Page 36 of The Lady on Esplanade
“Yeah.I just need to make a quick phone call.”
Cooper stood to pull out my chair as I excused myself, and I made my way to the ladies’ room.Beau picked up on the first ring.
“Seriously?”I said before he had a chance to say anything.“This whole evening was meant to get you together with Camille so maybe she’ll help you find out what your mom is looking for and give you any information she has about where your dad went.But you left, and I have no idea what you want me to ask her.I have your jacket, by the way.”
“I’m sorry.Really.I just…” I heard him breathe out.“Anyway, that’s why I’m calling.My jacket has my wallet and driver’s license in it, and I left my car parked near the restaurant.I thought I’d call an Uber so I can meet up with you to get my jacket.”
“Well, you’d better hurry.They’re getting ready to serve dessert.It’s late and I need to get home.I can’t sleep in tomorrow morning because we’re meeting Madame Zoe—remember?”
“Hard to forget.My phone keeps zinging with reminders from you.”
“You’re welcome.Now hurry up and get here so you can ask Camille whatever it is you need to know so tonight’s not a complete waste.Well, aside from the show and eating at Arnaud’s.I’ve got to get Jolene out of here before her face is permanently frozen in that weird smile she’s been wearing all night.”
“Uber’s on its way.I’ll be there as soon as I can.I’m coming from Sam’s, so it will take about fifteen minutes longer, but I’ll tell the driver to hurry.”
I’d just tossed my phone back into my purse when Camille opened the bathroom door.
“We were wondering where you’d gone,” she said.“The waiter removed your dessert before you’d had a chance to eat it, but Cooper asked him to bring it back in a box for you to take home.I thought that was very nice of him.”
“It was.”She made no move toward a stall or the door.I had doubts that Beau would get there in time to talk to Camille, and because he and I were seeing Madame Zoe the following morning, I decided to talk to her myself.“Camille, I’m sorry, since I knowyou find the subject of Adele too painful, but there are so many unanswered questions.If you don’t mind, I have a quick one.”
She looked at me, her eyes wounded, as if she already knew what I was going to say.
I hurried before she could ask me to stop.“I know that Beau would ask you this himself if he were here, but is there any reason you can think of why Adele, presuming she’s dead, would still be here?Can you think of any unfinished business that would keep her here?”
Her face paled, and her distress was like a blow to my gut.“I’m sorry.I didn’t mean—”
She held up a hand.“No.Really.It’s all right.I understand.Beau lost his mother—and father—when he was still a young boy.He’s looking for answers.As we all are.”She looked down at her feet.When she looked up again, the glare on her glasses hid her eyes.
“Maybe there’s something you remember?Anything Adele might have told you before she disappeared?”I hesitated, unsure of how to say what I needed to say, what Beau would want to say if he were there.I took a deep breath.“Beau knows his mother’s no longer alive.He also knows she’s not resting in peace.”
Her eyebrows rose over the tortoiseshell frames.“What do you mean?”
Again I hesitated.I didn’t want to share anything that wasn’t mine to share, but there were still a few things that could be considered public knowledge.“He keeps seeing wet footprints that seem to follow him.I’ve seen them, too.So have others, including Sam.We’re pretty sure they’re Adele’s, because they belong to a woman, they’re always dripping wet, and they usually appear in conjunction with Beau.We used to think she was looking for Sunny, and now that Sunny’s been found we’re wondering why she’s still here.That’s why Beau is hoping you might know something.Or remember something.Or even have some clue about where Buddy might be.Maybe Adele’s still being here has to do with Buddy.”
Camille’s brow puckered, which, along with the glasses, made herlook like a wizened owl.“I’ve already told Mimi what I remember, including the places I suggested that Buddy look for Sunny.And that’s it.Mimi has tried touching some of Buddy’s belongings, but they aren’t telling her anything—or anything she can use.She says that whatever vibrations she’s getting are all garbled and disjointed, almost like he’s speaking a foreign language that Mimi can’t understand.”
Camille clasped her hands together.Softly, she said, “Whether or not Mimi and Beau want to admit it, even just to themselves, if Buddy wanted to be found he would have come home by now.As for Adele, if she were dead I’d know it.I would.”Camille removed her glasses and used her knuckle to wipe at the corners of her eyes.“She was like a sister to me.I’d know.”Just like she’d done before when talking about Adele, she pressed her hand against her heart.
Her hand remained where it was, causing her to look like a child making a wish—like me on every Christmas Eve, wishing my mom would be there the next morning.“So you suggest they just sit and wait?”
She gave me a sympathetic look.“Yes.I do.So does Henry.”
The door opened again, and a stranger entered the bathroom.I caught the door before it could close; I needed to hurry so I wouldn’t miss Beau.Turning back to Camille, I said, “Thank you for sharing that.One more thing—do you remember if Adele or Buddy were into psychics or fortune tellers?”
She frowned, shook her head.“Not that I recall.Maybe for fun, but not because they believed in that sort of thing.I think Mimi was about all they could take of the psychic world.”
“Maybe,” I said with a quick nod.“Thanks again for sharing that.”I let the door close behind me and rushed back to our table to retrieve Beau’s jacket.
“Are you leaving now?”Cooper asked, standing as I approached.
“No.I just have to meet Beau to give him this.”I held up the jacket.
“May I drive you home afterward?We didn’t get a chance to really talk, and I’m leaving again in the morning.”
I glanced over at Jolene, who, despite her smile and vivid hair, looked like a frozen mannequin, with too-white skin and unfocused eyes.“I think I should go home with Jolene.She…doesn’t seem herself.”
Cooper followed my gaze, then shoved his hands into his pockets with a resigned sigh.“I get it.Can I call you?I’ll be in Los Angeles, but it’s only a two-hour time difference, so I won’t have to wake you up.”
