cell. When you didn't answer, I kept trying, and the four of us drove up and down MacDowell looking for your car.'
'No luck,' Howie added. 'But we found an abandoned truck with stolen plates.'
Gretchen sat poolside wrapped in a towel, attempting to control her shaking limbs.
'She's freezing,' Nina exclaimed. 'Let's get her inside.'
'I'm fine, Aunt Nina. Just a little shook up.' Gretchen burrowed into the towel. 'When the phone rang Duanne found out I had it and kicked it away.'
'Yes, but the call connected before he did that,' Matt said. 'I could hear him talking to you.'
'You heard him admit that he killed Brett and Ronny?
And that Brett had been helping him?'
Matt nodded somberly. 'But we needed to know where you were. We'd already been here to your house. He could have been holding you anywhere.'
'Then,' Howie said, 'you yelled, 'Parade' to Nimrod.'
Nina grinned. 'No place else that would work except right here where you have that doggie door.'
'Nimrod saved you,' April said. 'Just like Lassie. I loved Lassie.'
'So where are the diamonds?' Matt asked.
Gretchen gazed at the pool.
'I think it's a fine night for a pool party,' she said.
'Anyone for a dip?'
42
Gretchen sat on a bench on Central Avenue. The scorching heat had vanished, leaving Phoenix ready for November's perfect weather. Another month or two, and the snowbirds would flock in.
She watched Steve walk toward her and braced for the inevitable.
'Why are you here?' he said, stopping and sitting down beside her. 'Neutral territory?'
She nodded, biting her lower lip. She had picked the center of Phoenix for that very reason.
'My plane leaves in two hours,' he said. 'I don't have much time. Are you sure you won't change your mind and come back to Boston with me?'
Gretchen stared at the concrete sidewalk. 'I'm sure. It's over for us.'
'I'm sorry,' Steve said. 'For everything.'
'I know. So am I.' Gretchen raised her eyes and met his.
'Have all charges been dropped?'
'Yes. My reputation has been restored. But I've lost you. My pride has been damaged beyond repair.'
That was the old Steve she knew best. He'd pursued her all the way across the country because of hurt pride, not real love. He'd get over it the first time a pretty woman strolled by and showed interest.
'Did you find out why Duanne Wilson stuck the knife in Ronny's back?' Steve asked.
'He saw it lying on my table,' Gretchen replied. 'It was an afterthought, to cast suspicion on the doll dealers.'
'It certainly complicated my life.'
They sat in silence for a few minutes, then Steve rose. He didn't try to kiss her goodbye, for which she was grateful. Gretchen wiped away a tear as she watched him walk away.
Someone slid onto the bench. 'Hey, doggie.'
Gretchen looked over at Daisy as Nimrod pounced on the homeless woman's lap.
Swathed in her red and purple regalia, Daisy went about her business of feeding tiny crumbs of bread to a flock of pigeons. Nimrod sat contentedly on her lap watching the birds waddle beneath him, pecking at the ground.
'Come home with me,' Gretchen said. 'My mother invited you.'
'It's nice to have her home,' Daisy said.
'I really missed her,' Gretchen agreed. 'She could hardly believe what happened while she was gone. I'm glad everything was resolved before I had to tell her.'
Daisy looked down the street. 'There he is,' she said.
'Told you he'd show up.'
Albert, his limp less noticeable today, joined them on the bench, scooting next to Gretchen.
'You look like you're healing,' she said.
'It's not bad.'
'You're the one who sent the Kewpies to me.' She studied the fading bruises on his face.
'How did you know?'
'Your sister gave you some of her dolls and tools.'
Albert looked surprised. 'You
'No,' Gretchen said. 'I guessed after I looked her up on the Internet. That's how I found out she's a doll reproductionist.'
'She used to pay me to help her in her shop before she moved away,' Albert said.
'I told you she was famous,' Daisy said.
'The ground-off Kewpie feet were clever touches. What if I'd missed it?' Gretchen asked.
'You wouldn't have.'
'You knew what was happening when Brett and Ronny were killed. You tried to warn me with the note on a napkin.'
Albert nodded. 'Ronny had a big mouth. He liked to sound important, even to me, so he told me the diamond story. And I was at the auction and saw things. It was easy to figure out what was happening.' He threw an arm over the back of the bench, and the smell of body odor drifted toward Gretchen.
Albert Thoreau was one of the city's invisible residents. No one paid any attention to Phoenix's homeless. Albert had been in the background all the time, and no one had noticed.
'I saw those two men arguing at the auction,' he said.
'And I took the box of dolls. I couldn't help myself. I took it.'
'And he asked me to hide it for him after that guy pretending to be a cop beat him up,' Daisy said.
'Did you know what was inside?' Gretchen asked her.
'I was pretty sure.'
'Albert doesn't care about material things,' Daisy said.
'But he's a very sentimental guy.'
Gretchen studied Albert. 'Why didn't you just tell me what was happening?'
'You would have believed a drunken bum?'
'Of course.'
Albert snorted, and Gretchen was silent.
'I didn't want to see you hurt,' he said. 'You look so much like my sister. Same nose, same hair…'
Gretchen sat awhile on the downtown bench, sandwiched between Daisy and Albert, and watched traffic go by. So much for intuition and first impressions.
Milt Wood had given her the creeps, and he'd turned out to be nothing worse than pompous and arrogant. Brett, the faithful auctioneer's assistant, had been part of the scheme to steal the diamonds.
The cold, heartless killer was the jolly old elf with the twinkle in his eyes.
And the homeless alcoholic sitting next to her, exuding ripe, unsavory odors, had tried to save her life the only way he knew how.
People were full of surprises.
A pigeon landed on the back of the bench. Nimrod yipped, and it flew down to Daisy's feet.
At the moment, life was good.
Tonight, Gretchen would have dinner with Matt Albright. He'd asked, and she'd accepted. She planned to
