Aces and Knaves

were attracted to him and at first I didn't think I had a chance. But when other boys started noticing me I realized that I was not without my charms. On Saturday evenings there would be singing and dancing at Mackays Hotel, which was owned by a distant cousin of Ned. I had a good voice and I would sing songs about Loch Lomond and the Highlands."
    The lilt in Elma's voice became more definite now as she became engrossed in her tale.
    "I was 15 when I caught James' eye. He began squiring me. Ned was sweet on me too and when James wasn't there—he played the bagpipes in a band and sometimes traveled to other cities to perform—I would dance with Ned or go to the movies with him. But I liked James better.
    "As long as James had me to himself when he was around he didn't mind me going with Ned when he wasn't because they were friends and Ned didn't infringe on James' territory. He was content to be in James' shadow—then. We were a loose triangle. This went on for a couple of years. I felt like a queen with my two beaus."
    Elma smiled to herself as she relived the memory. I could understand why James and Ned had liked her.
    "It sounds ideal to me," Arrow said. "I can't even hold onto one beau."
    "It didn't last, of course.”One day they went away. Took the train to Glasgow and flew to America."
    "Together?" I asked.
    "Together. In those days they did everything together. Shared everything—including me." Elma's faced clouded. "They left me at the same time. My heart broke into little pieces. In retrospect, I should have seen it coming. Wick wasn't big enough for James. He was always so restless, so full of grand ideas. That's one reason I liked him. Ultimately, the same thing proved to be true for Ned."
    Elma stopped talking, still lost in her memories.
    "But that's not the end of the story," Arrow said.
    "No, it isn't." Elma said. She was smiling again. "After my heart mended itself I tried to adjust to life without James and Ned. Wick wasn't the same without them. I began to see the warts—the provinciality. The narrowness of thinking in a small town where, if you get out of step you are a pariah.
    "My mother was glad James and Ned were gone because she felt that as long as I had two boyfriends, I would never get married. However, my father sensed the reasons for my rebellion, even though it mostly manifested itself in moodiness, and offered to send me to university. I wanted to go to a university all right, but not in the UK—in the US. I saved my money and got some help from my father and an uncle.
    "The day I boarded the train for Glasgow to fly to the US my mother was so upset I almost didn't go. I thought she might die of grief. I was her only child. But I was too selfish to stay; so I went."
    "Alone?" Arrow asked. "Did you go alone?"
    "Yes, I went alone. There was nobody left in Wick who had the wanderlust—nobody to go with me."
    "So you had more balls than James and Ned."
    Elma laughed. "I didn't see them again for five years. I graduated from college and moved to Los Angeles, where I got a job teaching at a private school. And then one night I ran into James at a party—and his wife. He and Ned were in partnership together and they had just taken over a printing company.
    "I'll summarize the rest so I don't bore you to tears. James put me in touch with Ned. We dated; we got married. Their company grew but Ned was still second fiddle. He chafed under the arrangement. I urged him to break with James. Finally, James bought him out and moved to San Francisco. They went their separate ways and both prospered."
    Perhaps James had prospered more than Ned. I wondered whether Elma ever wished she had married James. There was another thing. Before giving it any thought I said, "Did you know that when Ned went to San Francisco on business he visited James?"
    Elma shook her head slowly, her green eyes boring into me. "No, he never told me that. Are you sure?"
    "I was supposed to meet him at James' house the night he was killed. James and one of his assistants told us—told me—that Ned was a frequent visitor there. James has set up a mock gambling casino and lots of people go there."
    "I can't say that I'm shocked, or even surprised. Ned kept things to himself."
    "Just one more question, Elma. Did Ned gamble?"
    "Gamble? He might bet a dollar on a football game once in a while. But he didn't play the horses, if that's what you mean. He didn't even buy lottery tickets. Why?"
    "He didn't like casino gambling?