Death on the Diagonal - By Nero Blanc Page 0,6

around?”

“Around? Yes, but discarded long ago. You know how such familial relationships work in the moneyed set, my angel. Toddie has his millions, then reaches the fine old age of fifty-plus and starts shopping for a trophy wife. Long-suffering mother of his offspring is unceremoniously shown the exit, and Miss Twentysomething moves into the Big House instead. That first little bride took Mr. Todd for a pretty penny and skedaddled to Miami’s South Beach and a stable of Cuban houseboys—or so I hear. Todd is now on wifey number three, a comely lass named Ryan. Of course, even she will fade in time. It’s now two years or so post-white-gown-and-lace-veil. So I’ve been told that at the age of thirty-seven, she’s interviewing only the best of cosmetic surgeons.” Kerr clasped the palms of his hands to his cheeks. “I’m sorry. Was that naughty of me? Oh, well . . . But then again, Toddie-pie is presently seventy-four. Perchance he has lost his wandering eye and will keep Mistress Ryan for the duration. Only time will tell.”

“It’s kind of odd,” Belle said as she pointed to the manila envelope in her out-box, “but one of the puzzles I drew up for next week has a horse theme. Not show horses like the ones at King Wenstarin Farms, but race horses. I had a wonderful time researching the names . . . famous Kentucky Derby winners and champions who went on to take the Triple Crown. For instance, Omaha, who won it in 1935. Nowadays, the clue would be the city or the famous beach, but back then—”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Kerr interrupted as he waved a cautionary index finger at Belle. “I’d be careful there if I were you, Bellisima. If some evildoer, to borrow a term, is out to wreak havoc on King Wenstarin, and the horse trade in general, you certainly don’t want to join the throng. Guilt by association? It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve gotten your tush mixed up with the wrong crowd because of those infernal puzzles of yours.”

“I hardly think whoever was responsible for last night’s fire would notice one of my puzzles.”

“Well, to quote Wilfred Owen, ‘All a poet can do is warn.’ ”

“He was referring to war, Bartholomew, not crosswords,” Belle said with a chuckle.

“Yes, but don’t forget he died when he was only twenty-five.”

“Which I’ve already passed.” Belle laughed again. “I’m not concerned. The puzzle I constructed has nothing to do with arson—either real or imagined—or Mr. Collins’s family.”

Kerr leapt off Belle’s desk. “Oh, please, don’t get me gabbing about Clan Collins again. I have work to attend to.”

Belle smiled. Getting Bartholomew “gabbing” was never a trick; stopping him, however, was quite another story.

Across

1. Gardner creation

6. Toss

11. Sixth sense; abbr.

14. Derby winner of 1905

15. Spanish queen

16. My ___

17. Cut-ups

18. Suggest

19. SM, MED, ___

20. Police radio call; abbr.

21. 1973 winner

24. Upper NYC thoroughfare

25. Sizzle

26. Black Sea port

27. Attach

30. Hair raiser?

31. Big name in insurance

33. Int. commerce grp.

35. A Winkler

39. Milking aid

40. Manhattan campus; abbr.

41. Harlot of Jericho

42. D.C. naval facility

43. Poetic evening

44. Kansas City university

45. U2 or ELO

47. Roofer

49. San Fernando Valley town

52. Pats’ old org.

53. Grass court org.

56. 1977 winner

59. Tire need

60. Stooge

61. Easter in Italy, e.g.

62. Certain manual

64. Ike’s WWII turf

65. Actor, Davis

66. 1935 winner

67. “Ask __ . . .”

68. Scratches

69. Songster, Leo

Down

1. Certain parrot

2. Wide open

3. 1919 winner

4. ___ Rosebud, 1914 Derby winner

5. Stack role

6. Adjective for 21-Across, et al.

7. A Winkler

8. Overrun with

9. ___ many; over the top

10. 1937 winner

11. Winning jockey, 1931 Preakness

12. Long tales

13. Michelangelo masterpiece

22. Little lizard

23. Try it again

28. Circling

29. 1930 winner

30. 1943 winner

31. Tempe campus; abbr.

32. UFO crew

34. Lanyard

36. 1941 winner

37. Baron tack-on

38. Hoopster’s org.

46. Even so

48. Chill

49. City on the Ruhr

50. “Cool!”

51. 1949 Preakness winner

52. Spite in Spinazzola

54. Church offering

55. Like the crowd at the track

57. Old gas sign

58. “___ Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

63. Tumor; suffix

OFF TO THE RACES

CHAPTER

3

While Bartholomew Kerr entertained Belle with his protracted monologue on the virtues, or lack thereof, of Todd Collins’s three adult children, Fiona, Heather, and Chip; Rosco Polycrates, Belle’s husband, was entering his office just off Fifth Street in Newcastle’s downtown business district. At thirty-eight, Rosco still had the build of a natural athlete, as well as a full head of black hair that he’d inherited from his Greek ancestors—all fishermen with a passion for the sea, a trait that had unfortunately bypassed the third-generation Greek-American version. A boat-averse Polycrates was not only a source of perplexity to his large, extended family, it was also an