way, I could see how someone might think I looked guilty.
'I wasn't going to tell you this,' Barry began. 'But Heather wanted to arrest you at the scene. I talked her out of it. I convinced her she would look foolish.'
'And?'
'Now she says it was a mistake to listen to me.'
I felt a gush of warmth for Barry. 'I didn't know you did that.'
'Did you really think I would just walk away and leave you in handcuffs?'
'It kind of looked that way.'
He brushed some hair from my face and gave me one of his smoldering looks, which suddenly made me regret that we hadn't followed through with his plans for the evening. 'I'm always there for you,' he said in a low voice.
If this had been a movie, the music would have swelled. Instead my stomach let out a loud, embarrassing gurgle.
'That's it. I'm going to check on our progress,' he said, moving toward the hostess's stand. He came back, his eyes flashing. 'They're still saying forty minutes. C'mon.' He grabbed my hand, and we went outside. 'I think there are some food stands in the middle. We can grab a slice of pizza or something.'
But first we had to get there. The area was thick with people, heavy on teenagers.
'Don't any of these kids have homework?' Barry grumbledas we threaded our way through the crowd. I explained seeing a sign talking about some kind of fund-raiser.
Finally past them, we reached a wide walkway surroundedby the hilly park area. It had a carnival atmosphere.There were little lights in all the trees. Carts were selling jewelry and food items, and there was entertainment.I stopped short. There was a guy juggling power tools, someone else doing magic on a folding table--and Samuel. He sat at a portable keyboard, next to a table with CDs for sale manned by a pretty light-haired woman I didn't recognize.
Samuel looked like he was playing his heart out, but the crowd shuffled by with barely a glance at him or at the hat lying on the ground with some money in it.
Barry came up behind me and followed my gaze.
'You found him,' he said. 'See, I knew you didn't screw up. You had the right day and place.' He rambled on while I just stared. Of all the things I had hoped for Samuel's premiere engagement, the very least was that it would have a roof.
Barry handed me a slice of pizza and suggested that we walk and eat. He had to rush to pick up Jeffrey. Once again dessert got cancelled.
CHAPTER 13
'I believe the correct title is 'open-air entertainer,' ' Dinah said. 'Those places are very picky about who they give the space to. One of my students wrote a composition about trying to get a spot doing the three-card monte trick. Of course they turned him down. I'm sure they knew it was just a con. But he saw a lot of other peopleaudition, including several he thought were 'downright audibly awesome,' to quote what he thought was a really cute phrase, but they still didn't get hired.'
'That makes me feel a little better, but not much. I don't want to seem old and stodgy, but how could Samuel be so excited about being a street musician? What kind of step in his career is that?'
I had told Dinah that somehow I'd gotten the position as main suspect, along with the few other tidbits Barry had let slip. Through his partner, Barry had found out that the detectiveswere sure Ellen had known her killer and that it was a disorganized crime, which meant it hadn't been planned out first. Neither of those facts helped me.
I berated myself again for not checking the tote bag for the appointment book in my rush to get out of the closet. If I'd seen it, I'd know whom she'd had lunch with. It was frustrating knowing where the book might be and not being able to check or even tell anybody to look there. It would involve too many questions about how I knew.
Dinah and I had both agreed that the best way to keep me from panicking about my upgraded suspect status was by focusing on Samuel's gig.
'You never know, he could be heard by some big agent,' Dinah said.
'Like Peter?' I looked heavenward. 'He would have a fit if he saw his brother playing for money in a hat.'
'I think they get an actual salary from the place, plus the tips.' She patted my arm. 'Okay, it isn't the best situation,but he's grown and all that.'
Dinah and I had gotten together to crochet granny squares. I'd thought she could help me figure out what I was doing wrong, but it turned out that, away from CeeCee's directions, Dinah was as lost as I was. I know I shouldn't have been happy, but it made me feel vindicated when hers turned out lopsided, too.
'Right,' I said, unraveling the yarn once again. 'I supposeI should be grateful for that and happy that he is followinghis dream. Maybe if there wasn't the hat for money, it wouldn't look so bad. I feel awful for not being happy for him.'
Dinah nodded. 'You think it gets easier when they're grown, but there are just different problems. Since my two moved cross-country, I don't get a play-by-play anymore. Much as I hate to admit it, I miss it.'
I'd had enough of dissecting the situation with Samuel. Dinah was right. He was a man and making his own choices. If playing on a phony street was what he wanted, I would just keep my mouth shut and support him.
'What ever happened with Mr. Online?' I asked, changingthe subject. Once he and Dinah had moved on to live voice, he'd suggested they meet.
Ever-talkative Dinah suddenly went silent. She focused on her lopsided granny square like her life depended on it. 'I was hoping you wouldn't ask, so I wouldn't have to tell.'
'Uh-oh.'
'Right answer,' she said. 'We arranged to meet at Starbucks.He still had the great voice in person and he wasn't too bad looking, a little short on hair, but who cares. We seemed to be getting along pretty well, and he suggested we go to the theater on the weekend. That's when it all fell apart. First he asked if I could get the tickets, and he'd pay me back. He said he was just having a little cash-flow problem.Then he asked if I could lend him forty bucks until the weekend, too.'
'Oops, kind of had
'Not everybody gets someone like Barry Greenberg dropped in her lap.' Dinah looked at me and shook her head. She couldn't understand why I kept him at a distance.
'I like him, I really do, but I just want to keep my optionsopen. What did you do with Mr. Deadbeat?'
'I told him I was having a cash-flow problem, too, and left.' She looked down at her granny square. The center was a nice yellow, the next round a medium blue and the one beyond that a darker blue. She had done the final two rounds in black, but the whole thing was lopsided. She held it up. 'Whatever I'm doing wrong, at least I'm consistent. All CeeCee would have to do is look at this, and she'd know right away how to fix this.'
I called CeeCee and explained our problem.
'It really isn't a good time,' she said when I suggested we come over.
'It would just take a minute, and without some help, we can't make squares for the blanket.'
'Oh, dear.' She sounded harried. 'That is a problem. Okay, but you must come over right now. I mean, pick up your things this instant and head for the door.'
We did exactly as CeeCee requested and tried to park in front of her house a few minutes later. I say 'tried to' becausethe whole area was filled with trucks and cars, and we had to park half a block down. There was a lot of activity, with furniture and people going in and out. We threaded through them and headed up the stone walkway. No need to knock--the door was open. The sound of muffled barking came from somewhere in the distance. My guess was that the 'girls' were locked up somewhere and not happy about it.
CeeCee met us in the front hall. 'Be careful with that sofa,' she snapped at a pair of men in jeans and bandanas who were moving said couch out the door and just missed smashing it into the doorjamb.
'What's going on?' I said. There was all kinds of activityinside, too. Another man in jeans and a bandana was on the floor taping down cables that were coming from outside,and a similarly dressed man was carrying industrial- typelights into the living room.
