I set aside working on the proposal for Taylor’s party and went back to my real job at the bookstore. I had been spending so much time on Adele’s party business, I had forgotten about the newsletter I had been working on.

  I was trying to eat, drink and look at some photos for the newsletter. Mrs. Shedd had taken them at the event with Daisy, CeeCee and Elise. Considering how it turned out, showing photos of the speakers seemed like a bad idea, but I needed to find a way to use some of the photos my boss had taken. I was caught with a mouthful of food when I looked up as someone approached my cubicle. I swallowed so quickly I almost choked on a strand of spinach, and I set aside what I was doing to help them locate a number of books. I had just gone back to eating, drinking and working on the newsletter when another figure approached and I rushed to swallow again.

  “Take your time,” Barry said. “I don’t want to show off my skills and do a Heimlich maneuver on you.” When I looked surprised at his comment, he continued. “I saw you almost choke when you went to deal with your last customer.”

  “Are you doing the stalker thing again?” I said. I looked at the dark suit, white shirt and tie. “But if you’re looking to blend in, that outfit won’t work.” I glanced around at the customers who were dressed in jeans and joggers.

  “No. I was being considerate and waiting until you finished with the customer.”

  “Are you looking for a book?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “I came to give you some friendly advice. It was different when you played around with me answering my questions with a question, but it won’t work with Rick Carlson. He wasn’t happy with the convoluted story or that you got him to show you the picture of his dog. He’s seriously looking at you and CeeCee as suspects.”

  “Can’t you say something to him?” I put my hands up in a helpless gesture. “Really? CeeCee and me knocking off two women?”

  “I guess you know that your prints are on the knife that stabbed Leslie Bittner and the two of you were seen leaving the place.”

  “But was it even the day she was killed?”

  “You didn’t hear this from me, but the neighbor was confused about exactly what day and time she saw CeeCee and her companion,” Barry said. “And before you ask me, he has motive. The same neighbor who saw you leaving the place overheard the two of you complaining about the victim and that you’d said you’d taken care of it.”

  “I was talking about the cat,” I said. “She had neglected the cat and then was going to take it to the pound. So I took it with me.”

  “Cat?” Barry said. “You don’t have enough animals without adding another one?”

  “It wasn’t a choice. I couldn’t leave it there,” I said. “I told your detective buddy about the cat.”

  “It seems like you told him a whole lot of stuff,” Barry said, shaking his head.

  • • •

  I was ready for the crochet group and looking forward to some time to let go and get lost in the yarn and my hook. I didn’t have to worry about talking because Adele had center stage, going on about what a success her party business was and how she was sure there would be more to follow. All her bravado had returned.

  CeeCee slipped in unnoticed, and when I caught her eye, she gestured for us to talk away from the table. After what Barry had said, I already had a feeling I knew what she was going to say.

  “That detective showed up at my house and said he needed to speak to me. He was all steely-eyed and intimidating and wanted me to go with him so we could talk at the station. I was all flummoxed, imagining being locked in a room with bright lights. Then I thought to pretend I was you and I got all huffy and said I wouldn’t talk without my lawyer. Mason Fields is supposed to meet me here. He already worked it out that we’d talk in the café instead of the station.” She looked around, as if expecting him to appear.

  I told her what Barry had said about Rick Carlson. “He thinks we’re real suspects,” I said.

  “That’s what I was afraid of,” she said, appearing upset, “even though when he came to my house, he claimed he was looking for information about you. You better tell Mason whatever you know,” the actress said.

  “You can tell him,” I said.

  “Oh, no, I can’t. I’ll get it all mixed up. He’s coming before the detective is supposed to meet us. You have to tell him what you know. Put on your big girl pants and suck it up,” CeeCee said in a sharp tone. Then she apologized. “Sorry, that was from a bit part I had as a guard in a woman’s prison.”

  I thought about just leaving but I was at my place of employment and the Hooker meetup was really part of my workday since it was an event and I was supervising. And then I saw him come in the door. It brought back a wave of memories. He had a solid build and a broad face. He was dressed in his work clothes of a finely tailored taupe-colored suit. His dress shirt had a sheen from the high thread count. His hair had a few more strands of silver and was cut in a conservative style. Somehow a lock of his hair always fell loose and hung over his forehead. Our eyes met and his face warmed with a smile, for a moment, then it seemed to register how he felt about me now and his expression turned distant.

  He greeted CeeCee and put his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner. “You don’t have to do a thing. I’ll do all the talking,” he said.

  CeeCee tugged at my sweater. “Tell him what you know,” she demanded. Mason kept the distant expression, which was now tempered with interest.

  “I’m listening. Shoot,” he said, giving me the floor to speak.

  “Interesting choice of words,” I muttered. I took a deep breath and told him about the neighbor and the question of when they had seen us. I mentioned how my fingerprints had ended up on the murder weapon along with my explanation of rescuing the cat.

  “The story of the cat notwithstanding, that does all seem to point to you,” he said, looking at me before he quickly turned back to CeeCee. “He might see you as an accessory, but that’s it.” He waited a beat and turned back to me. “You should think of getting a lawyer.”

  I shook my head. “I’m good for now.”

  “You should really think it over. I can recommend someone, if you like.”

  I was stunned that he didn’t even want to be involved with me professionally. I shook my head again and thanked him.

  “If you change your mind, you know how to reach me,” he said. Then he and CeeCee walked to the café and I went to rejoin the group. Everyone but Adele had their eyes glued to me.

  “What was that about?” Rhoda asked. There was no choice but to tell them the whole story. They all reacted in their own way. Sheila got so tense, she had to pull out her emergency crochet. Rhoda said I shouldn’t have been so quick to turn down Mason’s help in getting a lawyer.

  Elise said she was sorry now that she had taken part in the event with Daisy. “They’ll be coming after me next.”

  “If you need a place to hide out,” Eduardo said, “the windows are all papered over at the restaurant. There’s nobody there now. I’m waiting for the inspector to come.” I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not and I answered with a thank-you and an uncertain shrug.

  Dinah grabbed my arm to get my attention. “I’m not so sure that Mason’s as mad at you as you think,” she said. “He did give you some advice.”

  “It’s probably some lawyer code that if you see someone in legal jeopardy, you have to offer help.”

  “I think that’s doctors or first responders,” Dinah said.

  “I’m fine,” I said. “I’m sure that whoever really did it thinks they’re scot-free and will get careless or I’ll think of something that I missed. Remember, Mason told CeeCee I was good at getting out of trouble.” I tried to sound light, but really, I was hoping that he was right.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Nobody showed up with a SWAT team to arrest me during the night. And life had to go on. I had said nothing to my family about Rick Carlson’s repeated visits or that he seemed to think I was a killer. I got Marlowe up and changed into her day clothes and fed her some of my breakfast then she had a bottle and I had coffee. She was starting to say some sounds and by the way she reached out her arms toward me and said La La, I figured that was her name for me.

  Gabby had begun to text me more often about Marlowe. I gathered that Peter had been short on details and mostly just said that Marlowe was alive and not sick. The communications had been fine until I started mentioning the mommy group, and asked questions about the other members, like did she think that Taylor was overly possessive of her house. Gabby had sent me a snippy text asking me to stay out of their business or I would ruin it for her to take Marlowe to the meetups when she came back.

  “Don’t worry, Marlowe. I won’t ruin it for you and your mommy.” We were headed to Kath’s, as it was her turn playing host. She lived in a house overlooking Corbin Canyon. When I looked down into the wilderness in the space between two ridges all I could think of was that it was where the deer and coyote played and probably not with each other.

  It was a single-level house that was deceptive from the street. It was only when I saw the C shape of the back that I realized how big it was. The living room and front of the house were all immaculate and toyless, and I remembered that little Plum had been a surprise and their other kids were beyond the toy stage. She took me back to a large room on one side of the C shape. It had been turned into an indoor playroom. There was a slide and a little car that ran on foot power, both of which were beyond Marlowe. She did a fast crawl toward a tube that led to an enclosure filled with balls to roll around in. Kath was dressed in expensive casual and introduced me to her au pair from Switzerland, who would be in charge of the kids.

  She directed me to a whole other den for the adults just as Lily came in. She was checking Alexander’s face with a worried look. “He’s been getting the nosebleeds again. Maybe I should leave this with your au pair.”

  “You didn’t have to bring your own ice cubes. We have plenty if he needs them,” Kath said as Lily took a small case from an insulated bag. “If you’re in the plastic surgery business, you always have lots of ice. Michael advises his patients to use ice for swelling or whatever. There’s a refrigerator with ice in the children’s room and my au pair is trained in CPR and first aid.” Lily put the case back in the bag and we both followed Kath to the other den. Garth was looking through a stack of pages. Taylor was on her phone and the two nannies were off to the side talking. Kath pointed out the platter of fruit and cheese, along with an assortment of drinks and wine. She invited everyone to help themselves. Lily poured herself a glass of white wine and sat next to Taylor.

  “Do you have something for me?” Kath said, looking at Garth.

  He looked down at the pages he had been going through with a moment of hesitation and then gathered them up. “Let me know what you think of this version of the script for the infomercial.”

  She thanked him and gave it a cursory glance. “I’ll read it over and pass it on to the lawyers to check it out.” She let out a discontented sigh. “We have to make sure we’re covered. Stuff happens during procedures, even deaths, and we have to slip in that there are risks in all the procedures. We play cheerful music over the voice-over with the risks, and have shots on the screen of a woman in a bikini wowing her boyfriend with her fabulous shape. I’m a lot less worried now that something that was going to bite us has been successfully buried.”

  She grabbed a glass of wine, found a seat, and began reading through the pages.

  Garth got a plate of fruit and cheese and took the seat next to me. He seemed nervous as he watched Kath read through the script. I had felt a kindship with him since the first meetup when he’d been friendly and filled me in on the group. “I understood what she meant about covering gloomy warnings with happy music and shots of people having fun, but what was that last thing she said about?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure, but I’m guessing that they’ve had complaints or suits from unhappy patients. Maybe someone in the public eye.”

  I had a sudden thought. “Did she know Daisy Cochran?”

  He shrugged. “Probably. It was Daisy’s business to know everybody and Michael had some celebrity clients. No names were ever given—doctor-patient privacy.” He put down his glass of juice. “Why do you want to know?”

  “No reason other than curiosity,” I said with a shrug.

  • • •

  When the meetup was done, I loaded Marlowe back in her car seat. The kids seemed to have had a good time. She was asleep before I pulled out from the curb. It was a whole process of taking care of Marlowe’s needs when we got home before Samuel took over until Beth got there. I tried to leave things as easy for everybody as possible, so I made sure she had a fresh diaper, was fed and was in her baby walker. I watched for a few minutes to make sure all was well. Samuel was on one of the couches as she rolled around the living room. He was strumming his guitar, working on a song. After a few chords and some lyric about lost love, he morphed into a song about rainbows that had been in a Muppet movie. Kermit sang it in the movie and Samuel did his impression of the frog. Marlowe stopped rolling and watched him.

  All seemed good and I left, turning my thoughts back to the bookstore. My mindset instantly changed from baby stuff to business and by the time I walked into Shedd & Royal I was ready to finish up the newsletter.

  I had written most of it with information about upcoming special events and a calendar with story-times listed and meetings of Hookers and some other groups we hosted. All I needed was to add some photos from the ones Mrs. Shedd had left me. I had been in a quandary what to use when I’d worked on the newsletter before and I couldn’t put it off any longer. I discounted all the pictures of Daisy and realized my only option was to put in some pictures of the crowd and keep the caption general. As I was trying to pick one, I looked over the faces and then I saw one that made me stop. I even enlarged it on the screen. I had been right all along.

  “Pink,” Adele said, interrupting my thoughts. She caught herself. “I mean Molly, how’s it coming with the plans for the Langford party? I should have really charged them extra for it being so last-minute and all. And I heard from Taylor Palmer. She’s all hot and bothered and wants to know when we can bring her the more detailed proposal. She implied that if it was too much for me to handle, she would go with someone else. I told her it was almost ready and we’d bring it to her.” Adele took a breath. “I can’t believe we have to go there again.” Taylor seemed to be playing the grand lady a little too much, but I also knew that if Adele wanted to make a go of the business, she was going to have to deal with people like that.

  Adele handed me a stack of books. “I thought these might help figure out a theme.” I was shocked at her offer of help instead of the usual complaining that she was the talent. I knew it was business as usual with her when she started fussing about a kid who was ruining story-time and needed to be removed. “You should be the one to tell his mother. I saw you talking to her.”

  I knew who she was talking about. “There has to be another way,” I said. “He really needs story-time.”

  “Maybe, but he keeps interrupting me and causing trouble. I can’t tarnish my reputation by telling his mother he can’t come anymore. You are the assistant manager, which makes you customer service. Work it out.”

  The worst part was that I knew Adele was right.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  It didn’t seem fair to deal with Adele’s problems during my work time, except the part about removing the kid from story-time. I knew I would deal with it better than Adele. Still, it was not something I looked forward to taking care of, and I gladly put it off. I wished I could put off the party planning too, but time was of the essence.

  That afternoon when the Hookers met, I took Dinah aside and told her all about it. True-blue friend that she was, she offered to help.

  The crew was taking care of Marlowe, which left me free. “Let’s talk about it over dinner,” I suggested. Dinah was ready for another girls’ night and agreed. She even had a restaurant in mind.

  • • •

  “Roberta keeps talking about this place,” Dinah said as we approached the glass doors of City Dishes. It was at the high end of what was referred to now as fast casual. The dining area was appealing, with wood tables and nice décor. We went to the counter to order and Dinah waved at her student, who walked behind the order taker and was carrying a tray of food. I smiled at her, too.

  We perused the menu on a big board hanging over the cashier’s area. I chose the salmon with asparagus and mashed potatoes and Dinah ordered the Chinese chicken salad. We were given a number and found a table near a window. As soon as we sat down, we started to talk about how I’d gotten mired in the mess with Adele and her party business. “I’m going to see it through with these two parties, but then Adele is going to have to step up and be more than the prima donna talent.” I had made some notes on what I needed and put them on the table. I was glancing through them when Roberta showed up with our food.

  “I’m one of the assistant managers, but I do everything,” she said as she set down the plates. She saw the notes on the table. “Is this a business meeting?”

  “If you call putting together a kid’s birthday party business, I guess it is,” I said. I didn’t mean to, but I segued into the situation of one being a last-minute affair and one being complicated.

  “Maybe I can help,” she said. “Being a production assistant has given me a lot of experience dealing with all sorts of things beyond just looking out for rattlesnakes. I had to arrange for all kinds of stuff, like getting one the producer’s Saint Bernard groomed and snagging last-minute reservations for a director at a trendy place that was booked out for a month. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.”