On the Hook

by Betty Hechtman

  “It’s always good if you can make a house special, and tying it to a celebrity adds to a house’s cache, so I’d mentioned to my clients that it belonged to Timothy Clark. The couple were big fans of his show, and they seemed excited that he owned the house. As we headed down the hall on the lower floor, I was surprised to see him sitting on the couch in the den, since I thought no one was home. He had his back to us, and I thought it would make even more of an impression on the couple if I could introduce them to him.”

  He stopped and closed his eyes as if he was trying to shut out the memory. “I didn’t realize at first. His head was down as if he was looking at something. When he didn’t respond, I thought he might be asleep, and I tapped him on the shoulder.” Logan suddenly looked a little green. “He just fell over on his side, and I got a look at his face and the mess on the rug in front of him. It wasn’t pretty. But I guess cyanide can do horrible things.”

  I thought it was interesting that he knew the cause of death, considering it hadn’t been common knowledge and I’d found it out from Mason. I asked him who had told him, and he seemed uncomfortable.

  “It must have been something the police said.” He paused and then spoke. “I know what it was now. The detective I spoke to asked me if I knew where you could buy cyanide, and that’s when I figured it must have been the cause of Clark’s death.”

  “So, do you know where you can buy cyanide?”

  “Online, just like you can find all kinds of other stuff,” he said.

  I wondered if he had told the police that or if he had realized it might seem rather incriminating. Now that he had started talking, he went on, ruminating on how hard it was going to be to sell the house.

  “You have to disclose if someone has died in a house and if it was a murder. Even with all the attention the place has gotten, it’s going to be a tough sale. And the seller wants to sell it quick.” He looked up at me. “You don’t know anybody who wants to buy it, do you? It’s a real bargain now.”

  I was still stuck on what he’d just said about “the seller.” “I thought it was Timothy Clark’s house,” I said.

  “It was. He bought it when he was on the TV show. But then it ended. I suppose he figured he’d get another series.” Logan shrugged. “Foolish actors. He started pulling money out of the house with home equity loans, and then, when the cash ran out, he had to sell it.”

  “Who owns it now?” I asked.

  “Why do you want to know?” I noticed a subtle change in Logan’s composure. He seemed to be drawing himself inward.

  I had to think fast and come up with a reason. Finally I said, “Just curious. It can’t be a secret.”

  “It’s a group of investors,” he said. I noticed that he’d begun playing nervously with a pen on the table and was glancing around the café as if to avoid my eye.

  What was he so nervous about? Then the obvious hit me. “Are you one of the investors?” I asked.

  I remembered that Elise had said she had to tell the truth when asked a direct question, and I hoped the same held true for Logan.

  He stopped fidgeting and seemed to deflate as if I’d stuck a pin in a beach ball. “You can’t tell Elise.” He leaned a little closer for emphasis. “It was a can’t-fail plan,” he said. “I met him by chance when I was handing out promotional stuff in the area. Clark needed a quick sale, and he agreed to a price below market value. I have a group of friends and we all pooled our money.” He seemed suddenly stricken. “I took money out of our retirement account. The deal was we’d rent it back to him for a year and then we’d put it up for sale. And that’s what happened. We put it on the market for a third more than we paid, and—” He stopped and let out a sigh. “It would have sold easily. But now…” He shook his head with dismay and bit his lip. “How did you get me to tell you that?”

  Inside, I was shaking my head in disbelief at all the secrets these married couples had from each other. It made me glad that Mason and I had agreed to keep things light between us. I pretended to shrug off what he’d told me, but he was truly upset now.

  “It wasn’t like I didn’t try to help him. I called 911 and then we just waited there. Not there, there. I took my clients upstairs. On top of everything else, the air-conditioning was blasting on the lower floor and the place was like an icebox. I heard later it was a way to confuse the time of death.”

  But had he really heard it, or was he the one who’d done it?

  Chapter Twenty

  “You can’t give up now,” Rhoda said in a cajoling voice. “He’s almost there, but before I try to fix him up again with someone from the sisterhood, I want to be sure it’s not going to be another disaster. Just do one dinner with him.”

  Rhoda had arrived early for our happy-hour gathering, and I was talking to her as I straightened up the yarn department before joining her at the table. I debated about her request. I wanted to be done with Leo, but it also seemed unfinished to leave it hanging.

  “Okay, I’ll do it,” I said finally. “There is one more area I want to talk to him about.”

  “Sex?” Rhoda said with a bright look. “Good, because I’m sure he needs some updated information.”

  “Not sex. He’ll have to figure that out on his own. It’s just a little tweak he needs.”

  “You might want to mention romance. My sister-in-law was the blunt, boiled-beef type. She thought flowers just died and candy just gave you cavities.” She had her cell phone out. “I’ll just call him and set it up for tonight. Maybe you can go to one of those romantic spots that Mason took you to. He and Rebecca almost never ate out, and when they did, it was a place with fluorescent lights and bare tabletops,” she said. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done already. Hal is so relieved that Leo has stopped sitting around moaning and groaning.”

  Most of the rest of the group arrived en masse and took seats around the table. CeeCee went to the head of the table but didn’t sit. She pulled out a stack of baby blankets and put them on the table. “Let’s see how you’re all doing.”

  “Here’s mine,” Eduardo said, holding up the blanket he was making to show that it was almost done. He had finished the square and now was adding a border. He had chosen a neutral shade of tan for the blanket and was using a darker shade of the same color for the edging.

  Dinah rushed in and skidded to her chair. “What did I miss?”

  “We’re showing off our baby blankets.” CeeCee waited until Dinah took out the sunny-orange one she was working on. Like Eduardo’s, it was close to done. “That’s such a happy color,” she said with a smile. “Related to all this, I have some exciting news. My publicist has arranged for some press coverage of our donation. They’re going to meet us at the Tarzana Fire Station. Everybody is hungry for some happy news these days.”

  I saw Adele’s eyes light up. “I should really be the liaison with the media, since we are coheads of the group. What kind of press are we talking about?”

  Adele seemed serious, but it was hard for the rest of to take her seriously given what she was wearing. She had never changed out of her story time outfit. She had read the book Ladies on the Loose, a book about women having varied careers. She had been demonstrating being a doctor and wore a white coat with DR. ADELE embroidered on it. She had a kids’ stethoscope sticking out of her pocket. And she had topped it all off with a lot of makeup.

  I saw CeeCee roll her eyes a few times. “Someone from Channel 3 and a reporter from the Times. And thank you for your kind offer of help, but it is best if I deal with them.”

  No surprise, Adele pouted at this news. Then everyone’s hooks began to fly as we rushed to finish our blankets. Dinah and I had our heads together the whole time as I told her about my visit with Logan. She cringed when I told her about his customized Bobaccino. But then she looked at her watch and gathered up her things.

  “I have to go,” she said to me, then repeated it to the group. “Commander and I are going out for a fun evening; no senior center tonight. It�
�s just the two of us,” she said with a smile. “He runs out of steam early.” She gave me a knowing nod.

  When the rest of the group broke up, CeeCee wished everyone a happy, pleasant evening and reminded us that all our blankets needed to be completely finished before the presentation. Rhoda went to the front of the store to wait for Hal to drop off Leo, and I snagged Adele.

  I had spent the afternoon thinking over the three women in her workshop group. “I need to talk to you,” I said, following Adele back to the kids’ department. It was deserted at this time of night.

  I told her about Dinah’s and my trip to Luxe and the news about the poison ring before I got to the point. “The woman who bought it was wearing a straw hat,” I said finally.

  Before I could ask the question, Adele spoke. “That’s Deana the Diva. She wanted that straw hat to be like her trademark.”

  “Do you understand that if she was the one who bought the poison ring, she could have been the one to kill Timothy?” I said, since Adele didn’t seem to be focusing.

  “Why would she want to kill him? You heard her say that she was his star student and he was her boyfriend.”

  Was Adele really that naive? “I think she was having an affair with him,” I began. “But I don’t think he was her boyfriend. More like she thought it would get her some kind of edge with him.”

  Adele seemed annoyed with the idea. “I guess she thought it was like the old days with the casting couch and all. We women don’t have to do that kind of stuff anymore. I certainly didn’t, and he still saw what a major talent I am.”

  “What about that woman who discovered you? Alexandra something-or-other.” I tried not to choke on the word discovered.

  “Why do you want to know?” She’d barely asked the question when her face lit with understanding. “You’re trying to find out who killed Timothy. Why? Leave it alone. I thought the whole point was for you, me, and Elise to stay as far as possible from the whole thing so it would never come out that we were there.”

  “There’s something I have to tell you,” I began. I had been dreading this, but it was time for Adele to know just how much trouble we could be in. I began by bringing up the timing of our being there and Logan’s arrival. “And he’s the one who discovered Timothy.”

  Slowly a look of horror came over Adele’s face. “Then, you mean, he was there when we were there?” I nodded and she came unglued. She seemed upset enough, so I didn’t mention the charges that could be brought against us. “There’s something else.” I took a deep breath and told her about the scarf.

  “OMG, we’re screwed,” she yelped.

  “Not necessarily.” I told her how I’d been stonewalling Barry. “The plan was to try to wrap it up while I was still stalling him.”

  “Pink, you have to do it.” She was close to hysteria. “The cops can’t find out we were there. It would all come out then. Cutchykins can’t find out about my secret life or that I’m implicated in a murder.” She had her head in her hands. “There has to be a way I can get the details of my meeting.”

  I chose to ignore her last statement and instead asked her about Alexandra again.

  “I don’t know everything, but I heard they met when Timothy was a guest speaker at an all-day workshop at Beasley Community College. I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but I think he met the girl who got the part in the sitcom and the one who’s in the vegetable commercial through the extension class, too.”

  “It sounds like Alexandra was almost like his partner,” I said, and Adele nodded noncommittally. “I wonder how he felt about her starting her own workshops.”

  Adele suddenly straightened. “She was?” Then she shrugged it off and sounded upset that she’d been out of the loop. “I don’t know how Timothy felt about her. All I do know is that now she’s looking to take over our workshop.”

  “What about Mikey Fitzpatrick?” I asked.

  “What about him?” Adele asked.

  “He seemed to be happy with whatever Timothy had done for him. What exactly did he do for Mikey?”

  “All I know is that he made a reel for him that made him look like a real superhero. If you want to talk to him, he’s going to be a special guest at story time tomorrow.”

  Adele’s expression brightened as she looked up toward the entrance of the kids’ department. “Here comes Cutchykins,” she said, getting out of her chair. Then her smile faded. “And his mother, too.”

  She rushed off to meet them as I wondered if she realized she was still dressed as Dr. Adele.

  * * *

  Rhoda found me and said that Leo was waiting out front. I gathered up my things and said good-bye to Mrs. Shedd and Mr. Royal before I left.

  It was already dark outside, and since there hadn’t been any rain all day, the street and sidewalk were dry, but the air had a bite. Leo came toward me as I walked out the door. He was wearing another of the outfits we’d gotten. He’d come a long way from the parka and faded pants. And I felt a wave of pride. I was sure he’d do better with the ladies now. There was just a little bit more he needed to know.

  “Hi, good evening. Where are we going? Rhoda said you had someplace special in mind.” He was all smiles, and the gloomy-looking guy he’d been was hard to even remember now.

  As soon as Rhoda had suggested I take him someplace that Mason had taken me, I knew where to go and had called ahead to make a reservation. I was about to give him a rundown on the place when my cell phone rang—well, actually, my watch vibrated and lit up with the call. I usually didn’t answer calls in the car, but since we weren’t moving, I hit ACCEPT, still feeling like I was Dick Tracy talking to my wrist.

  “You answered your cell,” Mason said, his voice full of surprise.

  “I even answered it on my watch,” I said. “Thank you again for it.” I switched over to my phone and put it to my ear.

  “My pleasure,” he said. “I thought we could get dinner. It wouldn’t be our grand second first date. That’s still in the works.”

  I was a little taken aback. A day or two ago we’d been estranged, and now he was assuming we’d get dinner. I had gotten used to being on my own again, not having to check in with anyone if I made plans. He started to go into his plans for after-dinner delights when I cut him off abruptly. “I’m in the car,” I said, “and I’m not alone.”

  Mason’s tone became wary. “Who’s with you?”

  “Leo,” I said brightly. I didn’t want to hurt Leo’s feelings by implying it was an imposition to be going to dinner with him. “This is kind of his graduation,” I said.

  “What does that mean?” Mason said. His voice was loud enough for Leo to hear.

  “Molly is going to give me a heads-up on romance. She’s taking me to a restaurant at the beach that has Mediterranean food,” Leo said, smiling and nodding at me.

  “What does a heads-up on romance entail?” Mason didn’t sound happy.

  “I’m not giving away my secrets,” I said.

  Mason got hold of himself. “Maybe we could get together later. After your dinner?”

  I told Mason I’d have to call him. Leo seemed relieved when I got off the phone and we got going.

  “The ride there is a nice start to a romantic evening,” I said, as I steered the Greenmobile off of Ventura onto Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

  In no time, we had left the Valley behind and the rustic landscape was lost in the darkness as I navigated the curves of the canyon. Leo was enthralled with the small shops and restaurants as we passed through the town of Topanga and then undertook the most rugged part of the ride. In the darkness, it was hard to see the mountains, but I knew they loomed above us, jagged and empty of civilization. When we got to the stoplight at Pacific Coast Highway, I couldn’t tell where the ocean ended and the sky began. It was all just midnight blue now.

  “When you go on a date, it’s about more than just getting food. Where you go is important. We’re going to a restaurant with atmosphere,” I announced. As we drove the rest of
the way, I gave him a rundown on what the Mediterranean dishes were like. “It sets a mood when you share food,” I said. “When we get there, you are going to do the ordering for both of us,” I said, and he looked panic-stricken.

  “How do I do that? My wife always handled anything to do with food,” he said. I promised to help him, and he relaxed a little.

  The Seaside Taverna was in a white stucco building that had a traditional terra-cotta roof. Inside, the lights were low and flattering. Mason and I had been there numerous times. I told Leo it was known as an in spot with the people from the entertainment industry and that we might even see some celebrities.

  The place was packed, and I was glad I’d made a reservation. We were led to a table in the corner where we had a view of the whole place. Leo was busy looking around at the decor and all the people. It still stunned me that a man in his fifties had missed out on so many experiences that seemed so ordinary to me.

  As he started to sit down, I stopped him. “It’s really old-fashioned, but women still like it when you pull out their chair for them.”

  He nodded and dutifully pulled out my chair and then pushed me up too close to the table. I had to tell him that the last part wasn’t necessary.

  He started to sit across from me, but I suggested that it would work better if he sat next to his future date.

  We looked over the menus together, and he was overwhelmed by so many dishes he’d never heard of, let alone tried. I helped him decide what to order and reminded him about sharing them. When the server came to take the order, Leo kept looking at me for acceptance.

  When we were alone again, I got ready to give him my pitch. “There’s something important I need to tell you about dating. It seems like your wife handled everything, but if you’re going to be the picker rather than the pickee, you need to take charge of things. Like, not wait for someone to find you—you find the person you’d like to go out with.” I looked at him to see if he understood.