SEVENTEEN MILE DRIVE TO MURDER

                                                                           A Novella by Darwin Hageman

There was a storm over Central California. When the stewardess, who was dressed in blue and white, gave him a tightly sealed can of juice, Andrew unsnapped it and drank it and closed his eyes and went to sleep. When the stewardess gave him a bag of nuts, he used his teeth, opened the bag of nuts and ate the nuts and then he went back to sleep.
When Andrew VanJak saw her bring him a Bloody Mary, he felt he was in heaven, but that was in a dream. Andrew woke up sharply.
That was the moment the small plane hit the tarmac, and he was not in heaven, he was in the Monterey Airport, and the can and the bag slipped off his tray and fell on the floor.
"Sorry, Sir."
"It's nothing, it's nothing."
"You will need an umbrella, sir."
"I have one, I have one."
Actually, the man ahead of him dropped his umbrella, on the metal stairs, and Andrew, getting off the small plane, picked it up and they both shared the other man's umbrella. They went laughing, through the terminal, and into their separate taxis.

For California, the rain was not a sunny, warm rain. The windshield wipers of the taxi were working as if Hurricane Caliban had just dumped its garbage on Monterey Bay.
Andrew, who only knew Monterey and Carmel from past experience, could not in any way, recognize the names of the passing streets.
As they circled the Bay, he did realize at one point, when he saw a familiar rock formation on the coast, and the pier where he once took the glass bottomed boat, that the taxi was passing through Pacific Grove. The tall evergreen trees, in the wind, were playing games with the telephone poles and telephone wires, and the street posts.
"Driver?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Did I tell you I wanted Seventeen Mile Drive?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good." And Andrew returned to the nap, cruelly interrupted when the plane landed.
As Andrew VanJak drifted down into slumber-land, he had the secure feeling that his sister Joanne VanJak, a lovely woman and very intelligent - a good and loyal sister, also - would explain everything to him, as soon as he arrived at the house, wherever that was, besides being at a particular address on Seventeen Mile Drive.
Andrew's sister Joanne VanJak was popularly known as Jo.
Suddenly Andrew's eyes were opened and he was awake. He had remembered something that he had forgotten.
"Driver? Did I give you the address of the house on Seventeen Mile Drive?"
"No, sir. I thought you were a tourist that wanted to see the Drive. You did not give me a house number."
Andrew dug into his shoulder bag and found an envelope with an address, and he said, "22."
The driver said, "You know somebody that lives on the Drive?"
"An employee."
The driver said, "Lucky to get a job there."
Andrew did not answer, but he thought, "I will not make a statement about that, yet."
                                             ……………………………………….

Jo VanJak had a friend named Babs Bellamy, who worked in a charming little tea shop-cum-bookstore on the Square in Carmel. The Square was a little park with cypress trees and benches. Jo was very much on Babs' mind that morning, as Babs Bellamy, in a long white apron whipped a pale green tablecloth off one of the tables, folded it up and took it back to the laundry bin. A customer had spilled her tea. No, it wasn't really that Babs was a busybody, she was simply one of those motherly people, who considered anybody who was attractive their personal property. Attractive people, Babs always figured, "were there for a reason."
Unattractive people, like herself, well, unattractive people were more difficult to figure out. But attractive people did not need a motive for what they did, they were simply there, being attractive, they didn't have to explain themselves, people liked attractive people immediately.
Babs and Jo were the same age, thirty. Still, that motherly side of Babs had adopted Jo VanJak, and Babs was worried about Jo.
Babs spread a fresh tablecloth on the table and went directly to the phone.
Phoning the apartment above the tea shop, Babs said when the phone was answered, "Lulu, come down to the shop and see to things. I have a visit to make." Then Babs phoned the library and told the librarian she was coming.
Lulu, Babs' sister, was not at all motherly. And she knew that when Babs said 'a visit', it meant Babs was off on one of her things, and it was best to just do what has to be done, until Babs gets back to normal.
When Lulu arrived, Babs was already in her coat and was pulling on her hat. Babs kissed her sister with urgency, as she always did, at moments like this, and handing her sister the white apron, Babs went (under a giant umbrella, for it was raining cats and dogs) to the library to see her best friend Sarah Squires, the person she always talked to when she was worried.

The library was small - the front was small, at least -but the library stacks were half-underground, and half on the second floor. The glass windows in the heavy wooden doors were clean, and the stone steps looked scrubbed . There were potted pinks and geraniums on either side of the steps, now very flooded with the waters of the storm.
Babs entered the library, through the heavy oak and glass doors, and looked around. This library was always a labyrinth to Babs. The library was deserted, of course, because of the storm. Sarah Squires knew that Babs always got disoriented in the library, so Sarah was standing there at the door to her office waving a red handkerchief. Finally Babs saw the waving red handkerchief and moved towards it with a grin.
Babs said, as she passed into Sarah's inner sanctum, "Ah, here you are, hiding as always."
Sarah was not attractive, perhaps it was because Sarah never wore make-up. And Sarah was very difficult to figure out, as was true of all unattractive people, but Babs could definitely talk to Sarah and get some results.
Sarah closed the door to her little office, leaning against the door, watching Babs shake the water from her umbrella onto Sarah's nice clean carpet. Sarah Squires was the head librarian of the local library. Sarah was the head librarian, true, but at the moment she was the only librarian, the other one having quit, like all the others. The remaining staff were not librarians and were simply idiots.
"I don't suppose you'd like some tea, Babs?"
"I'd love some tea. I am so worried about Jo."
"Joe who?"
"Jo VanJak."
"Why are you worried about her? Oh, because of the murder. Now, listen, Babs..."
Babs already felt better, the minute that Sarah said 'listen, Babs', Babs always felt better, on hearing those words, as if they were comforting words.
Sarah continued as she put two paper cups of water into the microwave, "Just because there is some murderer running around loose, it does not mean that Jo VanJak can simply leave her job and go into hiding. Surely, the police are having the house watched." Sarah turned, a tea bag dangling from each hand by its string and tab. Sarah asked, "Who is watching the tea shop, by the way, Babs?"
"Lulu."
"I thought your sister was going to visit your mother in Wyoming?"
"She was, but I talked her out of it, after all, Christmas is coming, and I can't handle the shop alone."
"Christmas? But Christmas won't be for months. How did you talk Lulu out of going to Wyoming?"
"I know that Christmas is not for months, but we have to order Christmas cards, for our book section. As to how I kept her here, I lied."
"Oh. About what?"
"I said I had gone to the doctor and the doctor heard something."
"The doctor heard something where?"
"Inside of me."
Sarah knew better than to ask 'where' inside of Babs the doctor heard something, especially since Sarah had already been warned it was all a lie. Asking that question would simply divert everything onto the wrong track.
Sarah took out the cups of boiling water and dropped the tea bags into the cups and sat down.
Babs said, "I'm not worried about Jo VanJak being murdered. Of course the police are having the house, on Seventeen Mile Drive watched. After all, it is owned by Carlo Ormano. I am worried because Jo came into the tea shop yesterday, and I saw her from the kitchen take a flask out of her purse and pour something into her tea, as I was getting the scones."
"Oh, she's a drunk."
Babs was aghast. You see, Babs was right. Unattractive people are so difficult to figure out.
"Sarah, of course Jo VanJak is not a drunk! And if she were, I certainly would not be broadcasting it."
Sarah, got up and put the two cups on saucers and placed them on her desk.
Sarah asked, "You want a little something in your tea to calm yourself?"
"Yes, dear. I'd love a little something in my tea to calm myself."
Sarah took a small bottle of brandy out of her desk drawer and spiked both cups of tea. Babs did not ask Sarah why she, Sarah, needed to be calmed; Babs knew that she herself needed to be calmed. But Sarah? Sarah was always so calm.
Dear Sarah, Babs thought, as Sarah handed her the spiked drink, thinks everybody who is not a librarian is an idiot, so difficult to figure that out. I mean everybody in the world could not be a librarian, we'd have nothing but libraries.
As Sarah sipped her tea, she said, "So, if she is not a drunk and she is using a flask to put something in her tea, and you are worried about her, but you are not worried about her being murdered, too, then you must be worried that she is the murderer and killed that woman, in that mansion on Seventeen Mile Drive."
Babs looked up over the edge of the paper cup. Babs gulped her tea. Babs did not speak at once. Sarah had hit it right on the head. Sarah was wonderful. Maybe librarians are the only intelligent people. Babs finally said, "Sarah, you won't tell anybody I ever said that, will you?"
Sarah smiled, "But you didn't say it, I did. Who is this woman who was murdered?"
"Sarah! Surely you read the papers, don't librarians read everything?"
"Of course, I read the papers. That lousy local rag, all it said was Carlo Ormano's cook was stabbed to death. That doesn't tell me very much, does it."
"Oh. Well, her name is - was - Marie Blanche. You do know who Carlo Ormano is, don't you?"
"Yes, Babs. I am not only a cataloguer, I am also a reference librarian, and I do read Who's Who. Go on."
"Well, where was I?"
Sarah, quoting Babs' words: "Her name is - was - Marie Blanche. You do know who Carlo Ormano is, don't you?"
"Well, of course, Sarah, I know who Carlo Ormano is."
"Babs, I was only quoting you to remind you where you were in this ridiculous story."
"Sarah, it is not a ridiculous story, it is murder!"
"I don't mean that part is ridiculous, I mean this worry about Jo VanJak is ridiculous, whether she is a drunk or not, or whether she is a murderer or not, you have no evidence."
"Sarah, I did not come here to try to convict Jo VanJak of murder! I like the woman and I am worried about her state of mind."
"Go on with your story."
Sarah herself did seem to be gathering evidence: that everybody in the world who were not librarians were idiots. It gave Sarah a deliciously superior feeling.
Babs went on. "Carlo Ormano, well, I suppose he designs his clothes in Italy, because he is Italian. But he went to a show in Paris, you know one of those shows where women walk around wearing dresses."
Sarah poured a little more brandy into her tea cup as she listened. Babs continued, "So, he had dinner at a small bistro or restaurant or something. And he so loved what he ate that he offered the chef, a she, to double her salary if she would come to his mansion on Seventeen Mile Drive, to be his cook. You see Carlo has many American friends that he entertains here in Carmel. Carlo isn't always here, but his friends come and stay - a sort of open-house arrangement, I think you could safely say - and he needed a good cook."
Sarah at this point realized that Babs was quoting Jo VanJak's version of the Ormano history, since Babs had started calling Mr. Ormano or Senore Ormano by his first name, Carlo.
Babs, catching her breath, went on with: "So, when the cook was murdered, I mean when Marie Blanche was murdered, Jo phoned her brother in San Francisco to rush down here, or up here or wherever we are on the map, and take a vacation from his job, I suppose you could call it, to take over the cooking duties because Mr. Ormano needs a cook, and his cook had been stabbed. But Sarah, you met Jo's brother didn't you, in San Francisco? Didn't you tell me that?"
"No, I never met him. I ate his food at the Saint Francis Hotel, or the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, or one of those hotels, I can't remember the name. It was a library convention. So her brother is coming here?" Sarah realized she must read up on hotels.
"Yes, and Jo's brother is arriving today. I suppose that is why Jo poured a little something in her tea. Because she is the housekeeper of the Ormano mansion, the responsibility must be enormous. Maybe she was nervous because of asking her brother such a great favor."
Sarah asked, "Would you like a little more calmer in your tea?"
"Oh, I'd love some. I'm feeling so much better. Jo is so attractive, there are some people in life you just know are going to make other people happy. One does aim at happiness, doesn't one."
Sarah said as she poured, "That sounds very strange."
"What sounds strange, Sarah? I didn't hear anything."
"I mean in that story you just told."
"Oh, which part of it. It all sounds terribly dramatic and traumatic to me. I would hate it if somebody came in my tea shop and loved my cup of tea so much that he'd offer to double my salary if I would fly to Paris and run his tea shop there. I wouldn't know what to do."
Sarah said, "I doubt if that will happen, Babs. But I do have an idea. No, what I meant was, that it sounds strange, yes, for a great chef to be able to leave his job to come and help his sister."
Babs sipped her tea. She was feeling better all the time, and now Sarah had an idea. Sarah is wonderful. Unattractive people are always so difficult, but they always have the answers.
"What idea, Sarah?"
At that moment the phone rang. Sarah answered it. "No, you moron, the fiction section is under 'P'. I know it seems reasonable that it is not under 'F' for fiction, but library science is a science, not a children's jigsaw puzzle!" And Sarah slammed down the phone. Babs, realizing the poor person at the other end of the phone was now chewing their nails somewhere out in that labyrinth of a library, repeated her question: "What idea, Sarah?"
"I will put on my coat and we will get in my car and drive out to the Ormano mansion on Seventeen Mile Drive and visit Jo VanJak."
Babs suddenly looked doubtful and spilled her tea. She thought at once of the woman who spilled her tea on the tablecloth at the tea shop. Yes, that woman who spilled her tea. She looked vaguely familiar. Oh, it was only the woman at the magazine stand. Babs knew she was exaggerating everything, now, because of that murder.
And she asked, "Why would we go and visit Jo VanJak, Sarah, the house is being watched by the police?"
"Babs, we are not Jo VanJak's accomplices to murder."
"Sarah, I never even hinted at such a thing."
Sarah opened the closet door to get her coat. "Babs, I don't suppose you murdered Marie Claire, or whatever her name is?"
"Me? Sarah, me? Murder Marie Blanche? Why would I do such a thing?"
"Only you, the murderer, would know that."
"But...but if I did such a thing, and did not confess, I'd be making Jo VanJak the leading suspect, and I'd have to confess to save Jo."
"You know, Babs, I bet you would confess to save Jo."
"Well, of course I would, to save Jo. I would confess, but I didn't murder Marie Blanche! And I can't confess to a murder that I didn't do, just to save Jo or anybody!"
"I wonder. I asked you all of those questions to get your mind going! If you are worried about Jo, the best thing is to make an appearance. Do you really think Jo VanJak did kill Marie Blanche, or whatever that woman's name is?"
"She did hate her."
Sarah dropped her fur coat on the closet floor and the hanger went sailing. Sarah, trying to close her dropped jaw turned and looked at Babs. "What did you say?"
"Jo told me, often, how much she hated that woman."
"Now we are getting somewhere. Why did she hate her?"
"Because she brought all of those orphans into the mansion."
"What kind of orphans?"
"Children who did not have parents."
Sarah went to the desk and took a straight shot from the brandy bottle. "Babs, I know the definition of the word 'orphan'. I mean what kind of orphans?"
"Oh, Clint Eastwood or one of those stars, no, it wasn't Clint; and I don't think it was Kim Novak, she sold her house on Seventeen Mile Drive. Somebody rich founded a home for refugee orphans here."
"Oh, and ah. You mean orphans from other countries, such as France, perhaps, or to be more specific from Paris?"
"Well, how could I know that? Why do you ask?"
"Just a thought. "
"But, Sarah, I shouldn't go to that house. If it is being watched. There might be reporters. What if they took a picture of me and it got in the papers? What if my mother, in Wyoming saw my picture in the papers, connected with a murder? What would my mother think?"
Sarah wondered if Babs' mother and Lulu's mother ever had a thought in her head. Hardly, if she gave birth to Babs and Lulu. Sarah picked up her fur coat off the floor and put it on, grabbing her purse. The coat was a very full fox fur. Babs always forgot that Sarah Squires was rich. But it must be family money. It could not be because Sarah is a librarian, Babs thought. Nobody can own a library, as she and Lulu own the tea shop. But then, one can't be a librarian without a library.
"But what about Lulu, Sarah? If I go wandering off...?"
Sarah turned, tying a silk scarf around her throat.
"What about Lulu? You lied once, telling her you were at the doctor's. This time, just tell her the truth."
"Oh. Could I use your phone?"
Sarah held out the phone.
"Thanks." And Babs dialed. "Hello, Lulu? Yes, the rain is terrible. I'm with Sarah Squires...remember Sarah, the librarian? Oh, she is fine, just fine. We had some tea. We have to go to the house where that murder was, Lulu. I'm just going on a visit to see Jo VanJak. Yes, could you watch the tea shop? Thanks, bye."
"What did Lulu say?"
"She said, I already told her that. When Lulu was upstairs baking the tarts, I phoned upstairs to her to take over the shop, and I told her that I was going on a visit and she knew I was worried about Jo. I hope the tarts are all right."

Out front, in the rain, when Babs Bellamy got into Sarah Squires' car, Babs felt a bit sorry that she had come to visit Sarah. Unattractive people are so difficult to understand.
"Why are we going to visit Jo, Sarah? Could you remind me?"
"I want to meet Jo's brother. And I can't get in that house without an introduction from you. He is one of the handsomest men I have ever seen."
"I thought you said you had never met him."
"Babs, to see a handsome man across a room, does not mean that you have been introduced. It was a library convention. But I remember thinking, how difficult it must be for all those women, waiting on the tables, to work with him without falling in love. Especially, when they eat his prime ribs."
And the car drove off in the rain, with Babs wondering about the prime ribs.
But Sarah did not drive directly to Seventeen Mile Drive, she drove to the Square where the tea shop was. She parked and darted out in the rain into the tea shop, without a word of explanation. In a few minutes, Sarah came darting out again with a box of pastry and getting into the car, plopped the box down on Babs' lap, and then drove on.

                                                ..…………………………………….

When Andrew VanJak's taxi got to the gate house that opens the entrance to Seventeen Mile Drive, he woke up, again. For a fee had to be paid to get on the Drive. It was a plan to keep riffraff out.
Andy VanJak had such a nice feeling, paying the fee, as the taxi moved on. He was once riffraff, until he went to a cordon bleu school in Paris and started to get better and better jobs in restaurants and hotels, as a chef.
Ah, there it was, Seventeen Mile Drive. Andrew VanJak had written books on cooking, he was now very successful, he had been loaned out for so many grand occasions, celebrating this and that in politics and for the rich and famous. But somehow, he was so glad to be seeing Jo again. He had missed her. He had always felt responsible for Jo, for she was a bit younger than he. Andrew had taken Jo to the fancy restaurants and hotels where he worked, and she decided that if 'big brother' can work in nice and even beautiful places, that is what she wanted. So Jo took courses in management and home economics and went into the housekeeping business, and up until now, she had been very happy working for the rich and the famous. Until murder.
But of course, a brother who loves his sister would come to her rescue.
Oddly enough, Andrew VanJak was now successful enough so that he could vanish from the hotel, when he wanted to. Andrew had planned all the menus and written out all of the recipes, for the next week, and though it was murder, he was so happy Jo called and asked him to come to Carmel; already he felt relaxed, or was it something more? Like, a destiny factor had stepped in. He was pushing forty and maybe he wanted to have a life that was more personal?
And now that he had had his nap, he had to admit, this was one of the most beautiful places in the world.
By the time the taxi got to the Ormano mansion, the storm was slowly moving out over Monterey Bay, and the rain had turned into a fog bank. Andrew saw carved and painted on a sign "Oceano et Cielo". The taxi was able to drive him straight through the gate and up to the door, for a garbage truck had entered and was parked at the back.
It was after he had paid the taxi driver that he saw Jack Washington, a man he had worked with in one of the hotels, in San Francisco. Jack was obviously now a garbage man.
"Andy! Andy?" Jack yelled, waving his arms.
Putting down his luggage, Andrew VanJak ran towards him as Jack ran towards Andy.
Laughing, Andrew VanJak stepped back and looked at his friend.
"Jack Washington, the last person in the world that I thought I'd see here, especially next to a garbage truck."
"Oh, Andy, I knew your sister worked here, and I hoped some day you'd pay us all a visit. Just to bring things up to date, since we worked together at the hotel in Frisco, I got married. We are already with child, as they say. And you know, sanitation jobs in Carmel are hard to get, I guess because the garbage is the most expensive in the world. But my wife wanted to move to Carmel. I needed a job here, and I knew your sister had taken a job in Carmel. So pulling some official strings, Jo, your sis, got me a job with the sanitation department."
"It is so good to see you. And with child, you said?"
"Yeah, as you know, if you remember, I was great with the women. I didn't even know I was miserable. I guess you learn your lessons the hard way. Well, I am not really surprised to see you here, because of your sister, and the murder. You see those cars across the street? They are on police watch."
Andrew took Jack by the arm and guided him back along the side of the house where the sanitation truck was parked.
"There has been a murder, I know that, Jack. But the letter Jo sent me was not like Jo. Jo isn't one to give up, but because of the police investigation, suddenly she feels trapped. Not that she wants to give up and run, but she likes to know she can come and go as she pleases."
Jack looked up at Andrew, who was a foot taller.
"I know. I'm glad you're here, too, Andy. You were always a good organizer, as chief chef at the hotel. The police have cordoned off the trash cans at the back of the mansion. They searched everything. They found the scissors that were used as the murder weapon. That's why I'm here today, off schedule. In finding the weapon and completing their investigation, they have lifted the cordon and I was allowed to pick up the trash this morning. And just think, I might not have bumped into you, if they hadn't done it that way."
Andrew said, "Jack, do you have a car?"
"Sure."
"Good. When do you get off work today?"
"Since I am now back on schedule as I explained, as soon as I get back to home base with the monster here, the garbage truck, I'll be free."
"Great. Could you come back and pick me up? I am to be the take-over chef here, to help out my sister since she is the housekeeper. Ormano phoned Jo and told her to get a replacement cook at once, to do the cooking and shopping for Jo, during the investigation. I'll need to go to a mall somewhere here and do my shopping. As you know, as a cook, I do not leave the shopping to others. I like to do my own."
"Gotcha. I'll be back at two. But you'd better watch out as I drive by, the police may not let me drive in here. This is a murder case, and it is the Ormano mansion."
"I understand. See you, Jack."
Jack waved and got into the monster, just as Sarah Squires and Babs Bellamy drove in the drive. As the police hurried from their car to check on Sarah and Babs, Sarah said to Babs, "Ah, I see the famous chef has arrived, Jo's brother, and he has found a friend with a garbage truck."
Babs twisted around. "Friend? What friend?"
"Oh, a friend, there are certain ways that friends look at each other, Babs, that let one know they are friends. Like you and I look at each other."
"What a nice thing to say, Sarah."
"I know a lot about the game of 'bingo', Babs. Shall you speak to the police or shall I? They are approaching our car to ask us questions."
"Oh, why not you, you're so good at that kind of thing."
As Sarah rolled down her window, she wondered exactly what kind of thing Babs thought she was good at, dealing with police? Who in the world is very good at that. Babs sat very still as Sarah explained to the police, that they were friends of Miss Joanne VanJak, the housekeeper. Babs felt as if she were already in the witness box and on trial for murder. Babs turned and saw Jo's handsome brother enter the house; there was such a resemblance between Jo and her brother, Babs recognized him at once. Babs sighed.
Sarah snapped her out of it. "Babs, aren't we going in? The police said as family friends we can go in."
"Oh, yes, oh, yes. I'm sorry. Of course." Babs had met Jo at the tea shop, and they had become friends, always sitting and talking there, and Babs and Lulu had done a lot of baking for Jo and the cook that was murdered, pastries and things for breakfast parties. When they had to deliver baked goods, Lulu and Babs both had been inside the mansion. But this time Babs felt hesitant.
However, Sarah Squires was thoroughly enjoying herself, as she got out of the car, flinging her fur coat over her shoulder. In fact, Sarah was enjoying herself so much, that she hardly cared that Babs was not.

                                             ……………………………………….

It is totally acceptable, in most circles, to understand that it is difficult to place people in strange places.
When Sarah Squires entered the Ormano mansion, she knew that it was not a strange place to Babs Bellamy, but it was such a strange house to Sarah Squires. The maid who opened the door was very nice, though she spoke some peculiar language Sarah Squires did not recognize. Sarah reminded herself to check on foreign languages once she got back to her office in the library. At the moment she needed a strong cocktail.
As to the house, well, the windows at the front were so small, but then when you enter the mansion, one sees the windows at the back which took up the entire back wall, looking out on the ocean, breaking on beach and rocks. Of course, the four garbage cans were clearly visible through that wall of windows, but they were cleverly masked by a row of thick, healthy holly bushes, their naturally oily, shiny leaves now beaded with drops of rain from the recent storm. Sarah figured that the small windows on the front were designed thus, so the tourists who drive along Seventeen Mile Drive in droves could not see in, as they slowed their cars down to gape at the houses of the rich and the famous. The house was also strange because, yes, there had been a murder in this house.
What Sarah meant was: a recent murder, for who knows how many old murders were committed in such a house and carefully, well hushed up. Sarah was not at all concerned about the fact that she might be exaggerating things, for in a mansion like this one, it was so easy to see the whole world as exaggerated. When Jo VanJak appeared, Babs rushed forward. "Oh, darling, how wonderful to see you. I realize that with your cook - well, let's call it what it is - was murdered, you would not have any pastries, so Sarah, you remember Sarah, oh, maybe not, she is the librarian in charge of our Public Library, suggested we stop by my tea shop and bring some freshly baked scones for you. Wasn't that thoughtful of Sarah?"
Jo accepted the neatly tied box and plunked it down on the table.
"My brother has just arrived from San Francisco. He has offered to take over the cooking chores temporarily until we can hire a new cook. He is a professional chef."
Sarah, who loves to have the answers said, "Yes, we know."
"Well, he has gone to the beach for a swim, though the weather was terrible, it seems to have improved. I'm sure he won't be out there long. When he comes back I will serve tea with your scones. Can I get you something while we wait?"
Sarah said at once, "Oh, a Bloody Mary or a gin on the rocks, or a martini, any little thing will do, double if possible."
"Oh, of course. There is the bar, why don't you help yourself, while I take the scones into the kitchen. Babs, you can come with me and help me set up the tea cart."
"Oh, of course." As Jo walked away with the scones, Babs watched thirstily as Sarah bolted to the bar. Babs whispered loudly, "Sarah, one for me, too." And Babs hurried off.

When Andrew VanJak returned, in a flowing white terry cloth robe, he walked directly across the huge room to Sarah at the bar.
"Hello, I'm Andrew VanJak, Jo's brother."
"Oh, yes, we were just speaking about you. I have met you, actually, at a library convention at your hotel in San Francisco, and a person simply does not forget such a handsome man as yourself. I noticed what a strong resemblance your sister has to you."
"Well, my sister gets her dark coloring from our mother who was Spanish; I inherited all the blond coloring from our Swedish father."
Sarah said, "Ummm. Uh, would you like some booze?"
"What are you having?"
"I'm starting with a Bloody Mary and moving on to a martini."
"I'll move on to a martini with you."
"Oh, good. I'm making a second Bloody Mary for Babs Bellamy, a friend of mine, who has tagged along after your sister to the kitchen, for we brought a gift of homemade scones. Babs runs the local Tea Room. What a terrible tragedy to bring you here."
"Yes, though I never knew the victim."
As Sarah threw ice into the martini mixer, and stood shaking it, "I do have a favor to ask you, as Chief Librarian of our Public Library. You see, Mr. VanJak..."
"Oh, call me Andy."
"Oh, thank you: I'm Sarah Squires. You see, at the library we keep extensive files of all newspaper clippings concerning major events in our little town: we call them the archives. And so I am of course, creating a file on the Ormano murder. It would help so much if you could suggest to your sister that I see the scene of the crime. It would give me a sort of 'face-to-face' view of things, so I could feel I had a stronger picture of it all, to guide my work, on the archives, to make it more authentic."
"I will ask my sister to show me the scene of the crime while you are here, and I'll take you along with me."
"That is exactly what I had in mind," Sarah said, and leaving Babs' Bloody Mary on the bar, she carried her Bloody Mary and their martinis over to the sofa. Andrew VanJak said, "Oh, this is a delicious martini."
"I've had a bit of practice."
At that moment Jo and Babs wheeled in the tea cart.
"The tea is brewing," Jo announced.
Andrew said, "Jo, would you, while the tea brews, show me the scene of the crime; Miss Squires here is in charge of the library archives, and is creating a file on the murder, so I'd like her to come along."
"Oh, of course, Andy."
Carrying their drinks with them (Sarah carrying her two drinks) they all went up the stairs to the second floor. Jo, who did not have a drink to carry, opened the door and led them into a very feminine looking sitting/bedroom chamber, filled with sunlight, for the rain had stopped and the sun was breaking through the fog cover.

Babs said, "Oh, what a lovely room."
"Yes, it looks out on the garden of the house next door. Most of the main guest rooms look out on the ocean. The house next door has a beautiful rookery."
Babs asked, sipping her Bloody Mary, "A what?"
Sarah said, "Bird sanctuary."
Andrew said, "I met a friend of mine outside, Jo, from Frisco. Jack Washington. He said the police had finished their work here, so I guess we don't have to be too careful about touching anything."
Jo said, "Yes, they have finished. They will keep in contact, they said, to keep us up to date with what they find out. They have already taken statements from me and Carmen."
Andy asked, "Carmen?""
"The maid."
Andy went on with, "So, on the phone you said you discovered the body."
Babs said, "Oh dear, what a terrible experience for you, Jo."
Jo answered, "Yes, I brought her up a cup of tea. She was dead. Marie had been typing on the typewriter on the desk there; she was writing out the menu for the next day; it was dated. Marie - Marie Blanche - liked to crotchet. When the police questioned me they asked, for the murder weapon was missing: they asked me, if Marie kept a pair of scissors in her crocheting basket. I said I had no idea because I don't crochet, so I don't know if she needed scissors or not."
Babs spoke up, "Oh my sister Lulu crochets, afghans and things, for the poor."
Sarah asked, "What poor in Carmel California?"
Babs said, "Well, I don't know what poor or where they are. I'll have to ask Lulu. But in any case you need a pair of scissors to cut the yarn length."
Jo continued, "Well, they finally found the murder weapon, a pair of black scissors, in one of the trash cans at the back of the house."
Andy asked as he moved in a circle around the desk beneath the windows, "So what you're saying, Jo, is somebody came in the door, with no weapon."
Jo said, "Yes. It is as if they didn't know, when they opened the door, where she would be, though they obviously knew this was her room. What I mean is, Andy, what if they did not think they needed a weapon."
Babs said, "But every murderer needs a weapon."
Andy said quietly to Babs, "Not if they can use their hands."
Jo said, "Yes, Marie Blanche - though she was a wonderful cook, and you need strength to be a good cook - was a petite woman."
Sarah spoke up. "Oh I see. And there she was and they grabbed the scissors from her basket by the bed."
Andy asked, "Jo, did the police say, they could tell from the position of the body, that she was typing when she was stabbed from behind?"
Jo said, "Andy, don't you really mean how I found the body?"
"Yes, Jo, that is what I mean. We are talking about a murderer coming in and she is sitting there at the desk."
"Oh, I know what you mean, Andy. I brought in the tea, thinking she would be at the desk. I saw the paper in the typewriter; but Marie Blanche was on the floor, between the desk chair and the bookcase that stands there."
Babs sighed, "Oh, this is fascinating and so gruesome."
Sarah said, "Drink your Bloody Mary, Babs."
Jo said, "When I walked in the room with the cup of tea, her body was on the floor, the desk chair was overturned, her body lay here between the desk chair and this bookcase."
Sarah said, "Oh my god, with the scissors in her."
Babs said, "Sarah, do you have to be so graphic?'
"Sorry, Babs, but murder is rather graphic, isn't it."
Jo went on, "You see I was very upset, needless to say, and I didn't notice all the details."
Sarah was thinking, yes, unless you are the murderer.
Jo continued, "The police explained to me later that the murderer in grabbing the scissors must have come up behind her as she sat at the desk, the murderer reached around, to stab her in the heart."
Andy asked, "And yet the body wasn't in the chair."
Jo said, "They knew she was seated because she got the blood on her own hands, in trying to remove the scissors, they assume, and then pushed herself into a standing position, after she had been stabbed, and her bloody hand prints were on the blotter, as she pushed herself up."
Babs said, "Where is the blotter?"
Sarah said, "Babs, the police have taken all that away."
"Oh."
Jo went on, "So we know she got out of the chair, for the scissors had not killed her instantly. Oh, Andy, I just noticed
something."
"What, darling?"
"There's a missing pink."
Babs asked, "A missing what?"
Sarah said, "Shut up, Babs, and let the poor woman think." And then Sarah added, "The missing what?"
Jo explained, "You see as the housekeeper, and Mr. Ormano has many guests, even when he is not here, I have to keep the house decorated with flowers. So the day of the murder I had ordered floral arrangements to be sent, so, early in the day, I put two pinks in a small vase, and I took the vase up and put it on cook's desk, thinking that would be nice. But now one of the pinks is missing. Of course the police cleaned everything up, it may have fallen..."
Sarah asked, "But if the vase had been knocked over..."
Babs gasped. "Look! Look there! Sticking out of that book on the bookshelf!"
Jo said, "Yes, that's the missing pink!"
Andy said, "Don't touch it! There's blood on the pink."
Sarah said, "What is the book?"
Andy stepped close to the bookshelf and he said, "It is an Ormano fashion catalog."
Jo burst into tears and threw herself against her brother. "Oh, Andy, I'm so glad you came."
Babs said, "Oh, how moving."
Sarah said, "Very touching," as Sarah downed her martini. A knock came at the door. Jo turned and taking a tissue from a box of Kleenex on the desk, blew her nose and dried her eyes.
"Come in," Jo said.
Carmen entered. "Senorita Jo. El Capitan. Police."
Jo said, "Carmen, send them up here and bring in two more chairs."
Andy said, "Oh, I'll get chairs from the room next door."
Jo said, "Andy, I'm so grateful you are here, when the police have come again."
By that time they heard the steps of the police coming up. Babs opened a door near the bookcase, it was a dressing room, and she said, "Oh, here are some chairs."
Andy and Babs brought in folding chairs.

When Captain Harrison entered, he introduced the man with him. "This is Detective Spence, third grade."
Detective Spence, Andy noted, had a peculiar expression as he looked at the Captain, as if Detective Spence was tired of being introduced with the third grade attached to his title.
With Babs' help, Andy unfolded the chairs, and Captain Harrison, sitting down, began at once.
"I have brought Detective Spence, third grade, with me, because I am not a big talker. And Spence has been in charge of taking all of the notes on this case. I turn the floor over to you, Spence."
Andy expected Spence to look down at the floor, but he didn't. Spence looked around the room before he began. There were a lot of empty cocktail glasses sitting around, and Andy surmised that Spence thought they must have been having a party.
Spence asked, "Miss VanJak, I would bring your maid, Carmen, back in, for we did interview her, but her Mexican accent is a native Mexican..."
Harrison interrupted with, "Spanish."
Spence said, "Sir, we had to have a special translator."
"Continue, Spence."
Spence continued. "So, Miss VanJak, I will begin at the beginning. Because the victim, Mademoiselle Marie Blanche, was from Paris, we checked on all passports used from Paris that could have changed to a California flight. You see, as you know, Marie Blanche was very interested in the refugee orphanage here in Carmel."
Jo said, "Yes, she would bring the orphans here to the house and they would mow the lawn and do the gardening, and she would cook lovely things for them. They came from all over the world, those orphans; it was charity work, I assumed."
Spence said, "And several French orphans?"
Jo said, "I don't know that I knew that."
Sarah Squires said to herself, "I still think Jo did it."
"Miss VanJak, your maid Carmen, and this is definitely through translation, said she saw a woman in a mink coat the day of the murder leaving via the back door. All the orphans were here that day, with their attendants. We, the police, had to check to see if any of the chaperones from the orphanage, who always accompany the orphans, own a mink coat to find out who that woman was, for we know the murder weapon was dropped into a trash can outside the back door."
Captain Harrison said, "Good job, Spence, continue."
"So, Miss VanJak, we had to continue, as they might say, with the French Connection, and we hit the gold. We discovered that a fashion model from Paris had used her passport and had come to Carmel. Now is everybody comfortable?"
Everyone in the room nodded, except Captain Harrison. Captain Harrison said, "Comfort has nothing to do with it, Spence, continue, and give them the full blast of the truth, as we see it."
"Yes, sir." Spence took a deep breath and looked down at the notepad on his crossed legs and pushed his glasses up his nose as if he were digging into the subject, and he started to speak, and his voice sounded different. "Ormano planned it all, far in advance."
Jo leapt up, "Oh no, oh no, it couldn't be!"
Andy said to his sister, "Sit down, Jo, sit back down, Jo."
Andy helped his sister get back into the chair, she dropped her head against his shoulder.
Sarah picked up an already empty glass, Babs reached for Sarah's hand, and was handed an empty glass.
Spence continued. "Ormano chose a model, from his salon in Paris, who looked very much like him. He chose a wig that matched the color of her hair. He knew her height, after all she was one of his models.
"Ormano stole her passport and sent her with a photography crew to Lourdes to have pictures taken for a catalog of his latest wedding gown designs. He knew he had to keep her in France, so she would not need her passport."
Sarah said, "If what you say is true, what an interesting mind."
Babs said, "You don't mean that Sarah, if it is the mind of a murderer."
Sarah answered, "I mean it all right. Please go on Detective third grade, I just got a bit excited."
Spence continued, "Ormano came to Carmel, killed the victim, returned to Paris in time to return her passport. You see the model is Italian. All foreign models who go to Paris live in a residence hotel. The Ormano agency pays for everything. It was very easy for him to get the keys to her room, on almost any business excuse to see that all was clean, etc., to replace the passport. He also knew that on the Lourdes assignment they were scheduled for several days holiday, at company expense. This model could have returned and caught the flight to Carmel, at the end of the assignment when on holiday. She did not, of course. And it was there he made one mistake. She tried to get into Spain. She had taken the passport plastic container with her. She didn't realize the passport was missing. However, on returning to Paris and finding her passport in her bureau drawer, she could not definitely say it had not simply fallen out of the opaque blue plastic folder, a sort of covering case. So there is no real proof. The murderer reached around the victim and stabbed her at the desk, here, in this room, but the mink coat on the sleeve, a coat they keep in the Ormano salon with several other furs for fashion shows, has blood in the fur on the sleeve of the coat, the Paris police discovered that."
Jo VanJak said, "So you mean it is actually true? And I was here all the time."
Harrison said, "But all the orphans were here at the same time, you can't blame yourself."
Spence went on, "Miss VanJak, the description by your maid, Carmen, of the woman seen leaving by the back door of this house matches the model - but the fact that Ormano's model was known to be with other members of the crew at the time on the French/Spanish border, led us to wonder."
Andy interrupted, "Detective Spence, we haven't told you about the missing pink."
Captain Harrison said, "You have been holding back evidence?"
Babs said, "No, I am the one who just today discovered the missing pink."
After Sarah had calmed Babs down, and Detective Spence had incorporated the fact that the victim had put the missing pink in an Ormano catalog before she died made him sit back, lean forward, and make more notes. And he said with a sigh, "God bless her, she gave us a clue. You see, a hospital record does exist in Paris, the victim, Marie Blanche, did have an illegitimate child; of the two French orphans in the Carmel Orphanage, one has a remarkable resemblance to Mr. Ormano. We suspect, the victim, your Marie Blanche, was blackmailing Ormano - for the victim opened an account here in Carmel, at the Bank of America, in the orphan's name, and the orphan's name is Rene Blanche and the account has large regular deposits that have been made."
Sarah said, "Babs that's what you meant about the orphans."
Babs said, "I didn't know anything about the orphans."
Detective Spence continued, "The wig, of course, Ormano got rid of. Probably threw it in the Seine, when he returned to Paris. The mink coat, however, had to be returned to the fashion salon wardrobe room. It matches your maid's description in color and extreme length."
"But why was Ormano so afraid of exposure about the illegitimate child?" asked Andy.
Spence answered him. "Mr. Ormano does not own his own business. Senora Ormano owns the controlling shares in Ormano Enterprises. It is she who financed his career. And from certain statements we have gleaned, we hear she is a very jealous wife; and she could sue for divorce and bankrupt him."
Sarah stared into space, "Oh, my archives have never been this interesting."
Babs said, "Your beehives?"
Sarah said, "No, Babs, my archives."
"I didn't know you had any."
Sarah said, handing her glass to Babs, "Babs, darling, go downstairs and make me another martini."
"Oh, I'd love to," and Babs whispered to Sarah, "Can I make one for myself, too?"
Sarah ignored this as Babs left the room, "Do you mean to tell me - uh - uh - Captain and Detective second or third class, that we are not able to catch Carlo Ormano, as the murderer of Marie Blanche?"
Detective Spence continued, "Can I continue, Madam?"
"Oh, please Detective, I didn't mean to interrupt. This time I really demure. I do not want to interfere. Can you go on?"
"Yes, this is an important part of it. Using the model's passport, Ormano had rented a car at the Monterey Airport and returned the way he had come."
Andy said, excitedly, "And you were able to find the record of the rental."
"Yes," said Spence, "but he wore gloves, and he did a good match, in signing the model's name. The reason I said this is the important part, and it is for your benefit. There is no way we can prove any of this. Not from the Paris police version or from our version here. Your maid Carmen can not be put on the stand, and no one in Paris actually knows how the passport was taken from the model's apartment and returned. Our Mr. Ormano was very clever."
Harrison took over in saying, "The point is, we have done everything at this time, and it all falls into your laps. Nobody here will know who killed the cook, Marie Blanche. The local people might still think it is one of you who was in the house."
Jo VanJak simply sat in her chair. Andrew VanJak got up and shook hands with the two policemen, and Carmen, who was waiting outside the door, showed the policemen down the stairs and to the front door. Then they heard running footsteps on the stairs, and Spence came trotting in, smiled at Jo, and said, "Sorry I left my pen and pad."

                                                   ………………………………………

Once, all the echoes in the house had died away, Sarah said directly to Andrew and Jo, "So, from what they told us, they can not arrest Mr. Ormano?"
Andy, holding his sister's hand, smiled, "In France they're guilty until proven innocent. Here, they're innocent until they can be proved guilty. The blood on the sleeve of the fur coat means somebody wore it, and the pink, oh yes the missing pink, was in an Ormano catalogue. No evidence."
Andy turned to his sister, "Well, my dear, Jo, you come back to San Francisco with me."
"I will not. Ormano is not guilty here in America. Innocent until proven guilty. In France they are guilty until proven innocent. I want to stay in Carmel California. I sort of like working for a suspected murderer."
Sarah Squires saw Andrew VanJak looking at his sister, after his sister's statement. Jo actually went and reaching out to the bookshelf, touched the Ormano catalogue with the missing pink still in it.
Babs Bellamy suddenly threw opened the door. "I'm sorry, Sarah, I didn't make the drinks. Somebody rang the front door bell and Carmen, the maid, and I answered the door together, and we had our pictures taken together. You know Carmen is a very attractive person, and attractive people are very important, in the way they can handle reporters. I think the poor policemen who had to leave had forgotten, that the news had gotten out."
Andy asked, "What news had gotten out?"
"That the murder was going to be a closed case, without having found the murderer. That is what the reporters kept shouting. Yes, Carmen is a very attractive woman. I think she is still down there posing, she is also still a suspect, for the murder of Marie Blanche."
Andrew hissed out his words when he said, "We just learned that the murderer could not be convicted, how did the press get hold of it?"
Sarah said, "Some leak, there are always leaks, in this universe."

When Jo VanJak and her brother Andrew and Sarah Squires and Babs Bellamy all left the room where the murder had been committed and started down the staircase, Sarah Squires caught Andrew VanJak's arm, and stopped his descent.
"Mr. VanJak, I know it is a family matter, and I do not want to make a fool of myself by butting in, but I do think it is absurd for your sister to stay in this house, after what we have just learned."
Andrew narrowed his eyes and studied Sarah's face, as if he were totally absorbing what she had just said. And he said, "I agree with you one hundred percent, but I am her brother, and there is a problem here, about authority, me being the older brother. Perhaps if you, Miss Squires, can do something, say anything that can persuade her, I would be eternally grateful."
All Sarah did was nod. And they continued down to the first floor, where Sarah went at once to the bar, and grabbed the martini shaker.
Babs was wandering around as if in a daze. Jo was sitting in a chair, isolating herself, gazing out at the ocean washing up onto the rocks, for the storm had passed and the bay looked much more peaceful.
Sarah, with a booming voice, said, "Well!"
Everybody else in the room jumped. As Sarah coolly continued to put vodka and vermouth and ice into the martini shaker, and a squeeze of lemon, "Mr. Carlo Ormano will very secretly put this house on the market, and sell it."
Jo twisted in her chair and called out, "What do you mean?"
"Miss VanJak," Sarah started without moving from her position at the bar, "it was quite clear from your reaction, from what the police said, that you could not truly accept the fact that Carlo Ormano did the murder. But whether you believe the police or not, the fact of the missing pink from that vase, that was grabbed up by the dying woman and shoved by her into the Ormano catalogue, is evidence enough! I think you were very fond of Mr. Ormano."
"Yes, I was, but what has that got to do with him selling the house?"
Sarah shook the shaker, and then poured herself a drink and finally started moving towards the wall of windows where the ocean was spilling itself out onto the rocks, where Jo VanJak was sitting.
"Miss VanJak. We know Carlo Ormano is a murderer. He would never want to come here to this house again. Mark my words, he will secretly put this house on the market and sell it, and you will be out of a job. Now, I have a plan."
Babs said, "Oh, Sarah, you are so wonderful. What plan?"
Sarah sipped her drink looking at Jo VanJak in her chair, "You can work part-time at the library with me, and you can help out at the tea room, with Babs. And we will put an ad in the paper with references from Carlo Ormano for another housekeeping job. You don't have to leave Carmel. And in time you will see that Carlo Ormano will secretly sell this house, and you would be out of a job, it is better you leave that job now."
Babs said with delight, "Yes, of course, and Lulu and I have a guest room over the tea shop, and you can sleep there, my dear Jo."
With a sudden loud blast, a car horn blared away outside. Andrew looked at his watch and rushed to the door.
"Oh, that's Jack Washington my garbage collector friend, I asked him to come after work, and take me to a mall to buy some food so that I can play chef and make dinner tonight."
Jo got up and walked slowly to her brother, who had opened the door so that Jack would know he was coming out to the car. She said, "Thanks, Andy."
And then Jo turned to the two women and she smiled, "I am so glad all of you were here today when the police told that horrible story. And I agree with what you are telling me to do. Yes, I did have a girlish crush on Carlo, I can see it now, even though he was married, I do see it now. Please, Miss Squires and Babs stay to the wonderful dinner that my brother, the chef, is going to make."
Babs said, "Oh, but I have to relieve Lulu at the tea shop."
Jo smiled and went to Babs, "Then come back at eight o'clock for dinner."
Sarah said, without hesitation, "I would love to. I know just the dress that I will wear."
And Sarah, never one to leave a drink unfinished, finished hers, and grabbing her fox fur from the hall closet, where Carmen had hung it, when Sarah had entered, turned and said, "Yes, it was the missing pink that makes it quite certain what actually happened. Marie Blanche acted quickly - imagine with the scissors stabbed into her chest - staggering up and putting the pink flower from the vase into the Ormano catalogue and then falling dead to the floor."
Babs Bellamy looked faint as the two women left the house for their car.

In Jack Washington's car, Andrew VanJak, as his friend drove him to the mall to buy shrimp and cooking sherry and scallions and garlic and rice, (for Andy had checked the kitchen, in the mansion, to see what was there); he found that Marie Blanche, being a French chef had flour and cream of tartar to make a soufflé, but he needed fresh eggs, butter, milk, and spinach. Andrew VanJak told Jack about what the police had explained.
Jack said, "My God, what a story."
                                                 ……………………………………….

Actually, Sarah Squires was wrong, it did not take long before Carlo Ormano put the mansion on the market, secretly. Jo VanJak was living over the tea shop and working in the library and the tea room, and it was only a matter of weeks when Sally Datch, the realtor who worked in the real estate office next to the library told Sarah Squires about the mansion being put on the market at a ridiculously low price.
Sarah Squires put in a bid at once and bought the mansion, as an investment. Sarah was immediately able to lease the mansion at a very nice profit.
When the tenants moved into the mansion, Jo was part of the bargain, as caretaker/housekeeper.
For Sarah Squires it was as if the Carlo Ormano curse had been broken.
It was at that time that Sarah took a dislike to the pinks that she had planted in the stone pots on either side of the front library doors. And putting on rubber gloves one day, she pulled them out and planted, instead, begonias.
It was exactly the same day, when Babs Bellamy, in a very excited state - which was a state she lived in as a regular habit - rushed from the tea shop to the library to tell Sarah Squires that Jo VanJak was dating Detective third grade Gaspar Spence, who was soon to be promoted to Detective first grade and that when the promotion came through he wanted to marry Jo VanJak. It intensified Babs' belief that attractive people always find their way.
Standing on the steps of the library, Sarah said, "Gaspar is his first name? I wonder if they call him Gas, for short?"
The joke went over Babs' head, instead Babs said, "Oh, you've planted white begonias in the planters. Before, didn't you have...?"
Sarah cut Babs off, by saying, "Yes, but let's forget about that."
The odd thing, through all of this, is that Andrew VanJak and Sarah Squires became very close friends. Especially, when 'chef Andrew VanJak' opened his own restaurant on the Square next to the tea shop in Carmel.
All Sarah Squires said, was: "Good food at last."

THE END

Copyright (c)1999 by Darwin Hageman

Return to  Darwin's Page