A Purse to Die For by Melodie Campbell, Cynthia St-Pierre Page B
Authors: Melodie Campbell, Cynthia St-Pierre
Tags: Mystery
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trouble. So she divorced him. And she ' s been lonely ever since. "
I hate her , Dumont thought suddenly. But he kept quiet and let Andrea tell all.
" It was all so predictable and banal. She started hanging around cougar bars. Just so degrading, don ' t you think? I mean, why not a golf instructor or personal trainer? At any rate, " the fingers drummed relentlessly, " about three months ago, she called me to say she ' d met this gorgeous guy. She was over the top about him. I said, ' Good for you, do you want to bring him over? ' " Andrea smiled. " She didn ' t. I don ' t know if she was ashamed of him or if she didn ' t want to take the chance of losing him to me. But I never saw him. "
Dumont sat quietly with the photo in his hand. Damnation. She wouldn ' t be able to recognize him.
" Do you recall his name? " Dumont said.
" She called him Reggie, I think, " Andrea said. " I know he was dark, and hung like a bull—oops. Shouldn ' t have said that. " Andrea was flirting now. " You can hardly place them up against the wall for a police line-up. " Her laugh tinkled.
Dumont shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
" Is there anyone else she might have talked to about this man, Mrs. Mason? "
Andrea smoothed the black crepe skirt over her bony knees. " Can ' t think of anyone offhand. There were her tennis friends at the club, but I don ' t think they were especially close. She went to Babalon, you know—the hair salon. They might know something. But I think you can take it from me she kept this guy pretty much under wraps. Hell of a lot of competition out there, if you get my drift. "
" Do you know where they would meet, Mrs. Mason? "
" Her condo by the lake, I imagine. She lived in Harbour Castle. I have a key, if you ' d like it. I brought it with me. " She reached into her purse and pulled out a key chain with a tag on it. " That ' s the suite number. "
Dumont took it. " Thank you. That should make things quicker. " At least this woman was intelligent.
" Oh. And of course you won ' t know about the cottage in Muskoka. My sister inherited that from the parents. I got the Florida condo. Have you ever been to Palm Beach, Inspector? " Her eyes belied her age.
Dumont cleared his throat. " Can you give me the address of the cottage, please? "
" Of course. I ' ll write it down. " She took out a little gold notebook and slid the matching pen out of the slip.
As she wrote, Dumont frowned in thought. Reggie had to be somewhere. Would he be so dumb as to stay in town? The cottage was a better shot, maybe. And then he had a thought.
" Did she have a lot of good jewellery, Mrs. Mason? "
Andrea smiled. " You don ' t know our set very well, do you, Inspector? Her engagement ring alone was worth forty thousand and she never took it off. She had a gorgeous four-karat sapphire cocktail ring and several diamond bracelets and earrings. She got to keep them all after the divorce, of course. That ' s what we do, Inspector. Just like the eastern women who collect gold bangles. We have a shitload of jewellery, all our own, just in case. My European mother used to call it ' get out of town ' jewellery, just in case you had to bribe your way out of the country. "
Dumont looked up sharply. There had been no diamond ring on the victim ' s finger.
" Can you describe or draw those rings? "
" Of course, " she said, drawing on the small pad. " The diamond is pear shaped—like this—and about 10 karats. From Birks, so it ' s a good one. The sapphire is a marquis with diamonds all around it. She also had two-karat diamond solitaire earrings and a bunch of others. Her newest watch was a Piaget. You should find a record of all this in her files in the second bedroom. Look under Jewellery . "
Dumont had to ask. " How do you know where to look in her files? "
Andrea blinked. " But Inspector, we always keep records. It ' s only logical. Mom taught us well. "
He managed to be somewhat polite as he escorted her out of the office and declined
I hate her , Dumont thought suddenly. But he kept quiet and let Andrea tell all.
" It was all so predictable and banal. She started hanging around cougar bars. Just so degrading, don ' t you think? I mean, why not a golf instructor or personal trainer? At any rate, " the fingers drummed relentlessly, " about three months ago, she called me to say she ' d met this gorgeous guy. She was over the top about him. I said, ' Good for you, do you want to bring him over? ' " Andrea smiled. " She didn ' t. I don ' t know if she was ashamed of him or if she didn ' t want to take the chance of losing him to me. But I never saw him. "
Dumont sat quietly with the photo in his hand. Damnation. She wouldn ' t be able to recognize him.
" Do you recall his name? " Dumont said.
" She called him Reggie, I think, " Andrea said. " I know he was dark, and hung like a bull—oops. Shouldn ' t have said that. " Andrea was flirting now. " You can hardly place them up against the wall for a police line-up. " Her laugh tinkled.
Dumont shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
" Is there anyone else she might have talked to about this man, Mrs. Mason? "
Andrea smoothed the black crepe skirt over her bony knees. " Can ' t think of anyone offhand. There were her tennis friends at the club, but I don ' t think they were especially close. She went to Babalon, you know—the hair salon. They might know something. But I think you can take it from me she kept this guy pretty much under wraps. Hell of a lot of competition out there, if you get my drift. "
" Do you know where they would meet, Mrs. Mason? "
" Her condo by the lake, I imagine. She lived in Harbour Castle. I have a key, if you ' d like it. I brought it with me. " She reached into her purse and pulled out a key chain with a tag on it. " That ' s the suite number. "
Dumont took it. " Thank you. That should make things quicker. " At least this woman was intelligent.
" Oh. And of course you won ' t know about the cottage in Muskoka. My sister inherited that from the parents. I got the Florida condo. Have you ever been to Palm Beach, Inspector? " Her eyes belied her age.
Dumont cleared his throat. " Can you give me the address of the cottage, please? "
" Of course. I ' ll write it down. " She took out a little gold notebook and slid the matching pen out of the slip.
As she wrote, Dumont frowned in thought. Reggie had to be somewhere. Would he be so dumb as to stay in town? The cottage was a better shot, maybe. And then he had a thought.
" Did she have a lot of good jewellery, Mrs. Mason? "
Andrea smiled. " You don ' t know our set very well, do you, Inspector? Her engagement ring alone was worth forty thousand and she never took it off. She had a gorgeous four-karat sapphire cocktail ring and several diamond bracelets and earrings. She got to keep them all after the divorce, of course. That ' s what we do, Inspector. Just like the eastern women who collect gold bangles. We have a shitload of jewellery, all our own, just in case. My European mother used to call it ' get out of town ' jewellery, just in case you had to bribe your way out of the country. "
Dumont looked up sharply. There had been no diamond ring on the victim ' s finger.
" Can you describe or draw those rings? "
" Of course, " she said, drawing on the small pad. " The diamond is pear shaped—like this—and about 10 karats. From Birks, so it ' s a good one. The sapphire is a marquis with diamonds all around it. She also had two-karat diamond solitaire earrings and a bunch of others. Her newest watch was a Piaget. You should find a record of all this in her files in the second bedroom. Look under Jewellery . "
Dumont had to ask. " How do you know where to look in her files? "
Andrea blinked. " But Inspector, we always keep records. It ' s only logical. Mom taught us well. "
He managed to be somewhat polite as he escorted her out of the office and declined