Jethro was hiding under the kitchen table when I got home, his dark eyes rebuking me for leaving him behind.
I got a dog treat from the cookie jar and tried to coax him out.
“Come on, Ro-Ro,” I crooned. “Come get a treat, boy. Come and get it.”
But he stayed put. “Stubborn mutt,” I said, standing up.
That’s when I noticed it—a potted yellow orchid in a gorgeous blue-and-white Chinese porcelain ginger jar. I picked the pot up for a closer look, peered at the jar’s crackled glaze and the Chinese markings stamped on the bottom. It was the real thing.
A tiny envelope fell to the floor. I picked it up and opened it.
Tal’s business card was inside. On the blank side he’d written “Come back to me.”
I put the orchid back on the table. Jethro hadn’t moved.
“Did you let him in, Ro-Ro? Did the bad man scare you?”
But Jethro was taking the fifth. And I was feeling nauseous.
I fixed myself a glass of iced tea, and that reminded me of the situation with Mama. So I did what I always do when I have a problem. I called James.
“Weezie!” he said, after Janet told him I was on the line. “I’ve got good news. Detective Bradley just called. He’s advised the district attorney’s office that he doesn’t have enough evidence to get an indictment against you for Caroline’s murder.”
“That’s great,” I said. The orchid was really an obnoxious shade of yellow, with an almost obscene meaty red tint to its phallic-looking throat. I got the kitchen shears out of the drawer and cut off one of the cascading blossoms. I felt better immediately.
“You don’t sound very excited,” James said. “They’ve dismissed the criminal trespass charge too. Your record is clear.”
“That ought to make Mama happy,” I said. “It’s wonderful. Really, Uncle James, I’m so grateful for all you’ve done. I can’t thank you enough.”
“You’re family,” he said simply. “I kind of enjoyed dabbling in criminal work, to tell you the truth. But something else is wrong. Are you going to tell me or are you just going to sit there and brood about it?”
“I’m not brooding,” I said. “It’s just that strange stuff happens to me. And I’m not being paranoid either. I seem to give off some kind of energy that invites bizarre behavior.”
“Give me an example,” he said. “Not counting the fact that you discovered your ex-husband’s fiancée’s body in a closet.”
“It’s Mama,” I said. “And the weeping Infant of Prague. I’ve been meaning to ask you about that, James. What’s the Infant of Prague supposed to represent?”
“I’ve always thought of it as the baby Jesus in drag,” James said. “But I don’t have any documentation for that.”
“Well, I’ve got documentation about Mama,” I said. And I told him about finding her bottle of Four Roses at Lucy’s house.
“Oh dear,” James said. “I was hoping maybe she was tapering off on the drinking. Your dad hasn’t said anything about it.”
“You know Daddy. I also found a bottle of Xanax at the house. The prescription was Lucy’s, but according to the label on the pill bottle, the prescription was refilled two days after Lucy died. Half a dozen pills were missing. Mama’s been taking Lucy’s tranquilizers and washing them down with bourbon.”
“Good heavens,” James said. “She could kill herself. Or somebody else, zonked out on pills and booze.”
“The good news is she’s apparently sleeping at Lucy’s house. I think that’s when she has these little chatfests with the statue.”
“We’ve got to get her help,” James said. “Poor soul. I had no idea. Your father hasn’t mentioned anything about her sleeping over there, or acting funny?”
“Not a word. What can we do?”
“I’ll have to talk to Joe,” James said. “Make him see that Marian needs help desperately. He probably has no idea about the pills, although we both know he just ignores the drinking.”
“Then you’ll talk to them?”
“I’ll talk to my brother,” James said. “But I think you need to talk to your mother, Weezie.”
“No,” I said, feeling panicky. “I can’t. You have to do it, James. You’re good at that stuff. She adores you. She’ll listen to you.”
“She’s your mother. It’s time the two of you had a good talk.”
“But what will I say?” I wailed. “It’s not like we’re pals. We’ve never had that kind of a relationship.”
“Start now,” he said calmly. “Invite her out to a nice lunch. Someplace quiet, nonthreatening. And just let her know that you found the tranquilizers. Tell her how dangerous it is, mixing pills and alcohol. Try not to sound judgmental. But let her know that you and your dad want her to get help with the drinking.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’ll try. But you’ll talk to Daddy? Promise?”
“I promise. Feeling better now?”
“A little,” I said, still eyeing the orchid. It looked malevolent, with its long reaching spray of blossoms. I took the scissors and cut off two more flowers.
“It’s Tal,” I said, grinding the flowers under the heel of my shoe. “He’s acting weird. The other night, he barged into the carriage house, drunk as a coot, begging me to take him back. Can you believe that?”
“Tal did that?”
“Yes. I told him to leave, but he was so pathetic, I was actually starting to feel sorry for him. James, Tal says Caroline was having an affair with another man, right before she was killed.”
“Really?” James didn’t sound all that surprised.
“Yes. And Tal said he thinks Caroline was going to meet her lover the night she was killed. He was already suspicious, and that night, she got a mysterious phone call. So he tried to follow her when she left the house, but he lost her at the red light at Victory and Bee Road.”
“Do you believe him?” James said. “Or was he just trying to get you to feel sorry for him so you’ll take him back?”
“I believe she was screwing around on him,” I said. “The other night at a dinner party I was at, everybody was gossiping about Caroline.”
“Yes. I’ve heard some of the same gossip from a friend,” James said.
“What friend? You don’t hang around with gossips.”
“I hear things,” James said. “Do you have any idea who the other man could be?”
“Gerry Blankenship was the first name that came to my mind.”
“No other candidates?”
“She could have been sleeping with just about anybody,” I said maliciously. “I just don’t know. It’s Tal’s behavior that’s worrying me. He’s been acting bizarre. After all those months, when he was so hurtful and cruel, now he comes crawling back. He was slobbering all over me the other night. Revolting.”
“I would think you’d be flattered by the attention,” James said.
“I’m not,” I shot back. “Look, I’ve started seeing somebody. A man. And he doesn’t want to come over to my place, because Tal’s always hanging around.”
“You knew when you kept the carriage house that he’d be living right next door,” James said.
“I didn’t know he’d scare off my first date. Or that he’d spy on me. Or break into my house and leave ugly orchid plants.”
Silence. “He actually broke in? When? That’s a whole different matter.”
I went over and looked at the kitchen door. The lock hadn’t been tampered with, and the doorjamb’s paint was undisturbed. I’d left in a hurry that morning. Had I forgotten to lock up? Had Tal been watching, seen my slipup?”
“It happened today,” I said. “Maybe he didn’t actually break in. But he definitely was in here, and he didn’t have my permission. He left these flowers with a note saying ‘Come back to me.’ And he scared Jethro.”
“I’m going to call Tal’s lawyer,” James said. “I’ll tell him we’re going to get a restraining order against Tal unless he stays away from you.”
“Really?” I felt my resolve faltering. “I don’t want to make a scene or get Tal arrested or anything. I just want him to leave me alone.”
“I’ll take care of it,” James said. “Now you call your mother and take care of your end of the deal.”
“I will,” I said.
I hung up the phone. The orchid still had one more cluster of blooms.
Snip.
I dumped the potting soil in the trash and went to get on-line to see what kind of prices antique Chinese ginger jars bring on eBay these days.