Smoke in Mirrors

door.
    Leonora glared at him. “There was no need to add that last bit about the cops. She’d told us what we wanted to know.”
    “She conned you out of that money.”
    “Big deal. It was worth fifty bucks to find out that Alex Rhodes was doing research on me, wasn’t it?”
    “That’s beside the point. I didn’t like the way she didit. What I told her about the cops may be the truth,” he said. “The more we get into this thing, the more I think we will eventually have to take it to the authorities.”
    “Fine by me.” Leonora clutched her satchel in her left hand and fell into step beside him. “When?”
    “I don’t know. We don’t have enough yet. Ed Stovall has made it pretty clear he can’t justify reopening the investigation into Bethany’s death unless we bring him something solid in the way of evidence. Not after what he went through with Deke when Bethany died. He thinks my brother is a nutcase.”
    She searched his face. “You’re starting to believe that we may actually be investigating a couple of murders, aren’t you?”
    He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease the nagging sensation that something big and nasty and endowed with a lot of teeth was bearing down on him.
    “I’m still not ready to buy into a murder conspiracy theory,” he said. “But I’ve got to admit that I’m coming to the conclusion that Rhodes is a serious problem.”

Chapter Fourteen
    “I’m calling because a friend of mine needs some professional advice and Herb is the only advice columnist I know,” Leonora said on the other end of the line. “I’d go online and email him in care of ‘Ask Henrietta,’ but I know he’s busy and he might not notice my question right away.”
    “He’s swamped, all right.” Gloria settled into her armchair and propped her feet on the small hassock. She surveyed her ankles closely. By the time she had gotten home from the shopping expedition to the mall, they had been swollen. She knew from experience that if she kept them elevated for a while they would slim down. “Don’t tell Herb, but between you and me, ‘Ask Henrietta’ is the most popular column in the Gazette . More questions coming in every day. Herb’s talking about getting an assistant.”
    “I was afraid of that. This is sort of an emergency. I thought maybe you could go down the hall, get the answers we need and then call me back right away.”

    “We?” Gloria repeated cautiously.
    “I mean, the answers my friend needs,” Leonora amended quickly. “Here’s the deal. The guy lost his wife about a year ago. He hasn’t gotten involved with anyone else since her death. I think maybe the marriage had some problems and he’s got some unresolved issues. The point is, my friend wants to get his attention. Make him focus on her, if you see what I mean.”
    “I understand, dear.” Gloria cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear, picked up a pen and a pad of paper and started to make notes. “Does this man have children?”
    “No.”
    “Hobbies?”
    “Well, he’s really into computers.”
    “I see.” She wrote down nerd . “Anything else Herb should know about him?”
    “I can’t think of anything. Call me back as soon as you can after you talk to Herb, okay?”
    “All right, dear, I’ll see what I can do.”
    “Oh, and, Gloria?”
    “Yes, dear?”
    “While you’re asking Herb about my friend’s problem could you ask him one other quick little question?”
    “What’s that, dear?”
    “Ask him—” Leonora broke off and cleared her throat cautiously. “Ask him if he thinks there’s any possibility of a long-term, committed relationship between a divorced man who likes to work with his tools and who doesn’t plan to ever marry again and is afraid to have kids, and a . . . a woman who is from a somewhat different background.”
    “How different?”
    “Well, she’s more academically inclined, I guess you could say. And she does think she might like to getmarried. And have kids. Assuming the right man comes along.”
    Gloria was proud of herself. She didn’t miss a beat. “No problem, dear. I’ll get back to you as soon as I talk to Herb.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Everything else going all right up there?”
    “Yes, I think we’re actually making some progress. Thomas is talking about taking the information we have to the cops. I have to say, it would be a great relief to turn everything over to the authorities.”
    Gloria frowned. “Does that mean you think