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"Hello, Dixie. You look great. I wasn't sure you'd remember me."
"How could I forget?" she said. "I'm sorry you missed Eric." Her gaze took me in without so much as a flicker of interest. Like her, I wore jeans, though mine were cut without style, the kind worn to wash cars or clean hair clots from the bathroom standpipe. In the years since I'd seen her, she'd risen in social stature, acquiring an almost indescribable air of elegance. No need to wear diamonds when plastic would do. Her jacket was wrinkled in the ma
She glanced at her watch, which she wore on the i
My watch said 4:10. I said, "Sure, why not?" I almost made a joke about creme de menthe frappes, but a black guy in a white jacket had materialized, a silver tray in hand. A bartender of her own? This was getting good.
She said, "What would you like"
"Chardo
"We'll be out on the patio," she remarked, without directly addressing her faithful attendant. My, my, my. Another cipher accounted for in the nameless servant class. I noticed Dixie didn't need to specify what she'd be drinking.
I followed her through the stone-floored dining room. The table was a rhomboid of cherry, with sufficient chairs assembled for a party of twelve. Something odd was at work, and it took me a moment to figure out what it was. There were no steps, no changes in elevation, no area rugs, and no signs of wall-to-wall carpet within view. I thought of Eric in his wheelchair, wondering if the floors were left bare for his benefit.
It struck me as peculiar that Dixie hadn't yet questioned the reason for my una
Dixie opened a sliding glass door and we passed out onto a spacious screened-in patio. The floor here was smooth stone, and the area was rimmed with a series of twenty-foot trees in enormous terracotta pots. The branches were filled with goldfinches, all twittering as they hopped from limb to limb. There was a grouping of upholstered patio furniture nearby, in addition to a glass-topped table and four thickly cushioned chairs. Everything looked spotless. I wondered where the little birdies dropped their tiny green and white turds.
"This is actually a combination greenhouse and aviary. These are specimen plants, proteas and bromeliads. South American," she said.
I murmured "gorgeous" for lack of anything better. I thought a bromeliad was a remedy for acid indigestion. She gestured toward the conversational grouping of chairs. From somewhere, I could already smell di
As soon as we sat down, the man reappeared with drinks on his tray. He gave us each a tiny cloth napkin in case we urped something up. Dixie's beverage of choice was a martini straight up in a forties-style glass. Four green olives were lined up on a toothpick like beads on an abacus. We each took a sip of our respective libations. My Chardo
I shook my head. "I quit."
"Good for you. I'll never give it up myself. All this talk about health is fairly tedious. You probably exercise, too." She cocked her head in reflection, striking a bemused pose. "Let's see. What's in fashion at the moment? You lift weights," she said, and pointed a finger in my direction.
"I jog five days a week, too. Don't forget that," I said, and pointed back at her.
She took another sip of her drink. "Stephie tells me you're looking for Mickey. Has he disappeared?"
"Not as far as I know, but I'd like to get in touch with him. The only number I have turns out to be a disco
"Not for years," she said. A smile formed on her lips, and she checked her fingernails. "That's a curious question. I can't believe you'd ask me. I'm sure there are other folks much more likely to know."
"Such as?"
"Shack, for one. And who's the other cop? Lit something. They were always thick as thieves."
"I just talked to Shack, which is how I got to you. Roy Littenberg died. I didn't realize you and Eric were still in town."
She studied me for a moment through her cigarette smoke. Miss Dixie wasn't dumb, and I could see her analyze the situation. "Where's all this coming from?"
"All what?" "You have something else in mind."
I reached down for my shoulder bag and removed the letter from the outside pocket. "Got your letter," I said.
"My letter," she repeated blankly, her gaze fixed on the envelope.
"The one you sent me in 1974," I said. "Mickey tossed it in a box with some other mail that must have come the same day. He failed to deliver it, so I never read the letter until today." For once, I seemed to have captured her full attention.
"You're not serious."
"I am." I held up the letter like a paddle in a silent auction: My bid. "I had no idea you were balling my beloved husband. You want to talk about that?"
She laughed and then caught herself. Her teeth were now as perfect as white horseshoes hinged together at the rear of her mouth. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I hope you won't take offense, but you're such a boob when it comes to men."
"Thanks. You know how I value your opinion."
"Nothing to be ashamed of. Most women don't have the first clue about men."
"And you do?"
"Of course." Dixie studied me over the ribbon of cigarette smoke, taking my measure with her eyes. She paused and leaned forward to tap off a cylinder of ash into a cut-glass dish on the coffee table in front of her.
"What's your theory, Miss Dixie, if I may be so bold as to inquire?" I said, affecting a Southern accent.
"Take advantage of them before they take advantage of you," she said, her smile as thin as glass.
"Nice. Romantic. I better write that down." I pretended to make a note on the palm of my hand.
"Well, it's not nice but it's practical. In case you haven't noticed, most men don't give a shit about romance. They want to get in your panties and let it go at that. What else can I say?"
"That about covers it," I said. "May I ask, why him? There were dozens of cops at the Honky-Tonk back then." She hesitated, apparently considering what posture to affect. "He was very good," she said, with a trace of a smile.