Shakespeares Trollop Page 0,51

perform normally?

And maybe it was just a gesture of contempt.

Becca told him, not unkindly, "You know, Marlon, that Deedra had lots of friends." Her tone made it clear what kind of friends Deedra had had.

"Yes, I know. But that had changed, she told me it had. Because of me. Because she really loved me and I really loved her."

I believed that like I believed Becca's hair was really blond. But everyone should have some illusions... well, maybe other people. I felt about a million years old as I sighed and nodded at Marlon Schuster. "Sure," I said.

"You have to believe me," he said, suddenly on fire. He straightened on Becca's chair, his eyes flashed, and for the first time I could see what Deedra had seen, the passion that made the boy handsome and desirable.

Becca said, "She told me that."

We both stared at her. Becca looked quite calm and matter-of-fact as she went on. "The last time I talked to Deedra, she told me she'd finally met someone she cared about, someone she thought she could love."

Marlon's face became radiant with relief and pride. Seeing a chance to act, I silently extended my hand and he put the key in it without thinking. I slid it out of sight, and he didn't say a word of protest.

A couple of minutes later, he left the apartment a happier man than he'd entered it. He'd been told not to worry about the video he and Deedra had made, he'd had the key removed so he no longer had that guilt weighing on him, and he'd had the ego-stroking consolation that his latest love had also loved him, enough to change her life for him.

Who wouldn't feel good?

"Did you make all of that up?" I asked Becca when the door had closed behind Marlon.

"Mostly," she admitted. "The last time I talked to Deedra, she was still complaining about the rent going up. But when I said something about seeing Marlon real often, she did say that she'd decided to be monogamous for a while."

"I wouldn't think she'd know that word," I said absently.

"Well, maybe she didn't use the term 'monogamous,' but that's what she meant."

"When was that, Becca?"

"I know exactly when that was, because the police asked me over and over. It was Saturday afternoon. We were both bringing in groceries at the same time."

"Who was here that weekend?"

"They asked me that, too. Your friend the chief of police spent the weekend over at his fianc茅e's. The Bickels were out of town, too, at their mother's in Fayetteville." Daisy and Dawn Bickel were twin sisters who worked at junior management level, Daisy at the local branch of a big chain of clothing stores and Dawn at Goodnight Mattress Manufacturing. "Terry Plowright was gone Saturday, to a monster truck rally somewhere on the other side of Little Rock. He didn't get in 'til about one in the morning and as far as I could tell he slept most of Sunday. He lives right across from me. That's the first floor."

I nodded.

"The upstairs front apartment by Deedra's is vacant. The one across the stairwell from her is a woman who works at Wal-Mart, and she was working most of the weekend - at least Sunday, I know, and I think some hours on Saturday. And the other front apartment is Tick Levinson, and you know how he is."

"How he is" was alcoholic. Tick was still managing to turn up to work at the local paper, where he was a pressman, but if there wasn't a dramatic intervention, Tick wouldn't be doing that in a year.

"So out of those, who do you think had anything to do with Deedra?"

"Well, Terry, for sure. He had a lot to do with her, real often. But I don't think either of them took it to heart," Becca said slowly. "Terry just isn't serious about anything besides cars and trucks. He loves being single. I don't think the Bickel twins even speak - even spoke - to Deedra, besides hello. Claude . .. well, you know, actually I think Claude might have visited Deedra once or twice, if you get my drift."

I could not have been more surprised. I was sure my face showed it.

I was disgusted, too.

"You know how men are," Becca said dryly.

I did, for sure.

"But from what Deedra said, I think it was a long time ago, maybe after he first moved back to Shakespeare from Little Rock. Before he kind of knew what was what. Right