Page 43 of Gem Warfare

We were sitting in the car gazing at the house.

“I can’t believe Mr. Greenberg refused to speak to us! Maybe he would have if the butler had been more urgent when he asked him if he could spend a few minutes with us. That would have been nicer than shutting the door on us so rudely!”

“His wife just died,” I pointed out. “I don’t think he was being rude. Do you know anyone else with a butler? An actual, real live butler?”

“Yeah. My parents and their friends.”

“I can’t imagine having a butler. I can open my own door.”

“But you wouldn’t have to. Imagine all the people you don’t want to see and could get rid of by making the butler deny them.”

“Just like Mr. Greenberg,” I pointed out.

“The butler said the office is shut for the foreseeable future. Do you think Mrs. Greenberg was still working right up until…” Lily pulled a face, stuck out her tongue, flopped in her seat, and pretended to collapse.

“Seems so. I’m not sure how to get that background information on Joe Smithson now. I suppose I could ask Garrett to officially request it but it seems a lot to bother the Greenbergs with at this time.”

Lily nodded. “We should probably break in.”

“They’re holding a wake!”

“What? Everyone will be distracted. We can get in, locate the home office, go through her files, get the information and get out. No one will even know. We won’t even botheranyone,” Lilypleaded, then, as if it would do any good, batted her eyelashes at me.

“We don’t exactly blend in.” I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing my cutest pastels. I looked more like an ice cream cone than a funeral attendee.

“We could. We could go to your place and get black outfits and be back here in far less than an hour. We slip inside, mingle with the other guests, and then poof! We disappear.”

I checked my watch. I had time before my meeting with Garrett and I did want to know what Elsie Greenberg knew. If she were meticulous with her records, then she might have kept all of them going back years. I had to see what she had in her file on her mysterious tenant.

“Okay,” I agreed, pulling a U-turn to head for home. “Let’s get dressed for a wake.”

~

By the time we returned, both in appropriately sedate black dresses and neat heels, the wake was in full throttle and most of the parking had disappeared. I wedged my small VW in between two SUVs and we followed a trio of women inside, neatly skirting past the man posted at the door, who’d turned us away in no uncertain terms before, as he took the shawl from one of the women and walked away.

Lily plucked two glasses from a passing waiter and passed one to me as we headed into the nearest living room. Most of the guests were in their advanced years. Several people sat on the couches. There was a couple by the window talking softly. A young child charged past us, followed by his mother, who herded her around a couch, over several feet and then past us. “Sorry,” she muttered, sighing. “You have to stop running, Dee. This is Granny’s wake. Not a playground.”

“I feel her pain. I thought it would be exciting once Poppy started walking but it’s terrifying. She moves so fast. She climbstoo. At breakfast, I went to get her more milk and she was on top of the hallway credenza when I got back. I don’t even know how she got up there.”

“Can’t you tell her no?” I asked.

“Have you met a child before?” asked Lily, looking at me askance.

“Fair point. We should make contact with the mom. She’s either the daughter or the daughter-in-law. She might know something about the business.”

“Say no more,” said Lily, turning on her heel and heading after the woman. “Your little girl is soooo cute,” she gushed when we found her in the next room.

“She is, but she’s also got a lot of excess energy,” said the woman. “I ran her around the yard before everyone arrived but she seems to have recovered a second wind.”

“You must be Elsie’s daughter? Naomi?” I asked.

“That’s right.”

“We’re so sorry for your loss,” I said. “I’m sure this is an awful time for you all.”

“It is. We didn’t expect Mom to… well, you know. We didn’t expect it at all.” Then she frowned. “I’m sorry. I don’t recognize you. Are you a neighbor? Or a business associate?”

“Business associates,” I lied.

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