The Puzzled Heart (25 page)

“It occurs to me that if anyone were going to indulge in an orgy of self-immolation, it should be me.
I
. I let Toni flatter me into working with her; then, when she seems to have decided to change sides, or whatever she decided, she continued to manipulate me with exquisite skill, I who am supposed to have
the savoir faire of Anthony Blunt and the chutzpah of Kim Philby. And while you’re berating yourself with failure properly to serve womankind, my dear Kate, let me point out that you stuck by me when you had a damn good reason to think I’d knocked Toni off. So shut the fuck up, and stop feeling so mea culpa, not to say sorry for yourself. Have I made my views sufficiently clear? I can go on.”

And tossing her remaining Scotch down her throat in imitation of Reed, she sat down, still glaring at Kate.

“I couldn’t have put it better myself,” Reed said. “I would only point out that women attacking women is the hottest game in town, particularly feminist turncoats who want a lot more attention than they’ve been getting, not to mention book sales. There are two infallible signs of a revolution’s success: a vigorous backlash and turncoats. You, my dear, have become the chosen object of both. It’s a compliment, in a way.”

“I’ll try not to become narcissistic and self-pitying,” Kate said. “I think I will venture upon a drink after all. The headache, if any, will be mine, and so will the relief from having to watch you all tossing the stuff back as though it were rotgut.”

Reed handed her a glass, and she sipped at it. “You look white as a sheet,” Archie said. “Perhaps we’d better go.”

“Sheets are now brightly colored, with designer patterns,” Kate said. “I shall resemble one of them shortly, if I can’t clear up a few points. I gather that
Marjorie heard about the whole caper from Dorothy and, recognizing my name, joined in. That, doubtless, is how Toni got her name and persuaded her to put in the ad you saw.” This was directed at Harriet.

“Probably,” Harriet said. “But Toni had used a dog and Ovido—he of the vet’s and dog training place—for messages before. It’s a pretty clever dodge. And I would like to point out, Kate, while you’re blaming yourself for the failures of your womanhood, that if you hadn’t stopped letting Toni run the show and gotten over your unaccustomed passivity, the whole plot might have worked a lot better. I think it was when I flushed out those girls in that university apartment that Toni began to change her mind about whom she wanted to work for. But that’s just a guess.”

“So it was Dorothy Hedge who hit Toni with her brother’s baseball bat. Or was it Bad Boy himself?”

“We may never know,” Archie said. “But I’m pretty sure it was the Hedge woman.”

“I agree,” Harriet said. “You have to remember that Dorothy Hedge had years of resentment bottled up. When Toni deserted her for the other side, she must have felt very last strawish—murderous, in fact. I think that’s how it must have been.”

“I’m also pretty sure she was the one in the ladies’ room with Harriet,” Archie said. “Once Harriet has identified her, we’ll know for sure. One of the problems with this situation from the beginning has been that so many of the players didn’t meet. Harriet
never met Hedge, and Kate met Marjorie rather late in the game.”

“I owe you many thanks, heartfelt I assure you,” Kate said to Archie. “You didn’t in the end have to defend Harriet, but you certainly kept your head better than the rest of us—well, certainly better than I did.”

Kate looked across at Harriet. Having shot off her mouth about her own feelings of guilt and regret, feelings she knew would never really dissolve or cease to trouble her, she now turned her attention to Harriet, who had been duped into a job and used in a plot against her friends. “I hope,” she said to Harriet, “you haven’t decided to desert the detective business. You may not, heaven be praised, offer either Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe serious competition, but I think you have a flair for the business. And I haven’t a doubt, by the way, that it was you and your presence throughout this miserable business that turned poor Toni around.”

“Not to worry,” Harriet said. “I’m still in the private eye game, and I’ve got a new partner. As young as Toni, but male this time. We met in the course of another case preceding yours, and he thought the idea of using an old dame like me was the bee’s knees. He wants to start his own firm, and while I didn’t like to abandon Toni, who had, or so I thought, treated me most kindly, I got back in touch with him when Archie had figured all this out. I asked him if the offer was still open. I told him all about how I had been used, of course, but also about how clever I
had been. So we’re in business. Let me give you each a card, in the fervent hope that you wouldn’t require it, except for Archie, of course. Archie has promised to send some business our way.”

Kate looked at Harriet with admiration. Everyone except Kate stood, the meeting having concluded itself. Banny too arose.

“I think she wants to go out,” Reed said.

“So do I,” Kate said. “No, don’t argue with me. Banny and I will take a short stroll together in the park.”

“Don’t forget to take a Baggie and a leash,” Harriet said.

“I’ll take the Baggie, but not the leash. Banny will stick by me, won’t you Banny?” Kate said.

“Take the leash just to have one,” Harriet said, handing Kate an elegant leather leash and a collar. Attached to the collar was a tag (
BANNY FANSLER/AMHEARST)
with the address and the telephone number. “From me and Archie,” Harriet said.

“You two have everything figured out, don’t you?” Kate said. “Come on, Banny.” And having fastened the collar around Banny’s neck, Kate departed with the dog.

There was a momentary silence.

“She’s taking it hard,” Harriet said.

“Yes,” Reed said. “I’m afraid she sees it as a total failure on her part from beginning to end. She might have figured it out for herself, you know, given time and freedom from throttling. We’ll never know.”

“Cheer up,” Harriet said. “After all, the same dreadful people are still out there, with grudges against people like Kate. We mustn’t give up now.”

“Who’s giving up?” Reed said, as they moved toward the door. “By the way, I have some news. Banny is to be allowed a dalliance with a prize Saint Bernard, but only if she likes him, of course. Stay tuned.”

From the living room window, when the others had departed, Reed watched Kate and Banny enter the park. He could only guess at Kate’s feelings, although his was certainly an educated guess. Banny’s feelings, however, were simple and evident as she ambled along beside Kate, the plume tail swaying.

From the master of the American literary mystery
come these short stories—
including eight mysteries featuring Kate Fansler:

*   *   *

AMANDA CROSS

THE

COLLECTED STORIES

*   *   *

A
People
“Page-Turner of the Week”

“For more than twenty-five years, Amanda Cross has been blazing a trail for the rest to follow.”—S
ARA
P
ARETSKY

Available in trade paperback from Ballantine Books.