CHAPTER 30

The Coronado Tropic Apartments had started its sunset salute early. Phil, Margery, Peggy and Pete the parrot were lounging by the pool when Helen came home from the gym.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” their landlady said. Margery grinned like a Cheshire cat herself, nearly disappearing in a wreath of smoke.

“Awk!” Pete shuffled restlessly along Peggy’s shoulder. Mentioning cats made the little bird nervous. Pete looked like a green-feathered fashion accessory on Peggy’s cool blue caftan.

“Helen, did you have a bad day?” Peggy said. “You look wiped out.”

“I am,” Helen said. She sat down at the umbrella table. “We found the missing Evie. That horrible detective Ever Ready came racing over and clapped her in jail.”

Helen told them how Evie had fallen out of the air duct where she’d been hiding and Derek had turned her in. “I guess he had no choice, but Ever Ready’s mind is made up. When Evie refused to speak without a lawyer present, the detective said, ‘That’s further proof you’re guilty.’ ”

“Awk!” Pete said.

“You said it, Pete. It’s not proof of anything,” Phil said. “She’s entitled to a lawyer.”

“I know,” Helen said. “It’s more proof the detective has jumped to another wrong conclusion.”

“How about a glass of wine?” Margery asked. “It’s a new box.”

“I’d better stick to club soda,” Helen said. “My boss is after me to lose weight.”

“You look fine to me,” Phil said. “I like your curves.”

“Did I tell you I love you?” Helen kissed Phil. “I have to choose between my curves and my job. Derek insisted I work out for an hour before I left the gym today, even after that awful scene with Evie.” She couldn’t keep the resentment out of her voice.

“I’ll get you a club soda, since you provided the sweat equity for our business,” Phil said.

“How is Shelby’s case going?” Peggy asked.

“Not well,” Helen said. “Shelby insists her husband is cheating on her, but I can’t really go into the details. We have to protect our client’s privacy.”

“What privacy?” Peggy said. “Shelby told everyone at work that she found an open condom packet in Bryan’s car and she’d hired detectives.”

“I’ve been watching her husband at the gym,” Helen said. “I’ve never seen Bryan even flirt with another woman.”

“Doesn’t he have a hot-looking woman as a trainer?” Peggy asked. “Jan somebody?”

“Jan Kurtz. Their relationship is professional, so far as I can see.”

“What about a man?” Margery said. “Could be that he’s having an affair with one of those hunks at the gym. Bryan is surrounded by sweaty temptation. This is Fort Lauderdale, where the boys are—and I’m not talking about that old movie.”

“It’s possible Bryan may be having an affair with a gay guy at the gym,” Helen said. “I’ve seen him with one who’s good-looking and a real sweetheart. They’ve had some intense conversations, but no touching or kissing that I could see.”

“You can’t follow them into the men’s room,” Margery said.

“No, but the straight guys don’t tolerate sex in the dressing room. They complain at the reception desk if they see two men making out, so I’d know if they were carrying on in the lockers.

“I don’t have any proof that Shelby’s husband is straying,” Helen said. “I hope I don’t find any. What if I discover Bryan is having an affair with another man? If that turns out to be true, I don’t want to break that news to his wife. That could be a real blow to her image of herself. Should I tell Shelby the truth or return her money and drop the case?”

“You know the answer.” Margery sounded stern. “Rob cheated on you for years.You didn’t like being the last person to know.”

“At least he went after other women,” Helen said.

“You didn’t find that much comfort in that fact at the time,” Margery said.

“From personal experience,” Peggy said, “it’s more humiliating to be kept in the dark. I’d rather know if my man was straying. I felt like a fool when I found out, but I survived. Now I’m glad that jerk took off. I’m dating a much better man. Danny is my dream lover.”

“Good boy!” Pete said.

“Yes, he is,” Peggy said, petting her parrot softly on his back. “And a good lawyer. Shelby is paying you to tell her the truth, Helen.You’ll be doing her a favor if you find out Bryan is playing around. My boss is getting divorced, and he spends all day hanging around Shelby’s desk. He practically drools on her. She keeps telling him she’s married, but the whole office can see the sparks between them. Shelby’s not the type to play around. I’m sure she’d fall in love with him if she was free.”

“Don’t play God,” Margery said. “If Shelby’s husband is playing around with anyone, male or female, she needs to know. She wants to know. She’ll survive.You certainly did.”

Phil returned with a frosty club soda topped with a lime wedge for Helen and a second beer for himself.

“Well, I’m making progress,” Phil said. “I thought there was something missing to Mark’s accident report.”

“Why?” Helen asked.

“Because those cops weren’t the best investigators, but they were thorough about their paperwork. I spent the day searching the old records at Sunset Palms and found two more pages to Mark’s accident report. It’s some kind of addendum to the original report. It was filed in the wrong folder and forgotten. Took me four hours to find it. Going through those paper files was dusty work. I needed this.” He raised the beer in a toast.

“What did the new pages say?” Helen asked.

“Didn’t get a chance to study them,” he said. “The office was closing at three. The records clerk will fax them to me first thing tomorrow. Did you see what happened to Danny Boy after he left the bar last night? I saved the paper for you.”

Phil handed Helen the local news section. “Check out the first story. Danny Boy Cerventi was arrested for a DUI last night. Must have been while he was driving home from his bar. He’s been released on bail.”

“You offered to drive him, too,” Helen said. “His friend Bobby said he couldn’t get in trouble on the short trip home.”

“Looks like he managed after all,” Phil said. “I was curious about Danny. He talks too much and drinks too much. Strikes me as a man with a guilty conscience. I did a background check on him. No arrests, wants or warrants. Then I checked the county records.

“Danny Boy’s grandfather had left nothing but a small policy to cover his burial. He didn’t leave his grandson enough to buy a beer, much less a bar. I’ll say this: The old man was respected. He had a nice write-up in the paper when he died.

“I learned something else, too,” Phil said. “Remember the mustachioed gent hanging over the bar?”

“I assume you’re talking about a photograph?” Margery said.

“He is,” Helen said. “Danny Boy told us that was a picture of his granddaddy. He said he inherited a lot of money from the old man and named the bar in his honor.”

“I saw Mr. Cerventi’s obituary picture,” Phil said. “Danny Boy’s grandfather is not the man in that photo.”