Page 28 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case
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Polished Off
spilling things and leaving hazards for the clientele to bumble into.
Now, Mr. Keane—” she lowered her voice and leaned toward me—
“I guess it isn’t a secret that my aunt enjoyed torturing men if they
showed the slightest character flaw. So I can’t really say why he put
up with it, either. I can’t imagine she paid him very much.”
Malicious gossip disrespectful to the quite recently dead, I
thought: typical of today’s youth. And then I remembered that rare
book: it kept coming back into the case. I wondered if it contained
some secret, like a cipher written in invisible ink, or one of those
codes using the book itself as a key. Or maybe it was worth a whole
lot more than any of the concerned parties were letting on—
including Iris, whose unusual inheritance might well include that very
volume. Then I recalled Gutenberg’s misadventure: cats were
supposed to possess extrasensory powers. I’m not particularly
superstitious, but might the dumb animal have picked up some latent
impression from that bottle, some unconscious perception of its
abnormality in content or location, and knocked it over—not to
communicate mutely with humans able to understand the
significance, but simply in exercise of the less mysterious and well-
documented feline curiosity? And what about Patty Melton’s interest
in all of this? Or Linsey’s? Too many unanswered questions: I must
have presented a picture of perplexity to Mariana’ niece.
“Are you all right, Mr. Keane? That smell getting to you?”
“Ah, yes, perhaps so. I’ll step outside for some fresh air. You
know, you shouldn’t have to stay here, either. I’m sure you’re anxious
to make arrangements for your aunt’s funeral—I mean, as soon as
the police release her body. Let me talk to Lieutenant Gramercy for
you.”
“Thank you.”
I left her rifling through the cash box without a trace of shame or
self-consciousness. Not my business, I thought, unless the will is
contested. I mused idly upon the subject of who might be qualified to
do just that while I stood by the front door, filling my lungs with
slightly less-polluted air and my mind with the implications of
Linsey’s revelations. Then it all became clear to me. Labelle
Gramercy came walking up the street toward me from the direction
of Esprit Decor. I ran up to her, my excitement evident, no doubt.
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