Till Death Do Us Bark (14 page)

“Don’t be silly,” said Viv. “We’re capable of feeding ourselves. Besides, I thought Rosa’s daughters were cleaning the family apartment above the guest cottage.”

Arlene used the tissue to blot invisible perspiration from her cheeks and neck. “Right. Okay, then. Rosa, go to your place and rest. Viv and Ellie can take care of things here.”

The housekeeper trundled off through the kitchen. Arlene crossed her arms. “I guess I’d better call my attorney and have him recommend a good defense lawyer unless . . .” She glanced at Ellie. “Do you have any connections in that area?”

Ellie hunched forward. This was getting more involved by the minute. The only attorney she knew well enough to recommend was Joe Cantiglia’s uncle Sal, and she doubted he had enough experience to assist with this disaster.

“Sorry, but no. The people I’ve helped all seemed to have their own legal advisers.”

Arlene swiped the tissue across her cheeks again. “Fine. I’ll call my man and see what he says. I’ll probably take a nap after that, so don’t go looking for me until dinner.”

“But what about my—” Ellie began. “Skin?” she said to Arlene’s disappearing backside.

“Don’t worry. I’ll tiptoe into her bedroom and take a look at her beauty supplies myself when we’re finished eating,” said Viv. “You’re a saint for agreeing to do this. I’ll help in any way I can.”

“Just get my complexion back to normal, so people don’t think I’m a tangerine.” Ellie pulled an arm out from her cover-up and took a long look. “It’s not getting any better.”

“I don’t understand why that happened. I used the same stuff and it worked fine on me.”

“I’m a redhead. Maybe my skin is more sensitive than yours? Or maybe I used too much?”

“That won’t fly. I’m the one who did your back and shoulders, and they’re as orange as the rest of you.” Viv peered at Ellie’s face. “Take off your sunglasses.”

When she did, Viv covered her grinning mouth.

“It’s not funny.” Ellie blew out a breath. Then she ran her hand through her curls. “Terrible, right?”

“Nah, but you do have those square white rings because of . . . well, you know.”

“Oh, great. No wonder Mr. Bond refused to take me seriously. I look like an escapee from a freak show.”

“It’s really not that bad,” said Viv, still smiling. “We’ll find something, don’t worry.”

Ellie pulled her phone from the tote.

“Have you decided to call Sam?”

“I’m checking to see if he phoned me. That way, I can get back to him and he won’t think I’m calling specifically for his advice on this murder.” She thumbed through the numbers. “Nope. Just Mom, and she knows I’m here.” Then a lightbulb clicked on in her brain and she hit speed dial. “Maybe I can get some info another way. Hang on a second.”

Viv flapped her fingers at the chattering parrot. “Who are you contacting?”

“Give me a second and I’ll—Hi, Dr. Bridges. It’s Ellie Engleman. I need to get hold of Dr. Kingsgate,” she said after hearing the medical examiner’s phone message. “If it’s not too much trouble, can you please pass this call along to her and ask her to phone me at . . .” She gave her number. “If I don’t answer, tell Dr. Kingsgate to leave me a number where she can be reached.”

“Dr. Bridges? How do I know that name? And who is Dr. Kingsgate?”

Ellie dropped the phone in her bag. “Dr. Kingsgate is the medical examiner Detective Wheeling said was handling this case. I met her when she was in training under Dr. Bridges when I bungled into Arnie Harris biting the dust.”

“Stop putting yourself down. You haven’t bungled into anything. You’re exactly where you belong.”

“Belong? You mean I’m supposed to be where the dead bodies are?” She gave Viv the evil eye. “Thanks a bunch.”

“You know what I mean. They say the universe puts people in the right place at the right time, sort of like those characters in detective novels. Maybe that’s what’s been happening to you.”

She thought about what she’d told Arlene: that she believed destiny was a huge part of everyone’s life. But why in the world was it her destiny to be the real-life version of Nancy Drew or Miss Marple or whoever the heck else some dippy author dreamed up?

“Sorry, but I’m not buying it.”

“Okay, then, what
do
you call it?” Viv leaned back in her chair. “And be honest.”

What do I call it?
Ellie continued to twist her fingers into a knot. “The opposite of what you think. I’ve been in the
wrong
place at the
wrong
time. Ask Sam. He has nothing good to say about my being involved in what he considers dirty business, and I’m not thrilled by it, either.”

“Sam needs to give you more credit.”

“Sam respects women who know what they’re doing. The trouble is, most of the time I don’t.”

“But you do.”

“How can you say that when I get things right maybe once in every thirty tries?” Ellie said. “Now let’s have lunch, then go upstairs and try to bleach me back to a more human color.”

 

Ellie raised a leg out of the bathwater and inspected her skin. Thanks to Viv and a ton of rubbing, her complexion had faded to a dull orange. Getting back to near normal had also taken a total body scrub with a loofah and something from Arlene’s beauty arsenal that smelled like perfumed bleach, and two tub baths, each filled with three boxes of baking soda. She was still a little on the tangerine side, but the creepy color was barely there.

“That looks a lot better,” said Viv from her seat on the commode lid. “How does your skin feel?”

“Like it’s been rubbed raw, but I’ll use that expensive Swiss body lotion of Arlene’s to soothe the burn.” She sighed. “I think we’d better drive to a drugstore and stock up on SPF sixty or I’m going to fry like an egg the next time I sit on the beach.”

“Sure, why not? It’ll be good to get out of the house for a while. Too many bad things happening here.”

“Think we ought to ask Arlene to join us?”

Viv shrugged. “Probably not. She was sorting through pill bottles when I got to her room after lunch, and I know she took a couple of what she called relaxers. But I did see her empty bottles in the toilet and toss the containers in the trash.”

“That’s a good start. So you think she’s asleep?”

“Yep.” Viv stood and walked out the door. “You dry off and get dressed. I’ll go start the BMW. I need to practice a little before we head into town.”

“You sure you want Vivie to drive you again?”
asked Rudy from his post on the turquoise throw rug.

Ellie opened the drain, stepped out of the tub, and wrapped herself in a fluffy towel. “I’m not about to get behind the wheel of that car, so yes. Besides, she’s out there giving the shifting another run. How bad can it be?”

She slathered her skin with Arlene’s soothing body lotion, then walked into the bedroom and dressed in clean underwear. “What color do you think will play down the orange best?” She held up a creamy white short-sleeved T and a pair of red shorts she’d removed from a drawer. “How about these two?”

“Hmm, maybe you’re right.” She pulled out a pair of color-washed denims and slid them on, then slipped the shirt over her head. “Makeup?”

Returning to the bathroom, she finger-curled her hair, and grinned at him from the mirror. “You are too smart.” After applying a bit of styling gel to her hair, she added a coat of mascara and a little peach lip gloss to their respective targets. “How do I look?” she asked, turning in place.

Relieved by his comment, she returned to the bedroom and put on her sandals. “You’ll have to stay here. It’s too hot to leave you in the car while we shop.”

“Fine with me,”
said Mr. T from the pillow on Viv’s bed.
“I’m taking a nap.”

“I want to go to the pen,”
said Rudy.
“See a little of the sun, smell that ocean breeze.”

“Fine. Come with me and we’ll leave T here.”

“No fighting, please. Just ignore them all. They really are kind of cute, and Arlene has enough to worry about without you terrorizing her babies.”

With Rudy following, she headed for the front stairs. Viv was right. They needed to get out of this house for a while. She’d get a bead on the town of Montauk, maybe do some shopping, and think of the clues. She might even buy a notebook so she could write down what she remembered of the investigation.

Too bad if Agent 007 didn’t want her looking into the murder, because Rosa did, and so did Arlene. Surely, between her and Viv, she could come up with an overview of all that had happened since they’d arrived.

In the foyer, she peeked out the door and saw that the car was gone. With Viv practicing her driving technique, that gave her a chance to see if Rosa or her girls were around. She needed answers to a few questions before she took on the mystery of who murdered Dr. Kent.

“Maybe Maria will take you out back. You like her, right?”

After padding through the dining room and into the kitchen, they went out the rear door and onto the terrace, where Rosa was standing at the railing and staring at the beach.

After signaling Rudy with a finger to her lips, she cleared her throat to announce her presence and walked over to stand beside the housekeeper. “How are you doing, Rosa?”

Shrugging, Rosa heaved a sigh. “Not so good. I miss my son, and my Julio is not here. The girls, they are worried about their brother, and I am, too.”

“Any idea where the girls are?”

“They finished the guest cottage and I sent them to the beach. They’ll be here to help with dinner in a little while.”

It was now or never, thought Ellie, taking a deep breath of the salty ocean air. “I know I asked you this earlier, but why is it you haven’t told Arlene about what happened between Maria and Dr. Kent?”

Rosa clenched her fingers so tight her knuckles turned white. “Because Ms. Arlene doesn’t need to worry about more bad things. With the doctor gone, my little girl is safe.”

“I understand that, but don’t you think it would be better if Arlene knew about some of the bad things her fiancé did? It might help her to come to grips with his death.” She formed the next words carefully. “It could even get her to thinking about who might have wanted Dr. Kent dead, and that would help clear Tomas.”

The housekeeper bit her lower lip. “You think that could be so? That it would help free my son?”

“I don’t know, but I believe you should give it some thought. And remember, Arlene is your employer, but she’s also your friend. I think she’ll understand the reason why you didn’t tell her about Dr. Kent and Maria when it happened, but I also think she’ll be grateful to hear about it now.”

“Since you are the one Ms. Arlene says will work to free my Tomas, I should probably do as you say. And I will, later today or this evening.”

“One more question. I haven’t seen your husband since this whole mess began. Where’s Julio been?”

The housekeeper sniffed. “He is on a mission at our church, praying for our boy. A very special mission.”

“Special? Can you tell me about it?”

“He is praying to
La Virgen.
”

“La veer-hen? I’m sorry but I don’t understand.”

“Not la veer-hen, you dip brain. The Virgin Mary
,” her boy corrected.

“He is promising a
manda
to
La Virgen Maria
, our Holy Mother,” Rosa explained, as if echoing Rudy.

“Ahh.” Ellie glanced down at her yorkiepoo and smiled. She knew about the Virgin Mary and respected her place in Christianity, but she had no idea about the other thing. “And what’s a
manda
?”

“It’s like a
juramento
, only different.” The housekeeper sniffed. “He is willing to do anything to save our son.”

“A
juramento
?”

She looked at Rudy and he gave a doggie shrug.
“That’s a new one to me.”

A horn honked from the street, telling Ellie that Viv was ready to go. Relieved that Rosa knew where her husband was, and it didn’t sound dangerous, she said, “I think we can discuss this later. Right now, Viv and I are going into town. Do you need anything?”

“Not for tonight, but maybe for tomorrow. I will let you know, yes?”

“Of course, yes.” The horn tapped out a demanding string of bleats, as if Vivian would leave without her. “Viv can’t wait, so I have to run. What time is dinner?”

“Unless Ms. Arlene changes the time, she usually eats at seven o’clock.”

“Great, we’ll be back. See you then.”