Muller, Marcia - [McCone 04] Games to Keep the Dark Away (v.1,shtml) Page A

though."
    "Oh?"
    "Another of your former employees—Liz Schaff—hinted
there had been some unpleasantness there, just before both she and
Jane Anthony left your employ."
    Keller frowned. "Unpleasantness?"
    "Yes. She wouldn't elaborate, though."
    His eyes began calculating rapidly. "When did these women
leave The Tidepools?"
    "Between eight months and a year ago, I think."
    "That explains it."
    "Then you know what she was talking about?"
    "Yes, but it was nothing, really. I'm surprised she would
even bring it up. It had nothing to do with either Miss Schaff or
Miss Anthony."
    "What was it?"
    "A problem with one of the patients. Actually, with a member
of the patient's family. I won't go into it, however; it's nothing
that's likely to happen again."
    For a closed issue, I thought, people were mighty sensitive about
it. "Still, I'd like to know, if I'm to recommend The Tidepools
to my uncle."
    "I assure you, Miss McCone, it was nothing." Keller
glanced at his watch and pushed his chair back from the table. "It's
after six, and I have an appointment at seven."
    I stood up. "Thank you for taking the time to talk to me."
    "And thank
you
for demonstrating your excellent
culinary skills."
    I gave his partially eaten sandwich a skeptical glance and
followed Keller down the hall to the front door. As I stepped
outside, I remembered some unfinished business. "Oh, by the way,
I think you should telephone Ross Brothers, the clothing store, in
the morning."
    He frowned.
    "I don't want to go into it, but your billing address is
wrong. You'll want to correct it."
    "My billing address?"
    "Uh-huh."
    A slow smile spread across his puffy face. "This must have
something to do with how you located me. The Tidepools would never
give out my address."
    "You're right."
    "But I shouldn't ask."
    "Right again."
    I left Allen Keller standing on the steps of his house, the
bemused smile on his face. The building still reminded me of a house
of cards, and I wondered if his messy divorce and the community
property laws were what it would take to make it topple.

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7
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    I
had two hours before I could catch Don Del Boccio at the
radio station after his show. As I drove slowly down the
dusk-shrouded streets of Keller's subdivision, I thought about going
to my motel, then changed my mind and started north toward Salmon
Bay. Sylvia Anthony had said she didn't know Jane's whereabouts, but
I didn't believe her. Perhaps I could convince her to tell me or, at
the very least, deliver another message from Snelling to her
daughter. Possibly I could steer the conversation around to the
mysterious trouble at The Tidepools—an unanswered question that
was beginning to bother me in much the same way a hangnail does.
    When I got to Hydrangea Lane, a light-colored compact was parked
in the driveway of the Anthony home. The house itself was dark. I
went up to the door, crushing a blue blossom that drooped over onto
the steps, and knocked. There was no sound from inside.
    I turned and looked over at the car in the driveway, wondering if
it might be Jane's. Snelling had said she drove a white Toyota. This
was one of those boxy-looking Hondas, but he'd also said that all
cars except for VW's looked the same to him. I went down the steps
and tried its door. Locked. I peered inside, looking for something
that might identify the owner, but the front and backseat were empty.
    Turning, I glanced up and down the narrow unpaved street. Lights
shone in the other houses and from one of them I could hear the howl
of sirens and blare of horns from a TV cop show. Otherwise it was
quiet: there were no dogs barking, no children calling, no music or
laughter. It was a desolate silence and it made me think fondly of
San Francisco's light-hearted vitality.
    I left my MG where it was parked and walked through the lanes to
the road by the marina. Rose's Crab Shack, a weathered establishment
set on stilts over the water, was open, and I went inside. A counter
with