Goldy Schulz 01 Catering to Nobody (6 page)

"Your grandmother?"

"No. She's sick a lot."

"Your mom? Any other grownups?"

"No." Arch raised his eyes to me apologetically. "My mom's really not interested in it. Neither is my dad. Usually just kids like it. Like my friend Todd Druckman. He's in sixth grade, too." He thought for a moment. He said, "Ms. Smiley was interested in playing."

"Ms. Smiley," said Schulz, "whose house we're in."

"Yeah. She was my teacher last year. She's dead."

"Right. And that's why we're here, isn't it? Because Ms. Smiley died and everybody misses her."

"I guess."

"Do you like to help your mom with her food business? To work on parties like this one?"

Now it was my turn to cross my legs. I couldn't imagine where this was going.

"Well," said Arch slowly, "I don't exactly like it. But I do it when she asks me."

"Like today."

"Yeah."

"Do you think you're good at helping her?"

"Oh yes," said Arch confidently. "I know all about serving."

"What was your job at this party?" Schulz asked.

"The drinks. Coffee, tea, and lemonade. Not the wine," he explained as he pushed the glasses back on his nose, "because I'm too young."

Well, thank God he added that, I thought. At least I didn't break that law.

Schulz gave me a brief smile. "Did you stay over at the coffee machine?" Schulz asked. "The whole time, I mean."

"No. I had to do the lemonade too, see, and we only had two pitchers. So sometimes I had to come out to the kitchen to fill those up."

"Did you see what your grandfather was eating or drinking?"

Arch thought. "I guess Fritz had some of the food, because he came over for a glass of wine. But I didn't see him eat. Later he wanted a cup of coffee. I don't think he likes lemonade."

"Fritz."

"That's what I call him," said Arch. "My grandfather."

"He's always called his grandparents by their first-" I started to explain.

Schulz held his hand up to me. "Did you see Fritz drink the wine?" asked Schulz. "Did you see what he did with his glass?"

"No," said Arch, "I didn't see either." "Before Fritz got sick, did he drink anything else?"

"Let's see," said Arch. "Okay, now I remember. We were out of lemonade and my mom was making some in the kitchen. A lot of people had been asking for it. Fritz was, let's see, he was talking to Trixie, the woman who teaches the exercise class, you know? And when she came over for coffee. . ." Arch paused to think. "No, wait a minute, she doesn't drink coffee. I remember now because she wanted lemonade. We didn't have any yet so she asked me if we had any herb tea."

Schulz drew his eyebrows together. He said, "Herb tea."

"Yes, she asked me if we had any herb tea. I said I didn't think so. Then Fritz came over and laughed and said Trixie thought coffee was bad for you. He was, like, laughing and saying Trixie thought a lot of things were bad for you. But he said he would have some anyway. Coffee. So I poured her some hot water and him some coffee. And then Trixie said, Well, could I check and see if Ms. Smiley kept any herb-tea in her kitchen. So I came in here to check."

Schulz leaned ever so slightly toward Arch. "Where was Fritz's coffee then? Did he take it from you and start drinking it?"

"No," said Arch slowly. "I put them both, the cups of coffee and hot water, next to each other on the table.

Then I came out here to look for the tea."

"The two cups were just sitting there?"

"Right," said Arch. "I thought I'd just be gone": minute, and they had started talking again."

"Did you find any tea?"

"No. I was looking and looking, and Mom was helping me."

Schulz said, "So your mother was in the kitchen then?"

"Yes," said Arch, "she was busy making lemonade. We looked for some tea. Finally she gave me some Postum instead. And then Patty Sue ran out of strawberries and I helped her with that for a while. And then I saw my mom emptying ashtrays and picking up dirty dishes. . . I guess I just forgot about the tea. Anyway, when I came back to the table somebody asked me again for lemonade."

"So how long was it from the time you gave Fritz, or rather, put down Fritz's coffee and the woman's water for tea, and then got back to do lemonade?"

Arch shrugged. "I don't know. A long time, I guess. Twenty minutes? I can't remember. Toward the end of a party, Mom says, you don't have to pay as much attention to the guests. But I did forget the tea." He looked at me. "Sorry."

Schulz stared at Arch. "When you went back out, who asked you for lemonade?"

"Vonette, I think. We still didn't have any, so she said, Well, never mind, she'd have coffee."

"What was the next thing that happened?" asked Schulz.

"I went to the bathroom." Again he looked at me apologetically.

"Did you see Trixie again?"

"No, she was gone before I decided to go to the uh, you know. She never even got the Postum."

"Know what happened to the hot water?"

"What hot water?" Arch wrinkled his nose. "Oh, Trixie's. No."

"Then what?"

"Well, I heard Fritz sort of like moaning. So I came back out to the living room."

"Uh-huh. Now this is important, Arch. Was there anyone else around the drinks table when you came out to the kitchen to look for the tea?"

Arch closed his eyes. "There were lots of people."

"Anybody's face come to mind?" Arch thought. He said, "No."

"Okay," said Schulz, "now just a few more questions. Besides Trixie, do you remember your grandfather talking to anyone else?"

"Vonette, I think. And my dad."

"Was Fritz arguing with anyone, anything like that?" Arch sighed. "No. Everybody was just talking about Ms. Smiley, saying how nice she was. That it was really weird that she had killed herself because she was such a, you know, funny person. Nobody was arguing." Arch looked at me from behind his glasses. He lowered his voice. "Except my mom and dad. They were arguing."

I groaned and walked over to the cabinet where I'd put the cigarettes, took another one, and lit it.

"I know about that," said Investigator Schulz. "Do you know what your mom and dad were arguing about, Arch?"

Arch looked back at Schulz. "No. My dad had his new girlfriend here. I think that upset my mom. My mom and dad are divorced, you know."

"I know." I inhaled deeply on the cigarette and looked through the window at the aspens shaking in the breeze. I imagined dirty laundry hanging out there to air.

Arch said, "May I go now?"

"Just one more question, Arch. Do you know if anyone was mad at Fritz? Mad enough to try to make him sick, say?"

Arch hesitated. "Well, the only person I know who sort of didn't like Fritz. . . well, this sounds kind of dumb. I'm really not sure. . ." He furrowed his forehead and looked at me.

"It's okay," I said. "Just tell Mr. Schulz whatever it is."

"Well," Arch said again, "I don't think Ms. Smiley liked him very much. I don't think she liked Vonette either."

I coughed on the cigarette smoke. This was news to me. I said, "Ms. Smiley? Didn't like Fritz Korman? Or Vonette? How'd she even know them?"

Schutz said, "Mrs. Korman. Miss Bear. Goldy. Please."

"That's what I mean," continued Arch. "I told you it sounded dumb."

"Do you know what she was mad about?" asked Schulz.

"No."

"When did she tell you she didn't like the Kormans?" Again Arch closed his eyes. "I can't remember. I'm not even sure she was the one who told me."

Investigator Schulz stood up. "Arch, thanks a lot. You've been helpful. I'll give

you a card with my number. You keep it in your pocket. If you think of something else, call me."

"My turn?" I asked.

Investigator Schulz looked at me with those penetrating green eyes. An unexpected and unwanted wave of sexual something rolled over me.

Schulz said, "You bet. Just begin by telling me if you saw anything suspicious with the food."

Before I could begin the long explanation about John Richard's tomato allergy, one of the uniformed policemen

interrupted us.

"Schulz, you'd better come take a look at this." Tom Schulz stood up and walked out of the kitchen. This reminded me of the many calls John Richard had received at home, always from females in one sort of pain or another, and only rarely, I found out from the hospital, actual patients.

I shook this off and went out to the living room. The guests had left and two fellows, presumably from the Health Department, were labeling everything and packing the containers into boxes. Schulz was in consultation with his man, their voices lowered.

Outside I could hear Patty Sue laughing, so I went to investigate. She was seated on a wooden bench next to the cluster of aspens in Laura's front yard. Next to her was Pomeroy Locraft.

He was grinning. Seeing him with Patty Sue did not make me feel great. Last spring I had dropped several hints that Porn and Arch and I all go out for pizza or a movie after their worktime. Perhaps I was too subtle. Perhaps Porn was dense, uninterested, or both, which was the way he had acted today. Now he was engaged in a lively conversation with Patty Sue. I had the uncomforting thought that she was at least ten years too young for him.

I walked in their direction through the long dry grass, I which the summer heat had burned to gold. Here and there bushes reduced by the fall sun to thorned sticks snared my stockings. Above, fluffs of cloud sailed across a deep blue sky. The air was thick with the sweet mixed smell of decaying aspen leaves and smoke from a wood fire, probably built during the early morning chill. But the day had turned out warm and beautiful, and the calm was disorienting after the turmoil in the house.

"Hi, Mom!" yelled Arch from somewhere I couldn't see.

"Where are you?" I called back.

"Here!" he hollered triumphantly from the middle part of a lodgepole pine near the bench. I absolutely hated seeing Arch climb those feeble-branched evergreens. As if in answer to my worries, he let out a shout.

"Help!" he cried. "I'm falling!" I could see his body toppling, hear branches snapping. I was too far away but my feet darted forward anyway.

With startling swiftness Pomeroy ran to the bottom of the tree, where he caught Arch by the arm and broke his fall. By the time I got to the pine, the two of them were laughing. I was not amused, as this was the second time in one day that I'd come close to coronary arrest worrying about my child's welfare.

I said, "Thanks, Pom." He had handed Arch his glasses and was brushing bits of bark off Arch's formerly white shirt.

"It's okay," he said, as much to Arch as to me. "Can't blame a kid for wanting to climb a tree, right?"

"No," Arch said.

"Yes," I said.

"Oh, Arch and I are buddies," said Pomeroy with that half smile. "Right, bud?"

Arch nodded and started toward the chokecherry bushes that lined Laura Smiley's driveway.

"Thanks for being nice to him," I said. "Thanks for being a good catcher."

"I like kids."

"So I see."

Pomeroy gave me another embarrassed look-not the pink-red of shyness, but a black-red that glowed from underneath his skin. I could not imagine what was bothering him, so I let it go.

Pomeroy sat back on the bench, then turned to me and smiled. He had recovered his composure, and the impish smile and splatter of freckles over his pale cheeks gave him the look of a child. But the dark good looks and brown mustache were unmistakably adult, as was the lanky body that spilled over the bench's slats. His brown eyes held mine, and I could not think of what to say next.

He said, "Before we were interrupted, Patty Sue here was telling me she can't drive."

"She's made a few attempts with her father's pickup, I believe," I said.

Patty Sue groaned. "I was thinking," said Pomeroy. "Maybe she could come to one of my driver-ed classes. At the high school." He gave a slight grin. "There's not much money from the county for this type of thing, and some of my cars are pretty old, but she could still learn."

"Sounds marvelous," I said with false cheer. My ex-husband might have been able to mine the high school faculty for dates. But with Pomeroy stuck on my housemate, it looked as if my chance to find social life from the same place was collapsing with the rapidity of a soufflé. Schulz appeared at the end of the driveway and motioned me back down to the house with that thumb.

I said, "I have to go."

"I'll check on the liability and what not," Pom called after me. “Are you all free Friday afternoons?"

I turned around and put my hand on my hip. "What do you need me for?"

He grinned again, wide and sheepish, and I felt some of the frost in my heart melt. Maybe there was hope. He was still good-looking and single. Perhaps his ability to get along with children, witness the relationship with Arch, was merely extended to Patty Sue.

He leaned toward me and said, "Somebody's got to I get her a learner's permit and bring her to the high school."

I nodded and traipsed back toward Schulz, who had gone inside.

"Look familiar?" he said as he pointed to one of my Styrofoam cups. "Don't touch," he admonished. "Just peek inside."

I did as ordered and saw an almost empty coffee cup with what looked like about twenty little green pellets on the bottom.

"I don't know," I said.

Schulz grinned at me, a wide face- breaker.

"Miss Goldy," he began. "Excuse me, Miz. Your business is closed down until further notice. You served this coffee, you're responsible until I find out otherwise. I wonder if I could come over and ask you some questions tomorrow? I'm a little tied up right now." He motioned to one of his underlings to come retrieve the cup.

"For God's sake," I protested, "what's in the cup?"

He had begun to walk away, but at my question turned back. "Oh," he said, "you just flunked Detection 101. Dr. Korman drank that coffee, but he didn't know what was on the bottom. Looks to me like whoever tried to do him in was using rat poison."

Saturday ended with a whimper after the day's bang. When Pomeroy left, I outlined our suddenly disastrous finances to both Patty Sue and Arch. Patty Sue's rent was her ability to work for the catering business, and without' the business both of us would have to do whatever work we could find just to buy groceries and make the November house payment. Arch accepted the suspension of his allowance with a grim silence.