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A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author
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Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / June 2009
Copyright 2009 by Betty Hechtman.
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CHAPTER 11
IT LOOKS LIKE ITS JUST YOU AND ME AGAIN, I said. Dinah and I finally went back to our table, rolling our eyes about CeeCees plans and Camilles quest to get in touch with her inner regular. Do you think we should tell her if she wants to be like us, she ought to leave the yacht at home? Dinah joked.
I reached for my drink, then I made a face. I think this is yours, I said, trading cups with Dinah.
Howd that happen? She looked at the table perplexed and then, seeing which tote bag was hanging on the back of which chair, realized wed gone back to opposite sides of the table.
Now what? Dinah asked after wed finished our drinks and the now-tepid French toast.
Now we go house hunting, I said with a smile. Thanks to Miss Information Adele, I already knew the only mode of transportation available was a rental golf cart. Golf carts were what most everybody used to get around. The number of cars allowed on the island was very limited. And likely to become even more so since no one could bring one car over unless two people got rid of theirs. Adele said there was a ten-year waiting list.
We found the stand that rented the small vehicles and got one for two hours, which we were assured was plenty of time to cover all of Avalon with time for stops. I considered showing the crocheted house to the rental guy, but I was afraid it would make us seem a little weird.
Dinah offered to drive so I could keep my eyes on the houses. After a few false starts, she got the hang of it and soon we were motoring down the street. The area just behind the business street was called the Flats. We drove through it checking out the houses. They were so close together, you could lend your neighbor a roll of paper towels without going outside. But none of them had the odd shape of the house in the panel.
Beyond the Flats, a few streets were closed to rental golf carts, so we walked those but again came up empty. We got back into our open-air vehicle and followed the route on the map the rental guy had given us. When we reached the top of the town, we stopped by the roadside and checked out the view. From here we could look down on rooftops and out into the water. But we saw nothing close to the house we were seeking.
I slumped against the golf cart. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Mary Beth meant the word casino instead of the building here, I said. I pulled the multicolored panel piece out and laid it on the backseat.
But she mentioned the island in the diary entry, remember? Dinah said, smoothing out the piece. And missing Catalina.
I guess that eliminates Las Vegas, I said.
I think if thats what Mary Beth had been trying to depict, she would have done a motif of Elvis Presley, Dinah said with a chuckle. Lets not give up on here yet. We have the golf cart for another half hour. We might as well finish exploring. We got back in and followed the map as the road wound around the top of the town. Dinah continued driving while I did the looking. We were clearly in the super-high-rent district. The houses were built into the hill, and some of them were huge.
As we began our descent, we followed the scenic route signs.
You might as well enjoy the ride, as long as were here, Dinah urged. She pointed toward the Zane Grey-Pueblo Hotel, which stood out from the design of the other buildings. Its supposed to look like a Hopi Indian pueblo, Dinah explained, going on to say it had originally been the famous writers home. She threw out other tidbits about the island as we drove back into the heart of town. At one time the Wrigleys Gum family had owned the island, but now almost everything outside Avalon was part of the Catalina Island Conservancy and was maintained as a natural preserve.
Oh, and the other town, Two Harbors, is located on an isthmus, hence the name, Dinah said. Two Harbors sounds pretty smallone lodge and campgrounds. I guess my face must have registered surprise because Dinah laughed. What can I say? When I knew we were coming I did a little reading. She steered the golf cart back toward the drive along the water.
Did I tell you about the buffalos? she said. They brought some over for some Zane Grey western filmed here in the thirties, and theyve just kept having little buffalos ever since. Too bad we dont have more time. We could take one of the tours that goes into the interior and see them.
The road ran toward the Casino Building. As we passed it, Dinah suggested we stop and check it out on the way back. We zoomed past a divers beach after which the road seemed to disappear around a curve and go inland. Dinah pulled over so we could check the map to see what was up ahead.
I guess this is it, Dinah said, pointing at the map. The road goes only a short distance past the curve before its marked Hamilton Cove Condominium Residents Only.
Maybe the house is part of the condos, I suggested, but Dinah shook her head. During her pretrip research shed seen a picture of the condos, and she assured me they didnt resemble anything on the crochet piece.
