Page 116 of The Other Lady Vanishes

“That is very good news,” Raina said. “We must get together soon and celebrate.”

“Great idea.”

“But not tonight,” Raina said. She smiled a small, secretive smile. “I’ve got plans for tonight.”

“Jake and I have plans for this evening, too, but maybe tomorrow... Wait. What do you mean you’ve got plans for tonight? Something to do with your new case?”

“No. I’ve been invited to the Paradise Club for cocktails and dinner.”

Adelaide raised her brows. “With Luther?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t know the Paradise Club served dinner.”

“It doesn’t. Dinner will be in Luther’s private quarters above the club. He is sending a car to pick me up.”

“That,” Adelaide said, “sounds very interesting.”

Raina’s smiled widened. “I certainly thought so.”

Adelaide cleared her throat. “I’m sure you know what you’re doing, but as your friend I feel obliged to point out that Pell has a reputation for being connected to some dangerous people.”

“Look who’s talking. You’re not exactly dating a Boy Scout, are you?”

Adelaide laughed. “All right, you’ve got me there. And, to be fair, Luther and Jake aren’t dating Girl Scouts, are they? Look at us. We’re not the sort of high-class ladies that nice guys take home to meet their mothers. I’m an escapee from an insane asylum and you’re a private detective who investigates people with shady pasts.”

“The way I look at it, what we lack in polish and refinement we more than make up for with a quality that, I do believe, is highly valued by men like Luther and Jake.”

“Ah, yes.” Adelaide smiled. “We areinterestingwomen.”

“Precisely. I doubt that they will ever find us dull or boring.”

“We can say the same about them, can’t we? They may be complicated at times. And stubborn. Even difficult.”

“But if either of us ever vanished, they would both walk into hell to find us.”

“Yes,” Adelaide said. She smiled. “Yes, they would.”

Chapter 52

She drove back to the cottage, parked in the small garage, and took the hatbox out of the trunk. It occurred to her as she went up the front steps that she could afford a larger place now. But she had grown oddly attached to the little house.Because Jake moved in with me,she thought. It was his presence that made the cottage feel like home.

Taking the key out of her handbag, she let herself into the small, cozy house. She headed for the kitchen, set the hatbox on the table, and put the kettle on the stove. Next she spooned her strongest tea into a pot. She needed to do some serious thinking.

While she waited for the water to boil, she lounged against the counter, folded her arms, and contemplated Madam Zolanda’s final prediction.

So many things had been explained, yet the circumstances of the blackmailer’s death remained murky. Why the melodramatic ending to her final performance?

Melodramatic performance.

Zolanda had been a very skilled actress but she had failed to become a Hollywood star.

On the night of her last show, Zolanda had held a crowded theater spellbound with her last psychic prediction. It was as if she had been trying to prove that she really was psychic.

Or trying to prove that she could act the role of a powerful psychic.

Adelaide unfolded her arms, pushed herself away from the counter, and grabbed the phone book. She looked up the number and reached for the receiver.