Part 31 (1/2)
I removed the sidearm from the holster and checked the action. ”Have you hired a housekeeper?”
”I am still interviewing applicants,” he said. ”But I engaged a woman from a temporary agency in the interim.”
”Can she cook?”
”Tolerably, although should Mr. Gold desire to entertain formally, I believe we would turn to a caterer for a more sophisticated bill of fare.”
I ejected the magazine, checked the load, and replaced it. I put the weapon in the holster and clipped the holster to my belt. ”How's Sid handling the divorce?”
”I overheard him weeping in the library yesterday.”
”Well, at least you're making his life simpler.”
”Indeed.” Simon nodded. ”There is that.”
”Has his wife come by?”
”From what Mr. Gold has mentioned, I believe she has no plans to visit.”
”Women can be hard to understand.”
”That has also been my experience.”
”Were you ever married?”
”Briefly, quite some time ago.”
”An English girl?”
”No. I met her in the Philippines. She pa.s.sed away.”
”I'm sorry.”
”As I mentioned, it was quite some time ago. One does move on.”
”Really? How?”
He turned his pale gray eyes toward me. ”One finds a way, if one is wise.”
We ate silently for a while. The soup was extraordinary.
Finally I said, ”Thanks for the gun.”
”My pleasure.”
”Olivia Soto is Alejandra Delarosa's daughter.”
”Is she indeed?”
”She is. The case files I was given only mention the Delarosa's daughter by her first name, Maria. It turns out her full name is Maria Olivia Delarosa Sotomayor. What do you make of that?”
He took a bite of salad and chewed for a moment. ”She is working for the Delarosa woman's victim. For her mother's victim. That is concerning.”
”It is.”
”But has she broken any laws?”
”Not that I know of. It's not illegal to use an a.s.sumed name, except on contracts and so forth. And she was born in Los Angeles according to the file, so she's an American citizen, not here illegally.”
Simon said, ”There's the woman Mrs. Montes saw during the home invasion.”
”Dona Elena seems pretty certain that was Alejandra Delarosa.”
”Family resemblance? Dim lights? Extreme stress?”
”It had crossed my mind.”
”One thinks of reporting this to the authorities or of warning Mrs. Montes directly. But given your current situation and the fact that you left Orange County to obtain this information, perhaps it would be best to gather more intelligence before taking that step.”
”That had also crossed my mind.”
”Of course, the authorities could be advised anonymously.”
”Of course.”
”But if a person in possession of this information were to interview Miss Soto, and if Miss Soto were unaware that the person knows her actual ident.i.ty, she might reveal more unwittingly than she would in direct interrogation.”
”Unwittingly?”
”A perfectly useful word.”
We ate together quietly a little longer, then I pushed back from the table. ”Excuse me a minute.”
I went inside and checked my cell phone for the Montes's phone number. I dialed it. A woman's voice came on the line. ”Montes's residence.”
I said, ”Olivia, I'm sorry.”
There was a pause, and I wondered if she was going to hang up. Then, ”It took you long enough to call.”
”I'm sorry about that, too. I've been confused. I have lots of feelings, and I'm not sure what they mean.”
”Feelings about me?”
”I think about you a lot. I'd like to apologize in person. Could we get together?”
”When?”