Done to Death (31 page)

Ada chuckled. ‘And?'

‘I said I was also taken. But here's something interesting: Lenore had a private elevator that went straight to her suite from the garage. George said there's no way to tell who she gave pass cards to. Piecing it together I'd say it was to anyone she wanted to get in and out unobserved.'

‘Peggy told me the same thing. It raises the likelihood that she was killed by an ex, doesn't it?'

‘It does. But George, who's seen enough of the comings and goings, thinks this is the end of LPP. He felt Richard might have been able to hold things together, but certainly not Rachel.'

‘Who might be dead,' Aaron added.

‘Or might not,' Ada offered. ‘With her history of the big fake-out, this might well be a grab for attention. Although that doesn't sit right.'

Lil nodded. ‘I still think it's a question of “what would Lenore do?”'

‘You might be right.'

‘Aaron and I have been on and off the Internet all day,' Lil said. ‘Rachel's disappearance is big news. And this estate sale is getting a ton of press.'

‘I know,' Ada said. ‘When we'd finished shooting and they were driving me home, there were cars lining the road to Lenore's. People are planning on sleeping over so they can be the first in.'

‘It's all over the TV,' Rose said. ‘There'll be riots if they're not careful.'

‘Supposedly,' Ada said, ‘the plan is to let in only a hundred people at a time. They'll start handing out tickets at eight a.m.'

‘That's standard estate sale etiquette,' Lil said. ‘What's for sale?'

‘It's all staged, and according to Melanie most of it was selected by Rachel, but some of it is in very bad taste.'

‘Such as?' Aaron asked.

‘Personal photos, clothes, underwear.'

‘You're kidding,' Rose said.

‘No,' Ada said, ‘things still in packages, but the idea of selling Lenore Parks' panties − crass. And then there's some good antiques. Rachel wanted … wants to redecorate the mansion completely. I can't help but think about that poor girl. If she's doing this as a stunt, then fine, I guess. But if something's happened to her … She's pregnant and fragile, at least I think so, though lord knows I've been fooled before.'

‘And Tolliver won the expert slot for the week,' Lil commented.

‘I wouldn't exactly call it a win. He was the most photogenic, and they've replaced his staff with extras from central casting, all young, all pretty. It's both fascinating and grotesque.'

‘There will be some disgruntled employees at Grenville Antiques,' Lil said.

‘To put it mildly,' Ada replied. ‘And to add insult to injury, Tolliver is insisting his entire staff of appraisers be on hand for the shooting to feed lines to the talent.'

‘The Cyrano de Bergerac method,' said Rose. ‘So what you're saying is they're all a bunch of shysters.'

‘I suppose,' Ada said, ‘but creative and energetic …'

‘And scared and desperate,' Lil added.

‘And someone among them,' Aaron said, in the voice of a TV announcer, ‘is a murderer.'

‘It's not a joke, sweetheart,' Ada said. She looked at Lil. ‘I snuck upstairs at one point and talked my way into Rachel's room.'

‘Of course you did.'

‘There was blood in her bathroom − quite a bit.'

The room was quiet.

‘I was chatting with the trooper,' Ada continued. ‘He told me that they had a dog team in that morning, but that the trail ended outside the estate. That she either got in a car, or was put in one. I'll tell you something else, and obviously I'm no expert on blood spatter, but nothing looked like she'd been dragged. There were droplets, and some finger smudges that were probably hers. We know she's a cutter, so I'm hoping − I can't believe I'm saying this − but I'm hoping that's what it was. She cut, maybe a little too deep. The part that's killing me is how scared she sounded on the phone. Aaron, can you get me another?' She held up her empty tumbler. ‘I wonder if I'll get any sleep tonight.'

‘I have Ambien,' Rose offered.

‘On top of booze,' Ada said. ‘You trying to kill me, Mother?'

‘Don't say such a thing. I certainly see how the two of you became a couple. All this interest in cutting and murder and blood spatter …'

Ada completed her mother's sentence as Aaron returned with a generous three fingers of whiskey. ‘And a sexually predatory talk show hostess, her damaged children, her corporation which might be finished—'

‘Or might not,' Lil said. ‘Think about it, right now Lenore Parks is more famous than ever. The show you're filming could get huge ratings.' She sounded pensive. ‘You're going to be a celebrity, Ada.'

‘I'm just the hostess.'

‘True, but millions of people will know who you are once this thing airs. There are already thousands of Internet hits for you attached to this show.'

‘Are you OK with that?' Ada asked. ‘Because I'll tell you the truth, and I don't feel great about it, Lil. I'm thrilled your column has taken off the way it has, but—'

Lil smiled. ‘I know, Ada, and it's OK. You've been a little jealous.'

Ada winced. ‘I'd love to say it was something more noble, and your success is wonderful. It's just, for all those years I was the wind beneath Harry's wings.'

‘No!' Rose interjected. ‘You weren't just the cheering squad, you did the work. Don't think I didn't see it. Without you, Harry would have run Strauss's into the ground. He could charm the habit off a nun, but he had no head for business. That was you. You pushed the expansion into multiple stores. You got the volumes to where you could buy at the price point you needed. And it was you, Ada – because Harry's memory had already started to slip – who orchestrated the buy out at the height of the market. Harry was Harry, no more and no less. He could close the deal, but without you, there'd have been no deal to close.'

‘Huh?' Ada stared at her mother.

‘You think I didn't know? You think I'm not proud of what you've accomplished?' She looked from her daughter to Aaron, and then to Lil. ‘Look at us. When I was born women couldn't even vote. And now, Aaron, God willing, you'll be able to marry the man of your dreams … as long as he's Jewish.'

‘Would it be fine if these two got married?' he asked.

Rose fixed him with a water-blue stare. ‘Of course, but young man, you know your primary motivation is that it would give your father a coronary.'

‘No flies on you,' he said.

Rose grunted. She looked at Ada and Lil together on the couch. ‘Times change, Ada. But the trouble with the two of you …'

Ada butted her shoulder against Lil's. ‘I knew the other shoe would drop.'

‘Stop it,' Rose said. ‘The trouble with the two of you − OK, trouble's not the right word. It's synergy; alone you're both smart women, but what's happened … I think for the first time in both of your lives, you've each got a supportive spouse.'

Lil rested against Ada; Rose's words rang true. ‘I loved Bradley,' she said. ‘But you're right. The expectation, the role – and I suppose I never questioned it – was that I was there for him. Would he have been there for me if I'd wanted to go out and have a career? Or go back to school? I'd like to think so … it's just his career − he was everyone's doctor − was important. I was OK with being the woman behind the man.' She looked at Ada. ‘It was having you in my life that gave me the confidence to start writing, to say yes, even if I wasn't certain I'd succeed. That was you − and I'll let
my
less than gracious thoughts show − I've been a little jealous of not having you around so much. The last few days with the show, I'd be working on a column and want to run something by you, and you're not there.'

‘I'm sorry,' Ada said, her fingers twined through Lil's.

‘No,' Lil said, ‘don't be. As to our nosing into places we shouldn't go, your mother's right.'

‘Duh,' Aaron chimed. ‘I've seen what the two of you have for reading material. And since you've gotten your e-readers, I'm scared to think what the two of you have been downloading.'

‘It's true,' Ada said. ‘I sometimes look at Mattie and get a little twinge of “what if?”. I think if I'd been born twenty years later, that's what I'd have wanted to do.'

‘And that's the issue,' Lil said. She gently squeezed Ada's hand. ‘We're not pros, we don't carry guns … and someone involved with this show − at least that's how it's shaping up − is a killer. I'm worried, Ada. What if you say or do something that puts you in their cross hairs? If anything were to happen to you …'

‘Grandma, she's right,' Aaron said. ‘What if the person who killed Lenore and Richard is watching you look at Rachel's bathroom and sees you talking to Detective Perez? What if they think you know something?'

Ada nodded. ‘Good points, and curiosity killed the cat, but …' she paused. ‘A few days ago I was feeling sort of sorry for myself, like I was just on the conveyor belt to the grave. I know, it's stupid and—'

‘Now you're in the middle of yet another murder investigation,' Rose spat out.

‘Yes, Mother, and let me finish my thought. I'm excited, and not just about the murder.' She looked at Aaron. ‘You were there, the energy and creativity of those people. Yes, there's a lot that's ugly and probably all of the seven deadly sins have offices at LPP, but it's fascinating.'

‘I get it,' Lil said. ‘If it weren't for the murders, this would be an amazing opportunity.'

‘It still is,' Ada said. ‘Do you think that you and Aaron want to come to the shooting tomorrow?'

‘Absolutely,' Lil said. ‘Let's just not call it a shooting. And let's stick together. I'll have your back and you'll have mine.'

‘I don't get an invitation?' Rose said.

‘I didn't think you'd want one,' Ada admitted, ‘after all this talk about putting our noses where they don't belong.'

‘For the love of God, Ada. You're my daughter. Where do you think you get it from?'

D
ressed in a vintage midnight-blue Dior gown with sapphires dangling from her ears and around her neck, Ada stood with Aaron on the second floor landing. Their focus was on Lenore's front-circle fountain, now obscured by four towering green-and-white striped banquet tents. Beyond those they glimpsed the barely restrained crowd that had gathered behind the gates. Dozens of cops and additional security in LPP blazers − mostly out-of-work actors − manned the blue barricades in front of the electric gates.

‘There's thousands of them,' Aaron said. ‘Ethan told me they're backed up to the highway. And they're only letting in a hundred at a time?'

‘Ethan? You mean the cute twenty-five-year-old with the dreamy brown eyes and dimples?' she asked, noting the slight blush that spread across his cheeks.

‘I don't even know if he's into me, or just being nice,' Aaron admitted. ‘But he is Jewish. You look amazing, by the way. I always thought I had the hottest grandma.'

‘Nice save,' she said. ‘And yes, they gave out numbers and will let in a hundred at a time.' She looked at the circus-style tents, their contents concealed by canvas flaps. The entire morning, from being picked up in a stretch limo at four a.m. to driving past thousands of Lenore fans camped along the road, had felt surreal. Even now, with the sun just up, and dressed for something formal, she found it hard to focus.

‘Ms Strauss.' A young intern approached. ‘They need you on set.'

‘OK.' She raised her eyebrows … ‘What a strange day.'

‘And it's just getting started,' Aaron said. ‘Be careful.'

She nodded and, mindful of her make-up, kissed his cheek. ‘You too …' The stiff satin of her dress crunched as she followed the intern down the sweeping stairs and out to the waiting camera crews. She thought back to that first day at LPP, seeing Lenore carted away, and then that manic pitch meeting. She glanced at Barry, who sat removed from the action in an open tent with his beautiful wife and their little girl. His daughter was dressed in pink with a pony on her jumper. His one-sentence tag line for this show popped to mind – ‘
Antiques Roadshow
meets
The Hunger Games
on the set of
Gilmore Girls
'.

She glanced at the camera crews positioned around the massive tents, at the crowds and the circulating security. Her anxiety surged.
This doesn't feel safe.
She looked for Lil and her mother, but couldn't spot them.

‘Ms Strauss,' the intern prompted.

‘I'm coming,' and she followed him to the tents.

He pulled back one of the canvas flaps and Ada got her first look at Lenore's estate sale. Each of the circus-style tents was connected, creating a seamless circle. The inner walls had been left open to leave the magnificent fountain visible and give the camera crews natural sunlight. ‘You must have been working all night,' she said, as the intern directed her toward Melanie and the film crew she'd come to think of as hers.

‘You have no idea,' he said, as they walked past tables covered with tagged tchotchkes and bibelots that had belonged to Lenore. She didn't know where to look. One tent was filled with furniture, some of which she recognized from the past two days. She glanced at the tags; the prices were high.
Who spends fifteen hundred dollars for a sterling tea pot at a tag sale?
But considering the provenance and the fact that proceeds were going to a children's charity, she figured people would pay. Another tent had racks of clothing which, under different circumstances, she would have liked to examine. Other details competed for her attention, like the iron tent stakes that had been pounded through Lenore's drive, and several terracotta flower pots that had fallen into the pool around the fountain. There'd be thousands of dollars of repair work needed when the day was over. She winced when she saw a table covered with bras and panties. Admittedly they were still in their original packaging, but
why
? She was about to comment when Melanie greeted her.