by Lee Strauss
“Yes, of course. You’re new to Santa Bonita, so you’re unfamiliar, I suppose, with the Gainer family.”
Rosa knew the name. Like the Forrester clan, the Gainers were what Londoners might call the social elite.
“I’ve heard the name, but not much else.”
“Yes, well, I’m stepping out of line by coming to you, and I’m sure I’ll get my wrists slapped by my father-in-law.”
Rosa kept up with the society columns of the local papers—an expedient way to become acquainted with who was who in Santa Bonita—and had learned that Mr. Orville Gainer, the patriarch, was a highly successful and wealthy businessman. Rosa’s admiration for Mrs. Gainer went up several notches. It would take a good amount of courage to cross a man like that.
“The missing man you mentioned, can you tell me more?”
“Yes. I suppose I should back up a little. I’m married to Michael Gainer, the youngest of Orville Gainer’s sons. The other is Walter, the eldest sibling. There are three daughters in between, Alice, Valerie, and Lillian, now deceased. She was married to Dieter Braun, who, obviously, is of German descent.” Mrs. Gainer glanced away, looking rueful. “You’ll learn this about my father-in-law sooner than not, so I might as well get the unpleasantness out of the way. Orville Gainer doesn’t have a lot of patience with foreigners.”
Rosa hummed her understanding. Prejudice wasn’t an uncommon societal blight, and Rosa had encountered it often in her line of work. It was a problem on both sides of the Atlantic. Especially, due to the two world wars, toward German immigrants.
“Has anyone reported Mr. Braun’s disappearance to the police?”
Mrs. Gainer, still petting Diego, paused mid-stroke. He nudged her with his nose, and she resumed. “This is why I’ve come to you, Miss Reed. My family doesn’t want to get the police involved.”
“Why not?”
“What I tell you is in confidence, right?”
Rosa nodded. She was only compelled to go to the police if she came across information that could put another person in harm’s way.
“The Gainer family business practices aren’t always on the up-and-up. I doubt anyone with this kind of money has come into it in purely honorable ways.”
As Rosa scribbled notes, sudden dizziness overtook her. Mrs. Gainer gathered Diego into a close embrace with one arm and gripped the desk with the other. She locked eyes with Rosa and announced, “Earthquake.”
Rosa’s blood rushed to her cheeks as she grabbed ahold of the desk. The second one in six days! Until last week, she’d almost forgotten about this West Coast hazard.
Everything stilled, and Rosa released a nervous laugh.
Mrs. Gainer smiled in return. “You’ll get used to it.”
Rosa wasn’t quite willing to concede to that. “We’ll see.” She took a moment to catch her breath then referred to her notes. “Your husband, Michael Gainer, does he share your concerns?”
“No. He works at one of Dieter’s insurance companies and says it’s normal for him to leave on extended business trips.”
“So, why are you troubled about his absence?”
“Dieter is an odd sort. None of the family like him, but he and I get along.” Mrs. Gainer’s eyes grew sad. “We share the same weird sense of humor. His pet name for me is Schatz, which is a German endearment for treasure. I think he’s lonely. He often tells me about his businesses and jokes that he puts up with Michael for my sake. He always tells me when he plans to leave town.”
As if a fierce wind caused the building to sway slightly, a rolling sensation crossed the room, causing the conversation to stop.
“Oh my,” Rosa muttered.
“Aftershock,” Mrs. Gainer said, a few seconds after the feeling subsided.
Rosa swallowed. “Indeed. Please proceed.”
“As I’ve said, Dieter is peculiar. Besides his German heritage, the Gainers enjoy ridiculing him because he’s always talking about secret government plots, alien abductions, and the threat of nuclear war.”
Rosa held Mrs. Gainer’s gaze. “Do you suspect foul play?”
Mrs. Gainer lifted a thin shoulder. “It seems disloyal to the family to say it, but yes, I do. Though I don’t have any evidence to support my suspicions.”
Rosa poised her pen over the notepad. “It would be helpful for me to know about the other family members.”
“Of course.” Mrs. Gainer shifted her weight and crossed her legs. “Walter is married to Patricia. Like Lillian and Dieter, they never had children. Alice married Frank Monahan and they have a son Colin, who’s the same age as my son, Sidney. And Valerie married Leo Romano. They have a daughter, Debbie.”
Rosa jotted the names down rapidly, then glanced up. “I know Mr. Braun has a habit of telling you about his comings and goings,” she said, “but is it possible he simply forgot this time? Do you know if he has any friends he might be visiting? Or maybe extended family?”
“Dieter didn’t have a lot of friends here in California, and all of his relatives are still in Germany. And no, I don’t think he forgot.”
“How about any favorite getaway spots?”
“He owns a cabin out on Lake Fairbanks. It’s a forested area in the hills east of here. Thinking that’s where he might be, I drove out there yesterday, but the door was locked. I peeked in the windows, but it didn’t look like anyone had been there for a long time.”
“Does your brother-in-law have any health issues?”
Mrs. Gainer shook her head. “He’s as healthy and physically fit as any fifty-eight-year-old man can be.”
Rosa finished writing in her notepad then leaned back in her chair. “So just to confirm, you haven’t told anyone that you are seeking to hire a private detective.”
“No, not yet.”
“To be honest, Mrs. Gainer, I am not sure how comfortable I am about taking on a case without the family’s knowledge.”
“I think that will change in a few more days when it becomes obvious Dieter is truly missing, and something has to be done. In the meantime, I have an idea about how you can meet the family without them necessarily knowing why.”
Once Mrs. Gainer had left, Rosa picked up the phone receiver and dialed her friend Nancy. Good friends from the time Rosa had spent in high school in Santa Bonita, she and Nancy, then known as Nancy Davidson, had grown apart in the intervening eleven years. Rosa had come back to Santa Bonita, licking her wounds after her failed attempt at nuptials. Her relationship and subsequent engagement to Lord Winston Eveleigh had been birthed in crisis when Winston’s sister Vivien, Rosa’s dear childhood friend, had been murdered, a case that remained unsolved.
Happily, Rosa and Nancy’s friendship had been renewed since Rosa had decided to stay in California.
“Hello, Nancy,” Rosa said excitedly when her friend answered.
“Hiya, Rosa! What’s up?”
“I got a client today.”
“Oh, that’s swell! What’s the deal-i-o?”
“A missing person from an established family. I can’t divulge the details, but it means I won’t be able to come for dinner tonight.”
Rosa could imagine her friend pushing her short honey-blonde curls behind her ear and wrinkling her ski-slope nose. “Oh, phooey. And I was going to make Swanson’s turkey TV dinners.”
“I do apologize.”
“It’s fine. I’ll whip up something else for Eddie and the boys and save the Swanson’s until you can come.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
“Hey, I want to hear all the dirt someday. You know I live vicariously through you.”
Rosa made promises to that effect before hanging up. Collecting Diego, she headed back to the Forrester mansion. She had something to get ready for.
3
A white Spanish mission-style home that looked over several acres of gardens and a sprinkling of orange and lemon trees, the Forrester mansion rested on a knoll at the foot of the hills. An inviting kidney-shaped swimming pool, a tennis court, and the
requisite lines of palm trees added the required luxuries.
It was home away from home, though nothing could ever replace Hartigan House in Kensington where Rosa had—outside of those four years during World War II—been born and raised. She’d never lived on her own, and she’d nearly moved onto the Eveleigh estate as Winston’s wife. Rosa mused that she could move into her office if she wanted to live alone. It had the necessities to house her, but she’d miss the stimulation that a household of people—family and staff—provided, not to mention the indulgence of the pool and family library at her disposal. Besides, her office would provide her an oasis of peace anytime she needed solitude.
Coasting past the front entrance, Rosa parked her Corvette in the six-car garage just as her cousin Clarence was leaving. He wore a sharp-looking cotton suit buttoned at the waist, a straw fedora, and brown leather saddle shoes.
“Holy smokes!”
Rosa grinned as Clarence’s eyes flashed with envy. “Where did you get that?”
“I bought it this morning. Do you like it?”
Clarence scoffed. “If I wasn’t on my way out, I’d demand you let me take it for a ride.”
Rosa held the keys in the air and shook them. “Whenever you want.”
“Golly, Rosa,” Clarence filled his cheeks with air. “You really know how to tease a fella.”
Rosa set her satchel on the ground, and Diego scurried into the house through a door that Clarence had left open.
She glanced back at Clarence. “Where are you off to?”
It was just a friendly question, and Clarence took it as one. “Picking up Julie to take her to the park for a couple of hours. Vanessa’s getting her hair done.”
Vanessa was Clarence’s ex-wife, and Julie, their four-year-old daughter. The divorce caused strained relations between Vanessa and the Forrester clan, particularly with Clarence’s mother—Rosa’s Aunt Louisa—but Clarence did his best to make the most of a sad situation, especially where his daughter was concerned.
“Hey, Clarence,” Rosa ventured as Clarence opened the driver’s door to a red Thunderbird. “What do you know about the Gainer family?”
Clarence answered as he slid into the front seat. “Large, rich, powerful. Orville Gainer is a pompous donkey. They all are.”
“I take it you don’t get on?”
“Longtime rivalry between our family and theirs. Only room for one powerhouse at the top, apparently. We reigned there for years until Dad died.” A shadow passed behind Clarence’s eyes as he pinched his lips together. As the male head of the family, Clarence had found it difficult to fill his father’s shoes, a task made doubly difficult since Aunt Louisa was bound and determined to wear them too.
Rosa said goodbye to Clarence and went inside to search for Diego. Her new pet had won the hearts of everyone except Aunt Louisa, so Rosa did her best to keep the two separated. Out of sight, out of mind.
She found him in the first place she looked, in the kitchen with the housekeeper, Señora Gomez, who constantly pampered the cat with bowls of milk.
“Hello, Miss Rosa!” the housekeeper said with a bright smile. She patted Diego on the head. “I knew you were home.”
“Diego let the cat out of the bag?” Rosa chuckled at her pun. After a second, Señora Gomez caught the joke and laughed.
“You’re too funny, Miss Rosa. And you must be hungry, no? Mrs. Forrester and Miss Forrester are lunching by the pool. Would you like to join them?”
“That would be fabulous, Señora Gomez. Thank you. Do you mind if Diego stays with you?”
“He’s always welcome.” Señora Gomez had put a chair under the window where Diego could bask in the sun, far enough away from where she bustled about near the kitchen counters and appliances.
From a distance, Gloria and Aunt Louisa looked like sisters, each with trim figures and short curls pinned back behind the ears, except that Aunt Louisa’s hair was dark, and Gloria had recently gone platinum-blonde. It was only when Rosa drew closer that the difference in ages became apparent. Her aunt had fine lines around shrewd eyes and tight lips, whereas Gloria’s youthful expression was light with few worldly cares.
Gloria enthusiastically waved when she spotted Rosa. “Oh goody! Rosa’s here.”
Rosa pulled up a patio chair and joined Aunt Louisa under the shade of the umbrella. It was an annoyance that Rosa’s fair skin burst into a bouquet of freckles when it met with the sun.
Aunt Louisa stared at her over the rims of a snazzy pair of cat-eye sunglasses that had white and red striped frames. “You were off early this morning,” she said.
“I bought a car.”
Gloria sat straight with renewed interest. “What?”
Aunt Louisa rolled her eyes. “We have a garage full of vehicles. You could’ve taken your pick.”
“I do appreciate your generosity, Aunt Louisa,” Rosa said. She’d made use of one of the vehicles, a two-toned yellow Chevrolet Bel Air, quite extensively. “But it’s not the same as having one’s own.” Not only had Rosa felt compelled to let someone know every time she took the Bel Air, but she was also nervous about causing damage to the vehicle.
“What did you buy?” Gloria asked.
At that moment, Rosa spotted Señora Gomez, who arrived with a plate of food for her. She teased her cousin, “I’ll show you after lunch.”
“How enigmatic of you,” Aunt Louisa said wryly.
Rosa held in a smirk. “I’ll only say that I ran into Clarence on my way in, and he loved it.” Clarence was a connoisseur of luxury vehicles, and his opinion went a long way.
“My curiosity is unbearable!” Gloria said.
Lunch was a bowl of tomato soup paired with a deliciously greasy cheddar cheese grilled sandwich. Rosa thanked the housekeeper again before taking a bite.
Rosa watched with interest as Gloria shifted in her chair as if struggling with a bout of nerves.
“Is everything all right?” Rosa asked.
“I’m taking acting lessons.”
Aunt Louisa dropped the book she was reading onto the patio floor. “Acting? You can’t be serious. What is wrong with interior design?”
Gloria sighed. “I’m really only interested in designing rooms that I myself plan to dwell in. I find I’m quite bored with the process when it comes to dealing with strangers.”
“You change your mind so fast that my head spins, dear,” Aunt Louisa said.
Gloria raised her chin in indignation. “I refuse to settle until I find the perfect thing to devote my life to.”
“I’m sure you can come up with something more fitting than acting.”
“There’s not a lot a girl can do,” Gloria said, “and acting is a perfectly respectable profession. I start classes next week.”
Gloria’s list of new pursuits was getting rather long, Rosa mused. Dancing, journalism, interior design, and now acting, or rather, a return to acting. Finding purpose in one’s life was a matter of importance for most people, and Rosa was happy she’d found hers in police work, and now in private sleuthing.
“I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun,” Rosa said.
Gloria shot her a look of contempt. “I’m not just doing it for fun.”
“No, of course not, but you can still have fun anyway, can’t you?”
Gloria threw her head back and laughed. “Of course, Rosa. And thank you for believing in me.” With that, she shot her mother a look of rebuke, but Aunt Louisa simply picked up her book and started reading again.
Deciding now was a good time to change the subject, Rosa ventured, “What do either of you know about the Gainer family?”
Aunt Louisa frowned, and after a long pause said, “Why do you ask?”
“I’ve been invited to a party there,” Rosa replied.
“Oh-oh,” Gloria clapped her palms together. “Can I come?”
Before Rosa could make up an excuse to decline, Aunt Louisa snapped, “Absolutely not!” She glared at Rosa. “And I would strongly suggest that you decline the
offer as well.”
“Why?” Rosa said, intrigued. This feud between families appeared to go deep.
“Orville Gainer is a chauvinist, that’s why. He can’t even make eye contact with me when I’m standing two feet in front of him.”
“When is the party?” Gloria asked, apparently not sharing the same concerns.
“Tonight.”
Gloria and Aunt Louisa both gawked then said simultaneously, “Tonight?”
Aunt Louisa added, “A late invite doesn’t bode well. What brought this on?”
“An old friend of Aunt Felicia’s happened to marry into the Gainer family.” Felicia wasn’t a blood relative, but Rosa had always used the endearment when referring to her mother’s former sister-in-law. And though Janet Gainer had been to London, the two ladies had never actually met, but it was the cover story Rosa and Mrs. Gainer had agreed on.
“Poor girl,” Aunt Louisa quipped.
“We ran into each other this morning, and she invited me. Quite impromptu.”
Aunt Louisa grumbled. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“I’m sure I won’t get eaten alive.”
Her aunt stared at her as if she had doubts.
“Can I come?” Gloria repeated.
“I think it would be poor form if I brought someone along,” Rosa said diplomatically, “at least at this point.”
Gloria pouted then took a sip of lemonade. “At least show me your new car.”
“Of course,” Rosa said. “Let’s go.”
That evening, Rosa drove her Corvette Roadster through the open wrought-iron gate and down the driveway of the Gainer Estate. The palm-tree-lined drive took her past manicured lawns and tennis courts and ended in a roundabout that circled an impressive five-tiered concrete fountain. The residence itself was a two-story Mediterranean Revival-style home that appeared to be even bigger than the Forrester mansion. Rosa pulled up to the steps leading to the front entrance, and a chauffeur immediately appeared and took her keys. He gave her a ticket stub to reclaim her car, and she watched, rather nervously, as he pulled away from the curb and disappeared around the side of the house.