Christietown: A Novel About Vintage Clothing, Romance, Mystery, and Agatha Christie by Susan Kandel

Author:Susan Kandel
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fiction / Contemporary Women
ISBN: 0061452173
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Published: 2007-06-12T00:00:00+00:00

Mariposa was on me like a flash. “You knew her?” he asked.

I’d have to tell Dot her Friday lunch date was off. I’d have to tell her that her friend was dead. I didn’t think I could do it.

“Yes,” I said. “I knew her.”

“Come with me,” said Mariposa, taking my arm. “I want to ask you a couple of questions. McAllister,” he yelled, “I think you might want to be in on this.”

He led me into Ian’s office and pushed me into the same upholstered swivel chair Dov had. That seemed like a long time ago.

McAllister stood in the doorway and gave me a small smile. “Hey,” he said. “How have you been?” Then he shook his head.

“Are you done now?” Mariposa asked, ushering McAllister in and closing the door. “We got a job to do, remember?”

“There’s this key,” I blurted out. I turned to McAllister. “I don’t know what it’s to or where it is, but Dov Pick was very upset about it the other night.”

“Do you think it has something to do with what happened to Silvana Holtzman?” he asked. “Or Liz Berman?”

Hell if I knew. “I think Dov and Silvana went back a ways.”

“Since when is that a reason for shooting somebody?” Mariposa interjected.

Oh, god. This wasn’t happening. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment and wished everything was different, but when I opened my eyes everything was exactly the same. Liz was dead. Silvana was dead. Neither of them was coming back.

“What is it?” McAllister asked.

“Silvana said she and Dov had an understanding,” I said, trying to make sense of it myself. “That’s a strange thing to say, don’t you think? About somebody with a reputation like his?”

“He’s quite the ladies’ man,” Mariposa said. “You seen his girlfriend? The one who looks like Gina Lollabrigida? Boobs out to here.” He stuck his hands out in front of him. “Don’t know why he’d cheat on her, but maybe he and Silvana had something going. Hey, forget about Dov. Maybe Gina Lollabrigida whacked Silvana!” He turned to McAllister. “Crime of passion, what do you say?”

“What is wrong with you?” McAllister asked. “This isn’t a joke.”

Mariposa pursed his lips. “Didn’t mean to upset you, Pretty Boy. Sorry, okay?”

“Maybe Silvana knew too much about Dov’s shady business affairs,” I said quietly.

Mariposa’s eyebrows shot up. “What shady business affairs?”

The papers from the Antelope Valley East Kern Water Project were still in my car. I didn’t know what shady business affairs yet.

“Look, can I go?” I asked. “I have to talk to Ian.”

“Be my guest,” said Mariposa. “And if you find him, give us a call.”

If you find him? Where was he? “Is he a suspect?” I asked.

“Classified information,” Mariposa said with a smirk.

“No, he’s not a suspect,” said McAllister. “We just want to make sure he’s okay.”

“Is Ian in some kind of danger?”

“Who isn’t?” said Mariposa philosophically.

I opened the door and the cool desert air slapped me across the face.

Dot.

She’d become close to Silvana in the past few days.

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