The next morning Annie went with Sam to Francis’s office where he signed the purchase document, offering to pay a few thousand less than the asking price. Francis said he’d try to meet with the owners that morning and get back to him with their answer.

On the way back to Annie’s, Sam shivered. “God, Annie, what have I done?”

“Hopefully, you’ve bought a house.”

“Maybe they won’t accept my offer, and I’ll be able to get out of it.”

“You know you want that house. And if Sarah’s the person I think she is, she’ll love it.”

He laughed disparagingly. “She’ll think I’m nuts. I never did anything like this when we were together.”

“Maybe that’s what was missing.”

Sam glanced over at her. “You mean reckless abandon.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“What do you mean?” Sam said, realizing that Annie probably knew more about Sarah’s real personality than he.

“Oh, doing something on the spur of the moment.”

“Naw,” he said drawing it out. “She wasn’t like that. If I came up with an idea that was a little different, I had to suggest it and let her mull it over. If I pushed it, she’d say no. There were lots of things we might have done, different things, if only she’d gone along with me.”

“Why didn’t you do them yourself?”

“I didn’t want to take the time away from being with her. We were both working hard and what little free time we had, I wanted us to be together.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “No wonder she sneaked out to my place.”

Sam frowned. “What do you mean?”

“If you’d had it your way, even her free time wouldn’t have been hers.”

“But I was doing it for her,” he insisted, wondering why Annie was being so obstinate.

“Uh huh.” She turned and looked out her window.

After a moment of silence, Sam said, “Well, is that all you’re going to say?” She just shrugged. Sam shook his head, annoyed.

They’d reached Northampton and turned onto Interstate 91 heading north. Sam exhilarated to 65 to keep up with the traffic. When he felt comfortable with the increased speed, he glance over at Annie.

“You said you two shared everything. Was Sarah having an affair?”

Annie gave him a disgusted look as if she hoped better from him, then, seeing he was serious, rolled her eyes. “Men!” she sighed.

Sam didn’t get it. “Well?”

“If a woman’s out doing something on her own, why does a man assume she’s having an affair?” Sam started to say something. “Don’t answer. I know why.”

“So you’re not going to tell me,” he said, resigned.

“No. It’s none of your damned business what she said to me.”

“Then I guess she was,” he said, figuring that would get a denial from Annie. All he got was another look of disgust. They turned off 91 at the sign for Deerfield and finished the drive without speaking.

Half way across the dog yard they heard the ringing of the telephone between the welcoming yelps and barks of the puppies. Annie ran to the house. When Sam came through the door, he heard her say, “Thanks Kathleen, I’m glad you did. And it was nice getting to know you. Here’s your dad.” She passed the receiver to Sam.

“Hello,” Sam said guardedly, sure that his daughter was going to complain about something he was or wasn’t doing.

“Hi Dad.” Her voice was pleasant. “Did Russ call you last night about the message on your answering machine?”

“No.”

“I was afraid he’d forget. It was Vera Ashby again. You know, Mom’s secretary.”

“Oh Lord! I forgot to call her. I got so involved buying this house it slipped my mind.”

“What did you decide to do about the house?”

“I made an offer this morning but I haven’t heard back from the sellers.”

“How much longer are you going to be out there?”

Why is she asking that, Sam wondered. “I few more days. I’ve got to talk to a bank about the mortgage and a few other things. Why?”

“Russ’s acting weird, getting hyper again. I asked if he’s taking his medication and he said he was. But I wonder.”

“How bad is it?”

“Not too bad, but don’t stay too long. I’m going back up to Maine to tie up loose ends on that project and I’ll be gone for a few days.”

“Thanks for telling me. I’ll check on him.”

“Call me when you do, and let me know what Vera wants too.”

Sam said he would and hung up. “Vera called back,” he said to Annie as he fished through his wallet for the scrap of paper on which he’d written her phone number. Then he dialed it.

“Vera, this is Sam Langley returning your call. Sorry I didn’t call sooner but I was involved in buying a house. What’s up?”

“Just a second, Sam. I’m going to put you on hold for a minute. Don’t go away.” Sam said he’d wait but it irritated him to be put on hold. “Hi. I’m back. Someone was at my desk and I didn’t want him to listen in. I’ve been thinking about your phone call two weeks ago.”

“Yeah. You said Sarah resigned. I still find that hard to believe.”

“You wouldn’t if you knew the reason.”

“Tell me.”

“I will,” she said, her voice growing confidential, “but not over the phone. I assumed you knew all about it, but I see now you didn’t.”

“No. I was shocked when you said she resigned.”

“Would you meet me for lunch one day this week?”

“I’m way out in western Mass. Can’t you tell me over the phone.”

“Believe me Sam, it’s best that I tell you in person.”

Sam sighed. He wanted to get the house settled and to spend the time with Annie. “Well, I guess I could make it next Thursday.”

“That long. Well, it’s waited this long. Four more days won’t matter.” They agreed to meet at noon at a North End restaurant in Boston named Vesuvius. It was near Elite Design’s office and Sam had eaten there occasionally with Sarah.

“Probably the last person in the world I want to take to lunch,” he said to Annie, “is Vera Ashby.”

“And that’s what you’re doing next Thursday. I heard.”

“Something about Sarah’s resignation that’s so confidential she won’t tell me over the phone.”

“I knew it,” Annie said with an assertive nod. “I knew something was wrong at work the day Sarah left here.”

The phone rang and Sam picked it up. It was Francis.

“I’ve been trying to call. The sellers signed the purchase agreement at the price you offered. We ought to get together tomorrow morning and talk about the next steps. You need to arrange for a home inspection, insurance and you should start talking to a bank about a mortgage, especially if you want to move in in thirty days.”

When Sam hung up he yelled Whoopee. Annie ran into his arms and they kissed. “We did it, Annie.”

“You did it, Sam.”


Thursday morning Annie left for work the same time Sam left for Boston. The day was warm and muggy with a threatening northeast wind blowing. What a perfect day, Sam thought, to sit on Annie porch with Molly and Maggie and wait for the coming storm. Well, he said to himself, it won’t be much longer and I’ll be living out here. As soon as he got to Interstate 91, Sam hit the morning traffic going toward Northampton and Springfield and then the later morning traffic on the Mass Pike heading into Boston. The other day when they had been looking at his new house he saw no more that three cars drive by during the hour they were there. He could hardly wait to pass papers and move in.

He wondered what could be so horrible about Sarah’s resignation that Vera wouldn’t tell him over the phone. Vera had been Sarah’s secretary for only a few months before Sarah disappeared. Her previous secretary, a woman named Marie, had been with her more than ten years. She’d been a good friend as well as a competent and trusted worker. Marie left to spend more time with her children and was replaced by Vera, a long time company employee. According to Sarah, Vera was a good secretary, but uncomfortable to be around. She often tried to ingratiate herself with Sarah with whispered information about other employees. Sam warned himself to be careful what he said over lunch.

He left the car in a parking garage near Fanieul Hall and followed a narrow pedestrian path through huge construction equipment working on the new Central Artery. Vesuvius was on a side street on the first floor of a nondescript building with apartments on the second and third floors. The window in front contained a painting of Mount Vesuvius and some dusty, plastic flowers. Sam opened the door and entered into the aroma of tomato sauce, garlic, butter and cheese. He fantasied seeing Sarah waiting for him at one of the small tables, calling to him, “Over here Sam.” Instead it was Vera who waved.

“Hi Sam,” she said warmly. “It’s been a long time.” The words were a bit too familiar for Sam’s taste, but he forced a smile. He knew Vera to be about the same age as Sarah so the teased blond hair was probably dyed. She’d put on weight since he’d last seen her but her summer suit of dark blue fit her well. Glasses dangled from a sting around her neck.

“How did you ever find this place,” she asked. “I’ve lived here for years and didn’t know about it.”

Sam shrugged. “Sarah and I passed by one day and it looked like a good neighborhood restaurant.” Vera ignored his explanation as she tried to get the attention of one of the waitresses. Sam pointed at the wall. “The menu’s on the board over there.”

“Oh,” she said, bringing up her glasses, pushing her face forward and squinting at the black board. Sam chose a calimari dish and Vera veal Parmesan. Sam poured each of them red wine from a carafe the waitress had left on the table.

“So,” Sam said, “what’s so confidential you couldn’t tell me over the phone?”

“It’s about why she resigned.” Vera leaned closer, then looked to the right and the left. “She was forced to resign. That or get fired.”

Sam looked at her incredulously. “Forced. I can’t believe it.”

Vera sighed under the burden of the information she was about to reveal. “When you called me, even the first time, I was sure that Sarah must have told you what was going on at work. But when you didn’t know she’d resigned, I realized she’d kept it from you.” Another snipe at Sarah, Sam thought. “Although I can’t say that I blame her.” Then looking sincerely into Sam’s eyes, she said, “Now that she’s gone, I think you have a right to know.”

“So do I. Why did she resign?”

“I’ve got to go back a few years. I was in another department, but you know I’ve been with the company almost as long as Sarah. About five or six years ago Sarah hired a young photographer straight out of Mass College of Arts. She was a pretty young thing, enthusiastic and wanting to get ahead. She became a member of the team Sarah usually took with her when she went to remote shoots, like the Caribbean or the Canadian Rockies. None of us thought much about this. Teams like this go out all the time, but usually the team members change based on some special expertise. Sarah changed her team members too, except in one case. Jenny always went with her no matter what special abilities were needed.” She gave Sam the flick of a knowing look then dropped her eyes. Sam clinched his jaw and glared at her.

“Sam, now don’t shoot the messenger. I don’t like telling you this any more than you like hearing it.”

His eyes bore into her. “Get on with it.”

“Well, in the evenings after a day’s work the gang would break up, each going their separate ways, except for Sarah and Jenny. You could see them in the bar drinking and having a gay old time.”

“How the hell do you know this? You weren’t there.”

“Sam,” she raised her head with determination, “If this is too much for you, I simply won’t go on.”

Sam stared at her for a moment, then said, “Answer my question. How do you know what was going on?”

Vera sat up straight, raised her eyebrows and said, “Word gets around. After a while, we all knew.”

“Knew what for God’s sake?” People turned to look at Sam.

“Please,” she whispered. “No need to tell the whole world.” Her eyes moved to the other tables than back to Sam. “When Sarah was around Jenny she was like a teenaged kid. We could even see it in the office. Sam, she was head-over-heels in love with that girl.”

Sam brought his head close to Vera’s across the small table. “Vera, you’re a goddammed liar. You’re evil.” He took out his wallet and tossed a twenty dollar bill on the table and stood up to leave. The entire restaurant had stopped talking and were staring at him as he stalked toward for the door.

“Wait,” she said grabbing her bag and following Sam out onto the street. When she was five feet behind him she yelled again. “Wait you bastard. Nobody calls me a liar. I’ve got proof.”

Sam stopped and turned around. People on the street were looking at them. Sam waited for them to pass on, then said quietly, “So what did you do? Take pictures?”

“No.” She was so angry the flesh on her cheeks was quivering. “You better take back calling me a liar.”

“Have your say and I’ll see if I’ll take it back.”

“All right. Jenny filed a sexual harassment complaint against Sarah. I saw it. I read it. If you don’t believe me you can go to personnel and find it in Sarah’s folder, if they haven’t thrown it out.”

Heavy rain drops began to fall and Sam and Vera moved under the awning of a used furniture shop. “So this Jenny filed a complaint. What does that prove? What was the outcome?”

“Sarah resigned rather that face a board of inquiry.”

“So it was never proven.”

Vera laughed in his face. “No, but every body knew. Why else would she resign?”

“I still don’t believe you. Where is this Jenny now?”

“Jenny Anderson. She quit too, a few months after she made the complaint. I don’t know where she is.”

Sam stared into her eyes for several moments wanting to slam his fist into her face. Instead, he turned and hurried off through the rain to his car.

Chapter Twenty-Four