Dolly Departed dtdf-3

by Deb Baker

  Gretchen looked at the piece of plastic on the desk.

  "Nicotine gum," he explained when he saw her watching. "I'm trying to quit smoking. Time number six."

  Nicotine! Was nicotine gum potent enough to kill? Possibly. But how much? Could Joseph have known about its potential to kill? And if so, how would he have concentrated enough nicotine from gum to make it lethal? He couldn't have just plopped a wad of gum in her coffee. Common sense told her it was impossible.

  "Let me see those pictures." He took the phone from her and hunched over it, chewing his gum and clicking through the photographs. "What's this?" He held it out so she could see the crudely constructed fifth room box.

  "It was on the floor, along with the other room boxes."

  April joined them, taking a look at the picture, then sitting on the corner of the desk. "We don't have any furniture or furnishings left to fill another room box. Looks like this one was barely started."

  Gretchen had to force herself to concentrate on the conversation. She would worry about Joseph's nicotine addiction later. He wasn't the only person in Phoenix using the antismoking medication.

  "It's the beginning of a kitchen." Joseph rubbed his goatee.

  "A kitchen?" said Gretchen and April simultaneously.

  "Don't you women cook?" Joseph said. "You know what a kitchen is? One of those places where meals are prepared and eaten?"

  "It does have a rather flowery border," April said. Gretchen looked closely at the room box photo. "Those are little apples and teapots bordering the ceiling."

  April adjusted her reading glasses on the tip of her nose.

  "They are! Definitely kitchen wallpaper."

  "The sink sketch would have tipped me off first thing,"

  Joseph said, enjoying himself.

  "Charlie was designing a kitchen?" Gretchen remembered the miniature peanut butter jar found under her body. A common kitchen staple, but a deadly one if you happened to have a severe peanut allergy. It didn't make sense. What had Charlie been up to? "Did you see a miniature refrigerator or stove when we were gathering things up?" Gretchen asked April.

  "Nothing even close."

  "Would you know what kitchen appliances looked like if you saw them?" quipped Joseph, the comedian.

  "Very funny, wise guy," April said. "We would have figured it out eventually."

  Nina reappeared with dogs and shopping bags just as Gretchen remembered the street signs and hauled them out of her purse.

  "We found four street signs on the floor," she said, handing them to Joseph. "There's no way of knowing which one goes with which box. We'll have to guess. Unless you've heard of them."

  "You found these on Charlie's floor?"

  Gretchen nodded.

  "I know one of the addresses."

  "Which one?" Gretchen asked.

  Joseph held up the sign that read Number ninety-two Second Street. "Is this a joke?"

  "What are you talking about?"

  "I'll never forget this street number, even though it's been years. I did a paper on it in high school. Are you sure you found this at Charlie's?"

  "Yes," Gretchen said. "What's wrong?"

  "Number ninety-two Second Street is in Massachusetts. And I can even tell you that it belongs with the Victorian bedroom setting, the one with the mohair sofa."

  "Spill it, Joseph," April said.

  "That's the address," he said, "where Lizzie Borden allegedly used a hatchet on her parents. You remember the little ditty. It was a jump rope rhyme. 'Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.' "

  "That explains the miniature axe," Nina said with a little shiver. "We put it in the wrong room box."

  "The reality was," Joseph continued, "that her mother had been struck eighteen or nineteen times and her father eleven."

  "You can't tell from the photographs, but there are blood spots on the sofa and on the wall," April added.

  "I have a feeling," Nina said, using a dramatic tone,

  "that the discoveries here today are very important."

  "Not one of your feelings again!" April said. Nina's chin came up a few inches, a sure sign that she'd taken April's comment to heart. "The room box where the Bordens were murdered and the unfinished kitchen are clues. You have to believe me." She frowned at April.

  "Thanks for the information," Gretchen said to Joseph, taking back the signs. "I'm not sure why Charlie would make such a morbid scene."

  "We'll never know now," Joseph said.

  Nina was pulling away from the shop when Gretchen remembered what she wanted to ask Joseph. "Wait, Nina," she said quickly. Nina hit the brakes. Gretchen rolled down the window, catching him about to reenter the shop. "I forgot to ask," she called out. "Were you at Charlie's shop Saturday morning?"

  "No," Joseph said. "Last time I saw her was early last week. What makes you think that?"

  "Weren't you invited to her party last Saturday?"

  "Yes, but I couldn't make it, which I'm glad about, considering what happened. Seeing her like that would have been devastating for me."

  "I thought I saw you at the parade," Gretchen pressed on. Joseph shook his head. "No," he said, firmly. "I wasn't there."

  "Break in traffic," Nina chimed in. "Got to go."

  "Toodles!" April called as they cut into traffic. Gretchen rolled up the window and felt the chill of the Impala's air-conditioning already kicking in. Or maybe the goose bumps on her arms were caused by something else.

  "He was lying," she said as they left Joseph's Dream Dolls behind.

  "It really is a kitchen," April protested on his behalf, misunderstanding Gretchen. "Once he pointed it out, I could tell. It's definitely a kitchen."

  "Gretchen's talking about the street sign," Nina said.

  "Why would he say it was the Lizzie Borden murder scene if it wasn't?"

  Gretchen tried to clarify her statement about Joseph's lie. "That's not-"

  What was the use? Nina was only interested in mothering dogs and reading tarot cards. April's main ambition in life was blowing one diet after another and gossiping with the doll club members.

  "There's a sub shop," April shouted, pointing to the left, her finger almost in Nina's face. "Stop."

  Gretchen's aunt blasted right by, pretending not to hear.

  17

  Joseph enters the church and crosses the lobby, hoping the meeting is almost over. He considers going in and joining them. What if he shared his problem with the entire group?

  Too dangerous.

  Joseph dips two fingers into holy water and crosses himself.

  He's a wreck.

  Gretchen Birch saw him! She can place him at the parade, within several blocks of Charlie's shop. He can't think of anything else.

  What a fool he is. In more ways than one.

  Charlie had it right all along. You can't fight your genetic makeup. Bad blood, she said, the outcome is inevitable. You'll self-destruct.

  Thanks for the encouragement, friend.

  He remembers the anger churning inside of him like a whirl of dust. "Look at you," Charlie had said as she watched him suck his life out through a menthol cigarette. "You have an addictive personality. Face it. You can't change. You can't stop the motion."

  He still feels the hurt.

  Tough as nails, the brassy broad had lost her perspective on humanity. She'd lost her compassion, and she'd given up on people after Sara died. That crackhead son of hers didn't help her view any, either.

  Joseph enters the church interior, bends a knee, makes the sign of the cross, and slides into a pew. A derelict from the street is the only other worshipper in this house of the Lord.

  The church is soundless. The air smells like the bum two pews ahead of him.

  Joseph tries to pray but can't. He kneels on the riser, folds his hands, and squeezes his eyes shut. Nothing. He has dressed carefully to come here, curbing his appetite for attention. He's wearing all brown. Diff
erent shades. The same khaki pants from earlier today, a shirt the color of Phoenix gravel, brown sandals. His propensity for loudness is what got him into this mess. Those big, look-atme colors. Here I come, he likes to say without words. You can't help what you are.

  Stop with the excuses. Isn't that part of recovery? No more excuses?

  The clothes didn't do it. You did. Six months without a drink, and now this.

  Joseph hears a murmur of voices outside the lobby, near the meeting room. Carl will stay behind to make sure the room is in the same condition he found it in before the meeting. He will turn off the lights and lock up for the group. Responsible Carl. Solid, perfect, example-setting Carl. Believe in the power of God. Sit quietly when in doubt. Joseph reviews the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Twelve Steps. But his mind wanders, and he tries to remember the night before Charlie died. He wants a cigarette so badly his entire body is trembling. He can't remember. More minutes of his life unaccounted for. Wasn't it the blackouts that finally scared him enough to seek help for his drinking problem? He could live with the morning-after sickness, but not remembering. .

  The massive church doors open and close several times, and the voices die away.

  He has the list in his pocket, one of the steps. It contains every person he has harmed with his actions.

  One more to add.

  But there will be no making amends this time. The woman is dead.

  Joseph rises slowly and moves back up the aisle like an old man.

  Carl turns from the meeting room door, and their eyes meet.

  Joseph thinks his sponsor can see right into his very soul. Carl's face is a sea of tranquillity and, for a moment, Joseph hates him for it. "Joseph." Carl acknowledges his existence, then waits.

  Joseph almost breaks and runs. Sweat seeps into his shirt. He's come this far, might as well finish what he started.

  "Help me," he says. "I'm in trouble."

  18

  Contests: How could the doll community exist without awards for excellence? Collectors and dealers alike anxiously await these announcements. Competition is friendly but fierce. Judges with scorecards move among the exhibits. The crowd's excitement builds while the contestants covet the grand prize. Winning means recognition, blue ribbons to display, prize money. Sometimes the top award leads to a feature in a reputable doll magazine seen by thousands of readers.

  – From World of Dolls by Caroline Birch Gretchen took a deep breath, savoring the fresh, early morning desert air. She wore hiking boots, a baseball cap, and binoculars strapped around her neck. She had already added many of Phoenix's local birds to her list: rock wrens, roadrunners, black-throated sparrows, and the elusive Gila woodpecker that builds its nest in saguaro cactus holes. She wanted to burn off her tension with a rigorous climb up Camelback Mountain. If she discovered a new bird, it would be a bonus.

  The morning was still too chilly for snakes to be slithering about, and that suited Gretchen just fine. Bugs and snakes creeped her out, especially the poisonous kind that dwelled in the Sonoran Desert.

  She strode along the footpath to the trailhead, past a creosote bush in full yellow bloom and a thicket of teddy bear cholla dominating a rocky slope. The teddy bear cholla looked furry and cuddly, but Gretchen had learned the hard way that it wasn't as huggable as it appeared. She had been careless and brushed against one of these silvery, tall cacti. Its spikes had reminded her that only those with very developed defense systems survived the harshness of the Sonoran Desert. It was always best to admire desert beauty from a safe distance.

  February was a marvelous month in Phoenix, she decided, veering to the left and following the path to Summit Trail. Spring rain showers cleansed the desert dust away, blossoms sprouted from the tips of the different varieties of cacti, and the sun hadn't yet baked the earth hard and brittle.

  She lost track of time as she began to maneuver over slippery rocks. The incline became steeper, and she dug in. At last she stood at the summit, looking off over the awakening city. This was the top of the world for Gretchen, a place to hide and think.

  She sat down and studied the sheer, red cliffs, vegetation cropping out in the most unlikely places. Her thoughts turned to Charlie Maize's death and the people involved in the doll shop owner's life. Why had Joseph lied about attending the parade? What was the story with Charlie's druggie son, Ryan? Did the craggy old man, Bernard, have designs on Charlie's shop? And Britt? What about her? Something about that woman seemed weird. A roadrunner watched boldly from a few yards away. When Gretchen remained motionless, it went back to its task of hunting lizards. The answers to her questions didn't come to her on the top of the mountain, as she thought they might, not even a whisper to calm the disquiet she felt.

  Gretchen hiked back down the red clay mountain and joined Nimrod and Wobbles for breakfast, opening cans of dog and cat food for them, toasting a bagel and pouring coffee for herself.

  Then she went to work on a client's antique doll. Gretchen fished through a drawer and found a white leather glove. After studying the doll's kid body, she set about preserving the doll's original body as closely as possible: stuffing sawdust into the doll's ripped torso, carefully cutting a piece of the glove into an oval and gluing it on.

  She was putting away the repair supplies when she heard her mother call out a greeting.

  "Hey," Gretchen raised her voice. "I'm in the workshop."

  "You're up early." Caroline plopped down on a stool.

  "It's good to be home. I'm staying put, no more book tours for a while." She picked up the doll that Gretchen had just finished. "Nice job on the kid body."

  "Thanks."

  "Evie Rosemont called yesterday. She wanted to know how the room boxes were coming along."

  "Do I know Evie Rosemont?" Gretchen asked, trying to place her.

  Caroline laughed. "You'd remember if you did. She's a hoot. Never stops talking. Wears enormous hats. She must have hundreds of them, all displayed on her walls. And antique shoes everywhere. Rooms of hats and shoes, a massive collection. Want me to take you over? It's worth seeing."

  "Yes, I'd like to meet her." Gretchen remembered a woman outside of Charlie's shop the day of the parade, the day Charlie died. The woman had worn a big straw hat and had been the first one to speak to Bernard about unlocking the door. He had called her Evie.

  Gretchen retrieved the street signs from her purse, which was on the floor with Nimrod cuddled inside. "Joseph knew the location of the Second Street sign," she said, relating the details.

  "Charlie was really acting out her frustration with her sister's death," Caroline said. "Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the most brutal double murder of all time. The crime was never solved. Did you know that?"

  "No. I thought she killed them."

  "We'll never know."

  "That's exactly what Joseph said when I wondered why Charlie would put together such an awful scene."

  "Let's find the dolls that go with the room boxes today and finish up. I'm taking a camera along for the after pictures. Your camera phone takes okay pictures, but the colors aren't as vivid as they could be."

  Right, Gretchen thought. Make sure you can see all the blood splatters.

  She watched her mother head for the kitchen, trailed by the pint-sized puppy and Wobbles, who was trying to remain aloof but failing. Gretchen was sure her mother fed table scraps to the pets when she wasn't looking. Why else the intense devotion?

  Gretchen took a quick shower and was drying her hair when her cell phone rang. The caller introduced himself as the manager from Gretchen's bank. "A courtesy call really,"

  he said. "We aren't required to do this, but your mother is a good customer, and we realize you are new to our banking services."

  "Is something wrong?"

  "You're account is overdrawn."

  "Impossible!"

  "By quite a lot."

  "That can't be right."

  "I'm afraid it's correct."

  "Well, how much?"

/>   When he gave her the amount, she almost dropped the phone.

  "Would you like to transfer funds from your savings account?"

  "Yes, please," she said weakly. She'd have nothing left to her name after that transaction.

  "Maybe you'd like to stop in and go over your account. You were fine until you wrote a substantial check recently."

  "Who did I make it out to?"

  The bank manager gave her a name. A name she knew. She'd get her money back if she had to beat it out of him dollar by dollar.

  And she knew exactly where to find him.

  Gretchen stomped across the street, dodging traffic, intent on the building ahead. She heard a wolf whistle behind her but refused to turn and look. Men! Sex-starved animals, chasing anyone in a halter top. She wasn't in the mood.

  "Gretchen," she heard coming from the same general vicinity as the whistle. She flung around. Matt Albright bounded toward her with a big flashy white smile. Even in her anger, she appreciated his devilish good looks and replaced her scowl with a small smile. He was just the man to help her.

  "I need you," Gretchen said. "Right now."

  "Really?" he sounded surprised and hopeful. "I thought you were an Amazon woman, treading fearlessly through this wild jungle called life. But you need me?" He puffed his chest like a he-man.

  "Not like that, Tarzan."

  "We hardly know each other," he feigned shock. "But if you insist, we can go to my place."

  "This is a criminal problem. You have to arrest someone."

  "Oh," he pretended to deflate with disappointment.

  "Who are we arresting?"

  "Follow me."

  She spun through the revolving doors of Saint Joseph's Hospital, inquired about a room number at the front desk, found the elevator, and punched the Up button.

  "Are you going to clue me in?" Matt said when she finally came to a stop while waiting for the elevator.

  "I dropped my checkbook at Mini Maize the day Charlie died. A horrible old. ." Gretchen could hardly speak she was so upset.

  "Take a deep breath. Relax."

  "A horrible old man found it and returned it to me."