Kaleidoscope by Dorothy Gilman Read Free Book Online Page B

about?”
    Pruden weighed his words carefully. He could think of several subterfuges but decided that none of them would fool this woman. “Mrs. Epworth is under sedation and can’t be interviewed yet. In the meantime we’re making inquiries into everyone who knew the couple. Mr. Epworth, you see, was murdered.”
    â€œGood heavens,” she said, shocked, and then, “I can tell you right now if Joanna’s a suspect you’d be barking up the wrong tree. Marriage to Mr. Epworth would have been just what she wanted—I don’t mean that in any nasty way—but it made absolute sense for her.”
    â€œCan you explain that?” asked Swope.
    Abby Jacoby shrugged. “You’d have to know her, of course. She was quite fun, and we double-dated a lot. . . . Enviably beautiful, of course.” She sighed. “And I admit she knew how to use it. She’d been a model but she wanted something more
useful
. She was tremendously efficient and wasn’t
using
herself, she said, which is why she moved uptown. And then there was Rick, of course,” she added, frowning.
    â€œRick?”
    She nodded. “Rick O’Hara.” She sighed. “I
know
she cared about him, and he adored her and wanted to marry her. What a handsome couple they were, but you know how opposites attract? She was all ambition and he was . . . well, easygoing. An accountant, dreaming of a ranch out west.” She smiled, remembering. “She couldn’t persuade him to become a CPA—certified public accountant—or
anything
to get ahead. He just laughed. I think marrying him scared her.”
    â€œScared her?”
    She nodded. “She said, growing up poor, it scared her. She always seemed to have this picture in her mind of how it had been growing up, her mother scrubbing floors for a living, pinching pennies. When I think about it, I wasn’t
that
surprised when I read about her marriage to Mr. Epworth. She did everything so well, she would have been great, cutting ribbons and heading committees. I think that’s why she broke it off with Rick. I
know
she cared about him, but—I know it wasn’t easy for her, but Rick wasn’t . . . well, ambitious at all. Just easygoing, charming, and happy as he was.”
    â€œYou’ve not seen her since she left?”
    She shook her head. “I could understand her cutting me off; I would have reminded her of Rick. I don’t know whether she ever got over it, but . . .” She smiled wryly. “At least she didn’t have to pinch pennies. And she would have been a very efficient and faithful wife, I’m sure.”
    â€œAnd what happened to Rick?” asked Swope curiously.
    â€œI think it broke his heart when they split. I heard he did a lot of drinking and then he pulled his life together, married, and moved out west somewhere.”
    Swope snapped his notebook closed. “You’ve been very frank and open with us, Miss Jacoby, and we appreciate it.” With a glance at Pruden, “Time we go now, isn’t it?”
    Pruden nodded. “Thank you very much, Miss Jacoby. Or Abby,” he added.
    She rose from her seat and said, “Look, when Joanna’s over the shock, tell her Abby says hello and sends her sympathies, will you?”
    Very gravely Pruden assured her that yes, they would deliver her message, and they left, but still with no idea or clue as to who or what Mrs. Epworth had become eight years later.
    Pruden didn’t usually talk about his work with Jan, but that afternoon he visited her at the Settlement House where she worked, and he confided to her their dilemma.
    His very dear fiancée was always perceptive. “What you
really
need,” she told him, after hearing his story, “is reassurance that Marina Karitska’s bizarre description of what happened is true.”
    He admitted to this. “But we’re up against a child who can’t defend