Thirteen Diamonds

killed for a lot less—a few pennies or even for nothing.
    I looked at my notes. Five hundred thousand dollars to Silver Acres. Now that was real money. Why had Carol been so far off in her estimate? Surely, she had talked to the attorney. I had scribbled down the other amounts, but not the donees. I added them up; the total came to over $2 million. Gerald had done very well for himself.
     
                       *    *    *
     
    On the way to the pool aerobics class I told Tess about my misadventure of two nights before. She was properly shocked and said, “You could have been booted out of Silver Acres.”
    “According to my son, I almost was.”
    “Promise me, Lil. No more funny business. If you are forced to leave I won't have any friends here.”
    I decided not to tell her what I had found out about Dora. I said, “Nonsense, Tess. Everybody likes you. You have tons of friends.”
    “But not true friends like you.”
    Next we would be pricking our fingers, mixing our blood and vowing to be loyal to each other forever. I said, “I'm going to have a few people over for drinks tonight before dinner. I have a bottle of champagne I've been saving for a special occasion. Then we can all eat together in the dining room.”
    “Who are you inviting and what's the special occasion?”
    “Besides you, I'm inviting the four members of the former bridge club lunch committee. And the special occasion is absolution.”
    “Absolution for whom?”
    “For all the members of the lunch committee.”
    “Lil, are you up to something again?”
    “Trust me.”
     
                       *    *    *
     
    But before I could give absolution to anybody I had another item on my agenda. After the aerobics class ended, on the pretext of inviting Dora, who was in attendance, to my get-together I told Tess to go on back to the apartments without me. I did invite Dora and she accepted.
    She headed for the mailboxes to check her mail so I walked along beside her. Talking low enough so that other people strolling the hallway couldn't hear, I said, “Do you know that you are mentioned in Gerald's will?”
    I guess I should have prepared her for that. She turned white and I thought she was going to faint. I needed a nurse; then I remembered that Dora was a nurse. No help there. I had her sit down on a chair in the open area near the grand piano.
    I was debating pulling out my cellular phone and calling for help when her color started to return. She insisted she was okay. I said, “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shock you. I guess I thought you already knew.”
    She shook her head. “I had no idea. Do I dare ask what it says?”
    I told her the gist of it.
    When I had finished she repeated, “I honestly had no idea he did that. I suppose that makes me a suspect now.” She looked very unhappy.
    “Not necessarily,” I said, trying to cheer her up. “Can you fill in a few details for me? When did he make the loan to you and did you have a written agreement?”
    “Of course we had a written agreement. I have a copy and he had a copy.”
    “Apparently his copy has disappeared.”
    “And you think I had something to do with that?”
    “Dora, I don't think anything. I'm just telling you what happened.”
    “Okay, I'd better tell you the story. About six months ago I was short of cash. I had gotten a short-term loan to help pay the entrance fee for Silver Acres. I was going to use some securities that had been in my husband's name to pay off the loan, but there was a snag about having them put in my name.” She sighed. “I don't understand all this financial and legal stuff.
    “I didn't know who to turn to, but Gerald is such a nice man and I knew he was an economist, so I thought I'd ask him what to do. He listened sympathetically, and then he said he'd lend me the money. I protested; that's not why I had gone to him but he insisted.”
    “You say that occurred six months ago?”
    “I know what you're saying. So why haven't I paid off the loan? Actually, I was just about to do it. I finally got the problems with my husband's securities straightened out. But then Gerald was kill...died and it completely slipped my mind. I thought about it yesterday and I was going to contact his attorney this week. Honest.”
    She was about to say, “Cross my heart and hope to die,” so how could I not believe her? I told Dora not to worry. After we checked our mail we were headed in different directions