it's the study in back of the dining room. you'll see the police rope. if you'll excuse me, i'll be in my garden.
the other survivors. pretty aren't they?
twenty-one and twenty-three. are you finished in the study?
jane.
those girls and that family. how do you know them?
consider it lucky if it was a brief encounter.
back to condolences. thank you for being so nice, mr.--
good-bye.
so. what brings you around again? considering a courtin' the old rich widow?
you either are or you aren't.
eldridge had cancer. i half expected it. we weren't that close anymore. you married?
god. newlyweds. nothing better, is there?
eldridge and emmett went way back. they served on the california real estate board together. but emmett was a bit of a crook. my husband got him kicked off the board for building dangerous buildings under phony corporations.
he had his moments. most of it was out of guilt. he owned slum blocks in san pedro. when he learned he had cancer, he really started feeling guilty. he voted democratic last year. even went in and had meetings with the city council. i'm sure he gave them dirt on emmett.
same day eldridge killed himself. apropos, i guess.
my husband was rich and did a mean charleston. i loved him until i found out he was cheating on me. now i'm starting to love him again. how strange.
you're very accepting of other people's frailties. you're young. you should have illusions.
so how'd a cop get mixed up with madeleine sprague? it was madeleine, i assume?
don't play dumb, bucky. the girl's a roundheels. always has been.
i'm sorry. she can't help it i'm sure. she probably inherited it from her mother.
you figure out the rest, officer.
valuable, too. eldridge bought it for my birthday a couple years ago. i hate it. want to take it with you?
thank you, then. you were my best condoler.
and then eldridge said: i'm sure that's the case mr. mayor, but that's not my dog and those sure as hell aren't my shoes!
i'd been thinking about giving it to charity, but it's too valuable. i found eldridge's receipt.
you'll appreciate the coincidence--
what is it--