Aces and Knaves

what's the next step?"
    I had one in mind, but I didn't want to discuss it with Arrow. "Fly back to LA and collect more frequent-flyer miles."
    Arrow sighed. "So I won't get a chance to try out the bathtub."
    "You may have one hour in the tub."
    "And what are you going to do?"
    "I'll get us return reservations and, if you'll let me use your laptop, check my email and work on my baseball card business."
    "So who's the workaholic?"
    Arrow insisted on leaving the bathroom door open so, as she explained, we could communicate with each other. It made communication easier but working much more difficult as I listened to the jets and pictured where they were massaging her.
    ***
    I spotted Elma before she crossed the street to the Hermosa Beach plaza that extended inland from its pier. She looked very jaunty in denim shorts, a thin, frilly top and dark glasses.
    I knew intellectually that what she and I had done together hadn't ruined her life, but, nevertheless, I was relieved to see the lightness in her step. I had agreed to meet her here because I wasn't sure I had enough willpower to keep a meeting at her house on purely a business level.
    I had called Elma from James' house to set up this late lunch. Arrow had been running the jets in the bathtub at the time. I didn't want Arrow to know I was meeting Elma, for whatever reason.
    She spotted me and waved. The walk light flashed "walk," she crossed the street and gave me a hug. I caught a whiff of the same scent she had worn on that night and memories returned.
    "Are you hungry?" I asked. She nodded and we picked one of the cafes where we could sit outside. We kept to small talk while we read the menus and ordered, carefully avoiding what was on both of our minds.
    But I hadn't come to talk about that. After we gave our orders to a waitress I said, "An incident happened between Ned and James that I haven't told you about because I didn't know if it would upset you. However, I don't think it will now. And I'd like your interpretation of it because it might explain something about their relationship and possibly...relate to Ned's murder."
    "Are you saying that you think James killed Ned?"
    "I think we have to consider the possibility."
    "All right, tell me what happened." She put her chin in her hands and leaned toward me, a teenager fawning on her date.
    I started by saying that Ned hadn't actually lost any money because I wanted her to concentrate on the deception and not worry about whether he had squandered her estate. Then I set the stage at the desert casino where Ned had played blackjack. When I was explaining how Ned carried out the ruse, Elma interrupted me and asked whether James had ever caught on. When I said no she started laughing.
    She explained, "Ned didn't get the best of James very often. I'm glad he did this once."
    She let me finish the story. When I was through I waited for her reaction.
    "Ned tried to make a complete break with James years ago, when he went to work for your father," she said. "As far as I know it was successful until James got this bug in his ear about acquiring Dionysus. Ned didn't tell me James had contacted him again, I'm sure because he knew what my reaction would be. He didn't tell me he was visiting him in San Francisco.
    "James had a strange power over Ned. Ned had a hard time saying no to him. And if James promised him the CEO job, that was a carrot Ned might not have been able to resist. But somewhere along the way Ned probably had an attack of conscience, and also remembered what the reality of working with James was like, certainly much worse than working with your father.
    "I suspect Ned wanted out of the deal but still couldn't tell James no. So he did something so terrible, so absurd, that James would have nothing more to do with him. And nothing is so absurd to James as somebody trying to fight the odds. The laws of chance rule his life."
    "James' assistant told me that James still wanted to do business with Ned, even after that incident."
    "At that point perhaps Ned finally got up the courage to say no."
    "And James was so upset he had him killed?"
    Elma hesitated. "You know, I still can't picture James as a murderer. Maybe it's because I'm a sentimental fool. James has many faults, but I'm not sure that's one of them. Even after hearing the story about Dickie it's hard for me to believe...."
    She stopped, and I decided it was time to switch to lighter subjects. I was able to get her to smile again. When we said goodbye