For Sale in Palm Springs: The Henry Wright Mystery Series

Chapter 16

  Henry decided that he had plenty of time before he had to go shopping and before Rosie would arrive. He drove home and parked the car in the garage next to an empty space. There was a note from Charles on the refrigerator to enjoy his afternoon and that he would be spending the night with a friend. The note also said there was a surprise in the refrigerator. He opened the door and saw two bottles of the Australian Chardonnay that he had at Wayne’s house last night. The note on them said “In good health and good luck” and was signed by Wayne and Elliot. He took the note and went towards his office. There were some things he wanted to research on the Internet before he went to the store. He thought he had enough time to do that.

  He spent several hours looking up a variety of topics on the Internet. He couldn’t find much on the Sons of Dionysus; perhaps he was looking in the wrong place. Finally he looked at his watch and decided to go to Jensen’s for some groceries. He came back with several bags of all kinds of goodies, put them away and headed for the shower.

  He was thinking about Mrs. Icklebee while he was in the shower and her poor sister who had come started to come down from Carpinteria to start a new life. He realized that the sister probably would have been the one that would find Thornbird’s body if she had made it to Palm Springs. Janet Icklebee and her sister had to be close in age; he sure didn’t wish the sight of Thornbird lying in a giant pool of blood on anyone, especially not someone that old. Amit Anchula had been freaked out enough to run out of the house. Henry himself saw the huge blood stain on the kitchen floor, which was bad enough; he was glad that he didn’t see the body lying in the middle of it.

  He stepped out of the shower and decided to stop thinking about all of this morbid stuff and focus on a more pleasant afternoon coming up with Rosie instead.

  Henry decided to dress very casually since it was an afternoon barbecue and not dinner as it had been earlier in the week. He put on a clean pair of shorts, sandals and a Hawaiian Aloha shirt. He looked in the mirror and remembered all the Hawaiian shirts hanging in Thornbird’s closet and took it off and hung it back on its hanger. He found a golf shirt from the Indian Palms Country Club and put that on instead.

  Now, satisfied with his appearance he went outside by the pool and checked on the barbecue. Charles used it last and as with most things that Charles touched, it was left sparkling clean and ready to go. He really liked having Charles as a housemate, if anything ever developed between he and Rosie, he would hate to ask Charles to leave.

  He couldn’t see having Charles live with them though; it probably wouldn’t work out at all. Though he didn’t have any problems at all with Charles’ way of life and his circle of friends, he could imagine that Rosie might, even if she didn’t, it would most likely be awkward. He was putting the cart before the horse he realized. He thought back that he had met Rosie just last Tuesday, now it was Saturday and he was already thinking ahead to living with her!

  He took one last look at his backyard, it looked great. The weather had indeed cleared up, the morning’s clouds were gone and the sky was beautiful. The bright sun made the pool sparkle. He rearranged the chaise lounges and found his wedding ring still sitting on the little table where he had left it the other day. He picked it up, looked at it, looked at his ring finger on his left hand where the mark and the white band that the ring had left was pretty much gone and dropped the ring into the pocket of his shorts.

  Rosie made a toast to new beginnings the other night; certainly this afternoon was a new beginning for Henry Wright, retired police chief from Eagle River, currently residing in Palm Springs, he thought, feeling good himself and the future and at the same time he was unsure about how things were going to unfold. One thing though, he thought as he felt the ring settle into the bottom of his pocket, he was not going to go back to being lonely.

  He went back inside to start preparing the vegetables. He wanted to grill the steaks on the barbecue. He would serve grilled zucchini, eggplant and peppers and a salad with it. He liked the way that those vegetables tasted after grilling them, especially when he charred the peppers; he hoped Rosie liked them too. He chopped up the vegetables and put them in a bowl in the refrigerator.

  He took out the wine so that it wouldn’t be so cold and took the steaks out of the refrigerator and took them out of the butcher’s paper. He prepared the steaks with seasoning and put them on a plate that he covered with plastic wrap. He grabbed the bag of chips, opened them and poured them into a bowl that he set out on the counter.

  He had just washed his hands for the umpteenth time and was standing in the middle of the kitchen admiring all of his preparations when the doorbell rang. His heart leaped into his throat, he hung the hand towel up and went to the rarely used front door.

  “Hi Henry, wow, your house is gorgeous, you look great, I hope I’m dressed ok, the description of your place on the Multiple Listing Service doesn’t do it justice, geez, you smell good, what’s for dinner – I haven’t had lunch – oh, I hope I’m not being rude – aren’t you going to invite me in?” Rosie was obviously as nervous as Henry was; she was talking a mile a minute.

  “Hi, you look wonderful.” Henry said and meant it. She had on impossibly high heels, her white shorts showed off her tanned legs and a black blouse. She had what seemed to be a trademark sweater thrown over her shoulder; it was pale green and looked great with her hair. Her legs were either really long for such a short person, or her shorts were short, or it could have been both. It didn’t matter to Henry, she looked terrific.

  He bent down to give her a hug and she kissed his cheek again. He returned her kiss and invited her inside.

  “You know, that you’re doing it again.” She turned around and smiled a big smile.

  “I know, I’m sorry, I kept saying in the car don’t be nervous Rosie, don’t get excited Rosie, you’re not a school girl Rosie, but since I met you Henry, I’m excited about my future. I hope that maybe my future includes you. Oh, this house is beautiful!” She paused in front of the French doors that led from the living room into the backyard pool. “That pool looks gorgeous. The one at my condo complex always has little kids in it. I never use it.”

  “Well maybe we can go for a swim in a little while.” Henry said, “Would you like to set down your purse, take off your sweater, and have a glass of wine?”

  “Yes to all three.” Rosie said setting her purse on the couch and laying her sweater over it. “Where is your housemate?”

  “Charles went out to visit a friend.” Henry couldn’t help but look at her back, her blouse was designed so that the back was open and he noticed that she wasn’t wearing anything under it. She had the same freckles on her back that he noticed on her nose the other day and he was fascinated. He wondered what it was like to count the freckles on her back. Suddenly, he realized he was staring at her and he quickly went to the counter to open a bottle of the chardonnay.

  “Oh too bad, I was looking forward to meeting him. What time will he be home?” Rosie leaned on the counter.

  “I don’t know - I actually don’t expect him back until tomorrow.” Henry put the corkscrew into the bottle of wine.

  “Too bad, I guess I can meet him next time.” She said, “Can I do anything to help?”

  Henry was glad that she also felt that there was going to be a next time.

  “I bought some chips, I don’t know what your preference is, but since you like Mexican food, I though tortilla chips were safe.” He put the bowl of chips on the counter in front of her.

  “These are yummy; did you get these at Jensen’s?” She delicately picked up a chip and put it in her mouth.

  Henry liked the way she did that, she ate the chip without messing up her lipstick, she was very dainty.

  “Try this wine, it’s from Australia, my friends introduced me to it.”

  “To new beginnings, I really mean it.” Rosie lifted her glass to Henry’s.

  “You said that the other night, I agree, to new beginnings.” Henry toasted her.
“I think we’re going to have a wonderful evening, I hope you like steak and grilled vegetables.”

  “Sounds great! I’m glad to be here Henry; I agree, I think we are going to have a wonderful evening.” She took another sip of wine.

  “This is good, I like it a lot. Come on, it’s a beautiful afternoon, let’s go sit outside.”

  Henry picked up the bowl of tortilla chips and they walked outside with their wine glasses. They sat down at the table under the umbrella and Rosie kicked off her shoes. She had the littlest feet Henry had ever seen on a grown woman.

  “Do you mind if I ask you one more question about Rex Thornbird and then I’ll drop the subject for the rest of the evening?” He asked.

  “No of course not, I feel that Rex brought us together so how can I refuse?”

  “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but did you see Thornbird socially?” He looked right at Rosie to get her reaction. She was quiet for a moment and looked down into her glass of wine, she glanced up at Henry.

  “Well, yes sort of. After his divorce I sometimes went with him to social engagements where he needed a date. It was strictly business though, I was an escort for the evening, you know. Nothing ever happened between us Henry, really.” Her bright green eyes looked straight at Henry. “It doesn’t matter now though does it? He’s gone and you and I are here to enjoy this wonderful day.”

  “So you had a how should I say this, platonic relationship?” Henry asked setting his wine down.

  Rosie sat straight up in her chair and bristled.

  “Henry, Rex Thornbird was only interested in his work. After his divorce he had no social life, at least not that any of us that worked with him knew about. He never got any calls at the office other than work calls; that man spent twelve to fourteen hours a day working; he went on vacation only once in all the time that I knew him, all by himself to Puerto Vallarta for five days, though he may have met someone there, I don’t know; he was very driven and a workaholic.” Her eyes were full of fire and Henry could tell she was upset. She took a long drink from the wine glass and when she looked up again she had regained her composure.

  “I’m sorry to bring up his memory, but I needed to know.” Henry got up from his chair. “Let me go in and get the bottle to get you a refill.”

  “No, I’m the one who should apologize. I lost my cool; Rex Thornbird was a very frustrating person to deal with.” Rosie put her empty wine glass on the table.

  When Henry came out with the bottle of wine in a terra cotta cooler that he dug out of the cabinet Rosie had taken off her heels and was sitting on the edge of the pool with her legs in the water. She looked right up at Henry with her sparkling eyes. “Let’s go for a swim Henry.”

  He refilled her glass with the wine and set the bottle into the cooler on the table. “Ok, you can change in the guest room, let me show you where.” He held his hand out and helped her up, they walked back inside where she picked her purse up off the couch and he showed her where the guest bedroom and bathroom were at the other end of the house.

  “When you are done, the doors in the guest room lead directly back to the pool, no need to walk through the house if you don’t want to.”

  “Thanks Henry, I’ll see you in the pool in a few minutes.” Rosie squeezed his arm.

  Henry closed the guest room door behind him and walked back through the kitchen to the other side of the house and his bedroom to change. He thought he had obviously upset her by asking about her relationship with Thornbird but he was satisfied that there was nothing between the two of them other than she helped out Thornbird for appearance sake. He remembered what Charles said about Thornbird’s relationship with women and wondered why he had even bothered asking her. He felt that he needed to hear from Rosie that there was nothing between her and Thornbird. He was satisfied.

  He got to his room, dug through his dresser drawer for a pair of swimming trunks and pulled them on after hanging his clothes on a couple of hangers on the doorknob.

  Henry walked back through the kitchen on the way out to the pool and picked up the bag of chips from the counter so that he could refill the bowl outside. When he got back outside Rosie was already in the water splashing and kicking her legs. She had set her wine glass on the edge of the pool; it reminded Henry that he really needed to get some nice plastic wine glasses for use outside around the pool. He set the bowl on the table and dove into the water to join her. When he came up above the water, she was swimming over to join him and put her arms around him. As soon as she held him he realized she wasn’t wearing a swim suit and he immediately felt silly for wearing his.

  “I hope you don’t mind.” She said, squeezing her arms around him and giving him a big hug. He felt a strange longing that he had not felt in a long time and was glad he was wearing his swimsuit lest he embarrass himself.

  “Of course I don’t mind, you should have told me what you were planning. I thought you had a swimsuit in your purse.”

  “I do, but I decided your place is so private that I don’t need to wear one, so I took a chance hoping that you wouldn’t think I was being too forward.” She let go of him and swam towards her wine glass.

  “No, you’re not being too forward, but I don’t know where this is going and you need to know that I haven’t been with anyone in a long time.” Henry swam over to join her at the side of the pool.

  “Henry, we have all afternoon, you’re too worried about where “this” is going. We’re both old enough to understand what is going on, let’s just enjoy our afternoon together and let’s see what tonight brings.”

  Rosie kissed him straight on the lips, took a long drink of her wine, pushed off the side of the pool and said, “Bet you can’t catch me!”

  They played in the pool for the next half hour, hugging, talking and sometimes kissing and having a good time in the water until Henry felt it was time to get out and get the barbecue ready. He was still wearing his suit when he walked directly into his bedroom from the pool. While he certainly saw and felt enough of her in the water, he didn’t want to watch Rosie climb out of the pool and make it obvious that he was enjoying looking at her. While he was in his room toweling off, he heard her get out of the water and go into the guest room on the other side of the house. He was in the kitchen when she came out dressed with her makeup refreshed carrying her glass of wine.

  “Are you sure I can’t help with something?” Rosie asked.

  “Actually you can, would you make the salad, and I’ll go clean up the towels and throw them in the laundry, we may want to use them again after dinner.” Henry asked her. “You’ll find everything in the bottom of the refrigerator; I put the bowl on the counter already.”

  “Sure not a problem, glad to do it.” She started humming a song that he’d heard on the radio while she dug around in the bottom of the refrigerator.

  Henry started a habit right after he moved into the house where when he used the pool he threw the just used towels into the dryer. Typically, he liked going back into the pool to relax after dinner and he was hoping to go back into the water later that evening when the landscape around the pool was lit up and the setting was more romantic than this afternoon. Warm dry towels would be nice in the evening air.

  He went into the guest bathroom and picked the towel up off the floor where Rosie had left them. She had left her lipstick on the vanity and he picked it up to give back to her. He looked at it in his hand, suddenly dropped the towels on the floor and walked quickly out the guest room French doors and crossed directly across the yard to his own bedroom doors. He found the pants he was wearing the other day in the closet and dug around in the pocket until he found what he was looking for. He stood in his bedroom looking down at his hand and instantly knew what he was looking at, but didn’t quite know what to do.

  A few minutes later he walked back into the kitchen where Rosie was now tossing the salad in the bowl. She looked up when she saw him and said, “I hope you don’t mind that I dug around in your drawers but
I needed some tongs.”

  Henry didn’t say anything but held out his open hand with the two matching lipsticks in it.

  “Oh, did I leave that in the bathroom, silly me – where did you get the other one?” Rosie suppressed a nervous smile when she saw the look on Henry’s face.

  “Rex Thornbird’s bathroom medicine cabinet. What were you doing in his house? You killed him didn’t you Rosie? Why did you do it?” Henry looked straight at her; his face had a disappointed look.

  “Do it, what do you mean why did I do it?” Rosie’s lip started trembling.

  “You’re the only one that knew that Thornbird was going to be at the house on Granvia Valmonte that morning, you knew the combination to the lock box, obviously you were closer to him than just an escort on business occasions since this lipstick was in his bathroom at his house, you never reported Thornbird missing and why are you trying to sell the photograph of Rudy Vallee online?” Henry closed his hand around the two lipsticks.

  Rosie’s face slowly changed from upset to anger. There was fire in her green eyes as she slammed the salad tongs down on the counter.

  “That son-of-a-bitch never realized how good a team we could be. I was ready to stay behind the scenes and let him take all the credit. Who do you think came up with the idea of putting the celebrity photos in the house? That idiot could not have figured that out, that little touch was mine. Maybe it was his picture on all those signs around this neighborhood, I didn’t care about that at first, I was the one behind the scenes making him rich. All I wanted was to share some of what he reaped with him. Sure, I wanted to be the next Mrs. Thornbird, and maybe I was in love with him. But that cold hearted little twit didn’t care at all about my feelings, no matter how hard I tried to seduce him he couldn’t or wouldn’t respond to me.”

  Henry was worried that she was so angry that she was going to use something as a weapon and either hurt him or herself. He moved so that he was between her and the knife block on the counter. She was so angry she didn’t seem to notice the knives and continued her tirade.

  “Then just the other night I saw that little bastard taking home some pretty little young boy that he’d picked up at the golf course. It was just a kid who didn’t even shave yet, goddammit, barely even in High School. Oh, he thought he was subtle and that no one noticed. But I noticed. That prick had his arm around that boy’s waist as they walked into his big house on the hill. They kissed when he opened the door. I was disgusted. Those two probably did it in the bed that was supposed to be mine, in the room that was supposed to be mine, in the house that was supposed to be mine. Thornbird was a fool. Yes, I set him up, yes I lured him out to that house, I hid in that dirty little closet, yes I did it, and I’m glad I did it. Henry, don’t you see I had to get rid of him. I can do what he did, I can sell houses, and I’ll be the Queen of Mid-Century real estate - that will be my face on all those for sale signs all over town.”

  Rosie was breathing hard and drained the last of her wine. She was quiet for a moment, then looked up at him with tears in her eyes and continued in a much lower tone of voice.

  “You know Henry, you and I make a much better team than Thornbird and I ever did. You like me; you respond to my touch, don’t deny it, I felt that in the pool just now, he never did. Why don’t you call your police detective friend and tell him that you are stuck with your investigation and you’ll never know who killed Thornbird. You know, I didn’t leave behind any fingerprints or anything at the scene, there is no evidence and no way that a jury will convict me, not after I tell them what a disgusting pervert Thornbird was. Let’s you and I enjoy one another and live the rest of our lives enjoying the pool and each other like we did just now – you did enjoy my body didn’t you Henry?”

  Henry didn’t respond but continued looking at the lipsticks in his hand, never looking up at Rosie.

  “I can make you a happy man Henry Wright, I really can. Admit it, you like me, I touched you in ways that other women haven’t.” She tossed her head with pride as she reached for the wine bottle to pour herself a refill.

  Henry didn’t answer her right away, he considered what she said. Finally he laid the two lipsticks on the kitchen counter and looked straight into her flashing green eyes.

  “You’re right Rosie. I’ll call my friend Wayne right now.” He picked the cordless phone up from the kitchen counter, dialed Wayne’s cell phone number and when he answered said, “Wayne, come on over to the house, I’m holding Thornbird’s killer for you.”

  He looked over at Rosie as he hung up and she started crying.