of a bind, naturally I said yes. It’s times like this that I really miss my late husband. Fred always said Hilly took advantage of me, but I never believed it until now.”
Fearing more tears, I fished a fresh tissue from the pocket of my blue jeans and passed it to Sally. “You were saying,” I prompted.
“Oh dear, now where was I?” she asked before answering her own question. “Tuesday. It started that afternoon when Hilly phoned me in a dither,” said Sally with a snort. “I should have suspected she was up to something ’cause she sounded so sweet. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but sometimes Hilly can be a bit abrasive.”
Eager to hear more, I bit my tongue and shrugged my shoulders, hoping Sally would continue with her explanation, which she did.
“Hilly said that she owed someone a huge favor and that the person was pressing her for repayment. She made it seem as though it was a matter of life or death, so of course I told her I would help her out. I thought she needed money but it turned out that she needed my house! By the time I learned the truth, it was too late to back out.”
“Wait a minute, Sally, let me get this straight. Hilly owed somebody a tremendous favor and she repaid the favor by turning your house into an instant bed-and-breakfast? That doesn’t make a heck of a lot of sense. Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell me the whole story.”
“I guess I might as well,” Sally said, pressing her lips into a tight line, “seeing that Hilly is too busy reporting on the murder to even answer my phone calls. But you must promise me you won’t repeat what I tell you to anyone. Even though she pulled a fast one on me, Hilly’s still family.”
I gave Sally my word that I wouldn’t tell a living soul and then listened while Sally told the tale of an ill-conceived friendship that had gone from bad to worse.
It all began years ago when Hilly was attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She shared a small apartment with a fellow student, Maxine Roberts. Both were majoring in journalism, guys, and drugs. The apartment was known around the campus as party central. Eventually, someone tipped off the police. When the place was raided, Hilly wasn’t there but Maxine was, along with some cocaine. Maxine took the fall while Hilly went on to graduate with honors. Unlike Hilly, who quickly landed the job as Seville’s radio and print reporter for the Seville Sentinel , our town’s daily newspaper, Maxine Roberts spent years rebuilding her personal reputation while trying to get her professional career off the ground.
Five years ago, as a struggling press agent with a flair for creating good publicity for her clients, some of whom were not exactly model citizens, Maxine came to the attention of Dona Deville. She was hired as the health spa diva’s public relations person. In spite of finally hitting it big, Maxine never forgave or forgot her former friend, Hilly Murrow.
“The way Maxine sees it,” said Sally, “Hilly owed her then and still does. Maxine called her on Tuesday, demanding that Hilly find a nice, private place for Dona and her people to stay. Hilly promised me that they’d be be here for only two nights—last night and tonight. She said they’d be long gone by early Sunday morning. Of course, Dona’s murder changed everything. I’m afraid that I’m stuck playing innkeeper for the six of them for God only knows how long.”
I did some fast math in my head. With Dona out of the picture, the number of guests should have dropped to five. Had Sally made a simple error?
“Did you say six?” I asked, giving Sally the chance to correct her mistake.
“That’s what I said, six,” she replied with a sigh. “Shortly after what I thought was the entire group arrived last night, Mr. Salerno showed up on my doorstep claiming to be Ellie Halsted’s bodyguard. After checking with Dona and finding that it was the case, I added him to the guest
Fearing more tears, I fished a fresh tissue from the pocket of my blue jeans and passed it to Sally. “You were saying,” I prompted.
“Oh dear, now where was I?” she asked before answering her own question. “Tuesday. It started that afternoon when Hilly phoned me in a dither,” said Sally with a snort. “I should have suspected she was up to something ’cause she sounded so sweet. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but sometimes Hilly can be a bit abrasive.”
Eager to hear more, I bit my tongue and shrugged my shoulders, hoping Sally would continue with her explanation, which she did.
“Hilly said that she owed someone a huge favor and that the person was pressing her for repayment. She made it seem as though it was a matter of life or death, so of course I told her I would help her out. I thought she needed money but it turned out that she needed my house! By the time I learned the truth, it was too late to back out.”
“Wait a minute, Sally, let me get this straight. Hilly owed somebody a tremendous favor and she repaid the favor by turning your house into an instant bed-and-breakfast? That doesn’t make a heck of a lot of sense. Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell me the whole story.”
“I guess I might as well,” Sally said, pressing her lips into a tight line, “seeing that Hilly is too busy reporting on the murder to even answer my phone calls. But you must promise me you won’t repeat what I tell you to anyone. Even though she pulled a fast one on me, Hilly’s still family.”
I gave Sally my word that I wouldn’t tell a living soul and then listened while Sally told the tale of an ill-conceived friendship that had gone from bad to worse.
It all began years ago when Hilly was attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She shared a small apartment with a fellow student, Maxine Roberts. Both were majoring in journalism, guys, and drugs. The apartment was known around the campus as party central. Eventually, someone tipped off the police. When the place was raided, Hilly wasn’t there but Maxine was, along with some cocaine. Maxine took the fall while Hilly went on to graduate with honors. Unlike Hilly, who quickly landed the job as Seville’s radio and print reporter for the Seville Sentinel , our town’s daily newspaper, Maxine Roberts spent years rebuilding her personal reputation while trying to get her professional career off the ground.
Five years ago, as a struggling press agent with a flair for creating good publicity for her clients, some of whom were not exactly model citizens, Maxine came to the attention of Dona Deville. She was hired as the health spa diva’s public relations person. In spite of finally hitting it big, Maxine never forgave or forgot her former friend, Hilly Murrow.
“The way Maxine sees it,” said Sally, “Hilly owed her then and still does. Maxine called her on Tuesday, demanding that Hilly find a nice, private place for Dona and her people to stay. Hilly promised me that they’d be be here for only two nights—last night and tonight. She said they’d be long gone by early Sunday morning. Of course, Dona’s murder changed everything. I’m afraid that I’m stuck playing innkeeper for the six of them for God only knows how long.”
I did some fast math in my head. With Dona out of the picture, the number of guests should have dropped to five. Had Sally made a simple error?
“Did you say six?” I asked, giving Sally the chance to correct her mistake.
“That’s what I said, six,” she replied with a sigh. “Shortly after what I thought was the entire group arrived last night, Mr. Salerno showed up on my doorstep claiming to be Ellie Halsted’s bodyguard. After checking with Dona and finding that it was the case, I added him to the guest
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