So there was another bridge crossed. Now to get back to Loni and make sure she didn’t ruin the good work by saying the wrong thing.
Knowing Loni, Persis wasn’t too awfully worried about that. When it came to saving her own lovely neck, the future Mrs. Chet Cowles was not likely to make a mistake.
Chapter 13
“Where in heaven’s name have you been? I’ve been waiting for hours.”
“What for?” Persis was genuinely astonished when her mother met her at the door, looking almost distracted. “What’s the matter?”
“I wanted to go into Lowrey. What kept you so long?”
“I had rehearsal.”
That was a plausible enough excuse. Persis generally did have a rehearsal for one thing or another. “Why did you have to wait for me? Couldn’t you just go?”
“I was afraid to leave Loni alone.”
“Why? What’s the matter with her?”
“I don’t know. She’s been in bed all day.”
“Is she sick to her stomach?” Persis asked, thinking of the ruined suede jacket.
“No, but she won’t eat anything. She says she isn’t in pain, but she won’t get up. She just lies there and sulks when I try to reason with her. She was supposed to go for her final fitting this morning and I had to call up and cancel. Miss Liss is furious. Now I don’t even know if she’ll have the gown ready on time.”
“Don’t sweat it, Mama,” Persis told her cynically. “If she doesn’t deliver, she doesn’t get paid, that’s all.”
“What do you mean, that’s all?” her mother shrilled. “How can we have the wedding without the gown?”
“Miss Liss will get it done because she wants her money, that’s what I meant. Why do you have to make such a big deal about every least little thing?”
“That’s the thanks I get. If I didn’t handle everything myself, how much do you think would get done around here?”
Persis wanted to say, “What makes you think any of it’s worth doing?” but she didn’t. She didn’t think it would take much more pushing to send her mother straight over the brink. Muriel Green had lost weight during the past months, and she’d been too thin before. Her eyes were too bright, her cheekbones too sharp under the tight-stretched skin, her voice getting shriller every day.
And for what? As far as Persis could see, the only one who really cared whether this wedding went off or not was Mrs. Green herself. And where was it going to get her in the long run? What was she going to do with herself’ after it was all over, when she didn’t have her beautiful daughter Loni to lead around by the nose any more? Start hunting a husband for Persis? She’d be wasting her time on that one. Persis wasn’t going to be around. Poor Mama.
They weren’t an affectionate family as a rule, but Persis felt an impulse to put an arm around the taut shoulders and give her mother a squeeze.
“You’re doing a great job, Mum. How’d you like me to make you a cup of tea or something?”
“Look out, you’re mussing my hair,” was all the thanks she got. “I won’t have time enough to get it done again before the rehearsal dinner. Why couldn’t you have told me you’d be so late?”
“I didn’t think it mattered. You never said anything about going to Lowrey. What do you have to go today for?”
“I’ve got to find a duplicate for that brooch of Mrs. Cowles’s, if you want to know.”
Oh, God. She might have known.
“But you can’t spend so much money,” Persis protested to see what her mother would say. “Daddy’s already squawking about how much the wedding’s costing him.”
“Don’t remind me,” her mother snapped. “I’m sick to death of hearing him rave about what we can’t afford. This affair’s got to be done right or we’ll never be able to hold up our heads at the club again. I wasn’t talking about real diamonds and rubies, silly. I thought I could try to find a piece of costume jewelry in the same design, or as close to it as possible. If I can’t, I’ll have to have one made up.”
Persis didn’t try to argue any more. She felt too sick. She only mumbled, “Go ahead, then. I’ll go up and see how Loni’s doing.”
Before she was halfway upstairs, her mother was out the door and into her car. Persis dumped her books in her own room and went through into Loni’s.
“Okay,” she told the huddle among the pillows. “You can come out now.”
“What?” Her sister stirred, then sat up, blinking from under touseled blonde curls. “Oh, Persis, it’s you. Why can’t you let a person get some rest?”
“You’ve had some rest. I wanted to thank you for ruining my reputation. It’s all over school that I was out in the Sting Ray with Todd Ormsey yesterday afternoon.”
“That you were?” Loni’s drooping mouth began to curl upward. “That’s a howl.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Persis growled. “Too bad you’ll never be able to wear my suede jacket again. Neither will I, in case you’re interested. Did you have to puke all over it?”
“Will you keep your voice down? What if Mama hears you?”
“She’s gone to Lowrey.”
“That’s a relief. She’s been up here every two minutes, pestering me about one thing or another till I was ready to scream. Persis, I’m sorry about that lovely jacket, honest. I tell you what. After I’m married, I’ll make Chet buy you a new one.”
“What if he doesn’t want to?”
Loni’s lovely hazel eyes widened. “He’ll have to. I’ll simply put it on my charge account, the way Mama does.”
“What if he squawks when the bill comes in, the way Daddy does?”
“Let him squawk. He’ll still have to pay, won’t he? What’s a husband for?”
“I’ve often wondered,” said Persis. “Aren’t you going to ask me about Todd?”
“Okay, I’m asking.” Loni didn’t sound as if she really wanted to know. “What happened to him?”
“Nothing too serious, thank God. Jennifer Dunphy’s brother the fuzz got him out of the car after I’d reported the accident.”
“Persis! They don’t suspect it was you who called?”
“No, they fell for the owl-watching story. Jennifer says the guys at the station are still laughing about it. They thought I must be some kind of a nut Anyway, she said the car just flipped over on its roof and wasn’t badly damaged. Todd wound up with a broken collarbone and a mild concussion, but he didn’t look too bad this afternoon.”
“How do you know?”
“I went to see him, naturally.”
“Are you crazy? What if Mama finds out?”
“She’ll yell at me, which she does all the time anyway. Who cares? Lon, I had to go. In the first place, you put me in an awful position by dressing up in my clothes. And don’t try to tell me you didn’t do it on purpose to give yourself an alibi.”
“Well, I had to do something, didn’t I?”
“What you could have done was stay out of Todd Ormsey’s car. That never occurred to you, I don’t suppose?”
“Why should it? You needn’t start telling me what to do, like everybody else. I’m entitled to a little fun for—”
“Okay, Lon, let’s not go into that routine again. I want to tell you the whole story so we don’t get our wires crossed. And you’d better listen.”
“I’m listening,” her sister grumbled. “Go ahead.”
“What happened was, Chet’s cousin Madeline Parks saw you in the Sting Ray with Todd. Naturally she thought you were me because she recognized my cap and jacket and you had those big glasses all over your face. Likewise naturally, being Madeline, she started telling everybody she could get to listen. Today at lunch-time, she grabbed me in the cafeteria and asked me how come I’d started going around with Todd Ormsey.”
“But you haven’t.”
“I know I haven’t, and I told Madeline so. Tiggy was there, and some other kids, so I had to make it good. I explained how we’d met Todd at the club yesterday while we were having brunch with Ch
et and his family, which was true. I said Todd had been making a big play for you, trying to get Chet jealous because Todd was still mad about getting dropped, right?”
Loni shrugged. “Can I help it? So then what?”
“So I said Todd was talking about taking a ride in his new Sting Ray, and you and I thought we’d have a little fun with him, so you made believe you thought he was asking me instead of you. After that, I said, he couldn’t get out of taking me, so he drove me around for a while. Then he let me out and went off someplace by himself to pickle his broken heart.”
“Did you have to say he’d been drinking?”
“No, I didn’t have to. They already knew. Jennifer’s brother said Todd was so out of it when they got him out of the car that they couldn’t tell if he was unconscious from the concussion or from the liquor. Anyway, I had to say how sorry I was to hear it because Todd was really a nice guy and an old friend of the family and all that garbage. After that, there was no way I could get out of going over to the hospital to see him. It would have looked funny if I hadn’t. So Madeline was convinced, I hope.”
Loni shivered, even though it was warm in her bedroom. “She’d better be. That kid’s a menace. Some great in-laws I’m getting!”
“Cheer up, Lon. They’re getting you, don’t forget.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? All right, Persis, I suppose you did the best you could. But what happens when Todd tells his side of the story?”
“Todd’s not going to tell. He promised he wouldn’t.”
“How come?”
“Maybe he’s crazy about me. Maybe he knows he’d sound like a jerk if he tried. Besides, I convinced him you weren’t in the car with him when he had the accident.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I know you weren’t, but I made it sound as if you’d left sooner than you did. He admitted he was so drunk he couldn’t remember anything about it, not even when the car tipped over, so he had to believe me. I explained about Madeline seeing you with him and telling everybody it was me.”
“Oh, God! I know Mama’s going to hear about that, one way or another.”
“So what? We’ll tell her we had to do something to convince Todd you weren’t interested any more. We’ll say we got together and pulled a switch on him because he wouldn’t leave you alone and you were afraid he’d get you in wrong with Chet’s family. She’d buy that, wouldn’t she?”
“I hope so.” Loni poked at her ruffled pillows. “What do you mean, maybe Todd’s crazy about you? You’re not his type. Besides, you’re just a kid.”
“I know. I told him so myself. Forget it, Lon.”
“But why’s he doing this for you?”
“Because I’m doing something for him.”
“Persis, you’re not—”
“Selling my virtue to save my darling sister’s marriage? You’ve got to be kidding. Relax, Lon. All I’m doing is helping him sell the Sting Ray.”
“But he just got it.”
“Yeah, well, now he’s decided he’d better get rid of it.”
Loni slapped the pillows again. “I don’t see why. It’s a terrific car. Besides, what do you know about selling cars?”
“Nothing,” Persis admitted cheerfully, “but I do know somebody is interested in Todd’s Sting Ray.”
“Who?”
“Quit making faces at me. Some man who collects vintage cars. I don’t know his name. Jennifer’s brother heard about him from the mechanic at the garage, last night when they towed it in. Actually, all I did was tell Todd to call the police station and ask for Fred Dunphy.”
“Todd call the police station? That’s a laugh.”
“He seemed to think so. He was in a pretty good mood when I left him. So why don’t you quit playing sick and get out of bed? You must be starved by now.”
“I could eat,” Loni admitted. “What’s for dinner?”
“I don’t know. Is Mary still around?”
“Go find out, can’t you? Bring me up a Coke and some crackers or something. I’ve got to take a bath and shampoo my hair before Mama sees me and throws another fit. Where did you say she went?”
“I’m not sure, now that you mention it. She was sore at me for not coming straight home from school because she wanted to go into Lowrey.”
“She still could. The stores there are all open Monday nights. But why didn’t she go earlier?”
“She was afraid to leave you alone on your bed of pain.”
“Oh, God! Will I be glad to get out of here. I’m so sick and tired of being fussed over, I could scream. Start the tub for me, like a good kid. Use the pink bubble bath. I can’t stand that jasmine stuff Chet’s mother gave me. It smells just like her. You can have it, if you want.”
“You’re all heart, Lon. Anything else you don’t want to be fussed over about?”
“Don’t be funny, just hand me my robe and slippers. Don’t forget the juice and crackers. Did I say juice? Maybe a cup of tea and some hot toast would be better. Only hurry it up. And find out if Chet called. He’s supposed to stop at Longyer’s and pick up those satin pumps Mama took to be dyed for me. What was the big deal about her going to Lowrey?”
“She was going to try to find a piece of costume jewelry that looks like the bleeding heart brooch. If she can’t find one, she’s going to see about having a duplicate made.”
Persis met her sister’s eyes. The two of them stared at each other for a long moment, then Loni’s face broke into one wide smile.
“What a relief! I might have known Mama would think of something. Well, what are you standing around for? Hurry up with that tea and toast, can’t you? I’ve got things to do, even if you haven’t.”
Chapter 14
Persis shook her head. “I’m not going yet, Lon. You’ve got to tell me first. You took it, didn’t you?”
“What do you mean?” With no makeup on and her hair uncombed, Loni wasn’t such a convincing actress, after all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, yes, you do. I’m talking about Granny Cowles’s brooch that disappeared out of the living room. Why did you steal it?”
“Are you crazy? How could I steal it? It’s already mine. She gave it to me. Anyway, I haven’t got it.”
Loni was crying again, not a bit pretty with her face so red and distorted. “Quit bothering me! Haven’t I been through enough?”
Persis stood her ground. “Not yet, you haven’t. Cut out the bawling, Lon. You’re a grown woman now. Can’t you realize what you’re letting your family in for?”
“I did not take that brooch!”
Loni’s denial was almost a scream. It was barely possible, Persis decided, that she was telling the truth. Not all of it, though, she looked too guilty for that.
“Okay, but if you didn’t, you know who did. Tell me.”
Loni only stared at her, pale lips clamped tight shut.
“Come on, for God’s sake. Tell me. Do you want to land us all in jail? Was it Mama?”
Loni shook her head.
“Then who? I’m not giving up, Lon.”
Loni wiped her tear-smudged face on the ruffled white plissé blanket cover. “It was Chet,” she choked out at last.
“Chet?” That was the last answer Persis had expected. “He couldn’t have. Here, have a tissue. Blow your nose and talk straight.”
After a while, Loni managed to get herself more or less under control. “It wasn’t really stealing. The brooch is as much Chet’s as mine. Daddy said so.”
“But what would Chet want it for?”
“He’s—he was trying to make some money.”
“By selling his grandmother’s jewelry?”
“No, on the stock market.” Now that she’d confessed, Loni talked freely enough. “A friend of his gave him a hot tip. This stock was supposed to take off like a rocket, so Chet took some money he’d been saving and bought a bunch of shares. Only the stock went down instead of up.”
“Oh, gosh.”
“You can say that again. Chet’s been sick about it. He doesn’t dare tell his folks. Grandpa Cowles is always putting him down for being so stupid about business. He wanted so much to make a big killing and show them he knew how to handle money. Poor guy, I know just how he feels.”
Loni dabbed her eyes with a tissue again. “And it isn’t as if I’d wanted the brooch in the first place. I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a hideous thing like that, if I had my choice. Only it’s so valuable, and that ghastly old Mrs. Cowles will be on my back if I don’t. And I can’t. Persis, what are we going to do if Mama can’t find one like it?”
“I don’t know, Loni, but Chet didn’t take that brooch.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he couldn’t have. The brooch was still on the piano when he left. I know. I saw it.”
“But Chet came back. Don’t you remember? While we were out in the hall afterward. He ran in and said his grandfather had sent him to get something from the living room, then he went in there by himself. That must have been when he took it.”
But he hadn’t because it hadn’t been until after Chet had left for good that Persis had hidden the brooch behind the sofa. Dared she tell Loni the truth?
Not if she valued her head, she didn’t. Loni would tell her mother as soon as she could, and no matter who was actually guilty, Persis would be blamed for everything. Still, she couldn’t let Chet be accused of something she knew he hadn’t done.
“What makes you so sure?” she argued. “You didn’t see Chet take the brooch, did you?”
“How could I? I was already on my way upstairs when he came back.”
“Okay, then you’ll never convince me Chet took that brooch. He didn’t go anywhere near the piano.”
“But he must have. His grandfather’d been sitting on the sofa, and the piano’s right next to it.”
“What do you mean, next to it? There’s at least eight feet between them. Loni, I saw what Chet did. I was standing right near the living room door. He just ran in and scooped the—I think it was a gold pencil—off the coffee table, and ran straight out again. He never got as far as the piano.”
“Oh, Persis, are you sure?”
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