Split (Chapter-16)

Ian came to a halt in front of the studio’s second-floor entrance. “Stay behind me,” he whispered to Angelica before pushing the door open.

The front desk was unmanned. The lights were dim. Tiptoeing into the studio, Ian peered into an empty room. No music playing, just eerie silence. The morning class must have already ended.

Angelica followed close behind as he continued through the studio and into the back hallway. A light was on in Jewel’s office. She was seated behind her desk, a curtain of dark hair obscuring her face.

“It must be snowing harder,” she commented, looking up from her paperwork. “You’re soaking wet. And you brought a friend this time.”

“Yes." Ian tried to catch his breath. "Jewel Ariel, this is Angelica Davenport.”

Without standing, Jewel offered her long, slender fingers over the desk. Angelica stepped forward to grasp them in an awkwardly loose version of a handshake.

“To what do I owe this latest visit, detective?” Jewel turned her attention to Ian. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was a suspect.”

Ian forced a laugh. “No, of course not. I’m just following up on some new information. Beth Strauss’ mother told me Beth took a class here.”

Jewel lifted the curtain of hair and tossed it over one shoulder. “Yes, that sounds right. I think Beth attended a single class, but she decided not to register for a session.”

“You must have been disappointed.” Ian leaned forward, trying to read the papers on her desk.

Jewel slid the paperwork into a folder. “You win some, you lose some. You must know that. I’m sure you don’t catch every criminal.”

He wondered about the meaning behind her words. “Beth’s mother told us you came to the house. Gave Beth a brass bowl. With some other gifts.” This last part was a lie, designed to ferret out the truth.

“I did bring her a bowl she had admired here in the studio. But that was all. I hoped I might convince her to give the class another try. I thought it was a perfect fit for her.” Jewel turned her palms up as she shrugged her shoulders.

“Was that the Sunday evening class? The one with Gail Hunter in it? And Ann Gottlieb?” Ian took a stab in the dark, guessing that all the dead women had this particular class in common.

“No. Beth tried the Healing From Loss class. The one I taught this morning.” Did he hear a hard edge creeping into Jewel’s voice? Was he getting under her skin?

“Do you remember when I showed you a photograph of Beth? You pretended not to recognize her.” He played his ace.

Jewel shook her head, the perfectly straight curtain of hair swinging. “I didn’t pretend. I didn’t recognize Beth. Perhaps I didn’t look closely enough. And the lighting in here is quite dim.”

“My sister took your class for the first time today,” Angelica jumped into the conversation. “Erica Gold?”

Jewel smiled with her mouth but her eyes remained cool and detached. “Ah, yes. It was a pleasure to have her here. I hope she’ll come back again.”

“I’m sure the class is exactly what she needs.” Angelica offered a fake smile of her own. Ian had to hand it to her, she was playing the role of the good cop with aplomb.

“Well, if that’s all…” Jewel glanced pointedly at her desktop. Her perfectly manicured fingernails drummed on top of the file folder. Intricate white snowflakes were featured on a background of sparkling blue polish.

“Where were you yesterday morning?” Ian asked. “Between nine and twelve?”

Jewel’s brow furrowed. “I went to the Paramus Park mall to get my nails done. If you need to confirm this, you can speak with Miss Kim.”

“And where were you teaching before you came to Nyack?” Ian wasn’t ready to give up yet. He might have another ace up his sleeve.

“In the Catskills. Woodstock, to be exact.”

“And the name of the studio?”

“Sun and Moon, but that studio is now closed.” She gave him a quizzical look.

“Couldn’t make a go of it?” Ian jabbed, looking for a rise.

Jewel rose to her feet, gathering a number of folders into her arms. “Although this has been a charming visit, I see I’m going to have to take my paperwork home where I won’t be interrupted.”

“Go right ahead. We can pick this up where we left off another time,” Ian assured her. “We’ll follow you out.”

Exiting the yoga studio, Ian and Angelica tagged along as Jewel locked up and made her way through the heavy snowfall to the parking lot. She unlocked her car and removed a long-handled brush from the front seat in order to clear the windshield. Ian peered through a freshly brushed window into the backseat.

“Where is the yoga mat you had in here?” he demanded.

“That belonged to a student. I returned it.” She shook the snow off her brush.

“What student?” He was certain it had to be Gail Hunter.

“Laureen Tallman.” Jewel tossed the brush into the car and slipped into the front seat.

Ian scanned the passenger seat and the far back, visible through the rear windshield. The car was empty and spotless. “Was this vehicle recently cleaned?”

“I took it through the car wash and had it detailed. Silly, with this storm coming, I know.” She closed her door and turned the key in the ignition.

Without a worry for the detective and his partner, she hit the gas and reversed in a skidding curve, spraying slush and snow in all directions. She peeled out of the parking lot, heading north on Broadway. The Crown Vic was blocks away so there was no way to follow her.

“I’ve gotta get up to the Coven,” Angelica said with regret. “I’m starving and I have a client scheduled at one.”

“Was Erica planning to go straight home after yoga?”

“No, I think she was heading to the café. Why don’t you join us for lunch?”

All too often lately he had been forgetting to eat. And he was skinny enough already. “Good idea. But let’s take the car.”

After traversing most of Nyack in the snow, Ian’s leather shoes were soaked through. He could feel his damp socks sucking all the warmth out of his toes, which were probably blue and puckered. Once inside the Crown Vic, he turned the heat up full blast, hoping to dry his feet at least a little bit during the drive.

At the Coven, they found Erica finishing lunch with a group of women. Angelica stormed straight over to their table of six.

She leaned over her sister’s chair and literally stuck her nose into their business. “Hey, Sis. How was your class?”

“Oh, hey. Angelica, these are my classmates from the yoga studio.” Erica pointed to each in turn, “Laureen, Rebecca, Jen, Sarah, and Zoe, this is my sister. She reads fortunes every afternoon here if anyone is interested.”

The women all murmured and nodded.

Angelica snatched a chair from a nearby table and pulled up a seat. “This is Ian.” He stood behind her chair and gave the woman a wave. “You guys can sign up for a tarot reading on my schedule by the door. But tell us all about the class. Is Jewel a good teacher?”

Erica nodded, along with all the other heads at the table. Before she could comment, Laureen spoke up. “Jewel is the best. She has a real gift. She’s more than just a teacher. She’s a true healer.”

More nodding from the yoga bobbleheads.

“Did you leave your yoga mat in Jewel’s car?” Angelica addressed Laureen, a heavyset woman with stringy hair and a flattened nose. She looked like she'd lost a few fights in her life.

“What?” A flash of emotion crossed Laureen’s face and quickly disappeared.

“It’s a simple question,” Ian said. All the women looked up at him, their faces frozen.

“Um, yeah, I almost forgot about that.” Laureen’s nervous smile revealed a chipped front tooth.

Angelica pointed to it. “What happened to your tooth? Did you have an accident?” She had never been one for subtlety.

Laureen’s hand flew to her face. “I fell on the ice this morning in front of my house.”

“Ouch. That must have hurt.” Angelica glanced up at Ian. “We better order lunch. I hope to see you all again soon.”

She returned the stolen chair to its rightful table and guided Ian behind the black bamboo plant to her fortunetelling table. The yoga students gathered their belongings and shuffled out of the café.

“What do you think of Jewel?” Angelica asked Ian, ignoring the menu on the table.

Vivian dropped off a basket of homemade veggie chips and took their order before Ian could respond. “You know you’re not actually a cop, right?”

Angelica shrugged. “Semantics.”

Ian reached for the chips. “She seems to have a lot of avid fans.”

Angelica nodded. “I’m not sure I believed a word out of her mouth. That business about the mat didn’t ring true.”

“What kind of vibes did you get from Jewel?” Ian trusted Angelica’s intuition. He had counted on it during previous investigations and she’d never let him down.

“She exudes that cool confidence, but I wonder if it’s an act. My take is she’s playing the role of the guru, the wise woman, but I don’t have a sense of what’s underneath. We should ask Erica. I noticed she didn’t jump in with her opinion.”

Angelica’s turkey sandwich and Ian’s burger arrived. Ian polished off half while Angelica opened her napkin.

He swallowed before speaking. “Did you notice the perfect manicure? I mean, not even a tiny chip. I want to verify when she got it done. She might have an alibi.”

Angelica nodded, figuring he was thinking about the assault on Ann Gottlieb with the brass bowl.

“And I’m positive the yoga mat in the backseat of the Volvo belonged to Gail Hunter. But where is it now?”

Angelica shrugged and swallowed. “The mat is a pretty damning piece of evidence, especially if forensics could find hairs and match them to Gail Hunter. My bet is she tossed it in a dumpster somewhere. Or burned it.”

“Shit. I should have realized what it was when I saw it back there. I even asked her about it. I just didn’t connect the dots.” He ran his fingers through his hair until it stood on end.

“Give yourself a break, Ian. You’ve had three deaths in four days.” She touched his arm, leaving a greasy fingerprint and some crumbs on his shirt sleeve.

He brushed the crumbs off distractedly. “I need to get a warrant to search her home. She might still have Gail’s yoga mat. And maybe more of the tea she used to poison Beth Strauss. At the very least, we might find a yew growing in her yard.” Ian sighed. “But I’m afraid she’s probably scrubbing her entire house this minute, while we feed our faces.”

Erica came over to join them. “Hey. Why do I think you guys just interrogated my new friends?”

“Can’t pull the wool over your eyes,” Angelica teased. “Did you love your yoga teacher as much as those other sycophants?”

“Maybe not quite as much.” Erica grinned. “Good word, by the way. My take on her is she’s a narcissist. Can’t keep her eyes off herself. Even while she’s walking around the room giving feedback, she’s watching herself in the mirror. And did you see her office?”

“Yeah.” Angelica nodded. The number of mirrors in that small space was not normal.

“Erica?” Ian’s eyes suddenly lit up. “How are you feeling? Are you up to an assignment?”

She glanced uneasily from Ian’s excited face to Angelica’s instantly worried one. “I’m okay,” she hedged. “A little tired, but the doctor said that was normal--”

“Good.” Ian jumped in before she could finish. “Are you up for going undercover?”

Erica didn’t answer immediately, but Angelica did. “I don’t think she can go undercover, Ian. Jewel knows she’s my sister.”

His face fell. “I forgot you blurted that out.”

“I was trying to gain her trust.” Angelica took another bite of her sandwich.

The three were quiet for a moment before she spoke up again. “How about Harriet? The two of them could pretend they don’t even know each other, that they’re just meeting for the first time in class.”

“Did you tell Jewel your story? About the miscarriage?” Ian asked. “How much does she know?”

“I did mention the miscarriage, but nothing about my partner.” Erica thought about it. “But I’m positive Laureen has been here in the Coven before. She might have seen Harry. And possibly the two of us together. I’m not sure we can pull that off.”

“We better check with Harry, see if she knows this Laureen woman first.” Ian pulled out his notebook and started jotting down ideas.

“If Harry can’t do it, I’ll bet Felix would be up for it,” Angelica suggested. “Did you see him posing the other night before dinner? He looked like Gumby on steroids.”

“Felix would be perfect for the job.” Erica sounded relieved at removing Harriet from the spotlight. “He wants to go into acting, so I’m sure he’d appreciate the challenge.”

Ian considered. “That might work. He’s gonna need a story. Something painful he can share with everybody to help him fit in.”