by Helen Jacey
She went on to explain that Dolly had told her that she and Willa were pals, but she swore blind she had said nothing about the affair to her. She also worked with her at Tilsons Department Store. ‘So, did you see this Willa?’
‘No, she’s away. And the landlady hasn’t got a clue about Dolly’s arrest.’ I showed Parker the lighter and the photograph of the musician. ‘I found these in Dolly’s clothes. Thought it best they disappeared.’ Sonia studied the man’s face for some time. ‘Quite a dish,’ she said finally. She told me to look after them. Then she sighed, almost to herself, ‘Oh, Dolly.’
It was the first time I felt genuine concern from her for her client. An innocent woman’s life in jeopardy. I doubted Parker was the type to ever blame herself if she lost a case, but a life was a life.
I said, ‘But there’s something else.’
Now for the big one.
Sonia frowned, wrinkles forming an eleven between her eyebrows, while I explained about Todd Minski showing up and asking Mrs. Olsen for Willa, the roommate. That he could match Dolly’s mystery snooper. Sonia scrawled down a few notes. I recounted what I’d heard outside his office about Willa, and the band. I offered my theory that maybe Linda Hunter was buying people’s silence about Dolly. ‘After all, it’s a terrible embarrassment for her.’
Sonia shrugged this off. ‘Never heard of Todd Minski. Anybody could have hired him, for any reason.’
I also had to admit to Sonia that Minski saw me after I tailed him to his office. ‘What?’ Disdain spread over her face at my incompetence.
‘It’s okay. He thinks I’m an office temporary. I could use that angle on him again if I need to try and get any information out of him. Sure helps to be a woman investigator at a time like this!’ I quipped, but she still didn’t smile.
A long silence followed. I shuffled in my seat.
‘Can you break into his office?’
Was she joking? My mouth fell open. ‘You want me to rob him?’
‘Your hunch about Linda Hunter hiring him might be wrong. I need to know what this creep’s up to, if it concerns Dolly.’
‘But assuming I’m right about who’s hiring him, Minski won’t need to pay Willa off if she didn’t even know about Dolly and Hunter.’ I observed. ‘Should I warn Alberta he might come snooping around Joyce’s?’
‘Don’t interfere. One, you could be wrong. Two, it might take him a while to find the band. Dolly only said in her statement to the police she sings for a band. She didn’t give Flannery the name even today. So even if Minski’s got an insider contact, he won’t get much. Not unless Flannery questions Dolly again and wants to know more about her associates. And in that eventuality, I’ll be there and can alert you after.’
The thought of seedy Minski waddling into a crowded club of lesbians would be funny in any other situation. But I felt tense. Sonia mentioning cop insiders bothered me. I had to change the subject before she remembered I was supposed to look into Lauder, using my own ‘insider’. So I returned to my suggestion of warning Alberta.
I coughed. ‘But what if he does find any of them? I’m sure the band know she was with her as well.’ Not only did Dolly call the club, Alberta went back to Joyce’s after she brought Dolly to Sonia.
Sonia sipped from her cup and lit a cigarette. ‘Correct. I wasn’t thinking straight. It’s been a long day.’
It was a surprising admission of weakness. Sonia was definitely not herself tonight.
‘Okay. Tell Alberta, if Minski or anyone else approaches her, to say nothing except Dolly didn’t show up. And she should warn the other and members to do the same.’
‘What if Detective Flannery uses dirty tactics to get them to throw Dolly under the bus in court? Wouldn’t be the first corrupt cop in town to do it.’
If any of the band members had family or friends in jail, which was quite likely, considering most of the prison population was black or Hispanic, Flannery could easily put the squeeze on them.
Sonia said, ‘Flannery’s a squeaky-clean type. Personally, I don’t think he’ll bother. In his eyes, she’s practically convicted already.’
Convicted. Like me.
If I was caught and sent back to England, I’d face the hangman.
My hand instinctively went to my neck.
Sonia was puzzled at my discomfort. ‘What? Is there something else?’
‘Just…just the thought she could be executed.’
‘Pull yourself together. We’ve got a job to do. And it gets worse. Of course, Dolly’s got a prior. As I predicted.’
‘What?’
‘Stole candy from a store, aged fifteen. A juvenile offense that Dolly claimed she’d forgotten all about. Thank goodness you got the wristwatch back on Hunter. One less strike against her.’
‘Could any of The Charmettes be character witnesses for Dolly?’
‘You just can’t resist strategizing, can you?’
The mocking glint in her eye belied her gentler tone. ‘Look, presumably Willa likes Dolly well enough if they’re roomies. She can be prepped. Flirtatious can be described as ‘friendly’, that kind of thing. But I won’t call Alberta to the stand, anyway. Or any of the band, for that matter.’
‘Why not?’
‘Why do you think? The jury will be white.’ Irritable Sonia was back, rolling her eyes at my stupidity.
She put her cup down, stood up and threw her coat back on, looking revived.
‘Oh, yes, a little bird in the Coroner’s office told me Hunter’s body will be released to the family tomorrow, so the funeral should be soon. Let’s hope you glean something useful.’ Then she glanced at the magazine with a sarcastic smile. ‘You can get back to your reading.’
I followed her to the door. Suddenly Sonia spun around, her hand extended. I guessed she meant for me to shake it. Maybe she wasn’t totally unimpressed.
‘Oh, and what progress have you made on that vice cop who was visiting Linda Hunter? We’ve got a sleazy PI and an LAPD vice dick sniffing around the same case. Now these are leads I am interested in. Linda Hunter can wait. I just don’t like her for it.’
‘Okay.’ My voice came out like a squeak, as I gave a thin smile.
When I got back into the bath, it was tepid and the unstirred bath salts had formed a violet puddle at the bottom like a large bruise.
I turned on the faucet and swirled the water around till it was a welcoming translucent lilac and sweetly scented. But just like me trying to warm up Sonia, the hot water just couldn’t beat the lukewarm.
I leaned back and thought of Lauder. Could he be involved somehow in framing Dolly?
He wasn’t exactly clean in his methods, but surely he was a good guy? But did I really know him? What was had he been doing at the Hunter residence? And he had been so quick to blame Dolly.
I couldn’t forget that.
He’d given me a chance, so why not her? But the best thing I could do was forget all about him being there. I’d never get a thing out of him.
Don’t kid yourself you know him!
I ran my hand over my body and between my legs, turned on by the thought of him.
What we had, other than a need to keep each other safe, was nothing more than a perverted mutual lust. It wasn’t born out of anything decent or respectable, not by society’s standards. I wasn’t sure if we even liked each other. We couldn’t get to know each other in any normal way, like going for a walk, to movie and then dinner to discuss it after.
We just had sex and secrets.
But our affair aside, I just couldn’t investigate him. One door that could not be opened, period.
I’d have to concoct some story to get Parker off his scent for now.
Why did you open your big mouth?
The task ahead was to go back and work on Minski. Talk about a tough sell. It was already a dicey move in case he rumbled my lie about being a temp.
Got it! I could say I was really looking for him, but got cold feet and so made the Anville excuse.
&
nbsp; He would buy that. I bet he was used to it. I bet a lot of people called him up about using a private investigator, but when crunch time came, they bailed. Many spouses thought they were desperate to know the truth, but in reality, they weren’t.
Ignorance is bliss.
Lauder and The Fiancée dancing the night away flashed across my mind. She would be in a frothy white gown that bared her shoulders, with her expensive diamond necklace twinkling around her long neck, and he would be in his sleek black tux, matching his jet-black hair and cold turquoise eyes.
I shut the image out of my mind.
Joyce’s cocktail. I craved one of them right now.
Joyce’s Bliss wasn’t just ignorance in a glass.
It was getting smashed out of your brains till you forgot your woes, your pain, your loss, your hate, and your fears.
22
Alberta came in with a tray loaded with two cups of coffee and a glossy, dark fruitcake on small plates. The cake burst with red and gold fruits, made all the more vivid by the sunshine pouring into her apartment.
She put the tray down on the glass coffee table. ‘Old Jamaican recipe, passed down through the family. I load it with rum, far more than the recipe says. I figure my slave relatives couldn’t get their hands on too much of the stuff, so I do it for them.’
I met her eyes, not knowing quite what to say. She spoke for me. ‘But you don’t know anything about that.’
It was a statement not a question.
‘Where did they come from?’
‘You mean, after Africa? Well, originally, my great grandparents were sold to a Louisiana family.’ She took a piece of cake herself. ‘I hate that state, but I love it, too.’
‘Do you go back much?’
‘No. My mama died a few years back, my pops is still there. Married a woman my age.’ She laughed, wryly. ‘They got kids now. I don’t know them so well. I’m the mystery aunt in the big city.’
I bit into the cake. It was moist, full of orange, spice, treacle and vanilla flavors. ‘Delicious.’
Alberta, leaning over the back of a chair, gave me a funny smile.
‘How about you? Where are your people from?’
‘My mom was a Londoner, but she died when I was little. I can’t really remember her.’
That was a lie.
‘That’s sad.’
What was sadder was that I didn’t even know if Violet was actually dead. Dead to me, at least.
‘So you grew up in England?’
‘No. I lived here till I was six. My father was a GI. My mom moved here after the war, to look for him.’
‘GI? So that makes you really American?’
I nodded. ‘Guess so. At least half.’
Was I? Elvira Slate and her fake papers were one hundred per cent American.
Jemima Day, the child I was born, was a mongrel.
‘He was passing through London, end of the war. Turns out he gave my mother a false name and address. If he’s alive, I don’t think he’d be desperate for his long-lost child to show up.’ I took another bite. ‘I have no intention of looking for him, anyway.’
Alberta nodded, studying me. ‘So you’re just like Dolly. All alone in the world.’
I met her eyes. ‘Dolly could be named in the papers today.’
‘Charged?’
I nodded. I wished I could just tell Alberta everything, all the progress—or lack of it—I’d made, but Sonia had cautioned silence. I felt very torn. But if Sonia was reporting back to Dede, then maybe Alberta would find out more anyway.
I put my cup on the coffee table and explained that she should be on guard in case anyone started asking questions about Dolly and her personal life. I told her some shady guy with a beer belly could show up, by the name of Todd Minski.
‘Todd Minski? You’re telling me I shouldn’t talk to a fat guy called Todd Minski. You really think I’m that dumb?’
I was shocked I’d annoyed her and I felt my cheeks flush. I’d probably sounded really patronizing. ‘No, of course not. Try and see it my way. The band know you were with her after she discovered Hunter’s body, right? That goes against Dolly’s statement. It’s just better if nobody says anything to anybody who’s snooping around. That includes the band. They can’t say anything. Dolly didn’t show, period.’
‘Jeez, girl. You’re too much.’
‘What? Why? This is important.’ I didn’t understand her reaction. I explained again how Minski could be a major problem. We didn’t know who he was working for, but he definitely wasn’t a cop.
Alberta listened, crossing her arms. Looking more annoyed as I went on, not less.
When she spoke, her voice was loaded with as much sarcasm as her cake was laced with rum.
‘I get it. You think you gotta look out for us, don’t you? To explain what to think and how to be careful? You don’t think we know how to do that already? That we haven’t needed to before you came on the scene? That we don’t, every day of our lives?’ She guffawed, shaking her head.
‘No…’
Her eyes flashed in anger. ‘No? And why can’t you just trust me when I say that I know those girls? You think I don’t know my own people? Or is it, because you ain’t got no folks of your own, you don’t even know how to trust? I wonder which.’
I swallowed the cake. Alberta was the last person I wanted to annoy.
‘Nobody in the band’s gonna say a thing about Dolly. Nobody’s that stupid.’ Alberta shot me a pointed look. ‘You hear me?’
I looked down, ashamed. ‘I’m sorry. And you’re right. I don’t trust anybody…easily. So if I sounded like I was insulting you somehow, and your friends, I’m just trying to cover all bases. But you know them best.’
‘I do.’
There was an awkward silence.
Alberta finished her coffee, not taking her eyes from me. Then she let out a sigh. ‘I get you are trying to do your job and all. But listen up. We are smart women. Wanda, Jewel, Carmen, Bertha. I trust them with my life. Zetty, I gotta be honest, I don’t know her so well. She’s seems okay. Dolly and Zetty, they’re good buddies. Zetty’s always running errands for Dolly. Zetty don’t show it but she’s real upset.’
‘Yes, she sounded sad Dolly wasn’t going to sing at the party.’
‘Yeah. It’s on New Year’s Eve, right around the corner.’
‘Oh, that soon?’
‘Uh-huh. So we got to get to practicing all Wanda’s new songs. There’s a whole bunch of stuff to do. It’s in Santa Barbara. We can stay on for a while. It’ll be nice to get out of the city.’
Santa Barbara. I’d heard about it but never been there. I felt a twinge of envy.
‘Now, tell me what you’ve got on that wife of Ronald Hunter? Anything?’
I hesitated. Screw Sonia Parker! I really wanted to talk openly to Alberta. Dede was paying my fees anyway, and so far, Alberta wasn’t that impressed by me.
‘Nothing, so far. Parker doesn’t think she’s in the frame.’
‘What? Seems like the prime suspect to me. But what do I know? I’m just a housekeeper and a sax player.’
‘I feel the same, if you must know, but I’ve got to do what Sonia tells me to. To the letter.’
Alberta looked skeptical. ‘Let’s hope Sonia Parker is as good as her reputation.’ Then she stood up. ‘We done? I’m real busy.’
I stood up. She said, ‘You wanna take home some cake? I’m just going toss it in the trash. Got a dress to squeeze into.’
I nodded. Alberta went to the kitchen and came back with a large cube of cake, wrapped in parchment.
‘Thank you,’ I said, meeting her eye. She nodded.
Alberta was building a bridge in a way. I’d annoyed her and she’d let me know about it. She was also letting me know she’d forgiven me.
23
Time for another act, one Todd Minski would buy.
After saying bye to Alberta I went back upstairs to dress for the part. I put on a navy suit and a turquoise cotton b
louse covered in white and blue flowers, with little white covered buttons that looked like my morphine tablets.
I could always lose myself in clothes. The choosing, the pressing, the accessorizing. Nobody could ever take that pleasure away from me.
Being practical was the best antidote to brooding.
The telephone rang. Martell, with the news the funeral would be on 30th December. There would be a private family service followed by a larger reception at the house. ‘How they’ll keep the vultures away, God only knows.’
She said I should come to her house first, to get the hat with a veil, and then we’d set off together to the reception.
The 30th was soon, unseemly so. Linda Hunter couldn’t get 1946 off to a fresher start.
After the call, I finished off my look. I put on a jaunty tilt hat in a blue woven straw, with thin white edging and a white band. I powdered my eyes with pale blue shadow and loaded on the mascara. Then I smeared on pink lipstick, before drenching myself in perfume. Not my favorite French perfume. I wouldn’t waste that on a slob like Todd Minski.