and tell her about the recovered paintings.
As I walked away from the bar, Candy looped her arm through mine and marched me into a library like the ones that I used to think existed only in movies. You know, shelf after walnut shelf of colorfully bound volumes with gilded titles on leatherbound spines. There was even a painting of a fox hunt and a big antique globe from when Ogologlu’s home country was losing its grip on a nice chunk of the world. She closed the door behind us.
“I saw you talking to Randy and Jill.”
“I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus, so what?”
“Come on, Mr.-Moe. Did you tell-”
“Not for me to tell.”
Candy exhaled for the first time since she found me. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Jill? Mrs. Junction? Yes, very.”
“Why would he want me when he could have her? I know that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Not even close.”
She seemed not to hear. “You don’t know about their situation. You don’t understand.”
“Funny. That’s what Randy tried to tell me.”
“And…”
“I’m not judging you, Candy, but what are you doing?”
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly. Now’s not the time to trust your decisions. You’re grieving.”
“I want my life back. I want a life where I can have some joy. Do you know what it’s been like being a slave to my own daughter? To be an adjunct, a second thought, to have my needs be the last rung on the ladder? Everything I’ve done since the day Sashi first picked up a brush has been about her career.”
“Well, you’re free now.”
“That’s right,” she said, stepping uncomfortably close to me. “I can do whatever I want.” And before I could react, she kissed me on the mouth, and with intent.
“Stop that!” I pushed her away hard and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
Candy made to slap my face, but I grabbed her hand before she even came close. When she calmed down, she said, “Why did you do that, push me away like that? I’ve wanted to kiss you like that since I was fourteen.”
“Well, you’re not fourteen anymore, but you are acting like someone who wants to be punished. Try and remember that today is about Sashi. Let yourself feel the grief and the guilt if you have to, but don’t look to me for answers. I don’t have the ones you want.”
She was sobbing now, quietly, into the palms of her hands. Grief does stupid things to people. I knew firsthand about that. I’d done my share of acting out too. If I’d made Candy take note of that, then good, I was glad. If I’d just hurt her feelings… Well, it was a day for hurt feelings.
“I’ve got three of the paintings back.”
She looked up out of her hands, her makeup smeared, but the tears turned off.
“What? How? I don’t under-”
“I did use one to bribe someone and that got me to Tierney,” I said. “I had the other three tested by an expert for authenticity.”
“But-”
“They’re in the trunk of my car. I’ve already told Junction. You guys can get them when this thing, whatever this is, is over. Right now, I need another drink.”
Actually, I felt more like I needed another shower, but a drink was the best I could do under the circumstances. I got a double on the rocks and went to find a quiet little corner for myself. Even with all the people in attendance, I thought, there were lots of quiet corners in a house that size. One of the things thwarting my quest was that there were an inordinate number of flat screens set up around the house showing endless videos of Sashi. Some of the images registered, but I mostly tried to avoid watching. Finally, I found a kind of nook on one of the staircase landings between the second and third floors. There was a small stained glass window that let in light and a pillow-covered oak bench built into the landing wall. I sat down and slowed down my drinking, trying to sip at this one. It was lovely up here and the noise from the main floor was only a quiet medley of shuffling feet and soft whispers.
“My husband used to love this spot.” It was Sonia Barrows-Willingham in all her desiccated glory. “That’s a Tiffany window there behind you.”
“Nice place,” I said, feeling the scotch.
“I understand you’ve managed to recoup certain assets, some of which are mine.”
“News travels fast around here.”
“It travels fast everywhere, Mr. Prager, or hadn’t you noticed?”
“Nah, I’m a Pony Express kinda guy myself,” I heard the scotch say.
She did that grotesque barking laugh of hers. “Where are my paintings?”
“In my car. The kids out front have my keys,” I said, reaching into my pocket for my claim check. “Give this to them and they can get them out of the trunk.”
She snatched the card out of my hand and headed back down the stairs. I waited to speak until she’d almost made it to the landing below.
“Oh, Mrs. Barrows-Willingham, I nearly forgot to mention…”
“And what would that be, Mr. Prager?”
“Next to the crate with the paintings is a copy of a report on the authenticity of the paintings that you might find a fascinating read. I’m certain the press will find it equally fascinating. It was convenient of you to invite them, by the way. Thanks. You saved me a lot of bother.”
She didn’t say a word, but about-faced and was standing back in front of me within seconds.
“That reward money was merely a token of my generosity, Moe.”
“It’s Moe now, is it?”
“If you like. As I was saying, that hundred thousand was only a tiny sampling of my generosity. I can be far far more giving. Unfortunately, I am not blessed with Candy or Jill Junction’s looks, but I find that men are more easily swayed by money in any case. Money can get you all the Jills and Candys you could ever want.”
“No sale, sorry. I don’t want them or your money. I already gave the hundred grand away.”
She didn’t flinch. “Force is also very effective and much less expensive.”
“You’re threatening me now? I don’t much like threats.”
“No one does. I believe that’s the whole point.”
I put my scotch down and reached around for my. 38. I unhinged the cylinder and spun it like a wheel of fortune. “Round and round she goes…” I snapped the cylinder back in place and pantomimed shooting her. “Pow, pow, pow.”
She said nothing, but swallowed hard.
“Don’t ever threaten me again, Mrs. Barrows-Willingham. I know some people who would make what John Tierney did to Sashi a pleasant alternative to what they would do to you. And if you think I’m fucking around, try me.”
I picked up my scotch glass and left her standing there, shaking. I went downstairs to try and find a real human being. In a million years, I never thought I’d be happy to see Max, but grief and loss make for strange bedfellows. I found him in the butler’s pantry, drinking bourbon straight out of the bottle and looking even more wrecked and wretched than when we last spoke. He wasn’t crying, but he recently had been, a lot. Through all this, he was the only one who seemed fully in touch with what he’d lost. Love, even parental love, is a complicated thing, but Max’s was pure. In the end, he was the only mensch amongst the monsters. Mensch, in Yiddish, means a real man. He handed me the bottle and I took a sip.
“Tough day,” I said.
“Impossible.”
Then there came an announcement over the intercom. The circus was about to begin.
Showtime.
