RAPE-Serialized version

 

Hi Everyone:

I am pleased to publish chapter, 17 of my novel, RAPE. After reading the chapter, I hope you will comment. As you know, your comments and suggestions influence my revision. If you missed any of the previous chapters, check the archives.

          I encourage you to visit my website:  joshswritingroom.com/ where you will find, a short story.

You can also check out my e-published novels. If you find one to your liking, you can purchase it from Amazon.com, or from Barnes and Noble. You’ll find links on the website taking you right to it.

PATH TO A PARDON,

THE EINDHOVEN STRATEGY,

& PALM BEACH STYLE.

 

As I publish each new chapter, the previous chapter(s) should be archived, so you can easily catch up. For those who prefer, here is an encapsulated version of the previous action:

 

PREVIOUSLY: RAPE

Prosperous executive, Gary Sanders, has an appointment at the home of Julia Walsh, the reigning Empress of Palm Beach. Julia’s niece, Oscar winning actress, Miriam West, is visiting and has jewelry to insure.

Miriam accuses Gary of assault and rape. Chief Moore shows Gary a close-up of her facial cuts and bruises. They await the lab report.

Gary’s wife, Carol is furious. She moves him into the guest room.

Attorney, Joe Flaherty advises him not to hide, flee or talk. Reporters who publish stories favoring the actress surround Gary’s home and office. His children are harassed at school and Gary loses his clients and his major companies. Neighbors and friends shun Gary and his family.

Lawyer Flaherty sends P.I., Jim Bosley to investigate, and then visits Carol. He finds her parents have arrived and plan to take her and the children back to Boston.

A January court date is set. Bail is set. Carol tells him that she and the children are going to Boston to live with her parents.

Gary stops at a Palm Beach Pub. As he walks to his car, a Miriam West fan assaults him.

A neighborhood committee offers up to $15,000 to help Gary sell his home if his family leaves Palm Beach within 60 days.

P.I. Bosley learns that Consuela Arista was fired after Gary’s visit & Reporter; Miguel Gonzales is already looking for her.

Miguel’s editor helps him find an address for Consuela. He learns she has gone to visit her mother in San Antonio.

Consuela tells her mother that she was in the next room when Gary came to see her about insuring her jewelry and she saw him leave. Now, Miriam is forcing her to help bring him down.

Carol’s parents make an appointment for her to meet with the family lawyer about a divorce.

 

 

CHAPTER 17

 

 

In late afternoon, the Private Investigator finished interviewing the staff at Julia Walsh’s home in Palm Beach. Bosley flipped open his cell phone and called information for the missing maid’s phone number, and cursed at the negative answer. He turned the key in the ignition, and staying within the speed limit, headed south toward Royal Poinciana.

 After crossing the Intracoastal Waterway on the bridge to West Palm Beach, Bosley turned the Jeep south again toward his office on Olive Avenue.

Removing the ‘Closed until 3:00 P.M.’ sign he glanced at his watch, and thought, forty-five minutes late, wonder if I missed any callers. Well I almost made it. He unlocked the door and entered the darkened room. He flipped a light switch and turned on his computer. First things first, he decided, quickly transcribing his notes for future reference. Then he turned his attention to the matter of the missing Consuela Arista. Knowing that Miguel Gonzales had left the mansion on El Mira sol, just as he arrived, bothered him. If the reporter had the maid’s address, it put him a step ahead of the P.I. and that thought bugged him worse than an itch in a spot beyond his reach.

He Googled the white pages and came up empty, so he reached for his phone and punched in the numbers for his old friend, Max Grothe, at the Water Department.

“Hi, Max, its Jim Bosley.”

“Hi Boz, what’s up?”

“I’m working a big case and I need a favor.”

“Now Boz, if it’s another address you’re looking for, you know I’m not supposed to give out that kind of information.”

“Max, do you think I’d bother you if this weren’t damned important? We’ve known each other since we were teenagers. I really need your help. You’ve never failed me before. Don’t fail me now.”

“Okay, but let’s make this the last time. Who are you looking for?”

With the address in hand, the detective made a note to send a bottle of Jack Daniels to his friend, Max, and headed out the door.The dashboard clock read 5:05 when he parked in front of the Kirk Road address. The lack of interior lighting didn’t encourage him but he dutifully knocked on her door. When that failed, he went next door, but got no answer there either. He tried the house on the other side of his target. According to the name printed on the mailbox it belonged to the Lopez family. When Mrs. Lopez came to the door speaking in machinegun Spanish, he felt like throwing up his hands. He tried “Donde esta Consuela?” The woman said something unintelligible followed by a shrug. He returned to the Jeep thinking; if these people are going to live here, why in hell don’t they learn our lingo?

Pulling out his cell phone, he called the Palm Beach Dispatch and asked to speak to Miguel Gonzales, only to learn, the reporter had left on assignment. “In that case,” he said, “please connect me with Connie Robins.”

“Hi, Jim. How’ve you been?”

“Pretty good, but I’ve been missing you. Haven’t seen you at our old watering- hole lately.”

“Maybe that’s because you haven’t been looking. Some detective you are.”

“No kidding, Connie, how about meeting me for a drink after work today?”

“Hell, Jim. It’s already after work. I’m just about ready to go home.”

“Good, if we both leave now we’ll probably get to Reef Road & Rum at about the same time. What do you say, Kid. Like old times?”

“Okay. I have to finish up here. I’ll meet you in about thirty minutes.”

Bosley hung up and headed for the restaurant on Clematis Street, the north and south dividing line in West Palm Beach. He arrived first, secured a small table, in a smoking area and ordered two classic Mojitos.

Connie and the drinks arrived simultaneously. Bosley stood, kissed her on the cheek and held her chair; “I ordered Mojitos. As I recall, that’s what you like.”

“Right! Other than Miami this is the only place I know of that strains them so you aren’t sucking mint through your straw.”

He smiled at the red head. “It’s great to see you, Connie. How the heck are you?”

“Overworked and underpaid, like always.”

“If you really feel that way, why do you stay?”

I stay because the world is full of people who have good computer skills, and can answer a telephone, and most of them are younger and sexier looking than me.”

“Check, are you just fishing for compliments, or are you serious?”

“Like a heart attack.”

“Why don’t you quit? Come work with me! I need someone to handle my office. I’m out a lot. I probably miss chances to get new clients because no one is in the office.”

“I’ll give it some thought. If I say yes, will you buy me another Mojito?”

“Hell yes.”

“Tell me the truth, Jim, is that why you called me?”

“No. I called the paper looking for Miguel Gonzales, but he’s gone somewhere. I knew you worked for the same rag, and it bothered me that I hadn’t seen you in a long time, so I just asked to speak with you. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, sure; I’d have liked it better if you’d asked for me first.” She sucked on her straw while her blue-grey eyes studied his unreadable face.

He finished his drink and signaled the waiter. “Bring us a couple more of these!” He looked at Connie, “Dinner?”

“Sure, why not? My cat can wait.”

He looked up at the waiter, “And a couple of menus, please.”

As the waiter left, Connie said, “If you’re trying to reach Miguel you might try his cell. He’s gone to San Antonio. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

Bosley offered her a Marlboro and lit her cigarette before lighting his own and blowing the smoke toward the ceiling asked; “About that job . . . have you decided yet?”

 “Will you match my salary?”

“Check! I’ll even give you a twenty percent increase. How soon can you start?”

“How about in two weeks?”

Hi Everyone:

I am pleased to publish chapter, 16 of my novel, RAPE. After reading the chapter, I hope you will comment. As you know, your comments and suggestions influence my revision. If you missed any of the previous chapters, check the archives.

          I encourage you to visit my website:  joshswritingroom.com/ where you will find, a short story.

You can also check out my e-published novels. If you find one to your liking, you can purchase it from Amazon.com, or from Barnes and Noble. You’ll find links on the website taking you right to it.

PATH TO A PARDON,

THE EINDHOVEN STRATEGY,

& PALM BEACH STYLE.

 

As I publish each new chapter, the previous chapter(s) should be archived, so you can easily catch up. For those who prefer, here is an encapsulated version of the previous action:

 

PREVIOUSLY: RAPE

Prosperous executive, Gary Sanders, has an appointment at the home of Julia Walsh, the reigning Empress of Palm Beach. Julia’s niece, Oscar winning actress, Miriam West, is visiting and has jewelry to insure.

Miriam accuses Gary of assault and rape. Chief Moore shows Gary a close-up of her facial cuts and bruises. They await the lab report.

Gary’s wife, Carol is furious. She moves him into the guest room.

Attorney, Joe Flaherty advises him not to hide, flee or talk. Reporters who publish stories favoring the actress surround Gary’s home and office. His children are harassed at school and Gary loses his clients and his major companies. Neighbors and friends shun Gary and his family.

Lawyer Flaherty sends P.I., Jim Bosley to investigate, and then visits Carol. He finds her parents have arrived and plan to take her and the children back to Boston.

A January court date is set. Bail is set. Carol tells him that she and the children are going to Boston to live with her parents.

Gary stops at a Palm Beach Pub. As he walks to his car, a Miriam West fan assaults him.

A neighborhood committee offers up to $15,000 to help Gary sell his home if his family leaves Palm Beach within 60 days.

P.I. Bosley learns that Consuela Arista was fired after Gary’s visit & Reporter; Miguel Gonzales is already looking for her.

Miguel’s editor helps him find an address for Consuela. He learns she has gone to visit her mother in San Antonio.

Consuela tells her mother that she was in the next room when Gary came to see her about insuring her jewelry and she saw him leave. Now, Miriam is forcing her to help bring him down.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 16

 

 

Charles, the Howe family chauffeur, closed the rear door as Carol Sanders brushed her hands along her thighs smoothing her full skirt and settling into the luxurious seat in her father’s Rolls Royce Ghost. She examined the chipped polish on the ring finger of her left hand. “Oh damn! I’ll have to remember to ask Mother for her manicurist’s phone number,” she said, not expecting the chauffeur to respond or even nod. She decided that she must have damaged it while enrolling Robert and Janet in the Parker Hill private elementary school, supposedly one of Boston’s finest. Her father had told her not to worry about cost; he’d take care of it. She hoped her children appreciated their grandfather’s generosity.

In less than twenty minutes, Charles drove them back to the oversized townhouse on Louisburg Square in the heart of the Beacon Hill section. She thanked the chauffeur, an excellent driver who had been with the family since she had been Robert’s age, and then went in search of her mother. She found her on the glass-enclosed veranda having a cup of tea.

“Come join me!” Jenny Howe called.

“Thanks, Mother, I think tea is exactly what I need.”

“Maude, bring another cup, please and some of that Danish.”

Within seconds, the maid appeared with the requested items. “Will there be anything else?”

“No Maude, that’ll be all. Well, Carol,” Mrs. Howe, said, turning her attention to her daughter, “how did the children like the new school?”

Carol sipped her tea. “Oh, I think they are okay with it. It helps that they’re both going to be in the same building. They did a lot of looking around but neither one of them had much to say.”

“Give them time, Carol, they’ll adjust. It just takes a while for children to get used to new surroundings, new teachers, and classmates. Pretty soon they’ll have a lot of new friends; then they’ll be bright and cheerful again.”

She twisted her wedding ring; “You’re right, Mother. I think Janet is happier, now that she’s not the object of ridicule because of her father’s situation. That’s not to say that they don’t both miss Gary, they do, especially Robert. He and his father have a special bond.”

Mrs. Howe reached for one of the miniature Danish and then looked at her daughter. “And what about you, do you miss him?”

“Of course I do. Not all the time but now and then. Why do you ask?”

“If he did what they’re accusing him of, it—it’s just despicable that’s what it is! I don’t see how you can take him back if he’s actually a—a rapist. Who knows what he’s capable of doing. Your father and I discussed your situation and we agree. We want you to see Henry Castle.”

“Henry Castle? Isn’t he Father’s attorney?”

“Yes, he handles a lot of the family’s legal matters and he’ll know the best way for you to proceed.”

“Proceed with what?” she asked toying with her ring again.

“Carol, don’t act naïve! Proceed with a divorce, or if you prefer, a dissolution of the marriage.”

“Gary swears he is innocent. Maybe he is, and besides, I’m not sure I’m ready for your resolution no matter what you call it.”

Mrs. Howe dabbed a napkin to her lips and then dropped it on the table; “Don’t be unreasonable. It came to this when you decided to leave him, and don’t pretend you didn’t know. If you’re going to do it, why drag it out? The sooner it’s over and done with the sooner things will become normal. That’s what’s best for the children and for you. You’re still young and attractive. These days, a lot of people are involved in second marriages.”

Carol frowned, “And what about poor Gary? If he goes to court with a divorce hanging over his head, it sure won’t help him.”

Pushing her chair back, Mrs. Howe said, “That’s why we want you to see Henry Castle. Let him advise you. I’m no expert. Let him tell you what’s best. Who knows, maybe Gary will agree to one of those quick Mexican divorces in order to get it behind him before his trial date.”

“But, Mother, think what a jury will make of the fact that his wife has turned against him. They’ll take that as a sign that I know he’s guilty. Besides, it’s hard to love him right now, but I still care about Gary. Before all this started, he was a good provider and a wonderful husband and father. I know that he may have wandered once or twice but this time the woman is accusing him of rape. I don’t know if he’s guilty or not. Maybe her acting status or her sexy looks attracted him. Maybe they quarreled. This thing may just be a fling that will pass. The truth of the matter is that I’m not sure I want a divorce.”

Mrs. Howe rose from her chair. “We like Gary, we always have, but you are our only child, you are our concern; you and our grandchildren. Your father has already made an appointment for you to see Henry tomorrow. I expect you to keep it.”

“I’ll tell you right now, I’m not going to let Henry Castle or anyone else shove me into a divorce that I’m not ready for.”

 “Carol, no one is forcing you to do anything. All we ask is that you talk to Henry, and then make up your own mind. We only want what’s best for you and the children.”

Hi Everyone:

I am pleased to publish two chapter, 15 of my novel, RAPE. After reading the chapter, I hope you will comment. As you know, your comments and suggestions influence my revision. If you missed any of the previous chapters, check the archives.

          I also encourage you to visit my website:  joshswritingroom.com/ where you will find, a short story. You can also check out my e-published novels. If you find one to your liking, you can purchase it from Amazon.com, or from Barnes and Noble. You’ll find links on the website taking you right to it.

PATH TO A PARDON,

THE EINDHOVEN STRATEGY,

& PALM BEACH STYLE.

 

As I publish each new chapter, the previous chapter(s) should be archived, so you can easily catch up.

For those who prefer, here is an encapsulated version of the previous action:

 

PREVIOUSLY: RAPE

Prosperous executive, Gary Sanders, has an appointment at the home of Julia Walsh, the reigning Empress of Palm Beach. Julia’s niece, Oscar winning actress, Miriam West, is visiting and has jewelry to insure.

Miriam accuses Gary of assault and rape. Chief Moore shows Gary a close-up of her facial cuts and bruises. They await the lab report.

Gary’s wife, Carol is furious. Due to a Gary’s past, Carol believes him guilty. She moves him into the guest room.

Attorney, Joe Flaherty advises him not to hide, flee or talk. Reporters who publish stories favoring the actress surround Gary’s home and office. His children are harassed at school and Gary loses his clients and his major companies. Neighbors and friends shun Gary and his family.

Prior to Gary’s arraignment, lawyer Flaherty sends P.I., Jim Bosley to investigate, and then visits Carol. When he arrives, he finds her parents have arrived and plan to take her and the children back to Boston. He tries to persuade her to stay.

 A January court date is set. After posting $50,000 bail, Gary returns home, & Carol tells him that she and the children are going to Boston to live with her parents.

After cleaning up his office, Gary stops at a Palm Beach Pub. As he walks to his car, a Miriam West fan assaults him.

A neighborhood committee offers up to $15,000 to help Gary sell his home if his family leaves Palm Beach within 60 days.

P.I. Bosley interviews the maids at the Walsh mansion and learns that Consuela was fired the previous week. He concludes that reporter; Miguel Gonzales is already looking for her.

Miguel’s editor helps him find an address for Consuela, but according to a neighbor she has gone to visit her mother in San Antonio.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 15

 

 

Rose Arista frowned, as Consuela pushed the vegetables from one side of the plate to the other before moving them to the middle and starting the silly game all over again, letting everything get cold. It’s the same as yesterday, and the day before that, and even before that, in fact for the entire week. She hardly eats a thing, this child who always enjoyed a great appetite. “Consuela, stop playing with your food. Eat it while it is still warm!”

            As a child, Consuela had been chubby, full of energy, running around the barrio with the other children, so full of life. Now, look at her! She can hide behind a broomstick.

            “Consuela, do you hear me? I cook all your favorite vegetables. Please eat them.”

All day she is so sad, stays in her room, she does not call any of her friends, and she sleeps too much. It must be a man. She says she is on vacation, but something is wrong. I see it; I feel it in my bones. Always before she love her job, now she won’t even talk about it. Perhaps she runs away, but from what? Does she come here to hide? If she is hiding, is it because she does something wrong? Consuela has always been a good child; maybe not perfect, never in bad trouble.

“Consuela, did you get fired?” What causes such unhappiness? This must be the fault of a man. She has never had luck with men. She gets that from her father’s side of family. I always did well with the muchachos. Pobrecita.

“Consuela, has some hombre taken advantage of you? Did he hurt you? Talk to me!”

What can I do to help her? This cannot go on. She stooped and took the plate away. When she returned from the kitchen, her daughter had not moved; she took a seat next to her unhappy child and placed a hand on her thin face.

“Consuela, listen to me! I am your mother; you know that I love you. Whatever it is that puts you in this unhappy state, you know I am on your side, speak; make me understand. Between us there have never been secrets.”

“Oh Momacita, if only it were that simple, then I tell you, but this is not easy to explain. I am not certain I understand it myself, so how do I explain it to someone else?”

“Try! Otherwise it will eat you until it drive you out of your mind.”

Consuela attempted a quick smile. “I think that I am already a lobo loco.”

Rose took her daughter’s hand and held it in both of her own. “Take a deep breath my child, and tell me!”

Consuela inhaled deeply and shut her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, her mother’s brown simpatico eyes were inches away. “You know that for the last five years I’m working at the home of Julia Walsh, she is a good woman and has much wealth.” She watched as her mother nodded and patted her hand. “Everything is fine until her niece, Miss Miriam, comes to visit. Oh Momacita, she is a beauty, an actress, and a devil. I try to help her and now—and now. . .”

“Go on Consuela; you will feel better once you tell me.”

“I try to be nice to Ms. Miriam because I can see she is much troubled. Before she comes to visit, she has a big fight with a man in Hollywood. I hear her talk on the phone begging him to forgive her, but he hangs up on her. Ms. Miriam, she throws things and cries many tears. She does not speak of this to me, and I do not ask, but I can tell she is like a spoiled child, crying because she has done something wrong and she expects everyone to forgive her and give her whatever she wants.

“Then, Miss Julia, she asks a friend to come see her niece. He is a fine man. He has much stature. Miss Miriam, all morning she is drinking. I look in her eyes, and I see trouble ahead. I do not see him come, but I see him leave and now Miss Miriam is more angry than I ever see her. Oh Momacita, it is so unjust that now Miss Miriam puts me in her wild scheme to bring him down. I don’t understand how Miss Julia allows this. I have done nothing wrong. I try to help her. She cut herself. I clean the wound. I do what Miss Miriam wants. Now, I am sent away. This is not just,” she declared, as the tears began to flow. Consuela put her head in her mother’s lap and sobbed.

She felt her mother’s small hand smoothing her hair. She closed her eyes tight in a vain effort to keep the tears from cascading and again pictured herself saying goodbye to Miriam West in Fort Pierce; saw herself picking up the suitcase and reaching for the door of the Cadillac.

Once again, she heard the she-devil remind her not to speak to anyone about what happened. Telling her, she’d receive a check each week as if she still worked, to consider this a paid vacation, and that when Miss Miriam completed her triumph everything would be the same as before. As Consuela gently closed the car door, the woman grabbed her thin wrist through the open window. With surprising strength, she pulled her close, imprisoning her and with fire in her eye spoke in a low voice, “If you do not keep your mouth shut I will send someone to shut it for you! Comprendo?”

Not trusting her voice, she had nodded, pulled away from Miss Miriam’s grasp, and made her way into the nasty smelling, run-down bus terminal.

Now, Consuela choked back a sob, rubbed her wrist, and decided not to tell her mother about the crazy woman’s threat. She lifted her head, allowing her mother to wipe her tears with a tissue the old woman produced from her sleeve. “I have just one question to ask, my daughter.”

“Yes Momacita?”

“Did the man see you?”

“No, I stay in next room. The door only little bit open. I see him, but the bedroom is dark. I think he don’t know I am there.”

RAPE-Serialized version

 

Hi Everyone:

I am pleased to publish chapter 14 of my novel, RAPE. After reading the chapter, I hope you will comment. As you know, your comments and suggestions influence my revision. Check the archives for previous chapters.

       I also encourage you to visit my website:  joshswritingroom.com/ where you can always find, a short story. Also check out my e-published novels. If you find one to your liking, you can purchase it from Amazon.com, or from Barnes and Noble. You’ll find links on the website taking you right to it.

PATH TO A PARDON,

THE EINDHOVEN STRATEGY,

& PALM BEACH STYLE.

 

As I publish each new chapter, the previous chapter(s) should be archived, so you can easily catch up. For those who prefer, here is an encapsulated version of the previous action:

 

PREVIOUSLY: RAPE

Prosperous executive, Gary Sanders, has an appointment at the home of Julia Walsh, the reigning Empress of Palm Beach. Julia’s niece, Oscar winning actress, Miriam West, is visiting and has jewelry to insure.

Miriam accuses Gary of assault and rape. Chief Moore shows Gary a close-up of her facial cuts and bruises. They await the lab report.

Gary’s wife, Carol is furious. Due to a Gary’s past, Carol believes him guilty. She moves him into the guest room.

Attorney, Joe Flaherty advises him not to hide, flee or talk. Reporters who publish stories favoring the actress surround Gary’s home and office. His children are harassed at school and Gary loses his clients and his major companies. Neighbors and friends shun Gary and his family.

Prior to Gary’s arraignment, lawyer Flaherty sends P.I., Jim Bosley to investigate, and then visits Carol. When he arrives, he finds her parents have arrived and plan to take her and the children back to Boston. He tries to persuade her to stay.

 A January court date is set. After posting $50,000 bail, Gary returns home, & Carol tells him that she and the children are going to Boston to live with her parents.

After cleaning up his office, Gary stops at a Palm Beach Pub. As he walks to his car, a Miriam West fan assaults him.

A neighborhood committee offers up to $15,000 to help Gary sell his home if his family leaves Palm Beach within 60 days.

P.I. Bosley interviews the maids at the Walsh mansion and learns that Consuela was fired the previous week. He concludes that reporter; Miguel Gonzales is already looking for her.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 14

 

 

 

 

Miguel Gonzales sat in his editors office re-reading his notes, not that he needed to, he’d already read them twice while waiting for Vincent Bernardino to return from his meeting with whomever he’d gone to see on the reporter’s behalf. He had briefed Vincent on his interviews at the Walsh mansion. He had meticulously laid out his discovery that Consuela Arista, the woman charged with cleaning Miriam West’s suite on December fifth, had been discharged.

While he had no proof she had been inside the suite when Gary Sanders called on its occupant it represented a loose end that he felt he ought to check out. He tried calling, but she had an unlisted number and his Google search hadn’t proved successful. Vincent had asked when the maid had been discharged. When he replied: on the same day, the editor’s eyebrow shot up and he gave the reporter a sage nod before stating that he wanted to hear her story.

Bernardino re-appeared holding a piece of paper in his right hand. “Okay, Miguel, here’s the maid’s address,” he said handing the slip to him. “I checked with Wagner in Circulation; Consuela Arista isn’t one of our subscribers, but he contacted a friend over at the Post, turns out she’s one of theirs. Well, don’t just sit there; get going! Find out what she knows!”

Miguel propelled his compact frame out of the chair, stopped at his desk long enough to pick up his pocket-sized recorder and load it with a new tape; slipping the device into his shirt pocket, he headed for the parking lot.

Driving south on U.S. Highway One, he reached Lake Worth and turned west on 10^th Avenue. At Kirk Road, he turned south and began looking for 922. Only one thing distinguished it from the single story houses on either side, its faded yellow color.

        Miguel parked his Toyota in the driveway separating the house from its white twin and went to the front door. He rang the bell and when that didn’t work, knocked several times, to no avail. He stood on his toes and peered through the small window at the top of the door without catching any movement, and then decided to try one of Consuela’s neighbors.

At the next house, he rang the bell. The door opened. At first, he didn’t see anyone. He heard her say, “Yes?”

He looked down into an old face with still young dark eyes. At five foot nine inches, Miguel didn’t consider himself a giant but this woman had to be under five-feet. The apron she wore wrapped clear around her slender body and touched the tops of her shoes.

“I’m looking for your neighbor Consuela Arista, but she doesn’t seem to be at home. That is her house isn’t it?” He pointed toward the yellow house.

“Yes and who are you?”

“I’m Miguel Gonzales with the Palm Beach Dispatch.” He reached for the button on the device in his pocket. “Mrs . . . .?”

“Lopez,” she said, filling in the last name for him as she stepped aside and waved him into her tiny living room, “I read your stories about what happen to beautiful lady actress. Is that why you want to see Consuela?”

“Yes. She worked at the house when the attack occurred and I thought she might be able to help me with my story. I want to be sure that what I write is true.”

The old woman shrugged. “Too bad! Consuela not home. I like the way you tell stories. I bring you a cup coffee, yes?”

“Gracias, no. Por favor, can you say when she left?”

“I think last Tuesday. I see her put car in garage. In little bit she come out front door. She pulls big suitcase.”

“She didn’t take her own car?”

“Car still in garage. Dark-haired woman she come.”

“Did you recognize the woman who came to get her?”

“No. But I think she have mucho dinero she drive shiny car. I watch them drive away.”

Miguel nodded. “Mrs. Lopez, do you know if Consuela has any relatives living around here?”

The old woman shrugged. Miguel’s forefinger touched the button on his tape recorder, and then paused as she said, “I remember Consuela say she hope Momacita from San Antonio come visit this Christmas.”