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“Honey, you don’t know anything about the movie industry, do you?”
“I guess not.”
“Everyone in Hollywood is all air-kissy and take-a-lunchy. But when push comes to shove, money and power always win out. Industry people will stab you in the back, step over your dead body, and never give it a second thought.”
“If Hollywood is so terrible, why do people want to work there? Why do you work there?”
“For the glamour, darling, don’t you know?” Cole said with a condescending smile. “If we couldn’t eat at the Ivy or cruise down Sunset and hit clubs like Avalon or Drai’s we’d be just like the rest of you people.”
“Us people?” Theodosia was both amused and insulted.
Cole waved an index finger in front of her. “Just wait until you meet Joe Adler. He’s such a profoundly arrogant snake in the grass that you’ll understand how he earned his nickname.”
“And what is that?” Theodosia asked.
Cole favored her with a self-satisfied smirk. “We call him the Puff Adler.”
8
It was still early when Theodosia got home. So, after feeding Earl Grey, she changed into running clothes, snapped on his leash, and headed out the door.
The night was warm and fairly humid with a myriad of stars sparkling in an indigo blue sky. Theodosia ran down her own back alley, going slow, kind of warming up. She continued at that pace for another three blocks, then broke into an all-out sprint when she hit Queen Street. They pounded along, blowing out the carbon, reveling in their pace. They breezed down Chalmers Street past the Pink House, the second-oldest residence in Charleston. It had started out as a tavern, then became a law office, housed a graphic arts firm, and was now an art gallery. They hooked a turn down Cumberland, then slowed when they came to Philadelphia Alley.
A three-hundred-year-old city, Charleston was famous for its picturesque alleys and hidden walkways. Some of them included Stoll’s Alley, Longitude Lane, Price’s Alley, and even St. Michael’s Alley. But Philadelphia Alley was one of Theodosia’s favorites. For one thing it had long ago been dubbed Dueler’s Alley, the name lending a certain frisson of danger, since duels had actually been fought and blood spilled there. Now, Theodosia and Earl Grey walked down this secret passageway with its cobblestones, overgrown shrubbery, and hidden back doors to any number of homes. It was hard not to feel the great weight of history here, especially since the brick wall on Philadelphia Alley’s western side flanked St. Philip’s Church and graveyard, one of the oldest churches and cemeteries (that was definitely haunted!) in the City of Charleston.
Emerging onto Queen Street, with its antique shops, galleries, and restaurants, Theodosia turned for home. One block east and she was deep in a residential area again, where darkness and wrought-iron fences protected homes as if they were tiny principalities, and drifting fog lent an ethereal feel to the already atmospheric environs.
As Theodosia and Earl Grey walked down their own alley, closing in on home, Theodosia saw that someone had parked a car near her back gate. She glanced at the Granville Mansion and saw lights on. Probably the culprit. Robert Steele, the man who owned the mansion, was still in London, and he’d had a long string of short-term renters. Actually, they were probably well-heeled renters because that monstrosity of a place couldn’t be cheap.
As she drew closer to the property, she saw that the garage door was up and a faint light was on. Then a shadow crept across the inside wall and disappeared before she could speak to…whoever.
No matter. Theodosia and Earl Grey disappeared into their own yard. They checked out the little fish pond with its newly installed bubbler and newly purchased fish, then went inside, both craving a late-night snack. While Earl Grey munched a chew bone, Theodosia had a fruit salad and a piece of Swiss cheese.
Then, with windows locked and doors double-checked, they went upstairs for the evening.
When Theodosia had first moved in, she’d designed a kind of bedroom / reading room / walk-in-closet suite. Laura Ashley wallpaper graced the walls and the matching bedspread covered her four-poster bed. The tower room held a comfy reading chair and footstool and a bookcase jammed with books. Her mother’s antique vanity featured a round mirror and a half dozen drawers, and was strewn with Dior and Chanel perfume bottles, Le Labo moisturizer, an upside-down abalone shell that held necklaces and pearl earrings, and a leather-bound journal with her dad’s Montblanc pen.
While Earl Grey settled in his overpriced L.L.Bean bed, Theodosia peeled off her running gear and went into the bathroom to take a nice hot shower.
The phone was ringing as she stepped out of the shower.
Has to be Riley.
Theodosia snatched her phone up and said, “How was your talk?” She’d been kidding Riley about delivering a TED Talk instead of a seminar on protocols for firearms recovery.
“Great, it went great,” Riley said. “A willing audience and no hiccups with the AV equipment, which was a total blessing.”
“When will you be home?”
Theodosia could detect a smile in his voice as Riley said, “Is tomorrow too soon?”
“Not soon enough,” Theodosia told him.
“I’ve got an early flight so I’ll probably hit town midmorning and head into work. Apparently, Tidwell’s got a new assignment for me.”
“Something interesting?”
“Nothing as exciting as working a murder case,” Riley said.
