Without a pause, Karen undid her skirt and let it drop to the floor, and then went to the closet and took out the dress Rory had brought her. My finger paused over the phone buttons as I was struck with a view of Victoria's Secret lingerie. She took off her blouse and I inhaled until I thought I might burst, then she slipped into the dress and studied herself in the mirror.

"What did he say?"

"Uuuuh- what?"

She turned and saw the look on my face. "Oh for God's sake, Wallace, get a grip."

With a mental affirmation of my loyalty to Nora, I entertained visions of spending several evenings in the presence of that memorable lingerie. Rory's profane objection to our plan quickly killed that fantasy. I explained the problem about our watcher, and he switched channels, all eager to help in any way; the fantasy glimmered once again.

Rory said he'd get right on watching the man across the street and if he made a move, he would call my cell phone, otherwise, we would call him when we got away. I described my plan and waved off Karen's sceptical frown.

At the end of the hallway where it turned, there was a window and I hurried down to see if there was some way to have a look from the outside. Bingo! Again, like in the movies. Things were looking up. I beckoned Karen and she hurried with our bags down the hall while I slid the window open, then helped her out onto a narrow iron platform that ran around the outside of the building.

A set of stairs ran from the top floor to the street and we shuffled along the grill work to the corner where they began. The old iron was oxidized and I kept rubbing my hands on the brick side of the building to try to clean off the delightful rusty smears that also appeared on my pants. Karen held tightly to my jacket as we descended the rickety structure to the next landing.

A dusty window beside the stairs opened suddenly and we froze, watching the hands withdraw from sight. Leaning down, my vantage point didn't afford much of a view, maybe a fat third of the room that revealed the end of a sofa, a lamp table without a lamp, some decent prints on the wall and the doorway to the bedroom. Through there, the corner of the bed and part of a TV were visible.

Holding one hand over my ear against the traffic noise, I carefully leaned the other as close as possible to the window and squinted. Squinting seemed to make things sound clearer. Things sounded very clear, and not because of my squint. A man's voice kept rising above the protesting voice of a woman, prompting a short lull before the argument started again.

I leaned forward, risking a better look, and nearly fell off the platform.

"What are you doing?" Karen hissed in my ear.

"I just don't want to be seen. C'mon, they're too busy to bother out here." We hurried down the rest of the stairs to the street, having to climb over a locked gate at the bottom of the steps.

I thrilled once again to discover the naughty lingerie wasn't in my imagination, catching a flash of garter belt as Karen legged it over the barrier. We crept up the alley to the corner and saw that the man was still watching the front doors. I called Rory and told him we were out and would call later. At the other end of the alley, we grabbed a cab; my leaking car on the hotel lot would provide the perfect decoy.

●○●○●○●○●

Ellington strolled across the thick, spongy grass to the sculpted garden surrounding the ornate gazebo behind his mansion. The tailored golf shirt and trousers billowed slightly in a soft breeze. Karen walked on his right and I on the left, slightly behind and less fashionably attired. Several birds departed quickly as we climbed the steps and chose chairs about the rattan and wicker table.

Karen crossed her legs and I noticed Ellington's eyes followed the action. I noticed because they bumped into mine.

"So my granddaughter hired you to protect her marriage for her." It wasn't a question.

"That's how my part in all this started," I answered.

"And you have come to me why exactly?"

I glanced at Karen and cleared my throat. She looked down, leaving me on my own. "We were hoping you might be able to help provide a solution to our predicament."

"That being?"

I waved a hand between Karen and me. "Honestly, sir, we don't know."

"I'm not sure I understand what exactly your predicament is."

"Uhmm- we uh- we are currently in the sights of the same people that Reg Devers owed big money to and they have made it clear what they want more than money."

"Why would that be?"

I hesitated telling him about the killing. "They uh- they think we know a little too much about their business."

"And do you?"

Karen looked away purposely. "Probably, although not intentionally. But we'd never convince them of that. We just felt that since it involved you and your granddaughter, and your company that..."

"Involved how?"

I looked at Karen and she shrugged resignedly. I told Ellington about everything right up to arriving in his garden, including the real reason for our predicament. Finishing with the observation that the money probably could have prevented all the trouble in the beginning.

Ellington chuckled softly and stared off into the grove of trees surrounding this portion of the garden. Silver birches leaned randomly among the darker green of the spruce and pine, and assorted bushes surrounded their bases like scruffy skirts.

"Mr. Wallace, if money were the simple answer to all this we wouldn't be sitting here." His eyes swung around to mine. "Money is the root of why all this has happened. My granddaughter's trust was violated by my need to survive a critical financial shortfall. Ironically, a trusted business associate, to cover his own sordid indiscretions, was also looting it. Neither knowing about the other of course. Even if all had gone according to the rules, there was no trust left to leave. His death, if that's true, makes things even more complicated."

I looked around the property. "It's true all right and I find it difficult to see any sign of a financial deficit on display, sir."

"You obviously don't understand the difference between having and owing or liquid and unattainable."

"You're telling me you're broke?"

"Insofar as surviving the litigation proceedings over my company should I lose, yes."

"But I mean, legally, can your granddaughter still collect even though she was involved in—"

Karen emitted a loud groan and covered it with a cough.

"Involved in what?" I stared stupidly at the man, completely at a loss as to how to get out of my blunder. "You came to me for help remember. Involved in what, Mr. Wallace."

I glanced at Karen and she just stared at her lap, shaking her head. "Sir, your granddaughter made a deal with the people Reg Devers owed money to." I felt my shirt clinging for life to my back.

Ellington didn't move. His eyes held mine, although he really was looking beyond me, beyond his property, somewhere... beyond.

"I uh- I learned this from your son."

Ellington sighed and leaned on the table, his eyes once again focusing on the here and now. "Cynthia arranged to pay Reg Devers' debt?"

"That is what your son told me. It was with a man named Bernie Bonducci."