Then came Harriet, worried because she thought she might be too early. Ellen arrived next, outwardly cheerful and relaxed, just as she had appeared on the croquet course, even when she was losing. I need to cultivate a facade like that.
Dora came into the apartment with her quick bird-like movements and hoped she wasn't late. She appeared to be fully recovered from the trauma of the morning. And then Ida swept in as if she owned the place, pausing only momentarily when she saw that Harriet was there.
When they had all taken seats I got out the champagne bottle and opened it. I poured a glass for each person, which Tess distributed, and then gave a toast. “I propose that we drink to the bridge club, to its members and to one member, in particular, who has recently left us, but who will remain in our hearts.”
When we had each sipped the champagne I said, “As you know, I have done some looking into Gerald's death. I have come to the conclusion that it was an accident. I can understand why none of you has admitted putting the lobster in the casserole, but it wasn't your fault. You can all relax because I won't be doing any more nosing around here.”
“Not lobster, crab,” Ida said. “The fact remains that somebody did put crab in the casserole, whether or not she intended to hurt Gerald. And I would like to go on record as saying that I was not the one who did it. I did not put the crab in the casserole.”
“Me, neither,” Harriet said, quickly. Assuming the forceful tone of Ida and looking straight at her, she repeated, “I did not put crab in the casserole.”
Ellen smiled and mimicked the others: “I did not put crab in the casserole.”
Dora looked around the room and said, “I guess I'm the only suspect who hasn't pleaded not guilty, so here goes. “I did not put crab in the casserole.”
These spontaneous statements brought chuckles, but I could see that Ida was not smiling. I said, “Well, I guess that takes care of that. It must have been an act of God. Let's go to dinner.”
A telephone rang. I automatically started for the den where my phone was located, even though the sound didn't seem to be coming from there.
“It's mine,” Ellen said, pulling a cellular phone out of her purse. “I'm sorry; my sister is always calling me.”
I mentally cursed people with cell phones who took calls, no matter where they happened to be. I only gave out my phone number to a few people and warned them not to call me on it except in case of dire emergency, such as an imminent collision of earth with an asteroid.
Fortunately, not many of us old dames had cellular phones yet. Ellen and I were the only ones I knew of. And the only other time I had seen Ellen use her phone was once at the bridge club. Or at least I remembered seeing her punching a number. I didn't think she had actually talked to anybody because the fire alarm had gone off about then. It had happened the day of Gerald's death.
Ellen didn't talk long and we all trooped out the door and over to the dining room. Tess and I lagged slightly behind the others. As we walked across a wooden footbridge that goes over the local creek, Tess said, “What do you think?”
“Either we're chasing the wrong fox or one of them is a damned good liar.”
CHAPTER 12
“Gogi, I can't just up and leave on a moment's notice. What would I do with Winston?”
“Bring him along. You started flying when you were his age. In fact, thanks to your father's love for historical sites, you were a frequent flyer by the time you were two.”
“Do you know how much stuff I would have to pack?”
“Well, judging from the amount of stuff you cram into your little car just for going the few miles from your place to the farm, I can imagine. But you'll just have to pare it down. For example, forget the car seat. We'll rent one along with the car in San Diego.”
You would have thought that I was trying to get Sandra to agree to have her tonsils out rather than to take a free trip to beautiful Southern California. And traveling with a baby can't have gotten that much more complicated just in two generations. When Albert had been young, Milt and I took him everywhere, mostly by car in those days. Albert and his ex-wife flew all over the world with Sandra when she was barely out of diapers. She loved to travel then.
I had a thought. “You said that the guy from the bar asked you out.”
“Mark.”
“Mark, right. When is that scheduled to take place?”
“Actually, I went out with him last night.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
“Gogi!”
“If you didn't sleep with him, you should. I take it you're looking forward to going out with him again.”
“Well…yes.”
“Sandra, if he's the nice young man you hope he is, he'll still be here when you get back. And he'll be understanding about your trip.”
Finally, I got Sandra to agree that she could use a little vacation. If I had been ten years younger I would have gone alone, but I needed Sandra to drive me around. Also, it doesn't hurt to have a good-looking young woman with you when you're trying to meet people, as we proved with Mark-spectacularly so, it would seem. I didn't think Winston would get in the way; he had magnetic powers too, especially where women were concerned; they always had to talk to him, wherever he went.
I still had a lot of frequent flyer miles. Milt and I had traveled extensively, right up to the end, which had come mercifully quickly for him. After an hour of negotiation on the phone I made us reservations for the following day. I packed and was ready to go in another hour.
I had promised to stop nosing around Silver Acres, but I hadn't said anything about California.
Landing at Lindbergh Field was like experiencing a thrill ride at the local amusement park. The plane swooped down among the high-rise buildings of downtown San Diego while I, sitting by the window, pushed them away as well as I could.
Winston had enjoyed the flight and made friends with the matronly lady across the aisle, so that when Sandra went to the restroom the lady appropriated him, taking him on her lap, and I was relieved of that responsibility. She talked to him in baby talk while he examined her teeth with his long fingers. That was all right with me; I knew I would have enough opportunities to watch him during the next few days.
We went through the routine of claiming our baggage and our rental car and then with Sandra driving we headed for a motel that was a member of a national low-cost chain. Milt and I hadn't accumulated our money by being spendthrifts. Besides, it had cable television and a telephone, in addition to the usual amenities. What more did we need?
I had had a long love affair with California, dating back many years, and it felt good to return to the land of palm trees and sandy beaches, without the humidity of Florida, which I can tolerate for a few days at the outside.
As soon as we got settled in a room with two beds and a crib that management produced, especially for Winston, Sandra announced that she had to call Mark. I must have raised my eyebrows because she said, defensively, “Well, he wants to be sure we got here safely.”
I refrained from pointing out that it would be more logical to call Albert with that news; I intended to do just that later. I gave her my telephone credit card and played with Winston while she talked. From the conversation that I overheard, it sounded as if she and Mark had become good friends.
After she hung up, Sandra said, “Mark has decided that he needs a vacation, too. He is coming to San Diego.”
“Oh, when?”
“He's made reservations to come tomorrow.”
“That will cost him a lot of money.”
“He got a deal through the Internet.”
CHAPTER 13