“Mason,” I said. “Finally. I have so much to talk to you about.”
“Molly, this isn’t the best time,” he said. There was something in his voice I’d never heard before. He sounded awkward, distracted, and then I got it.
“Is someone there?” I said. I waited hoping he’d dismiss my concern with some other explanation, but he just cleared his throat a few times. Suddenly I felt embarrassed and uncomfortable. “Sorry, if I interrupted something.”
“We’ll talk another time,” he said, and then he’d hung up.
“I guess I knew it was inevitable that he’d meet someone eventually,” I said, “but it just seems so sudden.” Dinah came over and put her arm around my shoulder as I continued talking. “I’m still going to call him about Nell, but I’ll call his office.”
Dinah tried to change the subject. “In the meantime, you asked if I was up for some investigating,” she said, reminding me that I’d called her and asked for her help. She had no classes and no plans with Commander and had jumped at the chance to be back in the middle of things.
I repeated the story about Ariel Rose and her nanny with an agenda.
“We want to meet the nanny,” I said. “In fact, let’s go now. The time is perfect,” I said, checking my watch. I got up and she followed. I was glad to have Dinah with me again. She was decked out in her best dangle earrings and had gone back to her long-scarf look. This one was white and gauzy and wound around her neck with a long tail to blow in the breeze. Dinah looked contemporary and fun. She was both.
“And why is that again?” Dinah asked as she got into the passenger side of the greenmobile.
I explained that the way Ariel Rose had recognized Robyn’s doll made it pretty certain Ariel’s former nanny had made it. The crocheted cactus I’d found in Robyn’s office had been made by the same person. We knew because the initials crocheted on the bottom of both the doll and cactus had looked the same. Since the doll was old and the cactus relatively new, it seemed pretty obvious the nanny had known Robyn when she was a child and was still in contact with her.
“She probably knew a different side of Robyn,” I said. “I think if we find out more about who Robyn was, it might point us toward who killed her.”
“Sounds good to me.” Dinah pulled the door shut and I started the motor.
I had a plan. It might have seemed like a lame plan, but it was the best I could come up with. According to Ariel Rose, Annie the nanny had taken her kids to the park on Tuesday and Thursday mornings around ten. I was hoping she’d kept the same schedule with her new charges. It was a little after ten as I steered the greenmobile toward Tarzana Park.
We didn’t know what she looked like besides having brown hair and being in her forties. It was certainly not enough of a description to pick her out of a crowd. So I’d come up with the other part of the plan.
I parked not far from where I’d parked when I went square dancing. Neither of us wanted to have to worry about our purses, so we left them in the trunk, but we both took our totes with our crochet supplies.
How funny, I hadn’t been to the park in years and now in the space of a few days, it was my second trip. I glanced toward the recreation building and thought back to the square dance. I got a warm feeling thinking about how Barry had made such an effort to get there. That evening had made up for the times when things went the other way and our plans got trashed.
We got to the playground and picked out a bench. Being there brought back memories. My boys had played there when they were little and later moved on to play baseball in the sports field. I looked at the playground equipment.
“It’s not exactly the state-of-the-art stuff that Ariel Rose said she had in her backyard,” I said. Dinah nodded in agreement. The equipment was utilitarian and well used, but the kids in the sandbox and on the merry-go-round and swings all seemed to be having fun. I searched the mostly women sitting on the benches that ringed the play area. It was easy to eliminate most of them as possible Annie Hoovers. They were too young and too busy texting and talking on their cell phones. I had decided that a professional nanny would be more likely to keep a constant eye on her charges.
There were several older women in the group, but there was no way to tell if any of them was Annie.
“If we can’t find her, let her find us,” I said, taking out my crochet project in progress. Dinah got the idea and took out hers, too.
We both were working on cell phone socks using Rhoda’s impatient crochet method. Dinah joked, if all else failed, we could probably sell them there. She gestured toward the array of potential customers with their naked cell phones. I noticed a woman on the other side of the play area watching us. Was she Annie? I didn’t want to stare, but out of the corner of my eye, I watched as she checked on a couple of kids playing on the edge of the sandbox and then came over toward us. I forced myself not to look up until I sensed her standing in front of me. When our eyes met, we exchanged smiles.
“What are you making?” she asked in a friendly voice.
I held out the cell phone sock and told her about the impatient crochet idea. She seemed very interested and asked if she could look at mine. I invited her to sit and she joined us. After looking over my project, she handed it back and pulled her own crochet things out of her pocket.
“I always carry a ball of cotton and a hook and make washcloths,” she said, showing off a half-finished square. I told her about the Hookers and invited her to join us.
“It sounds nice,” she said. She stood to check on her charges. The kids waved to her and she sat down again. I introduced myself and mentioned story time at the bookstore. She fit Ariel’s description and I was ninety-nine percent sure she was Annie. I pulled out the long soft girl doll from my bag and showed it to her. That took care of my one percent of doubt. Her reaction to the doll said it all. Her eyes got round and sad.
“Where did you get this?”
“It belonged to someone named Robyn Freed.”
Her voice was almost a whisper. “I know. But how did you get it? Who are you?”
I decided the best thing to do then was to tell the truth and explain everything down to Ariel Rose giving a hint about where we could find her.
When I explained about Nell and that I was trying to find out what really happened to get her off the hook, she asked me if I was some kind of private investigator.
“Not exactly. More like a concerned friend. I was hoping you could tell me something about Robyn that would help me figure out who might want to kill her.”
Annie thought it over a moment and then agreed to help. “The first thing you should know is that Robyn was living a lie,” she said. As she told me the details, I struggled to listen as I heard the whine of sirens in the distance. They were definitely getting louder. When a police helicopter flew overhead and began to circle low above the park, it all but totally drowned her out. Between the thwack of the helicopter and the shrill sirens, I only got the bare bones of the story. I caught a glimpse of flashing lights as two black-and-whites zipped into the parking lot.
“For once, it isn’t anything we did,” I said to Dinah with a laugh. But even so, we were like lemmings and followed the crowd to the parking lot to see what was going on.
When we got closer, I grabbed Dinah’s arm. A group of people were standing around the greenmobile pointing at the trunk as the cops approached. One of the uniforms had his nightstick in hand and was about to smash in the window. I pushed through the crowd to find out what was going on. Then I heard it. A voice was calling from inside the trunk.
“Hey, get me out of here. Help me, please! Somebody, pick me up. Hurry before it’s too late.” It stopped for a moment than began again with the plaintiff cry.
I dove through the crowd and grabbed the police officer’s arm just before his tool hit the glass. Not a good move. His partner had my hands behind my back and cuffs on before I could blink.
“I have the key,” I said, trying to point toward my pocket with my el
bow.
The officer who’d handcuffed me stuck her hand in my pocket and snatched the key. She fumbled a moment, realizing it was an old-fashioned key and not some clicker device before using it to unlock the trunk. She jerked it open and started rummaging through the assorted junk back there. Did they really think there was a person hidden under my recyclable grocery bags?
A moment later, a black Crown Victoria drove over the sidewalk into the parking lot. Barry was out of the car with the motor still running. I don’t even think he even saw me before he pushed through the crowd to get to the open trunk. Just as he did, my phone started again. His expression went from tense to rolling his eyes in a split second as he found my purse and pulled out my whining BlackBerry.
When the crowd realized what was calling for help, they started to laugh. Even the cops joined in. They took the cuffs off and I reached for my phone, but Barry held on to it.
“I don’t know why Fields even gave this phone to you. It’s nothing but trouble,” Barry said with a dark look. He reprogrammed it to have a regular ring. “That should keep you out of trouble until we can get you a new phone.”
When I looked back toward the playground, Annie was gone.
CHAPTER 24
DINAH AND I HAD LEFT MY HOUSE WITHOUT SO much as a cup of coffee. After all the excitement, we both needed something for sustenance, so we headed for Caitlin’s Cupcakes. Recently Caitlin had branched off into savory items. She called them cupcakes because they were that size, but they were more like mini quiches and popovers. As soon as we got there, I called CeeCee to tell her what I’d learned from the nanny, but as soon as she heard the word bombshell, she insisted I come directly to her place to talk because she was worried about who might be listening. Frankly, it was just a bunch of hungry Tarzanians who seemed more concerned that someone might butt in line, but I saw her point.
“Come in, come in,” CeeCee said, holding back the two yipping Yorkies as Dinah and I slipped in the door. Once we were inside and the Yorkies released, CeeCee looked at my empty hands. “I thought you were at Caitlin’s,” she said. “You didn’t bring anything with you? I’m dying to try the new items. I heard the popovers are heavenly and no sugar added,” she said. CeeCee was suddenly trying to curb her sweet tooth now that Making Amends was close to going back into production.
“I thought you were so anxious to hear what I found out. You should have seen the line.” Dinah nodded in agreement. CeeCee let out a disappointed sigh as we stood in the entrance hall.
“I’d offer you coffee, but Rosa is off today. You know me, I’d burn water.” She gestured toward the living room. “We might as well go in there.”
“I could make the coffee,” I offered and CeeCee immediately brightened.
“And,” she said expectantly. I looked at her blankly and she rolled her eyes. “Dear, nobody has just coffee. There has to be something that goes along with it.”
Dinah and I were hungry, too, since we ’d now missed breakfast and Caitlin’s, so after seeing that Rosa kept the place stocked with the basics, I offered to make a baked pancake, which was really close to a giant popover.
“How wonderful. We can talk as you cook. Let me get Nell.” We went into the kitchen, and she called Nell on the intercom. I started on the pancake while we waited for CeeCee’s niece. When she came in, I was struck by the change in her. She looked exhausted and it was the kind sleep wouldn’t help.
She greeted us and then looked at me with tense eyes. “Aunt CeeCee told me you said the cops are just pretending they know who dropped off the box of Nature’s Sweetie at the station. I’m guessing that’s why Detective Gilmore called and wants to talk to me again. She’s going to try to pin it on me?”
CeeCee put her arm around her niece’s shoulder but spoke to me. “I had to tell her. I thought it was better that she be forewarned.” CeeCee’s tone brightened. “But Molly has some bombshell information that will probably fix everything.
I wasn’t sure if it would fix anything, but it would certainly shake things up. Dinah put on the coffee while I turned on the oven to preheat and cut some butter into a heavy cake pan. I began to beat the eggs with a whisk.
“Well,” Nell said before leaning against the counter in a depressed slouch.
“You remember that Robyn said her parents were dead and how she resented your so-called connections?” I said and Nell nodded.
“How about this—her parents aren’t dead. And you’ll never guess who they are.”
All eyes were on me. Even though Dinah knew what I was going to say, she’d still gotten caught up in the suspense. “Her parents are Becca Ivins and Derek Trousedale.”
Nell looked shocked. “You mean the whole orphan thing was a scam.” There was more life in Nell’s face than I’d seen in a while as the information sank in. “That’s too weird. You know she was working on the show that featured them? The title was ‘Enduring Hollywood Couples’ or something.” Nell shook her head with disbelief. “And she was on me for having help getting the job.”
“Well, the part about Robyn doing it on her own is true. Becca and Derek weren’t really interested in being parents. They were totally involved with their careers and with each other. Robyn was brought up by the nanny until she went to boarding school. She wanted nothing from her parents, not even their name. She’s been on her own, making her own way, since she got out of college. She even worked as a nanny herself. She worked for someone who works on the Barbara Olive Overton show. That was her in.”
Nell was stunned. While I finished putting together the rest of the ingredients, she went and got her laptop. I put the pan in the oven to melt the butter and she powered up the computer. A few minutes later, I pulled out the pans and poured in the batter. I returned them to the oven and set the timer.
Nell started to search online. She found a Web site for the couple and clicked through everything, but there was no mention of any children. It did, however, speak glowingly of their charity work, describing them as being Hollywood’s sweethearts even after all these years, who selflessly used their celebrity status to help those less fortunate. Nell went through a bunch of other sites and finally found something that mentioned the couple had chosen to protect their family by refusing to talk about it.
“No doubt some publicist thought of that,” I said. My late husband, Charlie, had been in public relations, and he’d talked about how to put a spin on things so that a negative became a positive. Nell kept looking and finally found an old picture.
“Look,” she said, holding it where we could all see. There was a photo of Becca and Derek with a little girl in a sundress. The caption said, “Star couple at the beach with children.” “It says children,” Nell said, studying the picture. A little boy was crawling on the sand toward the water. “Robyn must have a brother.”
“If he didn’t drown,” Dinah said. “Even in the photo, you can see they’re not involved with the kids.” I studied the body language and realized Dinah was right. Becca was holding Robyn’s arms, but it was stiff and posed rather than loving. The actress seemed to have a much stronger connection with the camera than her daughter.
CeeCee nodded at the screen as if the picture confirmed some thought of her own. “Now maybe you understand why I didn’t have children. At least I was honest enough to acknowledge that my career came before anything and that I might be a little self-absorbed.”
Nell went and hugged her. “I love you anyway, Aunt CeeCee.”
CeeCee appeared shocked. “Oh, then you agree that I’m self-absorbed. I thought one of you would at least try to argue with that comment. Think about all my work for Hearts and Barks. I help out at the women and children’s shelter on holidays.” Her gaze moved over us and she seemed genuinely concerned. “And there’s the crochet group. If I was so self-absorbed, I’d just turn it over to Adele and say the heck with it.”
“You’re right. You do spend lots of time thinking of others,” I said. CeeCee still looked a little fragile. I nodded to Dina
h and we all stepped in for a group hug.
“What would I do without my friends and niece,” CeeCee said, regaining her good humor. She sniffed the air. “I might not know how to cook, but I know how things are supposed to smell, and that pancake smells done.”
I popped it out of the oven and the fragrance was even more intense and more delicious. Nell got plates and we all sat down at the kitchen table and divided it up.
“Do you know them?” Nell asked after downing her last piece.
CeeCee laughed. “People think all celebrities know each other. The real truth is, Becca and Derek are on a different level than I am and have always been. They’re stars and I’m an actor.”
“You’re a star. What about the CeeCee Collins Show?” Nell protested. “And Caught By a Kiss? There’s even Oscar buzz. What have those two done?”
“They’ve both won Oscars, honey. But what they don’t have and I’m grateful for, is a niece like you who wants to stick up for me.”
I interrupted the mutual admiration society and got back to the real issue at hand.
I told Nell that Pierce Sheraton has mentioned that Robyn had promised him some kind of scoop. I’d also heard Talia mention something about some plan Robyn had for a surprise on the show. Nell’s eyes got big. “What if it had to do with her parents?”
“What if she was going to ruin the tribute to them by revealing what they were really like as parents?” CeeCee said. “Like in the middle of the show come forward and confront them.”
“And what if they found out?” Dinah added.
CeeCee nodded. “Something like that would tarnish their image forever. Knock them off their pedestals.”
We all looked at each other, and I know we were thinking the same thing. How far would they go to protect their image? Would they murder their own child? Finally CeeCee spoke.
“I’ve heard of wanting to kill to get a part. . . .”
CHAPTER 25
I GOT TO THE BOOKSTORE AROUND NOON AND went right to the yarn department. No surprise, Elise and Rhoda were hanging out at the table. Elise seemed stuck on turning out black cell phone covers with red decorations. Though Rhoda had talked her into letting go of the vampire connection and she’d started adding things like red heart-shaped buttons. I began putting out some new yarn we’d just gotten in, which was dangerous. It was all I could do not to set some aside for myself. Barry’s shelves would be overflowing before they were even finished.
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