Mrs. Kopek was dressed in a uniform of some sort. She was wearing a long gray skirt covered by a white apron. Her blouse was black, with puffy sleeves. Her head was covered by a white scarf.
There were five people in line. One was about Mrs. Kopek's age. The other four were all under 30.
The first person was the kid who'd answered the phone earlier. As Mrs. Kopek gestured, he stepped forward. She introduced him. "Gustav Bilek. Butler and valet. From Prague."
She put her hand on my arm. "Mr. Nick." I had no idea why I wasn't Mr. Williams, but I was so completely fascinated by this unfolding scene that all I could do was smile. She put her hand on Carter's arm. "Mr. Carter." Gustav clicked his heels and bowed. He then stepped back in line.
Mrs. Kopek beckoned to the next one in line.
"Ferdinand Zak. Gardener and chauffeur. From Prague." He had black hair, dark eyes, a long face and was wearing high-laced boots like my father's chauffeur wore in the 20s. He stood about six feet even and obviously had an athlete's body. Something about him made me wonder if he was a runner or maybe a swimmer. He was dressed in dark khaki trousers. His shirt was black and buttoned to the collar but without a tie. He smiled and bowed. He didn't click his heels, which made sense. I doubted the rubber soles of his boots would make much of a sound. He stepped back in line.
Next was the older woman.
"Tereza Strakova. Cook. Ostrava." This was the larger city that was near the small town where the Kopeks were from. She was wearing an outfit similar to Mrs. Kopek's. The only difference was that her thick gray hair was covered with a gray scarf instead of white. She smiled, curtsied, and stepped back.
"Ida Vanyova. Kitchen maid. Pilsen." She was blonde, had icy blue eyes, and seemed to be athletic under her long gray skirt and white blouse. She was just a little shorter than me and was also wearing a gray scarf. She didn't smile. But she did curtsy and then stepped back.
"Nora Vanyova. House maid. Pilsen." If these were sisters, they didn't look anything alike. Wearing the same uniform as the other women, she stood about 5'3" and was curvy, as opposed to Ida, who was all straight lines. She had dark hair in a mass of curls and dark, smiling eyes. She curtsied and stepped back.
Carter, who had been standing behind me, went up to each one, starting with the two girls, and shook their hands. He asked them to say their names and then repeated it back as closely as he could. I noticed that Gustav was blushing hard as Carter got to him. Ferdinand's face turned cloudy as he watched this. I tried not to smile when I saw that. As usual, everyone was smitten with Carter immediately. I followed behind him and repeated everyone's names as well. The smiles were genuine but not as enthusiastic. Carter had even gotten a smile from Ida, the tall one. I only rated a brief nod. I couldn't compete with the most handsome man in North America and I knew it.
"What time is dinner?" I asked.
Mrs. Kopek said something to Mrs. Strakova, the cook. She looked at me and said, very precisely, "Thirty minutes." She then said something else, which I didn't understand. I looked at Mrs. Kopek, who said, "We have noodles with a beef sauce. Nice potatoes. The little cabbages..." She looked at me.
"Brussels sprouts?"
She smiled and said to Mrs. Strakova, "Brussels sprouts." Mrs. Strakova repeated the two words carefully. We all smiled at each other, except for Carter. He hated Brussels sprouts.
. . .
"Come see." Mrs. Kopek took us up to the second floor. She led us to my father's bedroom. Opening the door, she said, "Here. You stay. Your room."
I looked around. The furniture had been moved around. The Chesterfield now sat at the foot of the bed. The two leather chairs flanked it at either side. It didn't look right.
Mrs. Kopek opened the big wardrobe and said, "Here. Your clothes."
I looked inside and then asked, "What about Carter's?"
She smiled. "Next door. Each have dressing room. Good? Yes?"
I looked at Carter, whose face was wrinkled in either worry or distaste. I walked over to the big bed. It had been made up but everything looked wrong. The bedspread was placed in the wrong direction. I turned around and said, "Thank you Mrs. Kopek. It all looks fine." I hoped my face didn't show my disappointment.
She smiled. "I send Gustav when dinner ready. Yes?"
I smiled and nodded. "Yes. Thank you."
She bowed and then was gone.
Carter walked around the room. "She's never seen this house before. What about calling Zelda?"
I shook my head. "I don't think that's a good idea. Those two will butt heads. They're cut from the same cloth."
Carter was leaning against the mantel. As he did so, I walked over and stood up on my toes to kiss him. We stood like that for a while. When we were done, I said, "I have an idea."
"What's that?"
I smiled up at him and said, "We need to call in the only woman for this job."
"Marnie?"
"She's too busy. This is going to be a full-time job for a couple of weeks."
Carter looked confused. "Who?"
"Aunt Velma."
. . .
While we were waiting for dinner, Carter decided he was going to move some of his clothes into the big wardrobe. While he did that, I walked down to the office.
"Hello?"
"Robert. It's Nick. How's Henry?"
"I put him to bed. What happened?"
I gave him the highlights. "He should be fine in the morning."
Robert said, "I hope so."
"Where are the planes?"
"The Lumberjack is here. The DC-7 is out."
"Great. Here's what I need..."
. . .
"Hello?"
"Aunt Velma. It's Nick."
"Well, isn't this a treat! Leroy! It's Nick."
It sounded like they were in the rumpus room. I could hear the television in the background. "Tell him hello and then go into the bedroom. I'm watchin' my boxin'!"
I smiled to myself.
Once she was situated, Aunt Velma asked, "How are you and Carter?"
"We're fine. But a lot has happened in the last few days."
"Really?"
I filled her in. Once she had clucked in sympathy a few times, she said, "I'm so glad you called to tell us. I hate finding things out through the papers. They're always wrong. And so nasty."
I said, "I stopped reading the papers so I don't know if this even made it. But, the other reason I called was to ask a favor."
"Anything, Nick. You know that."
"Can you come help us out? We need to spruce this place up. I already have an interior decorator but I don't wanna turn him loose without adult supervision."
She laughed and said, "Well, I'd be happy to."
"And can you bring Carter's mother with you?"
There was a pause. "We'll see about that. But I can try."
"And a box of red-plum jam?"
She laughed. "You don't fool me. That's what you really want. But, Nick. I don't know if I can bring something like on an airplane."
"You can if I own the plane."
. . .
Dinner was fantastic. It was the best food I'd ever eaten that I could remember. Carter even tried a Brussels sprout and then had a second one. And a third. I called that progress.
The only issue we had was that Mrs. Kopek seated us at the far ends of the formal dining room table. Before the soup was served, I moved my setting next to Carter.
As we were eating our desert, which was a fluffy custard with some sort of spice I didn't recognize, Carter asked, "Do you mind if I sit at the head of the table?"
"No. As long as we sit together."
He took a sip of coffee. "What we need is a table just for us."
I nodded and looked around. "Maybe we can have a carpenter come in and cut this table into sections. Then, when we have guests, we can expand it to fit. You know. With leaves."
He ran his big hand along the table. "Seems like a shame to cut this up. Looks like it's one piece of wood. Where
did it come from?"
"My grandfather had it made for this room. It's redwood."
"Why isn't it red?"
I laughed. "It was stained dark. I don't know why. You can ask Parnell when he gets back to town."
Carter laughed at my use of my father's first name. "How do you think that's going?"
"I hope they're having the time of their lives."
Carter smiled at me and put his hand on mine. "Me, too."
Right then, Ida came out from the kitchen to collect our plates. "Good?" she asked.
Carter said, "Very good." She smiled in return.
I said, "Can you ask Mrs. Kopek to come out here?"
She smiled at me and nodded. "Yes. I ask."
As she left with the dishes, I said, "I want the story on this crowd."
Carter looked at me. "Why?"
I shrugged. "I have a feeling it's gonna be very interesting."
Mrs. Kopek came out at that moment. She walked over to our end of the dining table and looked at me. "Yes?"
I stood up. "Are you busy?"
She shook her head.
Carter asked, "Has everyone eaten?"
She nodded. "Oh, yes."
I said, "It was all very delicious." Carter nodded in agreement.
She smiled. "Very nice."
I said, "Let's go into the other room and talk for a moment."
Carter stood up and led the way. As Mrs. Kopek followed, she asked, "Is there problem?"
I said, "No. I just have some questions for you."
"Yes?"
I pointed to one of the end of the big sofa and said, "Have a seat, Mrs. Kopek."
She looked a little uncomfortable but sat down right on the edge.
I sat on the sofa a couple of feet away and Carter sat in my father's favorite chair. I smiled and said, "Mrs. Kopek, can you tell us about each of the people you've hired?"
She smiled and nodded. "Oh, yes. Mrs. Strakova is a friend from old country."
"How long has she been here?"
"Three months. She owned restaurant. Very famous in Ostrava. Government takes restaurant and she manages. Last year, she go to Italy to visit her sick cousin. Never go back."
I nodded. "And Ida and Nora? Are they sisters?"
Mrs. Kopek looked down. "No. They come in December."
"So, they're not sisters?"
She shook her head.
Carter asked, "Special friends?" This was the word Mrs. Kopek had used to talk about her son's boyfriends.
She nodded.
"The same with Gustav and Ferdinand?"
She nodded again but didn't look up.
I said, "Wonderful."
She looked up. "You like?"
I wasn't sure exactly what she meant. "I like that you've brought them all here. Did they escape?"
She nodded. "Yes. The boys and girls they have nowhere to go. Ferdinand and Ida, they were in Olympic team. Helsinki. He run. She throw--" She made a motion of someone throwing something over their shoulder.
"Javelin?" I asked.
"Yes, this."
I nodded.
"The Party find out they have special friends. They meet in special hospital for treatments." She pointed to her head. "Party want them marry, so they do. That how they leave hospital. They all escape to Austria."
Carter asked, "How did they get to America?"
"This I do not know. They arrive in San Francisco in October."
I sat back for a moment. "How long have you been doing this?"
"What this?"
"Helping Czechoslovakian refugees."
She smiled. "Oh! Since 1939 when Hitler take Czechoslovakia."
I nodded. "Well, you're doing good work."
She beamed. "You like these peoples?"
I looked at Carter who nodded. He said, "Yes. Where are they sleeping?"
Mrs. Kopek said, "In staff rooms. Downstairs."
Carter looked at me. I explained, "There are four rooms down there. But there's only one bathroom. Right?" I hadn't been down there in a long time.
"Two bathrooms. One for boys. One for girls."
I smiled. "Good." We all sat there in silence for a moment. I took a deep breath. "Mrs. Kopek?"
"Yes?"
"Please don't move the furniture again."
She smiled. "I think I help but maybe not."
I smiled in return. "We're going to have some visitors soon. Carter has an aunt in Georgia."
She laughed. "Not Soviet Georgia." We laughed with her. This was a joke from when we first met.
"No. From American Georgia. She will be coming to visit in a few days. And so will Carter's mother. They'll be here for a couple of weeks."
"Yes?"
"Yes. Can you make sure the Rose room and the Sapphire room are ready for them?"
She looked confused.
Carter said, "Pink and blue."
She smiled at him and said, "Oh, yes."
I stood up and said, "Thank you, Mrs. Kopek."
She stood up and bowed. "Thank you. Goodnight."
We both said, "Goodnight."
I waited until she was gone before I turned to face Carter. He was standing and trying to look menacing. "My mother?"
"Payback is a bitch, you sneaky bastard."
Chapter 16
1198 Sacramento Street
Tuesday, June 22, 1954
Late evening
Carter was in the bathroom brushing his teeth while I sat on the edge of the bed. We had moved the furniture back to where it belonged and, since the evening was chilly, Carter had lit a fire. It looked like we would be keeping up my father's tradition of opening the windows and lighting fires in the summer. I liked that. So did Carter.
I sat in the darkness watching the logs crackle and pop. With the windows open, the sounds of the City were finding their way up from the street. I heard Carter drop his toothbrush in his glass and then click off the light. He sat down next to me on the bed. Putting his arm around my shoulders, he leaned in and we sat in the light of the fire for a while.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked.
"The old house. Your dwarves and dragon book. The South Pacific album. Mack's letters from Korea."
He ran his hand over my head and pulled me in closely. "When I was brushing my teeth, I was thinking about our first party and how Henry was moping in the kitchen and you started dancing with him. Do you know why I broke in?"
I laughed softly. "No. Why?"
"Because what I really wanted to do was to take you both upstairs and throw you in the bed."
I laughed loudly. "On that particular night, I'd have been game and I can damn sure guarantee Henry would have as well."
I sat there, next to my husband, on my parents' bed. It was actually my grandfather's. He'd had it built specifically for that room. I said, "I wonder how my father and mother felt the first night they slept in this bed?"
Carter laughed. "That's not something I wanna dwell on." He reached down and tickled me.
I laughed and squirmed for a moment. After I caught my breath, I said, "I'm sitting here because I'm afraid to get up in there."
Carter stood up. I looked at his big frame with the fire behind him. He reached out his hand and said, "Dance with me, Nick."
I stood up and embraced him. He was humming a song from South Pacific as we moved across the floor of the room, just in our BVDs. It was the song that offered the only possible explanation for our love. And, it was an enchanted evening, indeed.
. . .
I woke up to an insistent knock on the bedroom door. I was on my side, with Carter holding me from behind. He mumbled something I didn't understand. The knock was repeated along with someone saying, "Mr. Nick!"
I realized who it was, so I said, "Come in, Gustav."
The door opened and, in the dim light of the dying embers of the fireplace, I saw that he was in an electric blue silk robe. It was tied around his body neatly and, from what I could tell, it was the only thing he had on.
"What is it?"
"It's the telephone. They ask for you."
Carter asked, "Who?"
"The police."
I said, "Go down and tell them I'll be right there. OK?"
"Yes, OK. I tell them."
He ran down the hallway and I could hear him bounding down the stairs. As I stood up and pulled on my trousers and shirt, I could faintly hear him saying, "Mr. Williams is coming soon. Please wait."
By the time I got down to the phone, I saw that Ferdinand was also up. He was dressed in just a pair of drawstring pants and nothing else. He was eyeing me as if he was afraid I would take Gustav from him. The two of them were certainly cute but neither pressed any of my buttons.
I picked up the phone and said, "Yeah?"
"Mr. Williams?"
"Yeah?"
"This is Sergeant Bullston over at Mission District Station. We have a man here who claims he set the fire at your house."
I thought for just a moment. "Is it Lysander Blythe?"
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"Did he walk in and admit it?"
"Yeah. Can you come down--"
"Sergeant. You can save yourself a whole hell of a lot of trouble by calling Central. They're handling this investigation. Blythe didn't do it. They'll be able to confirm that."
"Why would the Central guys be in on this? Ain't their district."
"The fire may be connected to the Johnny Russell murder at 600 Market Street. That was the guy who was pushed off the twentieth floor."
"That so?"
"Yeah. I'm the owner of the building. The case was being worked by Lieutenant Greg Holland." I left out the fact that Holland was no longer a cop. None of my business. Not really.
"I see."
I wondered why the hell he was calling in the middle of the night. I figured Blythe must have been making a fuss. "So, call over there. Meanwhile, my guess is that Blythe is drunk. Or maybe he's just nuts. But he didn't do it."
"Huh." The sergeant didn't sound convinced.
"By the way, how'd you know to call this number?"
"Phone company. I figured they would have a new listing for you since, you know, the fire."
"Right." I wondered who did that and realized it had to be Marnie. She really was the best.
"I'll call over to Central and see what they say."
The Mangled Mobster (A Nick Williams Mystery Book 7) Page 14