“Who was your date?”
“What?”
“At the dance, when you met Rich, who was your date?”
“Carol something.”
He waved at the bartender and slipped out the front door. I pulled out my notebook. What had the interview yielded me?
Nothing.
Well, at least I knew where to look for George and that he was expecting a baby. What now? I reviewed my to-do list, checking things off and adding a few.
To-Do List:
1. Free Jim.
2. Find Brad and/or Michelle’s killer.
3. ✓
4. ✓
5. Call Winter Henderson re: hippie chick alibi.
6. Make OB appointment.
7. ✓
8. Check out Horoaki graduation date from UCSF.
9. Print business cards.
10. Find George AGAIN.
•CHAPTER SIXTEEN•
The Fifth Week—The Need to Suck
On my way home I dialed first Jim’s cell phone—no answer—then Mr. Crane’s. No answer. I left a somewhat irrational message for Mr. Crane with Kiku and George’s address.
By the time Laurie and I got home, we were both exhausted and hungry.
I called Jim’s name as soon as I opened the garage door.
No Jim.
In frustration, I threw Laurie’s diaper bag across the room.
The witness couldn’t have identified him, right?
I melted onto the sofa with Laurie. She howled in my face.
“I know, pumpkin pie. You’re hungry.”
After all her needs were met, she continued to wail. I fought the urge to join her. “What is it now, jelly bean?” I gazed into her lovely eyes. No tears. Her wail was more of a complaint than a cry.
I found a pacifier I had been given at the hospital and placed it in Laurie’s mouth. She stopped crying.
Ah. Peace and quiet.
The pacifier soothed her overwhelming need to suckle, without getting additional nutrition. Nonnutritive sucking, that’s what Laurie’s pediatrician had called it.
I set Laurie on the floor in her baby gym. She studied the hanging cow, monkey, and chicken.
Now what would I do about food for myself? I needed to eat to keep my mind from spiraling off the deep end about Jim. Stopping at the grocery store had never even crossed my mind. I made a mental note to add it to my to-do list.
I rummaged through our phone book drawer looking for the menu of the Chinese restaurant down the street. Before Laurie was born, Jim and I used to eat there at least once a week. Since Laurie was born, we hadn’t eaten there at all. My mouth watered, thinking about their sweet-and-sour prawns.
I found an old receipt from the restaurant that was covered with what appeared to be soy sauce.
Gross.
I would have to clean out this drawer.
Another thing to add to my never-ending to-do list.
I moved on to our map drawer and found nothing helpful except a nail file, clippers, and a bottle of hand moisturizer. What were these items doing in our map drawer?
Time to get organized, Kate. Plus, I needed to do my nails.
Where was the menu for Dragon House?
I wandered through the house. I stopped in the kitchen. On the refrigerator staring at me from under a cookie magnet was the pink menu.
Sometimes I could miss my own nose.
How would I ever solve a triple homicide if I was so oblivious? Had I missed clues that had been right in front of me?
I dialed Dragon House and ordered chow mein, pot stickers, and sweet-and-sour prawns.
“Anything else?” the clerk asked.
I ignored the pang of guilt as I added Peking-style spareribs to the order. I reasoned that Jim should be home at any minute and would be starving. Besides, I needed the extra five hundred calories a day for Laurie.
After replacing the receiver on the hook, it immediately rang back.
Hopefully, it wasn’t the restaurant calling to tell me my credit card hadn’t gone through. Or worse yet, the sheriff’s department with bad news about Jim. I pushed the thought from my head and reminded myself to stay positive.
“Kate? It’s George.”
“George! Where are you?”
“Is Jim there?”
“No. He’s still—”
“I really need to talk to you about something, Kate.”
“That makes two of us.”
“I’m on your corner. Can I come up?”
I felt ready to explode at him, but checked my anger. If I blew up at him for causing all this mess, I might not hear what he wanted to tell me.
In a matter of seconds I heard George making his way up my front steps. I scooped Laurie off the floor and opened the door.
George’s face broke into a smile when he saw us. “Can I hold her?”
I hesitated momentarily. What was I afraid of? George had never been anything but a gentleman with me.
George noticed my hesitation. “It’s cool. I don’t have to hold her. But, I mean, I won’t drop her or anything.”
I laughed. “I know.” I handed her off to him and sank into an easy chair. “What’s going on?”