Jack went to the candy bowl on the table beside the recliner where they’d spent Sunday night. He took a chocolate off the top and inspected it. No sign of a needle hole or tampering. He broke it open and held it up to his nose...and there it was: the odor. Rakoshi elixir. He held it out to Gia.
'Here. Take a whiff. I don't know if you remember what Grace's laxative smelled like, but it's the same stuff.' He led her to the kitchen where he opened the garbage bag and took out Vicky's orange. 'Compare.'
Gia sniffed them both, then looked up at him, fear growing in her eyes. 'What is it?'
'I don't know,' he lied
He took the candy and orange from her and threw both into the bag. Then he brought the dish from the parlor and dumped the rest of the chocolates.
'But it's got to do something!' Gia said, persistent as always.
So that Gia couldn't see his eyes as he spoke, Jack made a show of concentrating on twisting the tie around the neck of the bag as tightly as he could.
'Maybe it has some sedative properties that keeps people quiet while they're being carried off.'
Gia stared at him, a mystified look on her face. 'This is crazy! Who would want to—?'
'That's my next question: Where'd she get the candy?'
'From England.' Gia's face blanched. 'Oh, no! From Richard!'
'Your ex?'
'He sent them from London.'
Jack’s mind churned furiously as he took the garbage bag outside and dumped it in a can in the narrow alley alongside the house.
Richard Westphalen? Where the hell did he fit in? But hadn't Kusum mentioned that he’d been in London last year? And now Gia says her ex-husband sent these chocolates from London. It all fits, but it made no sense. What possible link to Kusum? Certainly not financial. Kusum hadn't struck Jack as a man to whom money meant much.
This was making less and less sense every minute.
'Could your ex be behind this?' he asked as he returned to the kitchen. 'Could he be thinking he's going to inherit something if Grace and Nellie disappear?'
'I wouldn't put much past Richard,' Gia said, 'but I can't see him getting involved in a serious crime. Besides, I happen to know that he's not going to inherit a thing from Nellie.”
'But does
'I don't know.' She glanced around and appeared to shiver. 'Let's get out of here, shall we?'
'Soon as you're ready.'
Gia went upstairs to find Vicky. Before long, mother and daughter stood in the foyer, Vicky with a little suitcase in one hand and her plastic grape carrying case in the other.
'What's in there?' Jack asked, pointing to the grape.
Vicky held it out of his reach behind her back. 'Just my Ms. Jelliroll doll.'
'I should have known.' At least she's talking to me.
'Can we go now?' Gia said.
She’d been transformed from a reluctant evictee to someone anxious to be as far away from this house as possible. He was glad for that.
Jack took the large suitcase and led the two of them up to Sutton Place. He hailed a cab and gave the address of Isher Sports.
'I want to get home,' Gia said. She sat in the middle, Vicky on her left and Jack on her right. 'That's in your neighborhood.”
'You can't go home.' As she opened her mouth to protest he added: 'You can't go to my place, either.”
'Then where?”
'I've found a place in Queens.'
'Queens? I don't want to—'
'No one'll find you in a million years. Just hang out there for a couple of days until I see if I can put a stop to this.'
Gia put an arm around Vicky and hugged her close. 'I feel like a criminal.'
Jack wanted to hug both of them and tell them they'd be all right, that he'd see to it that nothing ever hurt them. But after his outburst this morning, he wasn't sure how they'd react.
The cab pulled up in front of Abe's store. Jack ran in and found him at his usual station, perusing his customary array of newspapers. Mustard brightened his black tie, poppy seeds peppered his ample shirtfront.
'The key's on the counter and so's the address,' he said, glancing over his reading glasses without moving from his seat. 'This won't be messy, I hope. Already my relationship with Sarah is barely civil.'
Jack pocketed the key but kept the address in hand.
'If I know Gia, she'll leave the place spotless.'
