Joan Hess - Arly Hanks 06 (12 page)

Patting her hair, Estelle said, “That’s right kind of you to say so. He did sorta smile, so maybe he thought he was being friendly.” She and Ruby Bee moved away from us to evaluate this newest theory.

I glanced down the sidewalk, then nudged Durmond in the opposite direction and in a low voice said, “I’m not comfortable with the explanation. It’s possible they’ve attracted the attention of someone with less pure motives than Cambria assigns him. I’m not suggesting this man is a serial killer out to get them, but there are a lot of screwy people on the streets. However, if I try to warn them, especially now that they’ve decided the city is thick with secret admirers, I’m afraid they won’t take my advice.” I made a face at the hissing pair. “Not that they ever do.”

“Then we have no choice,” Durmond murmured. “it would be irresponsible of us to allow them to resume their day’s plans on their own. While we keep an eye out for the maniac, you and I must escort them—for their own safety, naturally.”

“Naturally,” I echoed unenthusiastically, recalling my uneasiness about venturing outside the hotel.

Durmond squeezed my arm briefly. “Then it’s settled. Come along, ladies. Let’s see if they’re serving breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

Ruby Bee and Estelle were still debating the name of the cat as we slammed shut the taxi doors and took off into the slate gray maze of Manhattan. I’d long since given up trying to convince them it didn’t have one.

It was approaching four o’clock when we returned to the Chadwick Hotel. It felt more like midnight (in the Arctic Circle, no less) to me, but I’d just spent six hours in the company of two exceptionally unimpressed tourists, who were still verbalizing disbelief that a crowded little coffee shop (and by no means spic and span) had the audacity to charge seven dollars and fifty cents for a cheeseburger—and then put the coleslaw in a paper bonbon cup. And some of those silly things at the Museum of Modern Art! Both of them had made known, loudly, that someone had sure pulled the wool over the museum folks’ eyes. Why, anyone with half a brain could see that big picture was nothing but a black square. Minimal art? About as minimal as you can get with nuthin’ more than a can of black paint! And look at that, Miss Art Expert—it ain’t anything more than a bunch of ropes curled up, and a mite sloppily at that. If we was to gather up the junk out behind Raz Buchanon’s barn and send it to these folks, they’d probably send back a generous check and a thank-you note. As for those other so-called paintings, prettier prettier pictures were taped on Joyce Lambertino’s refrigerator, and you could tell what they were supposed to be, presuming you were charitable and remembered how old the children were.

And so on and so on, until I was no longer amused, or bemused, and was reduced to offering sullen explanations and wishing I were wearing a hood … and a noose. Even Durmond, who’d initially made an effort, had quieted down after we’d been asked to leave Tiffany’s (Ruby Bee had been determined to get Gloria Swanson’s autograph, and the woman thus identified all the way across the showroom had taken the accusation rather poorly).

Geri was in the lobby, the clipboard clutched in her hand and a faint frown marring her flawless brow. “Oh, good,” she said, taking attendance with a gold pen. “I can’t promise which media people will show, but there were a few who didn’t curse at me or flatly refuse. It’s shaping up nicely. The caterers are here, and the bar is set. The flowers came at noon, and …” The frown deepened just a teensy bit. “I haven’t seen Kyle all afternoon. The grocers delivered the ingredients an hour ago, but since he’d danced off with the key, I had to have the boxes left outside the kitchen. I do hope he didn’t say to hell with it and head south to join his father and dear Mr. Fleecum.”

“I saw him midmorning,” I volunteered. “He was going out to buy the utensils that were needed for the contest. He didn’t mention suntan lotion and a beach towel.” A genetic disposition to meddle in romantic endeavors made me add, “He wasn’t too happy to be treated like a combination of a scullery maid and an errand boy.” Geri stiffened. “I was working on the media contacts, which is my area of expertise. There’s absolutely no reason to sponsor these things if coverage isn’t forthcoming, and Prodding, Polk and Fleecum does have a reputation in the field. In any case, Kyle’ll be in the spotlight tomorrow when he presents the grand prize.”

“Ten thousand dollars,” inserted Ruby Bee, much brighter now that she could dismiss the nonsense passin’ for art in Noow Yark City and focus on more important issues.

“In a manner of speaking,” Geri said uneasily. She poised her pen over the clipboard and began to murmur to herself as she perused the page. She glanced up as the door opened.

Kyle carried two bulging sacks, with a third balanced atop them. “I hope I never have to go through this again,” he said as he headed toward the kitchen. “There was a sale on crockery, and I barely escaped intact.”

“Did you get everything?”

“Every last damn thing. As much as I’d like to stand here and chat, my arms have lost all feeling.”

“How dreadful for you. I do hope they spring back to life, since you’ll need to put away all the little things you picked up and then distribute the ingredients to the proper boxes. Once you’ve done that, lock up and be back at five. And, please, try to wear something suitable for the media.”

Kyle’s neck muscles tensed, but he continued down the hallway. While our group stood like children awaiting permission to go to the bathroom, Geri complacently resumed her study of her clipboard.

The elevator doors opened and a trim, middle-aged woman joined us. “Oh, Geri, dear, have you seen Jerome? I popped out earlier to shop, and I thought he was intending to work in the room all afternoon, but he’s gone. I cannot face the idea of television cameras and newspaper reporters without him beside me to keep me from making an idiot of myself. My daughters say that every time I open my mouth, there’s room for a discount shoe outlet to fit inside, and—”

“No, I haven’t seen him, Brenda,” said Geri, “but the press reception doesn’t start for an hour. I’m sure he’s just gone for a walk and will be back shortly.”

“I suppose so,” she said, sighing in much the fashion Eilene Buchanon did when informed of Kevin’s latest mishaps. She acknowledged my introduction with yet another sigh and was hovering near the door as Ruby Bee, Estelle, Durmond, and I went to the elevator and rode to the second floor. The two intrepid tourists continued to their room, now engrossed in the spectre of a large sum of money.

“A quiet drink?” Durmond said as we paused in the hall to locate our respective room keys. “I think I need something after today’s … outing. Gloria Swanson must be laughing hysterically from the great beyond, along with Picasso and Warhol, and poor old Monet, who probably intended all along for his paintings to be blurry.”

“I wish I were with them. Let me wash my face, then I’ll tap discreetly on the adjoining door and we can do the dirty deed without stirring up any gossip.”

The elevator door slid open. Brenda and Frannie stared at us, then nervously twittered as if they’d been accused of conspiring to rig the Krazy KoKo-Nut cookoff.

“Frannie’s coming to my room for a little drink,” Brenda said in response to our less than inquisitive expressions. “I know we shouldn’t be imbibing at such an hour, but I’m so excited about the press reception, and, as Jerome says, it must be five o’clock somewhere in the world.”

“I’ve been out shopping,” Frannie said, somehow equally compelled to explain herself—and the highly suspicious presence of shopping bags in her hands. “I sent Catherine back here earlier to take a nap and prepare herself for the press. She’s been in numerous beauty pageants, talent contests, that sort of thing, and she does much better if she’s well rested. The DO NOT DISTURB sign’s still up, so I guess she’s asleep.”

“What time is it in California?” Brenda asked as the two went down the hall. “I never can keep it straight, although I do know it’s much earlier or much later. Vernie’s a freelance writer, as I told you, and works at home. She’s sold articles to—” The door closed on Vernie’s career.

“I’ll be ready in a minute,” I said to Durmond, then went inside my shabby little sanctuary and sank down on the bed. The ghastly foray had left me so tense that I was trembling, as if I’d confronted my past on every corner. I hadn’t scrutinized every face for that of my ex, nor had I really worried that I would run into him or anyone else. In Maggody, population about 755 (depending on who was off visiting relatives), you bet. In Manhattan, population 10,000,000 (give or take a million), not likely—but too close for comfort, nevertheless.

The red bulb on the telephone was blinking. I punched for the operator and waited, although I was more interested in the far side of the adjoining door than I was any messages.

Rick responded with a surly, “Yeah? Whaddya want?”

“My message light’s blinking. This leads me to believe there’s a message.”

“Hang on.” He banged down the receiver, cursing, and several minutes later, came back on, cursing. “Goddamn Gebhearn dame swept everything off the desk. Here it is, no thanks to her. Some broad named Ellen called, said to call her back, said it’s an emergency.” This time he banged down the receiver in its cradle.

I replaced mine more gently and flopped back on the limp pillow. I’d been expecting the message to be from Ruby Bee, concerned with the presence of cockroaches in their room or a desire for sodas from the machine in the lobby—both of which she would have construed as emergencies no less volatile than a neighborhood nuclear meltdown. But Ellen who?

There was a mild tap on the adjoining door. I pulled myself up, rubbed my eyes, and opened it. Durmond held two glasses, the ice cubes tinkling seductively, a bagged bottle, and a bag of potato chips. “Your place or mine?” he said.

I waved him in and, while he fixed drinks, said, “I’ve had a message from someone named Ellen. I have no idea who it might be. Could it have been meant for you?”

“A woman calling me? ” With a self-deprecatory chuckle, he sat down on the bed and began to open the bag. “Who’d be interested in a dreary old professor who’s desperate enough to mutilate a perfectly decent cake recipe with Krazy KoKo-Nut?”

“She said it was an emergency,” I said, ignoring his melodramatic display designed to elicit a tender response from yours truly. “I guess I’d better ask Ruby Bee and Estelle if they have any idea who it might be. I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll just sit here by myself.”

“Do that.” I went down the hall and knocked on their door, When Estelle opened it, I made a rather natural attempt to enter the room. Natural and unsuccessful. “What’s the deal with the security in this room?” I asked, irritated. “Are you entertaining sailors or something? Boozing it up with traveling salesmen from Toledo?”

“Ruby Bee is gettin’ herself gussied up for the press reception,” Estelle said, glancing over her shoulder. “She’s wedged in the bathroom at the moment, while I try to figure out what she’s gonna wear. The room’s too darn small to have other people traipsing in and out all the time like a bunch of gawky outlanders. Now, what’s your problem, missy?”

Manhattan was unnerving me, but it was unhinging them. I told Estelle about the mysterious call from “Ellen,” and was told that they were a sight too busy to worry about my anonymous callers. On that note, the door was closed.

As I retreated toward 204, a man with erect peppery hair and thicklensed glasses came out of one room and headed for the door through which Frannie and Brenda had gone earlier. The missing Jerome, I surmised as I smiled vaguely and made a move to pass him, wrinkling my nose as I caught a whiff of perfume tainted with cigar smoke.

He stepped back to block my way. Although we were the same height, he seemed to think he could tower over me and intimidate me with his masculine authority, or at least his bad breath. “Who are you?”

“Not my mother’s keeper,” I replied mildly. “How about yourself?”

He moistened his lips with a normal tongue. “I’m Jerome Appleton, honey. My wife’s one of the contestants, and I came along for moral support. How about yourself?”

I recognized his voice, although it was no longer roaring about the blankety-blank buzzards at the IRS. I introduced myself and admitted I was in a similar role. “I guess this is convenient for you,” I added, “since the Chadwick Hotel is one of your accounts.”

“This dump? You gotta be kidding.” He moved toward me, and as Estelle had sworn, it was damned easy to see the mental icing on his face, not to mention the real dribble on his chin. “I handle a coupla clubs not too far from here, though. Maybe while the contestants are busy, we might go have a drink to console ourselves for missing out on the limelight? Don’t get me wrong, honey. I’m not suggesting anything more risqué than that—unless you’re in the mood … ?”

“You really are a toad, aren’t you?” I said evenly. “Do you have dead flies stuck between your teeth?”

“Jerome?” Brenda said, opening the door and frowning as she noticed his face, which was frozen in a fine imitation of a gargoyle. All we needed was a flying buttress on which to perch him. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing.” He brushed past her and closed the door.

I was not popular on the second floor of the Chadwick, I thought as I trudged on my way like an errant mail carrier. The last time I’d received the cold shoulder from Estelle and Ruby Bee, they’d been up to no damn good, not to mention enmeshed in a thoroughly idiotic kidnapping plot that had backfired and then some. It was hard not to suspect they were up to something now, but I had no idea what it could be.

There was something damned fishy about the so-called mugging in the stairwell, but everyone seemed content to dismiss it as a typical New York close encounter of the wrong kind. I was the only person who remained unsatisfied with the story. But it was hard to explain why Durmond had been dragged to Ruby Bee’s room and stripped, and the police alerted to storm the same site. To myself, anyway—since no one else was asking.

I stopped in front of the stairwell door around the corner from the elevator. Almost invisible in the terminally dingy pattern of the carpet was a round brown speckle. I knelt and looked for others. There was a trail of sorts, and I determined that it began by the door and went in the direction I’d just come. Like Raz’s sow on the scent of a wily truffle, I crawled down the hall, restraining myself from actually snuffling as each speckle lured me on.