Meg this morning and-'
'Oh-ho,' she said bitterly, 'it's Meg, is it?'
'Holy cow!' I burst out. 'Laverne insisted I address her sister as Meg, and I complied as a matter of courtesy. Connie, your attitude is unworthy of you. What happened to our decision to have an open relationship: both of us free to date whomever we choose?'
'So you are going to see her again!'
'Only in the line of business.'
'Just make sure it's not monkey business, buster,' she said darkly. 'Watch your step; my spies are everywhere.'
And she hung up.
I did not take lightly her warning of 'spies.' Consuela Garcia was secretary to Lady Cynthia Horowitz, one of our wealthiest and most socially active matriarchs. Connie knew everyone in Palm Beach worth knowing, and many who weren't. I had no doubt that she was capable of keeping tabs on my to-and-froing. After all, Palm Beach is a small town, especially in the off-season.
It was a sticky situation but, I reflected, there was more than one way to skin a cat. And recalling that old saw brought me back to the search for the missing Peaches. I only hoped the catnappers were also aware of the ancient adage.
I phoned Harry Willigan's office, and a male receptionist answered. His employment, I reckoned, was Laverne's doing; after marrying the boss, she wanted her hubby's office cleared of further temptations. Smart lady. Harry had the reputation of being a willing victim of satyriasis.
I identified myself and asked for a personal meeting with Mr. Willigan as soon as possible. The receptionist was gone a few moments and then came back on the line to say that if I could come over immediately, I would be granted an audience to last
no longer than a half-hour. I told him I was on my
way.
Willigan's office was only a block from the McNally Building. Ten minutes later I was seated alongside the tycoon's littered desk, trying hard to conceal my distaste for a man who apparently thought a silk cowboy shirt with bolo tie and diamond clasp, silver identification bracelet, gold Pia-get Polo, and a five-carat pinky ring were evidence of merit and distinction.
He was built like a mahogany stump and, to carry the arboreal analogy farther, his voice was a rough bark. I imagined he might have been a good-looking youth, but a lifetime of sour mash and prime ribs had taken their toll, and now his face was a crumpled road map of burst capillaries. The nose had the hue and shape of a large plum tomato.
'What are you doing about Sweetums?' he screamed at me.
I quietly explained that I had barely started my investigation but had already visited his home to learn the details of the catnapping from his wife. I intended to return to question the servants and make a more detailed search of the premises.
'No cops!' he shouted. 'Those bastards claim they'll kill Peaches if I go to the cops.'
I assured him I would not inform the police, and asked to see the ransom note. He had taken it from the safe prior to my arrival and flung it at me across the desk. I questioned how many people had handled it. The answer: he, Laverne, his receptionist, Leon Medallion and perhaps the other servants at Casa Blanco. That just about eliminated the possibility of retrieving any usable fingerprints from the note.
It was neatly printed on a sheet of good paper, and appeared to have been written on a word processor, as Willigan had told his wife. What caught my eye was the even right-hand margin. The spacing between words had been adjusted so that all lines were the same width. Rather rare in a ransom note- wouldn't you say?
I asked if he had received any further communication from the catnappers, and Willigan said he hadn't. I then inquired if there was anyone he thought might have snatched the cat. Did he have any enemies?
He glowered at me. 'I got more enemies than you got friends,' he yelled. (A comparison I did not appreciate.) 'Sure, I got enemies. You can't cut the mustard the way I done without making enemies. But they're all hard guys. They might shoot me in the back, but they wouldn't steal my Sweetums for a lousy fifty grand. That's penny-ante stuff to those bums.'
I couldn't think of any additional questions to ask, so I thanked Willigan for his time and rose to leave. He walked me to the door, a meaty hand clamped on my shoulder.
'Listen, Archy,' he said in his normal, raucous voice, 'you get Peaches back okay and there's a nice buck in it for you.'
'Thank you,' I said stiffly, 'but my father pays me a perfectly adequate salary.'
'Oh sure,' he said, trying to be jovial, 'but a young stud like you can always use a little extra change. Am I right?'
Wretched man. How Laverne could endure his total lack of couth, I could not understand. But I suspected the Bloody Marys with fresh horseradish helped.
I walked back to the McNally Building, swung aboard the Miata, and headed for home. The old medulla oblongata had enough of the misadventure of Peaches for one day. I gave all those bored neurons a treat by turning my thoughts to Meg Trumble and Laverne Willigan.
I found it amazing that the two were sisters. I could see a slight resemblance in their features, but their carcasses were totally dissimilar. If they stood side by side, Meg on the left, they'd look like the number 18.
And their personalities were so unlike. Laverne was a bouncy extrovert, Meg more introspective, a serious woman. I thought she was not as coarsely woven as Laverne, not as many slubs. As of that moment I was not smitten, but she intrigued me. There was a mystery to her that challenged. Laverne was about as mysterious as a baked potato.
I pulled into the driveway of the McNally castle, a tall Tudorish pile with a mansard roof of copper that leaked. I parked on the graveled turnaround in front of our three-car garage, making sure I did not block the entrance to the left-hand bay where my father always sheltered his big Lexus. The middle space was occupied by an old, wood-bodied Ford station wagon, used mostly for shopping and to transport my mother's plants to flower shows.
I found her in the small greenhouse talking to her begonias, as usual. Her name was Madelaine, and she was a paid-up member of the Union of Ditsy Mommies. But she was an absolutely glorious woman, warm and loving. I had seen her wedding pictures, when she became Mrs. Prescott McNally, and she was radiant then. Now, pushing seventy, she was even more beautiful. I speak not as a dutiful son but as an eager student of pulchritude. (I carried in my wallet a small photo of Kay Kendall.)
Mother's specs had slipped down on her nose, and she didn't see me sneak up. I kissed her velvety cheek, and she closed her eyes.
'Ronald Colman?' she asked. 'John Bar-rymore?'
'Tyrone Power,' I told her.
'My favorite,' she said, opening her eyes. 'He was so wonderful in The Postman Always Rings Twice.'
'Mother, that was John Garfield.'
'I loved him, too,' she said. 'Where have they all gone, Archy?'
'To the great Loew's in the sky,' I said. 'But I'm still here.'
'And I love you most,' she said promptly, patting my cheek. 'Ursi is baking scallops tonight. Isn't that nice?'
'Perfect,' I said. 'I'm in a scallopy mood. Ask father to open one of those bottles of muscadet he's been hoarding.'
'Why don't you ask him, Archy?'
'Because he'll tell me that a jug chablis is good enough. But if you ask, he'll break out the good stuff. He's putty in your hands.'
'He is?' she said. 'Since when?'
I kissed her again and went up to my suite to change. 'Suite' is a grandiloquent word to describe a small sitting room, cramped bedroom, and claustrophobic bathroom on the third floor. But you couldn't beat the rent. Zip. And it was my private aerie. I had no complaints whatsoever.
I pulled on modest swimming trunks (shocking pink), a terry coverup, and sandals. Then I grabbed a towel
