For Sale in Palm Springs: The Henry Wright Mystery Series (14 page)

Henry walked into his home
office and called Rosie at Coachella Real Estate. After about six
rings Tiffany answered – Henry could picture her hanging up the
other line, putting the magazine and nail file in the drawer before
picking up his call – she said that Rosie was out to lunch and
would be back around 2:30. He left a message for Rosie to call him
at his house when she returned. He picked up his handwritten yellow
pieces of paper and the folder that Rosie gave him and started
looking through it again. He thought the answer was in there
somewhere amongst Thornbird’s former customers, but after this
morning’s interviews he couldn’t be sure. Although Anchula’s
presence in Palm Springs was suspicious, it certainly didn’t mean
that he did it.

He took the card out of his
shirt pocket and picked up the phone. The first call to Anchula’s
home resulted in Henry leaving a message on his answering machine.
The second call to Anchula’s cell phone had the same result. He was
probably in the office; Henry thought he would try again after
dinner. Anchula had to check his messages some time, Henry grabbed
another piece of paper and started to make a list of questions to
ask Anchula. This one was going to be different than the Millers
and the Wadowicz’s, he just knew it, he had the feeling that
Anchula was not one of Rex Thornbird’s satisfied customers willing
to overlook a premium added to a sales price.

Perhaps the stranger and the
enlightenment his fortune cookie the other night had referred to
was Howard James’ news. He sat back in his chair to think about how
this might have played out.

Chapter 10

Henry was startled when the
phone rang. He must have dozed off.

“
Hello?” “Henry, its Rosie
returning your call, how have you been?” The familiar voice said in
his ear. “I’m good, well, thank you for returning my call. What
time is it?” Henry found himself fumbling for his watch that he had
put on the desk. “It’s a quarter after three, I’m sorry, did I wake
you?” Rosie sounded concerned. “No, no, not at all, I’m not a
napper.” Henry felt that he wasn’t really, though the warm Palm
Springs weather certainly made afternoon siestas easy. It must have
been the alcohol during brunch that was having this effect on
him.

“
What can I do for you?”
Rosie’s voice sounded as smooth as the morning’s champagne. “Well,
I sort of want to talk to you a little bit more about Rex
Thornbird’s relationship with the other agents in your office and
perhaps agents in other offices as well.” “You don’t think someone
in our office did it?” Rosie asked with alarm in her voice. “No,
no, not at all. But I do want to get a better understanding of who
might have thought of him as a rival or maybe who didn’t get along
with him.” Henry explained.

“
Ok, I understand.” She said
tentatively, she didn’t sound as though she understood. “I have a
busy afternoon, today was the day for real estate tours and I have
a lot of notes to transcribe. How about dinner tonight, say around
seven?” “That sounds great!” Henry had to be careful to control the
enthusiasm in his voice. “Where would you like to meet?” He asked
with a little less excitement. “Well, we sort of had a Mexican
lunch the other day. Do you like Chinese?” He could hear Rosie
thinking on the other side of the line. “Sure, do you want to go to
Lam’s? Henry remembered his take out from last night. “No, I was
thinking of something a little nicer. Have you ever been to P.F.
Chang’s Bistro in Rancho Mirage?” He heard Rosie flipping pages in
the background. “Is that the place that always has a line outside
in The River shopping center?” Henry thought he had seen it when he
drove out to Palm Desert on Route one-eleven. “Yes, that’s the one,
I’ll make a reservation for seven, is that ok?” Rosie asked. “I’ll
see you there.” Henry answered once again trying to keep his voice
calm. “Ok, until then. Oh, Henry?” Rosie’s voice was hesitant as
she started asking Henry a question.

“
Yes, what is it?” Henry
hesitated as well. “Dinner doesn’t need to be totally about
business does it? I think I’d like to get know you a little
better.” Rosie asked quietly. “No, no it certainly doesn’t, I’d
like that. See you at seven.” Henry answered. “Good, until then.”
Rosie hung up the phone. “Until then.” Henry said to a now quiet
phone as he hung up slowly.

He couldn’t believe what was
happening. He had not been interested in any women since getting
engaged to Irma over thirty-five years ago. Maybe what Charles had
said was true, he had been hiding from his emotions since Irma’s
death. But why now, and why did he feel this way about Rosie
Murphy? He couldn’t figure that out. Was he cheating on Irma by
seeing Rosie for dinner, it was more than business; he couldn’t
deny that, he wanted it to be more than business as well. He could
certainly talk to other people in the Coachella Real Estate office
about Thornbird and his interactions with the other employees
there.

He had a feeling that for
the price of a large latte at Starbucks that Tiffany would tell him
anything he wanted to know. So why didn’t he call Tiffany? There
was something about Rosie Murphy that touched a chord deep within
Henry; he was determined to pursue what that was. He wasn’t really
cheating on Irma, they had had a great marriage, and sure it had
its ups and downs, what relationship doesn’t?

He looked down at the
wedding ring on his left hand and wondered what Irma would have
wanted? He was sure that she would have liked to see him happy.
Would a relationship with Rosie make him happy? Would Irma have
approved? Was Rosie interested in a relationship with him? He
thought so; otherwise she would not have mentioned that they didn’t
need to talk just about business tonight. He looked out the window
and decided to go and swim his laps now; he hadn’t had a chance to
do that this morning. Perhaps exercise would clear his head and
make him see what he should do.

About an hour later, he
climbed out of the pool and grabbed his towel. The swim felt good
and usually he had more energy afterwards but not today. Thinking
while he was doing his laps didn’t do anything to help him figure
out what to do. He decided to lay out on the chaise lounge and get
some sun, what good was living in Palm Springs if you didn’t take
advantage of the weather.

He looked at the wedding
ring on his left hand again, slipped it off and looked at it
closely. It was odd; he suddenly had a hard time remembering Irma’s
face. He tried to remember the day, now nearly forty years ago,
when she had first slipped it on his finger. It was difficult.
Frustrated, he laid it on the table next to the chaise. His skin
was white underneath, and even without the ring, it was obvious
that he had been wearing one. His hand felt a little funny the
little piece of metal not in its usual place as he laid down on the
chaise lounge and enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine. Soon he fell
asleep for the second time that afternoon.

Henry woke with a chill. The
sun had set behind the San Jacinto Mountains. He looked at the pool
clock and noticed that it was 5:30. He was supposed to meet Rosie
at 7. He jumped up, grabbed his towel and swimming goggles and ran
inside to shower and get ready. He couldn’t believe that he had
napped for almost an hour. It was a good thing that he had an all
year tan; otherwise he probably would have sunburn to deal with as
well. The sun was not at full strength in April, but here in the
desert, most palefaces got sunburned pretty quickly.

After his shower he shaved
for the second time that day, and dug around in the back of his
medicine cabinet for some aftershave that he knew his daughter had
sent him a Christmas or two ago. He found it, splashed some on and
went looking in his closet for something nice to wear to go out. He
picked out a pair of khaki slacks, a white shirt and he had a blue
blazer in the coat closet by the front door. He didn’t want to look
too dressed up, so he decided to go sock less in his
loafers.

At 6:30 he grabbed his
blazer, and then remembered that he wanted to try Anchula one more
time. He walked back to his office and called Anchula’s house and
cell phone and left messages in both places. On his way out to the
garage he wrote a message for Charles on the refrigerator that he
would be home late. He wasn’t sure of that, but he certainly hoped
he would be.

He took Sunrise Way back to
Route one-eleven and made his way to the River Shopping Center
where parking was nearly impossible. He finally found a spot but
was a little late as he arrived at the restaurant and checked in at
the front desk to see if Mrs. Murphy was seated already. The
hostess told him she wasn’t there yet, she gave him one of those
vibrating beeper things that he dropped into the pocket of his
coat, she said she’d buzz him if Mrs. Murphy showed up or as soon
as their table became available.

He couldn’t decide if he
should wait outside where there were a lot of other people standing
around or in the bar. He decided to wait in the bar. Maybe a drink
wasn’t such a bad idea. He couldn’t believe he was nervous. He had
been a chief of police for many years; he was used to interviewing
people; he’d met hundreds if not thousands of people while he was
investigating crimes, yet he felt like he was back in High School
waiting for his date at her parent’s house.

“
What’ll it be buddy?” The
bartender startled him out of his daydream. “Gin and tonic please.”
Henry wondered if he should order Rosie a margarita. She enjoyed
hers at lunch yesterday; he liked watching her lick the salt of the
rim with her tongue. “Hi Henry, been waiting long?” Rosie was at
his side as the restaurant’s beeper started vibrating in his
pocket. “Here you go pal, that’ll be four fifty.” The bartender put
the gin and tonic down in front of him. He didn’t know what to do
first; he bent down to take the vibrating beeper out of his pocket,
laid it on the bar, and reached into his pants pocket to get his
money out to pay for the drink as Rosie stood on the tips of her
toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “Eh, no I just got here, would
you like something to drink?” He was surprised by her greeting, but
at the same time, the nervous feeling in his stomach was gone
instantaneously. “A cosmopolitan please.” She said to the bartender
as she squeezed Henry’s arm. “You look very nice tonight.” Her
green eyes were sparkling. “Thank you, so do you.” Henry laid a
twenty on the bar as the bartender went off to make Rosie’s drink.
She certainly hadn’t dressed like this in the office. She was
wearing heels again, but she had on a black skirt, not too short,
but Henry did notice that she had nice legs. A simple white silk
blouse and a small black sweater that she had draped over her
shoulders made her look very elegant.

“
Sorry I’m late; I would
have been here on time but I didn’t expect parking to be so
difficult, I couldn’t find a single space and then the movie must
have let out and suddenly a wholly bunch of people left and a space
opened up; I guess our table is ready, your thing is buzzing; Geez,
you smell nice tonight; where is that bartender with my drink?”
Rosie seemed to be as nervous as Henry had been until she showed
up. “You’re doing it again.” Henry laughed as the bartender set the
cosmopolitan down on the bar in front of them. “Take a deep breath,
take a sip of your drink, and let’s take it easy – we have all
evening. Unless you need to be somewhere after we eat?”

Rosie picked up the drink
and took a small sip, “No, I don’t need to be anywhere at all. You
can ask me about Rex Thornbird all evening long, though I hope you
won’t.” “Not to worry, I want to find out a little bit more about
Rosie Murphy tonight.” Henry took his change from the bartender.
“Are you ready to sit down or would you like to stay here and
finish our drinks?” “Well, since we’re not in a hurry, let’s stay
in the bar and when we finish our drinks, we can ask them to take
us to our table, let me go tell the hostess.” Rosie set her drink
down on the bar, gave Henry’s arm another squeeze and walked over
to the hostess stand. Henry took a sip of his own drink and left a
generous trip on the bar for the bartender. Bartenders work as
hard, and often harder, than waitresses he felt.

Rosie came back in and
climbed on the bar stool next to his. She demurely straightened her
skirt after getting settled, though it did nothing to hide her
shapely legs, and picked up her drink. “Well, Mr. Wright, what sort
of designs do you have on a girl like me, just exactly where is
that wedding ring that you have been wearing?”

Henry blushed slightly as he
looked at his left hand, where his ring had been there was now a
slight pinkish stripe on his skin. “Oh no, I left it on the table
next to the chaise lounge by the pool. I didn’t mean to take it
off, really, I took it off after my swim, put it on the table and
must have forgotten it there – and my intentions are quite
honorable – really – actually I don’t really know what my
intentions are, sorry.” “Now you’re doing it.” Rosie smiled,
“Relax, take a breath, take a sip of your drink. We’re both adults
and do not need to answer to anyone. I’m glad you’re not wearing it
actually, I think you’re making a transition in your life, and if
I’ve contributed to you moving forward, then I’m glad.”

“
Actually I had not really
consciously thought about that.” Henry sipped his gin and tonic.
“Moving forward in my life, I mean.”

Rosie picked up her
cosmopolitan and looked off into the distance. “You know, I’ve been
there. You’ve experienced this loss, you pick up the pieces, you go
forward with your life, but you really just exist, you’re not
living – do you know what I mean?” “Yes, I know what you mean; I
guess I just had not thought of it that way. I thought I was pretty
happy with my life.” Until I met you Henry thought, but he didn’t
say it. Could this petite woman who was so full of energy and so
unlike Irma make him happy?