“I’d rather not talk about it, Danny. Not right now. Okay?”
“Sure,” I say. “Stay here. I need to talk to Mrs. Oppenheimer.”
“She’ll lie, Danny.”
I nod and grin. “Thanks for the tip.”
Mrs. Shona Oppenheimer and Officer Santucci are waiting for me out on one of the decks hanging off the back of the house.
“Mrs. Oppenheimer?” I say. “What happened here tonight?”
“I wanted to print out a new diet I’d found on line for my sister, but Christine was hogging the printer with paperwork related to her position with Dr. Rosen.”
“Dr. Rosen?”
“Arnold Rosen, DDS. The retired dentist who lives in that big house up in Cedar Knoll Heights. It’s still the nicest piece of shorefront property on the island. It sits atop a bit of a bluff above the dunes, so Sandy’s storm surge didn’t swamp it.”
I nod. The folks in Cedar Knoll Heights were lucky.
“Dr. Rosen is ninety-four,” Mrs. Oppenheimer continues. “Not drilling too many teeth these days.”
Santucci chuckles. Guess these two had hit if off in my absence.
“Christine works at the dentist’s home during the day, seven to seven. She works here nights.”
“So,” I say, “you two were fighting over the printer?”
“Hardly,” says Mrs. Oppenheimer. “Apparently, some paper became jammed in the feeder, and Christine started using the most foul language imaginable in front of my very impressionable young son.”
“Your son was in the room with the printer?” I say because that’s not where the son said he was.
“No. He was in his room. But Christine was shouting so loudly, I’m sure he heard every word. That’s when I calmly asked Christine to leave.”
“But as I understand it, she lives here. Takes care of Samuel.”
“That was always a temporary arrangement. I can find other pediatric home health aides. In fact, I already have.”
“I can verify that,” says Santucci. “She called the, uh …”
“AtlantiCare Agency. They’re sending someone over right away.”
“So, you’re evicting Christine?” I say.