“Sure thing. In fact, I’ll come to the hospital with you.”
“Me, too,” Millie chimed in. “That leaves the boys to finish their secret mission stuff.”
It chafed me to let the guys get away with the he-man woman-haters club business, but I didn’t have a choice. Money over curiosity, as Tinkie had pointed out. Money won.
The boys said they didn’t need the limo because they had other means of transportation—a statement that concerned me. But we loaded up and headed to the Columbus hospital. Bart had been taken to a room, and Millie occupied the floor nurses while we slipped unnoticed into his room. He was propped up in bed watching TV and looked none too pleased to see us.
“You were at the party.” He said it as an accusation.
“True,” I said. “We were having a fine time until you decided to see if you could bounce.”
He moaned as he shifted positions. “Get out of here. I don’t want to talk to anyone.”
“We’ve been hired to find out who’s attacking members of the Columbus social scene.”
“Hired by whom?” He tried to sit up in bed and his monitors went haywire.
Cece pressed him gently back into the pillows. “It doesn’t matter who hired Delaney Detective Agency, and you hold still.” She kept one finger on his chest.
“Our client is afraid someone is going to get hurt, if not killed. And you’re a central player in what’s going on. We’ll leave as soon as you tell me who pushed you.”
“Nobody. I wasn’t pushed!”
“I saw you fall. And I saw Bricey Presley on the second floor not ten seconds after your spectacular tumble.”
He looked from me to Tinkie to Cece. When Millie came in the room, he realized she wasn’t going to save him, either.
“This is none of your business.”
“I saw Bricey run off like a criminal.”
“She was upset about her Cadillac getting destroyed. She thought maybe Sunny had dumped the cement in the car. She wanted me to make it good.”
“Make it good?” I asked.
“Get her a new car.”
“And?” I said.
“And I told her I would. Look, sometimes it’s better to write the check. Bricey isn’t all that smart, but she’s relentless. She would never give up, so I decided I’d just buy her another car.” He sighed. “She went to hug me, but I saw Sunny watching us from downstairs and I stepped back. I didn’t realize I was standing so close to the edge of the stairs. I lost my balance and that was it.”
“You weren’t pushed?” I watched his face carefully.
He swallowed. “No.”
“I thought maybe Bricey Presley helped you take flight,” I said softly. “You could get her off your back if you pressed charges.”
His eyes were bleak. “Bricey had nothing to do with it.”
“You gave her the original Cadillac.” I leaned in a little closer. “To soften the blow of the fact you’d grown tired of her?”
Tinkie stepped in. “A Cadillac that someone filled up with cement. Someone must have been pretty pissed at your gesture of parting.”
“This really is none of your business.” He tried to sit up again, but Cece put her finger back on his chest. It was just enough to keep him prone.
“We’ve been hired to prevent a tragedy,” I said. “Our client feels that things are getting out of hand here. She thinks someone may want you dead.”
“Me?” He finally looked me fully in the face. “Why just me? And if anyone wanted me dead, it would be—”
“Yes, who would it be?” Cece was on it.
Bart realized he’d stepped in quicksand. His eyes narrowed. “Clarissa hired you, didn’t she? She’s the one stirring this pot. Listen to me, you should check into Clarissa’s past. Back when she lived in Oxford. Make a few phone calls. She’s been involved in suspicion of murder before. Maybe that’s why she hired you. To throw the blame on someone else. She pretends to be all worried about other people when she’s really trying to game the system. Typical Clarissa.”
“Didn’t you have an affair with her?”
My question pulled him up short. “Who told you that?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Tinkie said.
“Okay, so Clarissa and I had a fling. It’s in the past. She’s a passionate woman with a bit of kink in her. It was fun for a while, but then she got out of control. I had to end it before she ruined me all over town. Columbus is a town with solid values. Most people don’t care what you do in your private life, but they don’t like having their nose rubbed in things they find … inappropriate. I had to end it or I was going to lose all my business.”
“Not to mention your wealthy wife,” Millie said with a bit of heat.
Bart waved a hand. “Sunny got the ring and the marriage license. That’s what she was after. She’s happy as long as I’m there to escort her to social events. On occasion she gets her back up if I embarrass her.”
Millie leaned in. “Are you sure about that? No woman likes to be made a fool. I don’t suppose you’d care for it if she flaunted her lovers all over town.”
“One thing about Sunny, she’s discreet. I value that about her.”
“Look, Crenshaw, you could have been killed. Tulla Tarbutton could have died from a lethal shock. Whoever unloaded that cement on Bricey’s Cadillac destroyed property valued at seventy grand. This is not just an aggravated lover slashing a few car tires. This has crossed a line. You may think this is all fun and games, but I’m not seeing it that way. But hey, you’re the biggest target so far. If you aren’t worried, why should I be?” I shrugged.
“Look, I had an accident. I’m going to be fine. Just drop it, okay? Someone’s on a warpath. It will settle down if you
