Scots on the Rocks by Mary Daheim

Author:Mary Daheim
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780061753626
Publisher: HarperCollins

14

The house Kate Gunn had confiscated from her late husband’s mistress was a modern, curving structure of glass and stucco set high above the sands. The landscaping looked almost tropical, with tall fronds, exotic grasses, and even a couple of palm trees.

“California style?” Judith said in surprise.

Beth laughed. “You’d be surprised—parts of this area have a very mild climate, due to the land formation and the ocean currents.”

Judith nodded. “We have a place like that in our own state on the Northwest Coast. It’s called the Sun Belt.”

“Exactly,” Beth agreed. She paused at the foot of a winding stone stairway. “Let’s hear the latest news from Mummy’s astrologer.”

The double doors were made of beveled glass decorated with intersecting mahogany arcs. Judith and Beth were greeted by a middle-aged woman wearing what Judith thought was a very bad red wig.

“Come in, Miss Beth,” she said with a deferential nod. “Mrs. Gunn has a guest in the sunroom, but I’ll tell her you’re here with…?” She looked questioningly at Judith.

“Hello, Una. This is Mrs. Flynn,” Beth said. “Who is Mummy entertaining? It can’t be the Wizard of Oz.”

“Now, now, Miss Beth,” Una said, though her blue eyes twinkled, “you mustn’t be unkind about Master Ross Wass. He’s a great comfort to your mother. In any case, he won’t be here until evening.”

Upon entering the sunroom, Judith felt as if she were walking into a jungle. Hibiscus, aphelandra, anthurium, dieffenbachia, philodendron, various ferns, and even orchids were everywhere, some growing from floor to ceiling. The east wall was all glass, and the high humidity as well as the temperature hit Judith like a blast of steam. There was so much foliage, in fact, that Judith couldn’t see any sign of Mrs. Gunn.

“Sorry about the heat,” Beth murmured after Una had shown them in and departed. “Mummy’s somewhere in here, probably between the frangipani and the Venus flytraps.”

“Mummy” was sitting in a white wicker armchair. Her guest apparently was seated across from her, but was concealed from Judith’s sight by the chair’s high back.

“Beth!” Kate Gunn exclaimed. “I didn’t know you were coming. How nice. Do sit.” She peered at Judith. “Is that Mrs….?”

“Flynn,” said a voice coming from the other chair. “Hi, coz.” Renie grinned between the glossy leaves of a fiddle-leafed fig. “Kate and I are being all matey. Sit. You’ll lose a pound a minute in this humidity.”

Kate Gunn laughed. “Oh, Serena, you’re such a tease!” She paused while Judith and Beth sat down on a love seat that matched the other chairs. “I had no idea,” she said to Judith, “that your cousin has special powers.”

“Ah…” Judith was tempted to say, “Neither did I,” but suddenly recalled Renie’s pretense at reading fireplace ashes a few months earlier in an attempt to elicit information from a murder suspect. “She’s a sight, all right. I mean,” Judith amended, “she has the sight.”

Renie shrugged and made an attempt to look modest. “I couldn’t help myself. I felt compelled to study the ashes in the grate at Grimloch and I saw that Kate was in trouble.

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