Free Suspicion of Guilt by Barbara Parker Page B

might not understand it. One time Althea said, 'Would you believe what that blankety-blank has done now?' The way she said it made me think she admired him for doing what he wanted, regardless of how much money she had. Althea sounded hateful sometimes, but she wasn't."
    Irene smiled. "Oh, Althea could rant and rave. But she was never petty about it, never selfish. It's hard to explain. I've never known anyone who cared so little what people thought of her. She was about to fly off to Greece all by herself and have an adventure." Irene looked into her lap. "I think about her a lot."
    Gail scooted her mother over to sit on the same chair. "Jessica said Althea left you an emerald ring. Is that true?"
    "Well ... yes."
    "You didn't tell me."
    Irene raised her chin. "I haven't seen you. And anyway, I didn't want to be disrespectful to Althea by being glad she left me something." She extended her arm and studied her small hand. "It would be lovely but ... I'll probably sell it. Is that awful of me? I could redo the kitchen and replace the tile on the back porch." Then her eyes welled up. "Poor Althea. I'd so much rather have her than a new porch."
    Gail hugged her. Her chin fit on top of her mother's head. "Don't. Althie would like knowing you could sit out on a new back porch and watch the water and think of her."
    "That's just what I would do." Irene laughed. "I'd fix a pitcher of martinis in her memory." She added quietly, "But if the will isn't any good, I guess the list isn't either?"
    "I'm sorry."
    Irene bit her lips, trying not to smile. "She left Jessica a chair. A very nice chair, from a palace in Venice."
    "I hope it's sturdy."
    "Now, now."
    Gail whispered, "Althea liked you better."
    "Oh, she did not." But Irene was smiling.

    It took Gail fifteen minutes to cross the Julia Turtle Causeway, find Irving Adler's house, and park under a shade tree in his front yard. She wanted to get to ex-mayor Adler before Jessica Simms finished her meeting and thought to call him. The house was a one-story stucco on a street laid out in the Fifties, more or less unchanged thanks to a waterway separating the neighborhood from a row of big hotels to the east. Across the street a crew of black men in matching green T-shirts was mowing and edging a lawn. Other than that, the neighborhood was quiet.
    On the porch Gail rang the bell and from the other side of the door came a sharp yap, then high-pitched snarls getting louder, then little thuds, as if some small animal were throwing itself against the wood.
    The inner door opened, leaving a storm door between Gail and an aged, pop-eyed toy poodle yapping through the glass. A red bow quivered in its topknot.
    "Mitzi, be quiet!" A stoop-shouldered man peered out. "Who is it?" The dog stood trembling between his feet.
    "Mr. Adler? It's Gail Connor, Irene's daughter." She spoke over the rattle of the lawnmower. "I'd like to talk to you about Althea Tillett. I'm an attorney. I represent her nephew, Patrick Norris." The sun reflected off the white paint. Gail was wearing tan slacks and a cool top, but she could feel the sweat tickling down her back.
    Adler tilted his head to get a better fix through his glasses. "Irene said her daughter was a lawyer. Is that you?"
    "Yes. May I come in?"
    He hesitated. "What's this about Althea?"
    The poodle snarled. One eye was clouded with cataract. Except where the clippers had left a patch of fur around its shoulders, puffy as a life vest, the dog's skin was a mottled bluish gray. There was a ball of fuzz over each foot and one at the end of its tail.
    "If I could just talk to you for a minute, I could clear up some of Mr. Norris's concerns." Gail gave a reassuring smile.
    After a second or two, he unlocked the storm door. The poodle rushed at Gail's toes. She wished she were wearing tennis shoes instead of sandals. "Quite a watchdog you've got there," she said, pulling her foot out of the way.
    "She won't bite you. She's a little love. She loves her papa." Adler