“I’m glad to hear that. Is my grandmother here?”
His grandmother, Gertrude Elizabeth Kirkland, and her four oldest friends met each Monday for a very serious game of gin rummy. The ladies could afford to bet big and they always did. But no matter who won or lost, the pot always went to St. Michael’s Children’s Charities.
Danny nodded. “She and the ladies are at their regular table.”
“Thanks.”
Danny glanced at Alex’s open collar. “Excuse me, Mr. K., but you don’t have a tie.”
Alex reached for his collar. He’d taken his tie off after Mackey had left because it had suddenly felt so confining. “I left it in my desk.”
“You got to have a tie in the main room.”
“I know.” As a teenager, Alex had hated the club’s mandatory tie rule. These days, remembering those petty rebellions made him smile. “Do you have an extra one that I could borrow?”
Danny smiled as he pulled a red tie out from under his desk and handed it to Alex. “How’s that?”
“Perfect.” Alex wrapped the tie around his neck and quickly wound it into a Windsor knot.
In the main dining room, round tables covered in starched white linens hosted dozens of different people who all looked very much alike. The women wore couture and the men sported handmade suits. A deep red carpet covered wood floors, drapes framed large floor-to-ceiling glass windows and an enormous crystal chandelier hung from the center of the room. Soft piano music played in the background, melding into the polite conversations, the clink of glasses and the subtle activities of the waitstaff.
The eastern wall of the room was glass, and gave a stunning view of the bay. Blue sky and clear water set off the sails of a dozen white sailboats. When he’d been in ICU, he’d promised himself that he would sail more when he recovered. And he had. He’d spent the last two weeks on the water. The boat had been yare and the weather stunning, but he’d found that sailing alone became tedious.
Alex headed to the large table in the back of the room. It was his grandmother’s favorite table.
His grandmother had a Katharine Hepburn style that set her apart from her peers. Even at seventy-six her mind was sharp, and no one made a move at the club without her knowing it. He’d exhausted all conventional investigation methods after Kit had vanished. No tactic had revealed anything that cracked the case. Today, he thought he’d try a different approach.
Right after Kit’s disappearance, Gertie had been in France, so he’d not questioned her, but now he realized she could give him a different perspective on the case.
Gertie’s friends flanked her left and right. All wore suits in varying shades of red or blue, pearls around their necks and their white hair coiffed into tight curls.
Peering over turquoise reading glasses on her nose, Gertie frowned down at the cards in her hand. “Evelyn, I believe it’s your turn to deal.”
Evelyn, the woman to Gertie’s right, leaned forward and took the pile of cards. “This time you are not going to win.”
Gertie laughed. “We’ll see.”
Alex cleared his throat. “Gertie.”
His grandmother glanced up and immediately smiled. “Alex, what a pleasant surprise! Ladies, you remember my grandson, Detective Alex Kirkland.”
The emphasis on detective spoke to Gertie’s support of his chosen profession. She was the only one in the family who’d approved of his decision.
Alex leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “How are you?”
Pride glinted in her eyes. “Excellent. I am winning hand over fist today.”
He smiled at the other ladies. “Watch out, ladies. She cheats.”
The women laughed. Gertie appeared offended. “Alex, I know you didn’t drive across town to question my card skills.”
“Can’t I just come to visit my grandmother?”
Gertie chuckled. “Darling, the club drives you insane. You come here only to get your boat. You never come in the main room and mingle.”
Alex no longer felt as if he fit in here. He and the club members had less and less in common as the years passed.
He pulled up a seat and sat beside her. It felt good to have the weight off his leg. A waiter appeared and offered coffee, which he accepted.
“I’m looking into a case from last year. I was hoping you and your friends might be able to help.”
Across the table, Evelyn dealt the next hand of gin rummy. “This sounds exciting. We’ll help in any way we can.”
The other women nodded.
Gertie removed her glasses. “We are all yours, my dear.”
Alex loosened his tie. “Remember Kit Westgate?”
Each woman’s face tightened, including Gertie’s. “She’s a hard woman to forget.”
“What can you tell me about her?”
Gertie traced the rim of her half-full sherry glass with her fingertip. “West Coast money. Stunningly beautiful. Men could barely think straight when she was in the room. She had a way of making them fall under her spell just by the toss of her head or a smile.”
Alex shifted, remembering his own reaction to Kit. “And?”
“I didn’t like the woman,” Gertie said. “I hate to speak ill of the dead, but she could be a cold-hearted manipulator. She could be quite unkind to Pierce. Granted he was a big boy and could take care of himself, but she had him completely wrapped around her finger and could make him do anything. It was rather sad to see.”
That description contrasted what her chauffeur had told him last year. Borelli had described Pierce as abusive.
Evelyn picked up her cards and started to arrange them. “Remember the incident after the Founders’ Ball last year?”
Gertie wrinkled her nose. “Kit got into a fight with the ladies’ room attendant. She didn’t realize I was in the last stall. Anyway, for a moment that cultured, smooth voice of hers slipped. For just a moment, she sounded very common. After that I never believed she was who she said she was.”
“What were they arguing about?”
“Some woman named Brenda. I wasn’t really paying attention.”
“Pierce said he did a complete background check on her,” Alex said. “In fact, he was quite helpful to the police, and supplied us with West Coast contacts.”
“He did check her out completely,” Gertie said. “He is a thorough man so he should know. And she did sign a prenup, so he was happy. According to the prenup, she wouldn’t get a dime if she left him.”
Across the table Roddie Talbot ran her finger
