“He’s remarkably agile on three legs,” Nina observed.
The doorbell chimed. Gretchen released Tutu and watched her race for the front door, yapping loudly. The purse trainee trembled, full-body tremors created by the sight of the three-legged stalking tiger and the ensuing commotion.
“That must be April.” Nina rose from the table. “I forgot to tell you in all the excitement. I called her right after you called me. We should make sure the shawl is authentic. You remember April?”
Without waiting for an answer, Nina followed Tutu’s lead and headed for the door. Gretchen lifted the Maltese out of the purse, holding her close and stroking her. In spite of her feelings about canines, she couldn’t stand to see any animal in a state of fear or in pain. Rosebud, fitting easily into her palm, licked her little lips nervously, but the tremors began to ease away.
Gretchen remembered meeting April Lehman briefly on one of her visits to Phoenix, but she didn’t need a doll appraiser to examine the shawl. She sensed that it was the real thing. According to her mother, who was a well-respected doll expert and published author, doll heads were much easier to replicate than period clothing. The shawl couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than an intricate, antique doll accessory.
It was the picture of the doll that interested Gretchen the most.
April lumbered into the workshop wearing a muumuu the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. White crew socks and beige sandals completed her ensemble. “Hey, Gretchen,” she called and heaved herself onto a stool.
“April can tell a fake doll from the real thing at twenty paces,” Nina said, following April.
Gretchen knew that swindlers roamed the doll world waiting to dupe unsuspecting beginners. A good appraiser could tell an original by the number of eyelashes or the slant of an eyebrow or a marking in just the right spot. April and her kind were the backbone of the doll collecting community.
“What ya got here?” April adjusted her reading glasses and bent over the table to study the doll shawl. “My, my. Where’d you find this?”
“Hiking on the mountain. I found it in the rocks.”
April peered at her over the top of her glasses. “You don’t say.”
Then she went to work. The silence beat across the room while they waited for a verdict. Gretchen continued to stroke Rosebud, who snuggled closer and closed her eyes. After a few minutes, Nina began drumming her fingers on the table. April gave her a stern look, and Nina crossed her arms to still her impatient fingers.
Gretchen gently returned Rosebud to the purse, where she curled contently into a tiny ball.
Finally, April sat back, moved her reading glasses from the end of her nose to the top of her head, and sighed with pleasure.
“It’s a wonderful example of a mid-eighteenth-century French fashion doll accessory,” she said. “No question about it.”
“I’m assuming it fell from the ridge with Martha,” Gretchen said. “Is that a safe assumption?”
April nodded.
“My exact thought,” Nina agreed.
“Bonnie’s son, that police officer,” April said. “What’s his name? Matt? He asked me to appraise the parasol they found in Martha’s pocket. Same historical period, same size. From the same doll, I’d be willing to bet.”
Gretchen held out the photograph she saved for last. “I found this at the same time.”
April whistled when she saw the picture.
“The tray is removable, and her trousseau is stored under it,” April said, running her finger over the image of the trunk with something approaching reverence. “See how the tray is lined with striped fabric? Wow.”
“I’m pretty sure the doll is a Bru,” Gretchen said.
April nodded. “A classic smiley Bru. She’s worth a ton of money.”
“How much?” Nina asked.
April thought for a moment. “I wouldn’t want to venture a guess without examining the doll,” she said. “What I can say with surety is that the doll is about seventeen inches high. I can base that estimate on the size of the shawl. The trunk would be about twenty inches long and fifteen inches high.”
“That’s a large trunk,” Nina said, reminding Gretchen how little Nina knew about dolls.
“Most fashion dolls were designed to fit right inside the trunks like this one does.”
“Why would Martha have an antique doll shawl and a photograph of a priceless Bru with her?” Gretchen wondered aloud. “Did she steal the shawl and the parasol?”
“Logical conclusion.” April’s voice was cold. “Personally, I never cared for the woman. Shifty, I thought, and unscrupulous. She certainly could have stolen it. But I’m not aware that any of the club members around here own an original Bru with accompanying trunk.”
“She had only a picture and a few accessories,” Nina said. “That doesn’t mean she’s a thief. Let’s not snap to any rash conclusions.”
Gretchen picked up the photo of the fashion doll and turned it over. On the back, she read the date that the film had been processed. Four years ago.
“Gretchen, is it possible Martha was at your mother’s house the night she died?” April asked, ignoring Nina’s defense of the dead woman.
Gretchen was surprised. “Why would you think that?”
“Camelback Mountain is right in Caroline’s backyard. I’m simply exploring the possibility.” She arched a brow. “The police won’t overlook that, you know.”
Gretchen shrugged. “I have no way of knowing for sure. But my mother never mentioned Martha to me.” She turned to Nina. “Did Martha ever come here for repair work?”
“Caroline never mentioned it to me,” Nina said. “But everyone knew Martha. She used to be a member of the Phoenix Dollers.”
April shifted on the stool, her large form completely hiding the seat. “The next obvious question is… Where is the doll? And why did Martha have a picture of it?”
“That,” Gretchen replied, “is the prizewinning question.”
A find like this would be of great interest to her mother, and some of that curiosity had rubbed off on Gretchen. She’d love to see an antique doll of such quality with its own personal trunk of original clothes.
“We don’t have to notify the police, do we?” Nina said, scrunching her nose in distaste at the idea.
April swung around to look at Nina. “Martha’s death was an accident or a suicide, regardless of a few doll accessories and an old picture,” she said. “The investigation is routine. Bonnie’s son is the only one working it, and I’ll mention the shawl next time I see him, but it won’t change anything. In the meantime we should keep this our little secret. What will we accomplish by exposing Martha as a thief after her death?”
“The note found with Martha was rather mysterious.” Nina said.
Gretchen, standing slightly behind April, shook her head at Nina. Nina wrinkled her brow in confusion. The last thing Gretchen wanted was the contents of the message found in Martha’s hand known by the entire doll community.
“Yes, the note,” April agreed. “It does beg an explanation.”
“Does everyone know about the note?” Gretchen demanded.
“News travels fast when it’s riding Bonnie’s lips,” Nina said.
“That’s the truth,” April said.
Gretchen checked her watch and left the two women chatting in the workshop. Six o’clock in Boston. Steve would probably still be at the office, even though it was Friday and most Bostonians would be on their way to happy hour.
From her mother’s bedroom, she dialed his business number. While the phone rang, she studied a Shirley Temple doll posed on the nightstand and ran her fingers across its white taffeta skirt. A receptionist answered and mechanically informed her that Steve was in a meeting and unavailable. Her harried voice reminded Gretchen that Steve’s commitment to the firm took other prisoners as well, some not nearly as well compensated.