We all turned to Vinnie, who sat quietly sipping her wine.
“Is that really possible?” Robin said finally.
“This is a well-known fact in my country,” Vinnie said offhandedly. “The headband she wears may be an aid to keep her skin taut. It is an old trick.”
Could it have been true? Was Alice really that old? Not that forty was all that old, but she didn’t even look thirty. And now that I thought about it, her sweet, genteel wardrobe added to her youthful appearance. Was it all an act?
And even if she was older than we thought, why would Alice kill Layla?
“What’s her motive?” I asked. “She just started working at BABA a month ago. Layla was so nice to her, it was spooky. She was almost maternal toward her. I never saw any animosity between them.”
“Perhaps Alice was holding something over Layla’s head,” Derek said.
“Blackmail?” I said. “So Layla had to be nice or Alice would reveal something? It’s outlandish.”
“Don’t forget Gabriel,” Robin said. “What could she possibly have against him?”
“Maybe we should ask Gabriel,” Derek said, staring out the window at the moon cresting over the Bay Bridge.
“Maybe.” I rubbed my temple where a headache was starting to throb. The idea that Alice could be a cold-blooded killer was hurting my head. I glanced at Derek. “You’re playing devil’s advocate and I appreciate that, but you don’t know this girl. She’s sweet and thoughtful. Sensitive. I just can’t see her in the role of killer.”
“Remember Ted Bundy,” Derek said ominously.
“Oh, come on.”
“He was a very attractive man, by all accounts,” Vinnie said with a nod to Derek.
“And charming,” Robin added.
Vinnie turned toward me. “I am sorry, Brooklyn. It can’t be pleasant to realize you’ve been fooled by someone you believed to be a friend. But you must admit it is possible. Someone is killing these people. We must consider all possibilities.”
“Yes, of course, I know you’re right.” I stared at the names on the legal pad. “But in the interest of considering all the possibilities, I’d like to reassess Naomi. She had much more to gain than anyone else, both monetarily and professionally. Or there’s Cynthia Hardesty. She hated Layla.”
“But what are their connections to Gabriel?” Derek interjected. “Neither of those women were anywhere near Dharma on Saturday.”
“I know, I know. I’m grasping at straws.” I stared up at him and grasped at one more straw. “It’s still possible that Gabriel isn’t connected to the other attacks.”
“But, darling,” he said gently. “If our killer is Alice, they’re all connected.”
“But how in the world is Alice connected to Gabriel? And what about Mr. Soo?”
“I can’t answer those questions yet,” he said. “But we’ll start with the fact that she was in Dharma when Gabriel was shot. And she might’ve known Mr. Soo through Layla.”
“Gabriel was shot while she was at the spa,” I countered.
“According to whom?”
I had to think. Alice and my sister Savannah had come running shortly after Gabriel was rolled into the ambulance. The timing seemed off. But I could ask Savannah if she’d been with Alice the entire time. I didn’t want to interrupt the conversation so I made a mental note to call my sister tomorrow.
“Oh, hey,” Robin said brightly. “Maybe Layla was having an affair with Gabriel, and Alice was—”
“Stop right there,” I said, thoroughly disturbed by the image. “If I hear that another man I know was having a sleazy affair with Layla, I’m going to join a damn nunnery in Tibet.”
My friends laughed while Derek coughed discreetly. Then he laid his hand on my shoulder. “Brooklyn, how well do you know Gabriel and Alice?”
Troubled, I sat back and considered the question. I’d made light of it in the past, but it was clear to me that Gabriel was a thief, pure and simple. High-end, gorgeous, heroic, and sophisticated, but a thief nonetheless. So why had he sought sanctuary with Guru Bob? Who was after him? I knew Guru Bob trusted him and I’d bet my father did, too. And I trusted Guru Bob and Dad. I needed to think about Gabriel awhile longer before I divulged his secrets.
Alice was a different story. If she’d been playing me all this time, I would have no problem throwing her to the wolves.
“All I know for sure about Alice is that she came to BABA through Layla.”
“That’s suspicious right there,” Robin said dryly.
“True,” I admitted, then stood up to pace the length of the couch and back. I could think better on my feet. I told them everything I thought I knew about Alice, some of which I’d already told Derek. The Catholic boarding school, the stomach problems, the conference where she and Layla first met. “Oh, and she’s engaged to a guy named Stuart,” I added.
“Stuart? Who would make up a name like that?” Suzie asked, mystified.
Our chuckles broke the tension.
“According to Layla,” I added, “Alice’s background is in arts fund-raising.”
“Art and money,” Vinnie said sagely. “For a wily thief with a clever cover story, it is the perfect world to infiltrate.”
I sighed. “Okay, Gabriel’s drawn to that world, too, so I’m willing to acknowledge a connection between him and Alice is not impossible. But it’s highly improbable.”
“But why would she shoot him?” Robin said. “That’s so disturbing.”
“Perhaps Gabriel recognized her,” Derek said. “Or more likely, Alice saw him first, recognized him, and knew she had to get rid of him before he saw her and blew her cover.”
“To protect her band of thieves,” Suzie murmured, and her eyes widened in amazement. “It’s just like Oliver Twist. Far out.”
“Oh, my God,” I said. “Layla was Fagin.”
“But Alice is Sikes,” Suzie said, wagging her finger at me. “Talk about a psychopath.”
I shivered. Bill Sikes was the personification of evil in the story of Oliver Twist.
“It’s all speculation,” I said halfheartedly.
“Oh!” Vinnie wiggled with excitement. “This reminds me of an old episode of White Collar with a similar plot. The bad guys dealt in Asian antiquities, but rare books would work just as well. So, Alice wants to take over Layla’s territory and Mr. Soo was Layla’s middleman. Alice had to dispose of them both in order to move her own people into place. The center where Brooklyn teaches classes was similar to the private museum depicted in White Collar. Both provide the perfect front for nefarious activities.”
Suzie gazed fondly at Vinnie. I caught Robin’s eye and we both smiled. Vinnie was in love with American television and pop culture.
“I guess anything’s possible,” I conceded finally, and turned to Derek. “So what do we do now?”
“This is Derek Stone, everybody,” I announced the following night at the start of the makeup class. “He’s my ride home.”
“Nice ride,” Whitney whispered.
I had to agree. “He’s going to hang out and see what we do here. Hope nobody minds.”
“Fine with me,” Gina said, her voice suddenly sultry. She exchanged glances with Whitney, who dipped under the table, pretending to fiddle with her purse. When she surfaced, she wore pert red cheeks and fresh lipstick.
Similar behavior was repeated by many of the women around the table.
“How you doin’?” Mitchell said, bobbing his head in acknowledgment of Derek.
“I’m well, thanks,” Derek murmured. “You?”
Mitchell grunted, thus giving his male seal of approval to Derek’s intrusion into his domain. That was it. The male ritual dance was concluded.
I stole a glance at Alice, who stared at me meaningfully, then wiggled her eyebrows and winked. I returned her smile, praying I was acting as natural with her as I had in the past. I felt like a complete impostor.
We’d stayed up late the night before to work out our plan of attack. Derek was to wander around my class and occasionally pretend to check his e-mail while he actually took pictures of my students. Then we’d show the photos to Gabriel to see if he recognized anyone.