Betrayed (Rosato & DiNunzio, #2)(36)

“Stop. Assume you don’t know Iris. Because you don’t.”

“I do, kind of.” Judy flashed on Iris’s shy smile, in the rose garden. “I’ve been hearing about her for a while. Plus Aunt Barb adores her and she’s an excellent judge of character.”

“Would she if she knew that Iris was keeping some mighty big secrets from her? Hiding money in her house?”

“A good point.” Judy stopped at a streetlight, its redness fragmented by the raindrops on the windshield. “So we’ll put out of our mind that we think Iris is a nice person.”

“Exactly, and if so, the most likely possibility is that she either stole the money or was mixed up with something unlawful that generated cash.”

“Why do you say it’s from something unlawful?”

“Because you said she was in the country three years, and she probably made minimum wage at her jobs, if that. You can’t save that much money that quickly, so she had to come by it another way.”

“Hmm.” Judy thought about it. “And she would’ve hidden it because she has no other place to put it. She can’t get a bank account because she doesn’t have a Social Security number, and she can’t leave it at her apartment because of the risk of theft. Her roommate told us there’s a lot of theft in the undocumented community, so did the cops.”

“Of course, because nobody can use a bank. My mother was the same way, when she came over from Italy. She always felt like an outsider. She didn’t trust the banks, she wouldn’t even use a credit card. She kept the money under the mattress.”

“People really do that?”

“Italians do, big-time. Also, our sleep number is ten grand.”

Judy smiled.

“She still hides money in coffee cans and her sewing kits. Plus five bucks in her bra.”

Judy laughed. “But your mom came in legally. There’s no analogy.”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s an immigrant mentality, and these are the new immigrants, and if they’re illegal, they’re essentially fugitives. They don’t trust anybody or anything, they can’t call the police. They live in a lawless world. That’s why they come and go without a word, like the guy at Mike’s told you. They don’t play by the same rules.”

“What’s your point?”

“So, it’s not that strange that Daniella would leave, or Iris would hide money, or she couldn’t confide in your aunt. She doesn’t trust anybody, she can’t.”

“So the question is, what was she up to? My aunt didn’t give her that much, and I don’t think she works for anyone else, except Mike’s.”

“Maybe she stole it from the office or petty cash, something like that?”

“I doubt that. I saw Mike’s and it doesn’t look like the kind of business that has ten grand lying around.”

“Okay, what about selling the stuff your aunt gave her?”

“Like an eBay freak? It wouldn’t amount to ten grand.”

“Prostitution?”

“Yuck, out of the question.” Judy shook her head. “Trust me. She had crucifix earrings.”

“Ever hear of Mary Magdalene?” Mary chuckled.

“Stop.”

“What about something having to do with her immigration status? Could she have been helping people across the border for money?”

“Human trafficking? Are you kidding?” Judy scoffed, braking at a stop light. “She was a cute little lady, a baker and a gardener.”

“Oh, in that case forget it. No criminals bake.”

Judy smiled.

“Okay, then what about selling drugs?”

“She didn’t seem like that type, either.”

“Not all drug dealers seem like the type, and if she goes back and forth to Mexico, you never know.”

Judy braked at the next light, traveling up Lombard. “It’s hard to imagine her selling drugs, given how religious she was, and what her roommates and Father Keegan had said about her.”

“Means nothing. You need to buy into the premise that she’s two-faced, leads a secret life, all that. If you ask me, she was up to no good, then died of a heart attack. I think that’s what happened.”

“They seemed surprised she wasn’t at work, too.”

“So she keeps secrets from them, too.” Mary leaned over, putting a hand on Judy’s arm. “Anyway you’re missing the point. Do you know what really worries me?”

“What?” Judy glanced over to new gravity in Mary’s voice.

“What if someone comes looking for the cash at your aunt’s house? If Iris is in cahoots with anybody, they’ll know it’s there. And even if she’s not, you’re telling me it’s a tight community, and it’s possible that someone else knows about the cash and also knows that Iris is dead. So they might come and try to steal it.”

“Oh no.” Judy gripped the steering wheel in alarm. “I didn’t think of that.”

“Where’s the money now?”

“I had packed it up, but I was too worried my mom would find it, so put it back in the garage, in Iris’s chest.” Judy was kicking herself. “I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Was that dumb?”