Faith decided to call Tom and tell him she would pick Ben up. Humming a few bars of 'Deck Us All with Boston Charlie,' her Pogo-loving father's favorite carol, she pushed open the door of Sylvia Vale's office. Muriel was on the phone.
“Now, James, you've got to go—' She looked up, startled. 'I'll have to get back to you on that, I'm afraid. Why don't you give me a number where you can be reached?' She jotted the number on a pad. 'Thank you very much. I'll call you as soon as I can. Good-bye.' She hung up. Her cheeks were flushed. She tore the paper from the pad and pushed it into her pocket.
“I'm sorry to be interrupting,' Faith said. 'I wanted to use the phone, but I can find another one.'
“Oh no, you're not interrupting at all. Just one of those hospital supply salesmen. They're so persistent. How are you, Mrs. Fairchild?'
“I'm fine, but I'm sorry to say this is my last day at Hubbard House. The kitchen staff is back in full force.'
“Oh, yes, I heard Gladys was better. We're terribly grateful to you for pitching in, and I hope you'll join us on Friday for the Christmas party here.'
“I'm going to try to come for at least a little while. I remember the last time I saw Farley, you were talking about it.'
“Yes.' Muriel's face darkened. 'I miss Farley. It's always a problem with this job. You get so fond of people and then they go. But, of course, you will be back to see us often, I hope.'
“Of course.'
“I'll leave you to your call, then. See you Friday.'
“Oh,' Faith remembered as she was leaving, 'I was sorry to hear about Leandra Rhodes' fall. Have you heard how she is getting on? And Mrs. Hubbard too?'
“It has been a dreadful week,' Muriel said, obviously not a woman prone to exaggeration even when life around her was. 'Charmaine is fine. Donald took her for X rays, but we don't have good news about Leandra. She's still in danger.'
“Oh dear,' Faith said.
“Perhaps we'll have better news by Friday.' Little Muriel Sunshine brightened and left, closing the door behind her.
Left to go call James back, Faith thought. She took a pencil from the desk and drew lightly across the impression made on the rest of the pad when Muriel had written the telephone number on the top sheet. Faith had seen Cary Grant do it in North by Northwest about sixty times, and she was pleased to find it worked just as well for her as it did for him. She'd have to hope James was not holed up in Mount Rushmore or its equivalent.
Then she called Tom and left a message with the parish secretary. She'd wait until she got home to try to find James. The Hubbard House office was all too public.
Julia Cabot was not one of the people whilingaway the time before lunch reading m front of the fire in the living room. Faith remembered that she had said she was still working, but it might not be every day. There was a list of room and cottage numbers in the office by the phone, and Faith returned to see where the Cabots were. Number 20 in Nathaniel's house. She walked back to the staircase. It was hard to climb, knowing that Leandra had so recently made her descent here. Faith tried to block the picture from her mind of the old lady falling helplessly down the stairs, a well-groomed, well-bred rag doll.
Faith was glad to reach the corridor and soon found number 20, in the front of the house. She knocked on the door, which was immediately opened by Julia. 'Why, Faith, how nice to see you. Please come in. Can you join us for lunch?'
“No, thank you, I have to pick Benjamin up soon. I just wanted to stop and say good-bye. The kitchen is up to full muster again.”
Faith entered the room. It was large and partially divided by open shelves that were filled with Staffordshire figures. One side of the room was furnished as a living room with beautiful antiques. On the other side Faith glimpsed an IBM PC perched on top of an ornate Louis XIV desk. Julia followed her gaze.
“It is a little mismatched, obviously. But it means I can work at home when I want to. And the china is a passion we share, although I think Ellery mostly likes to use it as an excuse to go to England.' She glanced fondly at her husband, who had been sitting in a comfortable-looking armchair by the window reading the paper. A pretty little tree decorated with small colored lights and blown-glass ornaments was at his side. He'd sprung to his feet as Faith came in.
“I'm sorry you're leaving,' Julia continued, 'but I'm sure we'll see each other again. You and your husband.'
“We'd like that.'
“But do sit down for a moment, can you?'
“Yes,' urged Ellery, indicating a chair. 'Come here by the window. The view is splendid.”
Faith walked toward him. 'I do have time to stay a few minutes.”
The view was wonderful, and Faith had a sudden desire to see what the fields and woodlands in front of her looked like with each season. In her other life she had been more than content to chart the changing solstices and equinoxes by Bergdorf's window displays. If she wasn't careful, she'd soon be taking long walks and starting a life list of birds.
“I suppose you've heard the terrible news about our friend Leandra Rhodes,' Ellery commented.
“Yes,' said Faith. 'It's hard to imagine how such a thing could have happened.”
Ellery shook his head. 'Fortunately she has a very strong constitution. Never known her to be ill a day in her life, and we have to pray it will carry her through.'
“Darling,' Julia said, 'would you mind going to get the mail? I'm expecting A rather important letter.”
There was no question. Julia wanted to get her husband out of the room. He looked at her curiously and went.
“Not too subtle, I'm afraid, but it upsets Ellery to hear about all this, and that is why you came to talk to me, isn't it?”
Julia was wearing a red cashmere sweater and well-cut charcoal-gray pants. She crossed one leg elegantly over the other and folded her hands loosely in her lap. She looked more likely to be about to discuss the latest play at the Loeb or Ozawa's last performance—or from the look of her trim figure, the best time to go to Canyon Ranch —than murder.
“Yes, it is. You said the other day that Eddie Russell's murder would be a complicated one to solve. I wondered if you were thinking of something specific.'
“You're working for the police, aren't you?' Julia said.
Faith's mother, Jane Sibley, was a lawyer too, yet Julia's manner, though equally direct, didn't have the same effect on Faith. Tete-a-tetes like this with Mom usually resembled the talking-tos of Faith's childhood. She had often wondered if it was why Jane was so successful in court. The old 'Can you look me straight in the eye and say that' approach. Nevertheless, Faith felt compelled to answer Julia truthfully.
“I'm not really working for them, but I do know Detective Lieutenant Dunne, who's in charge of the investigation, and I've told him some of my impressions of Hubbard House. That doesn't mean that I have to tell him everything you choose to tell me.' Faith spoke reassuringly. 'Unless I confess I did it.'
“You're one of the few people who have an unbreakable alibi. You and your husband. Both of you knew I was sleeping in the guest room.'
“That's true. But I did want to kill Eddie. Many times. Fortunately—or unfortunately—I also believe in a few higher things that prevented me from acting on my impulses.' Julia spoke very matter-of-factly. Faith didn't want to interrupt her train of thought and kept silent.
“Do you know that Eddie was a blackmailer?' Julia asked. Faith nodded.
Julia leaned back in her chair. 'I don't know why it should seem so much worse to blackmail elderly people than another age group. It's the same crime. Yet somehow, preying on people who are at the ends of their lives does strike me as more reprehensible. They don't have time to recover. I know of three people Eddie was blackmailing here and I don't doubt there were others. You might be able to guess who one of them is—Merwin Rhodes. Eddie knew about Leandra's habit. When Eddie first approached him, Merwin confided in Ellery. Ellery has been his lawyer for years. Poor Merwin. He was afraid the knowledge would get beyond Hubbard House. People here have always been very understanding. Eddie was talking about telling the head of the Pink Ladies, Mrs.
