Page 23 of A Meeting In The Ladies' Room

“Thank you,” I replied, unable to take my eyes off him.

He was a handsome man, over six feet tall, broad-shouldered and muscular. His skin was the color of butterscotch with a spoonful of cream; the eyes were dark and probing. He carried himself in a sturdy, confident manner.

“I really appreciate your seeing me, Mr. Williams.”

“Please call me Keith.”

The woman left us alone, closing the door behind her.

“I love the blues,” I said nervously.

“Have a seat,” Keith said, indicating a burgundy visitor’s chair which faced his desk.

I sat.

“Who is your favorite bluesman?” Keith asked, sitting down in the plush white chair behind his glass desk, which had lots of neat stacks of paper on it.

“Robert Johnson,” I replied.

“Good choice. I haven’t been able to make up my mind. Some days it’s Blind Lemon Jefferson, then Bobby Bland. Today, it’s B.B.” He leaned back and smiled. “Well, Miss Blue, tell me how you got yourself into such a mess.”

“Call me Jackie, okay?”

He nodded.

“I’m not really in a mess. I’m only here because this detective came to my job with a videotape that might be taken the wrong way. Plus, I have to go to the police station to make a statement and I’m scared.”

He held up a hand. “Whoa. Start from the beginning. What were you doing in the victim’s building?”

“I went there to get my appointment book. I’d left it in her apartment two days before.”

“What were you doing in her apartment two days before?”

“Working on a book about Moms Mabley.”

He chuckled. “Oh, yeah. Paul mentioned something like that when he called. What made you decide to do a book about her?”

“I didn’t. Annabelle’s husband was doing her life story. I was there to edit the project.”

“Tell me everything.”

I talked for fifteen minutes without stopping. Keith never took his eyes from my face. His expression was bland, so I couldn’t tell whether he believed me or not. When I finished, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully and pressed a button on his telephone system.

A male voice came over the speakerphone. “Yes?”

Keith said, “I need you to look into a situation for me. It’s not urgent but I don’t want to get caught unprepared.”

“What is the situation?”

“I have a young woman in my office who has stumbled into an unfortunate set of circumstances. Have you been keeping up with that story of the publishing executive who was strangled?”

The voice replied. “Did I have a choice? It’s on every station. CNN ran a segment on it just last night.”

“Good. I want you to find out everything there is to know about the victim and her husband. Where they were born, married, lived, who their friends were, who loved them, hated them. Get the picture?”

“Got it.”

Keith released the button and swiveled around back to me.

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