Love for Sale

She would very much like to know who had murdered someone in the sanctity of her own home. And it gave her the willies to think that that person was still free to roam around and possibly take another life.
    Besides this, Chief Walker had never truly asked her to help him before, though she and Robert had offered him information that led to catching criminals. The one-upmanship this would afford her in relation to Robert pleased her.
    “All right. Let’s try out one of the ladies and see what happens. I’ll probably be thrown out of their house in disgrace. How far away do these people live?“
    “Not more than a half hour’s drive. One way.“
    “May I drop my books off at home first?”
    Lily delivered her message to Robert as intriguingly as she could manage. He was helping the Harbinger boys get the big table down the stairs. Lily whispered, “Howard Walker’s asked me to help him out with something. I might not get back for a little while.“
    “What? What?”
    She just smiled as she slipped away down the hall. She loved it that he was so curious. Score one for her.

    Following the order in Pottinger’s address book, the first address they went to was that of Tabitha Riley. It was the closest to Voorburg, only about a third of the way up Route 9 to Poughkeepsie. It was a shabby little house in a shabby neighborhood. The step to the front door was crooked and disintegrating. What had once been a garden was a patch of weeds, and paint was peeling. But oddly, the older woman who came to the door was elegantly dressed in an old-fashioned, though stylish, silk frock. She wore it with a triple strand of real pearls that should have weighed her down.
    Walker told her whom they were looking for.
    “The Rileys moved out two years ago. June Riley was my maid and her husband wanted to go to California to get work. Here I am, living in my maid’s house while mine is due to be auctioned for taxes.”
    This broke Lily’s heart. Walker had to harden his. “Did you know their daughter Tabitha?“ he asked her.
    “Very slightly. When she was around fourteen, she used to help out when I gave parties. She was vegetable peeler. Not a very nice girl, I’m afraid. Pretty and obedient. But dumb as a rabbit.“
    “Have you heard from the Rileys since they left?“
    “No. I’m not likely to either. Sorry I can’t help you. Has Tabitha done something bad?“
    “No. We just needed some information from her about the Institute of Divine Intervention.“
    “Did she end up working for that awful man?“ the woman said with a look of disgust. “I guess that shouldn’t surprise me.”
    As they turned to leave, Lily said quietly, “I hope things get better for you.”
    The woman’s eyes reddened and she croaked, “Thank you.”
    On the way to the next address, Howard tried to cheer Lily up by saying, “Your hair’s looking better.“
    “I got that awful permanent in order to pry information out of the hairdresser for your use. I’m glad you noticed.“ Lily’s light, short “do“ had been fried by an electric permanent months ago, and Mrs. Prinney’s recommended treatment of soaking her hair in mayonnaise once a week had helped.

    Next on the list was Joan Wilton. She lived quite near the Riley house, also in a bad neighborhood. She herself came to the door. “My, my, aren’t you a handsome man?“ she gushed, ogling Walker. “What’s up, big guy?”
    She was a skinny girl with a thin, fawnlike face and dirty fingernails. Her hair could have profited from being washed. The clothes she was wearing were skimpy and needed cleaning and ironing badly.
    He showed her his badge. She giggled. “Come on in, you and your girlfriend,“ she said and whirled around in order to show a lot of a shapely leg when her short skirt couldn’t catch up with her quick move.
    Lily thought it must have taken a lot of practice in front of a mirror to do that so well.
    Joan Wilton headed for the sagging brown sofa and cleared a selection of beat-up books from its cushions by dumping them onto the floor. Their covers featured salacious pictures. She brushed some cracker crumbs off as well and sat down in the middle.
    “Sit yourself down next to me,“ she said with a wink at Walker. “You, miss, can sit on the straight chair.”
    The straight chair must have been used as a table for sugary drinks, and Lily felt her skirt sticking to it.
    “So whaddya want, big guy?“ Joan said.
    Walker had perched on the arm of the sofa