From Here to Paternity

way?“
    “Has he ever! That’s what he was bending my ear about. He’s signed himself up as this guy’s agent. Says he’s very attractive—speaks English with a sexy foreign accent, has great Continental manners. All that. Stu wants to bring him over to this country, get him on TV, sell movie rights and book rights and Lord only knows what else. And he wants us to back him up. Sort of be his cheering section. The nerve!“
    “That does sound sleazy. The Society won’t go along with it, will they?“
    “Not if I have anything to say about it. But Stu knows how to convince people of almost anything. He’s already got a bunch of members in his corner. They say it’s a great way to draw attention to our group and its concerns, make people aware of our heritage, enlist new members, all that. ‘Course, they’re being had. Stu’s convinced them he’s doing all this for the Society when he’s just doing it for himself.“
    Mel came through the doorway and Lucky stood up suddenly. “I’m sorry for bending your ear like that. Just got a crawful. Have a nice evening.“
    Oh, I think I probably will , Jane thought.
    It wasn’t until Jane and Mel were leaving the lodge that she realized she was still carrying around Doris Schmidtheiser’s file folder.

Chapter 9

    “Do you know what I liked best?“ Jane asked an hour and a half later.
    “This?“ Mel said, demonstrating. “Or maybe this?“
    Jane laughed. “That’s not what I meant. What I liked best was that before we came here, you’d already called and made sure the boys were all settled in your place with their dinner and their new Nintendo game.“
    “Only because I knew if I didn’t, you would—and possibly at an inopportune time,“ he said, lazily stroking the curve of her shoulder.
    Jane sat up, turned on the bedside light, and started looking around for her clothes. “That’s exactly what I did mean. That you understand.“
    “I guess this is leading up to you turning back into Mommy any minute now.“
    Jane shrugged. “It is my job. And unlike you, I don’t ever get a vacation. Do you mind horribly?“
    “And if I did? Never mind. I don’t want to know. I’ll fix us some coffee.“
    “Darn it! I’ve still got that folder,“ Jane said, sorting through her things. “Doris Schmidtheiser’s. I meant to give it to Lucky and it went right out of my mind when he started talking about that Gortner man.“
    As Mel walked Jane back to her cabin, she told him about her conversation with Lucky. “He was really shocked by and disgusted with Stu Gortner’s attitude.“
    “And you think that means this Stu person killed Mrs. Schmidtheiser?“
    “You’re ruining my punch line. No, I don’t mean that. But if it turns out that her death wasn’t natural, I think he bears looking at. After all, her death removes the main obstacle to his promoting his candidate. Bill certainly isn’t going to pursue his claim, and Pete doesn’t know enough about genealogy, I don’t think, to push it along himself.“
    “This is too strange to accept, Janey—the whole idea of trying to put somebody back on the throne in Russia.“
    “Of course it’s nuts, but I don’t think Stu Gortner has any interest in that angle of it. He just wants an interesting figure to promote as the rightful Tsar without getting involved in actual politics. Sort of a new Anastasia. Somebody had to have made a lot of money out of that poor woman. At least that’s what Lucky led me to believe. Gortner just wants a celebrity to make money off of. Lucky talked about book contracts, movie rights and things like that.“
    “So what difference would Mrs. Schmidtheiser have made in the plan?“
    “She was an outspoken fanatic who might well have trailed him around, debunking his guy’s claim.“
    “But, Jane, it’s absurd to think anybody would care enough about this to kill someone.“
    “It’s absurd to us. But not to them. And as far as Stu Gortner is concerned, it’s all about money. Maybe a lot of money. Isn’t that what most people kill for? When someone is threatening their financial well-being?“
    They’d reached her cabin. “We don’t know that anybody was killed for anything, Janey. And even if she was, it’s not our problem to solve. It’s what’s-his-name’s. The sheriff.“
    “But—“
    “But nothing. Say good night, Gracie.“
    Jane laughed. “Okay, okay. I give up.“ She rummaged in her purse for her key.

    “Where’ve you been?“ Katie