by Sandi Scott
“But it doesn’t help your eyesight.”
“Very funny.” Georgie pulled the bag of candy away from Aleta.
Chapter 10
It didn’t take long for several people to return Georgie’s inquiry about Biff. Georgie expected that there might be one or two ladies from the photos claiming Biff to be a real player. Maybe he used them for sex or money. Maybe they had a mutual understanding and were just having a good time. But the reports were nothing like that.
“Biff Stapleton was in love with Maren Ingrid.” Sophie Lamar said. She was a good friend of Beth Bolonomo’s and went to almost every party. “I knew him better than I knew her. She was sort of the ’party girl’ if you can call it that at her age.” Sophie said. “Biff was just a distraction when she wasn’t husband hunting.”
“Yeah. Biff was head over heels for Maren.” Louise McMurty said. “She was Sophie’s friend.” They both knew Biff and about his feelings for Maren. “But she didn’t want to be serious with him. Some people say it was because he didn’t have the kind of money she was looking for. But I knew Maren a little bit. She was glamorous and liked expensive things but most of that she got from her deceased husbands and insurance. I can’t begrudge the woman for planning for the future.”
“Poor Biff.” Connie Barbantini also thought he was the one who was worse for wear. “He loved Maren. There was no doubt about it.” She not only knew Beth and Sophie but she’d gone to school as a kid with Biff and sold Avon to Maren. “He was never all that bright. Nope. Not gonna win any Nobel Prizes. But he had a good heart. Maren did, too. A lot of people had her pegged as a gold-digger. If you got a chance to talk to her you’d see that she wasn’t. The woman just had one of those personalities you wanted to be around. She never said a bad word about anyone and if she did you can bet they deserved it.”
“How did she get such a reputation?” Georgie asked as she sat on her couch in her front room with Bodhi on her lap and the phone pinched between her ear and shoulder.
“Her last husband was very, very well off and they were only married a few years before he died. But I’ll tell you that she loved him and he loved her. Let’s face it. Not to talk ill of the dead but Maren didn’t have the face of an angel.”
Georgie recalled her humongous nose.
“It was more like a gargoyle. She’d tell you that herself. But that was what the men fell in love with. She was very funny, extremely intelligent and easy to love. It’s no wonder Biff fell for her. He just wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Connie said.
“Did Maren lead him on in any way? Or was it a bad break-up.”
“With a guy like Biff, no break-up could be a good break-up. He’s just too sensitive. And like I said, he didn’t always think things through. Just because I’m friends with the guy doesn’t mean he walks on water, capiche?”
“What do you mean?” Georgie asked.
“His heart was broken. Rather than take the time to be alone and let his heart heal, he gets messed up with a woman who could be his daughter.” You could hear the disgust in Connie’s voice. “That young woman is bad for him.”
Georgie couldn’t say she was surprised by what she was hearing. May/December romances are often doomed to fail. But after talking with Biff who referred to Esma as “no one” and Esma who said she and Biff had an open relationship Georgie didn’t know who to believe.
She thanked Connie for the information.
“I hope I see you at the next Excellent Over 50 event.” Georgie said.
“Me too. I’d love to talk to you about your pet portraits. I had a bull mastiff when I was a little girl that I used to ride like a horse. His name was Pete. The most docile creature God ever created. I might like a portrait painted of him. We’ll talk.”
When Georgie hung up the phone she felt drunk. Her head was spinning with all this new information. Affairs of the heart had become a hundred times more complex compared to when she was courting with Stan.
It made her feel like she had been a little rough on him the other night. She hadn’t seen him or gotten any calls from him. Was that unusual or was it normal? She did tell him to give her some space. Did he actually do it or did it just seem like she hadn’t heard from him in a long time? Georgie wasn’t sure.
She felt a twist in her chest as her heart winced at the thought of Stan actually listening to her and backing off.
“It is what we wanted, right Bodhi?” She smoothed the dog’s wrinkled brow with each stroke. His eyes closed as he enjoyed the attention. “We wanted our freedom. We don’t want to date anyone seriously. Not yet.”
The people on the dating website that were involved with Maren and Biff seemed to know quite a bit about each other and their relationships. Was that better? Did Georgie run the risk of having that many people knowing her business?
“I’m not going to think about that now.”
Focusing back on Esma, Georgie wondered if the girl had hoodwinked her. Was her description of things with Biff and Maren accurate or had she slanted them somehow?
“Could she have drugged Maren on the way to the party? Somehow slipped her some of those berries in a smoothie or something?”
She would have had a chance to do it with no one seeing anything. And the fact that Maren agreed to drive Esma to the party showed that there was no bad blood between them. At least none that Maren was aware of.
Georgie left Bodhi sleeping on the couch and walked over to Aleta’s house.
“Want to go for dinner?”
“You buyin’?”
Georgie put her hand on her hip and tilted her head to the right.
“Count me in.”
“We better take your car.” Georgie said.
“Okay. That’s... wait. That’s suspicious. Why do we want to take my car? Where are we going?”
“The place is called La Tavola.” Georgie remembered from Esma’s profile that she worked at this posh restaurant on the far side of Oak Park.
“Do I need to change?” Aleta looked down at her plain blue slacks and crisp white blouse.”
“No. You look like a million bucks. I’m going in this.” Georgie did a quick spin and the blue fringe at the bottom of her blue blouse flared out. Her cotton wide-legged pants were wrinkled and her flip-flops were from the drug store. “Come on. Let’s go. Daylight’s wasting.”
“My car? Daylight is wasting? Why do I get the feeling this has more to do with Maren Ingrid than with taking me out for dinner?”
Georgie explained her suspicion about Esma based on what she’d heard from some of the women in Excellent Over 50.
“Sounds like a lot of gossip to me.” Aleta said as she climbed into her Mercedes.
“Sure it does. But that’s all testimony is. Gossip about what one person says another person did.”
Aleta looked across at Georgie, “So you’ve got Esma on trial already?”
“If I did I’d be calling Stan and not skulking around trying to rattle a few more cages with you.”
“Speaking of Stan. Have you heard from him?”
“No.” Georgie shrugged, trying to seem like it didn’t bother her. “Not since he and Obby did their interpretation of The Village People’s hit song Macho Man.”
“Are you okay with that?” Aleta was curious.
“I have to be. I asked for it, right?” Georgie fidgeted, looking out the window briefly as Aleta took her hand and squeezed it. “Hey, don’t feel bad for me. Let me tell you everything these women were telling me about Biff and Esma. It goes way out there.”
By the time they got to La Tavola, Aleta’s head was spinning like Georgie’s had been earlier.
“I feel like I need a scorecard or something.”
“Yes. We need one of those big whiteboards with pictures of everyone and red thread connecting them together. That’s exactly what we need. Here we are. But don’t park in front.”
“Why on earth can’t I park out front?” Aleta was indignant.
“I don’t want her to see
us coming.” Georgie pointed. “Park over there.”
“On the street? You want me to park my Mercedes on the street?”
“Since when does that matter?”
“Since I read that cars that park on the street instead of in parking lots lose ten percent more value because of the nicks and scratches from stones, dirt and debris kicked up by passing traffic.”
“Okay. Then pull down the alley at the back of the building.”
“Then it’s out of sight. This is a Mercedes. If you wanted to park in an alley we should have driven Pablo.”
Georgie gave a huge sigh, “Then pull around back and park in the employee parking, you big baby.”
“I’m just being frugal.”
“If that’s what they are calling crazy these days then YES you are being frugal.”
“You are impossible.” Aleta whispered under her breath.
“I heard every word you just said.” Georgie winked at her sister.
“I meant you to.”
Once they were out of the car and walking toward the sidewalk that wrapped around the brownstone restaurant Georgie grabbed Aleta’s arm. “That’s Esma’s car.” she said excitedly pointing at a rusty subcompact.
“So?”
“So let’s see if there is anything in it. The doors aren’t locked.” Georgie handed Aleta her purse. “Plop this on the hood and pretend you are looking for something inside while I pop the door open.”
“Isn’t that illegal searching?”
“If you must put a label on it, Nancy Negative.” Georgie wrinkled her nose. “How does she drive with this mess? Look, empty food cartons, sticky bottles, clothes. I don’t even want to know why there is underwear in here. Do you smell that? I know what that is. Do you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not a pine air freshener, that’s for sure.”
“I think jail is a good possibility.” Aleta looked around. “We won’t be having some delicious Italian dinner of lamb chops or ravioli stuffed with truffles. We’ll be having bologna sandwiches with white milk from a little carton in jail while we wait for someone to bail us out.”
“Check this out.” Georgie whispered. “This is her phone bill. She’s calling this number a couple dozen times a day. How much do you want to bet that is Biff’s number?”
“Can you hurry up? I think that unmistakable smell is making you giddy.”
“CHA-CHING! No. Wait! This is a restraining order against Biff. But that doesn’t make any sense. Esma didn’t say anything about filing a restraining order against Biff.”
“So what do we do now?”
“We confront her on it.”
“Confront Esma? She’s going to know you went through her car. She might call the cops on us for illegal search and seizure. No one will listen to a couple of kooky old ladies who are snooping through people’s cars and trash looking for a smoking gun.”
“What are you talking about. Of course they will. But it won’t come to that.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Esma is hiding something. She’s going to be so freaked out that we caught her in a lie that it won’t even dawn on her that we snuck in her car.”
Aleta looked at her sister and shook her head.
“Aleta, have a little faith in your big sister. Have I ever steered you wrong?”
“How can you even ask that question with a straight face?”
“Just follow my lead and you’ll see. We’ll get to the bottom of this before the first appetizer is served.”
When they walked into the restaurant Esma was at the hostess station. She did not look happy to see Georgie who was smiling and waving hello.
“What are you doing here?” Esma demanded abruptly.
“We came for dinner. I recognized your car outside. When I peeked in I saw this restraining order against Biff Stapleton. You can imagine how shocked I was. Care to explain?”
“No. You can explain to the cops why you were snooping around in my car.” Esma pulled out her cell phone.
“The doors were open.” Georgie offered. She could feel Aleta’s eyes burning into her.
Chapter 11
“Now, just hold your horses.” Georgie spoke softly and smiled. “I don’t know if we want to get the police involved.”
“I’ll bet you don’t.”
“No. Not for me. I meant for you. The only people who keep their cars that messy usually do so because they are hiding something else in there. Say, a little bit of the Mary-Jane.”
“What?” Esma squinted.
“Come on, Esma, and don’t tell me it’s for medicinal purposes. You’ve got marijuana in your car. The whole thing reeks of it.”
Esma looked around then tucked her phone back in her pocket.
“I’m not here to give you a talking to about the dangers of drugs, honey. But, it is dangerous to keep information like a restraining order from the police. If you are afraid of Biff, I mean if he’s dangerous, then...”
“I never signed it.” Esma whispered. She stepped out from behind the narrow podium she was standing behind and grabbed Georgie’s arm to pull her to a secluded corner.
“Did he hurt you, honey?” Georgie did her best sympathetic old lady imitation.
Esma looked around and rolled her eyes. “No. I just wanted to make him mad.”
“A restraining order ought to work.” Georgie did her best to not roll her eyes at Aleta who was still standing near the podium that Esma had been behind when they entered.
“He told me that when he was a young man he was arrested for domestic violence. He pushed his girlfriend when he was leaving her house and she fell and hit her elbow. It was years ago.”
“But why did you want to make him mad?”
“He wanted to end it. Completely.”
“Was this before or after the pool party?” Georgie was starting to feel as if she’d had too much to drink yet she hadn’t had a drop of water let alone anything stronger.
“Before.” Esma replied as if all of this was normal behavior among adults.
“So, before the pool party Biff says he wants to break up. But then, Biff suggests you go to the pool party and ride with Maren. That doesn’t sound right.”
“He didn’t really suggest it. I sort of invited myself.”
“So, that’s why he was so agitated when he was talking to you. Isn’t it?”
Esma looked past Georgie. The young woman was thinking of a way to make things sound favorable to her but it was too late. The entire story was unravelling to reveal nothing more than a jealous girl. But was she so jealous she’d kill? Georgie couldn’t be certain, so she decided to push a little harder.
“He didn’t suggest you drive with Maren.” Georgie whispered. “He didn’t invite you to the party. Yet, there you were. You made it very clear that you didn’t want Biff talking to Maren. You stuck by his side and glared at any woman who talked to him, didn’t you? Don’t deny it. I saw you. It must have really made you upset when they disappeared upstairs for a short spell.”
“No. It didn’t.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“It didn’t matter.” She tried to look confident, raising her chin and smirking. Her expression looked a little more constipated than anything else. “Like I said. He came home with me.”
“Was your car cleaned out when you drove Maren?”
“What?”
“Your car. Did you drive her in that filth or was the car clean?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about. You need to leave.” Esma stepped back behind her podium as if that somehow protected her from any more questions.
Georgie nodded. Without another word she slipped her hand through the crook of Aleta’s arm and they walked out.
“Let me guess. We aren’t eating dinner there.” Aleta was resigned as they walked away.
“Would you trust the food that came out of the kitchen now?”
“I should have known.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to let you go hungry. We are only a few blocks from a Schoop’s Burgers.”
“You’re lucky I’m starving.” Aleta pulled her keys out of her purse. “So, why were you asking her if she cleaned out the car?”
“Because, if Esma drove Maren there might be trace evidence in her car. She probably cleaned the car for Maren to ride in but trashed it to cover up any evidence. I’d even go so far as to say she smoked some marijuana in order to calm her nerves.”
Aleta considered this, head tilted to one side. “I guess that’s possible.”
“It’s a theory.” Georgie said cheerfully. “Hey, since we can’t eat here, I’ll buy your Schoop’s burger. Everything on it?”
“With extra fries and a cherry coke.” Aleta answered firmly.
“You are a high maintenance date, little sister.”
“IS DATING REALLY THIS complicated?” Aleta asked after the ladies had finished dinner and got in the car.
“It is if you thrive on drama.”
“Really? This makes me very happy that I’m not seeing anyone. In fact, I don’t think I want to dip my toe back in the dating pool for another decade.”
“It won’t matter. When you do you’ll be sad to see the men will still act the same. There will always be jealous ex-girlfriends. I think you are right. Best to just wipe your hands and feet of the whole scene.”
“That Esma is a real piece of work. Nothing says I love you like a false restraining order.”
“Yeah. It’s also starting to look as if nothing says I love you more than poisoning the competition with belladonna berries.” Georgie laughed. “Hey, before we go home. I want to take a detour past Maren’s house again.”
“What for?”
“Just in case she left a window open or a door unlocked.”
“Breaking into Esma’s car was just the start. It’s like a drug with you.” Aleta shook her head. “And I suppose you want me to be the lookout.”
“No. You’re skinnier. You should go in and I’ll be the lookout.”
“I’m not doing it, Georgie.”
“Why? You know if anything goes sideways Stan will bail you out.”