Deadly directors cut, p.20
Deadly Director's Cut, page 20
“So dramatic,” Velvet said with a delighted shiver.
Nancy snorted. “If it was up to me, I’d rewrite the script.”
“In what way?” I asked.
“I’d tell the fool of a girl to take him for all he’s worth. He wants to set her up in a fancy apartment in Manhattan, let him. Make herself comfortable, enjoy the good times, start building a nice nest egg for herself out of the trinkets he buys for her. Play the field while he’s off trying to be a hero.”
“Sounds okay to me,” Judy said.
“Good thing,” Gloria said, “you’re not writing the script, then, isn’t it, Nancy?”
“Come on, Gloria,” Nancy said with a laugh, “you and I’ve both been around the block a few times. Love and romance is fine and good, but as long as it’s a man’s world I say we women need to take them for all we can. And we know there’s only one way to do that. You agree with me, don’t you, Olivia?”
Olivia raised one sculpted eyebrow as only she could. “My daughter and I believe in making our own way in our world.”
I refrained from saying, Are you kidding? Olivia had been married three times. Her third husband had stolen all her money. She’d only been saved from penury by the unexpected death of a male admirer.
Olivia turned to me with a smile. “Elizabeth, at any rate, is making her own way.” She actually looked proud of me, and I felt an unexpected tightness in my chest. My mother and I had never been close, physically or emotionally. Maybe now, in this place so strange to both of us, we could start making up for some of what we’d missed.
Velvet touched my arm. “We both are.”
“On that note,” I said. “We’re off to make our own ways in the world. Bye, all.”
“Where’s Todd?” Gary bellowed. “I haven’t got all day here!”
As Velvet and I walked away from the set, I said, “Matthew told me we’ll be needed again tomorrow. Let me make sure that’s okay with Lucinda.”
All the sandwiches and salads, pies and cakes had been scooped up, and not many cookies were left. My gardener’s assistant, Francis, stood to attention behind the table, feet apart, hands clasped behind his back, looking straight ahead as though he were back in the army, ready to pour drinks for anyone who wanted one.
“Good job, Francis,” I called, and he gave me a huge smile in return. “Where’s Lucinda?”
“C-ch-checking the truck.” He fought to control his stammer.
“You go ahead,” I said to Velvet. “I’ll meet you at the car after I check in with Lucinda.”
Velvet gave me a wave and trotted off, and I headed for the truck.
“You could be in the movies, you know,” Todd was saying as I came in earshot.
“Not the life for me,” Lucinda replied.
I stopped walking.
“You’ve got the looks. That’s all that matters. I can introduce you to a few people, take you around.”
“I’m engaged,” she said.
“I don’t—”
“Everything okay here?” I stepped around the truck.
Lucinda’s back was pressed up against the open door. Todd stood close to her. Too close, I thought, smiling into her face. At the sound of my voice he took a step back. Lucinda threw me a grateful smile. “Elizabeth. We’re fine. What’s up?”
“I’m leaving. I wanted to check that we’re okay to do the same tomorrow. Todd, Gary’s calling for you, and he doesn’t sound happy about it.”
“Gary’s never happy. Think about what I said,” he said to Lucinda. He looked at me but didn’t give me that famous smile before he walked away.
“You okay?” I asked Lucinda.
She laughed. “Perfectly fine. Guys like that come into the diner all the time. Maybe not quite so handsome, and definitely not so famous, but the same. They think they’re God’s gift to women. I can handle them, even him. It’s all just a game to them. I could tell his heart wasn’t in it.”
“Fun and games until someone gets hurt or their life’s ruined,” I said.
She touched the small engagement ring on her left hand. The happiness on her face made her look so very beautiful. “I’m well grounded, Elizabeth. By my mom, by Tony. By the Catskills. I’m loved for myself, just the way I am, and I know that.”
Chapter 18
“That was so much fun, wasn’t it?” Velvet said as we drove back to Haggerman’s.
I didn’t know about fun, but it was interesting watching the movie being made. Although I didn’t like the way Gary bullied Rebecca, and I said so.
“It’s not bullying. It’s about trying to get the best performance out of her that he can.”
“She did better after a quiet chat with Gloria and Mary-Alice than after Gary yelling at her.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“What do you think of Todd?”
I took a deep breath. Now was the time. Time for me to tell her precisely what I thought of Todd. I had to be honest, even though she might never speak to me again. The best of way of being honest, I realized, was to tell her about my own experience. The words came out in a rush, as I kept my eyes firmly on the road ahead. “I’m sorry Ron Grady died, I truly am. I’m sorry for his sake and for his mother’s, but not for mine.”
Velvet twisted in her seat. “What are you saying, Elizabeth?”
“I never told you—I was too ashamed, I guess—but things were never good between us. Not after the first rush of what I can only call infatuation. Infatuation on my part and, I now understand, a need to have someone to control on his. He wasn’t a good man. I didn’t give myself long enough to come to understand that.”
“He was going to war.”
“Yes. And I should have waited until he came back. But everyone else was rushing into marriage, and I got swept up in the drama of it all. Ron was . . . not a nice man, Velvet, and once that ring was on my finger he didn’t pretend to be anymore. All I’m saying is, if I’d waited a bit longer I would have come to realize that.” I fought back the tears as I remembered smashed furniture and broken china, the smell of cheap booze and even cheaper perfume on him, the insults and the threats, and my wages gone missing from my pocketbook.
Velvet touched my arm as I put my foot on the brake to slow as the turnoff to Haggerman’s approached. “Elizabeth. I’m so sorry, I never knew. You have nothing to be ashamed of, but maybe I do. That I didn’t realize what you were going through. I guess, when I think about it, Ron was just so charming and handsome, even I was caught up by it. I thought you were so lucky. I’m glad you told me, I am, but I don’t understand why you’ve brought it up now. If this is about Todd—”
She didn’t get any further. I made the turn, and a hotel security guard waved me down. I pulled to a stop, and he stuck his head in the open window. “Afternoon, Miz Grady. I figured you’d want to know that those newspaper folks have been back. I sent them off with a flea in their ear, but I don’t trust them not to try to get in the back way.”
“Did they say what they wanted? Were there any new developments today?”
“State police came by earlier for the second time today. Left about an hour or so ago. The newspaper people showed up not long after that.”
“Were the police alone when they left?” I was asking if they’d arrested anyone—like Luke and Nick Timmins.
“Just them.”
“Thank you.” I threw the car into gear, and we drove up the hill. “Pests,” I said. “I bet the state police said something to a reporter that had them all scurrying out from under their rocks and rushing back here.”
“If it does turn out that the mob sent someone to kill Elias,” Velvet said, “maybe you can find out who that person is and hire him to knock off a few reporters.”
“Don’t tempt me,” I said.
We reached the top of the hill. The big welcoming hotel, sparkling white in the sun, spread out in front of us, the emerald lawn, the colorful flower beds, the cool clear lake dotted with canoes and paddleboats, people on the beach relaxing in the sun or resting in the shade of colorful umbrellas, the green hills rising in the distance.
“You know,” Velvet said. “This is a nice place to work. We work hard, you in particular, but not as hard as women in a noisy factory or a crowded office in the city, and at the end of the day we can grab some time to appreciate being in this lovely place.”
“That’s surprisingly deep, coming from you,” I said.
She laughed her bright, infectious laugh and punched me on the arm. “Come on, Elizabeth. Admit I’m right. You can’t always be the dark serious one.”
“You’re right.”
The moment for me to tell her what I knew about Todd had passed, but I hoped she’d understood what I’d tried to say.
* * *
* * *
But I was the dark serious one, and try as I might, I couldn’t put my mind to much more than the death of Elias Theropodous, and what—or most important, who—brought that about. I phoned the New York Times and left a message for Jim Westenham to contact me, and then I called the police station to be told Chief Dawson was not in. Neither of them returned my call.
I had more luck at Kennelwood, and Richard came to the phone. The fire damage, he told me, was being cleaned up, and they should be able to return to full service tomorrow. “Thank you for stepping in at the last minute, Elizabeth.”
“Don’t thank me, thank Lucinda and Mrs. McGreevy.”
“I’ll leave word at the concierge desk to tell anyone who’s looking for a recommendation of where to eat in town to try the Red Spot.”
“That would be good of you. I’m calling for another reason.”
“To say you’ll have dinner with me tomorrow night?”
“What? Oh, gosh, did you—”
“No, I didn’t ask you. But I’m asking now. Let’s go into town. I’ll make a reservation at someplace nice.”
I didn’t want to get into a relationship. Not with Richard Kennelwood, not with anyone. I had no time for frivolities; I needed to concentrate on running the hotel. But, I said to myself, he wasn’t asking me to marry him, just to have a nice dinner. Even I should be allowed a night out now and again. I answered before I could change my mind.
“I’d like that.”
“I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow, then.”
“Seven it is.” I hung up. Then I realized I’d forgotten to ask what I’d called to ask him and had to phone him back. But he had no news about the progress of the police investigation into Elias’s murder. “As far as I know, no one from the Summervale police or the state police were here today, and if there was any news I haven’t had the radio on. I did hear that the autopsy said he’d drunk whatever . . . made him sick, not much more than a couple of hours before he died. So that takes Kennelwood out of the picture.”
“And places Haggerman’s firmly in it. Thanks, Richard.”
“Until tomorrow,” he said.
I was chewing on my pencil, gazing out the window, when Rosemary knocked on my office door. “Elizabeth?”
“Sorry. Come on in. What time is it?”
“It’s a few minutes before six. I’m on my way to the cocktail party, but something’s happened you need to know about.”
“What?”
“One of the waiters told me a guest said he’d been approached by a woman when he was walking in the woods. She asked him if he felt safe here.”
“What on earth!” I threw down my pencil.
“Yup. The waiter was coming on shift, and the man stopped him on the path. He’s quite elderly, and he was upset by the encounter. The waiter thought I’d want to know. Which I do. And I thought you’d want to know.”
“Which I do. Could the guest describe the woman?”
“Tall, thin, dressed in what he called city clothes.”
Jane Donaldson, almost certainly. “The guard at the gate told me the newspaper people had come back earlier, and he chased them off.”
“Plenty of ways to get onto the property on foot,” Rosemary said. “We’re not exactly walled off in here.”
“When did this happen?”
“Not much more than fifteen minutes ago.”
I stood up. “Did the guest say where?”
“Near the end of the path by the service dock and boat sheds.”
I stormed out of my office. The state police had been here earlier, talking to the kitchen and waitstaff. They must have then blabbed to the ladies and gentlemen of the press, and once again the blasted reporters were trying to stir up trouble by implying that Haggerman’s food was deadly.
If I caught that Jane Donaldson on my property, I’d give her deadly.
Not many people were in the lake or the pool, and grounds staff were washing down tables, bringing in the cushions, and rearranging the lounge chairs. A game of chess was underway by the tennis courts. Well-dressed couples walked up the path from the cabins, heading for the cocktail party or predinner drinks on the veranda. A harried hotel nanny passed me, herding four children in front of her. She might as well have been trying to herd Winston to the cabin he shares with Aunt Tatiana, by all the success she was having.
I reached the end of the public path and carried on through the trees. It hadn’t rained for several days, and the level of the creek was low. I skipped lightly across the line of rocks in the water and made it to the other side without incident. Outdoor-recreation staff were bringing paddleboats in, and others getting rowboats ready for evening fishing expeditions. I called to a young man laden with life jackets.
“Evening, Mrs. Grady.”
“Good evening. I’m looking for a woman I’ve been told is hanging about. She’s quite tall, taller than me.” I lifted my arm to indicate. “And very thin. Early thirties. Dressed in a city suit.”
“Yeah. I saw someone like that. Maybe ten, twenty minutes ago. Harry spoke to her. Harry! Got a minute? Mrs. Grady’s looking for someone.”
Harry, seventy if he was a day, lumbered over. He wore a cloth cap and touched the brim respectfully. Once again I described Jane Donaldson.
“Yeah, I spoke to her,” he said. “Told her this area’s off-limits to guests, and the sign says so. Couldn’t she read?”
I didn’t bother to say he could have been a bit more polite if he’d thought she was a guest. “Did she leave?”
He shrugged. “She walked away. I didn’t pay her no more mind.”
“Thanks. If you see this person again, call security immediately. Tell the others the same. She is not a guest and she is not welcome here.”
Two sets of eyebrows rose.
I turned and headed back. I was about to step over the creek when the woman in question popped out from behind a tree. “Looking for me, Elizabeth?”
“As it happens, I am. This is private property, and you’ve been asked to leave.”
Jane had twigs stuck in her hair, mud on her shoes, a run in her stocking, sweat stains on her blouse, and a thin trail of drying blood dripping down her right cheek. A mosquito landed on her hand and she swatted furiously at it. “I hate the wilderness.”
“This isn’t exactly the wilderness, but there’s an easy solution to your problem. Leave.”
“I would, gladly, but I’m in pursuit of an important story. The people have a right to know.”
“The people have a right not be bothered while they’re enjoying their vacation.”
“You won’t give me an interview. No one on your staff will talk to me. I must say, Elizabeth, you’ve put the fear of God into them. I couldn’t even get anyone to talk to me off the record.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“I have to get the facts somewhere.”
“Don’t give me that nonsense. You’re not looking for facts. You’re looking for muck, and the deeper you can spread it the better.”
“You’ve been quick enough to talk to the New York Times.”
“The New York Times is a respectable newspaper.”
Jane showed me her teeth. “Unlike the paper owned by Brian Klockenham. Uncle Bry. Your little blond friend’s quick, I’ll give her that. It’s not easy to catch me off guard.”
In the woods dead leaves rustled and a twig broke under an animal’s weight. Jane shrieked and swung around, her face a picture of abject terror. I laughed out loud as Winston burst out of the trees, ears up, stubby tail wagging, tongue lolling.
The reporter growled at him as Winston sniffed her shoes. “I hate dogs.”
“Why is that not a surprise? If you don’t go now, I’ll have you thrown off the property.”
“Don’t bother. I’m ready to leave. Never mind your terrorized staff, your guests are surprisingly loyal. Did you know that? One old lady threated to bash me over the head with her cane. I might sue.”
“You do that.” I stood my ground, waiting.
She forced out a smile. “Help me out here, Elizabeth. Someone killed Elias Theropodous. He was poisoned here, at your hotel, and the state police say so. It’s to your advantage if I present your hotel in a favorable light.”
“No one, least of all the police, is claiming that anyone associated with Haggerman’s killed him or that our kitchen is anything less than perfectly sanitary and all our drinks and meals prepared to the highest of standards. As well as being delicious and nutritious. Mr. Theropodous was targeted by someone from outside. Regardless of what unfortunate events befell him, it had nothing to do with us.”
Bored, Winston wandered away, nose snuffling along the ground.
“Whatever.” Jane moved as though to turn and walk away, but then she abruptly spun around and lunged for me. I squealed, threw up my hands, and leapt back, landing with both feet in the cold waters of the creek. I slipped on a wet rock, and my arms windmilled in an attempt to keep me upright. I managed to save myself and didn’t fall, bottom first, into the creek. Winston returned, barking furiously.
