Peril in Paperback (17 page)

“She’s a lot better. Course, she won’t shut up about this guy here.” He grinned as he pointed his thumb at Gabriel. “So I’ve gotta put up with that. But I’d say it was worth it.”

“That’s good. Come in.” I swung the door open wider to let them both into my room. “What’s going on?”

Gabriel stopped and looked around. “Wow, babe. Have a few books, why don’t you? This place was made for you.”

“Glad you think so,” I said. “Do you want to sit down?”

“Nope, just wanted to give you an update without any of the big ears listening in.”

I smiled at Ray. I guess he didn’t qualify as one of the big ears.

Gabriel caught my look and gave me a quick nod of assurance. “Yeah, Ray’s cool. He tells me that Grace’s balcony railing was in fine condition. He checks them all every month.”

“That’s right,” Ray said, scratching his chin. “Grace is kind of a fanatic about sitting outside on her terrace, even when it’s cold. So Shelly gets on my ass to keep everything out there in good condition. But I would’ve done it, anyway. That’s my job.”

“Did you see the damaged railing?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He scowled. “The screws have been stripped. I don’t get it. I just checked that railing maybe two weeks ago when I weatherized all the wood around the house. I always treat the railings and the eaves and the siding before the snows hit. I do that every fall.”

“That’s really smart,” I said. “No wonder everything looks so nice.”

“Yeah, until today,” he muttered. “Damn it, Shelly could’ve died out there.” Frustrated, he swiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “Anyway, I wanted to thank you both for saving her life.”

“No problem, man.” Gabriel slapped him gently on the back. “I was just glad I got there in time.”

“You and me both.” Ray nodded at me. “Well, you all should probably get going to dinner.”

“Probably so,” I said to Gabriel, then looked at Ray. “We’re having a talent show tonight. Are you going?”

He stopped short of grimacing. “Shelly wouldn’t miss it, so I guess I’ll be there.”

I laughed. “Sorry about that. But we’ll try to give you some laughs.”

“I can only hope.” He walked to the door, then stopped. “I’ll get that railing fixed tomorrow and it’ll be good as new. And I plan on keeping a closer eye on things around here, too. Seems like someone might be up to no good.”

“I know Grace would appreciate it,” Gabriel said. “And we do, too.”

“Yes. Thanks, Ray.” Then something occurred to me. “Do you do a lot of work in the conservatory?”

“Nope. I’m not much of a plant man. I’m happy to dig holes and carry trees here and there, but as far as watering and pruning and such, that’s not my thing. You might want to talk to Ruth. She’s a whiz at all that.”

I forced a smile. “Thanks. I will.”

The door closed behind him and I turned to Gabriel. “Ruth again. She was the one who handed Grace the poisoned drink, and now she’s a whiz with plants?”

He frowned. “We never did check out the conservatory.”

“No. I guess we were a little too distracted this morning.”

“Cops showing up at dawn tend to do that.” Gabriel
headed for the door. “Let’s make sure we do it first thing tomorrow.”

I grabbed my sweater, just in case it got chilly later. As we left my room, I looked up at Gabriel. “Are you ready for this talent show?”

“If you’re wondering if I’m performing the hula or something, don’t hold your breath.”

I chuckled. “How did you know I was hoping for a hula?”

He grunted. “You got an act worked out?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.”

“I’m intrigued.”

I put my hand on him arm. “Don’t be. I beg of you.”

We walked together in comfortable silence up the grand stairway and into the Gold Salon. I was still stumped by Ruth’s role in Bella’s death. I was willing to give Grace the benefit of the doubt when she’d claimed that Ruth was blameless, but the question remained: Where had the woman obtained that poisoned glass? Had someone given it to her or had she picked it up at random off the bar?

I’d told my story to the police so I assumed they had questioned Ruth about it. Since she was still here and not behind bars in the county jail, I figured her answers must have satisfied them. Or maybe they were just biding their time. Did they want to sift through more evidence before making any arrests?

Maybe Ruth had completely denied handing Grace the glass. Maybe she’d told them a different story. Maybe the detectives had decided I was wrong or lying.

Maybe I should just ask the woman myself instead of driving myself crazy.

“Babe, you’re mumbling to yourself,” Gabriel whispered as we made our way to the bar.

“Am I?”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry.” I frowned. “Just going over some things in my head.”

“Memorizing lines for the big show?” he said, smirking at me.

“Yeah, right,” I said weakly.

“How about some champagne?” he said.

“Definitely,” I said with a firm nod. Well, that was embarrassing. There was nothing wrong with talking to the voices in my head—unless everyone else was listening in. I sighed. It was just as well that Gabriel had interrupted me. My brain was starting to spin out of control with all the possibilities. I had to put the brakes on, so I changed the subject.

“Have you talked to Kiki since you’ve been here?”

“Grace’s niece? No. Why?”

“She’s pretty, isn’t she?”

“Beautiful,” he said carefully. “Why do you mention it?”

With a steady look, I said, “She would like you to talk to her.”

He straightened up and his jaw moved back and forth as he took in my request. I guess I’d managed to surprise him. “What’s this all about?”

“I’m merely passing on a message.”

“Let me get this straight.” He enunciated each word. “She asked you to ask me to talk to her.”

“Not exactly,” I hedged. “She just mentioned how much she admired you. A lot. I mean, really a lot. And she wished she could have a chance to spend time with you. Frankly, I’m not sure she’ll survive if you actually speak to her.”

“I’ve heard enough.”

“Wait,” I said. “I’m sorry. She’s a nice girl and I like her. I don’t mean to sound like I’m belittling her feelings.”

He stared at me for another few seconds. “Thank you. I’ll take care of it.”

“But will you—”

“Brooklyn.”

I smiled. “Got it.”

“Good.”

“Just…don’t hurt her.”

His eyes narrowed again. “I don’t hurt women.”

“You have no idea,” I said, shaking my head.

The talent show was a huge success.

Peter Brinker began the show by performing magic tricks. I loved magic tricks! I was the perfect audience for magicians, because I was easily distracted. I knew that was how most magic tricks were pulled off, but I was always willing to play along. And Peter was actually pretty good at it. My hands hurt from all the applauding and Peter seemed to appreciate my standing ovation. It was never easy being the first to perform.

I thought Suzie and my flute and bongos act was stellar. Suzie’s spontaneous tap-dance solo brought new meaning to the phrase
Get the hook!
I couldn’t stop laughing and it seemed to be catching, because the crowd was cackling and hooting by the time we got to the big finish. Whether that was good or bad, I couldn’t say. The happy news was, nobody booed us off the stage.

Ruth was next. We all straightened in our chairs and prepared for a decorous poetry reading. But who could’ve predicted that genteel Ruth’s preferred style of poetry for the evening was limericks?

“There once was a gal from Nantucket,” she began.

“Whoa,” a man muttered from the row behind me. I turned and saw Gabriel wearing a sardonic grin.

Grace stood up immediately. “Now, Ruth.”

“Let her finish,” Marko said. He was chuckling for the first time since Bella’s death.

The rest of the audience took up the chant. “Let her finish. Let her finish.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Grace said, but she was smiling as she sat down and waved at Ruth to keep going.

Ruth didn’t disappoint. The poem was as bawdy as
everyone had expected, and as she took her final bow there were hoots and hollers and calls of “Encore.”

“Maybe later,” she said, patting her gray hair demurely, and sat down.

Heck, if I’d known I could’ve simply recited a bawdy limerick, I wouldn’t have worried myself sick all day.

Grace stood and walked to the front of the room, carrying her heavy manuscript. She opened to the first page, coughed to clear her throat, and began to read. “I was a thin, lonely child. My father’s business forced us to move every other year, and by the age of six the card game solitaire was my best friend.”

I ignored the dangling modifier and smiled at Grace’s portrayal of her central character. I had already read this part of the manuscript and was looking forward to reading more.

“Poor Grace,” Suzie whispered. “So lonely.”

That produced a scowl from Vinnie. “By the age of six I had eight noisy brothers and sisters. I yearned to be lonely.”

“Shhh,” I said, trying not to laugh. “She’s reading about a fictional character.”

“That’s right,” Suzie whispered. “Grace grew up with siblings.”

“A good thing, or you wouldn’t be here,” Vinnie muttered.

Grace read for another minute, then stopped and looked up. There was a beat of silence; then we all clapped and cheered loudly.

“Wonderful,” I cried.

“More, more!” Suzie shouted.

I wasn’t surprised to catch Madge rolling her eyes. She really seemed to hate her husband’s sister. I didn’t know why but I was starting to wonder how much and how deeply that hate was rooted. Deep enough to kill her? But why? Did her husband stand to gain such a great deal of money if Grace died?

Maybe Madge had been caught in the mouse cage like Vinnie. Maybe it had irritated her so much that she had come unhinged and was now ready to strike back at Grace.

That picture entertained me enough to get me through the next act, a painful rendition of the Up with People theme song sung by Sybil Brinker. What made it so awful wasn’t just the fact that Sybil could barely carry a tune in a bucket. It was the song itself, a perky ditty that celebrated the idea that people were essentially good and that we were meant to get along with each other and be happy.

If Sybil Brinker believed one word of those cheery, upbeat lyrics, I would eat my wool scarf.

Halfway through Sybil’s performance, I noticed that Vinnie was gone. I looked around but didn’t see her in the room. Maybe she had slipped away to practice her dance steps.

The next to perform was Kiki. She jogged up to the front of the room, then did a cartwheel before beginning her performance, which was basically a yoga routine. She stood on one leg to start the Sun Salutation, then moved fluidly through each pose.

Two minutes later, she had mangled and twisted her body through five more impossible positions. By the time she reached Downward-Facing Dog, my neck hurt just watching her. Her nimble performance amazed me. I wondered fleetingly what Gabriel thought of it.

She ended the show by moving into Corpse Pose. I shivered as I watched her lying on the floor, not moving.

After a full minute, the audience grew restless. Kiki seemed to sense it because she finally jumped up and bowed deeply, murmuring, “Namaste. Namaste.”

“Stirring performance,” Grace murmured.

Suzie’s snort was covered by our thunderous clapping. I applauded Kiki for having the guts to do that in front of all these virtual strangers.

And then it was time for Vinnie’s performance. Suzie
got up and started the CD player and an exotic drumbeat began to throb rhythmically. Then a penetrating, high-pitched female voice joined in, singing and repeating something that sounded like “Nananananananana.” A male voice shouted “Hoy! Hoy! Hoy!” The plinking sound of a stringed instrument was added to the riveting drumbeat and a full chorus of voices joined and began a spellbinding musical number.

Suddenly, Vinnie jumped to the front of the room and began gyrating playfully to the music. It was meant to be sexy and flirty and fun, but it was more than that. It was riveting. Vinnie was a fantastic dancer.

She had changed her clothes and now wore a lavender chiffon sari with long matching scarves that floated up and down as she moved in time with the quirky music. She wore delicate sandals that seemed to curl with the shape of her small feet as she moved nimbly around the stage. She was mesmerizing.

Her fingers never stopped waving and snapping and convulsing as they performed their own fascinating dance. Her shoulders undulated and her feet moonwalked gracefully in a circle. Then she threw in a few disco steps and some King of Pop moves that brought her audience to its feet.

By the time the music ended, everyone in the room was waving their arms in the air and swaying and dancing with Vinnie. It was the perfect fairy tale via Bollywood ending to the talent show.

Vinnie took her bows to thunderous cheers and a true standing ovation.

“Thank you very much,” she said. Suzie moved to her through the crowd and gave her a big kiss.

“Wasn’t she great?” I said to Gabriel, who had been sitting behind me during the show.

“Blew me away,” he said with a grin.

“Yeah. Me, too.” I turned to look at him. “You didn’t perform.”

“No.”

“I’m sure you’re good at something. The hula, maybe?”

His mouth twisted wryly. “Not in this lifetime.”

“Such a disappointment.”

Then he leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “What’s going on over there?”

Frowning, I glanced up at him. Following the direction of his gaze, I found Sybil standing in front of a closet door I hadn’t noticed before. I watched Sybil glance around as if to check that she wasn’t being followed, then open the door just wide enough to skulk through and close it behind her. “Did she just walk into a closet? She’s a strange woman.”

“Grace went through the same door less than thirty seconds ago,” Gabriel murmured.

I scanned the room again and did a quick count. Every one of our party was still in the room except Grace. And now Sybil. But the talent show was over and people would soon begin to wander off to the bar or the game room.