Ham Bones (17 page)

I eased back down in my seat. "Plotting what?"

"She hated you. She was talking on her cell phone,
laughing about her plan. I didn't realize at the time that
her plan was to make folks believe you'd killed her." His
gray eyebrows drew together in a frown. "She was talking
to someone about lipstick and how she'd make sure you
picked it up"

I didn't really have to ask, but I did anyway. "Bernard,
if it comes to it, would you testify to that?"

"On a stack of Bibles. I already told the sheriff."

"Any idea who she was talking to?"

"It was a man. I was serving her a drink, and I heard
him laughing."

"Thanks" I put a five on the bar for the cola and
headed toward the dining room.

Sir Alfred was already ensconced in a table with a
view of the garden. The camellias had just begun to bud
out, vibrant pinks and variegated blossoms against the
dark green of the leaves. These are the winter flowers that
grace the lawn of every old plantation home in the South.
From the small, pale pinks to the lush, tropical blooms,
they mark the closing of winter.

"Amazing that they bloom even in the cold," Sir Alfred
said, waving me into a seat. "Ms. Delaney, I'm glad to see
you. I've wanted to tell you how greatly I admire your talent."

Sir Alfred wasn't known for his generosity with a
compliment, and I couldn't help preening just a little.
"Thank you, sir. It's been a pleasure to work with you" I
meant every word. The part of Big Daddy was written for
him, and though Sir Alfred could be exceptionally difficult, I'd seen none of it during this performance.

"How was it to work with Renata?" I asked.

"She was a terrible bitch, but it's a tough job, performing the same part for years. We were all tired, simply exhausted. The petty bickering that's always a part of a cast
and crew had reached gargantuan proportions. We were
all looking forward to the conclusion, and none more
than Renata. I was honestly amazed when she urged all of
us to accept the week here in Zinnia."

"Your contract would have ended in Reno, due to the
destruction of the Gulf Coast?"

He nodded as he signaled a waiter. "Bloody Marys for
both of us, please." He turned back to me, his thin, aristocratic face puzzled. "It was Renata who insisted we come
here. Demanded, actually."

"Do you have any idea why?"

"None whatsoever. It's ironic, isn't it, that she came
here to be murdered, and you got the chance to prove
yourself a star."

Ironic didn't begin to describe it. "Sir Alfred, did Renata ever mention my name?"

"In fact she did. Not directly to me, but to Graf. Those
two seemed to hate each other, and she told him that once
we got to Zinnia he could start up his affair with his country bumpkin, that would be you, once again."

"What was Graf's reaction?" I didn't ask for the case
but for my own ego.

"He walked away. She called after him, something to
the effect that both of you would pay in ways you'd never
see coming. How right she was about that"

"Too right to be merely a coincidence," I muttered.

The drinks arrived, and I sipped mine while Sir Alfred
ordered roasted pheasant soup and dill salad for lunch.
My appetite was gone. Besides, I was due to meet the
girls at Dahlia House.

Millie spread the articles she'd clipped across the
kitchen table as Tinkie brewed a pot of coffee and put
cream and sugar on the table.

"This is twelve months ago" She pointed at a photo graph of Renata coming out of a plastic surgeon's office
in Beverly Hills. The tabloid story speculated on the aspect of a face lift or some other procedure. But that's all it
was, speculation. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp
stick, though, the article mentioned the doctor's name and
with directory assistance, I had his number. Cece placed
the call.

"Hello, Dr. Drake, this is Cece Dee Falcon with the
Zinnia Dispatch" She made it sound like the London
Times. "I'm doing a story on the lately deceased Renata
Trovaioli. The coroner's report suggests some problem
with the use of Botox in Ms. Trovaioli's body, a type of
toxic shock that may have come from cosmetic injections
and-"

I could hear the doctor shouting.

"When was the last time you saw Ms. Trovaioli?" She
wrote in her notepad. "You're certain of that? She never
asked for Botox? Never had a procedure? Doctor, I have
to warn you, if you're leading me astray, I'll make it my
life's goal to document your stellar career to the stars. I'm
sure most of your clientele would prefer to remain anonymous"

Cece knew how to threaten, and she had no qualms
about doing it.

"I see" She arched an eyebrow at me. "Thanks,
Dr. Drake"

She replaced the phone. "Renata never had surgery or
Botox, at least from Drake. But he was hiding something,
I just couldn't figure out what"

"Too bad we can't get his medical records" I slumped
in my chair.

"I'm good, Sarah Booth, but I'm not that good." Cece
slumped, too.

"Coleman could order them," Tinkie said.

Her comment fell into a total void of silence. No one
looked at me. I got up and poured coffee, trying hard to
hide the sudden wash of tears that threatened to ruin my
perfect mascara.

'e d finished our second pot of coffee, and I'd avoided
an emotional meltdown in front of my friends. I
looked around the kitchen table at the faces of the three
women who'd become my family.

Tinkie's petite face glowed with all the health money
could buy. It wasn't all creams and unguents, though. She
had an inner beauty that came through. Somehow in the
days since Halloween, Tinkie had found a belief in her own
self pure and strong enough to dissolve a breast lump.
She'd confronted her anger with Oscar and healed her
past. She seemed happy and carefree. Her life had turned
around.

Beside her was Millie. Maybe ten years older than the
rest of us, Millie's face showed the years of hard work
she'd put into the cafe and the terrible loss of her sister.
Mixed with the lines were happiness and the knowledge
that Millie's Cafe was the most thriving diner in the
Delta. The tables and booths were occupied from dawn
until nine P.M., when she closed the doors. Two women couldn't be more different than Tinkie and Millie, yet
they were close friends. Tinkie had grown up with the
proverbial silver spoon; Millie had been in the kitchen
polishing it. Yet such a thing as class would never come
between them, because neither woman acknowledged
that it existed.

And Cece. Perhaps the most beautiful of all of us, yet
born a man. She'd overcome obstacles that would have
stopped a lesser person. She'd triumphed over a body that
betrayed her, a family that disowned her, and a town that
feared her power in the press yet viewed her as an abnormal outsider. Radiant didn't begin to describe her looks,
and her taste was impeccable.

"Are you going to work, or are you going to stare into
space like a stoned cowgirl?" Cece asked.

"I was thinking how fortunate I am to have such good
friends. Such a wonderful family."

My words brought tears to Millie's eyes. "You girls are
my family, too"

"Yes," Cece drawled, determined not to get sentimental. "Dahlia House is where I come when all the bars kick
me out"

"Thank you all for standing by me" I held their gazes,
unwilling to let the moment pass.

"Sounds to me like a farewell," Cece said. "Is Hollywood beckoning?"

I swallowed. "I don't know what to do about that. It's
sort of moot, since I can't leave the county."

"Coleman will let you go" Tinkie was so positive. She
got up and began to rummage through the refrigerator.
"Don't you have anything sweet to eat? There's nothing in
the fridge but molded cheese and something in a bread
wrapper that's moving on the bottom shelf."

"Nine-grain. I knew that stuff had life." I laughed at her expression and went to the cabinet to find my last
fruitcake from Christmas. I'd preserved it with Jack, so
there was no danger it would be spoiled. I opened it and
cut thick slices for all of us. The kitchen filled with the
pleasant aroma of coffee and Jack Daniel's, the clatter of
cutlery on glass, and the laughter of my friends. Could I
leave this? I closed my eyes, no closer to an answer than
I'd been the night before.

"Gabriel told me some very, very interesting things
about Renata" Cece had the floor. "When they were
children, they were abandoned by their parents. Renata
stole food for them for almost six months before DHR
finally got wind of them. They were destined to be split
apart and sent to different foster homes, and Renata convinced the people who were taking her to take Gabriel,
too"

It sounded almost as if Renata had once had a heart. I
wasn't sure I wanted to hear more. It was easier to view
her as unloving and unloved.

"She really was his big sister," Millie said, caught up
in Cece's story.

"I wouldn't go that far." Cece's eyes sparked humor.
"The foster parents were determined Renata would become a secretary. Gabriel they had lined up for a job at
the state docks"

Both were good, solid jobs, but neither took into account the aspirations of the two children.

"When Renata hit sixteen, she didn't come home from
school one day. She just walked out of their life. Gabriel
wasn't allowed to say her name in the house. His foster
parents told him she'd been killed on the streets. In effect,
Gabriel lost his sister."

After Renata's selfless act in saving Gabriel, she'd
shown her true colors and left him to fend for himself while she struggled with her own life. What could a sixteenyear-old do, though? I stopped my own thoughts and listened to Cece.

"Gabriel was nearly twenty when he realized Renata
was still alive. He, too, had run away from home. He'd
moved to Los Angeles, apprenticed to an architect, and
was putting himself through college. He went to a play
one night with a friend and saw a woman on the stage
who bore a remarkable resemblance to his dead sister.
Renata was using the name Selena Zafon at the time, but
he recognized her and waited backstage to confront her."

Cece's story had us enthralled. "That must have been
hard for him," Tinkie said.

"It was. He was furious. They had a terrible scene, and
Renata told him to get lost. He said it took them a decade
to get to the point where they could be civil to each other.
When Renata hit it big on Broadway, she tried to patch up
the relationship with Gabriel. He said it wasn't until just
this past year, though, when he felt as if she cared about
him. Prior to that, he felt he was an obligation."

"Did he say what changed in the past year?" I asked.

Cece considered. "Renata flew out to LA to see him.
She had appointments with other people. Not movie people. Someone in a medical center on Sunset Boulevard.
He assumed she was having some work done, but she never
did. She went to half a dozen appointments and then flew
back out to New York to conclude Cat"

"Maybe she was making future appointments for
Botox treatments?" Tinkie posed the possibility.

"Maybe," I agreed. Renata was certainly vain enough,
but she really was only thirty-six or so. Surely that was
too young for Botox? "Did Gabriel remember what the
doctor's name was on Sunset Boulevard? Since it wasn't
Drake, maybe she used someone else."

Cece shook her head. "She wouldn't really talk about
it with him, and since he thought it was vanity work, he
didn't ask"

"I need a listing of medical practices there" It wasn't a
great lead, but I was literally clutching at straws. I had to
find out who'd really killed Renata and why. Maybe she
was suing a doctor, and he'd sent a hit man to Mississippi.
Doctors would know all about poisons.

"Right. Why not ask for all the Chins listed in a Chinese directory." Cece was always droll.

"Cece, you can get that for me, can't you? You have
contacts at the LA Times," I wheedled.

"Or you could look it up on the Internet" She arched
an eyebrow.

"It would be much faster to go the regular phone book
route" I wasn't going to let Cece off so easily.

"Okay. I'll try to get a more specific address from
Gabriel. There could be a thousand doctors on Sunset
Boulevard, and for all we know Renata was seeing a podiatrist or even a chiropractor."

She was right, but I was determined.

Tinkie cleared her throat. "The toxicology report on
Renata was very interesting." She had our attention.

"Renata died of cyanide poisoning. The poison was
found in the lipstick and around her lips. She obviously
licked her lips and ingested it. There's no doubt she was
deliberately poisoned. The lipstick had been dipped
into a solution of the poison. Anyone could have done
it."