Murder Off Stage by Mary Miley

Author:Mary Miley [Miley, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-29T06:00:00+00:00

NINETEEN

‘Jessie!’ Jeanne’s voice came through the bathroom door where I was just stepping out of the tub. ‘Jessie, telephone! What shall I say?’

‘Hold on, I’ll be right there.’ And, wrapping the towel around my dripping body, I tiptoed into the living room and put the receiver to my ear, hoping it was news about David.

‘Is this Jessie Beckett?’ a small female voice asked.

‘It is. Who’s calling please?’

‘I’m Sarah Landry. We met at the Crenshaw funeral, remember?’

‘Yes, of course. I remember you, Sarah. What can I do for you?’

‘I rather hope I can do something for you. Did you lose a shawl at the church?’

‘Yes!’ I shouted so loudly that Jeanne and Natalie turned to stare. ‘Yes! Yes! Yes! Did you find it?’

‘I picked it up after you left, hoping I could locate you. I’m sorry it took me so long, but all I could recall was that you worked for Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, so I had to track down what hotel they are staying at, hoping they could tell me where you were. And you’re at the same hotel!’

‘You have no idea how grateful I am. You see, it isn’t my shawl. It’s a very special one that Adele Astaire lent me, her favorite, and losing it made me feel like a heel. She will be so relieved to have it back. Where can I come to fetch it?’

‘If you don’t mind, today would be good. I live near Columbia University.’ She gave me an address on West 120th and before you could say Jack Robinson, I had dressed and flagged down a taxi.

Sarah Landry lived three floors up in a tidy red-brick apartment building. Large pots of white geraniums flanked the entrance and more geraniums overflowed the flower boxes that hung outside every first-floor window. She welcomed me at the door and invited me in for coffee.

‘And here it is – your shawl. It’s the most beautiful weave I’ve ever seen.’

I snatched it up and gave it a fierce hug. ‘I’m soooo happy to have it back. I could never have replaced it. You see, it was a gift to Adele from Princess Mary of England. Adele pretended its loss didn’t matter to her, but I know it did.’

‘It was just luck that I saw it. Frankly, it was just luck that I was even there at the funeral. I nearly didn’t go … you know, worried at how it would look to his wife, if she knew her husband had been courting me. I was so ashamed.’

‘I don’t believe she knew who you were. She may have been suspicious – after all, Allen had a lot of pretty, young girlfriends, but I don’t think she knew you were among them. And you have nothing to be ashamed of. He’s the cad. You didn’t know he was married.’

The doorbell chimed. Sarah excused herself. There was a brief exchange of voices, after which she reappeared with a tall man dressed in an ill-fitting tan suit.

‘Jessie, let me introduce you to a dear friend of mine, Peter VanHorn.

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