friend of hers from Kansas had recently moved to one of the big apartment buildings just north of the Plaza’s main drag. He’d moved to the penthouse. Heaven pulled in the circle drive and left the keys in the car.
The doorman, a rare bird in Kansas City, came to the door. “I’d love to see Dale Traver, if he’s home,” Heaven said before he could ask her business.
He opened the foyer up and went to a house phone and dialed. “Who shall I say is calling?”
“Heaven, ah, Katy O’Malley,” Heaven said, using her maiden name for a change. Dale was an antique dealer whom she had met years ago with her parents. He still thought of her as Katy.
The doorman got an answer and in a minute put the phone down. “You can go right up. Top floor,” he said as he opened the inner door and gestured toward the elevators. There was an arrangement of silk flowers in the lobby on a credenza.
“I bet Dale hates these,” Heaven muttered as she touched them lightly as she passed.
When she got to the penthouse level, Dale was standing at the elevator door, waiting to greet her. “What in the world brings you here on a Saturday morning?” he said as he held out his arms and gave her a big hug.
“I guess I can’t just say I was in the neighborhood, can I?”
“Not with any success.” Dale took Heaven’s arm and they went in to the apartment.
“Wow,” Heaven said, truly impressed for a change. The place was gorgeous, full of lovely French nineteenth century furniture mixed with art deco pieces, oriental rugs, and a great collection of old portraits from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The rooms reflected the kind of eclectic taste that Heaven also had, only Dale’s was worked out on a more expensive scale. Dale himself was an elegant silver-haired man, dressed in a Harris tweed sports jacket and dark green corduroy pants.
“Would you like some coffee?” Dale asked, a mischievous grin on his face.
“Yes, but what are you looking at me like that for? You look like the cat that swallowed the canary,” Heaven said as she went toward a beautiful silver service that just happened to be on the sideboard of the dining room with coffee and a plate of scones sitting nearby.
If he didn’t know I was coming, maybe he was expecting someone else, Heaven thought. Maybe someone else was here. Maybe that’s why he’s smiling so funny. “Dale, were you expecting someone else? Have I interrupted something?”
Dale poured her a cup. “You take cream, no sugar, right?” He handed her the cup and slipped a tiny sconeand a chocolate truffle on the saucer. “You’re sure full of questions. Let’s take them in order. I was smiling at you because I have a feeling you’re investigating one of your famous cases. I can just feel it. I look like the cat that swallowed the canary because I have a feeling you’re going to ask for my help. No, I wasn’t expecting anyone and you didn’t interrupt a thing except me reading the
Star
, which didn’t take long. I use my silver and my good china all the time. I’m not getting any younger and I’m not saving them for a special occasion. I enjoy using my beautiful things.” He sat down on a big, down-filled couch and patted a place next to him. “Now, what is it? An antiques scam of some kind?”
Heaven sat down and hoped she wouldn’t disappoint Dale, since she had no antique scam to consult about. “Do you remember last Sunday, when the blimp crashed and the pilot was shot?”
Dale shook his head sadly. “Kids with guns. I tell you, how that Charlton Heston can hold up his head when these kids go around shooting off these high-powered rifles in the heart of town, killing their classmates and now, some poor airship pilot.”
Heaven perked up. “What makes you think it was a kid? Did you see anyone?”
“No, that’s just a grumpy old man talking, Katy. I was going to an afternoon performance of the Nutcracker Ballet last Sunday with some friends and I got caught
The doorman, a rare bird in Kansas City, came to the door. “I’d love to see Dale Traver, if he’s home,” Heaven said before he could ask her business.
He opened the foyer up and went to a house phone and dialed. “Who shall I say is calling?”
“Heaven, ah, Katy O’Malley,” Heaven said, using her maiden name for a change. Dale was an antique dealer whom she had met years ago with her parents. He still thought of her as Katy.
The doorman got an answer and in a minute put the phone down. “You can go right up. Top floor,” he said as he opened the inner door and gestured toward the elevators. There was an arrangement of silk flowers in the lobby on a credenza.
“I bet Dale hates these,” Heaven muttered as she touched them lightly as she passed.
When she got to the penthouse level, Dale was standing at the elevator door, waiting to greet her. “What in the world brings you here on a Saturday morning?” he said as he held out his arms and gave her a big hug.
“I guess I can’t just say I was in the neighborhood, can I?”
“Not with any success.” Dale took Heaven’s arm and they went in to the apartment.
“Wow,” Heaven said, truly impressed for a change. The place was gorgeous, full of lovely French nineteenth century furniture mixed with art deco pieces, oriental rugs, and a great collection of old portraits from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The rooms reflected the kind of eclectic taste that Heaven also had, only Dale’s was worked out on a more expensive scale. Dale himself was an elegant silver-haired man, dressed in a Harris tweed sports jacket and dark green corduroy pants.
“Would you like some coffee?” Dale asked, a mischievous grin on his face.
“Yes, but what are you looking at me like that for? You look like the cat that swallowed the canary,” Heaven said as she went toward a beautiful silver service that just happened to be on the sideboard of the dining room with coffee and a plate of scones sitting nearby.
If he didn’t know I was coming, maybe he was expecting someone else, Heaven thought. Maybe someone else was here. Maybe that’s why he’s smiling so funny. “Dale, were you expecting someone else? Have I interrupted something?”
Dale poured her a cup. “You take cream, no sugar, right?” He handed her the cup and slipped a tiny sconeand a chocolate truffle on the saucer. “You’re sure full of questions. Let’s take them in order. I was smiling at you because I have a feeling you’re investigating one of your famous cases. I can just feel it. I look like the cat that swallowed the canary because I have a feeling you’re going to ask for my help. No, I wasn’t expecting anyone and you didn’t interrupt a thing except me reading the
Star
, which didn’t take long. I use my silver and my good china all the time. I’m not getting any younger and I’m not saving them for a special occasion. I enjoy using my beautiful things.” He sat down on a big, down-filled couch and patted a place next to him. “Now, what is it? An antiques scam of some kind?”
Heaven sat down and hoped she wouldn’t disappoint Dale, since she had no antique scam to consult about. “Do you remember last Sunday, when the blimp crashed and the pilot was shot?”
Dale shook his head sadly. “Kids with guns. I tell you, how that Charlton Heston can hold up his head when these kids go around shooting off these high-powered rifles in the heart of town, killing their classmates and now, some poor airship pilot.”
Heaven perked up. “What makes you think it was a kid? Did you see anyone?”
“No, that’s just a grumpy old man talking, Katy. I was going to an afternoon performance of the Nutcracker Ballet last Sunday with some friends and I got caught
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