by Albert Simon
Chapter 10
Henry was startled when the phone rang. He must have dozed off.
“Hello?”
“Henry, its Rosie returning your call, how have you been?” The familiar voice said in his ear.
“I’m good, well, thank you for returning my call. What time is it?” Henry found himself fumbling for his watch that he had put on the desk.
“It’s a quarter after three, I’m sorry, did I wake you?” Rosie sounded concerned.
“No, no, not at all, I’m not a napper.” Henry felt that he wasn’t really, though the warm Palm Springs weather certainly made afternoon siestas easy. It must have been the alcohol during brunch that was having this effect on him.
“What can I do for you?” Rosie’s voice sounded as smooth as the morning’s champagne.
“Well, I sort of want to talk to you a little bit more about Rex Thornbird’s relationship with the other agents in your office and perhaps agents in other offices as well.”
“You don’t think someone in our office did it?” Rosie asked with alarm in her voice.
“No, I really don’t think so. Why kill the golden goose? But I do want to get a better understanding of who might have thought of him as a rival or maybe who didn’t get along with him.” Henry explained.
“Ok, I understand.” She said tentatively, she didn’t sound as though she understood. “I have a busy afternoon, today was the day for real estate tours and I have a lot of notes to transcribe. How about dinner tonight, say around seven?”
“That sounds great!” Henry had to be careful to control the enthusiasm in his voice. “Where would you like to meet?” He asked with a little less excitement.
“Well, we sort of had a Mexican lunch the other day. Do you like Chinese?” He could hear Rosie thinking on the other side of the line.
“Sure, do you want to go to Lam’s? Henry remembered his take out from last night.
“No, I was thinking of something a little nicer. Have you ever been to P.F. Chang’s Bistro in Rancho Mirage?” He heard Rosie flipping pages in the background.
“Is that the place that always has a line outside in The River shopping center?” Henry thought he had seen it when he drove out to Palm Desert on Route one-eleven.
“Yes, that’s the one, I’ll make a reservation for seven, is that ok?” Rosie asked.
“I’ll see you there.” Henry answered once again trying to keep his voice calm.
“Ok, until then. Henry, one question before you hang up?” Rosie’s voice was hesitant.
“Yes, what is it?” Henry hesitated as well.
“Dinner doesn’t need to be totally about business does it? I think I’d like to get know you a little better.” Rosie asked quietly.
“No, no it certainly doesn’t, I’d like that. See you at seven.” Henry answered.
“Good, until then.” Rosie hung up the phone.
“Until then.” Henry said to a now quiet phone as he hung up slowly.
He couldn’t believe what was happening. He had not been interested in any women since getting engaged to Irma over forty years ago. Maybe what Charles had said was true, he had been hiding from his emotions since Irma’s death. But why now, and why did he feel this way about Rosie Murphy? He couldn’t figure that out. Was he cheating on Irma by seeing Rosie for dinner, it was more than business; he couldn’t deny that, he wanted it to be more than business as well. He could certainly talk to other people in the Coachella Real Estate office about Thornbird and his interactions with the other employees there.
He had a feeling that for the price of a large latte at Starbucks that Tiffany would tell him anything he wanted to know. So why didn’t he call Tiffany? There was something about Rosie Murphy that touched a chord deep within Henry; he was determined to pursue what that was. He wasn’t really cheating on Irma, they had had a great marriage, and sure it had its ups and downs, what relationship doesn’t?
He looked down at the wedding ring on his left hand and wondered what Irma would have wanted? He was sure that she would have liked to see him happy. Would a relationship with Rosie make him happy? Would Irma have approved? Was Rosie interested in a relationship with him? He thought so; otherwise she would not have mentioned that they didn’t need to talk just about business tonight. He looked out the window and decided to go and swim his laps now; he hadn’t had a chance to do that this morning. Perhaps exercise would clear his head and make him see what he should do.
About an hour later, he climbed out of the pool and grabbed his towel. The swim felt good and usually he had more energy afterwards but not today. Thinking while he was doing his laps didn’t do anything to help him figure out what to do. He decided to lay out on the chaise lounge and get some sun, what good was living in Palm Springs if you didn’t take advantage of the weather.
He looked at the wedding ring on his left hand again, slipped it off and looked at it closely. It was odd; he suddenly had a hard time remembering Irma’s face. Their wedding date was engraved on the inside. He tried to remember that day, now nearly forty years ago, when she had first slipped it on his finger. It was difficult. Frustrated, he laid it on the table next to the chaise. His skin was white underneath, and even without the ring, it was obvious that he had been wearing one. His hand felt a little funny the little piece of metal not in its usual place as he laid down on the chaise lounge and enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine. Soon he fell asleep for the second time that afternoon.
Henry woke with a chill. The sun had set behind the San Jacinto Mountains. He looked at the pool clock and noticed that it was 5:30. He was supposed to meet Rosie at 7. He jumped up, grabbed his towel and swimming goggles and ran inside to shower and get ready. He couldn’t believe that he had napped for almost an hour. It was a good thing that he had an all year tan; otherwise he probably would have sunburn to deal with as well. The sun was not at full strength in April, but here in the desert, most palefaces got sunburned pretty quickly.
After his shower he shaved for the second time that day, and dug around in the back of his medicine cabinet for some aftershave that he knew his daughter had sent him a Christmas or two ago. He found it, splashed some on and went looking in his closet for something nice to wear to go out. He picked out a pair of khaki slacks, a white shirt and he had a blue blazer in the coat closet by the front door. He didn’t want to look too dressed up, so he decided to go sock less in his loafers.
At 6:30 he grabbed his blazer, and then remembered that he wanted to try Anchula one more time. He walked back to his office and called Anchula’s house and cell phone and left messages in both places. On his way out to the garage he wrote a message for Charles on the refrigerator that he would be home late. He wasn’t sure of that, but he certainly hoped he would be.
He took Sunrise Way back to Route one-eleven and made his way to the River Shopping Center where parking was nearly impossible. He finally found a spot but was a little late as he arrived at the restaurant and checked in at the front desk to see if Mrs. Murphy was seated already. The hostess told him she wasn’t there yet, she gave him one of those vibrating beeper things that he dropped into the pocket of his coat, and she said she’d buzz him if Mrs. Murphy showed up or as soon as their table became available.
He couldn’t decide if he should wait outside where there were a lot of other people standing around or in the bar. He decided to wait in the bar. Maybe a drink wasn’t such a bad idea. He couldn’t believe he was nervous. He had been a chief of police for many years; he was used to interviewing people; he’d met hundreds if not thousands of people while he was investigating crimes, yet he felt like he was back in High School waiting for his date at her parent’s house.
“What’ll it be buddy?” The bartender startled him out of his daydream.
“Gin and tonic please.” Henry wondered if he should order Rosie a margarita. She enjoyed hers at lunch yesterday; he liked watching her lick the salt of the rim with her tongue.
“Hi Henry, been waiting long?” Rosie was at his side as the
restaurant’s beeper started vibrating in his pocket. “Here you go pal, that’ll be four fifty.”
The bartender put the gin and tonic down in front of him. He didn’t know what to do first; he bent down to take the vibrating beeper out of his pocket, laid it on the bar, and reached into his pants pocket to get his money out to pay for the drink as Rosie stood on the tips of her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek.
“Eh, no I just got here, would you like something to drink?” He was surprised by her greeting, but at the same time, the nervous feeling in his stomach was gone instantaneously.
“A cosmopolitan please.” She said to the bartender as she squeezed Henry’s arm. “You look very nice tonight.” Her green eyes were sparkling.
“Thank you, so do you.” Henry laid a twenty on the bar as the bartender went off to make Rosie’s drink. She certainly hadn’t dressed like this in the office. She was wearing heels again, but she had on a black skirt, not too short, but Henry did notice that she had nice legs. A simple white silk blouse and a small black sweater that she had draped over her shoulders made her look very elegant.
“Sorry I’m late; I would have been here on time but I didn’t expect parking to be so difficult, I couldn’t find a single space and then the movie must have let out and suddenly a wholly bunch of people left and a space opened up; I guess our table is ready, your thing is buzzing; Geez, you smell nice tonight; where is that bartender with my drink?” Rosie seemed to be as nervous as Henry had been until she showed up.
“You’re doing it again.” Henry laughed as the bartender set the cosmopolitan down on the bar in front of them. “Take a deep breath, take a sip of your drink, and let’s take it easy – we have all evening. Unless you need to be somewhere after we eat?”
Rosie picked up the drink and took a small sip, “No, I don’t need to be anywhere at all. You can ask me about Rex Thornbird all evening long, though I hope you won’t.”
“Not to worry, I want to find out a little bit more about Rosie Murphy tonight.” Henry took his change from the bartender. “Are you ready to sit down or would you like to stay here and finish our drinks?”
“Well, since we’re not in a hurry, let’s stay in the bar and when we finish our drinks, we can ask them to take us to our table, let me go tell the hostess.” Rosie set her drink down on the bar, gave Henry’s arm another squeeze and walked over to the hostess stand. Henry took a sip of his own drink and left a generous trip on the bar for the bartender. Bartenders work as hard, and often harder, than waitresses he felt.
Rosie came back in and climbed on the bar stool next to his. She demurely straightened her skirt after getting settled, though it did nothing to hide her shapely legs, and picked up her drink. “Well, Mr. Wright, what sort of designs do you have on a girl like me, just exactly where is that wedding ring that you have been wearing?”
Henry blushed slightly as he looked at his left hand, where his ring had been there was now a slight pinkish stripe on his skin.
“Oh no, I left it on the table next to the chaise lounge by the pool. I didn’t mean to take it off, really, I took it off after my swim, put it on the table and must have forgotten it there – and my intentions are quite honorable – really – actually I don’t really know what my intentions are, sorry.”
“Now you’re doing it.” Rosie smiled, “Relax, take a breath, take a sip of your drink. We’re both adults and do not need to answer to anyone. I’m glad you’re not wearing it actually, I think you’re making a transition in your life, and if I’ve contributed to you moving forward, then I’m glad.”
“Actually I had not really consciously thought about that.” Henry sipped his gin and tonic. “Moving forward in my life, I mean.”
Rosie picked up her cosmopolitan and looked off into the distance.
“You know, I’ve been there. You’ve experienced this loss, you pick up the pieces, you go forward with your life, but you really just exist, you’re not living – do you know what I mean?”
“Yes, I know what you mean; I guess I just had not thought of it that way. I thought I was pretty happy with my life.” Until I met you Henry thought, but he didn’t say it. Could this petite woman who was so full of energy and so unlike Irma make him happy?
She drained her drink, licked the last of the alcohol off her lips and set the glass on the bar.
“Come on, let’s go eat. I’m positively starving. The calamari appetizer here is great, wait until you try it.” She literally jumped off the bar stool and grabbed Henry’s arm who barely had enough time to finish his drink and set it down. He laughed as he let her drag him up to the hostess stand.
“I’m hungry too, I had an early lunch, or a late breakfast and haven’t had anything since.”
They were seated at a table for two by the window. The restaurant was noisy and busy, but at the same time the commotion provided them a lot of privacy. They couldn’t hear what the people at the next table were saying, nor could they be heard. After they ordered the calamari appetizer – Rosie was the first to speak.
“So tell me about your day, did my list of properties that Rex sold help you?”
“I think so. First, there were a lot of them. He was quite a salesman.”
“Yes that he was. More than you know.” Rosie looked down at her hands.
“What do you mean by that?” Henry looked directly at her.
“Well, as you must know by now, he embellished the properties he was selling with stories of famous architects that designed those, movie stars who had lived there, anything to sell the place.” Rosie looked up at Henry. “He suggested that I become an agent, I took the test, I have the license, but I couldn’t do it. Be part of his scam I mean.”
“I was wondering why someone as intelligent as you weren’t an agent.” Henry picked up her hand.
She smiled at the compliment. “Rex said the same thing many times. There is no shame in being an office manager, and I’m very good at my job. I think I actually prefer working in the background.”
“Please don’t take what I said the wrong way, I know that an office cannot run without someone like you holding things together, but I just thought that you were smart enough and were more ambitious.” Henry held on to her hand across the table.
She let him hold her hand and said. “Thank you for the compliment. You know Rex was very encouraging to everyone in the office, and certainly he supported my efforts at educating me, especially the time that I took my real estate agent exam. But I never sold any houses, I just couldn’t do what he was doing, he would tell a buyer whatever they wanted to hear in order to close a deal. You know, nothing that Rex did was illegal, but it was certainly unethical, and I just couldn’t be any part of it. It was bad enough that I ended up turning my head to it.”
The waiter set their calamari appetizer down in front of them as Henry let go of her hand. “Is there anything else I can get for you folks?”
“Yes, there is.” Henry answered. “Would you like some wine Rosie?”
“Please, you order anything you like as long as it is white.”
“Do you have any St. Jean Chardonnay, I don’t care what year.” Henry asked the waiter.
“That will be coming right up sir.” The waiter disappeared towards the bar.
They started in on the appetizer, it was indeed very good. Different, it had coarse salt and black pepper that he dipped the calamari in following Rosie’s example and Henry enjoyed it very much.
“I had a busy morning, I spoke with Tim and MarieAnne Miller at the Solé Hotel, the Wadowicz family, and a contractor who was working on a house that Thornbird sold as having been owned by Bette Davis. I have been trying to contact the owner of that house, but he lives up near San Francisco and he is not returning my calls.”
“I remember that guy; he had a foreign sounding name. I think by the time that deal closed he suspected that he had bought more than he got, I think you should talk with him.” Rosie put her fork down.
“Well, if he suspected
it then, his contractor confirmed it for him last month. Interestingly, according to the contractor, he was in town the day that Thornbird was killed, and now I can’t reach him.” Henry put his fork down as well as the waiter showed up with the bottle of wine and showed it to him. Henry nodded as the waiter opened the wine and poured some for him to taste. Henry approved and the waiter poured them both a glass of wine. They ordered their entrees, the waiter wrote them down on his pad after telling them their choices were excellent and he disappeared again.
“That sounds suspicious; do you think he did it?” Rosie picked up her glass. “Here’s to new beginnings.”
“That sounds good, here’s to new beginnings. I don’t know if he did it or not. I’d sure like to talk with him.” Henry tasted the wine, this was one of his favorites and it was always good.
“Did you go out to the hotel, what did you say it was called? Did they ruin the style with the remodeling?” Rosie set her wine down.
“The Solé Hotel, I don’t think you could tell that anything has been done to the place really. To me it looks like the only modification they made was enclosing the courtyard with a fence and a gate. The place looks pretty prosperous, and Tim and MarieAnne are interesting people.” Henry didn’t feel comfortable telling her what kind of hotel it was, at least not yet. He popped another piece of calamari into his mouth.
“Then I had brunch with the Wadowicz family who bought a house in the Movie Colony that had been owned by Veronica Lake.”
“Are they the older couple from Michigan?” Rosie asked.
“Yes, that’s right, they sort of knew that Thornbird was embellishing the truth but didn’t seem to mind.” Henry took another sip of wine.
“Rex spent a lot of time with them, at one point he was busy with closing another deal and I showed them several properties.”
The waiter showed up with their entrees and took away the empty appetizer plate. Henry refilled their wine glasses and Rosie started on her Cantonese Scallops. “Hmmm, this is good.” Henry had ordered the Mango Chicken; he decided his was good as well.
The rest of their dinner proceeded at a leisurely pace, they talked about their backgrounds, their passed on spouses and the reasons that each of them ended up in Palm Springs. Henry told her about Claire and how proud he was of her as a successful accountant in Chicago. Rosie lamented that she had never been able to have children, now that she was getting older, she missed it even more. They finished the wine and had coffee as they shared the Banana Spring Rolls for dessert. As they finished their coffee and Henry paid the check he decided that tonight had really been more a date than an interview in a criminal investigation.
It was ten thirty as he slowly walked Rosie through the shopping center and out to the parking lot to her car and said good night. This time he bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek as he asked if he could see her again, socially. She happily agreed and got into the little red Volkswagen and drove off. Henry watched until he could no longer see her taillights and headed for home himself. He was happy for the first time in a long time.