WHILE CASSIE WAS DOING HER BATH THING long before the cremation process would be over, Teddy came through the front door calling, "Mom? Mom."
Charlie was sitting in the dining room with two years of Mitch's American Express bills spread out on the dining room table in front of him. The record confirmed what Mona had told him over a drink in a fancy Italian restaurant in Manhattan last week (during which she'd denied having sent him any gifts): that Cassie was a major spender, using company assets to her own advantage à la Leona Helmsley. Charlie discovered the glamorous Mr. and Mrs. Sales trips all over the world and purchases therein. They presented a different picture of Cassie from the one Cassie presented. By then, he'd begun his investigation of the company. He located three Mona Whitman safe-deposit boxes. Unlike Cassie's, which had only receipts, Mona had cash in hers. A lot of cash. That had made him more hopeful about Cassie. Now he saw a not unusual situation. Often an unfaithful husband paid his wife off in booty for accepting the girlfriend, who got the cash. He was disappointed by what he saw. He would rather have had Cassie as thoroughly betrayed as he had been.
"Mom, where are you?" Teddy cried.
Charlie glanced up with no hint of uneasiness. "She's upstairs taking a bath."
Teddy ducked into the room and yelped when he saw who was speaking. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi. Teddy, right?"
Teddy stared. At the open filing cabinet, the piles of statements. He pinched his nose with thumb and index finger as if a dike had started leaking there.
"I'm Charlie," Charlie said.
"I know who you are."
"I'm sorry about your dad."
Teddy frowned. "Where's my mother? Did she let you in?"
"She's waiting for you. The police were here. Where have you been?"
"The police were here? Why?" Teddy sucked air.
"Police sometimes see sudden deaths as suspicious deaths," Charlie said mildly. "They had a few questions."
"Oh, no! Someone asked Mom questions?" Teddy stood frozen in the doorway.
"Yes, someone did."
"What did she say?"
Charlie shrugged. "I wasn't here. You'll have to ask her."
"Is she all right?"
"Oh, she's a little under the weather, but that's not surprising. She just lost her husband."
Teddy shuffled his feet in what Charlie interpreted as a guilty manner. He always knew when people were guilty. The twitching and quivering always took over. Eyes, lips, chin, hands. "What happened last night?" he asked.
Teddy's left eyelid did a little dance. "Poor Mom. I'm really sorry." He shook his head, then honed in on Charlie, the enemy. "What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked, frowning at the files.
"You know what I'm doing here."
"Me?" Now Teddy's eyebrow jumped up in alarm.
"You seem like a nice, honest kind of guy," Charlie said. "Very likable. The kind of guy the government can trust."
"No." Teddy turned and walked out of the room, muttering, "I don't want to hear this." Then he came back into the doorway a second later. "Let's get one thing straight. I don't know anything about this." He fanned his hands out at the piles on the table. "Nothing."
"It's just amazing how no one in this family knows anything," Charlie remarked. "Except the someone who knows everything. I'm guessing that would be you."
"No."
"Yes, Teddy, you know it all."
Teddy squirmed. "Look, I want my mom protected. That's all I want. I may be guilty, but she hasn't done anything wrong. Can you protect her?" Teddy said.
"Aw," Charlie said, tapping his chin.
"I don't care what happens to me." Teddy's tongue rolled around in his head. His mouth twitched. He was in way over his head. "Maybe I should call a lawyer or something," he said finally.
"Good idea, sure. I think you should. But let's talk options a little first. You said you want to help your mom."
"Well," Teddy hesitated. He wasn't sure what to do. Charlie was engaging him in some pretty heavy conversation. He was shaking pretty badly by the time the front door slammed.
"Tedddddie! You fucking idiot. What have you done now?" A very pretty girl came into the dining room and charged Teddy, arms flailing.
"Hey. Marsha, stop it." Teddy hardly had the strength to put his hands up to defend himself.
"You fucking killed Daddy. Are you crazy?" She tried to knee him in the groin.
"What are you talking about? I didn't kill him. He died, end of story. Stop that!"
"You didn't call me, you creep! You fucking creep." The knee went up. She couldn't get to his balls. "Goddamn it."
"Hey! Stop that." Charlie was on his feet. He moved around the table, pulled the girl away from Teddy, and took a punch on the chest for his trouble.
Marsha tried to punch him again, then stopped, confused by the stranger. "Who's this?"
Teddy shook his head. "Marsha, you just punched a Fed."
"Jesus." She was crying, trying to catch her breath. She hiccuped a few times, wouldn't meet Charlie's eye. "What's he doing here?"
"Are you all right? You look like your mom." Charlie was perfectly affable, but made a note to check out her savings account. This girl was trouble.
Marsha ignored him, snuffling back her tears. "Jesus, why didn't you call me, Teddy?"
Teddy shook his head. She'd left them to stay over at her boyfriend's.
"For God's sake, you're no help. Where's Lorraine? I want to know what happened," Marsha raged.
"I took her home." Teddy shuffled his feet.
"Praise the Lord. Is anybody else here?" Clearly she didn't count the Fed.
"Mom is upstairs." Teddy glanced at Charlie. "This is Charlie Schwab. He's with the IRS."
Marsha tossed her head in his direction, gave him a sharp once-over. Then she became aware of the nonedible spread on the table. Her forehead furrowed. "I'm sorry I hit you. I was aiming for my brother."
Very nice, she apologized. Charlie was impressed. Maybe he wouldn't arrest her for assault. "No offense taken," he murmured. He was acting like a prince.
"What happened, Teddy?" Marsha was back on the attack. "I leave you for five minutes and Daddy dies. What's the matter with you?"
Teddy shuffled his feet. "You took off for dinner and never came back, you and your M.D. boyfriend. Huh, how about that?" Teddy countered.
"You and that nitbrain were in charge. You were supposed to take care of him."
"We did. It's not my fault." Teddy looked guilty as hell.
"Come on. Did you leave, or what?"
Teddy's eye and mouth twitched at the same time. "Where were you all night, big mouth?" he said miserably.