Smoke in Mirrors(21)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

“Roberta Brinks, the director of Mirror House, told me that Nathanial Eubanks had a real thing about mirrors.” Leonora made a face. “That second-floor hall is a little spooky.”

“Some folks think that he drove himself crazy with those antique looking glasses.” He studied the menu even though he had memorized it months ago. “Bethany was fascinated by them, too. She spent hours in the library, working on what she called her Mirror Theory.”

“What was that?”

“Something to do with explaining mathematical relationships between positive and negative numbers. She hoped that ultimately her theories could be used to help physicists understand exactly what went on in the universe in the first few seconds after the big bang.”

“Oh.”

“Right. Oh.” He held up one hand when she opened her mouth. “Don’t ask me for any more details, I’m no mathematician.” He lowered his voice. “That man sitting over there with his daughter could explain it better than anyone else in this room. If he wasn’t sloshed to the gills, that is.”

She glanced quickly around and then looked back at Thomas. “Who is he?”

“Dr. Osmond Kern. Believe me, if you’re anybody at all in mathematics, you’d recognize the name. Several years ago he won a prize and got his name into the textbooks. Came up with an algorithm that turned out to be very important in the computer world. Made a lot of money off it, too, I understand. He’s on the faculty at Eubanks.”

She smiled. “Tenured, I imagine.”

“Oh, yeah.”

One of the young waiters finally stopped at their table. Leonora ordered a glass of wine. Thomas ordered a beer. They both decided on broiled halibut.

Thomas was oddly pleased. Something in common at last, he thought. A fish.

“The thing that bothers me the most about our own conspiracy theory,” Leonora said midway through the meal, “is that there don’t seem to be many similarities between Bethany and Meredith. They were two very different women who came out of very different worlds.”

“That’s what makes this whole mess so damned frustrating.” Thomas forked up a bite of halibut. “If Deke is right, there should be some obvious links between the two. But they weren’t even working on the same things at Mirror House. Bethany was completely absorbed with her math theory. Meredith was focused on her scam.”

“They both used computers,” Leonora offered.

“For entirely different purposes.” Thomas waved that aside. “Trust me, Deke checked out that angle. He crawled through every inch of Bethany’s hard drive after she died. Ditto for all the stuff he downloaded from Meredith’s computer. Nothing. Maybe now that you’re here, he’ll be able to make sense out of that book and those clippings Meredith left in the safe-deposit—”

A man’s voice, angry and petulant, rose from a neighboring table.

“I want to go home, damn it. Now.”

Thomas did not have to look around to identify the voice. Everyone in the café was being very careful not to look at the table next to the fireplace.

“Osmond Kern,” he said very quietly.

“I feel sorry for his daughter. She looks mortified. Not to mention scared. She doesn’t know how to handle the situation.”

“Rumor has it Kern’s drinking problem has been getting worse in recent months.”

“The hell with you.” Kern’s voice rose another notch. “You sound just like your mother. Leave me alone, damn it.”

He shoved his chair back and lurched to his feet.

“Dad, please, sit down.” Elissa’s voice was soft and hoarse with humiliation.

“Stay here if you want,” Kern growled, slurring the words. “I’m leaving.”

He swung around and nearly fell.

“Dad, wait.” Elissa rose quickly. “I’ll help you.”

“Shut up and leave me alone.”

The tension in the café was palpable as everyone studiously ignored the unfolding scene.

“I’ll be right back,” Thomas said quietly to Leonora.

She watched him with a troubled expression, but she said nothing.

He got to his feet and crossed the room to where Kern was swaying like a wounded bull trying to find the matador. He took the professor’s arm and steered him toward the front door.

“Let me give you a hand, Dr. Kern.”

“What?” Kern glared at him, confused and angry. “You’re Deke Walker’s brother, aren’t you? Crazy bastard. Let go of my arm.”

“Sure. Just as soon as we get outside.”

He had Kern halfway across the room. The hostess rushed to open the front door and gave him a look of sincere gratitude.

Elissa grabbed her purse and hurried after them.

Kern was too befuddled to resist.

Outside on the sidewalk the cold night air seemed to have a calming effect. Kern subsided into a sulking silence. Elissa gave Thomas a shaky smile.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’m very sorry about this. I’ll take him home now.”

“Can you handle him?” Thomas asked.

“Yes. When I get him home he’ll fall asleep. In the morning we’ll both pretend nothing happened.”

She took Kern’s arm and guided him toward a dark SUV parked at the curb. Kern muttered, but he allowed himself to be stuffed into the front seat.

Thomas waited until Elissa got behind the wheel, started the big vehicle and drove off down the street before he went back into the restaurant.

Leonora was waiting for him, an enigmatic expression in her vivid eyes.

“It was very kind of you to help her,” she said when he sat down across from her.

“That’s me, Mr. Fixit,” he said.

“There’s no need to brush it off that way. It was a genuinely nice thing that you did.”

He looked at the door of the restaurant. “Kern was a colleague of Bethany’s. She admired his accomplishments in the field of mathematics. Practically idolized him, according to Deke. She wouldn’t have wanted to see him humiliate himself or his daughter in public.”

“It’s getting worse.” Elissa got Osmond through the door of his bedroom. She was shaking now. Her heart was pounding and her breathing was shallow. She could barely contain her rage and frustration. But she knew from previous experience that losing her temper would do no good. “You’ve got to stop the drinking, Dad. You’re killing yourself.”