He especially didn’t like delaying action to call Bennis Hannaford, but with Androcetti behaving the way he was and Gregor’s FBI contacts useless, he was stuck.
2
BENNIS HANNAFORD SCREENED HER phone calls, so instead of a voice, Gregor got a tinny tinkling in his ear and then an off-key rendition of “Mother,” starting with the M and moving on through the rest of the letters, but with different lyrics than originally written. Bennis was apparently in a mood. The lyrics were filthy, and she almost never did that anymore now that she was living on Cavanaugh Street Gregor waited until the singing stopped and then said, “Bennis? Bennis, pick up. This is me. It’s important.”
There were a couple of clicks in his ear and then the sound of Bennis’s voice saying “Oh, damn.” The next thing he heard was a match being lighted, and that was reassuring. Bennis was always ready to talk when she settled down with a cigarette. That was why she settled down with a cigarette. Gregor waited until he heard the frantic puffing that announced that Bennis had her cigarette actually lit. Then he said, “Are you ready to talk now? This really is important.”
“I’m ready to talk,” Bennis said. “Are you all right? There have been rumors about you up and down the street all morning. That some big black car came and took you away. That you’ve been kidnapped. That that fool police lieutenant arrested you—”
“Nobody has arrested me. A big black car came and took me away. It belonged to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia—”
“Uh, oh.”
“—and if I’ve been kidnapped, it’s because I want to be. I’ve returned to the scene of the crime. I’m at St. Elizabeth’s.”
“Are you.”
“I need some information.”
“What information could you possibly need? You’re the one who told me you couldn’t get involved in this case. Because of Jack Androcetti.”
“Yes,” Gregor said. “Well.”
“Well, nothing,” Bennis told him. “I never want to hear from you a little lecture about how I should mind my own business. Never again. Not when the police have specifically told you to stay out of it and you’re still—”
“Bennis.”
“God, I can’t believe it. All the times you’ve told me what a nudge I am. All the times you’ve told me I can’t mind my own business. All the times—”
“Bennis.”
“Right I’ll shut up. What do you need?”
What Gregor Demarkian needed was an aspirin, or maybe even two Excedrin, like in the television commercials. Why was it that Bennis Hannaford always ended up making him feel this way? The booth he was in had one of those half-size seats that would have been inadequate for an undersize dwarf. Gregor sat down on it the best he could.
“Do you remember the invitations we got to the reception yesterday?” he asked her. They came in a big packet—”
“I remember. But those weren’t the invitations. I mean, the invitations were in with all the rest of the stuff, but the rest of the stuff was about the Order—”
“Fine,” Gregor said. He didn’t need a description. “Do you still have that stuff?”
“Of course I still have that stuff. Somewhere. Lida’s daughter’s husband has been laid up. She hasn’t had time to get in here and clean out my papers for at least two months.”
“You could always clean out your own papers,” Gregor said.
“I could, but that would only deprive Lida of an occupation. It would be like learning to cook. If I learned to cook, who would Hannah Krekorian bring casseroles to? Oh, speaking of Hannah Krekorian—”
“I know,” Gregor said. “We’re supposed to hold Mother’s Day all over again next Sunday so she doesn’t miss it. Go find that packet.”
“I really think you ought to get into the spirit of this thing,” Bennis said. “It’s going to be good. Donna’s going to make a cake for Hannah’s granddaughter Lisette to jump out of—she’s three—and then—”
“Bennis.”
“I’m going. Honestly, Gregor, sometimes you’re impossible. Donna was only trying to be—”
“Bennis.”
“You say my name a lot, Gregor, have you noticed that? You say my name a lot.”
Gregor was about to recite the words of an ancient curse, but as it turned out he didn’t have to. Having had her say, Bennis disappeared from the line and came back moments later, rustling.
“We got lucky,” she said. “The whole thing was right where I thought it was in the refrigerator—”