I’d never be able to pick out their cups from all the other trash. Iris pushed on the small metal door, but it didn’t move.
Hallelujah, somebody had forgotten to empty the can. With a shrug, Iris set her cup on top and then Ali did the same. I forced myself to count to ten before I made my move to get the cups.
But ten wasn’t enough. Iris turned back just as I snatched them.
“Sorry,” she said in a pleasant voice, and then she realized who I was. “Give them to me and I’ll throw them somewhere else,” she said, walking back to me. Her face had settled into concern.
“I have it covered,” I said, putting my hands behind my back and hoping there was enough saliva on them to do a DNA test. I even knew where to send them thanks to the dog DNA author’s event we’d held.
“But I insist,” she said. All pretense of pleasantness had drained from her voice. Our eyes locked and I knew she knew there was more than garbage at stake.
“Give them to me or I’ll make a scene. I’ll say you stole them from me.” She sounded shrill and panicky.
“I’ll call the cops for you,” I said. “When you throw something away, it’s no longer yours. And I have a witness.” At that, Dinah stepped out from behind the bookcase and waved.
“I need to talk to you,” Iris said, finally relenting. Ali had been watching the whole interchange and regarded her mother with concern. Iris told her it was okay and then urged her to go on to another department and said she’d catch up with her in a few minutes.
I took Iris to the bookstore office so we’d have some privacy. “Mary Beth is her mother, isn’t she?”
Iris sat down and put her face in her hands. I borrowed one of Barry’s interrogation lines. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
Iris looked up; the color had drained from her face. “You have to promise you won’t tell Ali.”
I nodded in agreement. It took her a few moments to collect herself, but then she took a couple of deep breaths and started to talk. “It was not supposed to turn out this way. . . . I was Mary Beth’s assistant. I did whatever she needed whether it was handling an RSVP for a party or going with her to Catalina. If I had known—” She glanced out toward the bookstore. Ali was standing by the magazines. “No matter what, I love that girl as if she were mine. And as far as I’m concerned, she is my daughter.”
The story went that Mary Beth hadn’t told Iris she was pregnant until she was in her seventh month. “She was one of those women who barely show. She wore loose clothes, and not even her husband figured it out. She never gave me details, but I think she planned to leave Lance and go off with the baby’s father, and then something happened with him. She got panicky. Her husband couldn’t have kids, so there was no way she could pass the baby off as his. She came up with this plan. We’d spend her last month on Catalina and she’d have the baby there, only she would tell the doctor that she was me.”
Iris examined her hands. “You have to understand, I was broke. Just out of college with student loans and I wanted to start a business.” Her breath caught. “I’m so embarrassed I did it for the money.
“It wasn’t that hard to pull off. Mary Beth had dark hair in those days, and we both wore ours long and loose. We both wore baggy clothes and were always together. The local doctor delivered the baby. He didn’t know either of us, so he didn’t question it when Mary Beth gave him my name.” Iris had to stop for a moment, then went on.
“She had already gotten Lance to agree to adopting. I was going to take Ali home with me, and then we’d arrange a private adoption. But Lance flew into some kind of rage and said he’d changed his mind. At first Mary Beth thought she’d get him to change his mind back, but he completely refused. She stayed involved with us, but then we had this big blowup. She wanted to run things, but by then I’d fallen in love with the baby. For better or worse she was mine.” Iris had been staring at some spot on the floor as she talked. Finally she looked at me directly; her face was wet with tears.
“There was no reason ever to tell Ali. My name is on her birth certificate. And then out of nowhere Mary Beth contacted me. She told me it had been bothering her all these years and now that her husband was dead, she wanted to come clean and claim her daughter.”
“And you killed her to keep it quiet,” I said. Iris’s expression went from distraught to angry.
“Killed her? Don’t be ridiculous.” Iris got up to leave. She turned back at the door. “If you want to know who killed her, why don’t you look for Ali’s father? Mary Beth said she wanted Ali to know who both of her parents were.” She glared at me. “And no, I don’t know who he is.”
“I HAVE TO GO BACK TO CATALINA,” I SAID TO Dinah when I found her in the bookstore. My comment didn’t sit well with her even when I repeated Iris’s story.
“Molly, you can’t go back there. You’ll get arrested. That deputy will nab you as soon as you set one foot off the boat.”
“I have to see what’s hidden in the fireplace. I bet it points to Ali’s father,” I said.
“Who probably killed Mary Beth,” Dinah said softly. “And once someone has killed someone it’s not that hard to kill someone else, if you get my meaning.”
I didn’t say anything and Dinah nudged me impatiently. “Did you hear what I said? You go back there and you’ll be in double jeopardy—from the deputy and from Ali’s father.”
“Will you come with?” I asked.
Dinah said yes, then changed her answer when I told her I planned to go the next day. She had an in-class essay and had to be there. Then Dinah surprised me by suggesting I talk to Detective Heather.
“Is your scarf pulled too tight?” I said, looking at the pale pink and burnt orange combo of scarves she had wound around her neck. “I want you to stop for a minute and consider the details. She already laughed off the crochet piece. If I start telling her about people switching identities and secret fathers—”
“I see your point. It might sound a little like a soap opera plot,” Dinah conceded.
“My plan is simple. I’ll wear a hat, dark glasses and a hoodie over some jeans. I’ll blend right in with everybody else. The deputy won’t recognize me, and there’s no way for whoever Ali’s father is to know what I’m doing. I’m not going to tell anybody else about the trip.”
“But Molly, if you get caught breaking and entering, you won’t get off with a warning,” Dinah cautioned.
“No breaking and entering. There might be a key.” Dinah gave me a quizzical look and I explained. “Before Iris left the bookstore I asked her if she knew anything about a secret compartment in the fireplace. She said the only hiding place she knew about was the flower pot on the front porch where a key was buried.”
“But that was a long time ago,” Dinah said.
“I’ve been keeping my spare key in the same place since we moved into our house,” I said. “I’m betting it’s still there.”
Bob interrupted and asked if I wanted him to make up more iced tea samples. I told him my need for them was done. As he prepared to go back to the cafe, he asked me if I’d heard any more about who was to be the subject for
PANDEMONIUM WAS WAITING WHEN I ARRIVED home. The She La Las and their spouses had gathered for a pep evening before the audition. All three women were drinking hot water, lemon juice and honey spiked with vodka. My father was trying to calm the women down by telling them they were a sure thing. The other two husbands looked exhausted by the ordeal.
My mother saw me trying to slip down the hall and rushed over. “Wish me luck, honey, wish me luck,” she squealed as she held me tight. “Tomorrow’s the big day.”
I smiled and agreed it was a big day.
THE DOGS FOLLOWED ME INTO SAMUEL’S ROOM and I shut the door. I was looking through his old hooded sweatshirts when the phone rang.
“Hi, sunshine,” Mason said, sounding fresh and upbeat. As soon as he heard the tension in my voice, he offered to come rescue me from Camp She La La. I was too focused on getting ready for my Catalina trip and without giving details, passed.
“How about tomorrow night?” Mason offered.
I gave him a pass on that, too. I didn’t want him to take it personally and I also didn’t want to explain about my trip, so I suggested Saturday. He made some comment about checking his calendar.
