Catch a Falling Knife

profession.”
    “Well, vocation or avocation, you seem to know what you’re doing. Elise did come here. She said she preferred my company to that of the people at the Club. And I must say I preferred her company to that of just about anybody. Except, perhaps, her mother. When she came we talked some, of course, but she usually did homework. She was a good student.”
    So she came here wearing her costume?”
    “Underneath her jacket. If she got too warm she would unbutton her jacket. But her costume covered her at least as much as the bikinis girls wear on the beaches these days.”
    Before she started taking it off. “How did you feel about her dancing at Club Cavalier?”
    “My next guess is that you’re a psychologist because you’re asking me how I feel. Am I right?”
    “Well, actually, I’m a mathematician. I was a professor at Duke.”
    “I was a plumber.”
    “In many ways, a much more practical type of job. We could use a plumber in our family.”
    Frank gave a husky laugh and said, “But getting back to how I felt about Elise dancing. You say you know June. Do you also know Elise’s father, Eric?”
    “Yes,” I said, stopping myself from elaborating since I felt he was about to tell me something important.
    “Then maybe you know about the relationship between Elise and Eric.”
    “I understand they had their differences.”
    “That’s putting it mildly. Elise had a mind of her own, something Eric couldn’t tolerate. June did too, but she gave up her independence for Eric. When June has to let off steam she comes to see me. But Elise hadn’t learned how to get along with the people she disagreed with, yet. That comes with age, I guess, if it ever does. Anyway, to get back to your question, dancing at Club Cavalier was a way for Elise to let off steam.
    “I told her that the job could be dangerous, but I didn’t want to lose her friendship so I didn’t actively oppose her. As I mentioned, I let her practice here. Somehow, I figured that because I lived close to the Club I could help protect her from any danger associated with it. Unfortunately, I failed to do that.”
    Frank got out his handkerchief again and wiped his eyes.
    “Did Elise come here the night she…was killed?” I asked.
    “She came here between her shows. She was in good spirits. She told me about a singing job she had lined up for the summer with some group. It was the same group she had sung with last summer.”
    “But she didn’t come here after her last show.”
    “No, she didn’t. That puzzled me because she usually did.”
    “So you would wait up for her.”
    “That wasn’t a problem; I have trouble sleeping, anyway.”
    “How did she get home?”
    “Somebody picked her up here.”
    “Do you know who picked her up?”
    “She never mentioned any names, but I gather her roommate usually picked her up.”
    “Donna?”
    “Yes, I believe that’s her name. She never came in and Elise never introduced her to me. Elise would sit on the couch, doing homework, and watch out the window. When the car came she would leave.”
    “Did you see the car?”
    “I caught a glimpse of it from time to time, but my eyesight isn’t that good so I couldn’t tell you what make it was, if that’s what you want to know.”
    I had a delicate question. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but did Elise ever smoke marijuana here?”
    Frank smiled. “The only drugs I allow in this house are the ones that keep me alive. I read that she had been smoking before she was killed so that isn’t a big shock to me.”
    “Did you ever get the idea that she had been smoking it before she got here?”
    “No. And I have children who were young in the sixties so I know the odor of pot well. It smells like burning rope. Elise was always on her best behavior with me.”
    I refilled our cups from the china teapot and said, “Excuse me for asking all these questions, but you’re being very helpful. Do you mind if I ask a few more?”
    “If it will help catch Elise’s killer. I’d rather talk to you than the police.”
    Gallantry will win you points, I thought. In spite of his physical problems, Frank had a pleasant way about him. No wonder June and Elise liked him. “Do you know whether June knew that Elise was the Shooting Star?”
    “Elise told me neither of her parents knew. And June never mentioned it to me. She usually confided in me so she probably would have said something if she had known.”
    “So the night June picked