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<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was now about 5:00 and I was beat. I desperately wanted to avoid talking with Simba today \u2013 I needed at least an evening to collect my thoughts and figure out how to approach this fragile woman. This was the type of strategy session that Ralph and Fanny loved, but I didn\u2019t want to intrude on their Friday night dinner service \u2013 usually their busiest night. I was not even remotely a cook, but I figured I could stop by and man the\u00a0dishwasher or other menial chores, and then they might be done sooner. But even so, they would probably be way too tired despite my help. I worried about Ralph and Fanny. Running a restaurant, no matter how casual and homey, was a physically demanding job, and they might be reaching their endpoint. I had stopped by on other busy nights and I could tell that they really appreciated my help. I redialed Simba\u2019s cell phone, and was relieved when\u00a0it went straight to voicemail. I wanted to hold her off at least until tomorrow, so I suggested that we meet at the Starbucks that was kitty corner across from the park where her brother Henry would probably be playing his Saturday morning bridge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hit some nasty traffic on the way back north to Santa Teresa, and thought, what the hell, I might as well call Nick Nichol. He was breathless with excitement, \u201cLiza, I can\u2019t believe that you did not introduce me to your friend Mary before. She’s just brilliant. She has so many great ideas about Skye Island, and I think that it\u2019s time for a fresh approach. New blood, bring in a new realtor to get things moving. In fact I have set up a meeting with Sam Todd tomorrow morning. Mary and I are having dinner tonight, so I can prep her a bit more. Tell me some more about Mary. She says that you were best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes we were pretty good friends, mostly because we rode the same bus and were almost the last stop at the end of the line, so both of us were in the position of trying to keep up with our more affluent classmates. Mary was always a bit better than I was. We drifted apart after high school, but our paths occasionally cross.\u201d I was actually trying to distance myself from Mary since I really did’nt want to have any responsibility for this budding romance, and I didn\u2019t want to reveal the ruthless side of Mary by describing how she scored real estate listings by scanning\u00a0obituaries and trolling for divorce gossip.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u201dWell who else have you kept hiding from me?\u201d he laughed and then said, \u201cobviously that is a joke, because I\u00a0had such a good time with Mary up on the ridge at Skye Island. She feels that things will start to move\u00a0once a piece of property sells and shows that there’s a demand. Mary had all sorts of crazy ideas about selling that first lot; including having Sam essentially buy it through a surrogate. She even suggested that Sam and his brother Henry buy each other\u2019s property. Anyway, we\u2019ll see what Sam thinks tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWait a minute, Nick,\u201d I said, \u201cYou do realize that Sam and Henry refuse to speak to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I do,\u201d Nick said, \u201cThat’s not our Plan A, but it never hurts to have one option that the client absolutely hates – it makes other options look better.\u00a0\u00a0 You know I hadn\u2019t thought about it, but there is a lot of overlap between PR and realtors \u2013 you know, the optimal positioning, show someone a dump so they’ll like the more expensive houses.\u00a0\u00a0That Mary and I just clicked. Liza, you\u2019re the best, but I\u2019ve gotta go. I\u2019ll keep you posted.\u201d And then he clicked off.<\/p>\n
Well good for Nick, I thought. I couldn\u2019t remember when he last had a girlfriend, and I am sure that many thought he was gay, particularly when he wore those madras pants he liked so much. But like he said, it was all about positioning \u2013 if he showed up with a legitimate girlfriend on his arm, other women would give him a second look. Looked like those two were off and running and I couldn’t think of a way they could screw up my case. They might crash and burn with Sam, but they were on their own. Case closed.<\/p>\n
I was just passing the Great Days retirement home and was tempted to stop by and snoop around, or at least check out\u00a0the parking lot out, but I resisted. I didn\u2019t want to get ahead of myself and I didn\u2019t want to fall into some family drama unprepared. Simba said that she wanted a family mediator, so I wondered what kind of research\u00a0mediators did before a meeting \u2013 maybe they went in cold turkey and just tried to manage the bile that erupted. Or maybe my only job was to get the players into the same room and agree to talk – actually that might be the most challenging part of the job. It didn\u2019t sound like I would have to work to dislodge\u00a0long-ago\u00a0snubs and bitterness \u2013 it was all right there under the surface, sure to vent if the Todds and Murphy\u2019s would ever talk to each other. I suppose a hallmark of a mediator is neutrality, but I was trained to dig for the truth, and I wondered if I could just sit\u00a0back and go with the flow.<\/p>\n
As I pulled into the Clean Plate Club\u2019s parking lot, I was shocked to see it overflowing, with well-dressed couples walking through the rickety screen door. I couldn\u2019t imagine what was going on, except that Ralph and Fanny would surely need my help for this bonanza evening. I parked in the rear parking lot and entered through the back entrance and was shocked to see Ralph and Fanny calmly sitting in a cozy domestic scene. \u00a0Ralph was in\u00a0his easy\u00a0chair doing a crossword puzzle and calling out clues to Fanny who was listening\u00a0intently as her knitting needles clicked.<\/p>\n
\u201cFanny, can you think of a four letter word for an Indonesian boat? It looks like it starts with a P.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell that is either a pung or a proa \u2013 One is a boat and the other is a sled – I always get them confused, but I think that proa is the boat.\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled as I stayed hidden by the door.\u00a0A crossword puzzle\u00a0was\u00a0usually reserved for Sunday afternoons after the brunch crowd had departed. Fanny was remarkably good at them and had developed a specialized vocabulary \u2013 pungs, proas, etuis, aglets \u2013 she would come up with amazingly obscure answers as if they were a standard part of\u00a0her vocabulary.\u00a0\u00a0 This was their way of making the crosswords more difficult for her \u2013 she had to visualize the grid in her mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell isn\u2019t this a homey scene,\u201d I said. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on here tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA man could get used to this life of leisure,\u201d said Ralph, \u201cand it is called a catered affair. This family rented out the entire restaurant for the night \u2013 it\u2019s a bridal dinner. They brought in their own kitchen staff. And you know what, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the groom knows Goddard. The wedding planner \u2013 imagine me talking with a wedding planner \u2013 the wedding planner said that they are having a traditional country club reception tomorrow night, but for the rehearsal dinner they wanted something more down home, and the groom thought of us, because he used to play bridge here in college.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, the word that they used wasn\u2019t \u2018down home,\u2019\u201d said Fanny, \u201cthey called us funky.\u201d She gave it an exaggerated pronunciation – \u201cfohnkay\u201d and as she said it she stood up and flapped her arms like a chicken.<\/p>\n
\u201cRalph and Fanny, this will be your first night off in years. Why don\u2019t you go out. It might be weird to go to a different restaurant, but there are some really nice ones along the beach, you could check out the competition, \u00a0or maybe go to a movie or something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks Liza, we thought of that,\u201d said Ralph, \u201cbut they asked us to stay in case there were any questions. They have already asked us if we have a ping pong ball \u2013 which of course we don\u2019t have.\u00a0 I think that they’re doing a\u00a0skit in there about something called beer pong.\u00a0 But there is going to be music later on, and they promised me\u00a0they’d play \u2018String of Pearls\u2019 and \u2018In the Mood.\u2019\u00a0 I’ve never been able to\u00a0pass up an opportunity to dance to a Glen Miller song.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, a nice young man has already asked me for the first dance,\u201d said Fanny as she nodded and smiled at Ralph. \u201cSo Liza, tell us about your day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell I did have a very productive and intriguing day in Cutter City, our neighbor to the North,\u201d I said, \u201cbut let\u2019s enjoy this moment. I don\u2019t want to bore you will this right now, but I just have to tell you it\u2019s pretty juicy,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
“That\u2019s exactly what this wonderful evening needs, a little juice \u2013 a little juicy juice to go along with scotch,\u201d said Ralph as he got up to make himself a drink.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d I said. But I knew that this would be a perfect way for them to relax. And as I talked I went over to get the white board that they used to list the luncheon specials.<\/p>\n
\u201cWow, this even needs a white board,\u201d said Fanny, \u201cthis is going to be a great evening.\u201d<\/p>\n
I recapped the details of my day as I sketch the principal characters on the white board \u2013Dessa and Goddard\u2019s lifelong relationship with Sylvia Wister, the resemblance of Sylvia\u2019s photographs to Goddard\u2019s, Sylvia mentoring Cutter City kids, and Penny\u2019s interest in Sylvia\u2019s family history, which apparently took her to Santa Rosa to befriend Dessa. When I had finished, Sylvia had clearly emerged as the central character.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me more about Sylvia,\u201d said Fanny. \u201cThe only missing link you have there is between Sylvia and Henry Todd. Is that a whole separate issue \u2013 Henry Todd and his sister?”<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what puzzling me,\u201d I said, \u201cBut I think that we need to think first about what brought Penny to the Todd\u2019s in the first place, because once she started snooping around, she could’ve uncovered more than she had planned. According to Penny\u2019s mother, Penny was planning to surprise Sylvia\u2019s with her Wister family history. She was familiar with DNA testing because she had it done to confirm that Johnny Knox was her father, so somehow\u00a0Penny became convinced that Sylvia was related to the Todd\u2019s and came here to investigate that. That would explain the stolen hairbrush from Simba\u2019s bedroom, and perhaps the break-in at Goddard\u2019s gallery, and the break-in at Henry\u2019s house. Maybe she was trying to get DNA samples.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI like it,\u201d said Fanny. \u201cLet\u2019s come up with 5 theories on the secret,\u00a0deep, dark family relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell here is the other tidbit,\u201d I said, \u201cIn the high school yearbook, I saw that Sylvia had a leave of absence for\u00a0as school\u00a0year in the early nineties. Do you think maybe she had a child?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLiza, you are really cookin\u2019 now,\u201d said Ralph. \u201cMy suggestion was going to be something boring, like Sylvia was really the half sister of Henry and Simba. And who might this child be?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, Dessa, of course,\u201d I said. \u201cThe time line fits. Dessa would be the right age. This is also the time that Goddard was shipped off to boarding school, and he said that he heard that his mother was pregnant, but assumed, that like all the other times, she would have a miscarriage, but voila, when he came home he had a sister. This would explain why Sylvia had an ongoing relationship with Dessa and why Penny was trying to collect DNA samples. I know that there are a lot of assumptions in there, but you\u2019ve got to admit it all fits, don\u2019t you think?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, you are getting way ahead of us here,\u201d said Ralph. \u201cSo you think that Sylvia got pregnant \u2013 and I can\u2019t wait to start speculating about the father \u2013 at the same time that Simba was pregnant. Simba miscarries, Sylvia gives up her baby for adoption, but somehow Sylvia knows that the Todds are the adoptive parents, and watches her daughter grow up from afar? In the meantime, Simba keeps Dessa\u2019s adoption a secret, until Penny arrives and starts to unravel it all. She tells Dessa, who becomes totally unglued and takes off to be with her birth mother. Am I getting this straight?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the way the pieces are coming together for me,\u201d I said. \u201cThe only thing that I can\u2019t quite fit in is the Henry-Simba-Chloe in the nursing home piece. But I am willing to let that dangle for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell there is another big, huge, missing piece,\u201d said Fanny. \u201cHave you forgotten that Penny is dead? Didn\u2019t you say that she was probably murdered? Do you have someone lined up for that?<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I don\u2019t think that identifying your birth parents is cause for murder, but money certainly is, so I’m trying to bring money into the equation, and there is something funny going on between Sam and Henry, and maybe Penny stumbled on to that also and that\u2019s what got her killed \u2013 but who did it, I don\u2019t know. If it was Sam, he would probably hire some one, if it was Henry, he would probably just muddle through on this own. Dessa probably knows, and perhaps she has taken off because she is scared. I’ve been thinking about giving all of this information to the police, they certainly have more aggressive means to find her and bring her in as a material witness, but that’s not really my job right now. My very specific job right now is to get Simba an audience with Henry, and also with Dessa and Goddard. So let\u2019s go back to Sylvia. Who do you think is the father of this supposed child?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI see three possibilities,\u201d said Ralph. \u201cYou\u2019ve got some random guy, then Sam and then Henry. Of those I would pick Sam. Simba was a basket case when she lived in Cutter City, and didn\u2019t you say that Goddard saw his father late one night leaving a bar with a woman? Sam doesn\u2019t strike me as a faithful type. Henry would never set foot in Cutter City. One vote for Sam.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, let\u2019s assume for the moment it\u2019s Sam,\u201d I said. \u201cSylvia gets pregnant, comes to Sam and says, \u2018I am carrying your child and this is your responsibility. What are you going to do about it?\u2019 The situation is even more excruciating because Simba gets pregnant at almost exactly the same time. Sylvia keeps pressuring him and pressuring him, time’s running out and unbelievably, Simba\u2019s pregnancy is going well. Then tragedy strikes, Simba\u2019s pregnancy ends with a miscarriage \u2013 umbilical cord around the neck, maybe congenital disease, something gruesome like that. Simba disappears into a deep depression. But of course, now Sam has the perfect solution. He arranges a private adoption of Sylvia\u2019s baby and gives Dessa to Sylvia. Probably pays Sylvia off, but lets her keep in contact with Dessa using Goddard as the envoy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fanny was leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed, absorbing our theories. Without opening her eyes, she said, \u201cI have one more potential father to add. Keep the same scenario, Liza, but how about substituting Goddard for Sam as the father? He was fifteen, and sounds like a wild fifteen at that, and maybe that was why he was hustled off to boarding school.\u00a0\u00a0 I vote for Goddard, but I\u00a0wonder if he\u00a0knows that he’s the father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just then the music started up in the adjacent room. Ralph stood up. \u201cClass dismissed. Ms. Blue, your vote in the most likely father contest is due by 8 AM tomorrow.\u00a0 But please excuse me, my dancing partner is waiting for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ralph walked over and gallantly gave his hand to Fanny, who stood up, took off her apron and melted into his arms as they did a lively dance across the room.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nFollow Liza Blue on: It was now about 5:00 and I was beat. I desperately wanted to avoid talking with Simba today \u2013 I needed at least an evening to collect my thoughts and figure out how to approach this fragile woman. This was … Continue reading <\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"