Gone but Knot Forgotten

Kensington.

C

HAPTER

1

So far, the morning mail only yielded credit card invitations, an interesting flyer for yoga classes, and now that I belonged to AARP—another postcard advertising the Neptune Society. I picked up a white number ten envelope, glanced at the unfamiliar return address, and almost tossed it in the junk pile, but something stopped me.

First, my full legal name, Martha Rivka Rose, appeared above my address. I never used Rivka. Second, the envelope looked official, not part of a mass mailing. The law offices of Abernathy, Porter & Salinger of Los Angeles, California, paid full price for the stamp.

I reached for the white plastic letter opener, a prize I received from the UCLA Department of Internal Medicine after having my first colonoscopy. The envelope tore neatly along the top fold, and I pulled out a one-page letter.

Dear Ms. Rose,

We regret to inform you of the death of Mrs.

Harriet Gordon Oliver. You have been named the executor of her estate. Please contact me personally at your earliest convenience to initiate the process of probating her will.

Very truly yours,

Deacon Deke Abernathy, Esq.

Harriet died? I hadn’t heard from her in over twenty years. We’d been best friends in high school. She moved to Rhode Island with a scholarship to Brown, while I lived at home and attended UCLA. Years later, she returned to Los Angeles with her husband, Nathan Oliver, a fellow Brown graduate. I had married Aaron Rose, a local boy finishing his psychiatric residency at LA County Hospital. Harriet and I reconnected at our tenth high school reunion in the late 1980s.

Since we all lived in Brentwood, a tony part of the west side, we met a few times for dinner. Harriet and her East Coast husband collected wine and art, while Aaron and I focused on raising our three-year-old daughter and paying the mortgage on our much smaller home. Eventually even the dinners stopped. By the time I divorced Aaron and relocated to a not-so-tony part of Encino in the San Fernando Valley, Harriet and I had already drifted apart.

Now, sadly, she was dead at the age of fifty-five. What took her so young? What about her husband? Children? The more I thought about the letter, the more questions I had.

I telephoned the number Deacon Abernathy gave me.

Deke here.

Mr. Abernathy? My name is Martha Rose. I just received your letter about Harriet Oliver.

Oh, right. Thanks for calling, Ms. Rose. We have some details to go over, including Mrs. Oliver’s funeral instructions. How soon can you come to my office?

Wait a minute. Please slow down. When did Harriet die? How did she die?

I’m sorry. Got ahead of myself. Has it been awhile since you spoke to Mrs. Oliver?

Decades, actually.

That explains our problem locating you. We only had your old Brentwood address to go by. Under the circumstances, I guess I’m not surprised.

What do you mean, circumstances? What’s going on?

There’s no delicate way to say this, Ms. Rose. We discovered Mrs. Oliver’s body in her home about three weeks ago. The coroner estimated she’d been dead for at least ten months.

Thank goodness I was already sitting. My ears started ringing and a black circle closed out my peripheral vision. I envisioned horrible pictures of desiccated corpses and skulls with gaping jaws. Ten months? Didn’t she have family? What about her husband?

It’s too complicated to explain over the phone. The thing is, Mrs. Oliver hasn’t been buried yet. We needed to wait until we located the executor to make certain, ah, decisions. So, you can appreciate, Ms. Rose, the sooner you get here, the sooner we can, ah, lay her to rest.

Poor Harriet. How was it possible nobody missed her? She’d been such a vibrant and pretty teenager with long black hair she ironed straight every morning before school. During our sleepovers we whispered about our plans for college, our hopes for the future and which girls slept with their boyfriends. When she left for Brown, we hugged and cried and promised to write letters every day. But time and distance slowed our friendship. With the exception of our brief reunion in Brentwood, we moved into completely separate lives.

I shuddered at the thought of her body lying unattended for ten months. It really bothered me that nobody missed her. Didn’t the neighbors notice any bad odors? I agreed to meet the attorney at the Westwood office of Abernathy, Porter & Salinger later in the afternoon.

After ending my conversation with Deacon Abernathy, I gave my shoulder-length gray curls a once-over with a wide-toothed comb. Then I stuffed my Jacob’s Ladder quilt, sewing kit, and an emergency package of M&Ms into a large red tote bag and headed for my best friend Lucy Mondello’s house. Today was Tuesday, and I never missed our weekly quilting group. I drove in a daze, trying to make sense of the shocking news about Harriet’s death. What a horrendous way to go—alone and evidently forgotten.

I maneuvered my way across Ventura Boulevard and wound around a couple of side streets before pulling up in front of my friend’s house. The boulevard served as a natural dividing line between classes in Encino, one of the many small communities in the San Fernando Valley. Small homes, condos, and apartment buildings sat on the valley floor north of the boulevard. That was where I lived, in a tract of medium-priced midcentury houses. Residences south of the boulevard—especially those constructed in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains—tended to be large, custom-designed, and très expensive. Lucy lived somewhere in between: south of the boulevard but not in the hills, gracious home but not a McMansion.

She smiled and greeted me as I pushed open the front door. Hey, girlfriend. You’re a little late. Everything okay?

Lucy always dressed with a theme. Today she wore canary yellow twill slacks, a yellow-and-white-striped long-sleeved T-shirt, and dangly citrine earrings. Her bright orange hair looked freshly colored and her eyebrows perfectly drawn. Even at sixty-something she could have been a model. I, on the other hand, wore my usual size-sixteen stretch denim jeans and T-shirt straining under my ample bosom.

I just dealt with a last-minute phone call. Give me a sec and I’ll tell you all about it. I settled down in one of the cozy blue overstuffed chairs in Lucy’s casual living room.

Every few years she changed the décor in her home the same way she changed her daily outfits. This latest version evoked an elegant cabin: furniture upholstered in richly colored woolen fabrics, Navajo rugs, and a coffee table made of polished burled tree roots. Above the fireplace hung a reproduction of a yellow Remington painting of longhorn cattle. The room screamed Wyoming, where both Lucy and her husband, Ray, were born and raised.

Did the call upset you? You look a bit peaky, dear. That was Birdie Watson, Lucy’s across-the street neighbor and the third member of our small sewing circle.

I got a letter from an attorney in LA this morning asking me to call. I fitted my multicolored Jacob’s Ladder quilt in a fourteen-inch wooden hoop. The Jacob’s Ladder block featured lots of little squares and larger triangles of contrasting light and dark materials. The more fabrics, the more interesting the quilt, and this one featured dozens of different cotton prints. I threaded a needle with red quilting thread and related the story about Harriet’s death and my surprise at being named executor of her will. The creepy thing is, she died more than ten months before they discovered her body.

How awful! Birdie, naturally predisposed to worry about people, frowned and twisted the end of her long white braid. In her mid-seventies, Birdie looked like an old farmer. She always wore the same thing: white T-shirt (short sleeves in summer, long sleeves in winter), denim overalls, and Birkenstock sandals (with socks) to accommodate her arthritic knees.

Lucy handed me a cup of coffee with milk. You must have been close for her to make you executor. Yet, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention her name before.

We were best friends growing up. I told them how our teenage friendship failed to survive our adult lifestyles. After I moved to Encino, everyone in West LA forgot about me, including Harriet.

Lucy shook her head. Well, obviously she didn’t forget about you. Do you know what happened to her husband?

I wish I knew more of the details. I have an appointment with the lawyer this afternoon to get poor Harriet buried. He said he’d explain everything then.

Birdie tilted her head. So you’ve decided to go through with becoming the executor? Not knowing what’s involved?

How could I say this without sounding morbid? I want to do one last favor for an old friend.

And I’m curious.

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Uh-oh. Please tell me you’re not going to get involved in another one of those again."

Lucy’s voice sounded more than a tad disapproving as she alluded to my recent penchant for discovering dead bodies and getting sucked into murder investigations. And both times the killers came after me. This is way different, Lucy. First of all, the attorney never said anything about murder here. Second of all, being the executor of someone’s estate only involves signing papers and selling stuff. There’s nothing to worry about. What could be more straightforward?

My redheaded friend shivered a little. You know, Martha, I’m getting a strong feeling about this. Lucy swore she possessed ESP and could tell when something bad was going to happen.

In the past, I’d dismissed her feelings as some kind of displaced anxiety. But if I were honest, I’d have to admit that in the last several months her warnings turned out to be valid. Still, the lawyer gave no indication poor Harriet’s death was anything more than tragic and premature.

Oh, for heaven’s sake, Lucy. Don’t you think I’ve learned my lesson? Don’t you think I’d run straight to the police at the first sign of something suspicious?

Without hesitation, Lucy and Birdie responded in unison, No!

C

HAPTER

2

The law offices of Abernathy, Porter & Salinger were located in a black glass high-rise on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Federal Avenue in West LA, where parking cost five dollars for every fifteen minutes.

I stepped off the elevator into a plush suite of offices occupying the entire tenth floor. The reception area, situated in the south side of the building, revealed spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean all the way down to Palos Verdes and west to Catalina Island. The late-afternoon December sun striped the horizon in shades of pink and gold. Harriet must have been very well off to afford an attorney in this luxury setting. I was glad I wore a dress for the meeting.

May I help you?

I tore my eyes from the stunning view and approached a male receptionist sitting behind an antique walnut desk. A head of short, bleached hair appeared almost white in contrast to his latte skin. He blinked his eyes once, and a flash of black eyeliner caught my attention. Another part of LA’s rich diversity I loved so much.

Martha Rose for Deacon Abernathy.

He pressed a button on a console and spoke into a headset, then smiled warmly and gestured toward the waiting area. Mr. Abernathy will be free in a couple of minutes. Please make yourself comfortable. May I get you some water? Coffee? Soda?

No, thanks. I returned the smile.

I sat in a chair upholstered in plum leather and gazed at the sunset, calculating how much each minute of waiting would cost me in parking fees. I had reached three dollars and forty cents when a slender woman wearing glasses walked efficiently toward me.

Ms. Rose? I’m Mr. Abernathy’s assistant, Nina. Sorry for the wait. He’s most anxious to meet you. Will you please follow me?

We moved down a long corridor decorated in original art to a huge corner office with a jaw-dropping view not only of the sunset but of the Veterans Administration to the east and the UCLA campus beyond. Vivaldi played soothingly in the background. If your name came first on the door, you could command the best office.

A thickset man with a receding hairline stood and came round his desk with his shirt sleeves rolled up, and shook my hand vigorously. Ms. Rose, I’m Deacon Abernathy, but everyone calls me ‘Deke.’ Abernathy looked like a former athlete gone soft around the middle, probably thanks to decades of steak dinners and martini lunches. He led me to a comfortable sofa and sat in a chair facing me, across a coffee table with two glasses of ice water. Something about this guy seemed familiar, but I couldn’t quite place him.

I took a deep breath. Please tell me about Harriet.

He tented his fingers and pressed them against his lips. I’ve been Harriet’s attorney for years. Our firm handled both her legal and her financial affairs. I tried contacting her recently. Some investment transactions needed her signature. When she failed to return my calls, I became alarmed and drove to her house. Nobody answered the door, so I went round to the back. Nothing looked out of place. The gardener still tended the grounds, but everything was quiet. Too quiet. I suspected something terrible had happened and called the police. They forced their way into the house and found her dead.

My skin crawled. How did she die?

He coughed and covered his mouth. A slight tremor rippled through his hand. Was the poor man trying to hide his emotions? The coroner couldn’t determine the cause of death because of the state of her body. The police found no obvious sign of foul play. She could’ve suffered a heart attack.

Oh God. My mouth felt dry; I reached for a glass of water. What about her husband, Nathan? Did they have children?

One son, Jonah, was born in 1990 but died at the age of five in a tragic accident.

This story grew worse and worse. How?

Nathan took him on a charter boat to Catalina Island for a father/son fishing trip. Apparently the boy wasn’t wearing a proper life jacket. He fell overboard and went under. Some fishermen dove in the water, but by the time one of them could find him and pull him out of the ocean, the child was dead.

Poor Harriet. The death of her son was the second tragedy in her life. At nine, her twin brother, David, died under the wheels of a bus. Now she’d faced a similar horror years later with her son.

Nina, the assistant, materialized with a bottle of Pinot Grigio on a large silver tray with two wineglasses, platters of tapas—mini open-faced sandwiches—and ceviche served with tiny forks. She set the tray on the coffee table and offered me a glass, but I shook my head. I had to drive back home.

Abernathy handed me a napkin. We offer happy hour to our clerks and associates on Tuesdays. Go on, help yourself.

Thanks, but I’m not hungry. I usually enjoyed a warm and fuzzy relationship with food. However, as Harriet’s story unfolded, I lost my appetite. Abernathy, on the other hand, shrugged and poured himself a generous drink and tucked into the raw fish with gusto.

My grandmother, who raised me, may she rest in peace, would rather have poked her eye out with a fork than eaten in front of someone else. She communicated through food. If any guest of Bubbie’s refused to eat, she coaxed, cajoled, and wheedled until he gave in. Just a small sliver. You need your strength. What. You don’t like my cooking? It worked every time.

Nina slipped quietly out of the office and I waited until Abernathy had washed down the food with more wine.

What happened to Nathan?

He wiped his mouth with a cocktail napkin and once again his hand trembled. Maybe he suffered a neurological problem.

About two years after the boy’s death, Nathan disappeared. Must’ve been the guilt. He left behind a note saying he intended to go back out to sea, to the place where Jonah died and join his son. We never found his body.

I thought about all the episodes of Cold Case Files on TV. What if he didn’t kill himself? What if he just wanted to run away?

Naturally, we thought of that and hired detectives to search for him. But Nathan Oliver vanished. After seven years, without a trace, and on the strength of his suicide note, we had him declared legally dead.

What about her parents? Herschel and Lilly Gordon, both Holocaust survivors, had been older when Harriet and her brother, David, were born. They avoided mentioning the aunts, uncles, and cousins who died in the camps. And like most survivors, they were overprotective.

Both dead. No other living relatives.

Well, what about friends? A social life? When we were teenagers, Harriet often spent the night at my house. She rummaged through my closet, changed into my torn jeans and leg warmers, and—unbeknownst to her parents—we hung out with our friends at the mall.

Abernathy shook his head. Harriet became a recluse. She seldom left her home and rarely received visitors.

My heart squeezed in pain at the thought of Harriet’s devastating losses and her self-imposed isolation.

Did she say why she chose me to be her executor?

Abernathy spread his hands and shrugged. Up until he disappeared, Harriet made her husband, Nathan, the executor. Then she selected her father until his death ten years ago. After that, she named her college roommate, Isabel Casco. Two years ago, Harriet changed her will again and appointed you.

You said you handled her financial affairs. How could she lay in her house for ten months without anybody knowing? With no one to pay the bills, didn’t the overdue warnings from the utility companies raise a red flag?

Good questions. All her household bills were sent directly to our office. We routinely sent out monthly payments. As far as we knew, nothing raised a flag. Abernathy popped a small slice of baguette, topped with an olive tapenade, in his mouth. You sure you won’t try one of these? You’re missing out.

Did nothing spoil this man’s appetite?

I cleared my throat. No, thanks. I hate to bring this up while you’re eating, but I can’t help wondering why the neighbors didn’t detect a foul odor coming from the house.

He put his small plate of tapas back on the table.

Maybe he does have limits.

Yeah, I wondered that too. But, as the coroner explained, Harriet’s house stood on a large lot. Any odor would dissipate long before reaching the surrounding homes. And her location inside the house, well, not much of the smell would’ve traveled outdoors.

Where was she?

Upstairs off the master bedroom inside a windowless walk-in closet. The worst odor would’ve been pretty much confined.

My stomach lurched. I tried not to think about the poor cop who first entered Harriet’s closet. Had anything been stolen? Could she have been killed by an intruder?

Abernathy shifted his weight forward and studied me intently. His frown deepened the creases between his eyes. You sound like a police detective, Ms. Rose.

I maintained eye contact and said nothing.

He poured himself another glass of wine, relaxed back into the chair, and smiled slightly. To tell you the truth, I didn’t know what to expect when I contacted you, but it’s clear you’re both smart and, ah, insightful. I think Harriet chose her executor wisely. To answer your question, I couldn’t tell whether anything was missing. I did notice a general messiness, as if someone might’ve been looking for something.

I pictured the young Harriet going through my closet hunting for cool clothes. I tried not to picture the grown Harriet lying in her closet for ten months. She deserved to be in her final resting place as soon as possible. So, what does being Harriet’s executor involve, Mr. Abernathy?

Call me Deke. We’re pretty informal around here. May I call you Martha?

Sure. Okay.

He briefly reviewed the details of the will—she left everything to charity—and explained the process of probate. "It’ll be your job to dispose of her assets and distribute her bequests. We’ll take care of filing the court papers. The first thing you must do is make some practical and religious decisions regarding her burial. Harriet owned a plot at Gan Shalom Memorial Park next to her son, but she never specified any final details.

He stood and retrieved a bulging accordion file from his desk, reached inside, and handed me a handful of papers and a bulky envelope. This is a copy of her will. Here are keys to her house and automobile. He indicated the file. The rest of these papers include copies of her death certificate, a financial summary, insurance policies, and an investment portfolio. Anytime you’re ready, my accountants will give you full access to her records, statements, and whatever else you need to settle her estate.

Where is Harriet’s body now?

Still with the coroner. Info’s in the file. Let me know what arrangements you make.

I glanced at my wristwatch. An hour had passed. I gathered up the documents and stood. For the first time, I spotted a silver trophy with a football on top of an art deco pedestal. I walked over to read the inscription: UCLA R

OSE

B

OWL

J

ANUARY

1976.

Now I remembered why he looked so familiar. In 1976, my senior year at UCLA, we won the Rose Bowl when star quarterback, Deke Abernathy, threw the winning pass. His face appeared regularly in the Daily Bruin. We sat in the same geography class, although I was sure he’d never remember a married student like me. Deke Abernathy hung out with the jocks and sorority girls. I was, frankly, surprised to see this guy had been smart enough to become a lawyer.

I thought I recognized you, Deke. We attended UCLA at the same time.

He grinned wide enough for me to observe a mouth full of capped teeth. Did we ever meet?

Well, we sat in one class together, but I’m certain you wouldn’t remember.

He put a meaty hand on my shoulder. What a shame. I’m sure I would’ve liked you, Martha. His hazel eyes crinkled at the corners and his teeth flashed.

Oh, brother.

Probably not. I was married at the time.

He winked and gave my shoulder a little squeeze. Never too late.

Really? Is he really trying to go there? Great. In that case, I have a question to ask.

He chuckled. Anything for a friend.

I pulled out my parking ticket. Do you validate?

C

HAPTER

3

The next morning I woke with a fibromyalgia flare-up. My neck and shoulders were stiff, and every part of me hurt. All the dampness and weather changes turned winter into the crappy time of year for me. My sensitive body could predict rain three days before the first drops fell.

In the kitchen, my orange cat Bumper purred and rubbed his whiskered cheeks against my ankles as I poured star-shaped kibble into his bowl. I stood and spotted the yoga studio flyer from yesterday’s mail. A flexible young woman sat smiling in the lotus pose, her palms pressed together in the prayer position. The last time I saw Dr. Lim at the UCLA Pain Clinic, he suggested I try yoga for the chronic discomfort of fibro. He pointedly looked at my hips. It might help you lose a little weight while you’re at it. I could have been so insulted.

I reached for the phone and called the number on the flyer, still unsure whether yoga was for me.

"Sublime Yoga. Namaste."

Hello. My name is Martha Rose and I’m calling about your trial offer.

Great. I’m Heather. Let’s set up an appointment to give you a tour of the studio and afterward we’ll schedule you for a free class. When would you like to come in?

A long list of chores waited for my attention, beginning with the task of reading Harriet’s will and contacting Gan Shalom Memorial Park. I’m pretty busy today, but how about tomorrow morning?

"Perfect. Give me your phone number and I’ll schedule a