I ran a hand through my hair, conscious that she must be horrified to see what shape my hair was in, which was no shape at all.
“What with my injury I haven’t had time to do a thing about my hair,” I said.
She nodded. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out her card and gave it to me. “Give me a call,” she said. “I think I can help you.”
No doubt she could, I thought when I saw the name of the salon and the location. But at what cost?
“So tell me, Rita,” Harrington said, “I hear you’ve actually seen the fabulous silver shoes.”
“Well, yes, but only briefly,” I said. What was he getting at?
“What did you think? Worth the money?”
“They were beautiful all right,” I said. But how did I know what they were worth? I didn’t know how much they cost. Did he? I didn’t know where they were now either—did he?
“Are you enjoying the summer off?” I asked him, to change the subject.
“Summer off? Not for me,” he said. “It may look like I’m not working, but I am. Call it a sick day or call it research. I need it. You know I’ve been busy at school all summer, and starting tomorrow I’m in full fall season mode. Besides rehearsals, I’ve got meetings, meetings and more meetings. I tell you it’s all too much. I have two classes of remedial English to teach along with the plays I direct. The worst part is I’m under the thumb of a principal with the most sophomoric taste. We’re doing Bye Bye Birdie this fall and High School Musical in the spring. Can you imagine anything more banal? I make all the costumes, props and you name it.”
I tried to look sympathetic, but my head was starting to ache. I wanted to say, “Then hadn’t you better hustle on back to the scene shop at your high school and get busy cutting and stitching costumes, or pounding nails together for a set?” Instead, I reached into my bag for my pain pills and my bottled water.
Harrington and his sister both watched as if they’d never seen someone popping pills before. Not the ones prescribed by a doctor anyway. I hoped he’d take the hint and take his sister to lunch or at least go look at this season’s costume jewelry in the back room.
“Heard you had an accident. What happened to you?” he asked, his eyes on my bandaged ankle.
“Just a slight sprain.” I held my breath, expecting him to pursue the topic as Detective Wall had done by saying, “I didn’t ask for a diagnosis, I asked what happened,” but he didn’t. “I guess I’d better quit malingering and get up to help Dolce.” I struggled to get out of the chair, and Harrington took my hand and pulled me up. With hands that smooth, how was he going to construct sets and paint scenery?
I murmured something about how good it was to see them both before they wandered over to Dolce’s casual wear collection. Now what would I do? I could hardly stand around with one sprained ankle trying to help customers. Maybe I shouldn’t have come back to work so soon after all. Fortunately Dolce realized how awkward my position was, and she asked me to hang out in her office and answer the phone, which was ringing off the hook today.
“Is it because of MarySue?” I asked after gathering up my stuff and plopping myself into the chair behind her desk.
She said she didn’t know and closed the door behind her. “I wouldn’t mind the extra traffic and calls if they added up to sales, but as you saw out there, everyone just wants to talk about the murder. I’m going back and try to actually sell something. If anyone asks for me, just say I’m with a customer and take a message. Or better yet, try to solve their problem, whatever it is. An order for something special? Take it. Store hours? Tell them. Directions? Give them. What I hate is when they just want to ask about MarySue. If they do, just say she was a valued customer and I’m devastated. So upset I can’t talk about it. But I’m open for business. How does that sound?”
“Makes sense to me,” I assured her. But I hoped no one would ask. What if I said the wrong thing? What if someone really tried to pin me down about my relationship with MarySue, like the detective had? Maybe I could pretend to be the answering service.
“Take a break,” I said to Dolce. “I’m fine in here with my leg up on the desk. Don’t worry about a thing. Go mingle with the customers. I’ll handle all the calls.” I smiled and shooed her out. She closed the door behind her and immediately the phone started ringing.
“Good morning, you’ve reached Dolce’s,” I said.
“Ms. Loren? This is Detective Jack Wall. I have a few questions for you regarding the case of Ms. Jensen. I wonder if this is a convenient time to come by?”
“Ms. Loren is not available to come to the phone or for interviews,” I said, trying to sound like a temp who knew nothing about anything. “She’s extremely busy. Perhaps another day.”
“Is this Ms. Jewel by any chance?” he asked in a voice that said he knew damn well it was me and that he found it suspicious and almost criminal that I didn’t tell him up front who I was.
“Yes, it’s me,” I admitted with a sigh.
“I thought you were laid up for the duration. It’s good to know you’ve recovered enough to go to work. If Ms. Loren isn’t available, I have a few follow-up questions for you if you’re up to it.”
“We’re running a business here,” I said. “Customers might be put off by the presence of the police. It’s bad enough one of our customers is murdered, but to have the police hanging around makes people nervous.”
“Do I make you nervous, Ms. Jewel?” he asked in that deep voice of his that caused my hand to shake.
“I have nothing to be nervous about,” I said. Then why was my throat dry and my voice trembling?
“Then you won’t mind my dropping by.”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” I said. All I needed was another interrogation. “As I said, the presence of the police tends to freak out some people.”
“I know what you said,” he said. “I understand that you prefer our interview occur away from your place of work. Since it’s almost lunchtime and we both have to eat, I propose we consider this a business lunch. I will provide the food, you will provide certain information.”
I didn’t know what to say. It sounded vaguely illegal or at least immoral to exchange lunch for ratting on someone, if that’s what he meant. On the other hand, I was so hungry my stomach was growling. It must be the pain pills.
“Do I have a choice?”
“Yes, you do. I can ask questions at the central police station, your home, or we can eat lunch in some outdoor facility nearby. It’s your choice.”
“Fine,” I said, wishing I knew where he meant. Lafayette Park? Ocean Beach? He said he’d be by at twelve thirty to pick me up.
When Dolce popped into the office to get her appointment book from her desk drawer, she was surprised to hear about my lunch date, as she called it. I didn’t tell her he’d originally asked to speak to her about the murder. I was sure she was still on his to-do list.
“The man is good-looking, no doubt about that. And if he wants to buy you lunch, why not go?”
I was glad to hear she approved. Then she said, “I wonder what he wants in exchange.”
“I thought I’d already told him everything I know,” I said. “Except the part about going to MarySue’s house that night. I suppose I’ll have to come clean about that.”
“Why shouldn’t you? You’re the victim there. Aren’t you?” she asked with a frown.
“That’s right,” I said. It was time to level with Dolce. “MarySue almost killed me when I tried to get the shoes back.”
“What? That’s terrible.”
“But I didn’t kill her,” I insisted. “There I was on the top of a ladder outside her bedroom because she refused to let me in. She’s inside dressed for the Benefit. I yell at her to give me back the shoes. She is not happy to see me. In fact, she opens her window and gives me a shove, right into her dead oak tree. You see, I am not just falling from a tall ladder. That’s bad enough. What’s worse is that she is furious. She reaches out. She p
ushes me. I fall. The next thing I know, I am waking up in the hospital with a concussion and a sprained ankle.”
“But how did you get there?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea. Maybe Detective Wall will enlighten me. I owe someone unless it was MarySue who dropped me off on her way to the park.”
“Doesn’t seem likely,” Dolce said. “I picture MarySue hoping you wouldn’t wake up until the Benefit was over.”
“Which I didn’t. Which was good because I have an alibi for MarySue’s murder.”
Dolce looked thoughtful. “But I don’t.”
“You don’t have a motive either,” I reminded her. “What good would it do you to kill MarySue? To get the shoes back? Somebody wanted those shoes. But not you. Especially after they’d been worn; we’d never be able to return them.”
I pictured myself flying back to Miami with the shoes, begging the artisans at the atelier to give us back the money in exchange for the slightly worn shoes. Maybe I could clean the dirt off the soles. If it would do any good, I’d volunteer for the job.
Someone knocked on the office door. “Dolce, are you in there? I desperately need your advice on this little Ellen Tracy coat. Is it me or not?”
Dolce patted me on the head and went out to help her customer. How like her to want to comfort me when she was the one who needed reassurance. The rest of the morning flew by. There I was, cozily ensconced in the office with my foot wrapped in ice on the desk, taking calls and feeling useful. Best of all, I was not feeling lonely and unwanted. Everyone who called, no matter what they wanted, asked me how I felt. What I felt was a warm, appreciated glow that counteracted the pain in my ankle and my head.
I was taking a break to take my pill and thumb through the latest Vogue when there was another knock on the office door.
“Are you in there Rita? It’s Peter, and I’ve got a surprise for you.”
Peter Butinski, the shoe supplier? Oh, no. I wasn’t up to being nice to anyone I didn’t like. But what could I say?
Six
“Come in,” I said reluctantly.
I couldn’t believe he, someone in the upscale shoe business, would be wearing Crocs on the job. With all the great men’s shoes out there . . . sport or dress, leather or suede, why choose plastic or rubber shoes or whatever they’re made of, they’re just plain ugly. What was wrong with him? Not only was he clueless about his shoe choice, he wore his thinning hair in a comb-over. I forced a smile. After all, this was business and Dolce trusted me to deal with everyone—whether I liked them or not. “Hi, Peter, how are you?”
“Heard you had quite a weekend,” he said, looking at my ankle.
“Oh, that,” I said, wondering what he’d heard exactly. “Just took a tumble. It’s nothing really. What’s new in the shoe biz?”
“Glad you asked,” he said, setting a stack of shoe boxes on Dolce’s desk. “Have I got something for you with your bum foot. Perfect for those days you don’t want to teeter in to work, when you’re wearing an ACE bandage, for example.” He gave a nod at my ankle and whipped off the cover to a shoe box to reveal a pair of sandals.
“Warm weather must-haves,” Peter said.
“Nice,” I said politely. Then I caught a glimpse of the price tag and I gasped.
“Too much? Okay, let’s see what else I have for you.”
I tried to be patient as he flipped open box after box, but I knew I wasn’t going to buy a single shoe, no “caged” booties and no ankle-tie stilettos and definitely no wooden wedge with a Mary Jane strap. Nothing from this guy no matter how much I loved them or how good a deal they were.
“Sorry, Peter, with my bad ankle I can’t wear any of these gorgeous shoes until I recover. Besides, I’m not in the same league with the customers here. I’m a working girl.”
“Got it,” he said. “Anyway, I’m leaving them here with you and Dolce on spec. If you sell them, you get the usual fifteen percent. So get out there and hustle,” he said with a toothy grin. “When you’re up to it, I mean.”
My cell phone rang and I expected him to leave, but he didn’t. He picked up the same magazine I’d been reading and stood there leafing through it while I answered the phone. Even though I shot him a get-lost look, he didn’t seem to notice.
“Ms. Jewel? This is Jonathan Rhodes.”
I spun around in Dolce’s office chair so fast I almost fell on the floor.
“Dr. Rhodes, how are you?”
“Fine, thanks. Calling to see how you’re doing. Taking it easy, I hope.”
“Oh, absolutely. Actually I had to come in to work, but I have a desk job for today with my foot elevated and an ice pack on my ankle.”
“Excellent,” he said. “Not too much pain?”
“I’m managing,” I said bravely.
“Good girl. I’m actually calling on a personal matter.”
A personal matter? My heart pounded and I reached for my water bottle to soothe my dry throat. What did that mean?
“One of my patients plays in a trio at the Café Henri—it’s a little French bistro kind of place.”
“I’ve heard of it,” I said. What I’d heard from customers was that it was small, elegant, pricey and a place I could never afford to go to. I gripped my phone tightly, still breathless from the shock of having my Greek god doctor actually call me. I wondered what was coming next. Maybe instructions to change my bandage. No, he said it was personal. Maybe he wanted me to pick out something for his mother’s birthday from our jewelry collection.
“I promised Daniel I’d go hear him play this weekend,” he said. “I wondered if you’d like to go with me Sunday night. If you like jazz and French food, that is.”
“I love jazz and all kinds of food,” I said. “And I’d love to go.” A date. An actual date with an eligible professional man. If I’d had two good ankles, I would have stood up and shouted it to the skies. I wanted to phone Aunt Grace. I had to tell Dolce first.
Dr. Rhodes, Jonathan that is, said he wouldn’t be at the hospital on Wednesday for my follow-up appointment, but he took my address and said he’d pick me up at seven on Sunday.
After I hung up, I sat there staring at the wall in a state of semishock. Unlike my so-called lunch date today where Detective Wall was no doubt going to soften me up then try to find out who killed MarySue, this was a real date. With no hidden agenda as far as I knew. My first date in a whole year. It had nothing to do with shoes, murder or anything. Except for the fact that because of the shoes, I’d gone to MarySue’s that night, then fallen off the ladder, then was taken to the ER. If not for those events, I’d be sitting at home on Sunday night as usual. So though I was sorry MarySue had stolen the shoes, and sorry I had a sprained ankle, and sorry MarySue had been murdered in the park, I was glad I hadn’t broken my neck when I fell off the ladder and even happier that I’d met Dr. Rhodes. What would those two chatty nurses say if they knew?
I couldn’t wait to tell Dolce. When I swiveled around, I realized Peter had finally left. The stack of shoes and the issue of Vogue he’d been looking at were gone too. Couldn’t he buy his own magazine?
I hobbled to the door and waved to Dolce, who was artfully tying a silk scarf around the neck of a customer. A few minutes later, she entered the office.
“Dolce, you won’t believe who just called and asked me out.”
“Jim Jensen?” she asked.
My eyes widened. “Jim? You don’t think . . . I mean, MarySue is barely cold in her grave, if she’s even in her grave yet. He couldn’t possibly be . . .” The idea of dating Jim Jensen whether he was a wife-murderer or not made me a little nauseous.
“Of course not,” she said soothingly. “I don’t know why I said that. It’s just that I can’t help thinking about him. And wondering . . .”
“If he killed her?” I said.
She didn’t say anything, just stared off in space for a long moment. Then she said, “I don’t know if you heard MarySue say that Jim would kill her if he found out she’d bough
t the shoes.”
I nodded. “But people say things like that all the time.”
“And sometimes they mean it.”
“Should I tell the detective?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t know,” Dolce said. “I do know withholding evidence is a crime.”
I shivered, picturing myself in the county jail awaiting trial, missing my date . . . I had to tell the detective what I’d heard. It was just crazy not to. If Jim killed his wife, it was better to find out as soon as possible.
“Dolce, my doctor just called me.”
“Is it bad news?” she asked, leaning down to grasp my hand, mistaking my trembling voice for fear instead of excitement.
“No, no, he asked me out on a date. Is that . . . I mean is that in violation of some kind of code? I don’t know.”
“I don’t think so,” she said, blinking rapidly. “Where else would doctors meet women if not in their clinics?”
“I thought maybe in med school.”
She shook her head. “Too ingrown. Too incestuous. I would think they’d want to meet someone in another line of work.”
“Like fashion?” I asked.
She smiled. “Exactly.”
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Café Henri on Sunday night.”
She raised her well-shaped eyebrows. “We’ll find you something spectacular to wear, understated but elegant, like the café.”
Just as I was going to ask her what Peter Butinski had done with the shoes he’d brought, there was a knock on the door.
“Detective Wall to see Rita Jewel,” he said.
I locked eyes with Dolce. I had a feeling she wanted to tell me something or warn me not to say something to the detective. Whatever it was she wanted to communicate, it was too late. He was here. But Dolce knew me well enough to know I wasn’t the type to blab.
Dolce opened the door with a smile and the kind of greeting she reserved for her best customers. Jack Wall looked like the type who’d shop at Dolce’s if we had a men’s section. I noticed, and I’m sure Dolce did too, that he was wearing a J.Crew Ludlow slim-cut suit. After all, fashion was our business and our passion. Even though J.Crew is an all-American brand, the suit had a definite Italian flavor. All that just to take me to a bucolic lunch, or was this his usual official business attire?
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