house we eventually bought-it was the kind of place I'd dreamed about during all the years we'd lived on one Army post after another-a real home. We went to see it. It needed tons of work. We thought about it for a month, then made an offer. We worked on it every weekend for three years, getting it ready for the day Lem retired.”
I knew there was no Lem in the picture now. She answered my unspoken question. “He had a heart attack at his retirement party. I moved into our dream home alone.”
She didn't give me time to murmur sympathies. “Great,” she said, “they've got a pantry basket coming up. With an eight-way divider! I've just got to win it.”
She didn't, but it didn't seem to bother her. After purchasing another stack of cards, she came back to the table as full of enthusiasm as ever. “I just love bingo!” she said with a contented smile. “Guess it's the feeling that I'm getting something for nothing.”
I mentally totaled up what she'd spent on cards. So far she'd got nothing for a whole lot of something- money.
She rubbed her troll's fuzzy head, “for luck.” Its purple nylon hair was about the same shade as Oretta's pageant costume. I mentioned that to Ginnie.
She grinned wickedly. “It looks better on the troll.” She unzipped the bingo kit and pulled out two brass pins that said I LOVE BINGO. “Nearly forgot these,” she said.
“What did you think of Oretta's play?” she asked, as she fastened one of the pins to my lapel.
“The pageant? It's about as awful as a play can get.”
“I meant the other play; the one she asked us to read.”
I'd forced it out of my mind. “I haven't seen it. Told her I was much too busy. Did you read it?”
“She brought a copy by my house. Hard to believe, but it's so bad it makes the pageant look good. If there's a Broadway play in the last fifty years that she hasn't stolen from, I don't know what it was.” As she spoke, she was oblivious of a man with a silver-white beard and moustache who was headed in our direction. “Oretta told me- Eeek!”
The
Ginnie's face turned red as she swung around and glared at the intruder. “Oh, it's you. Hello, Cletus,” she said coldly.
He appeared to be a well-preserved sixty-five or seventy, and had a good-looking, if florid, face. “You don't sound happy to see me,” he said, smiling. His eyes were now staring at me. “Who's your pretty little friend?”
Ginnie sighed. “Tori Miracle, I'd like you to meet another of your Moon Lake neighbors, Dr. Cletus Wilson. Cletus is a retired dentist.”
I shook hands with Cletus, who held on a little longer than necessary while gazing soulfully into my eyes with his baby-blues. My mother had once said of an unpleasant visitor to the embassy, “I don't know why, but I dislike him immensely.” That was how I felt about Dr. Wilson.
“May I join you ladies?”
“Bingo!” a woman shouted.
“Damn,” Ginnie muttered and crumpled up her cards.
I recalled Luscious's police report from early this morning. “Are you the Dr. Wilson whose house was robbed?” I asked.
“I certainly am,” he said. “Damn teenagers. It's got so a man can't even be safe in his own house. Back when I was a kid, we were taught respect for other people's property. Nothing like this would have-”
“Oh, stuff it, Cletus,” Ginnie interrupted. “It wasn't all
He didn't seem at all taken aback by her outburst. “You're right, my dear,” he said with a smile, then leaned close to me so our shoulders were touching. I got a whiff of denture breath and turned my head slightly.
“I know who you are,” he said, playfully touching my chin. I drew away, dislodging his finger. He smiled a white, false-toothy grin. “You're that girlfriend of the police chief's, running the
“Mmmm,” I said, wondering how I could escape.
“You must be feeling lonely with that man of yours in Costa Rica. Since we're practically neighbors, maybe you'd like to come over for a drink some evening this week. Take a look at my Civil War collection. Ginnie can tell you it's well worth seeing.” The leer he gave me indicated he had a lot more on his mind than showing me his cannonballs.
“I'm very busy,” I told him. “The paper takes a lot of my time-”
“I'll call you,” he said. “Excuse me, ladies, I see someone I need to talk to.” The new object of his attention was a blonde woman with a disastrous permanent. She barely looked up from her cards when he sat down next to her.
“Charming gentleman,” I remarked to Ginnie.
“Pond scum,” she said cheerfully. “I actually made the mistake of going over there one night. I can tell you it was all I could do to escape with my girlish virtue intact. Oh, good-they're going to play inside-square next. That's my lucky game.”
It was only a little past ten when Ginnie dropped me off, but it seemed much later. I'm not sure if that was because my bruises had been throbbing painfully for the last hour or because I'd been half bored to death all evening. Bingo was definitely not my thing, and I hoped Ginnie wouldn't invite me again. Perhaps now I'd get that hot bath and cold Scotch I'd been craving all evening.
Praxythea was in the kitchen, scratching Icky's chin.
“Get him off the table,” I said sharply. “They carry all kinds of horrible diseases.”
She stared at the pie basket I'd won, then tut-tutted when she noticed my bedraggled condition.
“I've spent the day with a child who's a wannabe serial killer, I've been pummeled with rocks, my house has been broken into-and don't even ask me what I think of bingo,” I warned.
It was probably too late for ice packs to be effective, but I thought I'd give it a try. Since there was only half a tray of ice cubes in the refrigerator, I retrieved two bags of frozen peas from the freezer on the porch and positioned them on either side of my neck like bright green shoulder pads.
Praxythea gently placed Icky back in his terrarium and washed her hands. “He's so sweet,” she murmured. She was still a vision of lavender loveliness, but her stage makeup had definitely seen better days. “I just got home, myself,” she said. “It's been a long day.”
“Amen to that,” I agreed. “Did you visit the Amish market in Lancaster?”
“I never got there. While I was on camera, word came in that Kevin had been found, exactly where I said he'd be. I spent the rest of the afternoon giving interviews to the network newspeople. So exhausting!”
I retrieved my jaw from where it had dropped. “You took credit for finding him? I can't believe you.”
She smiled sweetly. “He was by the edge of running water, wasn't he?”
“Yes, he was. But around Lickin Creek, it's hard to find any place that isn't near running water. You know that.”
She sighed. “I'm used to disbelievers, Tori. Come see what I got for you.”
I knew it was no use arguing with her; she was the mistress of illogical thought. I followed her out of the warm kitchen, through the cold interior rooms of the mansion, and into the large front parlor where a magnificent, long- needled Christmas tree dominated the center of the room.
“Isn't it beautiful?” she asked.
“It's gorgeous,” I gasped. “How did you get it here?”
“The limo driver was kind enough to strap it on top of the car. He could barely see the road through the branches. It was like driving home through the forest primeval.”
“Now I know stretch limos are good for something,” I said.
“I thought we could decorate it tomorrow. Do something countryish-maybe make some popcorn and cranberry garlands, tie little red and white checkered bows on it.”
“It's lovely, Praxythea. And I do appreciate it. But now that Kevin's been found, won't you be going back to New York?”
“I thought I might stick around for Christmas.”
