"Please have a seat, Miss Holt," Felicia said, going to sit down near the cart and picking up the tea pot. "May I offer you some tea? We might as well make this a civil as possible, don't you agree? One lump of sugar or two?" Felicia asked, picking up the tongs for the cubes of sugar.
"Two," Laura answered. "With lemon, please." She accepted the bone china cup and saucer. "Thank you." Felicia picked up her own cup. "Very nice accommodations you have here."
"That's something else that Harry and I have in common. Always go first class if you can." She sat back, watching Laura through her long lashes. "I imagine that when you fly, it's in tourist."
"Business class," Laura corrected. "Costs less money."
"Ah, yes. I suppose someone of your background would be concerned about every penny, wouldn't they?"
Laura refused to take the bait, and placed her tea on the table. "You said that you wanted to 'warn' me about Harry, Felicia."
"Oh, come now, Miss Holt. The only reason you're here is because of my promise to go back to London once we'd spoken. Isn't that right?" Felicia asked.
"It was a large part of the incentive for my agreeing to come here," Laura admitted. "What do you have on him?"
The blonde paused as she lifted her cup. "I beg your pardon?"
"You obviously know something about Harry's past that you're using to force him to keep you around- I want to know what it is."
Felicia laughed softly. "Blackmail isn't my style, Miss Holt. Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Why else would Harry keep you around when he's obviously so unhappy with you?"
Another laugh. "It's not that Harry's unhappy, Miss Holt. He has a short attention span. Gets bored very easily, I'm afraid. Even with me. We're fine for a few weeks, a few months, and then he gets restless- needs something new. Someone else catches his eye, and he's gone- but once the new wears off of his new toy, he comes running back." She sighed deeply. "I've lost track of how many times we've been through this. So you see, Miss Holt, you're just another distraction. Something new, different. Something outside of Harry's previous experience. It might take a bit longer for him to loose interest this time, but he will. He always does. And when he does, I'll be waiting for him in London, as always."
Laura rose from her chair. "If that's all, Felicia, I have to get back to work." She paused. "Can I drop you somewhere? Like the airport- to catch your flight back to London? I'd hate for you to miss it."
The other woman rose gracefully. "Don't worry, Miss Holt, I'll keep my word." She picked up the telephone receiver and dialed a number. "Yes, this is . . . Yes. I'll be checking out now. Could you please send a bell hop up for my cases? And call a cab to take me to the airport? . . . Thank you." She hung up. "See?" Moving to the door, Felicia opened it. "Good day, Miss Holt. And do give Lord Harry my warmest regards."
"I'll do that," Laura replied with a faux smile. "Good bye, Felicia."
Laura walked quickly to the elevator and stabbed at the call button with her finger, grateful when the car arrived and it was empty. So Harry wasn't a stayer. Felicia hadn't told her anything she hadn't already suspected, really. Laura supposed that she owed the blonde a debt. At least she could stop this before she got in any deeper. Before her heart was involved- before she got hurt again.
She ignored the small, traitorous internal voice that said, "Too late."
***
"Tell us what happened the night of the accident, Mr. Markham," Murphy asked the exhausted looking man who sat across the interrogation table.
"Accident?" Elliot repeated, frowning as if he'd lost track of the conversation.
"In 1949," Harry prompted gently.
"I've tried to forget about that night. I was- drunk. Too drunk. I drank a lot in those days. Not much else to do except drink. My marriage was impossible-"
"Was there someone else?" Murphy asked.
Elliot covered his face with his hands. "Maria," he cried softly.
"Maria Santera?" Murphy wanted to know. "Your daughter's nanny?"
"She was too young for me- but God help me, I loved her. She didn't deserve-" he closed his eyes again, and put his hands over his face. "I don't guess it matters now, does it? I mean, Helen's dead- "
The door opened, causing both Harry and Murphy to look up in concern that Lt. Halloran might be there. The police detective had been out on a call when they had arrived, making a confrontation impossible. When Laura entered the small room, both men gave a sigh of relief.
"Laura," Murphy said. "That didn't take long."
"She decided that she didn't need a private detective after all," Laura explained, moving to where Elliot Markham sat, his head still bent. "Hello, Mr. Markham." He didn't smile, and Laura ignored Harry's attempt to speak to ask her partner, "What have I missed?"
Harry moved closer to her, and then went still with surprise while Murphy told her what Elliot had told them about coming from the shower to find Helen's dead body on his bed. Laura didn't wear heavy perfume. Yet she reeked of it now. And he recognized the scent. Laura hadn't been with potential client- she'd been to see Felicia.
Laura sat down across from Elliot Markham and pulled his hands down with hers, clasping them. "Mr. Markham. What happened?"
"Helen- Helen knew I was in love with Maria. She promised to discuss the future of our marriage after the party that night. I didn't want to go. I'd just finished filming my last picture- All I wanted to do was curl up with a bottle of Scotch and forget everything. But Helen insisted that we had to go, that everyone was expecting us. She sent me ahead in a taxi- said that she wasn't ready yet, and that she'd meet me there in the car."
He paused, and Laura rubbed his hands in a comforting gesture. "Go on, Mr. Markham," she prompted in a soft, quiet voice that invited confidence.
"She was a hour late. She pulled me aside, told me that she'd fired Maria. I'd already had too much to drink, and her announcement was the last straw. I blew up, right there in front of everyone. I told her that I wanted a divorce. Not the best place in the world to say that, I guess, with a roomful of people, including local gossip columnists. Most of them were used to Helen and my fights- they happened all the time. I didn't realize til later that she'd staged the entire thing for their benefit. She wanted them to think that I'd do anything to get rid of her."
"What happened then, Elliot?" Harry asked.
"I told her I was leaving, that someone needed to be with Eileen- I went out to the car and got in, started the engine- never noticing the blanket draped over something in the floor board on the other side." His eyes met Laura's. "If I'd noticed, maybe- or maybe it was already too late. Before I could drive off, Helen ran out and climbed into the passenger side of the car. I told her to get out, that I was going home and then call my lawyer to start a divorce. She suggested that we go home and discuss it in private, without an audience. So we started down along the canyon road. That's when I noticed that she wasn't sitting right- and asked about the blanket. I reached down and pulled it loose-" There were tears on his lined face now. "It was Maria. Helen said she was dead- that she'd killed her. I wanted to pull over, to check for myself, but Helen grabbed the wheel, insisting that if I told anyone, she'd tell them that we were in it together- and then who would be there to take care of Eileen?"
"Is that when the car behind you saw you and she fighting?" Murphy asked.
"I guess so. Next thing I knew, Helen steered the car over the edge, and then opened her door, jumping clear. I did the same thing- thinking I could get to Maria- but the car exploded- burned- " He closed his eyes tightly, as if trying to blot out the memory of that night.
"Why didn't you tell the authorities that it had been Maria and not Helen in the car?" Laura asked him.
"After we jumped, before anyone else got there, Helen told me that people would think she was dead- and that Maria's body was hers. She wanted the insurance money to start over somewhere else, away from me."
"What about her daughter?" Harry wondered.
"Helen was never the most maternal of women," Elliot told him. "That's why she insisted on hiring a nanny to begin with.
"So you did defraud the insurance company," Murphy said.
"I was an accomplice, I suppose."
"Why did Helen come back?" Laura asked.
"She needed more money," Elliot answered. "She'd gone through the insurance money- and needed more."
"So she blackmailed you by threatening to tell what happened that night?" Harry said.
"That doesn't make any sense," Laura insisted. "She would put herself on the dock with him by doing that."
Elliot shook his head sadly. "Eileen. She threatened to tell Eileen the truth. I tried to raise Eileen to believe that her mother loved her. It would destroy her to find out that her mother never wanted her. I was trying to protect my daughter."
"What does Johnny Dedman have to do with any of this?" Harry wondered aloud.
"Nothing, really. He's just a third rate movie producer who wanted to make a movie about my life- wanted details about that night- he's writing the script, too, apparently. He's a hack. I wouldn't give him the time of day- but Eileen threatened to talk to him, too, once she found out what he wanted from me." He looked around at them. "It doesn't look good, does it?"
"What do you mean?" Laura asked.
"It looks like I killed Helen to stop her blackmail - I swear to you, I would have given her every penny I had to stop her from telling Eileen the truth- but I didn't kill her."
***
As they left the interrogation room, Harry was about to speak to Laura when she turned to Murphy. "We'll meet back at the office, regroup and see what our next move should be, okay?"
"As long as we get *him* out of here before Halloran gets back," Murphy agreed, jerking his thumb in Harry's direction.
"You two go on," Laura said, but Harry managed to speak at last.
"I'm with you," he told her.
"Listen, I'm going to speak to a friend of mine about getting into the crime scene- a room full of police mean anything to you, Mr. *Steele*?" she questioned.
"It simply means that I'll have to be on my toes," Harry answered. "You wouldn't be trying to get of me, eh, Miss Holt?"
"Sounds like that's what she's doing to me," Murphy pointed out as Laura and Harry locked gazes in a silent battle of wills.
"Besides, I'm dying to know about this woman you spoke to earlier. What kind of case did she have?"
"I *told* you, she didn't *have* a case at all. It was a mistake. She's gone now, so let's just let it drop, okay?"
"Gone? Gone where?" Harry continued to press. "New York? Paris? London, perhaps?" Laura looked at him, then away, as she realized he was fully aware of the identity of the mysterious potential client.
Murphy frowned. "Come on, Lord Harry, let's go so Laura can get on with her job, okay?"
Harry saw Laura turn to look thoughtfully at Murphy before she spoke. "On second thought, maybe you should come with me after all, Mr. Steele," she decided, emphasizing the name. "Excellent way to begin part of your training- if you're sure you'll be around long enough to finish it?"
"I'm here for as long as it takes," Harry assured her.
Murphy looked at him. "As long as it takes to do *what* exactly? That's the question I'd like answered."
"What's life without a few unanswered questions, eh, Murphy?" Harry asked, smiling now. "Lead on, Miss Holt. I am yours to command."
"See you back at the office, Murphy," Laura said. "And see what you can dig up on what Helen Markham has been doing these last thirty plus years."
"You're taking a big chance, letting him stay here," Murphy warned her.
"It's my chance to take, okay, Murphy?" Laura reminded him. "It's *my* agency."
Murphy gave her a hurt, angry look. "Yeah, *boss*. Guess I forgot that for a minute. I'll get right on it." He turned and stomped down the corridor.
"I was too hard on him, wasn't I?" she asked Harry.
"A bit," he agreed. "Was there a reason?"
"Nothing I want to discuss just yet," she said, her eyes still on Murphy's back as the door close behind him.
"I think we have several things to discuss," Harry said. "Such as your- potential client?"
"This isn't the time, Ha-," she looked around. "Mr Steele. Let's go. If we're going to get into the motel room, I'd like to do it as soon as possible."
They were lucky enough to avoid Lt. Halloran until they were leaving the station. He was just entering, and stopped. "Well, well, well. As I live and breathe. Steele and Holt. Got a few minutes?"
"Actually, we're a little busy at the moment, Lieutenant," Laura began, starting to continue past the heavyset man.
But Halloran moved quickly for someone of his size. "Not so fast. I've been trying to catch up with your friend here. I think it's time we had a talk, don't you, Steele?"
"As soon as Miss Holt and I resolve this case, Lt. Halloran, I give you my word that I shall explain everything in detail, to your satisfaction," Harry promised, causing Laura to look up at him, alarmed. "But at the moment, we are on a bit of a schedule-"
"Still working on the Markham case?" Halloran asked.
"He didn't do it," Laura insisted.
"So he says. But he's got a good motive- trying to protect his daughter- and his own reputation."
"If he was trying to do that, then why kill her and risk it all coming out?" Harry wondered. "Sorry, just thinking aloud. Bad habit."
"Maybe they were arguing and Markham killed her without thinking," Halloran suggested. "From what I've found out, those two argued all the time. Had some real knock down drag outs before she was declared dead in '49."
"And maybe it happened just as Markham says it did," Laura said. "He took a shower and when he got out, there she was, already dead."
"He didn't hear anyone come in with the body?" Halloran asked doubtfully.
"He's an old man," Harry said. "His hearing isn't the best in the world."
"What about the murder weapon, Lieutenant?" Laura asked. "Have you traced it yet?"
"As a matter of fact, we have." He smiled, as if he were enjoying answering her question. "It was registered to Elliot Markham. His gun, Holt." He nodded at Harry. "I'll except you to keep your promise, Steele."
"Remington Steele's word is his bond," Harry assured the Lieutenant, smiling as the man went into the building. "Now, on to the motel?" he asked Laura, only to be surprised as she turned back to the station. "Where are you going?"
"I need to talk to Elliot Markham again," she declared, leaving Harry nothing else to do but to follow.
To Be Continued---