Haskell spotted a man he wanted to talk to, excused himself, and left us.
I recognized most of the people in the room now, four couples and three singles. The guests started to mingle, once they had loaded their plates. We began to circulate to chat with them. Most of them knew Helen Louise because of the bistro. I glanced toward the door to see Stewart still avidly watching the arrivals. A couple paused to talk to him, and a few more guests wandered into the room, evidently in search of food. They headed straight for the tables.
“Quite a good turnout,” said Betty Camden, a retired schoolteacher who lived at the end of the block on my side. “I know I, for one, have been dying to see the inside of this house.” She laughed. “Particularly after seeing the outside. Talk about over-the-top.”
“Yes, it’s pretty extravagant,” Helen Louise said. “And so is the champagne.”
“Can’t say the same for the food.” Betty cast a critical eye over the contents of her plate, then glanced around the room. “Her decorating style is not my taste at all, I must say. Way too modern.”
Chip, Betty’s husband, said, “Looks like the inside of a factory to me.” I didn’t know him or his wife well, only saying hello if I encountered them somewhere. “I’m dying to meet our hostess,” Betty said. “I’ve seen her two or three times out and about in town, and once when I drove by here, but that’s it. Have you gotten to know her any, Charlie?”
“I hear she’s attractive,” said Chip, and Betty flashed him a look of irritation.
“Nobody asked you.” Betty turned back to me.
“I’ve chatted with her a few times,” I said. “Briefly. She did tell me she grew up here, but I’d never met her before, and she seems to be about my age. If we’d gone to school together, I think I would remember her.”
Betty nearly spit out a mouthful of champagne. “Don’t let her fool you, at least about her age. I got a good look once at her face and her neck. She’s closer to my age, I’d swear to it. I grew up in Athena, too, and I don’t recall her, either. Definitely some kind of mystery there.”
“You ought to be able to figure it out.” Chip, a lawyer often rumored to have political ambitions, nodded at me. “You like solving mysteries, right?”
I laughed. “I do, but I’m not sure this is one I want to solve.”
“Don’t encourage him,” Helen Louise said.
A sudden commotion in the hall interrupted us. Nearly as one, the guests in the living room surged toward the door. Helen Louise and I set down our plates on a small table against the wall before we followed. We ended up next to Stewart. He grinned at us and said, “Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”
I almost didn’t hear him because of the screeching going on right in front of us. Tammy Harville and Gerry Albritton faced each other at the bottom of the stairs. Gerry stood silent, her expression one of bored contempt as she listened to Tammy.
All conversation had ceased by then, and everyone had no trouble hearing Tammy’s next words.
“I’m telling you for the last time, you whore. Stay away from my husband, or you won’t live to regret it.”
THIRTEEN
I watched, fascinated, as Gerry remained cool in the face of Tammy’s wild anger. Poor Milton suddenly stepped forward from wherever he had been lurking and grabbed Tammy’s arm. He jerked her around to face him. She stumbled and nearly fell, but Milton’s tight grip kept her upright.
“That’s enough, do you hear me?” Milton’s face evinced both his embarrassment and his rage. “You’re completely out of control. I swear if you don’t stop this, I’ll get you committed to Whitfield if it’s the last thing I do.”
Whitfield was the state mental health facility near Jackson. Tammy appeared so out of control that she probably needed the kind of help Whitfield provided. This was not normal behavior.
Tammy, now faced with a husband who had finally found his snapping point after the Lord only knew how much provocation, appeared stunned.
“Would you mind removing this lunatic from my house?” Gerry asked, her tone still calm. “I won’t tolerate this kind of behavior from anyone.”
“We’re going.” Milton tugged Tammy toward the door, and she provided no resistance. I thought even she had realized how far over the line she had stepped.
Jincy hurried to open the door for them, and Milton pushed his wife out of the house. I had never seen him angry, let alone in a rage like this. Jincy closed the door, and after a few beats of silence, conversation erupted. Gerry began to move among her guests, and from her manner, no one would ever imagine she had just endured a highly emotional confrontation.
“Poor Milton,” Helen Louise said. I hadn’t known she was behind me, and I turned and nodded.
“She needs help,” I said. “I wonder, do you think she has an addiction problem? Could drugs or alcohol be making her act this way?”
“Possibly,” Helen Louise said. “She’s been erratic as long as I’ve known her, though, so if she is an addict, it’s been going on for years.”
“Maybe now that Milton has had enough,” Stewart said, “Tammy will change her ways. If Milton doesn’t back down, that is.”
“For their sakes, let’s hope he doesn’t,” I said. Then I thought of a question for Stewart. “Remember what you said to me about a bumpy night? That sounded familiar.”
He laughed. “Yes, it’s a direct quote from All About Eve.”
“That’s it,” I said. “Bette Davis.”
“My favorite,” Helen Louise said. “That’s exactly who Gerry reminded me of during that scene with Tammy. Gerry’s a tough broad, too.”
Stewart stepped away from his position at the living room door. “I don’t know about you two, but that kind of drama makes me long for more champagne.” He went off in search of more bubbly.
I leaned close to Helen Louise and whispered, “How long do we have to stay to be polite? I’m already feeling too warm with all these people around us.”
Helen Louise responded in a firm tone. “Longer than we’ve been here so far. The champagne probably warmed you up. You finished the first glass already. You usually make one glass last for half an hour, at least.”
Before I could respond, Helen Louise nodded in the direction of the front door and said, “Look who’s here now. I wasn’t sure she would actually grace us with her presence.”
I turned to see who it was. Deirdre Thompson. Doyenne of the neighborhood, second only to my friends the Ducote sisters in what passed for the aristocracy in Athena. Her forebears had settled in Athena at roughly the same time as the Ducote clan and had contributed greatly to the civic life of the town for nearly two hundred years.
Unlike the Ducote sisters, Deirdre had married, and more than once. When the latest husband died, she resumed the surname of her first husband, Cedric Thompson, but she kept everything else from the subsequent marriages.
She arrived alone. She acknowledged Jincy’s greeting but moved on quickly. Chip and Betty Camden approached her and led her toward us. Deirdre nodded and vouchsafed a brief smile as the trio moved past us into the living room.
“Deirdre looks to be in a good mood tonight,” Helen Louise said. “I didn’t realize she was so friendly with Chip and Betty, though. Ever since she parted ways with Chip’s law firm, anyway.”
“Must have been an amicable split, from the look of things,” I said. Deirdre continued to smile pleasantly as we watched her move along the table, the Camdens almost on her heels. “Maybe Chip is trying to woo her back.”
“Good evening.” Gerry Albritton’s cool voice came from behind. Helen Louise and I turned to greet our hostess.
“So glad you could come,” Gerry said in response to our comments on the party. She held a large snifter in one hand, not a champagne glass like everyone else. I found that odd. She had a sip of what looked like brandy. “I hope you�
��re enjoying yourselves, despite the ridiculous drama that deranged woman caused.” She smiled. “Why on earth she would imagine I have any interest whatsoever in her poor husband, I don’t have the least idea. I do shop in his drugstore, and we may have passed the time of day a few times, but that’s all.”
“Most everyone in town knows Tammy,” Helen Louise said. “She has cried wolf over Milton so many times I doubt anyone here took her seriously. There’s no need for you to even think about it.” She waved a hand in a dismissive gesture.
I nodded. “Helen Louise is right. Most people steer clear of Tammy if they can. Everyone knows what she’s like.”
“If she sets foot on my property again, I’ll sue her for trespassing.” Gerry grimaced. “If you can sue someone for that. I doubt she’ll have the guts to show up here again anytime soon.”
“I’m sure you’ve seen the last of her,” Helen Louise said in a soothing tone. “Don’t give her another thought.”
Gerry smiled. “If I feel like I need protection, I can always yell for help from Charlie, since he’s only across the street from me.” She laid a hand on my arm and let it rest there for a few seconds before pulling it away.
Helen Louise did not find that amusing, and frankly, neither did I. Surely the woman wasn’t flirting with me right under my partner’s nose. I looked sharply at Gerry but couldn’t detect any hint of irony or humor in her manner.
“You’d do better to call the police department,” I said in as polite a tone as I could muster. “I’m not much good at heroics, like chasing burglars or stopping would-be attackers.”
Gerry’s attention appeared to be drawn somewhere else at that moment. She murmured “Excuse me” and walked away from Helen Louise and me.
“What is with her? Rudeness on top of that blatant flirting,” Helen Louise said, an irritated glint in her eye. “I’m not going to put up with any more of that behavior.”
“Don’t get too annoyed. She was probably joking with us,” I said, although I didn’t think my protest sounded even partially convincing.
Helen Louise slipped her arm through mine and pulled me closer. “Maybe, but if she was, it was in extremely poor taste.”
“Granted,” I said, “but you’ve seen that living room and that horrendous display in her front yard. Would you call either of them tasteful?”
“Point taken,” Helen Louise replied. “Let’s find more champagne and see if there are any sweets to be had.”
We found the dining room, along with more champagne and, as Helen Louise had predicted, small cheesecake squares. There were also morsels of chocolate, peppermints, and several types of cookies. No chocolate-covered cherries, however.
Before long, as we encountered various people to converse with, we ended up in different rooms. I found myself back in the living room, having accompanied Stewart and a colleague of his from the college chemistry department on a quest for more mini-quiche. I didn’t know Stewart’s colleague, a jovial man about my age who lived a couple of streets behind me. His name was Gary Fenstermacher, and I discovered that he, like me, was an avid mystery reader. We discussed our favorite writers. He turned out to be a fan of serial killer novels and international intrigue thrillers, neither of which appealed to me all that much. I had read many of the late Helen MacInnes’s novels, however, and he turned out to be a huge fan. We were discussing her, with Stewart listening patiently but not contributing to the conversation, when I became aware of a new arrival.
What was Melba doing here?
She didn’t live in the neighborhood, but she might have wrangled an invitation from Gerry. I thought that unlikely, however, after Melba’s attempt to question Gerry and find out about her past. Melba turned to smile at a man who approached her, and I recognized him. He was Jared Carter, a widower who lived next door to Gerry on the north side. I had heard Melba mention Jared a couple of times recently, but I hadn’t thought much about it. He was a well-known, successful dentist, and she might have been to see him professionally. She chattered about all sorts of people, and—rude though it might have been—I didn’t always pay close attention.
I couldn’t recall the context in which Melba had brought up Jared’s name, whether professionally or personally, but from the playful look she was giving him right then—and the indulgent smile he wore in return—I would have to say it must have been personal. They were obviously interested in each other. I didn’t think Melba would feign interest in a man simply to attend a party, no matter how deep her curiosity about its hostess.
I became aware that Gary was waiting for a reply from me, but I had no idea what he had said or asked. I smiled ruefully. “I’m sorry, Gary, I got distracted when I saw a good friend of mine over there.” I tilted my head in Melba’s direction.
Gary and Stewart followed my gaze. Gary laughed. “Melba Gilley, I see. She’s definitely distracting. Who’s that she’s with?”
“A neighbor of mine,” I said. “In fact, he lives next door to this house. Jared Carter. I hope you’ll pardon me, but I must go speak to Melba and Jared.”
“Sure, go ahead,” Gary replied. “Stewart and I can gossip about the chemistry department. Have you heard the latest about the chairman’s oldest son?”
I left the two men deep in discussion of some youthful peccadillo and walked over to where Melba and Jared stood talking. Melba saw me approach and smiled. Jared nodded to acknowledge me.
“Good evening,” I said. “Jared, it’s nice to see you. It’s been a while.”
“Haven’t been out much,” he replied, and I recalled that he had lost his wife not quite a year ago. “Melba is getting me out now, though, and I’m enjoying myself.” He smiled down at her.
Jared stood a good six five, I reckoned, and Melba was probably five nine or so in high heels. They made an attractive couple despite the noticeable disparity in height. Jared sported a thick head of gray hair and distinguished features in addition to his lean height. Melba was vivacious, attractive, and always knew how to dress in a flattering style. Jared, I judged, had to be in his midsixties. I vaguely remembered that he had graduated from high school in Athena about a decade before Melba and me.
“Jared took me out for an early dinner,” Melba said. “When we finished, he suggested that we drop by the party since Gerry is his next-door neighbor.”
“I thought it was the neighborly thing to do,” Jared said. “I’ve talked to her a couple of times, and she made a special point of insisting that I show up.” He appeared suddenly a bit uncomfortable, and I had little doubt that Gerry had come on strong with him. She might not appreciate seeing him here with Melba, I thought.
I was about to find out, because I spotted Gerry making her way toward us from behind Melba. “Here comes our hostess now,” I said in an undertone.
Jared turned toward Gerry, but Melba remained facing me, a wicked glint in her eye. Watch this, her expression seemed to say.
“Good evening, Jared,” Gerry said brightly. “I’m so glad you could come tonight. I would have been so disappointed if you hadn’t.” She looked up into his face and offered a coquettish smile.
“Good evening, Gerry,” he said. “Looks like a big turnout.”
“Yes, even better than I hoped.” She frowned at Melba’s back. “Am I interrupting you?”
This was perhaps the cue Melba had been waiting for, because she turned to face Gerry. “Good evening,” Melba said.
Gerry’s mask of hospitality slipped ever so briefly, and I could read the irritation in her eyes. Then she became the consummate hostess again. “How nice to see you again. Mildred, isn’t it?”
Melba laughed. “No, it’s Melba, honey. Nice to see you again, too.” She slipped her arm through Jared’s and hugged it to her side. “I didn’t realize until tonight that you and Jared were neighbors. He was telling me about it over the most delicious dinner I’ve had in I don’t know how long.”<
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“How charming for you,” Gerry said, her drawl at its most exaggerated on the word charming. “Would you mind if I stole Jared away for just one little minute? I have something I really need to say to him.”
I felt Melba stiffen beside me at Gerry’s request. By then I had moved to stand on Melba’s other side, where Gerry could easily see me. She flicked a glance in my direction but otherwise didn’t acknowledge my presence.
“Of course not, honey,” Melba said sweetly. “Just remember where you got him, all right? I’m sure Charlie will be glad to keep me company for a minute or two.” She relinquished Jared’s arm, and he moved a few feet away from us with Gerry. He threw Melba a glance of apology as he went.
“Enjoying yourself?” I asked as soon as the others were out of earshot.
“Sure am,” Melba said. “Why shouldn’t I?”
“What are you up to? And since when did you and Jared become such good friends?” I said.
Melba sounded exasperated when she replied. “If you actually listened to me instead of only pretending to half the time, you’d know that Jared and I have been going out together for about three weeks now.”
“Sorry.” I felt chagrined. I really ought to pay more attention when she talked, but sometimes I couldn’t help my mind drifting onto something else. “I’ve always thought he was a nice guy.”
“He is,” Melba replied simply. “The nicest one I’ve known in a long time.”
“Is it serious?” I asked.
Melba shrugged. “Too soon to say, but so far I like him a lot. We’ll have to see whether it goes anywhere.”
Melba had been on her own for a long time, and she certainly deserved to have a good man in her life, if that was what she really wanted.
Six Cats a Slayin' Page 9
