part 9
Tom stretched his arm across the bed and when it hit the cool mattress
he realized something was different. "Cassy?"
"Over here," she whispered,
Tom opened his eyes and adjusted his focus. He saw Cassy across the room
removing items from a bag. "What are you doing?"
"Preparing breakfast. I was up early and found this little coffee shop
around the corner and I brought us back some food. Now get up."
"What time is it?"
"A little after seven. Have some coffee." She walked over to the bed and
set the coffee on the nightstand.
"What time is our meeting with Garnett?"
"Eleven."
"Wake me in two hours." Tom pulled the covers over his head.
"Tom, come on, don't do that. We have four hours until this meeting. I
don't want to sit around here and watch TV while you sleep." She looked
at Tom and smiled. "Thanks for last night. But you didn't have to stay with
me all night. You could have gone back to your own bed."
"No, I couldn't have. I fell asleep." Tom shifted and the bed squeaked.
"A girl can't hear that often enough." Cassy took a long look at the coffee
and reached for her orange juice. She looked at Tom's outline in the bed
and decided to take action. "Tom, if you wake up, I'll do it with you."
A sound came from the bed. "Really?"
"For as long as we can."
"Yippee."
"Tom are you finished yet?"
"Not quite. I haven't touched everything."
"But we've been at this for hours. Aren't you tired? I'm beat."
"I'm almost done. You know, this was your idea."
"I know, I know. And now I know better."
"I can't believe my hands are the same size as Gary Cooper's.
This is so cool."
Cassy sighed. She looked around for a taxi. Why had she agreed to come
here? Mann's Chinese Theater seemed like a good idea at the time but so
far Tom had gushed over Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable,
Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, John Wayne, Natalie
Wood and Gene Kelly. And now Gary Cooper. Cassy's feet were tired and so
was she. She looked at her watch. It was already 10:30. She hailed a taxi.
"The taxi's here, Tom."
"I'm coming. Guess who else is honored here?"
Cassy looked at her watch again. "I don't know and I don't have time to
guess. Daffy Duck?"
Tom laughed. "Daffy Duck? Please. Try Donald Duck.
Look at the size of those feet."
In spite of herself, Cassy began to laugh. Tom took a picture of Donald
and then of Cassy.
Cassy was surprised. "Why did you just take a picture of me?"
"Because some day our child will come to me and say
'Daddy, has Mommy always been this way' and I'll say
'No, one day she smiled.' And I'll show him the picture."
Cassy had to laugh again and Tom took another picture. "In case we lose
the first one."
"Thank you for seeing us, Mr. Garnett."
"It's no problem, Sergeant Ryan. Please have a seat. Can I get you
two anything?"
"No, we're fine. Will Mrs. Garnett be joining us?"
"No, I'm afraid not. This has all been too much for her. After she returned from Palm Beach, she moved to our home in Santa Monica for a while
until she can come to terms with Greer."
"I understand there was an estrangement between you two and Greer."
Cassy asked.
"Yes, unfortunately. Felicity never approved of Zach. You see Felicity
comes from high society in Beverly Hills. She was a very wealthy woman
when we met. Me, I was earning a living in my dad's candy store. After he
retired, I took hold of the business and Felicity's hand and headed
straight for the top. Felicity never knew what it was like to work for
a living but I did. I always thought highly of Zach Richards."
Cassy spoke up. "I don't understand, Mr. Garnett. Both Zach Richards and
Winston Brooks told us about you and your wife's decision to cut her off
financially if she stayed with him."
"That's true, to a point. At first we were both very angry at Greer. She
left Winston Brooks two weeks before her wedding. All the preparations
had been made, her dress was ready, her house was nearly finished, the
invitations had gone out. And then one day, I return home from the office
and there was a message on the machine. 'Daddy, I'm sorry to do this to you
but I can't marry Winston. I'm in love with Zach. I know you're angry but I hope
in time you can forgive me. I love you.' Never was I so angry than at that moment.
We had this huge fight, I said some things I regretted, and she and Zach
moved to Florida."
He poured himself a drink. "I don't normally drink during the day but I
had no idea how difficult this was going to be." He took a long drink,
refilled the glass and emptied it.
Cassy watched and hoped he wouldn't find solace and comfort in a bottle.
"Anyway, Felicity wanted to cut her off completely and so did I at first.
But after I calmed down I thought differently. By alienating my daughter I
ran the risk of never seeing her again. So I started sending her money on a
regular basis, behind Felicity's back. I'm not even sure Zach new about it.
Once or twice a month we talked on the phone." His voice began to shake.
"Mr. Garnett, we can finish this later." Tom asked.
"No, I'm fine. When she and Zach were married in Key West, I gave her
away. Zach just thought I was some old man Greer took pity on. It wasn't
the wedding I had planned for or even paid for but it was what she wanted. It
was one the happiest days of my life." His eyes began to tear and he
turned toward the window.
"Did Mrs. Garnett learn what you did?"
"No. She was determined to teach Greer a lesson in proper behavior and
refused any contact with her. After Greer was married, I tried to persuade
Felicity to reach out but she refused. I was planning another trip to see
her when I was informed about her death." He filled his glass again.
Tom could feel his torment. "We can see this is painful for you so
we'll try to wrap this up. Do you think that either Zach Richards or
Winston Brooks could have been responsible for your daughter's death?"
"No, I don't think either of those two men could have had anything to do
with Greer's murder. They were good men and she loved them both."
"Mr. Brooks mentioned a private investigator you hired to keep tabs on
Greer."
"Felicity's doing."
"Is it possible for us to see him? He may have seen something that would
help us in our investigation."
"His name is Robert Ivy and he's a very busy man. He handles all the top
Beverly Hills and Hollywood business. He's very much in demand. Let me
see if I can get you an appointment today."
While he called Robert Ivy, Cassy took the opportunity to speak to her
partner. "I'm hungry."
"We'll eat in just a minute. I have the perfect place in mind for lunch."
"Really? Where?"
"In due time."
Mr. Garnett put the phone on hold. "The good news is that Robert 's had a
cancellation. The bad news is it's at 2:00 tomorrow. Do you want it?"
Tom looked at Cassy. "Well? Do we take it? I know Harry is expecting us
back sometime today."
"Call him on your cell phone and ask him."
"He'll freak over the long distance charges."
"What choice do we have, Tom? Do it."
Cassy watched as Tom called Harry. She could see from his facial
expressions that Harry wasn't pleased.
"He said take the meeting."
"Very well," and Mr. Garnett resumed his phone call.
"What else did he say?"
"A lot of threats about budgets and how the rich here think they're
above everyone else."
Cassy nodded. "Anything else?"
"He'd like me to get some celebrity autographs."
Cassy laughed. "Would that be the same 'they think they are above everyone
else' celebrities?"
"One in the same."
Mr. Garnett handed Tom a business card. "Here is my personal number.
If you need anything, call me. Robert's information is on the back."
Cassy stood and picked up her purse. "Thank you for your help, Mr.
Garnett."
"It was my pleasure. I hope you catch who did this." His voice broke.
Tom extended his hand to the man, who accepted it. "We plan to."
To Part 10