“I could see that Alison was terribly upset when she played hers. So was Regina. Do you think that Josh Damiano made those tapes for himself, or do you think Rob Powell ordered him to make them?”
“I don’t know,” Rod said carefully.
“Neither do I. But I have to take the chance that it’s Damiano’s game and pay the fifty thousand dollars he’s demanding. I think you should, too. I don’t know what Damiano overheard you say, but that police chief is dying to solve Betsy’s murder, and if he has something to run with, I’ll bet he’ll do it.”
“You may be right,” Rod said, his tone noncommittal. “But what could he possibly have on you that would make you a suspect? Certainly not the fact that your mother dated Rob Powell before he married Betsy?”
“It isn’t that,” Nina said, her voice friendly. “My mother is threatening to say I confessed to her that I murdered Betsy unless I pay the fifty thousand dollars to Josh.”
Rod didn’t think he could be any more surprised than he already had been, but now his voice was incredulous. “She’s got to be bluffing.”
“Oh, but she isn’t,” Nina said. “Now if Robert Powell hears that tape on which she’s saying how much she hated Betsy, any chance she has with him-which I believe is nonexistent, by the way-will be over. But if this is only Josh Damiano’s game, who knows? That’s why she wants me to pay the fifty thousand dollars he’s demanding-or else. But you see, I know Alison has much more to worry about than my mother being sure I broke up her big romance. I was very nice when the police were questioning all of us twenty years ago.” She paused and looked straight into his eyes. “I didn’t tell anyone that Betsy was absolutely cruel to Alison that night. She was gushing on and on about how proud Selma Fields was that her daughter, Vivian, had won the scholarship. She made sure to mention that Selma was throwing a fabulous party for Vivian, and then the whole family was sailing on their yacht to the Riviera. Alison was fighting back tears. When Betsy floated away, Alison said to me, ‘I am going to kill that witch.’
“Now isn’t that information worth your paying Josh Damiano the fifty thousand dollars he’s demanding from Alison and the fifty thousand he wants from me? I want to leave here with something.
“Rod, believe me, I hate to do this, but I have no choice. I need every nickel of that three hundred thousand dollars to buy my mother her own apartment and get her out of my life. If we live together much longer, I can promise you, I will kill her. I know just how Alison was feeling at the Gala.”
She got up. “Before I leave you, I want to say how much I admire both of you. She married you to get an education, but she stuck by you when that fabulous career you should have had disappeared. My theory is that your hold on her is she confessed the crime to you. Isn’t that true, Rod?”
Rod reached for his crutches and got to his feet. His face white with anger, he said, “It’s obvious you and your mother are cut from the same cloth. Alison is very smart, you know. Maybe she can dig up a few memories herself about how you were hounded for years by your mother because she kept ranting about losing Rob Powell to Betsy. Maybe you snapped and killed Betsy to make Robert Powell a widower. But there’s only one problem. In a million years, Alison wouldn’t murder anybody.”
Nina smiled. “When do I get my answer?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Rod said flatly. “Now if you don’t mind, will you please let me pass? My wife is coming out of the house, and I want to go to join her.”
“I think I’ll just settle down on one of these lounge chairs,” Nina said cheerfully as she stepped aside to let him pass.
64
Jane went straight from the interview to the kitchen. She had already prepared vichyssoise, a Waldorf salad, and cold sliced ham for lunch.
Robert Powell entered the kitchen a few minutes later. “Jane, I’ve been thinking. It’s quite warm out. Let’s eat in the dining room. How many do we have for lunch today?”
Jane could see that his mood was much brighter than it had been in the morning. He was wearing a light blue sport shirt and khaki slacks. His full head of white hair complemented his handsome face. His straight carriage belied his chronological age.
He doesn’t look anything like his age, Jane thought. He’s always looked like an English lord.
Lord and Lady Powell.
What had he asked her? Of course, how many would be at lunch today.
“The four graduates,” Jane hesitated. “That’s the way I still think of them. Ms. Moran, Mrs. Craig, Mr. Rod Kimball, Mr. Alex Buckley, and yourself, sir.”
“The lucky nine,” Rob Powell said cheerfully. “Or a motley crew. Which is it, Jane?”
Without waiting for an answer, he opened the patio door and went outside.
What’s gotten into him? Jane asked herself. This morning it seemed like all he wanted was to get them out of the house. Perhaps knowing that they’ll be on their way tomorrow is making him feel good. I don’t know what the others said in their interviews, but I know I came off fine.
Filled with self-satisfaction, she began to set the table in the dining room.
Josh appeared in the doorway. “I’ll finish that,” he said angrily. “You get the food out.”
Jane looked at him, surprised. “What’s the matter with you?” she asked.
“The matter with me is that I’m not a houseboy,” Josh snapped.
Jane had just begun placing the silverware on the table. Startled, she straightened up. Her cheeks flushed, her lips tight, she spat out the words, “For the kind of salary you get, you have some nerve to talk like that about helping out in the house for a few days. Be careful. Be very careful. If Mr. Powell had heard you, you’d have been out the door in a minute. If I report this conversation to him, the same thing would happen.”
“Well, listen to the lady of the house,” Josh snapped defiantly. “Whatever became of all the jewelry George Curtis gave Betsy? Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. When Mr. Rob was on business trips, I used to drive Betsy to her trysts with George Curtis, and she’d be lit up like a Christmas tree when I took her to meet him. I know she kept it hidden in her room somewhere, but I never heard any mention of it being found. If there’s one thing I’m sure of, Mr. Rob Powell had no idea that affair was going on.”
“You don’t know what you’re sure of,” Jane whispered fiercely. “So why don’t we both agree to keep our mouths shut? Tomorrow at this time they’ll all be on their way.”
“One last thought, Jane. If Betsy had left Powell for George Curtis, she’d have taken you with her, for two good reasons. First, because you waited on her hand and foot. Second, because once she moved out of here and asked Powell for a divorce, he’d have hired private detectives to find out how long that affair had been going on and discovered that you covered for Betsy when he called her from overseas every time he was away on a business trip.”
“And what do you think he’d have done to you if he knew you were driving her back and forth to her little love nest in his Bentley?” Jane asked, her voice almost a whisper.
They glared at each other from across the table, then Jane said in a pleasant voice, “We’d better get moving. They were told that lunch would be served at one-thirty.”
After Alison fled from the den, Alex and Laurie did not speak until Jerry, Grace, and the camera crew were gone.
Then Alex said quietly, “Two of our graduates have now given a worldwide audience a convincing reason why one of them might have killed Betsy Powell.”