(Continued from Feb. 15)
After a few more seconds of small talk, Alphonse started walking toward the health club and we got back into the Audi for the return journey. The plan was that Thea would drop me off at a shopping center that was within walking distance of my apartment. I had to pick up a few items there and avoiding a second sighting of her car in the neighborhood seemed wise.
Thea began the conversation by expressing her satisfaction about the “great” meeting with Alphonse. However, she urged me to speak to him at my earliest opportunity. “Such a nice accommodating guy deserves to be brought up to speed, as soon as possible, about the various interesting relationships that have come about recently.”
“That will happen tonight,” I assured Thea. “I will inform him about al the details concerning our newly established kinship before I listen to the way he managed with Bob. Although, we will be kept informed by phone about Bob’s whereabouts, I will still want to know about any additional interesting details that Alphonse might have for us.”
“You said ‘us,’ which gives me an idea. Why don’t we all get together later tonight when Alice’s whole moving episode is behind us? We can have a drink together. I suggest that we have our meeting at aunt Dorothy’s. She will send her gardener to pick us all up, so we won’t need a designated driver. It will be a good chance for Alphonse to meet the other two of our foursome and for you to surprise aunt Dorothy with your appearance. We will carry on as if nothing unusual is happening. Her reaction will be great to behold.”
“I will be available tonight and I am pretty sure Alphonse will be as well. I don’t think he would want to miss a chance to put his spin on the ‘meeting’ with Bob in front of all you ladies.”
Next, we had a conversation about being discreet in regards to the removal of Alice’s belongings from Bob’s apartment. Thea and I agreed that the disguise, used when assisting Elsie with her escape, would no longer be appropriate. An apartment resident, with a reputation of having a fondness for gossip, had seen the girls. The woman had stared quite intently at Thea’s Muslim headscarf. Since the elderly resident had a habit of frequenting the halls, she would in all likelihood notice Alice’s moving process. And, she would almost certainly pay Bob a visit that night.
In addition to being on the lookout for informal dirt, the woman seemed to prefer knocking on the doors of male residents. I had been told about that peculiarity by a longtime resident and considered it to be a rumor. Then, about a month after the warning, the woman knocked on my door at a very inopportune time. So, I cried out: “I am not full dressed. What would you like?” She said that she wanted to see the new window I had installed and she added: “I am not worried about your lack of clothing.” I told her to go to my next-door neighbor, a lady who had the same type of window installed.
(To be continued)