Murder Ink by Betty Hechtman

Author:Betty Hechtman [Hechtman, Betty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2020-09-03T23:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

I waited until the elevator door closed before I came out from behind the drape. I was hoping to slip out unnoticed, but Luke looked up just then and when he saw it was me offered a friendly smile. Even though he wasn’t my type, I could see how he would have appealed to Rachel and, apparently, other women as well. He was looking at me as if I was the most important woman in the world.

‘Becoming a regular,’ he said with a lift of his eyebrows. ‘At the bar or at a table?’

‘The bar is fine,’ I said, sliding onto one of the comfortable upholstered seats. He’d caught me and I couldn’t very well leave without an explanation. The easiest thing to do was to sit. Besides, Sally was still busy with her potential client. I glanced at the two women out of the corner of my eye and they didn’t seem happy that I’d taken Luke’s attention away.

‘As I recall you’re not into alcohol,’ he said.

I was going to say it was a little early for it, anyway, but I realized the two women sipping wine might hear me and take it personally. ‘Maybe some juice. I just came from the dance gym.’

‘Ah,’ he said with understanding as he took a pitcher of fresh squeezed orange juice and poured some in a wine glass. ‘Did you take a class?’

‘I’m trying them all so I can write up descriptions. The tap and ballet were pretty much what I expected, but this morning’s was folk dancing. Well, actually the class is called Serendipity One and it was a lot of fun. I’m going back this afternoon, but this time I’m just going to watch.’

He seemed puzzled. ‘Fun? Wow, I never got that impression from Rachel. She always came home seeming worried.’

‘Really?’ I said, surprised. Then I remembered what Talmadge had said about her trying to get private lessons. ‘I think she might have been concerned about getting the steps wrong.’ I thought about what Luke had said the last time I’d seen him. It had seemed like a warning. I asked him about it.

‘I just meant that as much as you seem to care about doing a good job with the booklet you’re putting together, it might be better to stick to pleasing Camille Parker and just skim the surface. Put in a few heartwarming stories and that’s it. You could change the story I told you and just make the pink squirrel the focus. She’s like a lioness when it comes to protecting Richard Parker. I think he’s considering getting into politics. I suppose that’s another reason they want Rachel’s death ruled an accident.’ He was slicing a lemon as he talked to me. ‘I think it’s great what you want to do with the memory book and how you are delving into what was going on in Rachel’s life, but I think it might cause you problems in the end.’

The tone was softer this time, but it still seemed like a warning.

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