comes out of the bathroom she uses her face like a film star meeting the public. You know, the look-but-don’t-touch expression.”
“Condescending.”
“Yes. Well, I think Randy and Todd decided they didn’t like being her public and decided to protest.”
“Winny, what did they do?”
“They ran the piano up against the bathroom door.”
Flynn could just see his twin teenage sons doing so. Not only doing so, but doing so quickly and quietly.
“Yes?”
“Jenny couldn’t get out.”
“There’s a bathroom window.”
“Not very big and high up in the wall. Quite a fall to the ground outside. So Jenny began to shout and scream. She said she was late for swimming practice. Which she was.”
“Jenny never lies.”
“Then Mother began managing things.”
“Good.”
“Not good. There was a weak floorboard.”
“Oh, no.”
“One leg of the piano fell through the floorboard. The piano is stuck against the bathroom door. Jenny inside, crying. Randy and Todd outside, laughing. Mother up and down the cellar stairs, yelling about wires and pipes which might be broken.”
“Winny, how did you get this phone number?”
“It was on the pad next to the phone. I thought I should call you. There has to be a solution, Da. This uproar has been going on for almost an hour.”
“Can’t the boys lift the piano?”
“They say they can’t, Da. They’ve made a big thing of trying although, privately, I think most of their energies have gone into grunting loudly. And laughing.”
“Jenny is missing swimming practice because she’s stuck in the bathroom because a piano is stuck against the bathroom door?”
“What’s the solution, Da?”
“Winny. The solution is perfectly simple.”
“What would it be, Da?”
“While you and Randy and Todd are lifting the front end of the piano…”
“Yes, Da?”
“Have your mother sit at the keyboard.”
“Yes, Da.”
“And play something light. Good-bye, Winny.”
“Good-bye, Da.”
16
“G lad to see you didn’t dress for dinner,” Flynn said to the naked Wendell Oland.
The members of The Rod and Gun Club were having drinks in the Great Hall.
Oland looked at Flynn as does an experienced fish at a purchased fly.
Cocky was nowhere in the room.
Away from the bar table, Ernest Clifford sat alone on one of the leather divans, sipping a beer. He was leafing through the magazine
Country Journal
.
Flynn sat next to Clifford on the divan and enquired easily, “What is your relationship to Buckingham?”
Clifford looked over at Buckingham standing by the bar table, drink in hand, talking with Wahler. “He’s my uncle.”
“Oh.”
“My mother’s brother.”
“And are you friendly?”
“Sure. Why not?”
Granted, Flynn had seen the incident at some distance, through a window, under artificial light, but Buckingham’s hitting Clifford in the back of the head in the lake less than an hour ago had not seemed friendly. The head-down way Clifford had then walked away from Buckingham had not seemed a friendly reaction either.
Sitting next to Clifford on the divan there was little doubt in Flynn’s mind the young, tall, broad-shouldered Clifford could have made pudding of the older, fatter Buckingham within a count of thirty.
Dunn Roberts brought Flynn a bourbon and water. “That should whet your appetite, Flynn.”
“Thank you, Senator.”
After his early-morning fishing expedition, drinking his breakfast, napping through lunch, Senator Dunn Roberts appeared relaxed and affable.
“We haven’t had a chance to talk yet, Flynn. Anything I can do…”
“One simple question: Where were you last night at eleven?”
“In bed, reading a book. Going fishing early this morning. So went up about nine-thirty. Couldn’t sleep. So read. Heard the bang. Came down. Somebody had shot Huttenbach.”
“What book?”
“Crozier’s De Gaulle.”
“Were you in on the decision to move Huttenbach’s body?”
Dunn Roberts looked around the
“Condescending.”
“Yes. Well, I think Randy and Todd decided they didn’t like being her public and decided to protest.”
“Winny, what did they do?”
“They ran the piano up against the bathroom door.”
Flynn could just see his twin teenage sons doing so. Not only doing so, but doing so quickly and quietly.
“Yes?”
“Jenny couldn’t get out.”
“There’s a bathroom window.”
“Not very big and high up in the wall. Quite a fall to the ground outside. So Jenny began to shout and scream. She said she was late for swimming practice. Which she was.”
“Jenny never lies.”
“Then Mother began managing things.”
“Good.”
“Not good. There was a weak floorboard.”
“Oh, no.”
“One leg of the piano fell through the floorboard. The piano is stuck against the bathroom door. Jenny inside, crying. Randy and Todd outside, laughing. Mother up and down the cellar stairs, yelling about wires and pipes which might be broken.”
“Winny, how did you get this phone number?”
“It was on the pad next to the phone. I thought I should call you. There has to be a solution, Da. This uproar has been going on for almost an hour.”
“Can’t the boys lift the piano?”
“They say they can’t, Da. They’ve made a big thing of trying although, privately, I think most of their energies have gone into grunting loudly. And laughing.”
“Jenny is missing swimming practice because she’s stuck in the bathroom because a piano is stuck against the bathroom door?”
“What’s the solution, Da?”
“Winny. The solution is perfectly simple.”
“What would it be, Da?”
“While you and Randy and Todd are lifting the front end of the piano…”
“Yes, Da?”
“Have your mother sit at the keyboard.”
“Yes, Da.”
“And play something light. Good-bye, Winny.”
“Good-bye, Da.”
16
“G lad to see you didn’t dress for dinner,” Flynn said to the naked Wendell Oland.
The members of The Rod and Gun Club were having drinks in the Great Hall.
Oland looked at Flynn as does an experienced fish at a purchased fly.
Cocky was nowhere in the room.
Away from the bar table, Ernest Clifford sat alone on one of the leather divans, sipping a beer. He was leafing through the magazine
Country Journal
.
Flynn sat next to Clifford on the divan and enquired easily, “What is your relationship to Buckingham?”
Clifford looked over at Buckingham standing by the bar table, drink in hand, talking with Wahler. “He’s my uncle.”
“Oh.”
“My mother’s brother.”
“And are you friendly?”
“Sure. Why not?”
Granted, Flynn had seen the incident at some distance, through a window, under artificial light, but Buckingham’s hitting Clifford in the back of the head in the lake less than an hour ago had not seemed friendly. The head-down way Clifford had then walked away from Buckingham had not seemed a friendly reaction either.
Sitting next to Clifford on the divan there was little doubt in Flynn’s mind the young, tall, broad-shouldered Clifford could have made pudding of the older, fatter Buckingham within a count of thirty.
Dunn Roberts brought Flynn a bourbon and water. “That should whet your appetite, Flynn.”
“Thank you, Senator.”
After his early-morning fishing expedition, drinking his breakfast, napping through lunch, Senator Dunn Roberts appeared relaxed and affable.
“We haven’t had a chance to talk yet, Flynn. Anything I can do…”
“One simple question: Where were you last night at eleven?”
“In bed, reading a book. Going fishing early this morning. So went up about nine-thirty. Couldn’t sleep. So read. Heard the bang. Came down. Somebody had shot Huttenbach.”
“What book?”
“Crozier’s De Gaulle.”
“Were you in on the decision to move Huttenbach’s body?”
Dunn Roberts looked around the
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