Getting Old Can Kill You (18 page)

First time I’ve ever seen any of our snowbirds get involved in our affairs. Bless them.

“Oh, really?” someone else shouts out. “She was very snooty. With her fancy clothes and fancy high heels. She thought she was better than us. Who did she think she was anyway?”

Tessie snarls, “You’re just jealous, you old hags! You only wish you could look as good as she does at her age!”

Hy raises himself up to his full five feet. “I don’t care what you think about her or what you saw or think you know; this is still a free country!”

Sol gets into the act. He places himself right behind Hy. “Damn straight!”

Fatima shouts, “Yeah, and I’m free to be a witness at her trial. I know what I saw and what I heard!”

Frances Tarvin, a tough-looking woman from the kitchen group, steps forward, invading Hy’s space. He doesn’t move an inch. “She’s a murderer and she ain’t gonna get away with it!”

Hy is not one to be pushed around, especially by a woman. He reaches over and gently pushes her face away from his. Frances sends a fast fist out to punch him. He ducks. She hits Sol instead.

Sol says, “Ouch.”

His wife, Tessie, that plus-size dynamo, elbows pointed out in weapon mode, goes head to head with the aggressive Frances for revenge.

A couple of the other Phase Three residents drag their belligerent neighbor away amid cheering and booing. Depending on which side they’re on.

The Phase Two group pulls on Tessie.

Hy is on a roll. He shouts above the hubbub, “In this fine country we live in, You. Are. Innocent. Until proven guilty!”

Lola hugs him. “My hero.”

Hy always manages to surprise us. I forgive him for all the bad jokes.

People leave. Much mumbling and grumbling. Dinners are waiting. The drama is over. For now.

It will boil down to what I’ve been afraid of. It will be Joyce’s word against Arlene’s. Wait until the news leaks out about Joyce dying of cancer. All sympathy will shift to her. Being dead trumps being alive. We’ve got to do something to prove Arlene’s innocence, and fast.

M
orrie sits behind his desk. Jack and I sit in the two halfway comfortable low chairs in front of him. Though Morrie and Jack are equally tall, Morrie’s desk chair is a lot more comfortable than the one Jack is in.

Forget that we’re family. This is police headquarters and we are here on serious business. We report on that frightening crowd scene that took place after Morrie carried Arlene away. “And it’s been like that for days now. That’s all everyone talks about and thinks about. And has opinions about.”

Jack comments, too. “And our opinion is that knowing Arlene, we still find it hard to believe she could commit murder.”

I reach over and take his hand.

“All right,” Morrie says to us, being sympathetic.

“I appreciate that you like the woman. But I have to deal with the facts in this situation. At this time everything points to Arlene as having killed Joyce Steiner.”

I have to ask, “But aren’t you even going to try to find out if anyone else could have killed her?”

Morrie is sorry. “We believe we already have the right person.”

I try another tack. “But what about Seymour? How does he fit in?”

Jack concurs. “We were hired by Leah to find her brother and she still expects us to do the job. We’re sure that Joyce knew where he was.”

Morrie says, “Look, there’s nothing wrong with citizen help. Especially from the two of you. In fact, I can easily make Dad a consultant due to his having been a police detective. Which means he gets to sit in on all meetings.”

“Fine with me,” Jack says, crossing and uncrossing his long legs trying to get comfortable in his chair.

Morrie says, “You and your group of lady PIs can continue to investigate. As long as you share whatever you find.” He smiles. “Just don’t make me look like a dope if you solve the case before I do.”

We smile. Feeling more relaxed now.

I add, “As long as you share with us.”

“Dad is free to divulge whatever comes up in my meetings unless I inform him that there is a very good reason not to. Fair enough?”

“Yes.”

“One way you both can help your case and mine is to find out anything else you can about Joyce. Her purse revealed nothing. She had a cellphone with no contact list on it. Surely she had a lawyer to handle her affairs or maybe someone as executor of a will. Interesting, though, we couldn’t even find her driver’s license. Or any kind of papers in her car.”

“That’s another thing,” I say. “Doesn’t that show that someone is getting ready to kill themselves, by cleaning the slate, so to speak?”

“Maybe so, but there’s too much evidence that confirms it was murder. ”

Jack tries again. “Maybe she got rid of everything so you wouldn’t be able to learn the truth about her.”

“But what truth?” Morrie asks.

“We’re definitely going to find out,” Jack promises.

I ask hopefully, “Is there any chance Arlene would be allowed out on bail?”

He shrugs. “Depends on the judge. Most judges would not set bail on a murder case. And besides, the fact that she has relatives living in New York and Chicago, he might see her as a flight risk and could set any bail at an impossible amount.”

Not good. Not good at all. I can’t imagine how to help her with that. I watch Jack get up to walk around a bit to relax his cramped leg muscles.

“Can I pace with you?” I ask him.

“Sure, why not.”

Morrie says, “Arlene still hasn’t picked a lawyer. She keeps interviewing and turning them away. She needs to do it as soon as possible.”

Jack says, “We’ll talk to her and see if we can help.”

Morrie gets up and walks toward the door. “Take a five-minute break. I need to see someone down the hall for a moment.”

We stretch when he leaves.

I look at Jack in despair. “But if she isn’t allowed to go home! How long can they keep her there? That’s awful.”

“I know, but let’s keep calm and take things one at a time. Everything will work out.”

“Yes, but how will it end for poor Arlene?”

He puts his arms around me and hugs me. “We will do all we can. Besides, we’re an unbeatable team. Right?”

“Right.” We kiss.

Morrie walks in on us. He grins. “We’ll have none of that around here. I might have to arrest you for indecent behavior.” He goes back to his chair.

We return to our seats, smiling.

“Where were we?” Jack asks.

“Next,” Morrie says, “I just heard this morning from the Sausalito police that they went to the home of Joyce’s daughter, Stacy, last name, Wilson, in order to inform her of her mother’s death. They learned from their live-in help that Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and children have been traveling around Europe for a month. She expected them home soon, but she didn’t know when and she didn’t know how to reach them. So I left your phone number and an urgent message to call when they return. I’m sure it would be easier on her hearing from compassionate people like you rather than a tough, cold cop.”

Jack says, “All right with us.” He looks at me and I nod my agreement.

Morrie gets up. “That’s it for now.”

We get up also. Jack stretches his back, trying to straighten it out.

Morrie walks us to the door. “Keep in touch.”

I say, “Don’t worry, we will.”

Morrie says, “May the best man, and/or woman, win.” He winks at Jack. “Is it all right for me to kiss my new stepmother?”

Jack shrugs. “Be my guest.”

I take my parting shot at Morrie. “Just remember all the fairy tales you read as a kid. The stepmother was always the meanie. So look out.”

With that he gives me a big kiss on my cheek, while laughing.

I sure do love both my men. I know Morrie is doing his job, but this is hard to bear.

T
he sign we tacked up on the door of the rec room announces a closed meeting—with a title: “For the defense of Arlene Simon. Anyone with information contact Gladdy Gold.”

In typical fashion for any get-together of Gladdy Gold and Associates, there is food. Always food. Corned beef and pastrami deli sandwiches, pickles, coleslaw and potato salad, and always a favorite, Dr. Brown sodas.

Also a new acting member. My Jack. The girls are very impressed that Jack, named as consultant, gets to sit in on police meetings. That’s a big leg up.

And another new interested party, Rico Leon. Ida lets us know that although our businesses are now two separate entities, we are united for this cause. Rico has been invited to join us. Sophie and Bella add that they are considering Rico to be their new partner for the still contested name Ida Franz and Associates. Their team insists Rico is invaluable and definitely on our side and can be trusted. He is their hero since the success of solving the car wash mystery. Squirrels, indeed.

After debating over these two newcomers, then officially welcoming both, we start the business at hand. Arlene’s case.

The girls, between bites of sandwiches, are still reeling over the fact of Joyce having cancer. They agree, it’s bad news for our team. The sympathy will all be for Joyce, seen as the poor dying friend wanting to make up, and cruel Arlene rejecting her with venom. It’s an uphill battle.

“Okay,” I say. “We all agree on flyers. We will divvy them up and put them on bulletin boards in every Phase of Lanai Gardens.”

Evvie, as secretary, takes notes. She reads back what we’ve decided so far to put in the flyers. “ ‘Any information concerning Arlene Simon, Joyce Steiner, and/or Seymour Andrews, please get to us. This rec room will have someone in attendance here every afternoon from two to five. We need your help.’’ ”

Sophie interjects, “The mah-jongg group was very gracious about giving up their weekly game here and are temporarily meeting in Phase Four.”

Bella claps.

Evvie nods and continues reading the flyer. “ ‘We are looking for anyone who has information about Seymour Andrews leaving Lanai Gardens sometime around three weeks ago. He would have been carrying a suitcase. We are guessing he left late at night and might have been picked up by a cab or car.’ ”

Sophie comments, “I just don’t understand why the cops don’t do all this.”

Jack answers her. “Because as far as they’re concerned, they have their killer. They have evidence. They have motive. Arlene has no alibi. It’s up to us to prove they’re wrong.”

I take over. “Joyce managed to leave practically no information about herself, but we now know where she lived. With Jack’s ability with a computer, he has located her former address on the waterways. We should canvass that area, talking to neighbors and getting any info on her there.”

I look at my darling. “Jack, your report?”

Jack says, “Naturally, nobody lives in a vacuum, and we’ve found out the name of her business manager. Gladdy and I will get in touch with him. As it seems that Joyce was wealthy, it was highly probable someone managed her money. And hopefully, he’ll lead us to the executor of her will, assuming she made one.”

“What about the cooking class?” Evvie asks. “Granted we know three of the women who were in the ill-fated kitchen event are against Arlene, but there was one other, Sandra Litzman.”

Bella raises her hand. She always does that to ask permission to speak. “Sophie and me know Sandra. We can talk to her.”

Sophie agrees.

Evvie nods, says, “We need to know more about the key lime pie incident. Whose idea was it to make the pies? How come Joyce knew they were baking that particular pie that day? We now know how bad a memory that food evoked for Arlene. Why did she even go that day? Since Joyce wasn’t a member, how did she find out what they were planning? Who cleaned up the room afterward? What happened to the rest of the pies?”

Ida, taking her own notes, looks up. “Got all of that. We’ll find out.”

Rico gets into the act. “I can’t believe that nobody ever noticed Joyce going up to Arlene’s apartment late at night. You tell us Arlene says it was every single night. Someone has to have seen them. We should be asking everyone on those two floors. In fact, we should talk to everyone in Phase Three.”

Bella and Sophie smile at their protégé.