, Mother. Norman’s very good at searching for things. He’s done it before. We think it’s fine if you stay right here with Doc, don’t we, Michelle?”
“Of course we do,” Michelle agreed immediately. “Norman can go with us. And you can make coffee for Doc, I brought him a piece of Sally’s Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Chocolate Sauce.”
“Oh, my!” Delores said, beaming at her. “How very nice of you, dear. Come to think of it, I was torn between ordering that and the chocolate soufflé. This way I’ll get to taste it anyway.”
“Maybe not,” Michelle warned her. “It’s so good, Doc may not want to share.”
“He’ll share,” Delores gave a little smile. “Either that, or I’ll simply sneak a little in the kitchen before I serve it to him.”
Michelle handed the take out container to Delores and both daughters followed their mother to the garden. There they found Norman seated in a lounge chair next to Doc.
“Hi, Doc,” Hannah greeted her stepfather and then she turned to Norman. “Hello, Norman.”
“Hi, Hannah.” Norman smiled and turned to Michelle. “It’s good to see you again, Michelle.”
“You, too.” Michelle gave a little wave to Doc. “We’ll see you later, Doc,” she told him, and then she turned to Norman again. “Mother told us why Doc called you.”
“Good. Then no explanations are necessary.” Norman retrieved a small, black zippered pouch from the table by his chair and stood up. “I’m ready. Let’s go down there and find those papers you need.”
“We’re going to need the key from Mother,” Hannah told him.
“That’s not a problem.” Norman patted the black pouch. “I’ve got what we need in here. Let’s go.”
Hannah and Michelle followed Norman to the entrance of the penthouse staircase, where he grabbed the key that hung from a hook by the door and opened it. They hurried down the steps to the floor below and Norman used the key to open the door to the lobby of that floor.
“Follow me,” he said leading the way across the lobby to Tori’s door. “Your mother called Tori’s neighbors to invite them up for a drink. She wanted to make sure that we didn’t run into them. They told her they’d love to come up another night, but that they were just leaving for the mall to see a movie at the multiplex.”
“That was a very smart move for Mother to make,” Michelle commented. “She’s very devious. I think she’d make a really good criminal.”
“Don’t tell her that!” Hannah cautioned. “It’s not exactly a compliment.”
Both sisters watched as Norman removed the crime scene tape, then opened the zippered pouch. They expected him to take out the duplicate key to Tori’s door that their mother had made, but instead of a key, he pulled out several dental tools of various sizes.
“What are you doing?” Hannah asked as he inserted the point of one in the lock.
“Picking the lock. I told Doc I could do it after I looked at theirs. It’s a four-tumbler system and it’s not very complicated. I’ll have it open in just a few . . .”
A clearly audible click interrupted the rest of Norman’s sentence.
“There it is,” he said, turning the handle and opening the door.
“I guess Mother’s not the only one who could lead a successful criminal life,” Hannah said, following Norman into Tori’s living room.
“I can pick a padlock, but not a lock like that,” Michelle admitted. “Will you teach me how, Norman?”
“No!” Hannah said, grabbing Norman’s arm. “Michelle doesn’t need that particular skill.”
“But what if I lock myself out of the house?” Michelle argued.
“Then you call a locksmith, show him your ID to prove that you live there, and get him to do it.”
“But that costs money!”
“So does a lawyer if someone catches you and doesn’t believe that you live there.”
“How are we going to do this?” Norman asked them, closing and locking Tori’s door. “And what, exactly, are we looking for?”
“We’re looking for the name of Tori’s business manager and financial advisor, the guy she called her money man,” Hannah told him.
“You’re sure it’s a man?”
“Yes. His name could be in a lot of different places. It might be on a financial record, a bank statement, Tori’s checkbook register if she wrote him a check for his services, her will if she kept a copy of that, her address book if she had one, a list of telephone numbers, or . . . what else, Michelle?”
“A note he sent her on letterhead, or maybe a check stub that she deposited.”
“Good! I didn’t think of those.”
Norman looked thoughtful. “How about a stack of mail that hasn’t been opened yet? There could be an unopened bank statement.”
“You’re right, Norman. And that could be anywhere in this condo. That means we’ll have to search the whole place.”
“Do you know if she had a computer?” Norman asked.
“I don’t know, but almost everybody does.”
“You didn’t for a while,” Michelle pointed out.