Inherit the Shoes
Page 27
‘I won’t look,’ I said. ‘Go ahead.’
But I did look – just a little. Patrick felt for a certain spot in the left shoe, and after a little difficulty, managed to extract a small, lavender sheet of paper folded into the tear in the shoe’s lining. He breathed just a little more heavily when he saw it.
Patrick closed his eyes, then opened them and unfolded the sheet. He read very carefully what had been written there, and his eyes moistened, and a tear rolled down one cheek. He exhaled, took a moment, and then folded the paper and put it back in the tear in Jimmy’s shoe.
‘I hope it said what you wanted,’ I said quietly.
Patrick nodded. ‘I won’t bore you with it, but among other things, she said she wanted me to have the shoes, even after the scene at the settlement conference. She knew what they meant to me. And I hope she knew what she meant to me.’
‘I have no doubt she did, Patrick.’
We drove in silence for a short time, and then Patrick put the shoes back into their box, and the shopping bag onto the back seat of my car.
He reached into his jacket and produced a thin case, extracted an iPhone, and connected it into the Hyundai’s new stereo system. ‘Let’s see how this thing works,’ Patrick said.
The music, a lush recording of ‘Stormy Weather,’ filled the car, and I listened closely. I stole a glance at Patrick, whose face indicated intense concentration. ‘Is that …’
‘It’s Patsy, yes,’ he nodded. ‘These are the recordings I’m going to give the PIOUS people.’
I was shocked. ‘She had a lovely voice.’
‘Yes, she did,’ Patrick said. ‘It’s such a pity.’
We sat and listened until Patsy began ‘Someone to Watch Over Me.’ Ella Fitzgerald had nothing to worry about, but Patsy could put the tune across quite well, I thought.
‘They fired me from Legality, you know,’ Patrick said out of the blue.
‘What? You’re the star of the show!’ I couldn’t believe it.
‘They’re calling it “creative differences,”’ said Patrick. ‘But what really happened was that Lizz didn’t like the way you treated her on the witness stand, and decided to punish me for it.’
‘Oh, Patrick, I’m so sorry.’
‘Don’t worry about it. I’ve already been offered a new series – Split. About a private eye with multiple personality disorder.’
‘You’re kidding.’
‘I’m not. And besides, I never kid. It’s called “acting.”’ He struck an ‘actorly’ pose.
‘How will I ever know when you’re sincere and when you’re just conjuring up emotions to get what you want?’ I asked him.
‘You’ll never know, love,’ he said. ‘Never.’ Then he closed his eyes, and appeared to go to sleep as Patsy sang ‘Body and Soul.’
I realized I hadn’t asked Patrick for directions once during the drive back to the courthouse and didn’t need the Apple Maps on my phone – I concluded I was starting to know my way around L.A. I considered that as I maneuvered my new/old Hyundai toward Beverly Hills at sunset.
It wasn’t such a bad thing, I thought.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
You’d think after six published mystery series the seventh wouldn’t feel like a big deal. You’d be wrong. Sandy Moss has been hanging around in my head for far too long and it’s both a pleasure and a relief to get her out there where other people can deal with her. Sincere thanks to the wonderful people at Severn House who read the book and decided it should find more eyes. To a writer that’s enormous.
Particularly, thanks to Rachel Slatter and Natasha Bell, who gently tended to the manuscript and turned it into the volume you have in your hands. That’s not a small job but when it’s done expertly it’s often unnoticed, because editors aren’t intending to draw a reader’s attention to themselves. You can trust me that they’ve done wonderful work and didn’t even step on my jokes, which is a shining achievement in my mind.
Even bigger thanks than usual this time to the phenomenal Josh Getzler, who didn’t give up on this book even after I had forgotten about it. When Josh makes a promise he keeps it, and his record remains unblemished. I’m proud he’s my agent and my friend.
Similar thanks to the crowd at HG Literary, particularly Jonathan Cobb, who answer my questions and tend to my business when Josh is on the phone or just because they can. It’s reassuring to have a professional team behind you.
Otherwise, I remain grateful to each and every reader who decides to pick up a novel because (or despite) the name E.J. Copperman appears on the cover, and to those who just thought the cover art (which is amazing) is attractive or the title sounded interesting. In other words, thanks to everyone who’s ever read anything I wrote. That should be pretty comprehensive.
Being a writer isn’t just a strange identity to cultivate; it’s also a job. Everyone I’ve named above makes that job easier, which is no small thing. If I’ve inadvertently left your name off the list, it’s bad memory and not ill intent. Consider yourself thanked, then email me and let me know what a jerk I was for not including you in the first place.
Of course, thanks to my spouse and my children (who are adults) for putting up with this goofy lifestyle and even enjoying it. It’s frustrating for someone who uses words for a living, but I can’t begin to express how much I love them.
E.J. Copperman
Deepest New Jersey
February, 2020