Page 62 of Home Body
Mamie stood up for her cousin. “She’s actually a very sweet and kind person. When she was at our house a few months ago talking about how tawdry strippers are today, I was aware that Dalia was paying close attention. Dolly speculated that if a woman today had a class act like they did back in the day, shemight be a hit. I’m sure Dolly had no intention of convincing Dalia to do that – Dolly despises strip clubs today. But I think Dalia could’ve been doing it.”
Llayne twisted in her seat at a loss for words.
“What?” Mamie asked. “Do you know something about that?”
“Oh Mamie, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I overheard Kenyon and Jessa talking on the phone yesterday. I’d picked up the extension downstairs and Kenyon has a phone in her room upstairs. They had no idea I overheard. They were promising to keep Dalia’s ‘secret.’ They didn’t say what that was.”
“I fear that the ‘secret’ was dancing. Oh, I’m not worried about Dalia doing anything unsavory. It’s just hard to think of her in that environment that’s so not her.”
“Mamie, I don’t know if that’s the secret, but I can tell you that one summer when I was in college, before all the homecoming queen hoop-dee-doo, I was dead broke and the only job I could find was as a waitress in a house of burlesque. I was surprised to discover that all kinds of women did that kind of work, some of them as desperate to make money as me. Single moms feeding their kids, wives whose husbands were out of work, and, yes, some who were shady characters. But I learned not to judge a stripper.”
“That’s sweet, Llayne. I assume that’s your ‘secret.’”
Llayne hesitated. “Yes. I mean, it’s sort of a secret. Kids back in college knew. Priscilla knows, of course. So does Mack. But nobody’s made a fuss about it since I’ve been in TV. My maiden name is Robertson. My professional name is O’Brien. I don’t think anybody I knew in college gives a damn, or they haven’t put the TV personality together with the college kid. I’ve looked so different since being on the news. The hair and all. Different make-up. No bright blue eye shadow. Ha. I’m thinner now. Most kids in college saw me at homecoming but never heard me talk.They wouldn’t recognize my voice. My kids don’t know about me waitressing in a house of burlesque. I don’t think.”
“I promise to keep it to myself,” Mamie reassured her. “Listen, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I need to talk to Dalia instead of tiptoeing behind her back to try to figure out what she’s been doing. It breaks my heart she may have felt the need to go to that extreme to try to get money so we could open a bakery. But that’s all over now. She’s quit the city job, whatever it was, and the bakery is ours. We’ll open in a couple of months.”
“That’s great. Things will settle down and we’ll all adjust to our new lives. Mack and I might even get used to our son being a grown man in the military and our daughter living with us after we thought she’d be married and gone.”
“And I’m glad Dalia has a nice deputy boyfriend, and we’ll have our bakery.”
“Life may have its ups and downs, but the important thing is that we get up and keep going.”
Mamie’s brilliant smile lit up her face. “Ain’t that the truth!”
CHAPTER 36
“Dalia, your fear that this investigation could bring up some nasty results is warranted. Are you sure you want to proceed?” Professor Inez Crow pushed her coffee cup aside and leaned in on her elbows at the rickety table. True to her nature of feeling compelled to educate, she was intense.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“Okay, here’s what I suggest: We visit the sheriff’s office first in hopes that this young woman named Prissy will be there alone. It’s Sunday, a low crime day, so her grandfather should be home watching sports on TV like half the other men in America. We’ll glean what we can from Prissy, then go out to Nellie Franklin’s. She hates my guts, but my presence might startle some kind of information out of her. She hasn’t seen me in fifteen years, so it’s possible she won’t even recognize me. If we get nowhere with her, we’ll leave and regroup at Saul Steinburg’s house. I’ve called him and told him to stand by. How’s that sound?”
Dalia and Kenyon looked at one another, shrugged, and on top of each other said, “Fine.”
They left Inez’s Jeep and took Kenyon’s car. As she drove the short distance to the sheriff’s office in Amberton, Inez marveled at how little the small town had changed since she’d last been there years earlier. Like Farmdale, it was a quintessential cozy American town.
As luck would have it, Prissy was alone in the sheriff’s office, her feet up on the desk as she filed her nails. She popped up when they walked in. She wore shorts and aLike a Virgintee shirt with a picture of Madonna. The women got a kick out of the outfit that was anything but appropriate for working in a sheriff’s office.
Happy to see them or just happy for the interruption to her boring workday, Prissy chirped, “Hi there! You’re back. What’s up? You in trouble again?”
“Prissy,” Dalia said, “it’s good to see you, too. We’ve come to ask for your help.”
“Ooooh.Will it get me in trouble?” The young woman giggled as if getting in trouble would be a blast.
“Prissy,” Kenyon said, “this is our friend, Professor Inez Crow. She’s here to help us investigate the Clive Upton case from so long ago.”
“Hey! I’ve heard of you. Gramps has talked about you. I’ve heard him tell other people – not me, mind you – I’ve heard him say that if anybody can figure out what happened, it’ll be Dr. Crow. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise, Prissy. It’s nice to know I’ve not been forgotten.”
“So, what can I do for you gals today? I was, like, just a little kid when all that happened. But I’ve always heard gossip about it.”
Dalia said, “As you know, we tried to talk to Nellie Franklin, to no avail. Is there possibly anything you’ve ever heard that might make her change her mind? Or anybody else we couldtalk to who might know something? You see, I was born in that clinic.”
“Oh wow. I’ve never met anybody who was actually born there. I don’t know if anybody around here has. That’s tough. No wonder you want to know. Well, let’s see.” Prissy scooted up to sit on her desk, her legs swinging. “There’s Mr. Steinburg. He’s always been big on cracking that case.”
“We might be meeting with him later today,” Inez said.
