Death In Duplicate

SIX

NO ONE IN THE HOUSE GOT MORE THAN A COUPLE OF HOURS of uninterrupted sleep that night. As daylight finally penetrated the slit between the curtains, Susan gave up and got up. Jed and Clue were still snoring when, dressed in the warm clothing required to spend any time outside during spring in Connecticut, she slipped from the room. She noted the stain on the carpet and the splash on the wall as she walked around two bulging plastic bags that seemed to have sprouted in the hallway overnight. She was too tired to deal with any of this without a large mug of coffee. She needed it so much that she imagined she could smell the tantalizing brew wafting up the stairs.

But she wasn’t imaging the full pot of coffee steaming in the coffeemaker-or the enticing pan of what looked like homemade cinnamon rolls cooling on the counter. Or the young woman sitting at the table reading the New York Times who jumped to her feet when Susan entered the room.

“ Shannon?”

“Mrs… Susan, I hope you don’t mind. I was just waiting for the rolls to cool a bit before I frosted them.”

“No… I… Do you always get up early in the morning and bake?”

“Well, I always get up early in the morning. One of the reasons I’m a good baby nurse is that I have insomnia. It’s easier to take care of newborns if you don’t need a lot of sleep,” she added, smiling ruefully. “I hope you don’t mind me taking over your kitchen like this. I’ve been cooking breakfast for Stephen and Chrissy since the twins came home from the hospital. She’s so tired and cooking is one of my hobbies. It relaxes me.” She glanced over at the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. “And I couldn’t resist your cookbook collection. You have so many books on baking. I hope you don’t mind me going through them.”

“Of course not,” Susan replied. “If you’re interested, there’s a complete collection of bound Gourmet magazines on the shelves behind the door in Jed’s study. I bought them at an estate sale a few months ago.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun. Thank you.” Shannon stood up and walked over to the counter where the rolls were waiting. “I usually put a bit of vanilla in the frosting.”

“So do I.” Susan poured herself a cup of coffee. “Have you always been a baby nurse?”

“I-”

“ Shannon, could you come upstairs?” Stephen appeared in the doorway, a towel wrapped around his waist. “The babies are both yelling and I have to get ready to leave for the city and the dogs need to be let out.”

The nurse reacted instantly. “Right away,” she said on her way out the door.

“I’ll frost the rolls,” Susan called after her. Was Shannon hurrying toward the twins or was she anxious to get away before she had to answer Susan’s question? “Would you like some coffee, Stephen?” she asked.

“I think I’d better pass. My train leaves in less than half an hour and I sure don’t want to be late my first day on the job. Will it be okay if I put Rock and Roll out in the backyard until Chrissy can take care of them?”

“Of course. And if you need coffee, you can always stop at one of the coffee places at Grand Central after you get into the city.”

“Yeah. I guess.” Stephen grabbed his towel as Rock and Roll dashed by, let them into the yard, and then hurried up the stairs after Shannon. Susan looked at the rolls and the bowl of frosting, gulped down half her coffee and, despite the early hour, reached for the phone and called Kathleen Gordon.

“Hi Kath. It’s me. Did you hear anything else?” She picked a corner off a cinnamon roll and popped it in her mouth as she listened to the answer to her question. “You told him to call if he learns anything, right?” She pulled a second, larger piece from the bun. “Anytime. We’ve all been up most of the night. Okay. See you soon then.” She hung up and grabbed a knife. Sometimes it was easier to think on a full stomach, she told herself as she pried the largest cinnamon roll from the pan and dipped it into the frosting.

Like most people living in the affluent suburbs north of New York City, the Henshaws had many people working for them in and around their home-cleaning women, window washers, caterers when they gave a large party, carpenters for small remodeling jobs, plumbers, roofers, painters, landscapers, and swimming pool cleaners to name a few. The list was long as they kept their large colonial style home in tip-top shape. But this, Susan realized, was the first time anyone other than family or house guests had actually lived with them.

She didn’t like it. She knew Shannon had been looking at things on-or near-her desk last night. What if this burst of enthusiasm over baking was all a cover-up for her snooping? Susan bit into the bun and frowned. Shannon did, however, know how to bake. The cinnamon roll was excellent. And the kitchen was remarkably clean. Shannon would have to be in her kitchen frequently if she was fixing the babies’ formula as well as meals for Stephen and Chrissy. But if Shannon stuck to the nursery and the basement and the kitchen… Except that she wouldn’t. Susan had just given Shannon an excellent excuse to spend time in Jed’s study-which is where all the family’s financial records were kept. And she would also be taking care of the dogs, which meant she’d be following them into every corner of the house and yard.

Susan stopped eating and stared at her coffee cup. They didn’t know anything about Shannon-except that she might have been a suspect in an unsolved murder investigation-but Shannon was in an excellent position to discover a lot about the Henshaws. Unless Susan gave up sleeping at night and going out during the day, Shannon could easily look around at her leisure. She stood up. Maybe Kathleen hadn’t been able to discover what happened at the nursing home yet, but Susan might have another source of information about Shannon. All she needed to do was find a corner of the house where she could make a private phone call.

It turned out that Jed’s study wasn’t all that private after all. First Jed appeared to kiss her good-bye on his way to the train and tell her that he had put Clue in the backyard with the mastiffs. Then he reappeared with the news that the dogs needed to be fed when she got a chance and that he might be late for dinner tonight. Chrissy came in to rummage through the large pile of suitcases, boat bags, and equipment that had been piled in the corner when they arrived yesterday and had yet to be unpacked. After finding what she wanted, she disappeared back upstairs only to reappear almost immediately searching for a phone book. Shannon had walked by the open doorway a few times carrying bottles, clean blankets, and the like but did not enter the room. It was fortunate that Susan’s end of the conversation was limited.

The call took every bit as long as Susan had anticipated and she was just hanging up when Kathleen appeared in the doorway, a half-eaten cinnamon roll in one hand, a mug of coffee in the other.

“Susan, I can’t believe you. With everything that’s going on around here, you get up early and bake.”

“Not me. Shannon made those.”

Kathleen raised her eyebrows. “Really? They’re as good as yours.” She closed the door behind her and flopped down in one of the pair of wing chairs beside Jed’s large mahogany partner’s desk. “I haven’t learned anything new,” she announced. “But it’s possible we’ll hear something after my friend makes a few phone calls.”

“I’ve just gotten off the phone with Blues-”

“Who? Oh, Chrissy’s mother-in-law! Did you call her or did she call you?”

“I called her. I’d already dialed the number when I realized what time it is in California and I was afraid I was going to wake her, but it turns out that she was up studying the stars.”

“I didn’t know she was interested in astronomy.”

“I think it’s more astrology that interests Rhythm and Blues. But that’s not important.” Susan glanced at the closed door. “I called her to ask about Shannon. After all, they hired her for the kids so I figured they must know a lot about her. But-”

“Don’t tell me. They found her through some sort of Zen spiritual adviser they met on a retreat somewhere.”

“Nope. They heard about her through a mutual friend whose daughter gave birth to a baby with some sort of serious health problem. Apparently this friend couldn’t say enough about how wonderful Shannon was and Blues got the idea of hiring her when the kids had their babies.”

“Did they check into her background?” Kathleen asked, leaning forward.

Susan frowned. “I don’t want Blues or anyone to know that we’re worried about Shannon. She’s not terribly discreet and Chrissy and Stephen might find out and it would upset them and-”

“You’re telling me that you didn’t ask any direct questions about Shannon.”

“Exactly. Fortunately Blues loves to talk so all I had to do was mention Shannon and she was off and running.”

“And?”

“They had only heard about Shannon when they found out that Chrissy and Stephen were going to have twins.”

“How did they know that?”

“Indirectly. Stephen told an old friend who also has twins and that old friend told his mother and she ran into Blues and mentioned it. I felt a bit hurt that they knew and we didn’t, but fortunately they were smart enough to see that the kids would need help when the babies were born. Blues said that she’s heard that some baby nurses won’t work with twins. Can you believe that?”

“Every few weeks I pick up the newspaper and I read something else about the nursing shortage so I suppose nurses can pick and choose the jobs they want.”

“Apparently that’s true. Blues said it wasn’t easy to convince Shannon to work for the kids. And not because they were twins. Blues said Shannon didn’t like the idea of moving when the babies were only a few weeks old. I can’t blame her for that. The last twenty-four hours have been mayhem, and everyone around here has been run off their feet.”

“How did Blues convince Shannon to take the job?”

“I have no idea. Blues said that she sent positive messages out into the universe directed at the problem and the cosmos answered in a positive manner. Frankly, I have no idea what she was talking about, but apparently whatever she did worked. Shannon ’s last job ended three days before Ethan and Rosie were born…” Susan yawned. “And she called the Canfields and said she would be happy to take the job.”

“So she was already working in Philadelphia?” Kathleen asked.

“No, she wasn’t. The job with the ill baby was in D.C. so she didn’t have far to travel.” Susan’s second yawn made her eyes water.

“Where does she live? I mean, when she isn’t working?”

“I have no idea. I didn’t even think about it. Just because she lives in on her jobs doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a home, does it?”

“I doubt it. She must have someplace that she goes between jobs-or on her days off. She does have days off, doesn’t she?”

“Lord, I never thought of that.” And Susan already couldn’t imagine how they would manage without her.

“Is she a registered nurse, an RN?”

“I think so.”

“Was she hired through an agency? I mean are Rhythm and Blues paying her directly or are they paying an agency that then pays her?”

“I have no idea. If she worked for an agency, they would know about her work history, wouldn’t they?” Susan asked.

“Yes, but they might not be willing to tell just anybody. You know,” Kathleen added, “you could just ask her.”

“I suppose, but I don’t want her to feel as though I’m interrogating her or worried about her.”

“But you are!”

“I know, but I didn’t hire her, and the kids-and my grandchildren-are depending on her. Kathleen, I don’t want to wait for your friend. I think we should drive up to that island and ask some questions… Although I don’t want to leave Chrissy and Shannon alone today.”

“Look, why don’t we do some online research? Murders at a nursing home must have gotten mention in more than a few newspapers.”

“And there’s even a Web site that rates nursing homes. I remember someone at the club, who was looking for a place for her parents, telling me about it,” Susan suggested.

“If you can check that out, I’ll go home and see what I can find out from newspaper archives,” Kathleen said. “At least I’ll try. We had parental controls put on the computer so we wouldn’t have to worry about Alex running into something a ten-year-old shouldn’t see. Unfortunately they seem to control the oddest things. Jerry’s niece is graduating from Beaver College next month and we wanted to find out when the ceremony is-”

“And the computer wouldn’t let you.”

“You got it! But I’ll keep track of any dead ends and you can research them. You know, Susan, maybe you could bring these things up in casual conversation. It’s not suspicious to ask someone you don’t know where they live-or where they worked.”

“Kathleen, don’t think I haven’t tried. But you can’t imagine how impossible it is to have a casual conversation around here! In the past…” She paused and glanced down at her watch to check the time. “In the past nineteen hours since the kids arrived, I’ve hardly managed to finish my thoughts, never mind communicating them-”

As if to prove what she was saying the doorbell rang. Kathleen swiveled in her chair and glanced out the window at the street. “United Parcel truck,” she announced.

“Oh, that must be the stroller I ordered. I guess I’ll have to send it back and find one for two babies,” she said, getting up and going to the door.

“Oh, my lord!”

“What’s wrong?” Kathleen asked, following her out into the hallway.

The tall man in a dark brown uniform was pushing a loaded dolly up the driveway. And, from the pile next to the door, Susan got the impression that he had waited until his third or fourth trip to ring the bell.

“You having another wedding here?” the deliveryman asked as he added to the mound of packages. Susan recognized him as being the same man who drove this route the year her daughter was married.

“No.” Susan glanced at the label on the top package. It was addressed to Chrissy and Stephen. “My daughter and her husband and their babies are staying with us for a while though.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Canfield?” he asked.

“Yes. Are these all for them?”

“All these and about twenty more in the truck. I’ll get the rest of ’em and then someone’s got a lot of signing to do.”

A loud wail floated down the stairway.

“I’ll sign,” Susan said. She had a feeling Chrissy was going to be busy for a while.