Rachel Alexander 04 - Lady Vanishes

lord knows how many times, always at Marilyn’s insistence. But he recently told him that the last time was just that, the last time. He said he wasn’t going to do it again, that if Bailey got himself into debt, he could just get himself out. He told him to get a job. He even offered him one, busboy at Harbor View.“
    “Oh, that must have gone over big. So, did he get a job?“
    “ Please."
    “And his sister?”
    “Recently divorced.Unemployed. No time to work, what with the time it takes nowadays to accumulate material possessions.”
    “Credit card debt?”
    “Probably. But it’s just a guess. We’re not exactly bosom buddies.”
    “All that shopping can be very time-consuming.”
    “Yeah, it really cuts into your workday. Anyway, she gets alimony. Women like that always do. But not enough. It never is.”
    “Still, it doesn’t cost that much to hire someone to do your dirty work. People like that, I wonder if they do anything for themselves.”
    “But why, Rachel? Why would they bug the phones?” ‘That’s one of the things I don’t know yet. Any ideas?“
    “It depends. Was Harry’s death a result of eavesdropping? Or did the eavesdropping come afterward?”
    “Good question.”
    “But you don’t know the answer yet?”
    I shook my head. “No. I don’t. Not that I’m complaining,” I told her, “but I’ve been working with a bit of a handicap. My client was keeping me in the dark.”
    “I’m sorry, Rachel. But—”
    “No time for that now. I have to get over to your place, then Dashiell and I have to get to Harbor View for Samuel’s class. I know you wanted answers before Friday, Venus, but the most telling thing might be what happens when the heirs read the will. Any way I can be there?”
    “I don’t know how. I’ll call the lawyer. Maybe he can think of something.”
    “Okay. But don’t call from your work phone. And unless I tell you it’s okay, don’t call from your home phone. In fact, it wouldn’t hurt for you to pick up a cell phone today, use that until we have this figured out. That way, if you need to reach me, you can. And we’ll still meet at five-thirty, on the treadmills.”
    “Have to. I’m addicted.”
    She smiled again, but I could see the exhaustion behind it and wished I could tell her everything would be okay, that in no time Janice and Bailey would be calling her Aunt Venus, inviting her for Thanksgiving dinner, feeling blessed to have her in the family.
    “Okay, let’s get moving,” I said instead. “Keep your eyes and ears open, Venus, tell me anything you hear that might relate, no matter how trivial. Oh, and can you get me a key for Eli’s office? I couldn’t think up a lie that would get me in there last night, and I couldn’t go in through the window once Homer had invited me to tea.”
    “It’s on the key ring I gave you. But be careful. Eli’s a workaholic, comes in early, stays late, comes back at night sometimes. Three in the morning, he thinks of something he wants to do in the office, he takes the subway back from Brooklyn, gets a jump on the day. It’s his life, the only thing he cares about. I’ve found him there in the morning, sleeping on his couch, too tired to truck back to Brooklyn after working late. With Eli, you can never be sure what his schedule will be.”
    “I’ll be careful. Maybe we can get to the bottom of this before Friday.”
    I walked Venus out so that I could lock the gate behind her. She stopped and looked around the garden.
    “This is lovely,” she said.
    And that’s when I began to wonder about something else. “Venus, how come Harry didn’t leave you any money, or his apartment, anything tangible?”
    “I wouldn’t let him,” she said. “Harry was worried sick about Harbor View. Eli and his sons are devoted to it, but none of them has the experience of running it. The unwritten agreement was that if anything happened to Harry, Eli would take over. It makes no sense to assume he could, but that was so long ago, Harry didn’t give it that much thought. It was something far away in the future, and in the beginning, he was so ecstatic to get Eli to join him in this, that’s all he cared about. When you think about it, it’s ridiculous. Eli’s talent is with the kids, reaching them, comforting them, finding activities that help them to function better, creating an atmosphere that’s safe for them, in which they can flourish. No one would have expected Harry to have been able to take