matter-of-factly.
“You were a violin prodigy ? I never once saw you play violin.”
“Did Pip make you stop?” Vonn asked. “Did you give up violin for Pip?”
“Don’t be silly,” Nola said.
“So what about Laura Dorrie?” I asked.
“Laura’s father owned Dorrie’s Steak House downtown, not far from the townhome where we lived. The Dorries were very wealthy.”
“So you killed him?” I asked.
Nola ignored me. “Laura had the nicest clothes. Little sweater sets and silk blouses and gorgeous wool skirts.”
“You were jealous? That’s your regret?”
“Laura played violin, too,” Nola continued. “Before school even started that fall I auditioned for the senior orchestra leader and was told I was going to replace her as first chair. There was a whole to-do about it and her father was supposed to talk with the school principal but he missed the meeting. Everything was made worse by the fact that Laura Dorrie’s father had just hired my father as a line cook at his restaurant.”
“You said your father was a piano teacher.”
“He was also a line cook. His English wasn’t good. He had a thick Hungarian accent.”
“And you were a violin prodigy,” Bridget said. “Why didn’t you tell us any of this before?”
“Why would I want to remember painful things?” Nola said.
“But never to mention that you were a prodigy ?” Vonn said.
“When I was playing the violin it was the most important thing. When I stopped playing it wasn’t. I had Pip. And Bridget. And then you, Vonn.”
“Laura Dorrie?” I prompted again.
“Right. That first day of school Laura was assigned as my student guide because we both played violin and she introduced me to the whole graduating class as the new girl whoseHungarian father washed the dishes at her father’s restaurant. When I told Laura that my father was a cook, not a dishwasher, she just said, ‘Tomato tomahto,’ then she said that she’d kill me if I didn’t stay away from Patrick Devine.”
“You didn’t.”
“I didn’t. And when it got around that Patrick had asked me on a date Laura Dorrie showed up at my locker, grabbed my wrist, breaking the clasp on my bracelet, which had belonged to my grandmother in Europe so it was very special to me, and she told me that I was going to be ‘sorry’ for what I did.”
“She broke your bracelet?” Vonn asked.
“Yes, and she didn’t even apologize. She just said, ‘I don’t like thieves.’ ”
“So?”
“So I fixed the bracelet but I couldn’t sleep that night. I knew something awful was going to happen.”
“Another clairvoyant,” Vonn said.
“Laura didn’t say boo all week long but I could see in her eyes she was planning something. When the final school bell rang I was relieved the week was done.”
“You had a date with Pip that night?”
“He wasn’t Pip then. He was Patrick, and I did have a date with him but my parents didn’t know. They didn’t allow dating.”
“What happened with Laura?” I asked.
“I was walking home and I could hear my mother shouting from half a block away. Then I heard my father’s voice. He was supposed to be at work.” Nola took a deep breath. “They were speaking Hungarian so it took a while for me to piece together that Mr. Dorrie had just fired my father and was going to lay criminal charges against him because two boxes of frozen NewYork strip loins belonging to the restaurant had been found hidden under a coat in his bicycle carriage.”
Vonn and Bridget murmured their sympathy.
“My mother didn’t think for one moment that my father was stealing strip loins from the restaurant, because we hadn’t eaten a decent cut of beef in years. It was obvious that my poor gentle father was being framed. He said it was because of his accent. My mother was wailing, ‘Who would do such a thing? Why?’ ”
“Laura Dorrie?” Vonn blurted.
Nola nodded. “Laura Dorrie. My poor father had been wrongly accused and humiliated and
“You were a violin prodigy ? I never once saw you play violin.”
“Did Pip make you stop?” Vonn asked. “Did you give up violin for Pip?”
“Don’t be silly,” Nola said.
“So what about Laura Dorrie?” I asked.
“Laura’s father owned Dorrie’s Steak House downtown, not far from the townhome where we lived. The Dorries were very wealthy.”
“So you killed him?” I asked.
Nola ignored me. “Laura had the nicest clothes. Little sweater sets and silk blouses and gorgeous wool skirts.”
“You were jealous? That’s your regret?”
“Laura played violin, too,” Nola continued. “Before school even started that fall I auditioned for the senior orchestra leader and was told I was going to replace her as first chair. There was a whole to-do about it and her father was supposed to talk with the school principal but he missed the meeting. Everything was made worse by the fact that Laura Dorrie’s father had just hired my father as a line cook at his restaurant.”
“You said your father was a piano teacher.”
“He was also a line cook. His English wasn’t good. He had a thick Hungarian accent.”
“And you were a violin prodigy,” Bridget said. “Why didn’t you tell us any of this before?”
“Why would I want to remember painful things?” Nola said.
“But never to mention that you were a prodigy ?” Vonn said.
“When I was playing the violin it was the most important thing. When I stopped playing it wasn’t. I had Pip. And Bridget. And then you, Vonn.”
“Laura Dorrie?” I prompted again.
“Right. That first day of school Laura was assigned as my student guide because we both played violin and she introduced me to the whole graduating class as the new girl whoseHungarian father washed the dishes at her father’s restaurant. When I told Laura that my father was a cook, not a dishwasher, she just said, ‘Tomato tomahto,’ then she said that she’d kill me if I didn’t stay away from Patrick Devine.”
“You didn’t.”
“I didn’t. And when it got around that Patrick had asked me on a date Laura Dorrie showed up at my locker, grabbed my wrist, breaking the clasp on my bracelet, which had belonged to my grandmother in Europe so it was very special to me, and she told me that I was going to be ‘sorry’ for what I did.”
“She broke your bracelet?” Vonn asked.
“Yes, and she didn’t even apologize. She just said, ‘I don’t like thieves.’ ”
“So?”
“So I fixed the bracelet but I couldn’t sleep that night. I knew something awful was going to happen.”
“Another clairvoyant,” Vonn said.
“Laura didn’t say boo all week long but I could see in her eyes she was planning something. When the final school bell rang I was relieved the week was done.”
“You had a date with Pip that night?”
“He wasn’t Pip then. He was Patrick, and I did have a date with him but my parents didn’t know. They didn’t allow dating.”
“What happened with Laura?” I asked.
“I was walking home and I could hear my mother shouting from half a block away. Then I heard my father’s voice. He was supposed to be at work.” Nola took a deep breath. “They were speaking Hungarian so it took a while for me to piece together that Mr. Dorrie had just fired my father and was going to lay criminal charges against him because two boxes of frozen NewYork strip loins belonging to the restaurant had been found hidden under a coat in his bicycle carriage.”
Vonn and Bridget murmured their sympathy.
“My mother didn’t think for one moment that my father was stealing strip loins from the restaurant, because we hadn’t eaten a decent cut of beef in years. It was obvious that my poor gentle father was being framed. He said it was because of his accent. My mother was wailing, ‘Who would do such a thing? Why?’ ”
“Laura Dorrie?” Vonn blurted.
Nola nodded. “Laura Dorrie. My poor father had been wrongly accused and humiliated and
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