I also didn’t know if I was pregnant, so Monday morning, while Jerry was downstairs making breakfast, I called the doctor’s office and made an appointment.
“We can see you this morning,” the secretary said. “How about eleven-thirty?”
I was surprised until I remembered this was Celosia, not Parkland, and getting a doctor’s appointment was not as difficult. “That sounds fine, thank you.” I hung up. Good, I thought. That’s it. No more putting this off. Find out today and deal with it. Then my phone rang. It was Billie.
“Madeline, you lucky thing. There’s a Baubles and Beads party today on Burberry Lane in Ash Grove. Let’s go.”
“Perfect,” I said. “What time?”
“It’s at noon. It’s a luncheon party type thing. Does that work for you?”
Noon. Well, of course it would be at noon today. “Yes, that works. See you there.” Hmm, so much for putting things off. I called and cancelled the doctor’s appointment, feeling a little sense of relief at postponing the baby news once again.
Jerry had eggs over easy and bacon arranged artistically on one of our best plates, which he handed to me.
I sat down and took a napkin from the holder. “Getting an early start on the weekend?”
“You know, I’m really excited about it. Thanks for mentioning it to Deely.”
“You need to share your talent with the world.”
He fixed his plate and sat down. “Are we continuing the letter hunt today?”
“Maybe for a little while this morning. Billie called to let me know about a jewelry show at noon.”
“Are you going in disguise?”
“I may wait until things are going and then slip in unannounced. I want to see Bea in action.”
After breakfast, we drove into town and resumed our letter search, but once again the mind-numbing amount of paper defeated us. Around ten-thirty, I took Jerry home and arrived at Billie’s a little early so we could visit.
She met me at the door. Her whole outfit glittered from her rhinestone headband to her bedazzled shoes. “I’m so excited to be part of your sting operation. How are we going to play this?”
“We aren’t going to con anyone, Billie. I just need a look at Bea.”
“You can see her any time you want in Celosia, can’t you?”
“Yes, but I have reason to believe this is a different Bea.” We sat down in her living room, and I explained what I’d learned so far. “Jerry and I saw her jewelry collection, but no one else in town has any idea she makes such fabulous creations. I want to know why.”
“So do you want me to pretend to be a buyer from New York, or maybe a Hollywood producer who wants to do a story on her and her humble beginnings?”
“No, I’m going to ask her.”
“That’s no fun.”
“You can pretend to be someone else if you like. That’s what Bea is doing.”
***
It was indeed a different Bea, a very different Bea, the classy refined version, all in black, with severe makeup and her hair slicked back. The jewelry had been amazing in her dark upstairs room. Here in the host’s living room on a long table covered with black velvet it was a dazzling fireworks display of shapes and colors. I recognized the yellow spikes and the frosty chunks of glass, the red pendant Jerry had admired, and the green and coral bracelet. Among the other pieces were silver necklaces as elaborate as spider webs, bronze pieces studded with turquoise, and pearls caught in little silver baskets and strung on long silver chains.
Bea saw me and stiffened. “What are you doing here?”
“A friend invited me. These are wonderful, Bea. I didn’t know you made jewelry.”
“Thank you. And I’ll thank you not to say anything to anyone in Celosia.”
“Why not? There are some necklaces here that could be framed and hung in the gallery.”
“Certainly not! This is a business, nothing more. I have my own separate artwork, as you well know.”
So she was truly blind to her jewelry’s artistic worth. “I won’t say anything, but I’m curious why you don’t want people to know. It’s gorgeous stuff. Don’t you think they’ll like it?”
“Of course they’ll like it. But I’m not ready to show it to them.”
This seemed odd, but maybe she was planning a big jewelry show to impress everyone. Another woman called her away, so I wandered the room, admiring the jewelry and catching bits and pieces of conversation. Most of the women were trying on the necklaces and bracelets and checking themselves out in the little mirrors Bea had provided. I heard a lot of “That looks fabulous on you,” and “You have to buy that.” Then one woman asked, “Bea, when are you going to open a store in Parkland? You’d have no end of customers.”
“I’m looking for the right place,” she said.
“Didn’t you check with Olympia Mall?”
“The rent there is too high. I’m happy with my house parties right now.”
It was indeed a party. The hostess had a wonderful array of little sandwiches, fruit pizzas, and tiny cupcakes of all flavors. Billie filled her plate. “Isn’t this great? Dinner and a show. I’m getting that coral bracelet, I don’t care how much it is.”
“The green one? That is spectacular.”
We took our food to one side of the room where chairs had been set up along the wall. Billie balanced her plate in her lap. “What are you going to buy? I saw you eying that red and silver pendant.”
“It’s gorgeous, but I’m here on a mission.”
“Learn anything mysterious?”
“I’m really surprised by Bea’s appearance. You should see her in Celosia. She looks like a little old farm woman who’s been working in the fields all day.”
Billie indicated her sequined top with its display of bedazzled butterflies and flowers. “Some people prefer to be casual at home. Not me, as you can tell.”
“Yes, but this is a drastic difference, almost as if she’s two different people: cranky garden gnome and sophisticated socialite.”
“Maybe she thinks people wouldn’t take her seriously as a jewelry designer if she showed up in her overalls and boots.”
“I’m not so sure. When I was more involved with my art, I met a lot of artists who dressed oddly, but their work was so creative and amazing, no one cared what they looked like.”
I watched as Bea talked with the other women, showing them how some of the pieces should be worn, and helping with clasps. Occasionally, she shot me a suspicious look, which I returned calmly. I didn’t mind keeping her secret, but I was determined to find out why it was so important.
“I meant to ask you if the police ever caught that Perkins woman,” Billie said.
“I think she got away. But she won’t bother you again.”
“She’d better not. Can you imagine having that much nerve? How did Jerry know her?”
“An old friend from Con School.”
“Does he have a lot of those?”
“More than I like. This one in particular wanted him back for more reasons than just to play tricks together.”
“Uh, oh.”
“Jerry didn’t see that, of course.”
Billie’s laugh made everyone in the room pause for a moment. “Of course! It took him years to figure out he was in love with you.” She lowered her voice. “This Perkins woman isn’t going to be a pest about it, is she?”
“You’ll never believe how I finally got her to back off.”
“You told her you’d beat her to death with your tiara?”
“I told her I was pregnant.”
Billie almost dropped her plate. “Are you?”
“If I could ever get this case solved, I’m going to find out.”
“Are you excited?”
I’d forgotten that I hadn’t seen Billie in a while, and she didn’t know all the particulars. “When I was married to Bill, that’s all he talked about. I began to realize that was the only reason he’d married me. He wanted a lot of children so he could brag about his masculinity. You can imagine how that turned me off. And there were other reasons the marriage didn’t work.”
“But Jerry wants children?”
“Yes, but he doesn’t push me. Well, he does, sort of, but in a light-hearted way, and I’ve come around to the idea. He wouldn’t be like Bill, leaving me to take care of everything. He’d really be involved every step of the way. You should see him with the neighborhood kids.”
“Well, good luck, Madeline. You must call me the second you know.”
The jewelry party was still going strong, and the hostess indicated that everyone could stay as long as they liked, but Billie and I left around two. She’d spent all her money, and I wanted to get home.
I thought about stopping by the doctor’s to see if they could work me in, but changed my mind. It was as I’d told Billie. I needed to solve this case first.