involuntary facial tic that caused him to squint and blink as though the sun was shining directly in his face.
“Caroline is missing,” Julia said to him. “And Gretchen thinks she was involved in Martha’s death and is running from the police.”
Gretchen stared in astonishment at Julia. “That wasn’t what I suggested at all. Please don’t repeat that to anyone. It isn’t true.”
“Of course not,” Julia said. “There’s a logical explanation in spite of the incriminating note the police found in Martha’s hand.” Julia smiled sweetly.
Larry squeezed past Nina and Tutu, blinking rapidly, and bent to kiss his wife on the cheek.
Tutu chose that moment to tug the leash out of her owner’s grasp. She ran through the shop trailing the leash, with Nina in hot pursuit.
Julia shot out of the folding chair, squealing. She scurried after Nina and Tutu. “That’s it. My eyes are beginning to itch. Out of the shop with Tutu!”
Gretchen started to follow, but Larry put a hand on her arm. “Wait, tell me what’s going on,” he said. “How long has your mother been missing?”
“Only since yesterday. But the timing isn’t good.”
“You mean because Martha died yesterday?”
Gretchen nodded. She felt weary and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and wake up to a new day and fresh energy. Maybe tomorrow everything would be clearer.
“Your mother is fine,” Larry reassured her. “She’ll turn up, and she’ll wonder what the fuss is about.”
Gretchen idly fingered a stack of doll clothing lying on Julia’s desk. She picked up a doll with a repair tag around its wrist—a Schoenhut wooden doll—and admired the expertly carved face. The enamel face paint was slightly cracked around the nose, but the doll was in good condition.
“Nice,” she said, noting the spring joints and maneuverability of the parts before she carefully returned the doll to the desk. She glanced up and saw Larry studying her. She looked away. His eye spasms seemed worse than she remembered. “I better find Nina,” she said.
The shop was empty when Larry and Gretchen joined Julia in the studio. Nina was nowhere in sight. Julia stood like a guard dog at the front door, blowing loudly into a tissue.
“She takes that animal everywhere she goes,” Julia complained. “I know she’s your aunt, Gretchen, but others don’t appreciate Tutu quite as much as Nina does. She’s waiting outside for you.” Julia fanned her face with her hand. “Martha’s suicide has taken quite a toll on me. What a terrible tragedy.”
“Martha’s entire life was a tragedy,” Larry said. A hardness edged in his jaw. “She turned into a bitter, pathetic drunk. She used to come into the shop, but she scared away business with her alcoholic theatrics. Julia eventually threw her out.” Larry pulled the plug on the Open sign in the window. “I’ll stop by in the morning. Maybe something in your mother’s workshop will give us some idea where she went. What about her customers?”
“To tell you the truth, I haven’t answered her business line. Anyone calling about repairs will get her machine.”
“We’ll figure it out,” he said. Julia nodded and kissed her on the cheek, and Gretchen walked slowly into the parking lot, where Nina waited in the coolness of the running car.
“What an absolutely horrible woman Julia is,” Nina said. “And did you see that face problem Larry has? Your great grandmother had one of those tics, and it got worse when she was tired or excited or under a lot of pressure. Poor Larry has to be constantly stressed living with that woman. His eye was blinking like one of those airplane warning lights on top of a cell tower.”
Gretchen struggled to stay awake on the ride home, not even caring that she shared her seat with Tutu. When she was dropped off in her mother’s driveway, she muttered good night and stumbled inside. She fumbled for the light switch and saw Wobbles peeking at her from the laundry room.
“Bedtime,” she said to him, too exhausted to think anymore. She shed her clothes and collapsed into her mother’s bed. The last thing she remembered before falling into a dreamless sleep was Wobbles snuggling up to her bare feet, purring loudly.
Caroline wanted to use a credit card, but she couldn’t take the risk. She hunted through her purse and found a twenty dollar bill folded inside a side zipper. She added it to the bills in her wallet. Sixty-six dollars left after paying cash for her airfare. Not nearly enough to rent a hotel room