Ham Bones (5 page)

My knees jellied and I found myself sitting on the
horsehair sofa. Of all the things I'd expected, a brain
tumor wasn't one of them. "Shit."

"I've been at the hospital talking with the doctors. It's
a very dangerous operation, but it's her only hope of regaining her old life."

Regaining her old life. I pondered the many things that
could mean. "When is the surgery?"

"Next Monday." He cleared his throat. "I realize with
Graf Milieu in town you undoubtedly have better things
to do, but will you go with me to the hospital while they
operate?"

"Yes" I spoke without a second's thought. Whatever I
could do for Coleman, I would. "Graf is nothing to me,
Coleman, except for a few good memories and a lot of
pain. Once I thought I loved him, but that was a long time
ago. I was a different person then"

He looked away. "The only person I've ever loved is
you. No one else has even come close."

Could I feel any more like a cad? "I'll be ready to
leave whenever you say."

"Thank you" He kissed the top of my head. "Once this
is over, Sarah Booth, I want us to talk about the future. I
have to find out what's going to happen to Connie. Right
now she's still my wife. I have an obligation."

It was why I loved him, and why I despaired. "I understand" I did, but I also hated it.

"Let's go to The Club. I want to imagine you on the
stage"

"If Renata would drop dead, I'd have my chance"

Coleman was chuckling softly as we walked out the
door.

The Club was spectacular. Tinkie had outdone herself,
and the "little black dress" she'd picked up was nothing
less than Prada. Coleman got me a Jack on the rocks, and
as he walked toward me I realized I'd never seen him in a
tux before. He cut a handsome figure, right down to shoes
so brightly polished I could see my reflection.

"You two make a handsome couple," Cece Dee Falcon, the society editor at the Zinnia Dispatch, said as she
came up to kiss me on both cheeks. "Coleman, I was
wondering if you'd dumped Sarah Booth. I haven't seen
the two of you together at a single Christmas party."

"Sarah Booth won't get away from me that easily."
Coleman wasn't the least bit flustered.

"You'd better treat her right." Cece gave him a look
that said she meant business. "She has friends in high
places, you know."

"Are you writing the review?" I wanted a change of
topic.

"Indeed. I went backstage to interview Renata and she
slammed the door in my face. I'd say unless she develops
a new attitude, she isn't going to do well in Hollywood"

"Hollywood?" I'd been around The Club on and off all
week, and I hadn't heard a word about Hollywood. "Renata has a movie deal?" It was almost more than I could
bear. "What, they're refilming Bride of Dracula?"

Only Coleman appreciated my humor.

"I'm interviewing Graf." Cece had lost interest in me
completely. Her gaze had caught Graf's lean, handsome figure moving across the room. Though Cece had once been
Cecil, she still had impeccable taste in men. Graf was mesmerizing as he worked his charm on a bevy of Daddy's
Girls. Their response was a high squeal of pleasure in
perfect five-part harmony. They must have practiced that
for months in the Ole Miss sorority house. Cece didn't even hear them. She was moving toward Graf. "I'll find out
about the movie deal with Renata. My understanding is
that Graf got the deal, and Renata is a tagalong." She was
gone.

"Graf certainly works on women" Coleman's tone
was lighthearted, but there was a hint of worry in his
eyes.

"He used to work on me" My past with Graf would be
the talk of the town, but I could look at Graf objectively
now. He was extraordinary, in physical detail. But the
perfect exterior hid a flawed heart.

"Are you sure that's past tense?"

Oh, the thought of tormenting Coleman with jealousy.
It flitted through my mind, delicious and awful. "I'm sure
it's the past tense" Coleman obviously knew of my dancing with Graf the night before. "I'll be very glad when
this production is over and gone from Zinnia. My New
Year's resolution is not to live in the past. Graf is the past.
Acting is the past"

"I wish I could see you on stage" Coleman let his finger trace my jawline. "I regret I never got the chance to
see you perform"

Tinkie appeared at my elbow. "Sarah Booth, could you
check the dressing rooms and be sure the fresh flowers
are there?"

"Sure" I kissed Coleman's cheek. "I'll be right back."

Everything in the dressing rooms was perfection, including the tube of Almond Mocha Retreat set prominently on Renata's dressing table. I'd just returned when
Tinkie tapped a crystal goblet with a spoon. "Everyone,
please take your seats. The show starts in five minutes."

Coleman and I were front and center. Tinkie had reserved the seats for us. The auditorium was full, and I was
happy for Tinkie.

When the curtain came up, I was transported into the
world of Big Daddy. Sir Alfred was stupendous, but it
was Graf as Brick, hobbling about on his crutches, that
held the audiences' attention. And Renata. Whatever her
flaws as a human, she was mesmerizing on the stage.

The curtain for intermission came down at the end of
the first act. Tinkie had decided on two intermissions in
the hopes of selling even more booze. It was a great idea.
Coleman and I were in the drink line when a scream shattered the laughter. Bobbe Renshaw came running into the
room, a makeup towel in one hand and a brush in the
other.

"It's Renata! She's dead!"

loleman pushed through the stunned drinkers and
'hurried toward the dressing room with me right on
his heels. A horrible, self-centered thought zinged through
my brain-at last I was going to get to be on stage. I almost veered away to Coleman's car to get my dresses
when I got hold of my galloping ego and reined it in. God,
I was as bad as Renata had ever dared to be. Then again, I
wasn't hypocritical enough to shed crocodile tears for a
harridan I loathed.

The sight of Renata, on the floor of her dressing room,
sobered me. She really was dead. This wasn't just theatrics on her part, which deep down in my heart I'd expected. She was on her back, her eyes wide open but filmed
with death. Her lips were a bright terra-cotta against her
pale and lifeless skin. In her hand was the tube of Almond
Mocha Retreat she'd been so determined to have. At least
she'd died with her lipstick on.

"Sarah Booth!" Tinkie gasped as she said my name.

"What?" I looked around. Tinkie wasn't a mind reader. She couldn't have known what I was thinking. She
pointed at the mirror where letters in terra-cotta spelled
out, "Burn in hell you heartless bitch!"

"She was murdered!" Tinkie's eyes were moon-sized.
"Someone killed Renata Trovaioli. Oh, my God! Who
would do such a thing?"

All eyes turned to me. The moment dissolved as Graf
burst into the room and went down on one knee beside
the body. "Renata! Renata!" He grasped her hand and
held it. Bobbe, the makeup artist who'd discovered the
body, stood in the doorway sobbing.

A petite woman pushed her way into the room, and I
recognized Kristine Rolofson. In her arms she carried a
small reddish dog. She put the dog on the floor and it immediately went over to Renata, growled, and hiked a leg.
Tinkie swept it into her arms just in time to avoid a seriously embarrassing moment. She handed the dog to Kristine, and Coleman stepped between all of us and the
body.

"Everyone out!" Coleman pointed to the door. "This is
a crime scene, and it's already been contaminated enough.
Tinkie, get Doc Sawyer over here right away."

"He's around somewhere. He was in the audience."
Her voice trembled, but she kept her composure. Tinkie
was always great during a crisis. She'd saved my life
more than once.

"Get him in here and get everyone else out. Find
someone to stand by the door! No one except Doc is allowed in this room" Coleman was in charge and snapping
out orders.

I eased to stand beside him as Cece swept through the
door. Before Coleman could stop her, she snapped a photograph.

"Cece, that's enough. This is a murder scene and you
shouldn't be here"

"Murder?" Cece arched perfectly groomed eyebrows.
"Maybe she had a heart attack" She made a face of surprise. "Oh, I forgot, she didn't have a heart"

"Tasteless, Cece. The woman is dead" Coleman
grasped her shoulders and started to ease her from the
room.

"She might have died of natural causes or an accident," I pointed out, following them out into the hallway.
I started to add that we should check for falling houses,
but I could see Coleman was in no mood for the sick
humor of me or my friends. Someone had died in Sunflower County, and he took it very seriously.

Tinkie returned and Coleman pulled her aside. "Who
might want Renata dead?" he asked.

"Just about everyone who ever crossed her path." Tinkie shuddered. "She was one of the most disagreeable
people I've ever met"

"But was there someone in particular? Someone who
would gain from her death?"

Keith Watley swept into the corridor outside the dressing room. "Sarah Booth! Sarah Booth Delaney!" He was
yelling my name like it was a fire drill.

"She's here." Tinkie motioned him over to the doorway
to Renata's dressing room. "What's wrong, Keith?"

His gaze fell on me and all others were excluded. "Get
into costume. The show must go on, and you're replacing
Renata"

"No!" I tried to sound shocked and disappointed, but I
couldn't conceal the delight. Hey, it was the rule of showbiz. The show went on, no matter what.

"We need costumes!" Keith was looking around wildly. I could never wear Renata's things. She was an official zero and I was five sizes bigger. "You can't go on in
jeans! No woman with class wore jeans in the fifties." His
face was red with stress.

I cleared my throat. "I have something in the car." My
mother's dresses. Thank goodness I'd brought them.

"You do?" Tinkle and Cece said in unison.

"I was a Girl Scout" I held up my fingers in the official sign. "I'm always prepared"

"For the death of the leading lady?" Coleman's tone
was unreadable.

I looked at the closed door to the dressing room. I'd
behaved callously at Renata's death. I didn't like her, but
I shouldn't have gloated. I was tied to the lipstick and of
all the people in Zinnia, I was the only one who stood to
gain by her death. I wasn't in a place where I should be
cracking wise.

"Certainly not for Renata's death. She just didn't seem
interested in the role any longer. I thought she might decide not to perform the whole week" Even as I spoke I
knew I sounded defensive. "I wanted to be ready in case
she quit."

"Has Renata ever missed a performance?" Coleman
asked softly.

"I don't know." My tone was cold. He was my date and
he was grilling me like I was Jack the Ripper. "And furthermore, I don't care. I need the keys to your truck" I held out
my palm. When Coleman placed the keys in it, I stormed
down the hallway and into the cold night to retrieve my
dresses. I wasn't sorry Renata was dead. I couldn't make
myself even pretend to be. I hadn't killed her, and I wasn't
going to miss my chance to be on the stage opposite Graf,
no matter how black it painted my motives for murder.

I heard footsteps behind me and could tell by the quick tattoo of spike heels that Tinkie had come outside. I was a
little agitated at her, too. I kept walking, knowing my
long stride would force Tinkie to jog in her heels.

"Sarah Booth!"

I stopped and turned to face her. "What?"

"I've called Oscar. Listen, I don't want to panic you,
but I think you should call a lawyer."

The fright on her face convinced me that she wasn't
needling me for the fun of it. "Why? I haven't done anything."

"I believe that. I know you couldn't harm a fly. But I
do think Renata has been murdered. You're bound to be a
suspect, if not the prime suspect. Think about it."

"That's hogwash. My date was the sheriff of Sunflower
County. How silly to think I'd slip from his side and kill
Renata. Besides, she looks like she had an aneurism or a
heart attack or something like that. There wasn't a mark
on her that I could see"

Tinkie dug the toe of her shoe into the concrete and
wouldn't look at me.

"What? Was she shot? Stabbed? Tell me"

She took a breath. "Coleman thinks she was poisoned."

I stumbled back against his truck and leaned on the
cold metal fender for support. "Shit."

"You can say that again." She bit her lip and shook her
head. "I'm afraid you could be in serious trouble, Sarah
Booth"

I got the dresses from the truck and started back inside.