Free An Inconvenient Woman by Dominick Dunne

against a backboard issued from an unseen court somewhere behind the house. Pauline was wearing a cashmere sweater over her shoulders, and she pulled it together in front of her as if she were chilly, although it was not cold. Instinctively, both Camilla and Philip realized that the player was probably Kippie. Turning, Pauline greeted Philip warmly. If she was surprised to see him in the company of Camilla, wearing the same clothes he had been wearing the night before, she gave no such indication.
    “I don’t see Jules’s car,” said Camilla.
    “He went out very early this morning, as soon as he got the call, and he’s not back yet,” said Pauline.
    “Who called him?” asked Camilla.
    “I don’t know. The police, I suppose.”
    Camilla and Philip looked at each other.
    “Is Rose still here?” asked Camilla.
    “Heavens, yes. On her second Bloody Mary already and her fortieth cigarette. I’m always afraid she’s going to burn down my house,” replied Pauline. She was back to being herself again, charming, and in charge.
    “How’s she taking the news?”
    “In absolute despair, calling everyone. Blaming herself for everything. If only they’d been speaking, this never would have happened, that kind of talk.”
    “Like most lifelong friends, they were always not speaking,” said Camilla, and both she and Pauline laughed.
    From within the car, the dog started to whine.
    “What in the world is that?” asked Pauline.
    “Oh, my God, I forgot,” said Camilla. “It’s Astrid. We brought Astrid. I couldn’t leave her in that house. Poor little thing, she was hiding under the sofa in the library. I thought Rose might want her back, as she gave her to Hector in the first place.”
    “That will be just what she needs,” said Pauline. “She’s planning the funeral already. High Mass at Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills. She wants Archbishop Cooning to officiate, can you imagine, and she’s going to give a big lunch after the funeral at the Los Angeles Country Club. Are you going to mind that she’s taken over completely?”
    “Hell, no,” said Camilla. “Rose is at her best when she’s planning a party, and that’s exactly what she’ll turn this into.”
    “Now, come in, the two of you,” said Pauline.
    Philip, who had been watching Camilla and Pauline, said, “The papers are going to have a field day with this story. I’m surprised they’re not buzzing your bell down at the gates now.”
    “Oh, no, I shouldn’t think so,” said Pauline.
    “I mean, it has all the elements, doesn’t it? Land Grant family. Prominent social figure. Millionaire, or at least one presumes. Uncle of Camilla Ebury. Close personal friend of Mrs. Jules Mendelson. It all sounds very front page to me.”
    “Oh, no. I shouldn’t think it would be played up,” repeated Pauline, shaking her head.
    “But why not?” asked Philip.
    “That’s what Jules said when he called. He was at Sandy Pond’s office at the
Tribunal
.”
    “But, Pauline, they took Raymundo away in handcuffs,” said Camilla. “I saw him with my own eyes.”
    “They’ve let him go by now. A mix-up, apparently. Anyway, come in. Rose will be having an anxiety attack.”
    Philip, a newcomer and an outsider in the group, declined. Twenty-four hours earlier he had not known any of these people, and now he felt awkward among them in such personal moments. “I won’t come in, Pauline. I’d better get back to the hotel and check on my luggage and call Casper Stieglitz to tell him I’ve arrived.”
    Pauline looked at him and smiled. “Happy birthday,” she said.
    Philip smiled back, touched that she had remembered.
    “I didn’t know it was your birthday, Philip,” said Camilla.
    “So much has happened since last night, I’d forgotten it myself,” he said.
    “How old are you?” she asked.
    “Thirty,” he answered.
    “I’m thirty-two,” she said.
    “I like older women.”
    Camilla laughed. “I can’t thank you enough for seating me next