McNally's Folly by Lawrence Sanders, Vincent Lardo Page A

offerings of fast-food joints spanning the state from Miami to Jacksonville, inviting me to fax my order for prompt delivery.
    “He’s been asking for you,” Mrs. Trelawney said, jerking a thumb at the don’s office door. “Herb rang me to tell me you had arrived. I wish you luck.”
    “You’ve heard the news?”
    “Binky called at nine this morning,” she informed me.
    “Binky?” I cried. “Was he hiding under Ouspenskaya’s turban?”
    Mrs. Trelawney shook her head of gray Dynel. “He wandered into Ta-Boo’ for a nightcap and ran into...”
    “Say no more, Mrs. Trelawney.” By now my misadventure with Serge Ouspenskaya was probably being typeset at Lolly Spindrift’s gossip sheet.
    Father was seated at his desk wearing a vested blue suit and a Countess Mara tie that looked like an original de Koonig. “Sorry I’m so late, sir, but it was a long night.”
    “So I heard. Have a seat, Archy, and give me the postmortem. I’ve already heard the news.”
    “From who, sir?”
    “Richard Holmes, who else? He got it from his wife who got it directly from the horse’s mouth first thing this morning.”
    Horse’s arse would be more apropos, but Father is a proper Victorian and I don’t buck the trend. “Ouspenskaya actually called Desdemona Darling and told her what happened at the séance?”
    “Not exactly,” Father said. “Knowing that the Tremaines were entertaining Ouspenskaya last night, Desdemona called Penny to learn how it went.”
    “I didn’t know they knew each other. Desdemona and Penny, that is.”
    “As you may know, Desdemona and Lady Cynthia are old friends and Lady C took it upon herself to introduce Desdemona and her husband to the people in Palm Beach who count. After that, Desdemona joined a small clique of Ouspenskaya followers led by Lady C and Penny Tremaine.” Father tugged at his mustache in a most disconcerting manner. “After hearing what Penny had to say, Desdemona called Ouspenskaya to verify the facts.”
    “Interesting,” was my contribution.
    “More interesting than you know, Archy. It seems Ouspenskaya, or should I say my father, said something that no mortal knew, except for Desdemona and Lady Cynthia. Desdemona is now more convinced than ever that Ouspenskaya has the gift.”
    “If she means the mention of the Lake Worth Playhouse, I learned from a source before the séance that Lady C and Desdemona got themselves involved with the community theater. After the sitting I learned their venue would be the Lake Worth Playhouse. There are very few secrets in this town, sir. Aside from that I have no idea what it could be.”
    Father said thoughtfully, “I think there’s more to it than that. Tell me everything that happened, Archy.”
    I gave Father a detailed description of my evening at the Tremaines’, leaving out only Vance’s lusting after Fitz and Arnold’s hysterics over the name Lolly Pops. When I finished, Father gave his mustache a tug that surely must have hurt his upper lip. “He knew about my proposed cruise right down to the ships I’m considering?”
    “It would appear so, sir.”
    “How does he do it, Archy?”
    “The mention of the cruise ships, sir, I don’t know,” I admitted, “but I intend to find out. Grandfather’s profession is not exactly classified information and a visit to the Lake Worth Playhouse should help me ascertain if Grandfather played there in ’24.”
    With a sigh, Father rose and went to his antique desk. “That won’t be necessary, Archy.” Opening one of the secret compartments he removed a sheet of paper and handed it to me. It was a playbill for the Oakley Theater dated January 1924, announcing the appearance of Freddy “always leave ’em laughing” McNally and the “Balloon Dancer,” Lolly Pops. An artist’s rendition of Lolly’s generous attributes made me “wonder if her balloons weren’t the size of a Luftwaffe zeppelin.
    “I still intend to visit the theater, sir, to learn if they maintain