"I like your style, Karl. I checked out your website. Anybody who knows as much about baseball cards as you do must have something on the ball, so to speak. And you've had no problem solving the entrance puzzles."
"Do you use them as a screening device for potential employees?"
James chuckled and said, "Now you know my secret."
"I don't have an MBA."
"There's always night school. Wouldn't you like to live in the Bay area? Get out from under Richard's shadow?"
"No thanks. Not right now, at least."
"Let me know when you're ready. I can wait. And I usually get what I want. What can I do for you today?"
"You told me to let you know when one of the special Honus Wagner baseball cards was up for sale. There's one on eBay now and I think it can be bought for a bargain price."
James showed immediate interest. He asked me some questions about what I thought it was worth and what it could be purchased for. After a two-minute conversation he gave me authorization to bid up to $400,000 on it.
This was too easy. I said, "Do you want some written confirmation?"
"Why bother? We know each other. What do you want to do, exchange emails? What good would that do? If you get the card just tell me where to send the check."
"Of course you'll own the card, not me."
"We'll work that out. I have no use for a baseball card."
That was the catch; I was selling my soul. After I hung up I thought about that, but not long enough or hard enough. I wanted that card too much. I put in a bid of $400,000 on the Wagner. Only the minimum incremental bid showed up on the screen, but any additional bids from other people would be automatically topped by one from me until the bidding reached $400,000.
I was excited and I danced around the room, completely forgetting about any possible downside. It took me a while to calm down.
I finally remembered that I was going to call Esther. I was fortunate enough to catch her in her office. I apologized for standing her up the night before and made a new date with her for that evening.
I had barely hung up the phone when it rang. It was Arrow. After our hellos she said, "I'm at the office but I just got back from Elma's. I was able to find some of her financial documents."
"And…?"
"Well, I haven't found everything yet and I'm not saying there won't be surprises, but preliminary indications are that she's loaded. For example, when Ned exercised all his stock options recently he received a check for well into seven figures. Every penny of that was put into their money market account and it's still there. In addition, Ned is covered by a big life insurance policy through Dionysus and he has a 401K. He has other stock investments, too."
"How about debts?"
"The only one I've found is their home loan and that's covered many times over just by the option money. Ned even paid off their credit card bills every month."
"So Elma doesn't have to sell her Dionysus stock."
"No; the Dionysus stock is all frosting on her financial cake. Karl, Elma has invited us to her house for dinner tonight."
"Who is us?"
"You and me. She said she wants to thank us for helping her through the crisis."
"I can't. I already have a date. Besides, you're the one who helped her. I didn't do anything. And she shouldn't be having company right now, anyway."
"She says has to keep busy so she won't go crazy. But here's the important part: She says she didn't tell us everything about the relationship between Ned and James. It sounded as if she might know something that would help us fit the pieces together."
For the second night in a row I stood up Esther. California has a three-strikes law and I suspected I was subject to it, even though she was very gracious on the phone. I had better not do this again.
As I drove to Redondo Beach to pick up Arrow I cursed the fates that had involved me in my father's business. Life had been so much simpler when I was responsible only for myself and my baseball card business, with a little help for Luz on her finances.
I had driven Luz to the hospital that afternoon so she could see my father, for the first time since his stroke. She had her own car, but she wouldn't go to the hospital by herself. She mothered him and read him a poem she had written in Spanish. It was very touching.
To thank me in advance, Luz made me tacos for lunch, and not the kind you get in a fast-food place either. She knew how to season them to perfection and she always used same-day-fresh ingredients.
My father continued to improve. At this rate he would be home by the end of the week. I couldn't wait until he was well enough to take over control of Dionysus again.
That was good news, but I was still feeling cross about standing up Esther when I arrived at Arrow’s condo. She must have sensed my bad mood because she said, "I thought it was important for us to go tonight while Elma is willing to talk. I'm sorry about your date. I'm not trying to interfere with your love life."
I grumbled something in return and we rode in silence to Elma's house. When we rang the bell the door was opened by a redheaded girl dressed in jeans that didn’t cover her hips and some sort of a top with straps too narrow to hide the bra straps that shared her shoulders.
She said, "Hi, you must be Arrow and Karl. I'm Sarah. Come on in." Then she turned around and yelled, "Mom, they're here." When Elma didn't immediately appear she raced off in the direction of the kitchen.
We shut the door and made our way to the living room. Arrow made a face and said, "I shouldn't criticize her fashion statement-or lack thereof. A few years ago I wore things just as hideous."
I laughed, glad that she agreed with me. Elma appeared, wearing a dress and looking very fashionable. She gave us both hugs and thanked us for coming. She said, "I understand you've already met my pride and joy."
Sarah followed her. Except for her attire she looked like a younger Elma. There was a shadow on her face and I remembered that she had buried her father the day before. I had seen her from a distance at the funeral, along with her older brother and sister, who were both in college.
Dinner was somewhat subdued, at first. After I said how nice the service for Ned had been I didn't know what else to say, especially with Sarah there. But Sarah broke the ice when, in response to something Elma said about the police investigation, she said, "Dad didn't do drugs. I would have known if he did. You can tell by a person's eyes…and other things."
Elma said, calmly, "I take it you know kids at school who do drugs."
Sarah looked at Elma, and then at Arrow and me. She said, "Well, I…you know, like you hear things."
"I'm not going to ask you to name names," Elma said, gently. "And I know you're smart enough to stay away from them. But you're right about Dad."
"I can vouch for your dad," I said. I told them the story of my meeting with Mr. Wong. Even Arrow hadn't heard this and they all listened intently. Sarah asked whether I'd seen any celebrities at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Elma wanted to know Mr. Wong's opinion about who was behind Ned's murder. I told her that Mr. Wong didn't know.
I didn't mention the gun or the Chinese lady. Elma hadn't said anything about Ned owning a gun and I didn't know whether the police had told her about it. I knew Arrow hadn't.
Elma served homemade cherry pie for dessert. I ate two pieces. Then she excused Sarah so that she could do her homework; Sarah went upstairs. Something that was supposed to be music drifted down to us. Arrow and I insisted on doing the dishes while Elma put food away. Elma remarked that I would make somebody a good husband. I said I'd had lots of practice washing glasses when I was a bartender.