"That's right."
"Uh-huh," he said. "Well, right now there's a black Cherokee in the lake. It's upside down and the divers say there's a woman inside."
I was silent.
"You there?" he said.
"I'm here. Where is it, Al?"
"Off Banyan Road. You know it?"
"Yes."
"We're trying to get a cable on the car to haul it out. You want to stop by?"
I didn't. "Yes," I said, "I'll stop by."
By the time I arrived there was a crowd of spectators, perhaps twenty or thirty, many in bathing suits. Two gendarmes were herding them back from the scene of operations.
There was a short wooden pier extending out into Lake Worth. It looked relatively new and mounted on one side was a steel gantry with canvas slings for lifting small boats out of the water. The police tow truck had backed up alongside the pier, the cable from its winch stretched taut into the lake.
I joined the rubbernecks, spotted Rogoff, and yelled to him. He waved and came over to escort me past the guards. He was wearing khaki slacks and scuffed loafers. His shield was clipped to the shoulder of his white T-shirt.
"I was on a forty-eight," he explained. "Then they called me to come in to honcho this mess."
"Who found the car?"
"Some kid who was snorkeling. Just chance. It could have laid there for days, weeks, or months without being spotted. We got a hook on it, but like I told you, it's upside down and it's a tough haul."
We walked down to the shoreline. The winch was whining and the cable was retracting very, very slowly. We stood silently and watched the Jeep come skidding out of the lake. The winch stopped when the car was in the shallows. Then four huskies, two uniformed cops, and two wet-suited divers began turning it over. It was a muscle job, and it took five tries before they got the Cherokee onto its wheels.
"Rather them than me," Al said. "Instant hernia."
The winch started up again, not straining now, and the car was pulled up onto the beach. Water streamed from it and strands of seaweed were clinging to the windshield. We moved forward for a closer look. The door on the driver's side was open and the window was shattered.
"Take a look," Rogoff said.
I peered within. Marcia Hawkin was lying face up in the back. Her eyes were wide. She stared at nothing. She was still wearing the middy blouse and silk skirt but one shoe was off. That single bare foot-small, pale, limp-affected me most.
"Squirrel," I said softly.
"What?" Al said.
"Squirrel," I repeated. "Her nickname. Her father called her that."
"Then he knew," Al said roughly. "She was a real wacko."
Thomas Bunion, the Assistant ME, was there and directed the removal of the body after photographs and a video had been taken of the car's interior.
"What's that?" I asked Rogoff, pointing through a back window.
He shielded his eyes from the rays of the lowering sun. "Looks like a sheet," he said. "All wadded up. Stained. Could be blood. Or maybe stuff in the water. I'll leave it to the wonks."
"Al," I said, "did you drive your pickup here?"
"Sure," he said. "It's parked up near the road. Why?"
"Want to follow me back to my place?"
He looked at me. "Now why should I do that?"
"Because," I said, "I have something I think you better see."
And I told him how Marcia Hawkin had given me a letter to be opened only in the event of her death. The sergeant listened intently.
"You haven't opened it, Archy?" he asked when I had finished.
"Of course not. I promised her."
"I wish you had told me this morning when we talked about her."
"Why should I have done that, Al? She had just been reported missing. And you told me yourself that the Department would take no action for forty-eight hours."
"Yeah, but if I had known she left you a letter it might have changed things."
"How so?"
"Because it meant she figured she could die-and soon. Most young kids think they're going to live forever. Where is the letter now?"
"In my desk at home."
"Let's go," he said.
We were at the Chez McNally in less than an hour. I stopped in the kitchen to pluck a bottle of Sterling vodka from the freezer and fill a plastic bowl with cubes from the ice tray. Then we tramped upstairs to my barrack.
Al likes to claim he's inured to the sight of violent death. He's lying, of course, because he's a sensitive man. I don't even try to pretend. That bare foot of the dead Marcia Hawkin had spooked me. The sergeant made no objection when I poured us heavy vodka-rocks. We both gulped and sighed.
I sat behind my desk, took out Squirrel's white envelope, and held it out to him.
"Don't you want to open it, Archy?" Rogoff said. "After all, the girl gave the letter to you."
I shook my head. "It's totally irrational," I admitted, "but I just can't. You do it."
I handed him my opener, which looks like a miniature Persian dagger. He slit the flap of the envelope carefully and shook out the contents, a single sheet of white notepaper, and unfolded it with the tip of the dagger. He bent over my desk to read.
"Well?" I said impatiently. "What does it say?"
He chuffed a dry laugh. "Written in ink, addressed 'To Whom It May Concern.' How does that grab you? And it's signed Marcia Hawkin."
"All right, all right!" I cried. "But what does it say?"
He looked up at me with a queer expression. "One sentence," he said. "It says 'I murdered my father.' "
15
That evening, during the cocktail hour, I informed my parents of the death of Marcia Hawkin. They were as much bewildered as shocked, for the sudden and brutal loss of two lives in one family seemed totally inexplicable. Mother, I believe, was ready to ascribe it to a cruel vagary of fate. But father, I knew, suspected dark mischief was afoot. He is instinctively suspicious of linked events others might term a coincidence.
"Was the young woman a suicide, Archy?" he inquired.
"I really don't know, sir," I answered. "Sergeant Rogoff promised to tell me what he can after the cause of death has been established."
"She was a friend of yours?" he asked, busying himself with the martini pitcher.
"She thought so," I said defensively, "although I had spoken to her only three or four times. She seemed quite disturbed."
"How awful," the mater said. "Perhaps her father's murder was the reason. I must send Louise a letter of condolence."
"No need, mother," I said, "I intend to call on her tomorrow, and I'll express our sympathy."
"Oh yes, Archy," she said, "that would be nice. And be sure to ask if there is anything we can do to help."
And we left it at that. I mentioned nothing of the final letter Marcia had entrusted to my care. Rogoff and I had decided to keep that dreadful message from public knowledge until its authenticity could be determined. As Al said, she was such a scatty kid she might have imagined the patricide.
"Or protecting someone else," I suggested. "The actual killer."
"Yeah," the sergeant said. "That, too."
Dinner that evening was baked salmon with a heavenly crust of dill. I knew it was a magnificent dish, but it was one of the rare occasions in my life when my appetite faltered, and I refused a third helping. As soon as decently possible, I excused myself and retired to my aerie.
There I poured myself a marc and opened a fresh packet of English Ovals. Wasn't it Mark Twain who said, "It's easy to stop smoking; I've done it a dozen times." If it wasn't Mr. Clemens, it might have been Fred Allen. No matter; I had no intention that evening of even trying. I lighted up, sipped my brandy, and thought of Marcia Hawkin. Squirrel.
I tried to recall everything she had said during our final conversation. Then I consulted my journal, which offered some assistance but no actual quotations. She had spoken of taking control of her own life, of solving her money worries, of outsmarting persons unknown who wer
e apparently treating her with contempt.
I did remember exactly one thing she had said, and in light of what I had witnessed that afternoon it was so poignant I drained my drink and poured another. She had said, "I'm in the driver's seat now." But the last time I saw her, she wasn't in the driver's seat at all, was she. She was crumpled in the rear of a sodden car, one pale, dead foot dangling.
I endured that aching memory as long as I could, and then I phoned Consuela Garcia. I had to talk to a young woman who was still alive. After what had happened to Shirley Feebling and Marcia Hawkin I was beginning to fear I had become a Jonah and all the ladies of my acquaintance were doomed.
"Hiya, Archy," Connie said warmly. "I'm glad you called. Did you hear what happened to Marcia Hawkin? It was on TV."
"Yes," I said, "I heard."
"Sounds like suicide to me," she said. "The poor kid. Maybe her father's murder pushed her over the edge."
"Maybe. What have you been up to, Connie?"
"Oh, this and that. Lady Horowitz is running me ragged. Right now we're planning a buffet dinner for fifty. The McNallys are on the A-list. Isn't that nice?"
"Splendiferous," I said, delighted she wasn't going to give me a blow-by-blow account of her date with Wes Trumbaugh. "What are you serving the serfs?"
"Cold seafood. Lobster, shrimp, crabmeat, scallops, oysters, periwinkles, calamari, and lots of other swell stuff."
My appetite returned with a jolt. "I'll starve myself for two days to prepare for that feast," I promised. "Plenty of flinty white wine?"
"Of course."
"Wonderful. When can I see you again, Connie?"
"Soon," she said. "Give me a buzz on Friday, Archy. Okay?"
"Will do," I said happily. "Get a good night's sleep."
"I'm already in bed."
"Under that poster of Bogart? 'Here's looking at you, kid.' "
She giggled and hung up.
I went in for my shower, but my mopes had already been sluiced away. I had a prof at Yale who was something of a misogynist and was fond of paraphrasing Thoreau by remarking, "Most women lead lives of noisy desperation."
Not Connie Garcia. She is a bubbler and always inflates my spirits except, of course, when she is dumping a bowl of linguine on my head as punishment for a real or fancied infidelity. But other than her occasional physical assaults, she really is a 24-karat woman.
Lacking only a blue butterfly tattoo.
That was my last lubricious thought before Morpheus and I embraced. Away we went. I awoke on Thursday morning ready to slay dragons. I donned a somber costume, for I had decided that my first port of call would be the Hawkin home, an obligatory visit of condolence I hoped to make as brief as possible.
It was a 3-H day in South Florida: hot, humid, hazy. I wondered, not for the first time, if I wouldn't have been wiser to opt for roofed transportation rather than a convertible. But surrendering my dashing Miata would destroy my self-image of a damn-the-torpedoes buckler of swashes. I wasn't quite ready to do that. Sometimes egoism demands sacrifices.
When I turned into the Hawkins' driveway I saw, parked at the front door, the white Lincoln Town Car belonging to Hector Johnson. My first reaction was to turn and flee, but then I thought why should I. His presence might even be an assist in my expressing the McNally family's sympathies as quickly as possible, and then leaving him to provide additional solace to the twice-bereaved Louise.
But it was Theodosia Johnson who opened the door. Madam X was wearing a longish dress of aubergine silk, and she seemed preternaturally pale, features composed but drawn. It was the face of a woman who had suffered a sleepless night-completely understandable if the Hawkins and Johnsons had been as intimate as I imagined.
"Archy," she said, clasping my hand and drawing me inside, "it's good of you to come."
"How is Mrs. Hawkin?" I asked.
"Surviving," she said. "But just barely."
She led me into the Florida room. Louise and Hector were seated close together on the couch. He was holding her hand, gazing at her with an expression of sorrowful concern. On the cocktail table before them was a silver coffee service, three cups and saucers, and a bottle of California brandy. Johnson glanced up as I entered, and Mrs. Hawkin gave me a befuddled stare as if not quite certain of my identity.
"Ma'am," I said, beginning to recite my rehearsed speech, "I'd like to extend the condolences of myself and my parents. It is a terrible tragedy. If there is any way we can help, please let us know."
"Thank you," she said in the wispiest of voices.
"Hey, Arch, how about a cuppa jamoke?" Hector asked in his brutish way. "With a slug of the old nasty to put lead in your pencil."
"Oh, father," Theo said in a tone of disgust that expressed my own.
"Thank you, no," I said. "I just stopped by for a moment to offer the sympathy of the McNally family. Mrs. Hawkin, is there anything at all we can do to assist you?"
She looked at Johnson. "Nah," he said to me. "It's damned decent of you, but Theo and I are going to take care of our Louise. And she's going to be just fine. Aren't you, hon?"
She nodded and reached for a coffee cup with a trembling hand. But before she could lift it to her lips he slopped in a dollop of brandy.
"Father," Theo said sharply, "that's enough."
"Not yet," he said. "She's got a lot of grief to forget and this is the best medicine."
His daughter sat down abruptly in a rattan armchair, crossed her legs, and immediately one foot began to jerk up and down in vexation. I remained standing, knowing I should depart but enthralled by this unpleasant scene that was threatening to become a high-octane confrontation.
"Louise," Theo said, "wouldn't you like to lie down for a while? Take a pill and get some rest."
"She doesn't need a pill," Hector said. "Those things are poison. Just leave her alone; she'll get through it."
"The woman needs sleep," Theo said angrily. "Can't you see that?"
I was bemused by the way they spoke, as if Mrs. Hawkin was not present. But I don't believe the poor woman was even aware of the contention swirling around her. She sipped her brandy-laced coffee and stared vacantly into space.
"Just mind your own business, kid," Hector said. "I know what I'm doing."
"Since when?" Theo said. "She just lost her husband and stepdaughter. Give her a break."
He looked at her coldly. "Keep it up and you'll get a break," he said.
There was no mistaking the menace in his voice, and I suddenly realized this was more than a family squabble. Their conflict was fascinating, but I had no desire to be a witness to violence. Chivalrous heroism comes rather far down on my list of virtues.
"Theo," I said, "I wonder if I might have a glass of water."
She glared at me, furious that I was interrupting the wrangle. But then she softened, her taut body relaxed; she recognized my effort to end an unseemly shindy in a house of sorrow.
"Sure, Archy," she said, rising. "Come with me."
She led the way without hesitation as if it was her home and there was no need to ask permission from the owner. But once we were in the tiled kitchen her wrath returned.
"That crude son of a bitch," she said, leaning close so I could hear her low voice. "Couth? He never heard the word. He just bulls his way through life, all fists and elbows. He'll get his one of these days. Do you really want a drink of water?"
"Yes, please."
She took it from the tap on the refrigerator door, and I drained the glass gratefully.
She reached to stroke my hair. "You look very handsome this morning, Archy," she said. "Dressed so formally. But I prefer you in something more casual. Or nothing at all."
Her brazenness shocked me and she must have seen it in my face because she laughed delightedly and pressed her body against mine. "Don't worry, darling," she said, "I'm not going to be a problem. I'm going to marry Chauncey and become a nice little hausfrau."
"You may find you enjoy it," I told her.
; "Do you really believe that?" she asked.
"No," I said, and she kissed me.
I drew regretfully away. Her flesh felt glossy under that silk, and she was wearing a scent I could not identify, although I suspected cantharides might have been one of the ingredients.
We moved back to the Florida room, and I made a respectful farewell, which Louise Hawkin and Hector Johnson barely acknowledged. Madam X gave me a wave and a devilish smile, and I left the Villa Bile. My original label for that house now seemed more apt than ever.
I exited to find Sgt. Al Rogoff leaning against the fender of his parked pickup. He was wearing civvies-a suit of khaki poplin, white shirt, black knitted tie-and puffing one of his fat cigars.
"I thought you were on a forty-eight," I said to him.
"Still am," he said. "And still working my tail to the bone. Who's inside besides Mrs. Hawkin?"
"Theodosia and Hector Johnson."
"I'll wait till they leave. I'd like to talk to the widow alone."
"You may have to wait until Hades has a cold snap," I informed him. "The Johnsons have taken over."
"Oh-ho," he said. "It's like that, is it?"
"Apparently."
He gestured toward the white Lincoln. "Is that his?"
"Yep."
"Nice," Rogoff said. "Do you know what he did before he moved down here?"
"You name it, Al, and he's done it. I've heard a dozen different versions of his former occupation."
"Yeah?" the sergeant said, grinning. "I know what it was."
I stared at him for a few beats before I caught it. "You swine!" I cried. "You heard from Michigan."
"That's right," he said. "I was going to give you a call. Want to come to my place tonight? We can talk about it then."
"Can't you tell me now?"
"No. I want to go inside and brace Mrs. Hawkin."
"Forget it," I advised. "The lady is half in the bag. Hector has been invigorating her morning coffee with California brandy."
"All to the good. In vino Veritas. Come over to my wagon around nine o'clock. Okay?"
"I'll be there," I promised. "Is the scoop on Johnson and Hagler interesting?"
"Very," he said. He tossed away the stub of his cigar, straightened his jacket, began striding up to the door.
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