“Yeah. Want to dance?”
I didn’t. No, no, no, in a big way. I shook my head. “Who’s minding the store?”
He took what had been Lucy’s seat. “Out front? We take turns when it’s cold.”
“So what do you do when you’re not deciding who’s dazzling enough to make it inside?”
He had one of those smiles that money can’t buy, white teeth against olive skin, humor flashing in his eyes. “I pick up pretty women.”
Okay, I was flattered, all thirty-five years of me. I was also sure there was more to it than that. “And keep your eye on things inside, right?”
“Sometimes it’s the same job.”
“What was it about me that worried you?”
“You? I figured this might be a onetime visit for you, correct? So I thought I ought to make your acquaintance while I can.”
“I don’t look like a clubber?”
“Not so much.”
I smiled, too. “How’d you know? Other than my being old enough to have babysat most of your regulars?”
“You looked like you were swallowing the whole set up, you know? Like you were inhaling it. And now you don’t look bored enough. Even people who aren’t bored try to look bored.”
“All that when I was just trying to get inside and warm up?”
“So, you just sightseeing? Checking us out before you go back to wherever you came from?”
I decided there was nothing to be lost by telling the truth. After all, if we were kicked out just because I’d known Ginger, that would be interesting enough to make this trip worth it.
I considered how best to put it. “I’m looking for a murderer.”
He didn’t even blink. “Now that’s more than I expected. I thought maybe you were looking for a good time, you know, away from hubby and the kids?”
“No, I like hubby and the kids a lot. Sorry.”
The smile still lit his eyes. “So what makes you think you’ll find a murderer here?”
He was sitting directly across from me. I hoped he didn’t think I was playing footsie with him, just because I couldn’t bend my legs.
“Did you know Ginger Grable? She used to be Ginger Newton.”
His expression didn’t change. “Yeah, I heard she died.”
“Somebody killed her. I’d like to know who.”
“Why?”
“Other than the fact that murder’s not a good thing? Because I grew up with her. And somebody I love is under suspicion.”
“Tough break, huh?”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“We all knew her. She practically lived here when Kas opened the place. She liked to tell us how to do our jobs, especially the cooks. If they’d listened, we’d be out of business by now.”
“She and Kas were an item, I guess?”
“You might say that.”
“I know they lived together. On the river somewhere.”
“Kas still lives there.”
This was news. I pondered what this meant. At the end had Ginger simply given the condo to Kas to pay off whatever she owed him? If so, there went that motive for murder.
“When he’s, shall we say, not living elsewhere?” he added.
I’d been lost in thought. I almost missed this. “I’m sorry . . . What did you say your name was?”
“Ilya.”>
“I’m Aggie. Ilya, what do you mean about Kas living elsewhere?”
“I mean our man Kasimir is in jail.”
For one wild moment I thought perhaps Kas Novy had admitted to killing Ginger, that Sid was off the hook, and I could change back into jeans that didn’t cut off my circulation. Then I realized how unlikely this was.
“I’m guessing not for Ginger’s murder,” I said.
“She died on Christmas Eve?”
I nodded.
“That’s always a big night here. A couple of private parties. Kas never left, not until early Christmas morning.”
“Then why was he arrested? And when?”
“The cops stopped him on the way home two nights ago.”
“For what?”
He smiled again, and didn’t answer.
“You know, I hear he’s something of a celebrity in town. If he was arrested, why isn’t it all over the news?”
“Why do you think?”
I considered. “He paid the right folks to keep quiet?” He laughed. “Nobody has that much money.”
I screwed up my face in thought. Kas had been arrested, and the news hadn’t leaked out, at least not to the general public, or Rand would know.
“The cops must have wanted to keep his arrest a secret because”—I looked up—“because they weren’t done making arrests?”
“You’re doing pretty good.”
“Why are you telling
me
, then?”
“Because I’ve got nothing to lose. Besides, it’ll be all over the papers tomorrow morning.”
“What will?”
“They searched his condo and found a fortune in drugs. Business hasn’t been so good lately. Maybe Kas was paying the bills and maybe paying some of the backers in L.A. who helped him start this place, by doing a different kind of business on the side.”
“Here?”
He turned up his hands. “Me? I never saw a thing.”
“Right.” I leaned closer. “Why is this place still open then?”
“I’d guess there were no drugs on the premises. Kas was going on vacation so he probably took everything back to his condo to make sure it was safe, or to sell wherever he was going. And like you said, I think they had other people they were interested in and didn’t want to alert them Kas was in custody. So this place has been crawling with undercover cops. I could point some out to you. That’s how I first figured something was up. Then everybody who works here found out what that something was before we opened tonight. Me, I’m looking for another job.”
“How long, do you know? I mean how long was he selling drugs?”
“Probably long enough that your pal Ginger was in on it.”
I stared at him. “Ginger was selling drugs?”
He had mastered an elegant shrug. “I don’t know if she was selling anything except herself, and that, only to Kas as far as I know. But judging from the way she acted, she used. She used and for all I know, he supplied.”
“What kind of drugs?”
“Oh, I’d guess they found a little of everything in the condo. Just a guess, of course.”
“You mean heroin? Coke and crack?”
“Maybe, but Kas specialized in the things your local pharmacist keeps under lock and key.” The smile again. “Or so they say.”
Ginger had told us she was still in constant pain from an injury to her back. Had she linked up with Kas as a way to get drugs to ease the pain? Or had she become drug dependent during recovery and refused to wean herself off them?
“Who are they looking at for Ginger’s murder?” Ilya asked.
“My sister, for one.”
“Bad news.”
Had Ginger broken up with Kas over money? Had there been more than a loan on the condo at stake, or had Ginger owed Kas for the drugs she was using, too? It was unlikely Ilya would know, but there was one question he might be able to answer.
“So if Ginger needed drugs, who supplied them after she broke up with Kas?”
“If I were you I wouldn’t be too quick to paint Kas out of that picture,” Ilya said.
“What do you mean?”
“I watch and I listen. I have to do something to stay awake.”
Like striking up a conversation with little Dorothy on her trip to the shocking pink Land of Oz. I nodded to encourage him.
“What I saw wasn’t at the job,” he continued. “I saw Ginger and Kas together, not all that long ago. At a bar over by the university.”
I whistled softly. “I heard she got a restraining order against him, but I guess that was a long time ago,” I said.
“Well, they weren’t exactly holding hands. But they were sitting at a table talking.”
“And you never saw her at the club again?”
“Not on my watch.” That last word seemed to strike a chord with him. He looked at his, what I guessed was a Rolex knockoff, then got to his feet. “Back to work.”
“You’ve been a big help.”
“Like I said, none of it’s a secret now.” He held out his hand and I took it. I’d expected it to feel soft and pampered, but his palm was rock hard.
I had a sudden inspiration. “Ilya, had Kas been in trouble before? I mean, before he opened this place?”
His eyes shone, but he didn’t answer.
I went on. “Because if he had been, and he was setting up a nightclub in my town and say, I was in charge of vice or whatever it’s called by the local police force, I’d want to put somebody undercover right from the beginning. You know, somebody who could be all over the place, watching and talking to people. Just to keep tabs. Somebody like a doorman.”
“Maybe they ought to put you in charge.” He squeezed my hand, then lifted it to his lips and kissed it before he disappeared out to the dance floor.
14
I can function on five hours of sleep. Barely. Unfortunately, after I finished explaining to Ed why I had been forced to spend hours in a Cincinnati dance club,
and
after I’d showered and washed the smell of smoke out of my hair so both of us could sleep, I only got four and a half. Four and a half means I have no sense of humor, and I’m too foggy-brained to get the punch lines anyway.
At eight the next morning I dragged myself out of bed and crept downstairs where Sid and Ed were eating breakfast and chewing far too loudly. I could hear Saturday morning cartoons from the den, but I couldn’t summon the energy to drag myself that far to say hello to my daughters. I hoped someday they would find me.
“Lucy called.” Sid got up from the table to get more milk and slammed the refrigerator door. I was too tired to yell at her.
“Tell me she’s not perky,” I said.
“Sounded perky to me.” Sid didn’t sound perky. She sounded like she was mumbling underwater, although possibly the pounding in my head caused the distortion.
“I hate perky people.” I rummaged for aspirin and took two. I hadn’t had nearly enough alcohol for a hangover, and at the very least, this seemed unfair.
“Lucy’s coming over in awhile to check something on your computer.”
I made a mental note to fashion a garlic necklace before she arrived. It was the least I could do for Luce. I poured coffee and plopped into a chair. The coffee didn’t taste like Vel’s. I missed her already.
Ed knew better than to try a conversation. He got up and rinsed his dishes, then he kissed my head on his way out. Gently. He is nothing if not thoughtful.
My words stopped him at the door. “You’ll be at church, right? Where else would you be?” This sounded remarkably like an accusation.
“And you’ll be spending the day poking around where you shouldn’t, right? What else would you do?” Funny, but that accusation thing had persisted.
“I found out some good stuff last night!”
“Aggie, stay out of this investigation, okay? Sid, talk some sense into her.”
I don’t know if Ed slammed the door, but it was a definite possibility that this time the bang wasn’t in my head.
“So you guys went out without me,” Sid said. “To a club!”
“You are treading where few have trod before,” I warned her. “Watch your step.”
“You could have invited me along.”
“What, with Roussos as chaperone?”
After half a cup of coffee I felt a mite better. Enough to apologize. “I didn’t mean to throw that in your face.”
“I feel like I’m in jail.”
There was a significant pause as her words sank in. “I hate this!” Sid got up and began to unload the dishwasher. She had figured out how far to push me, though. She didn’t slam cabinet doors or rattle dishes any more than she had to.
By now I could see the bottom of my mug. On a normal morning this means I’m half human. This morning it just meant I needed more coffee. I got up to get it.
“What you need is something to do,” I said. “Why don’t you come with me today and strip wallpaper. I thought I’d bring the girls. Junie can come, too. She can check out the house.”
“She’s seen it.”
So Lucy
had
taken Junie by on their outing. Lucy was a good friend, even if she could be perky on almost no sleep.
“Junie can still come.” I found my way back to a chair. I was glad no one had rearranged the furniture.
“She’s going shopping. She’s looking for fabric.”
“Good luck there. I think the closest fabric store is about twenty miles down the road.”
“She’ll be gone a lot of the day then.”
“You’ll come?”
“You’re babysitting me?”
“Sid, humor me, okay? Pretend you care how I feel.”
Sid sat down at the table and rested her face in her hands. “I guess it’s better than staying around waiting for my boss to call and fire me.”
Before I could try to reassure her, Teddy came into the kitchen and crawled up into my lap without greeting or invitation. “Moonpie’s gone.”
Moonpie is for the most part an indoor cat. He’ll wander outside when we get the paper or the mail, or even stay there if we’re working in the yard. But he never goes far.
I gave her a good morning squeeze. “He’s probably just hiding.”
“He ran outside when Daddy opened the door this morning, and he didn’t come back in.”
“Did you look in the trees? Behind the lilacs?”
“He’s gone.”
Our street is busy enough this worried me. Moonpie’s a cagey guy, but maybe not that cagey. And this is a typical Ohio winter.
“I think he’ll come back when he gets tired of playing hide-and-go-seek, but we’ll go look for him as soon as I get dressed.”
“Maybe he’s jealous.”
My brain was working slowly, but I realized she was talking about Cinnamon. “Maybe he is,” I agreed.
Sid patted Teddy’s shoulder. “I ran away once when Gi—when somebody else was staying with us, and she was getting all the attention. But I came back when it was time for supper.”
I’d forgotten that. Sid had been maybe eight. And Ginger had come for another of her long visits. I think that one had lasted almost a year. “Aunt Sid didn’t go very far,” I told Teddy. “And Moonpie won’t, either.”