“Miguel let me watch from the other side of the glass. I hope you don’t mind.”
“I figured, and I’m glad. It might not have looked like it, but I imagined you behind the mirror, and I felt less alone.” Gloria shook her shoulders and blew out a loud breath. “I feel surprisingly light, getting all of that out in the open.”
“I’m sorry you were afraid to tell me about what Victor did to you.” Rosa glanced away from the road just long enough so Gloria could see her sincerity. “It was so easy to be angry during the war. He directed his anger at everyone around him. It was like he was spraying them with a hose. I’m so sorry to hear you were caught in it.”
“I wasn’t alone. I haven’t heard everyone’s stories about Victor, but I’ll bet there are more like mine.”
Rosa turned the corner that led to the Forrester mansion. “Can you think of anyone who might be angry enough with Victor Boyd to go through with murder?”
Gloria shook her head, but then she stopped mid-shake. She turned to Rosa. “Wait. Do you remember when Marjorie first pointed out Victor at the fair?”
“Sure.” Rosa nodded.
“And do you remember when Nancy Kline leaned over to whisper something to me?”
Rosa wasn’t sure if she remembered that, but they’d just been reacquainted, and Rosa’s thoughts were torn between their damaged friendship and Miguel’s dynamic performance with his band. “I’m not sure. What did she whisper to you?”
“She said if she got the chance, she’d push Victor onto his roller coaster track. She said that would be exactly what he deserved, right there in the middle of the fair where everyone could see it.” Gloria shook her head. “She was joking, though. She has an alibi, right?”
Rosa focused on the dimly lit road before her and let her thoughts go back to the night at the fair. Nancy had worn a baby-blue dress with a thick crinoline slip and danced with Eddie. Later, she sat with Pauline on the Ferris wheel.
“Does Nancy understand much about electricity or engineering?” Rosa asked. “Has Marjorie mentioned anything?” While Nancy had worked at the aircraft plant, Rosa didn’t recall her being proficient. Besides, this was Nancy. Rosa just couldn’t believe her old friend was capable of murder.
“Marjorie only talks about clothes and men,” Gloria said with a scoff. “But Eddie’s an electrician.”
Rosa read little into that. A lot of men were electricians by trade, and probably many had been at the fair that night.
“So, tell me about this Alfred?” Rosa said it with a raised eyebrow so her cousin would know this was girl chat, not investigative work, and that Rosa wasn’t judging. One day, she would tell Gloria about her long-ago romance with someone who most definitely wasn’t approved by Aunt Louisa.
Gloria shrugged shyly, but once she opened her mouth, it seemed she was back to her old bubbly self. “I only met him a few weeks ago, so it’s new, and it hasn’t gone beyond a couple of conversations between dance routines. At class, I told him I was going to the Santa Bonita pier on Thursday night with my cousin, and did he want to meet me there. I wasn’t sure what I was thinking.” She rubbed her temples, and Rosa glimpsed the toll the evening had had on her cousin. “Then we happened to see each other at the bandstand, and somehow, the timing worked out perfectly with everyone else dancing so that I didn’t have to say anything.”
“And when he asked you to go for a drive, it just seemed easier not to mention it?” Rosa guessed. “That makes sense.”
“Does it?” Gloria eyed Rosa, still looking for assurance.
Rosa reached over and took her hand. “Perfect sense.”
When Rosa and Gloria stepped out of the Bel Air, Aunt Louisa, Clarence, and Grandma Sally were out on the front stoop.
“What on earth was that all about?” Aunt Louisa braced her hands on her hips. “We’ve been worried sick!”
“It was nothing, Mom.” Gloria stepped past Aunt Louisa and into the mansion. “A simple misunderstanding.”
Aunt Louisa was incredulous. “A simple misunderstanding? Is that what you’re calling it? You! Picked up by the police! Can you imagine the talk that will fly around town?” Aunt Louisa glowered at Rosa as if Gloria getting questioned by the police was her fault.
“They set her free, Mom,” Clarence said with a tone of conciliation. “That means they didn’t have anything to hold her.”
Aunt Louisa shot daggers at her son. “Of course they didn’t have anything!”
Gloria didn’t stick around to engage in a second interrogation. Instead, she hurried up the stairs and left Rosa to face her aunt, Grandma Sally, and a defensive brother, alone.
“It really was a misunderstanding,” Rosa said. “The police were simply doing their job.”
“The mayor will hear about this!” Aunt Louisa spun on a heel of her leather pumps and click-clacked down the tile floors of the hallway.
“Louisa’s experiencing enough fury for us all,” Grandma Sally stated.
Despite her aunt’s brash behavior toward him, Clarence came to his mother’s defense. “She’s just trying to protect the family name.”
“Life is too short for long grievances.” Grandma Sally smiled sardonically. “And I’m too old to be staying up this late. I bid you two young people goodnight.”
Rosa eyed Clarence, who stood casually with his fists in his trouser pockets.
“What?” he said at last. “You’re looking at me like I’ve got my hand in the cookie jar.”
Rosa hated to admit to the thought that had crossed her mind. Had Clarence really wanted those library books for Bernardo’s sake alone? Or did he have reason to brush up on his knowledge on how electrical circuits worked?
“Did you know Victor Boyd bullied Gloria when she was a child?”
Clarence stiffened. “What are you saying?”
“Gloria revealed to the police and to me, that Victor Boyd bullied her and stole a gold necklace. Were you aware of this?”
Clarence’s lips tightened as red flared across his cheeks. He presented his fists
