The first thing he mentioned after greeting them was Nacho’s arrest, having learned the news through a courtesy phone call from Detective Albright. “Relieved to finally put an end to the whole awful business,” Joseph said. “Maybe now they can release her body.”
His fingers fluttered over a display, edging pieces into new positions, moving a doll over by a space so infinitesimally small Gretchen wondered why he bothered. “I knew your mother was innocent,” he said. “I just knew it.”
Larry wandered away, studying the shop with intensity, stopping to observe the woman behind the cash register who wore a bright bow in her hair and looked like an Ideal Tammy doll herself. Details everywhere, even in the staffing, not a trick of the trade missed.
Gretchen lowered her voice and said to Joseph, “I’d like to look at your Kewpie dolls. I’m thinking of one as a gift for Nina.”
Joseph looked surprised. “I didn’t know Nina collected dolls. Well, that’s marvelous. I always wondered how she could survive as a member of your family without taking part. Right this way.”
Smiling Kewpies covered a section of the back wall. Kewpies in every imaginable pose, lying down, holding baskets, wearing costumes.
“There’s a strong market for Kewpies,” Joseph said. “It’s a good choice for a gift, because it will never depreciate.”
Gretchen scanned the grouping without finding the Blunderboo that Bonnie had described. “I was hoping for something very special. She’s done a lot for me.”
“I have just the thing over here in a locked cabinet with all my distinctive pieces. It’s costly though. I’m not sure you should spend that kind of money for a first-time collector.” Joseph laughed. “Listen to me, trying to talk a customer out of a sale.”
Larry joined them as they approached a large glass cabinet. Gretchen spotted the Blunderboo immediately, its laughing baby face lighting up the entire grouping, the red heart label prominent on his naked, chubby body.
Joseph unlocked the cabinet and carefully deposited the Kewpie in Gretchen’s hand. “Blunderboo, the clumsy Kewpie,” he said. “Forever tripping over himself.”
“It’s marvelous. Where did you acquire it?” she asked.
Joseph turned away, refusing to meet Gretchen’s eyes, and began to arrange the other dolls within the cabinet. “At an estate sale,” he muttered. “Most of my dolls are purchased through auctions or estate sales.”
Was Bonnie mistaken? Or had the doll really belonged to Martha at one time? Why would Joseph tell her that the doll had been purchased at an estate sale if Martha had given the doll to him? He’d have no reason to misrepresent the facts.
“Someone told me that Martha had owned a Kewpie like this one,” she said.
Gretchen thought she saw Joseph flinch.
“Who told you that?” Larry said from behind Gretchen.
“I don’t remember,” Gretchen said.
“Well,” Joseph said, “it wasn’t this Kewpie.”
Gretchen glanced at the price tag and handed the doll to Joseph. “I’ll think about it,” she said. “He’s beautiful.” Joseph locked the Kewpie in the cabinet and placed the key in his pocket.
“I’m still looking for my mother,” Gretchen said. “If you have any ideas where she might be, please let me know.”
“Sorry, Gretchen. I haven’t heard a thing.”
Walking out into the intense sun, Gretchen knew that Joseph had lied to her. He’d lied the first time she visited the shop when he claimed no knowledge of the disposition of Martha’s dolls, and he’d lied again today. Joseph was worth serious consideration as a suspect in Martha’s murder. Had he killed his aunt for her doll collection? Was that why he had become successful? By selling off Martha’s valuable dolls?
Nina pulled up to the curb with Daisy in the passenger seat wearing a purple sundress and a floppy red hat that covered her bandaged head. She rolled the window down and waved. “Look at me. I’m like a new person, real movie star material in this getup.”
“What are you doing here?” Gretchen said, bending down and peering at Nina.
“We got your message,” Nina said, not looking especially happy. “And we were shopping right down the street.”
“You came all the way to Mesa for your shopping spree? I thought you’d head in the other direction.” Gretchen grinned and turned to Larry. “Thanks for lunch. I’ll hitch a ride home with Nina.”
Larry blinked rapidly in the glare from the sun, continuing to stand on the sidewalk, apparently reluctant to return to his own shop and Julia’s battlefield tactics.
“I’ve got to go now,” Gretchen said.
“See you ladies later,” he said, walking slowly to his car.
“Get in the back,” Nina said to Gretchen, and she slid in with the dogs, accepting her punishment for forcing Daisy’s company on Nina.
Nina slung an arm over the back of the seat and stared solemnly at Gretchen. “You have the blackest aura surrounding you that I think I’ve ever seen around a human being. Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“If you aren’t feeling it yet, it must be a gathering force. The outlook is scaring me.”
Gretchen felt cold in spite of the heat and in spite of her personal opinion about Nina’s psychic experiences. None of her predictions had exactly panned out so far. If Nina were an oilfield geologist, they’d be drilling a multitude of expensive dry holes.
“I agree with you about Gretchen’s aura,” Daisy said to Nina as they pulled out. “And I see exactly what you mean. It’s a bad one.”
Nina looked over at Daisy and scowled.
“What if…” Gretchen said, scrubbing at the red paint crusted on the workshop floor with paint thinner and an old rag, “we’ve missed the meaning of the note found in Martha’s hand.”
“The one with Caroline’s name on it that said to put her away?” Nina leaned back against a stool and watched Gretchen clean up. Daisy, exhaustion etched across her face, had gone to the spare bedroom to try on her new outfits and rest. “By the way,” Nina said, “I decided to shop in Mesa, the opposite direction of the Rescue Mission, so I could tell Daisy that we didn’t have time to pick up her shopping cart, that we were too far away. She got so excited over the clothes that she didn’t even mention the cart.”
“The police assumed Martha left the note as an accusation,” Gretchen said, focused on her line of thought, concentrating so Nina wouldn’t distract her. “What if my mother was helping Martha? The note could have referred to putting away the French fashion doll. We know she had the doll because she wrote it in the note to Nacho. She said she had it but he had to hide the trunk because it was too large for her to hide easily. If she didn’t take it with her, where would she have hidden it?”
Nina hopped from the stool, excitement flushing her face. “I have a feeling about that. It’s getting stronger.” She cocked her head to the side as if listening to something beyond Gretchen’s range of sound and clapped her hands together. “The doll is close by, probably somewhere in the house.”
“Where in the house?”
“You’re expecting way too much detail,” Nina said, exasperated. “Isn’t it enough to know we’re on the right track? Let’s start looking.”
“The police searched the workshop thoroughly. It wouldn’t be in here.”
“Caroline’s bedroom then. Come on.”
Gretchen and Nina attacked the house with gusto, Nina driven by her need to prove that her psychic abilities were real. Gretchen’s personal belief was that her mother had the doll with her wherever she had gone, but Gretchen had run out of options. Searching the house kept her body in motion, made her feel as though she was moving forward instead of stagnating.
The search moved slowly, both women working together fluidly but without results. With one room left to search, Nina tapped gently at Daisy’s door. She opened it a crack when she didn’t receive a response. Daisy was sprawled across the bed, sound asleep.
