Mary Clark - Let Me Call You Sweetheart

When his father had concluded the blessing, his mother added, “And we’re so grateful to have Marian and Don and the twins with us.”

“Mother, it’s not as though we live at the North Pole,” Marian protested, winking at Geoff. “ Boston is about three and a half hours away.”

“If your mother had her way, there’d be a family compound,” his father commented with an amused smile. “And you’d all be right here, under her watchful eye.”

“You can all laugh at me,” his mother said, “but I love seeing my whole family together. It’s wonderful to have three of you girls settled, and Vickey with a steady boyfriend as nice as Kevin.”

Geoff watched as she beamed at that couple.

“Now if I could just get our only son to find the right girl…” Her voice trailed off as everyone turned to smile indulgently at Geoff.

Geoff grimaced, then smiled back, reminding himself that when his mother wasn’t riding this horse, she was a very interesting woman who had taught medieval literature at Drew University for twenty years. In fact, he had been named Geoffrey because of her great admiration for Chaucer.

Between courses, Geoff slipped back into the den and phoned Kerry. He was thrilled to realize that she sounded glad to hear from him.

“Kerry, can you go down and see Skip tomorrow? I know his mother and Beth will drop everything to be there when you come.”

“I want to, Geoff, but I don’t know if I can. I’d be a wreck leaving Robin, even at Cassie’s house. The kids are always outside, and it’s right on an exposed corner.”

Geoff didn’t know he had the solution until he heard himself say, “Then I’ve got a better idea. I’ll pick you both up, and we can leave Robin here with my folks while we’re away. My sister and her husband and their kids are here. And because of them, the other grandchildren will be dropping by. Robin will have plenty of company, and if that isn’t enough, my brother-in-law is a captain in the Massachusetts State Police. Believe me, she’ll be safe.”

Jason Arnott lay sleepless most of the night, wrestling with trying to decide how to treat the call from Assistant Prosecutor Kerry McGrath, even, as she so delicately put it, in an “unofficial” capacity.

By 7:00 A.M. he’d made up his mind. He would return her call and, in a courteous, civil, but distant tone, inform her that he would be delighted to meet with her, provided it would not take too long. His excuse would be that he was about to leave on a business trip.

To the Catskills, Jason promised himself. I’ll hide out at the house. Nobody will find me there. In the meantime, this will all blow over. But I can’t look as though I have anything to be concerned about.

The decision made, he finally fell into a sound sleep, the kind of sleep he enjoyed after he had successfully completed a mission and knew he was home free.

He called Kerry McGrath first thing when he woke up at nine-thirty. She picked up on the first ring. He was relieved to hear what seemed to be genuine gratitude in her tone.

“Mr. Arnott, I really appreciate your calling, and I assure you this is unofficial,” she said. “Your name came up as having been a friend and antiques expert for Suzanne Reardon, years ago. Something has developed about that case, and I’d very much appreciate an opportunity to talk to you about the relationship you saw between Suzanne and her father, Dr. Charles Smith. I promise, I’ll only take a few minutes of your time.”

She meant it. Jason could spot a phony, had made a career of it, and she wasn’t a phony. It wouldn’t be hard to talk about Suzanne, he told himself. He frequently had shopped with her the way he shopped with Vera Shelby Todd yesterday. She had been at many of his parties, but so had dozens of other people. No one could make anything of that.

Jason was totally amenable to Kerry’s explanation that she had a firm commitment to be picked up at one and would so much appreciate visiting him within the hour.

Kerry decided to bring Robin with her when she drove to Jason Arnott’s house. She knew that it had upset Robin to see her struggling with Bob the night before over the copy of the Haskell note, and she reasoned that the drive to Alpine would give them a half hour each way to chat. She blamed herself for the scene with Bob. She should have realized that there was no way he would let her have the note. Anyhow, she knew what it said. She had jotted it down just as she had seen it so she could show it to Geoff later.

It was a sunny, crisp day, the kind, she thought, that renews the spirit. Now that she knew she had to look seriously into the Reardon case and really see it through, she was determined to do it quickly.

Robin willingly had agreed to come along for the ride, although she pointed out that she wanted to be back by noon. She wanted to invite Cassie over for lunch.

Kerry then told her about the plan for her to visit Geoff’s family while she went to Trenton on business.

“Because you’re worried about me,” Robin said matter-of-factly.

“Yes,” Kerry admitted. “I want you where I know you’ll be okay, and I know you’ll be fine with the Dorsos. Monday, after I drop you off at school, I’ll have a talk with Frank Green about all this. Now, Rob, when we get to Mr. Arnott’s house, you come in with me, but you do know I have to talk privately to him. You brought a book?”

“Oh-huh. I wonder how many of Geoff’s nieces and nephews will be there today. Let’s see, he has four sisters. The youngest isn’t married. The one next to Geoff has three kids, a boy who’s nine-he’s the one closest to my age-and a girl who’s seven and a boy who’s four. Geoff’s second sister has four kids, but they’re kind of little-I think the oldest is six. Then there’s the one with the two-year-old twins.”

“Rob, for heaven sake, when did you learn all this?” Kerry asked.

“The other night at dinner. Geoff was talking about them. You were kind of out of it, I guess. I mean, I could tell you weren’t listening. Anyhow I think it will be cool to go down there. He says his mother’s a good cook.”

As they were leaving Closter and entering Alpine, Kerry glanced down at her directions. “It’s not far now.”

Five minutes later they drove up a winding road to Jason Arnott’s European-style mansion. The bright sun played on the structure, a breathtaking combination of stone, stucco, brick and wood, with towering leaded-pane windows.

“Wow!” Robin said.

“Sort of makes you realize how modestly we live,” Kerry agreed, as she parked in the semicircular driveway.

Jason Arnott opened the door for them before they could find the buzzer. His greeting was cordial. “Ms. McGrath, and is this your assistant?”

“I said it would be an unofficial visit, Mr. Arnott,” Kerry said, as she introduced Robin. “Perhaps she could wait here while we talk.” She indicated a chair near a life-size bronze sculpture of two knights in combat.

“Oh, no. She’ll be much more comfortable in the little study.” Arnott indicated a room to the left of the entrance hall. “You and I can go into the library. It’s just past the study.”

This place is like a museum, Kerry thought as she followed Arnott. She would have loved to have had the chance to stop and study the exquisite wall coverings, the fine furniture, the paintings, the total harmony of the interior. Keep your mind on what you’re doing, she warned herself. You promised him you’d only be half an hour.

When she and Arnott were seated opposite each other on handsome morocco armchairs, she said, “Mr. Arnott, Robin suffered some facial injuries in a car accident several weeks ago and was treated by Dr. Charles Smith.”