watch, too.
Trowbridge glanced up to see his ex-wife approaching. His mouth twisted in an expression of distaste. ‘‘Lorraine, what the hell are you doing here? Is Will with you?’’
‘‘Hello, Avery,’’ Lorraine said, coming to a halt very close to Trowbridge. ‘‘Yes, your son is here. Frankly I’m amazed that you even remember that you have a son. In case you’ve forgotten, he’s the one who has been waiting on money from you so he can pay his tuition for this semester.’’
Trowbridge started to rise from his chair. ‘‘Now, look, Lorraine, I told you, my so-called manager has screwed up my finances, and I don’t have the money right now.’’
‘‘Oh, give it a rest, Avery,’’ Lorraine said. ‘‘Every time Will has needed something from you, it’s the same old excuse. I’m really rather tired of hearing it, because I know better. I know your little game. You’re a cheap bastard who can’t be bothered to support his only child, and you know it.’’
Trowbridge opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get the first syllable out, Lorraine threw her plate at him. Upon impact, Trowbridge sank with a thump into his chair.
Lorraine leaned down and said, ‘‘That’s the nicest thing that’s going to happen to you, you bastard. If you don’t come across with that money by tomorrow, I’m going to rip your balls off and feed them to you. Do you understand me?’’
Trowbridge nodded, even as he was wiping the dip from his eyes.
‘‘Good,’’ Lorraine said. She walked off.
Marylou and I scurried back to our table then.
‘‘What was going on over there?’’ Sophie asked us as we sat down. Alice McCarthy and her grandmother had departed. We had the table to ourselves.
I filled her in, and she laughed. ‘‘Serves the jerk right,’’ Sophie said when I had finished. ‘‘Lorraine sounds like one tough broad.’’
‘‘I certainly wouldn’t want to get on her bad side,’’ I responded. I watched Marylou put a piece of cheesecake on Sophie’s plate. ‘‘I just can’t believe he sat there and took it, though. He actually acted like he was intimidated by her.’’
‘‘Well, she threatened him, didn’t she?’’ Marylou said. ‘‘Didn’t you hear that one thing she told him?’’ She forked a piece of cheesecake into her mouth.
The light dawned then. ‘‘ ‘I know your little game,’ ’’ I quoted.
‘‘Exactly,’’ Marylou said.
‘‘What do you think she meant?’’ Sophie asked. She played with her own piece of cheesecake, taking tiny bites of it.
‘‘It’s only a theory, mind you,’’ Marylou said, laying her fork aside for the moment. ‘‘But I’d be willing to bet you that Avery and his accountant are in trouble with the IRS. He said his manager had screwed up his finances, right?’’
I nodded.
‘‘It sounds to me like they were trying to cheat the IRS, and they got caught,’’ Marylou said triumphantly. She picked up her fork and ate the rest of her cheesecake.
‘‘That’s certainly plausible,’’ I said. ‘‘Avery does seem like the type. I wouldn’t trust him for a minute.’’
‘‘My money’s on Lorraine, though,’’ Sophie said. ‘‘She’ll get what she wants, and to hell with Avery.’’
Marylou and I agreed.
I looked over toward the table where Avery had been sitting, and he was no longer there. He had gone somewhere to clean up, no doubt. I wondered whether he would turn up again tonight. After all that had happened, I wouldn’t have the nerve to show my face again if I were with him, but somehow I figured that none of this would faze Avery enough to keep him in his room.
I was proved right about half an hour later when Basil Dumont returned to get the play started. He stood once again on the dais, to give out instructions. As everyone moved about to his or her chosen side of the divided room, I saw Avery Trowbridge slip back into the ballroom. He sidled into our area of the room, perhaps because Basil Dumont was busy in the section reserved for duplicate bridge. Avery held some papers in his hands, and he began going from table to table, stopping briefly at each one. Occasionally he wrote something down on one of the pages before moving on to the next table.
Marylou had elected to play duplicate this week, but Sophie and I had firmly resisted any suggestions that we join her. I wasn’t ready for the pressure of duplicate, and Sophie just plain didn’t want to work that hard, though she was more than skilled enough to be an excellent duplicate player. The other two