Murder at the Art Gallery Read online

  Jill saw Roger from a distance

  “There's that beautiful grey tabby.” She petted him and rubbed him under his chin.

  ”He looks very relaxed and well fed. This cat is a perfect fit for you. Look, he doesn't even try to run away from strangers. . So, did you learn anything at the funeral?”

  “Well, things are getting weirder and weirder. Harold contacted all these people that I talked to regarding David. He truly did come through in that capacity. He said he wanted to do everything he could to help me out. However, when he got to the funeral home, he was getting very nervous and saying that it was creeping him out to go near the corpse. He had a very scared look about him ”

  “Creeping him out?? That's strange”

  “Right, but I let it go. Here's what made it even weirder, he left shortly after I got there. I thought I would have had someone there that I could talk to without having to put on an act and he skips out on me. So, that's the first thing that was weird. Second thing, I talked to a guy who was a mutual friend of David and Harold. Get this, he said that David dumped Harold, very ungraciously, and that Harold was extremely hurt and angry and that he was going to get revenge. What exactly does that mean?”

  Jill looked astonished at learning these news.

  “Yeah, that doesn't sound good. I truly hope that Harold didn't do something stupid. Maybe he just meant to hurt him so, but it turned into something bigger and he killed him accidentally?”

  “That's what I thought too. What started out as just hurting him, wound up killing him instead. But wait, it gets even worse. I talked to this other guy, Jake, that was supposedly very nasty and he lived up to his reputation.”

  I told Jill of the exchange I had with Jake and she was flabbergasted. It wasn't so bad that David had outsourced his work, but the fact that he had taken people's money and didn't give it back was what upset Jill the most.

  Jill said, “But why would he do such a thing? David has always been so nice. It's very disconcerting hearing these things. As far Harold is concerned, it's definitely strange behavior for somebody who just the other day was being very helpful and cooperative in putting you in contact with people to share their stories about David.”

  Mandy shared her view.

  “I was thinking it's possible, if Harold did kill David, that whatever he had done wasn't real to him until he saw David dead and now he was freaking out cause he thought he was going to get caught. I'm going to have to speak to Harold again but be very careful I don't let on I suspect him, because he could just run away before he could be brought to justice.”

  “It's crazy, one moment, I'm thinking that perhaps David had gotten into something very bad, the next, it's possible that Harold killed him over jealousy or hurt pride. I mean, how many people knew that David had this painkiller allergy? Very few. But Harold was among them.”

  Jill said, “I didn't know, so that shows you it was a very select group. Whoever killed him was somebody that knew personal things about David.”

  “As much as I hate to think so, it could have been Harold.”

  Roger leapt onto my lap, as if he could sense that I’d become disappointed in humanity and wanted to provide me comfort. Sure, humans were terrible, but cats, well, they at least give cuddles when you’re down. Between Jake's rant and Harold acting strange, I wasn't feeling very warm and fuzzy. But Roger sat on my lap and purred. I was so glad at that moment that I found him. He was the perfect cat.

  Chapter Nine

  After I got home that night, I started work on my Powerpoint presentation for the gallery memorial. I had started this whole process, and I had to finish it, in spite of what I had learned thus far. No good deed goes unpunished. I don't know that I would have been so motivated for this memorial had I known what I knew now. But more and more it, looked like somebody had murdered David and it looked like it was somebody close to him. I was so hoping that it wasn't Harold, but there were few suspects to pick from. Unless Jake was dead set in killing David and knew about his allergy, I really couldn't think of anybody else.

  I was angry that I couldn’t go to Fred with what I’d discovered. He would just say that the case was closed. There was no evidence. I could tell him about David’s unethical business practices and Fred probably wouldn’t be bothered by it. He sees much worse on an hourly basis.

  I wanted to consult my tarot cards, but I was not in a good state of mind. The cards worked best when the user was in a calm state, and I was far from calm.

  I decided that the best way to calm down was to focus on the Gallery and not on David. I thought it would be best to focus on how even though I had introduced David to Bernard, that it was Bernard's vision to exhibit David's paintings, he had been so impressed by them. At the very least, my presentation could bolster my chances of getting hired in full time at the gallery. It was a struggle to think of nice things to say about David. I thought instead about the nice things about the gallery- mostly I thought of the lovely artwork, which I was sure anyone could appreciate.

  I originally told Bernard that this was going to be helpful to the gallery so, writing it from this angle I was not lying. I knew that Bernard would be pleased. And it took my mind off some of the day's events.

  I figured I could give my work to Katie in the morning and she would make sure that the slide show worked. She was going to play the slide monitor, so she would move the slides. It wasn't going to be long, so it was easy to put together. After I finished this, I figured I'd watch tv to take my mind off things.

  This was also an excellent way to introduce Roger to my favorite shows. I'm sure that cats don't watch television, but they sit by your side and while you're watching tv. So for all intents and purposes they are watching tv with you. Roger laid on the sofa with his head on my lap and looked at the tv. It must be sights and sounds that keep them fixed on watching tv. But in my head, I always told myself that the cat was watching tv with me. Fluffy always did this and now the role was filled by Roger. Every once in a while I would have a slight pang of guilt about getting Roger and I would remember what Jill said that Fluffy was looking down on me wishing for my happiness. I would do the same for Fluffy if it was the reverse. Besides I hadn't replaced Fluffy. I was just expanding the number of cats in my life.

  *****

  The next morning I took Roger with me to work. People bring their kids to work, right? Roger was the closest thing to me. Everybody was very happy to see him and a lot of people came over to my desk to pet him and inquire about him, the usual activity when you bring a kid or a pet to work. I was amazed to see that Roger just sat next to me and if people pet him or talked about him he stayed calm. There was no trepidation or hissing at strangers

  My coworkers were just as shocked as I was to learn that Roger could use a toilet. Like a human. He even flushed. I had noticed that I hadn’t needed to clean his litterbox often, but it never occurred to me until that day at the gallery that Roger had been doing his business like a person would.

  I wondered how his previous owner had trained him to do that. I also wished I could have thought of it when I had Fluffy.

  I also hoped I could train him to go during our walks. I planned on simply picking up after him like I would a dog.

  I gave the file to Katie and she said the slides worked well. The animation didn't get stuck anywhere. She saw some of the text and snickered, “Trying to suck up to the boss, aren't we?”

  “It's a long story and believe me, once this is over, I'll tell you everything and you'll understand why.”

  Shortly after that I asked Bernard if I could show him my presentation. He said sure come on in.

  I gave a little background on the file, “I tried to give a balanced view of the gallery as it interacts with the artists and also you as director. I figured, when people watched the video, it would give them more of a reason to visit in the future.”

  As he watched, he saw that the presentation was about the paintings, and the that it heavily flattered the gallery. I als
o wrote about the gallery's history with local artists and how Bernard always had the vision for local talent and I linked that vision to the discovery of David's work.

  “You know, at first I thought that all you were going to do was write about David, because he was your friend, but this is very objective. You've included David, but also the gallery and its history. Very nice.”

  I thought it was going to be cheesy, but Bernard ate it up. All through the presentation, he gave the thumbs-up sign as some slide went by, and he smiled a lot. When it was finished, he said -

  “This was much different than what I was expecting. Thank you very much, I can see that you have absorbed the culture of the gallery in your time here. Let me know if there's anything you need me to do for this presentation, I'd be glad to.

  “I have to be honest, if it wasn't for you initiating this whole memorial, I never would have done it and just moved on. However seeing everything you've done, it's opened my mind about possibilities of promoting the gallery in the future. I'm just old school and never think much about modern ways of getting the word out. This is a great beginning.”

  “Well, I'm glad that you enjoyed it, here's to more shows in the future.”

  I didn't want to tell Bernard that I’d had a change of heart about David. That wouldn't have gone over very well. But hey, I started this whole project, and I was going to finish it in a way that worked for everybody. We all were going to have to come back to work after this show and start setting up for the next art show, for whoever and whenever that was going to be. Life would go on. Only a few people, like myself, would remember David. Like so many others before him, he would continue to live the minds and hearts of those who loved him.

  These shows were the lifeblood of the gallery and as long as there was as a show, there would be patrons and that usually translated into dollars at some point. It also provided jobs for people like me and others around me. I knew the gallery was like a hobby for Bernard, but still he tried to make it look like a business venture and he had to make money doing it.

  If he was faking it, he sure was doing a good job. But it didn't matter to me. I had a job, the place was a nice place to work and I liked the people. There aren't a lot of places you could say that about. And it was possible that this was going to turn into a permanent job.

  *****

  I called Margot to remind her that whenever she was ready to start packing David's things, I would be there to help her. Inasmuch as now I was doing it more for her than David. She knew nothing about the things I had discovered, and I knew that this was a very painful time for her. At some point I would have to tell her about some of things that David had done. But not right now. It could wait.

  We could empty out David's apartment first and I would eventually tell her. It wasn't like there any pending lawsuits, just a lot of disgruntled people who gave up. Apparently if they can afford to pay for a portrait, maybe four hundred dollars is not a lot of money to them. Still, no matter what the amount, it's the way things were done. Not ethical business practices. There you go again Mandy, being miss goody two shoes. When was I finally going to stop doing this? Still, Margot had to know so it wouldn't bite her in the rear when she least expected it. I owed her at least that much.

  The next day, I met Margot at David's apartment. When you walked in, the place was very still and for all intents and purposes, it looked like a regular apartment. There was no air of death there. It was as though David had stepped out and we were just waiting for him to come back. Except he was never coming back. Not now, not ever. Margot had gotten a lot of disassembled boxes. She said she was going to put everything in storage until she could figure out what to do with David’s things. She to vacate the apartment, before it was put it up for rent again. She could have kept paying the rent but putting things in storage was cheaper. Not that anybody in her family was going to live in that apartment.

  She looked around and said, “You know, it's strange when you have to bury your own son. Not because he was sick, not because he was in an accident but because he took his own life. I've asked myself in the last couple of days was it something that I didn't do, that I didn't instill in him as far as valuing himself? I always accepted him for who he was, I never once stopped supporting him, if he was happy the way he was, that's all that mattered to me. And he was talented too. He had so much to live for and yet, here I am, emptying out his apartment because he killed himself. Not what a mother ever envisions herself doing. You envision graduations, marriages, grandchildren. Not a dead son.”

  My heart went out to her. I felt terrible and at the same time I didn't dare tell her any of the things I'd discovered in the past couple of days. In the near future, I’d let her know.

  I said, “You know Margot, let's not go too crazy here today. You tell me how long you want to stay and we'll pack whatever we can in that time. It's not like this is a race, nor do we have to do this in a short time frame. This is a horrible situation and I think you're very brave for tackling it. I won't leave you alone, I'll be right here. Don't come here by yourself, we'll do this together”

  She gave me a hug and even though she had cried some, I could see that she was grateful for the help. We each grabbed boxes and set to work. After a couple of hours, I had put away at least four boxes of knick knacks and kitchen utensils.

  At one point, I went into the bedroom, which I was avoiding, since that's where David had died. I saw David's collection of stuffed animals. He had them all arranged on either side of the bed, on love seats. All kinds and all sizes. I could see that in some ways he had never grown up. He was still holding on to his toy animals like some kind of safety net to adulthood.

  As I looked around all the different types of animals, one thing stuck out. There were dozens of stuffed animals all around the bed. However, there was one lonely teddy bear on a shelf across the bed. I went to take a closer look to see if this was what I thought it was. I squeezed the bear and felt a hard spot in the front. It was a nanny cam. Then it dawned on me. David was filming his romps with his lovers. Well, I guess different strokes for different folks. Fred was right. You just didn't know the people you think you knew.

  Then it came to me. What if there was video there of David's last hours? What if this thing had been on? What if it was filming and caught something that wasn't supposed to happen? I had to get this bear out of here and not raise any suspicion on Margot's behalf. I asked, “Margot, is it ok if I keep one of David's stuffed animals. I just want something to remember him by.” She said, “Of course Mandy, take whatever you like.” I took the bear and put it in my bag.

  After three more hours of putting things away in the apartment, I asked Margot

  “You think we've done enough for today?”

  “I think we did a lot of good work, this was a good first step.”

  We had packed about twelve boxes. David, like many artists, was a minimalist, and other than the stuffed animals, he decorated well but sparsely. There wasn’t much furniture for us to pack, which was a good thing because Margot wasn’t in peak physical health.

  Margot and I went to Joanie's for a bite to eat once we had finished at David’s. After we’d sat down at the counter, I decided to tell Margot about some of the new people I’d met at the funeral.

  “You know Margot, I sent out a lot of invitations for the funeral and a lot of people showed up. Just shows you, a lot of people loved David and were truly sad to see him go.”

  I was really surprised at the turnout. Thank you for inviting all those people. It made me feel less alone in this whole process, that other people were grieving too. I guess misery loves company, but it was nice to see all of those people.

  I really appreciated that you stayed as long as you did talking to the guests. That took a burden from me. I wasn't in a chatty mood, and I saw that you talked to a lot of people”

  I said “anytime”, although, the truth was I was there for an ulterior motive. No matter how things turned out, at least Margot and I wou
ld have a good, strong friendship.

  Roger was waiting for me to feed him the moment I walked through the front door. He was happy to see me, which made me feel great. That wonderful feeling of being greeted by your cat when you get home. I sat and rested with him seated next to me on the sofa. I had to be honest with myself, it was very hard to have spent time in David's apartment. Aside from everything I had learned about him, it was still hard knowing that I had been in the same place where a human being had recently died of unnatural causes. It just puts you in a distraught frame of mind.

  Right now I was just chilling out, my cat was purring on my lap, I was drinking a cup of coffee. Day after tomorrow was going to be David's memorial at the gallery. Once that was over I could go back and relax. I had tried to get answers for my own peace of mind about David and instead, learned a lot of things I really never wanted to know. It changed my opinion of him. It made me feel bad for him. There was still that question of whether Harold was ultimately responsible for what happened and he had been running scared all this time, hoping nobody would find out.

  A number of people were acting strange since David's death and any one of them could have killed David. Or maybe no one but David was responsible for his own death. In the end, I may just have to go with the original results of the police: this was a suicide.

  Roger got off my lap and started to play with one of his toys. He would slap it around with his paws and walk almost on his hind legs, he was so excited. It was great having a cat in the house again. I could see that over the years this was going to bring me hours of happiness just seeing him at play and taking him for walks around town and the happiness you can only get from a cat. Most people don't understand this, but animal people know this very well.